Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Lady Jane Grey

2009-06-05T00:31:31Z

Baileyisadog:

'''Lady Jane Grey''' (1537-54) was proclaimed Queen of England on 10th of July 1553, and removed 9 days later on 19th of July.

Jane was a niece of [[Henry VIII]] who became a pawn in her family and others’ promotion of their dynastic interests. She was attractive and intelligent and enters history as a member of the household of [[Catherine Parr]], Henry’s widow. Henry’s son, [[Edward VI]] was a sickly child who died without issue. The [[Duke of Northumberland]], and President of the King’s Council, had persuaded Edward to name Jane (who did have legal claim to the throne) as his heir. He then married Jane (much against her will) to his own son, Guildford Dudley.

On Edward’s death Jane was proclaimed Queen and this was ratified by the Council. Supporters of the staunchly [[Catholic]] [[Mary I]] – Henry VIII’s eldest daughter - marshaled their forces, and Jane’s supporters soon admitted defeat. Jane pleaded guilty to treason, and she and Dudley were beheaded. She died on 12th February 1554. Her last words were a denial that she had ever desired the Throne, and that she considered that she was going to her death as a true [[Christian]].

She is seen by many Christian groups in England as an example of Christian persecution by outside forces which continues to this day in England, with biased Anti-Hate Speech laws, which restrict Christian Church sermons.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Jane (Lady) }}
{{Nb_english_monarchs}}

Peter Singer

2009-06-04T02:58:19Z

Baileyisadog:

'''Peter Singer''' is a dangerous [[Australian]] [[philosopher]] who wrote the book ''Animal Liberation'', which puts [[animals and people]] on the same moral level.<ref>''[[Newsweek]]'' wrote, "The modern [[animal rights]] movement may be dated to the 1975 publication of ''Animal Liberation'' by Australian philosopher Peter Singer."http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Liberation-Peter-Singer/dp/0060011572</ref>
Singer is best know for advocating the killing of severely disabled newborn infants at the discretion of their parents. Some have alleged that the conditions that he considers sufficiently acceptable for active infanticide include [[Down syndrome]], [[spina bifida]], and [[hemophilia]].<ref>http://www.social-ecology.org/article.php?story=20031202122825648</ref> However, Singer has directly denied this, claiming that his statements were distorted and taken out of context.<ref>''Writings on an Ethical Life'' pps. 325</ref>

He was the founder and leader of the Australian 3rd Party, The Greens, which is often considered radical left due to its beliefs on Same-Sex Marriage, Marijuina and Gun Control. During his time he was known to attack traditional social values.

He is currently Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values at [[Princeton University]] and Laureate Professor at the [[University of Melbourne]]'s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.<ref>http://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/</ref>

In his latest book, ''The Life You Can Save'', he advocates donating to Third-World countries, even at the expense of local church groups and other local charities well in need of money.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
[http://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/ Peter Singer's Home page]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Peter}}

[[category:philosophers]]
[[category:authors]]

Family-friendly

2009-06-04T02:55:49Z

Baileyisadog:

The term '''family-friendly''' is applied to entertainment or educational material (most frequently [[movies]] and [[video games]]) which is appropriate for use by all ages. It is characterized by being free from sexual descriptions (in words or images), [[profanity]], [[blasphemy]], [[drug]] use, graphic depictions of [[crime|criminal]] violence, and is respectful towards [[Christian]] world-view and values.

Though the system of movie age ratings can provide some guide to the content of entertainment, it does not offer a complete description. To fill this niche, Christian services such as [[CAPAlert]] provide a detailed breakdown of how different aspects of a movie could be considered unsuitable for families. Examples of supposedly family friendly films include Disney Films,which in recent times have had examples of nudity and racism. The Original VHS release of the rescuers included Female Nudity in one scene, which was inserted by a Liberal employee. Aladin is often seen as enforcing a racist arab stereotype.

The term ''family-friendly'' may also be used disparagingly to imply material has been sanitised to the point it is misleading, unrealistic or inaccurate.

[[Category:Ethics]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Virtues]]

Calendar

2009-06-04T02:51:09Z

Baileyisadog:

: ''This article is about what the word "calendar" traditionally means. For other uses, see [[Calendar (disambiguation)]].''

A '''calendar''' is any system that uses observations of cyclic motions of celestial bodies and/or the [[climate]] seasons on [[Earth]] to schedule or record the activities of human beings, or one that uses mathematics to approximate such observations.<ref name=Walker>Walker, John. "[http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/calendar/ Fourmilab Calendar Converter]." Fourmilab Switzerland. Accessed April 9, 2008.</ref><ref name=France>"[http://www.imcce.fr/page.php?nav=fr/ephemerides/astronomie/Promenade/pages2/277.html Chronologie, eres, et calendriers]" (Chronology, Eras, and Calendars). [http://www.imcce.fr/imcce_en.html Institut de mécanique célèste et de calcul des éphémerides] (Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeral Calculation), Paris, [[France]]. Accessed April 9, 2008.</ref>
*Since their invention, calendars have been used to reckon time in advance, and to fix the occurrence of events like harvests or religious festivals.<ref> [http://www.infoplease.com/spot/gregorian1.html Information Please]</ref>

== History ==
Calendars have been in use throughout recorded history. The [[Bible]] tells us <ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=7}}</ref> that the use of a calendar goes back to [[Antediluvian civilization|antediluvian]] times. Ancient [[Egypt]] had a calendar, as did virtually every [[superpower]] in the ancient world.

Rome's calendar came to dominate the ancient world at the points of the swords and spears of Rome's legendary legions. [[Julius Caesar]]'s reforms of that calendar made it one of the most useful of the ancient calendars; [[Pope Gregory IX]] would reform the calendar further more than a millennium and a half later. [[Muhammad]], the great general and "[[prophet]]" of the Arab world, invented a calendar of his own and spread that throughout the Middle East at the points of the scimitars of his own armies. Prominent Terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban use the calender.China has always had a calendar of its own and has never totally abandoned it.

In the eighteenth century AD, the [[France|French]] mathematician [[Joseph Lagrange]], as head of the French Revolutionary weights-and-measures committee, devised an observed solar calendar with months named for growing, harvesting, and climate seasons, not for Roman numbers (September, October, November, December) or dead Roman emperors (July, August) or gods (January, February, March, June, etc.). But he also abandoned the seven-day week of the Julian and Gregorian calendars in favor of a ten-day week (called a ''décade'' in French). Perhaps this feature more than any other made the calendar impractical. (The Biblical model is clearly a week of six days of labor and one day of rest; see {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=1}}.) In any event Emperor Napoleon I switched back to the Gregorian calendar in 1806, probably to retain the favor of the Popes of Rome as he continued his attempts to conquer the world. A short-lived political movement called the Paris Commune would revive the [[French Republican Calendar]] toward the end of the nineteenth century but would then abandon it two years later.

In summary, calendars have tended to come into being as much for ideological reasons, or the vanity of any particular ruler, as for practical reasons. Likewise, they tend to fall out of popular use as much on account of military conquest as on account of the relative fidelity of any given calendar to the seasons or astronomical cycles it is supposed to chart.

Thus the [[Gregorian Calendar]] owes its dominant acceptance worldwide as much to the spread of [[Christianity]] as to its actual utility. Nor is that dominance complete; the [[China|Chinese]], for example, maintain a [[Chinese Calendar|calendar]] of their own, as do most [[Islamic calendar|Muslim]] nation-states. At the opposite extreme is the [[French Republican Calendar]], a calendar born in ideology and later abandoned after a later ruler found the calendar not merely impractical but also politically imprudent to retain.

The prophet [[Daniel (prophet)|Daniel]] predicted <ref>{{Bible ref|book=Daniel|chap=7|verses=25}}</ref> that a totalitarian world leader would make one final change of the calendar before [[God]] would return and, among other things, decree His own calendar as part of His direct Millennial rule. (See {{Bible ref|book=Revelation|chap=19-20}}.)

== Types of calendars ==
=== Observed versus calculated ===
A calendar can be either ''observed'' or ''calculated''. An observed calendar relies on regular adjustment by some designated [[human]] authority that receives reports of astronomical and/or seasonal observations. The briefly-used [[French Republican Calendar]] was an observed calendar, in that the officials in charge of weights and measures declared leap years when necessary to begin the calendar, without fail, on the autumnal [[equinox]] as observed in Paris. The ancient Hebrews, in Biblical days, also used an observed calendar prior to their Captivity.<ref name=newton>[[Isaac Newton|Newton, Sir Isaac]]. ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15784/15784-h/15784-h.htm The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended].'' Reproduced by Project Gutenberg. Accessed April 3, 2008.</ref>

A calculated calendar adjusts itself strictly according to a mathematical formula. The [[Julian Calendar]], [[Gregorian Calendar]], and modern [[Hebrew Calendar]] are calculated calendars.

Calendars throughout history have had their bases in [[astronomy]], [[agriculture]], [[meteorology]], or a combination of two or three of these.

=== Astronomical calendars ===
Astronomical calendars (not to be confused with [[astronomical dating]]) use the [[orbital period]]s of the [[earth]] and the [[moon]], the apparent motions of the [[sun]], and sometimes the periods and motions of the [[star]]s and other celestial bodies (including [[Jupiter]] with its synodic year of slightly more than 399 days). The [[Egypt]]ian calendar allegedly used an astronomical body called ''Sothis'', though its precise identification remains an unsettled controversy. The [[Bible]] tells us that [[God]] specifically created the sun, moon, and stars to help [[human]]kind reckon the seasons and years.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=1|verses=16-18}}</ref>

''Lunar calendars'' synchronize the [[month]]s with the synodic period of the [[moon]]. A purely lunar calendar would be about 354 days long, because the average ''synodic month'' (that is, the period of the [[moon]]'s appearance in the sky of earth) is less than 30 days. Typical lunar calendars have twelve months in a year, alternating between 30 and 29 days.

Failure to adjust such a calendar causes it to cycle without regard to the seasons. The [[Islamic Calendar]] is the one remaining true lunar calendar in widespread use; its failure to have a seasonal corrective is a matter of speculation. The ancient Roman calendar was subject to seasonal adjustment, but the repeated failures of various chiefs of the Roman state religion to attend to this adjustment finally led [[Julius Caesar]] to change Rome's calendar from lunar to solar.

''Solar calendars'' synchronize strictly to the apparent motions of the [[sun]]. Phases of the moon tend to occur almost at random within any given month, but solar calendars tend to track faithfully with agricultural seasons over many years. The [[Julian Calendar]] and its successor the [[Gregorian Calendar]] are the two solar calendars in most widespread use today.

''Luni-solar calendars'' begin and end their months by the phases of the moon, but adjust themselves to track the sun as well. The modern [[Hebrew Calendar]] is the best-known luni-solar calendar in use today. The [[Biblical Calendar]] was supposed, by [[Sir Isaac Newton]], to be a luni-solar calendar<ref name=newton/>. But in fact it was probably a ''luni-seasonal'' calendar that relied on the ripening of a particular crop to signal the first month of [[spring]].<ref name=Jones>[[Floyd Nolen Jones|Jones, Floyd N.]] ''[[The Chronology of the Old Testament]]'', 16th ed. Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1993-2007 (ISBN 9780890514160), pp. 106-109</ref>

=== Agricultural calendars ===
''Agricultural'' or ''seasonal calendars'' are far less common than the astronomical. These calendars track various growing or harvesting seasons. Such a calendar might vary from year to year on account of the mildness or harshness of [[winter]] or, less commonly, [[summer]]. But a seasonal calendar would always stay more-or-less true to solar or stellar apparent motions on average.

Though no pure seasonal calendar is in common use today, the [[Biblical calendar]] was probably a luni-seasonal calendar until the Babylonian captivity, when the Hebrews came under the influence of the Babylonians, arguably the foremost astronomers of their day.

The [[French Republican Calendar]] pretends to be an agricultural-meteorological seasonal calendar, with its months named for the seasons of growing, harvesting, or climate. But it is ''not'' a true seasonal calendar, because it makes no allowances for adjustment from agricultural or meteorological ''observations''.

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

== See Also ==
* [[Gregorian Calendar]]
* [[Julian Calendar]]
* [[Hebrew Calendar]]
* [[Biblical Calendar]]
* [[Islamic Calendar]]
* [[Chinese Calendar]]
* [[French Republican Calendar]]
* [[Epoch]]

[[Category:Dating Systems]]

Berkshire

2009-06-04T02:46:27Z

Baileyisadog:

'''Berkshire''' is a [[county]] in central southern [[England]], that has the honorific title of Royal Berkshire. It contains the towns of [[Reading]] and [[Newbury]] and the royal residence of [[Windsor Castle]].

The county's strategic central position has resulted in it being the venue for many historical battles, notably between the [[Vikings]] and the forces of [[Alfred the Great]], and during the [[English Civil War]]. Berkshire was also present as a military base during World War 2.

In 1974 a large area of Berkshire, called the [[Vale of the White Horse]], was transferred to the neighbouring county of [[Oxfordshire]].

[[Category:United Kingdom Counties]]

Bernard of Clairvaux

2009-06-04T02:44:55Z

Baileyisadog:

[[Image:Stbernard.jpg|right|thumb|250px| St. Bernard of Clairvaux]]

'''St. Bernard of Clairvaux''' (b. 1090, died August 21, 1153) was a gifted holy man of [[France]]. Bernard was an Abbot, a monk, a Theologian, and a poet. He was one of the greatest spiritual masters of all times. He had a special devotion to the [[Blessed Virgin]], and there is no one who speaks more sublimely of the Queen of Heaven. He was also the most powerful propagator of the Cistercian reform. Bernard was a very wise man that the [[Pope]] commissioned to lead the Second Crusade. He helped end the schism of anti-Pope Anacletus II. St. Bernard founded and led the monastery at Clairvaux which had over 700 monks, and he was proclaimed a [[Doctor of the Church]] by Pope Pius VIII.

==Early Life==
St. Bernard was born in a castle, the third of seven siblings into the highest nobility in Burgundy, France. <ref>[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=559 St. Bernard of Clairvaux] Catholic Online</ref> His parents would send him for the finest of educations. At the age of nine years, Bernard was sent to a much renowned school at Chatillon-sur-Seine. He had a great taste for literature and devoted himself for some time to poetry. His success in his studies won the admiration of his masters, and for his growth in virtue. <ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02498d.htm St. Bernard of Clairvaux] Catholic Encyclopedia</ref> Soon after his mother died in 1113, Bernard decided to enter the monastery of Cîteaux at the age of twenty-two.

==Monastery of Cîteaux==
The Benedictine monastery was in dire condition and declining enrollment, going three years without any new monks. When Bernard explained his intentions to his family, they were appalled at the lifestyle he would be entering. St. Bernard had persuaded four of his brothers, one uncle, and 26 other men to join him. By his third year, 1115, he became Abbot. As a young Abbot, he published a series of sermons on the Annunciation. These marked him as one of the most gifted spiritual writer. <ref>[http://www.ccel.org/b/bernard/ St. Bernard of Clairvaux] Christian Classics Ethereal Library</ref> He would create many more monasteries, including Clairvaux.

==Pope Innocent II==
The influence of the Abbot of Clairvaux was soon felt in provincial affairs. St. Bernard defended the rights of the Church against the encroachments of kings and princes. The death of Pope Honorius II occurred on the 14th of February, 1130. This event would lead to a schism whereby two Popes would be elected. It cost Bernard eight years of laborious travel and skillful mediation. At the same time he labored for peace and reconciliation between England and France. King Louis le Gros convened a national council of the French bishops and was chosen to judge between the rival popes, Innocent II and Anacletus II. The King chose [[Pope Innocent II|Innocent II]]. Bernard sided with Innocent II, who had originally been one of his monks, and against Anacletus at the Council of Reims. In 1132, Bernard accompanied Innocent II into Italy, and at Cluny, the Pope abolished the dues which Clairvaux used to pay to this celebrated abbey--an action which gave rise to a quarrel between the "White Monks" and the "Black Monks" which lasted twenty years.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02498d.htm St. Bernard of Clairvaux] Catholic Encyclopedia</ref>

==Second Crusade==
Pope Innocent passed away and new Pope was elected in 1145. The First Crusade had given the Christian forces control of a few areas in Palestine, including the city of Edessa. Muslims had been conquering these lands. King Louis VII of France was eager to launch a crusade to retake Edessa and prevent a Muslim recapture of Jerusalem. He sought Bernard's approval, which he refused. He then asked the Pope to order Bernard to preach a Crusade. The Pope gave the order, and Bernard preached with spectacular results. At Pope Eugene III's command, Bernard traveled through France and [[Germany]] preaching the Second Crusade to send vast armies on the road toward [[Jerusalem]]. He aroused the greatest enthusiasm among the masses of the population.

As for the Crusade, things went wrong from the start. The various rulers leading the movement were distrustful of one another and not disposed to work together. Of the soldiers who set out (contemporary estimates vary from 100,000 to 1,500,000), most died of disease and starvation before reaching their goal, and most of the remainder were killed or captured soon after their arrival. The impact on Bernard was devastating, and so was the impact on Europe. In 1153, the passing of Pope Eugene had struck the fatal blow by taking from him one whom he considered his greatest friend and consular. The entire responsibility for the Crusades failure rested on Bernard. He was blamed for not providing miracles for victory, which he attributed it to the sins of the Crusaders. Bernard journeyed to reconcile the warring provinces of Metz and Lorraine. He persuaded them to peace and to an agreement drawn up under his mediation. <ref>[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/232.html Bernard of Clairvaux] Anglican.org</ref>

==Works==

===Books===
*"De Gradibus Superbiae", his first treatise;
*"Homilies on the Gospel 'Missus est'" (1120);
*"Apology to William of St. Thierry" against the claims of the monks of Cluny;
*"On the Conversion of Clerics", a book addressed to the young ecclesiastics of Paris (1122);
*"De Laudibus Novae Militiae", addressed to Hughes de Payns, first Grand Master and Prior of Jerusalem (1129). This is a eulogy of the military order instituted in 1118, and an exhortation to the knights to conduct themselves with courage in their several stations.
*"De amore Dei" wherein St. Bernard shows that the manner of loving God is to love Him without measure and gives the different degree of this love;
*"Book of Precepts and Dispensations" (1131), which contains answers to questions upon certain points of the Rule of St. Benedict from which the abbot can, or cannot, dispense;
*"De Gratiâ et Libero Arbitrio" in which the Catholic dogma of grace and free will is proved according to the principles of St. Augustine;
*"Book of Considerations", addressed to Pope Eugenius III;
*"De Officiis Episcoporum", addressed to Henry, Archbishop of Sens.

===Sermons===
*"On Psalm 90, 'Qui habitat'" (1125)
*"On the Canticle of Canticles". St. Bernard explained in eighty-six sermons.
* His "Letters" number 530

==Canonized==
St. Bernard died at Clairvaux on 20 August 1153. He was canonized by Pope Alexander III on 18 January 1174. Pope Pius VII declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1830.

==In literature==
St. Bernard appears towards the end of [[Dante's Paradiso]], acting as [[Dante]]'s guide for the final stage of his journey towards [[God]]. He also appeared on an episode of The Simpsons.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Saints]]

Ghazi

2009-06-04T02:44:13Z

Baileyisadog:

{{stub}}
A '''ghazi''' is an [[Islam]]ic [[warrior]]. They arose seeking to conquer land belonging to [[infidel]]s, people of non-Islamic faith. In Afghanistan, Al Qaeda has been recruting followers under the term Ghazi, presumably in response to weakining in America's defence since the 2008 Elections.

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Air Force Office of Special Investigations

2009-06-04T02:42:31Z

Baileyisadog:

The '''Air Force Office of Special Investigations''' ('''AFOSI'''), is a Field Operating Agency (FOA) of the [[United States Air Force]] that provides provides professional investigative service to commanders of all Air Force activities. It's mission is to identify, exploit and neutralize criminal, terrorist and intelligence threats to the U.S. Air Force, [[Department of Defense]] and U.S. Government.

Its special agents investigate a wide variety of serious offenses - espionage, [[terrorism]], crimes against property, violence against people, larceny, computer hacking, acquisition fraud, drug use and distribution, financial misdeeds, military desertion, corruption of the contracting process, and any other illegal activity that undermines the mission of the U.S. Air Force or the Department of Defense.

AFOSI has been the Air Force's major investigative service since August 1, 1948. It reports to the Inspector General, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. The agency is headquartered at Andrews Air Force Base, [[Maryland]], but has units in 221 places globally -- both on Air Force bases and in strategically important locations around the globe. The Department has proctected America from many threats which are both dangerous and threatening.

==External links==
*[http://www.osi.andrews.af.mil/ Official website]

[[Category:Military]]
[[Category:United States Air Force]]
[[Category:United States Government]]

Gun control

2009-06-04T02:40:00Z

Baileyisadog:

'''Gun control''' laws restrict the purchase or ownership of guns, a weapon acquired mostly for defensive or sporting purposes. Gun control is unique among social programs in increasing the emotional and physical dependency of ''all'' voters on government. Because gun control increases the dependence of voters on government, its political effect is to shift the electorate leftward, and the primary supporters of gun control are the [[liberal media]] and [[leftist]] politicians.<ref>[http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/quotes/repeal.html Quotes of Leftists Demanding Gun Control]</ref> In the [[United Kingdom]], which already has the strictest gun control in Europe, [[leftists]] demand control over 120,000 ''deactivated'' guns, even though their activation and use constitute only 0.04% of all gun offenses there; fewer guns means greater dependency on government.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3168607.ece</ref>

In [[Australia]], [[leftist]] insistence on more gun control has been driven by the [[liberal]] media based on statistically insignificant but highly publicized shootings. "[O]n 28 April 1996, 32 people were shot to death, 19 were seriously injured, and three others were otherwise killed near Port Arthur, Tasmania [in Australia]. The public was immediately whipped into a gun control frenzy by the press ... and others."<ref>"Although polls done prior to the massacre indicated that the public was satisfied with the amount of 'gun control' they already had, a major newspaper did a poll just a few days after the massacre (while all minds were 'clear') and, not surprisingly, found high levels of support for extreme gun control measures. This poll would be used forever ...."[http://www.gunsandcrime.org/aussiegc.html]</ref><ref>"For example, The Australian newspaper ran an editorial on Monday October 7, 2002 in which it stated, 'Most voters ... seek nothing less than the strongest gun laws available.' ... The point is that the media are again in a frenzy about guns. ... Why am I not surprised that this is all happening in Australia at the same time as there is a rogue sniper on the loose in America?"[http://www.class.org.au/The%20next%20round%20in%20gun%20control.htm]</ref> The passage of gun control in Australia in 1996 and its expansion in 2002 has led to a complete takeover of all nine federal, state and territory legislatures by the Labor Party, the first time a single party has ever achieved this in Australian history.<ref>The Sydney Morning Herald - [http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/either-way-its-history-in-the-making/2007/11/23/1195753310949.html Either way, it's history in the making]</ref><ref>ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - [http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/ 2007 Federal Election]</ref>

Gun control is a denial or limitation by [[government]]s of the right to armed [[self-defense]],<ref name="Washington University Law Quarterly"> "In contrast to most other weaponry, firearms are preeminently defensive in effect." [http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/76holo.htm Washington University Law Quarterly]</ref> as promised by the [[Second Amendment]] of the Constitution of the [[United States of America]]. Genocide has occurred only after gun control first disarmed the citizenry.<ref name="Washington University Law Quarterly"/>

Proponents use the discredited - but superficially appealing - claim that fewer lawfully-owned guns leads to less crime.<ref>People who support gun control generally believe that gun control laws significantly reduce violent crime. [http://home.sprynet.com/~owl1/irrationality.htm Why People Are Irrational about Politics]</ref><ref>Gun control primarily restricts the lawful acquisition and use of guns. Over 99% of the guns restricted by most gun control regulation are used in a lawful manner.</ref>

In the United States the three primary [[federal]] gun control laws are:
* [[National Firearms Act]] (1934)
* [[Gun Control Act]] (1968)
* [[Brady Bill]] (1993)

These laws have further been amended by other laws such as the [[Firearms Owners Protection Act]] (1986) and the [[Omnibus Crime Bill]] (1994).

Fed up with federal gun control, in 2009 States began considering (Utah) or passing (Montana) laws "making guns that are made and kept within state boundaries exempt from federal regulations" including "background checks, licensing and registration."<ref>http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6367553</ref>

== The Fallacy and Motivation for Gun Control ==
[[Image:No Weapons Allowed.gif|right]]
Gun control potentially causes an increase in crime by restricting its main deterrent: [[self-defense]]. In the United States, law-abiding uses of guns outnumber criminal uses by about a factor of 1000 to 1,<ref>http://www.americanselfdefense.com/gunfacts3.0.pdf (p. 60)</ref> and the removal of guns from everyone eliminates the lawful use of self-defense and its deterrent effect. "[[Americans]] use firearms to defend themselves from criminals at least 764,000 times a year."<ref name="Gallup_LAT">"This figure is the lowest among a group of 9 nationwide surveys done by organizations including Gallup and the Los Angeles Times." (Just Facts - [http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp Gun Control])</ref> Specific examples of guns being used successfully in [[self-defense]] are easy to find.<ref>Two 70-ish store owners stopped armed robberies of their stores by shooting at the bandits. "The person came in and pointed the gun at him and my father shot him. I'm proud of him." [http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/253849.html Buffalo News]</ref> "In 1982, a survey of imprisoned criminals found that 34% of them had been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim."<ref name="Gallup_LAT"/> When [[Florida]] began allowing its citizens to carry a concealed weapon, [[Florida]]'s firearm homicide rate fell by 37% while the national average ''increased'' by 15%.<ref name="Gallup_LAT"/> As explained below, the political effect of gun control is to cause voters to become more dependent emotionally on government and more supportive of bigger government.

Studies by [[John Lott]] and others indicate that gun control causes higher crime rates.<ref>[http://www.johnrlott.com/ John Lott's Website]</ref> [[Washington, D.C.]] has one of the highest crime rates in [[America]] even though it completely bans private handguns.<ref>[http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm District of Columbia Crime Rates 1960 - 2006]</ref> "Switzerland, Israel, Denmark and Finland, all of whom have a higher gun ownership rate than America, all have lower crime rates than America, in fact, their crime rates are among the lowest in the Western World."<ref>Slashdoc - [http://www.slashdoc.com/documents/71244 gun control]</ref> Lott demonstrates that in [[Britain]], [[Australia]] and [[Canada]], increased gun control in the late 1990s led to increased crime, the exact opposite of what the proponents of the gun control promised.<ref>John R. Lott Jr. and Eli Lehrer - [http://johnrlott.tripod.com/op-eds/IBDGunConFailure.html Add Gun Control To Litany Of Misbegotten Gov't Plans]</ref> States in the [[U.S.]] that have enacted concealed-carry laws enjoy lower crime rates.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706 Cato report]</ref>

[[image:Robbery victims per 100K.png|300px|thumb|<small>Source data: Australian Bureau of Statistics</small>]]
In [[Australia]], where gun ownership was less widespread and the gun control measures were less strict, there was an immediate increase in robbery and armed robbery after the gun control went into effect in 1996 (see chart at right).<ref>Gun control passed in Australia because "public was immediately whipped into a gun control frenzy by the press" after the "Port Arthur massacre" in Tasmania on April 28, 1996, in which 32 were shot dead and 19 injured. "Although polls done prior to the massacre indicated that the public was satisfied with the amount of 'gun control' they already had, a major newspaper did a poll just a few days after the massacre (while all minds were "clear") and, not surprisingly, found high levels of support for extreme gun control measures. This poll would be used forever by the commonwealth government and other gun controllers to claim that Australians supported the new gun laws to come." - [http://www.gunsandcrime.org/aussiegc.html Gun Control in Australia] (by gunsandcrime.org)</ref>
There is no clear evidence supporting a decrease in crime from gun control.<ref name="Results">[http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html Results of the Australian Gun "Buyback" & New Gun Laws], October 2001</ref><ref>[http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/azl084v1 Study showing lack of promised benefits from gun control]</ref>

Subsequent to gun control in England:<ref>http://www.reason.com/news/show/28582.html</ref>

:"from 1997 to 2001, the rate of violent crime more than doubled. Your chances of being mugged in London are now [as of 2002] six times greater than in New York. England's rates of assault, robbery, and burglary are far higher than America's, and 53 percent of English burglaries occur while occupants are at home, compared with 13 percent in the U.S., where burglars admit to fearing armed homeowners more than the police. In a United Nations study of crime in 18 developed nations published in July, England and Wales led the Western world's crime league, with nearly 55 crimes per 100 people."<ref>However this increase in recorded violent crime between 1997 and 2001 is explained by the Home Office as a result of changes in the definition of violent crime and new counting rules introduced in 1998. [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/rdsolr1804.pdf Violent Crime in England and Wales] According to the British Crime Survey, which is considered a more reliable guide to trends in crime[http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/crime-statistics-independent-review-06.pdf], violent crime fell 24% between 1997 and 2001/02, and burglary fell 40% over the same period.[http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb1105tab201.xls Trends in BCS incidents of crime]</ref>

Gun control in [[Britain]] and [[Australia]] has been followed by a predictable shift to the left politically by voters as they lost their instrument of self-defense and became more emotionally dependent on government. Contrast that with the [[United States]], where an effort to push gun control after the [[Columbine massacre]] failed in 2000 and the government has remained as [[conservative]] -- if not more so -- ever since.

The emasculation of the citizenry by gun control also arguably reduces the resistance of a society to intimidation, and exacerbates fear of consequences from causing offense. Subsequent to the passage of strict gun control in [[England]] some teachers have avoided teaching controversial subjects such as the [[Holocaust]], the Arab-Israeli conflict and the [[Crusades]] during history classes.<ref>http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RW100.pdf</ref>
Teaching Emotive and Controversial History 3-19] (p.15) The anti-self-defense attitude of British authorities has also turned criminals into "victims" and victims who fight back into "criminals." One particularly egregious case involved a farmer being sentenced to life imprisonment for defending himself in his home after the home was repeatedly burglarized <ref>http://www.theinternetparty.org/commentary/c_s.php?td=200107200000&section_type=com</ref>

== Trends ==
After decades of increasing gun control laws, the current trend in the [[United States]] is in the direction of more gun rights. The 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill included a ban on certain new rifles labeled assault rifles solely because of features of their appearance, and on new high-capacity magazines. This law recently expired and was not renewed by [[Congress]]. Also, Washington D.C.'s gun ban was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals on March 9, 2007.<ref>The New York Times - [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/washington/09cnd-gun.html?hp Appeals Court Says Gun Ban Violates 2nd Amendment]</ref><ref>The Washington Post - [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902416.html D.C.'s Ban On Handguns In Homes Is Thrown Out]</ref>

By removing the deterrent effect of guns, gun control causes dramatic increases in crimes committed with other weapons:<ref name="bbc">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2656875.stm</ref>

:You are now six times more likely to be mugged in [[London]] than [[New York]]. Why? Because as common law appreciated, not only does an armed individual have the ability to protect himself or herself but criminals are less likely to attack them. They help keep the peace. A study found American burglars fear armed home-owners more than the police. As a result burglaries are much rarer and only 13% occur when people are at home, in contrast to 53% in England.

Supporters of gun control argue that homicide with guns is much less in [[England]] than in the [[United States]],<ref>In 2005/06, the total number of victims of homicide by shooting (including crossbows) in England and Wales was 50 and there were 212 victims of homicide by sharp instruments. [Home Office Statistical Bulletin - [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb0207.pdf Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005/2006][http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hosb0104.pdf] The data for gun deaths in the United States include guns used in self-defense, as in fending off an assault, robbery or rape, and there were a total of 11,350 gun deaths (including deaths of criminals) in 2005.[US Department of Justice, FBI - [http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_01.html Crime in the United States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 Inhabitants, 1986 - 2005]</ref> but that was true even before gun control and is likely due to cultural reasons. "A study comparing New York and London over 200 years found the New York homicide rate consistently five times the London rate, although for most of that period residents of both cities had unrestricted access to firearms. When guns were available in England they were seldom used in crime. A government study for 1890-1892 found an average of one handgun homicide a year in a population of 30 million."<ref name="bbc" />

Gun control laws are often seen to conflict with the [[Second Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]], which recognizes the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

The "right to keep and bear arms" is a right guaranteed to the American citizen by the Bill of Rights through the virtue of a selective reading of said Bill. The phrase "a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state" precedes the statement, and most federal Courts of Appeals have held that this phrase requires that the "right to bear arms" relates to the collective rights of state militias, as opposed to the individual's rights to have any weapon desired. Just recently, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit went against nine other circuits in holding that the Second Amendment constitutes an individual right.<ref>The New York Times - [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/washington/10gun.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Court Rejects Strict Gun Law as Unconstitutional]</ref><ref>FOX News - [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258067,00.html Appeals Court Strikes Down Washington, D.C. Handgun Ban]</ref> However, according to the judge writing for the majority in this case, its decision does still allow for "reasonable restrictions" on gun ownership and use, such as carrying of guns by intoxicated individuals, or in churches.

Only six cities in the [[United States]] ban handguns: [[Washington, D.C.]], [[Chicago]], and four of its suburbs.<ref>David Kopel, "The Democrats and Gun Control," Wall St.J., Page A19, April 17, 2008 [http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120839466717921537-lMyQjAxMDI4MDE4NzMxOTc0Wj.html]</ref>

==Overview==
"Gun control" can include:

* Restricting which persons can own firearms.
* Restrictions on the number of firearms a person may own, or purchase during a given time period
* Requirements that privately owned firearms be registered with the government.
* Bans on certain types of firearms; for example, "handguns" or assault rifles
* Restrictions on where firearms may be carried, for example into restaurants or post offices
* Requiring a "background check" and/or a "waiting period" to purchase a firearm
* Restricting when and where firearms may be bought and sold, for example banning their sale through the mail
* Requiring licenses or some other form of permission from the government to buy and/or sell a firearm
* Requiring some form of permission from the government to carry a firearm in public, either concealed or openly
* Laws granting special gun rights for some people, for example retired law enforcement officers, which are denied the rest of the public, which was used in several southern states.
* Outright bans on carrying firearms in public
* Outright bans on private possession of firearms, though this has never occurred in the United States

==Constitutional Debate==
The [[Second Amendment]] reads:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Most constitutional scholars agree that since the amendment refers to "the right of the People" instead of the right of the militia, it protects an individual right to own guns. The extent of that right was something hotly debated for decades, until the Supreme Court ruling of 26 June, 2008, Heller v District of Columbia.

The majority opinion, written by Justice [[Antonin Scalia]], held for the first time that the Constitution provides an individual right to bear arms, such as for self-defense, rather than a right that applies only to a state militia.

The decision upheld an appellate court ruling striking down Washington, D.C.'s 1976 handgun ban. The case marked the first time in more than 70 years that the Supreme Court had addressed the Second Amendment ''and the first time it spoke directly about the implication of an individual right''. The court struck down two of the District of Columbia's gun control laws: its handgun ban and its requirement that other firearms kept at home have a trigger lock or be disassembled.

Relying on the broader historical record, Justice Scalia wrote:
{{cquote|'''putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.'''}}

Scalia noted that the ruling should not be interpreted to "cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons or the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings." <ref>[http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-2901.pdf Supreme Court Opinion, District of Columbia v Heller]</ref>

==Racism of gun control==
In the [[United States of America]], gun control has a strong racist origin and reasoning. Before the Civil War ended, State "Slave Codes" prohibited slaves from owning guns. After President [[Abraham Lincoln]] issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and after the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery was adopted and the Civil War ended in 1865, States persisted in prohibiting blacks, now freemen, from owning guns under laws renamed "Black Codes." They did so on the basis that blacks were not citizens, and thus did not have the same rights, including the right to keep and bear arms protected in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as whites. This view was specifically articulated by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in its infamous 1857 decision in ''[[Dred Scott v. Sandford]]'' to uphold slavery.

The United States Congress overrode most portions of the Black Codes by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The legislative histories of both the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as The Special Report of the Anti-Slavery Conference of 1867, are replete with denunciations of those particular statutes that denied blacks equal access to firearms. [Kates, "Handgun Prohibition and the Original Meaning of the Second Amendment," 82 Mich. L. Rev. 204, 256 (1983)] However, facially neutral disarming through economic means laws remain in effect.

After the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1878, most States turned to "facially neutral" business or transaction taxes on handgun purchases. However, the intention of these laws was not neutral. An article in Virginia's official university law review called for a "prohibitive tax...on the privilege" of selling handguns as a way of disarming "the son of Ham," whose "cowardly practice of 'toting' guns has been one of the most fruitful sources of crime.... Let a negro board a railroad train with a quart of mean whiskey and a pistol in his grip and the chances are that there will be a murder, or at least a row, before he alights."<ref>Comment, Carrying Concealed Weapons, 15 Va L. Reg. 391, 391-92 (1909); George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal (GMU CR LJ), Vol. 2, No. 1, "Gun Control and Racism," Stefan Tahmassebi, 1991, p. 75.</ref> Thus, many Southern States imposed high taxes or banned inexpensive guns so as to price blacks and poor whites out of the gun market.

Today, "gun control" laws continue to be enacted so as to have a racist effect if not intent:

* Police-issued license and permit laws, unless drafted to require issuance to those not prohibited by law from owning guns, are routinely used to prevent lawful gun ownership among "unpopular" populations.
* Public housing residents, approximately 3 million Americans, are singled out for gun bans.
* "Gun sweeps" by police in "high crime neighborhoods" whereby vehicles and "pedestrians who meet a specific profile that might indicate they are carrying a weapon" are searched are becoming popular, and are being studied by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] as "Operation Ceasefire."
* Some U.S. cities with high minority populations, such as Washington, D.C., are singled out for gun bans.
* "Project Exile" began in the U.S. city of Richmond, Virginia and mandated that people arrested for technical firearms violations (note: not for violent crimes committed with a firearm, but for technical violations of the law) be tried in federal court where they would be subject to lengthy mandatory minimum sentences rather than in state court under the more lenient Virginia laws. As with many other restrictions this was aimed primarily at the city's Black residents. It has since been copied in many other cities.

== Sexism of gun control ==

Firearms, especially lower recoiling ones such as handguns, allow any person to wield enough power to stop another person from attacking them.<ref name="genderDiscrimination1">http://www.learnaboutguns.com/2008/03/19/firearms-rights-are-a-gender-equality-issue-too/ </ref> Many women (quite reasonably) fear the threat of attack by a physically stronger man, and a firearm could prevent many of these attacks, but gun bans leave these women vulnerable. Take the case of the “North Side Rapist” in Chicago, a city where hand guns are banned, as an example: The rapist broke in to the womens homes, and at least one of the women heard him break in and then climb the stairs. Had this woman had a handgun, she almost certainly could have stopped the rapist before it was too late. This would have prevented her from enduring such a horrific crime, as well as preventing the rapist’s future victims from experiencing the same thing. Instead, Chicago law prevented her from being able to defend herself, and gave the advantage to the rapist/home-invader. This is not an isolated incident, and similar events happen every day across the county.

== Elitism of gun control ==

Many of the most ardent American anti-gun politicians, such as Chicago’s Mayor Daley, are protected by taxpayer-sponsored armed body guards, but deny law abiding citizens the right to defend themselves with a gun. <ref name="classDiscrimination1">http://www.learnaboutguns.com/2008/04/16/a-double-standard-anti-gun-politicians-and-their-gun-toting-bodyguards/ </ref> These politicians seemingly believe themselves to be part of an elite group who deserve to be protected against violent criminals, while ordinary law-abiding citizens are left with less-effective means to defend themselves, and must instead rely on the police arriving in time.

== Gun control outside the USA ==

Gun control advocates cite foreign countries to argue that gun control can reduce crime, but such comparison can be difficult due to the presence of other factors. For example, they cite [[Singapore]] as having gun control and a lower crime rate than the [[United States]], but Singapore has less than 5 million persons and one of the highest literacy and average wealth in the world. It lacks many of the freedoms found in the [[United States]] and strictly imposes harsh physical punishment, such as caning and the [[death penalty]], for crimes that are not punished so harshly in the [[United States]]. The real issue of the security in Singapore is its tight criminal control, not the gun control itself.

Gun control supporters also cite [[Gun Control in Japan|Japan's gun control laws]], which severely restrict gun ownership and crime rates are relatively low. But [[Japan]] also lacks many freedoms and diversity which exist in the [[United States]], and [[Japan]] has strong cultural deterrents to crime. Ironically, [[Japan]] is home to [[Tokyo Marui]], the world's largest [[airsoft]] gun manufacturer, which designs airsoft guns that are made to the same scale and with the same materials as the real counterpart and which have been mistaken by police for real guns.

A country with a much lower population density than the United States, and with fewer drug problems, is [[Australia]]. It has always had a much lower homicide rate than the more violent culture in the [[United States]].<ref>In Australia the gun related homicide rate is 0.44 per 100,000 of population. In the US it is about 8 times as high at 3.72 per 100,000 of population.</ref> In the 1990s [[leftists]] in Australia demanded strict [[gun control]] based on isolated violence that was sensationalized in the [[media]]. Since the Port Arthur Massacre, which is the third largest Spree Killing in the world, there has been no change in the the number of homicide deaths by gun in Australia. Gun Rights in certain areas are protected by the Shooters Party, which holds seats in the NSW Senate.

In the [[European Union]], gun control is more strict than in the United States, but gun ownership differs widely between member states, from 36 per 100 people in [[Cyprus]] to one per 100 in [[Poland]].<ref name="EU">http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/29/europe/union.php EU legislators push tougher gun controls</ref> In November 2007, the [[European Parliament]] passed legislation to tighten and harmonize gun control across the EU, and oblige each member state to set up a computerized database of firearms, as it "hoped to prevent Europe from becoming a gun-friendly culture like the United States".<ref name="EU" /> Parliament wanted to limit cross-border trade from states with less control to those with tougher laws, such as from [[Lithuania]], where replica guns can cost as little as [[Euro|€]]100 (US$150), to the [[United Kingdom]], where all replicas are outlawed.<ref name="EU" />

== Gun Control and Genocide ==

Gun control "contributes to the probability of its government engaging" in [[genocide]], including the three worst instances in the 20th century:<ref>"[A] society's weapons policy might be one of the institutional arrangements that contributes to the probability of its government engaging in some of the more extreme varieties of outrage. ... [I]t is [] an arresting reality that not one of the principal genocides of the twentieth century, and there have been dozens, has been inflicted on a population that was armed." [http://ls.wustl.edu/WULQ/75-3/753-4.html Washington University Law Quarterly]</ref>

*In 1911, [[Turkey]] imposed gun control and then, from 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million defenseless Armenians were killed.

*In 1929, the [[Soviet Union]] imposed gun control and over the next 24 years about 20 million defenseless dissidents were killed.

*In 1938, [[Germany]] imposed gun control and then over the next seven years 13 million defenseless Jews and other victims were exterminated. <ref>[http://www.thegunzone.com/rkba/rkba-12.html The True Face of Gun Control], Dean Speir, The Gun Zone RKBA, Accessed December 26, 2007</ref>

"The Nazis made only two important changes to the Weapons Law that was in place when they came to power. First, they forbade Jews from owning guns or any other weapon. Second, they exempted members of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and many Nazi party officials from the law's strictures."<ref name="Washington University Law Quarterly"/> The German Firearms Act of 1937 stated "No civilian is to have a firearm without a permit and permits shall not be issued to persons suspected of acting against the state. ''For Jews, this permission will not be granted.'' Those people who do not require permission to carry weapons include the whole of the SS, and the SA - including the Deaths Head group, and the officers of the Hitler youth." <ref name="Volokh">[http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38d04d5c7c40.htm The Journalist's Guide to Gun Policy Scholars and Second Amendment Scholars], Professor Eugene Volokh, FreeRepublic.com, March 15, 2000</ref>

Adolph Hitler said, "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so." <ref name="Volokh" />

[[Josef Stalin]], former dictator of the [[USSR]] and murderer of over 20 million people, infamously supported Gun control in the fear that his evil regime might be torn down and so only soldiers could have gunpowder weapons.

== Gun Control and young mass murderers ==

''Main article: [[Young mass murderers]]''

Strict gun control failed and still fails to prevent mass murderers from starting killing sprees while the victims are unable to defend themselves.

Compare the cases of Pekka-Eric Auvinen ([[Finland]]) and Robert Steinhäuser ([[Germany]]) with the case of Matthew Murray. The latter was stopped by an armed citizen before he could harm more victims; Auvinen killed 8 people and Steinhäuser killed 16. Both Finland and Germany have gun control laws.

==Other terms==
Other terms sometimes used by those who are opposed to gun control include:
* Rights restriction
* Victim disarmament

==See Also==
* [[Gun control quotes]]
*[[Essay:US Armed Citizens and Crime Control]]
*[[John Lott]]

==External Links==

=== Opposed to gun control ===
*[http://www.2asisters.org/ Second Amendment Sisters]
*[http://www.nra.org/ The National Rifle Association]
*[http://www.nrapublications.org/AC/index.asp Armed citizens defending themselves.]
*[http://www.a-human-right.com/ A Human Right] Discussion of the human right to self defense with a firearm.
*[http://www.learnaboutguns.com/ Learn About Guns] Firearm information and politics.
*[http://www.gunowners.org/ Gun Owners of America] A no-compromise pro-gun lobby in Washington, D.C.
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/gun-control/ What Liberals Say - Category: Gun Control]
*[http://www.guncite.com/ GunCite: Gun Control and Second Amendment Issues]
=== In favor of gun control ===
*[http://www.guninformation.org/ Gun Control and the Second Amendment]
*[http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-switzerland.htm Myth: Switzerland proves that high gun-ownership doesn't increase murder]
*[http://www.guncontrol.ca/Content/international.html Coalition for gun control]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[category:Second Amendment]]
[[Category:gun control]]
{{liberalism}}

Family

2009-06-04T02:24:32Z

Baileyisadog:

A '''family''' is, narrowly, parents and their offspring. More broadly, the group defined as those who have common ancestry. That is, the group produced as a result of [[sex]] leading to offspring. The term is also used more loosely to describe a group with some form of common characteristic or a group with a relationship (other than ancestral). In normal usage, however, family refers to the typical [[nuclear]] family.

A nuclear family consists of a [[mother]], a [[father]], and [[children]]. An extended family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles nephew, nieces and grandchildren. A single-parent family is one in which only one parent raises the children, often less effectively than in a nuclear family.

There is a link between Single-Parent families,and secular beliefs, which many prominent scientists believe is the reason for an increase in Liberalism in younger generations.

Children without families are known as [[orphan]]s. They reside in orphanages, and they generally want to be [[adoption|adopted]] by [[love|loving]] parents.

==External Links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/family/ What Liberals Say - Category: Family], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Reproduction]]

Ayn Rand

2009-06-04T02:22:40Z

Baileyisadog:

[[Image:Jhyu65.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Ayn Rand''' ("Ayn" rhymes with "mine"), born '''Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum''' (1905-1982) was a [[Russian]]-born [[philosopher]], screenwriter, and novelist, who began her career in Hollywood. She used her novels to promote her philosophy, known as [[Objectivism]]. Her best-known novels are [[Atlas_Shrugged|''Atlas Shrugged'']] and ''[[The Fountainhead]]''.
==Her views==
{{Main|Objectivism}}

Ayn Rand attracted a following based on her opposition to [[collectivism]], as articulated in her novels, particularly ''Atlas Shrugged''. Her followers today tend to be [[libertarians]] and predominantly unmarried men, many of whom are drawn to a self-indulgent lifestyle consistent with Rand's philosophy. Rand often called herself a "radical for capitalism," by which she meant the pure, ''laissez-faire'' variety.

Rand's philosophy was anti-Christian to the point of even declaring that "faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason."<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_topic_religion</ref> The movement she founded supports an "absolute right" to [[abortion]] at any time during pregnancy,<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5105</ref> including partial-birth abortion. She has openly mocked Christianity in an interview in the 1970's with [[Phil Donahue]] which was met with hostility from the audience.

Ayn Rand's philosophy and followers also support a "right" to have same-sex marriage, and opposed California's [[Proposition 8]] defining marriage as between one man and woman.<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21821</ref>

Rand had very little in common with [[conservatives]] except for a mutual opposition to communism and socialism. Rand was an [[atheism|atheist]] and opponent of traditional [[family]] values, who personally adhered more to [[Hollywood Values]] than conservative ones.<ref>http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html</ref> She was a strident opponent of altruism.

==Quotes==
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: The stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission – which is the stage of the darkest periods of [[human]] history, the stage of rule by brute force."<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45735 WorldNetDaily.com Should Democratic Party merge with Communist Party?, August 12, 2005</ref>

==Books Written==
*''We the Living''
*''[[Anthem (book)|Anthem]]''
*''The Fountainhead''
*''Atlas Shrugged''
*''Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal''
*''The Romantic Manifesto''
*''The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution''
*''[[The Virtue of Selfishness]]''

==References==
Doherthy, Brian. 'Radicals for Capitalism a Freewheeling History of the Modern Libertarian Movement.' New York: Public Affairs, 2007.
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer Ayn Rand Institute]
*[http://www.ARIwatch.com ARI Watch] — argues that the above misrepresents Ayn Rand.
*[http://www.ios.org/ The Atlas Society — home of The Objectivist Center]
*[http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/wiki/Main_Page Objectivism Wiki]
* [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDY2MzRhNmNmNWM1Njg0N2ZhMjFhMGZhNzY1NDM5MzU=&w=MA== Going Galt: Ayn Rand’s books are booming — but what about her ideas? A ''National Review'' (NRO) Symposium with comments by leading conservative scholars, most of whom consider Rand's books childish]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Ayn}}

[[Category:Women Authors]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Ayn Rand

2009-06-04T02:22:19Z

Baileyisadog:

[[Image:Jhyu65.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Ayn Rand''' ("Ayn" rhymes with "mine"), born '''Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum''' (1905-1982) was a [[Russian]]-born [[philosopher]], screenwriter, and novelist, who began her career in Hollywood. She used her novels to promote her philosophy, known as [[Objectivism]]. Her best-known novels are [[Atlas_Shrugged|''Atlas Shrugged'']] and ''[[The Fountainhead]]''.
==Her views==
{{Main|Objectivism}}

Ayn Rand attracted a following based on her opposition to [[collectivism]], as articulated in her novels, particularly ''Atlas Shrugged''. Her followers today tend to be [[libertarians]] and predominantly unmarried men, many of whom are drawn to a self-indulgent lifestyle consistent with Rand's philosophy. Rand often called herself a "radical for capitalism," by which she meant the pure, ''laissez-faire'' variety.

Rand's philosophy was anti-Christian to the point of even declaring that "faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason."<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_topic_religion</ref> The movement she founded supports an "absolute right" to [[abortion]] at any time during pregnancy,<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5105</ref> including partial-birth abortion. She has openly mocked Christianity in an interview in the 1970's with [[Phil Donahue]]which was met with hostility from the audience.

Ayn Rand's philosophy and followers also support a "right" to have same-sex marriage, and opposed California's [[Proposition 8]] defining marriage as between one man and woman.<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21821</ref>

Rand had very little in common with [[conservatives]] except for a mutual opposition to communism and socialism. Rand was an [[atheism|atheist]] and opponent of traditional [[family]] values, who personally adhered more to [[Hollywood Values]] than conservative ones.<ref>http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html</ref> She was a strident opponent of altruism.

==Quotes==
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: The stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission – which is the stage of the darkest periods of [[human]] history, the stage of rule by brute force."<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45735 WorldNetDaily.com Should Democratic Party merge with Communist Party?, August 12, 2005</ref>

==Books Written==
*''We the Living''
*''[[Anthem (book)|Anthem]]''
*''The Fountainhead''
*''Atlas Shrugged''
*''Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal''
*''The Romantic Manifesto''
*''The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution''
*''[[The Virtue of Selfishness]]''

==References==
Doherthy, Brian. 'Radicals for Capitalism a Freewheeling History of the Modern Libertarian Movement.' New York: Public Affairs, 2007.
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer Ayn Rand Institute]
*[http://www.ARIwatch.com ARI Watch] — argues that the above misrepresents Ayn Rand.
*[http://www.ios.org/ The Atlas Society — home of The Objectivist Center]
*[http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/wiki/Main_Page Objectivism Wiki]
* [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDY2MzRhNmNmNWM1Njg0N2ZhMjFhMGZhNzY1NDM5MzU=&w=MA== Going Galt: Ayn Rand’s books are booming — but what about her ideas? A ''National Review'' (NRO) Symposium with comments by leading conservative scholars, most of whom consider Rand's books childish]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Ayn}}

[[Category:Women Authors]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Ayn Rand

2009-06-04T02:21:39Z

Baileyisadog:

[[Image:Jhyu65.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Ayn Rand''' ("Ayn" rhymes with "mine"), born '''Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum''' (1905-1982) was a [[Russian]]-born [[philosopher]], screenwriter, and novelist, who began her career in Hollywood. She used her novels to promote her philosophy, known as [[Objectivism]]. Her best-known novels are [[Atlas_Shrugged|''Atlas Shrugged'']] and ''[[The Fountainhead]]''.
==Her views==
{{Main|Objectivism}}

Ayn Rand attracted a following based on her opposition to [[collectivism]], as articulated in her novels, particularly ''Atlas Shrugged''. Her followers today tend to be [[libertarians]] and predominantly unmarried men, many of whom are drawn to a self-indulgent lifestyle consistent with Rand's philosophy. Rand often called herself a "radical for capitalism," by which she meant the pure, ''laissez-faire'' variety.

Rand's philosophy was anti-Christian to the point of even declaring that "faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason."<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_topic_religion</ref> The movement she founded supports an "absolute right" to [[abortion]] at any time during pregnancy,<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5105</ref> including partial-birth abortion. She has openly mocked Christianity in an interview in the 1970's with Phil [[Donahue]]

Ayn Rand's philosophy and followers also support a "right" to have same-sex marriage, and opposed California's [[Proposition 8]] defining marriage as between one man and woman.<ref>http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21821</ref>

Rand had very little in common with [[conservatives]] except for a mutual opposition to communism and socialism. Rand was an [[atheism|atheist]] and opponent of traditional [[family]] values, who personally adhered more to [[Hollywood Values]] than conservative ones.<ref>http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html</ref> She was a strident opponent of altruism.

==Quotes==
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: The stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission – which is the stage of the darkest periods of [[human]] history, the stage of rule by brute force."<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45735 WorldNetDaily.com Should Democratic Party merge with Communist Party?, August 12, 2005</ref>

==Books Written==
*''We the Living''
*''[[Anthem (book)|Anthem]]''
*''The Fountainhead''
*''Atlas Shrugged''
*''Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal''
*''The Romantic Manifesto''
*''The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution''
*''[[The Virtue of Selfishness]]''

==References==
Doherthy, Brian. 'Radicals for Capitalism a Freewheeling History of the Modern Libertarian Movement.' New York: Public Affairs, 2007.
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer Ayn Rand Institute]
*[http://www.ARIwatch.com ARI Watch] — argues that the above misrepresents Ayn Rand.
*[http://www.ios.org/ The Atlas Society — home of The Objectivist Center]
*[http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/wiki/Main_Page Objectivism Wiki]
* [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDY2MzRhNmNmNWM1Njg0N2ZhMjFhMGZhNzY1NDM5MzU=&w=MA== Going Galt: Ayn Rand’s books are booming — but what about her ideas? A ''National Review'' (NRO) Symposium with comments by leading conservative scholars, most of whom consider Rand's books childish]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Ayn}}

[[Category:Women Authors]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

John Curtin

2009-06-04T02:19:39Z

Baileyisadog:

{{PM
|dob=8 July
|yob=1885
|birthplace=Creswick, Victoria
|dod=5 July
|yod=1945
|succ={{Succession
|hdg=As Prime Minister
|start-date=7 October
|start-year=1941
|end-date=5 July
|end-year=1945
|prev=Arthur Fadden
|next=Francis Forde
}}
|party=Australian Labor Party
|wife=Elsie Curtin
}}
'''John Curtin''' was the Prime Minister of [[Australia]] during the [[World War II|second World War]].
He became Prime Minister just before the war started, and died in office a month before the war ended. He is often regarded as the Greatest Australian Prime Minister by numerous polls, such as the one conducted by The Age in 2004. Other polls include Newspoll and reputable news program Today Tonight.

== Source ==
* National Museum of Australia, [http://www.nma.gov.au/education/school_resources/websites_and_interactives/primeministers/john_curtin/ John Curtin]

{{Australian Prime Ministers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtin, John}}

Paul Keating

2009-06-04T02:15:21Z

Baileyisadog:

'''Paul Keating''' (1944 - ) was [[Austalian]] [[Prime Minister]] from 1991 to 1996, as leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]] (ALP). He took office when he beat incumbent Prime Minister [[Bob Hawke]] in an ALP leadership ballot, and left office when the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] / [[National Party of Australia|National]] coalition won the 1996 federal election under [[John Howard]]. Paul Keating is the subject of a comdey musical, [[[[Keating!]]] which is popular in Austria.

{{Australian Prime Ministers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keating, Paul}}

Paul Keating

2009-06-04T02:15:01Z

Baileyisadog:

'''Paul Keating''' (1944 - ) was [[Austalian]] [[Prime Minister]] from 1991 to 1996, as leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]] (ALP). He took office when he beat incumbent Prime Minister [[Bob Hawke]] in an ALP leadership ballot, and left office when the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] / [[National Party of Australia|National]] coalition won the 1996 federal election under [[John Howard]]. Paul Keating is the subject of a comdey musical, [[Keating!] which is popular in Austria.

{{Australian Prime Ministers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keating, Paul}}

North Korea

2009-06-04T02:09:47Z

Baileyisadog:

{{Country
|name =조선민주주의인민공화국<br> Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk <br> ''Democratic People's Republic of Korea''
|map =Korea north rel 2005.jpg
|flag =NorthKoreaFlag.gif‎|thumb|170px
|capital =P'yongyang
|government =Communist totalitarian state
|language =Korean
|area =46,526 sq mi
|pop =23,301,725(2007)
|gdp-year =$22.85 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$1,007 (2006)
|currency = North Korean won
}}
'''North Korea''' is the world's most severe totalitarian dictatorship. It lies in eastern Asia and occupies the Korean peninsula north of a line that roughly follows the 38th parallel. Ruled by dictator and 'Dear Leader' [[Kim Jong Il]], who succeeded his father the 'Great Leader' [[Kim Il Sung]], it is officially named the '''Democratic People's Republic of Korea''', but its government has nothing in common with Western ideas of [[democracy]]. Rather, it is organized along [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] lines.

The official North Korean ideology is known as [[Juche]] (roughly translates as "national self-reliance"), and since the mid 1990s, [[Songun]] ("military first"). A cult-like devotion to the "Great Leader" and "Dear Leader" is expected of citizens, and heavily promoted in the North Korean news media which has little actual "news" and mostly consists of effuse praise toward Kim Jong Il, grandiose and unsubstantiated claims about great feats by him and his father, and repetitious admonitions that the Korean people are totally united as one behind his leadership; in contrast between 1 million and 2 million North Koreans have died of starvation in recent years because the Kim government has so mismanaged the economy, particularly agriculture, and has hampered outside efforts at relief. <ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071009/COMMENTARY/110090010/1012&template=nextpage</ref>

==People==
*Population (2006): 23.1 million.
*Annual growth rate: About +0.98%.
*Ethnic groups: [[Korean]]; small ethnic Chinese and Japanese populations.
*Religions: [[Buddhism]], [[Confucianism]], [[Shamanism]], [[Chongdogyo]], [[Christian]]; autonomous religious activities have been virtually nonexistent since 1945.
*Language: Korean.
*Education: Years compulsory--11. Attendance--3 million (primary, 1.5 million; secondary, 1.2 million; tertiary, 0.3 million). Literacy--99%.
*Health (1998): Medical treatment is free; one doctor for every 700 inhabitants; one hospital bed for every 350; there are severe shortages of medicines and medical equipment. Infant mortality rate--23.29 /1,000 (2006 est.). Life expectancy--males 68 yrs., females 74 yrs. (2006 est.)
==Religion==
Government policy and practice severely restricted the practice of religion. The 2007 KINU White Paper indicated that the regime utilizes authorized religious entities for external propaganda and political purposes, and that citizens are strictly barred from entering places of worship. Ordinary citizens consider such sites to be primarily "sightseeing spots for foreigners." KINU concluded that the lack of churches or religious facilities in the provinces indicates that ordinary citizens do not enjoy religious freedom.

Little is known about the day-to-day life of religious persons in the country. Members of government-controlled religious groups did not appear to suffer discrimination. Some reports claimed, and circumstantial evidence suggested, that many, if not most of these groups, have been organized by the regime for propaganda and political purposes, including meeting with foreign religious visitors.

The number of religious believers is unknown but was estimated by the Government to be 10,000 Protestants, 10,000 Buddhists, and 4,000 Catholics. Estimates by South Korean and international church-related groups were considerably higher. In addition, the Chondogyo Young Friends Party, a government-approved group based on a traditional religious movement, had approximately 40,000 practitioners, according to the Government.<ref> See [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108410.htm U.S. State Department "International Religious Freedom Report 2008"]</ref>

In Pyongyang there were reportedly four state-controlled Christian churches: two Protestant churches under lay leadership (Bongsu and Chilgol Churches), the Changchung Roman Catholic Church, and the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. The Chilgol Church is dedicated to the memory of former leader Kim Il-sung's mother, Kang Pan-sok, who was a Presbyterian deaconess. The number of congregants regularly worshiping at these churches is unknown.

The Presbyterian Church of Korea in the South was partnering with the Christian Association in North Korea to rebuild Bongsu Church. In the fall of 2006, a delegation of 90 Christians from South Korea visited the Bongsu church to celebrate completion of its first phase of renovation. According to religious leaders who traveled to the country, there were Protestant pastors at these churches, although it was not known if they were resident or visiting.

In its July 2002 report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the Government reported the existence of 500 "family worship centers." However, according to the 2007 Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) White Paper, defectors interviewed were unaware of any such centers. Observers stated that "family worship centers" may be part of the state-controlled Korean Christian Federation, while an unknown number of "underground churches" operate apart from the Federation and are not recognized by the Government. Some NGOs and academics estimate there may be up to several hundred thousand underground Christians in the country. Others question the existence of a large-scale underground church or conclude that no reliable estimate of the number of underground religious believers exists. Individual underground congregations are reportedly very small and confined to private homes. At the same time, some NGOs reported that the individual churches are connected to each other through well-established networks. The regime has not allowed outsiders the access necessary to confirm such claims.

There were an estimated 300 Buddhist temples. Most were regarded as cultural relics, but religious activity was permitted in some. A few Buddhist temples and relics have been renovated or restored in recent years under a broad effort aimed at "preserving the Korean nation's cultural heritage." In 2007 reconstruction was completed on the Shingye or Singyesa (Holy Valley) Temple, which was destroyed during the Korean War. The Republic of Korea (ROK) Government and foreign tourists funded the reconstruction. A South Korean monk, the first to permanently reside in North Korea, has lived at the temple since 2004 but serves primarily as a guide for visiting tourists rather than as a pastor caring for Buddhists living in the area.

The Government announced in June 2007 that 500 monks and Buddhist followers were making day-long pilgrimages to the recently renovated Ryongthong temple in Kaesong strictly for religious purposes. Foreign diplomats in Pyongyang who visited the temple were told that the two monks living there may be joined by more. State-controlled press reported on several occasions that Buddhist ceremonies had been carried out in various locations. Official reporting also linked descriptions of such ceremonies with the broader theme of Korean unification.

The Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church opened in Pyongyang in 2006. The church was reportedly commissioned by Kim Jong-il after he visited an Orthodox cathedral in Russia in 2002. Two North Koreans who studied at the Russian Orthodox Seminary in Moscow have been ordained as priests and are serving at the church. The purported aim of the church was primarily to provide pastoral care of Russians in the country, but one religious leader with access to the country speculated that the church likely extended pastoral care to all Orthodox Koreans as well. Similar to other religious groups, no reliable data exists on the number of Orthodox believers.

Several foreigners residing in Pyongyang attended Korean-language services at the Christian churches on a regular basis. Some foreigners who visited the country stated that church services appeared staged and contained political content supportive of the regime, in addition to religious themes. Foreign legislators attending services in Pyongyang in previous years noted that congregations arrived at and departed services as groups on tour buses, and some observed that they did not include any children. Other foreigners noted that they were not permitted to have contact with congregants. Foreign observers had limited ability to ascertain the level of government control over these groups, but it was generally assumed they were monitored closely. According to the 2007 KINU White Paper, defectors reported being unaware of any recognized religious organizations that maintained branches outside of Pyongyang.

Several schools for religious education exist. There are 3-year colleges for training Protestant and Buddhist clergy. A religious studies program also was established at Kim Il-sung University in 1989; its graduates usually worked in the foreign trade sector. In 2000 a Protestant seminary was reopened with assistance from foreign missionary groups. Critics, including at least one foreign sponsor, charged that the Government opened the seminary only to facilitate reception of assistance funds from foreign faith-based NGOs. The Chosun Christian Federation, a religious group believed to be controlled by the Government, contributed to the curriculum used by the seminary. The Chosun Christian League operates the Pyongyang Theological Academy, a graduate institution that trains pastors affiliated with the Korean Christian Federation.

==Government and Political Conditions==
North Korea has a centralized government under the rigid control of the communist Korean Workers' Party (KWP), to which all government officials belong. A few minor political parties are allowed to exist in name only. Kim Il-sung ruled North Korea from 1948 until his death in July 1994. Kim served both as Secretary General of the KWP and as President of North Korea.

Little is known about the actual lines of power and authority in the North Korean Government despite the formal structure set forth in the constitution. Following the death of Kim Il-sung, his son--Kim Jong-il--inherited supreme power. Kim Jong-il was named General Secretary of the KWP in October 1997, and in September 1998, the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) reconfirmed Kim Jong-il as Chairman of the National Defense Commission and declared that position as the "highest office of state." However, the President of the Presidium of the National Assembly, Kim Yong-nam, serves as the nominal head of state. North Korea's 1972 constitution was amended in late 1992 and in September 1998.

The constitution designates the Central People's Committee (CPC) as the government's top policymaking body. The CPC makes policy decisions and supervises the cabinet, or State Administration Council (SAC). The SAC is headed by a premier and is the dominant administrative and executive agency.

Officially, the legislature, the SPA, is the highest organ of state power. Its members are elected every four years. Usually only two meetings are held annually, each lasting a few days. A standing committee elected by the SPA performs legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session. In reality, the Assembly serves only to ratify decisions made by the ruling KWP.

North Korea's judiciary is "accountable" to the SPA and the president. The SPA's standing committee also appoints judges to the highest court for four-year terms that are concurrent with those of the Assembly.

Administratively, North Korea is divided into nine provinces and four provincial-level municipalities--[[Pyongyang]], [[Chongjin]], [[Nampo]], and [[Kaesong]]. It also appears to be divided into nine military districts.

===Principal Party and Government Officials===
*Kim Jong-il--General Secretary of the KWP; Supreme Commander of the People's Armed Forces; Chairman of the National Defense *Commission; son of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung
*Kim Yong-nam--President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly; titular head of state
*Pak Gil-yon--Ambassador to D.P.R.K. Permanent Mission to the UN
*Pak Ui-chun--Minister of Foreign Affairs

===Foreign Relations===
North Korea's relationship with the South has determined much of its post-[[World War II]] history and still undergirds much of its foreign policy. North and South Korea have had a difficult and acrimonious relationship from the Korean War. In recent years, North Korea has pursued a mixed policy--seeking to develop economic relations with South Korea and to win the support of the South Korean public for greater North-South engagement while at the same time continuing to denounce the R.O.K.'s security relationship with the United States and maintaining a threatening conventional force posture on the DMZ and in adjacent waters.

The military demarcation line (MDL) of separation between the belligerent sides at the close of the Korean War divides North Korea from South Korea. A demilitarized zone (DMZ) extends for 2,000 meters (just over 1 mile) on either side of the MDL. Both the North and South Korean governments hold that the MDL is only a temporary administrative line, not a permanent border.

During the postwar period, both Korean governments have repeatedly affirmed their desire to reunify the Korean Peninsula, but until 1971 the two governments had no direct, official communications or other contact.

====Reunification Efforts Since 1971====
In August 1971, North and South Korea held talks through their respective Red Cross societies with the aim of reuniting the many Korean families separated following the division of Korea and the Korean War. In July 1972, the two sides agreed to work toward peaceful reunification and an end to the hostile atmosphere prevailing on the peninsula. Officials exchanged visits, and regular communications were established through a North-South coordinating committee and the Red Cross. These initial contacts broke down in 1973 following South Korean President Park Chung-hee's announcement that the South would seek separate entry into the United Nations, and after the kidnapping of South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung--perceived as friendly to unified entry into the UN--by South Korean intelligence services. There was no other significant contact between North and South Korea until 1984.

Dialogue was renewed in September 1984, when South Korea accepted the North's offer to provide relief goods to victims of severe flooding in South Korea. Red Cross talks to address the plight of separated families resumed, as did talks on economic and trade issues and parliamentary-level discussions. However, the North then unilaterally suspended all talks in January 1986, arguing that the annual U.S.-ROK "Team Spirit" military exercise was inconsistent with dialogue. There was a brief flurry of negotiations that year on co-hosting the upcoming 1988 Seoul Olympics, which ended in failure and was followed by the 1987 bombing of a South Korean commercial aircraft (KAL 858) by North Korean agents.

In July 1988, South Korean President Roh Tae-woo called for new efforts to promote North-South exchanges, family reunification, inter-Korean trade, and contact in international forums. Roh followed up this initiative in a UN General Assembly speech in which South Korea offered for the first time to discuss security matters with the North. Initial meetings that grew out of Roh's proposals started in September 1989. In September 1990, the first of eight prime minister-level meetings between North Korean and South Korean officials took place in Seoul. The prime ministerial talks resulted in two major agreements: the Agreement on Reconciliation, Nonaggression, Exchanges, and Cooperation (the "Basic Agreement") and the Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula (the "Joint Declaration").

The Basic Agreement, signed on December 13, 1991, called for reconciliation and nonaggression and established four joint commissions. These commissions--on South-North reconciliation, South-North military affairs, South-North economic exchanges and cooperation, and South-North social and cultural exchange--were to work out the specifics for implementing the basic agreement. Subcommittees to examine specific issues were created, and liaison offices were established in Panmunjom, but in the fall of 1992 the process came to a halt because of rising tension over North Korea's nuclear program.

The Joint Declaration on denuclearization was initialed on December 31, 1991. It forbade both sides from testing, manufacturing, producing, receiving, possessing, storing, deploying, or using nuclear weapons and forbade the possession of nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities. A procedure for inter-Korean inspection was to be organized and a North-South Joint Nuclear Control Commission (JNCC) was mandated to verify the denuclearization of the peninsula.

On January 30, 1992, the D.P.R.K. finally signed a nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as it had pledged to do in 1985 when it acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This safeguards agreement allowed IAEA inspections to begin in June 1992. In March 1992, the JNCC was established in accordance with the Joint Declaration, but subsequent meetings failed to reach agreement on the main issue of establishing a bilateral inspection regime.

As the 1990s progressed, concern over the North's nuclear program became a major issue in North-South relations and between North Korea and the United States. The lack of progress on implementation of the Joint Declaration's provision for an inter-Korean nuclear inspection regime led to reinstatement of the U.S.-R.O.K. Team Spirit military exercise for 1993. The situation worsened rapidly when North Korea, in January 1993, refused IAEA access to two suspected nuclear waste sites and then announced in March 1993 its intent to withdraw from the NPT. During the next two years, the United States held direct talks with the D.P.R.K. that resulted in a series of agreements on nuclear matters, including the 1994 Agreed Framework (which broke down in 2002 when North Korea was discovered to be pursuing a uranium enrichment program for nuclear weapons--see below, Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula).

At his inauguration in February 1998, R.O.K. President Kim Dae-jung enunciated a new policy of engagement with the D.P.R.K., dubbed "the Sunshine Policy." The policy had three fundamental principles: no tolerance of provocations from the North, no intention to absorb the North, and the separation of political cooperation from economic cooperation. Private sector overtures would be based on commercial and humanitarian considerations. The use of government resources would entail reciprocity. This policy set the stage for the first inter-Korean summit, held in Pyongyang June 13-15, 2000.

R.O.K. President Roh Moo-hyun, following his inauguration in February 2003, has continued his predecessor's policy of engagement with the North, though he abandoned the name "Sunshine Policy." The United States supports President Roh's engagement policy and North-South dialogue and cooperation. Major economic reunification projects have included a tourism development in Mt. Geumgang, the re-establishment of road and rail links across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and a joint North-South industrial park near the North Korean city of Kaesong (see further information below in the section on the Economy). In August 2007, the R.O.K. and D.P.R.K. announced plans to hold a second inter-Korean summit, scheduled for October 2-4 in Pyongyang.

===Relations Outside the Korean Peninsula===
Throughout the Cold War, North Korea balanced its relations with China and the Soviet Union to extract the maximum benefit from the relationships at minimum political cost. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, the Soviet-backed Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, and the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan created strains between China and the Soviet Union and, in turn, in North Korea's relations with its two major communist allies. North Korea tried to avoid becoming embroiled in the Sino-Soviet split, obtaining aid from both the Soviet Union and China and trying to avoid dependence on either. Following Kim Il-sung's 1984 visit to Moscow, there was an improvement in Soviet-D.P.R.K. relations, resulting in renewed deliveries of Soviet weaponry to North Korea and increases in economic aid.

The establishment of diplomatic relations by South Korea with the Soviet Union in 1990 and with China in 1992 seriously strained relations between North Korea and its traditional allies. Moreover, the fall of communism in eastern Europe in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in a significant drop in communist aid to North Korea. Despite these changes and its past reliance on this military and economic assistance, North Korea continued to proclaim a militantly independent stance in its foreign policy in accordance with its official ideology of "juche," or self-reliance.

Both North and South Korea became parties to the Biological Weapons Convention in 1987. (North Korea is not a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention, nor is it a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime, or MTCR.)

North Korea has maintained membership in some multilateral organizations. It became a member of the UN in September 1991. North Korea also belongs to the Food and Agriculture Organization; the International Civil Aviation Organization; the International Postal Union; the UN Conference on Trade and Development; the International Telecommunications Union; the UN Development Program; the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; the World Health Organization; the World Intellectual Property Organization; the World Meteorological Organization; the International Maritime Organization; the International Committee of the Red Cross; and the Nonaligned Movement.

In the mid-1990s, when the economic situation worsened dramatically and following the death of D.P.R.K. founder Kim Il-sung, the North abandoned some of the more extreme manifestations of its "self reliance" ideology to accept foreign humanitarian relief and create the possibility, as noted below, for foreign investment in the North. In subsequent years, the D.P.R.K. has continued to pursue a tightly restricted policy of opening to the world in search of economic aid and development assistance. However, this has been matched by an increased determination to counter perceived external and internal threats by a self-proclaimed "military first" ("Songun") policy.

During the present period of limited, extremely cautious opening, North Korea has sought to broaden its formal diplomatic relationships. In July 2000, North Korea began participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), with Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun attending the ARF ministerial meeting in Bangkok. The D.P.R.K. also expanded its bilateral diplomatic ties in that year, establishing diplomatic relations with Italy, Australia, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, the U.K., Germany, and many other European countries.

In the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement issued at the end of the fourth round of Six-Party Talks, the United States and the D.P.R.K. committed to undertake steps to normalize relations (see below, Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula). The D.P.R.K. and Japan also agreed to take steps to normalize relations and to discuss outstanding issues of concern, such as abductions. The U.S.-D.P.R.K. and Japan-D.P.R.K. bilateral working groups on normalization of relations met in March and September 2007.

====Terrorism====
The D.P.R.K. is not known to have sponsored terrorist acts since the 1987 bombing of KAL flight 858. Pyongyang continues to provide sanctuary to members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction (JRA) who participated in the hijacking of a Japan Airlines flight to North Korea in 1970.

The D.P.R.K. has made several statements condemning terrorism. In October 2000, the United States and the D.P.R.K. issued a joint statement on terrorism in which "the two sides agreed that international terrorism poses an unacceptable threat to global security and peace, and that terrorism should be opposed in all its forms." The United States and the D.P.R.K. agreed to support the international legal regime combating international terrorism and to cooperate with each other to fight terrorism. The D.P.R.K. became a signatory to the Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism and a party to the Convention Against the Taking of Hostages in November 2001. In the February 13, 2007 Initial Actions agreement, the [[United States of America]] agreed to begin the process of removing the designation of the D.P.R.K. as a state sponsor of terrorism. On Saturday October 11, 2008. The United States officially removed North Korea from the Terrorism Watch List. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436382,00.html North Korea no longer a recognized Terrorist sponsor.]</ref>

====Abductions====
In the past, the D.P.R.K. has also been involved in the abduction of foreign citizens. In 2002, Kim Jong-il acknowledged to Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi the involvement of D.P.R.K. "special institutions" in the kidnapping of Japanese citizens between 1977 and 1983 and said that those responsible had been punished. While five surviving victims and their families were allowed to leave the D.P.R.K. and resettle in Japan in October 2002, 12 other cases remain unresolved and continue to be a major issue in D.P.R.K.-Japanese relations. In October 2005, the D.P.R.K. acknowledged for the first time having kidnapped R.O.K. citizens in previous decades, claiming that several abductees, as well as several POWs from the Korean War, were still alive. In June 2006, North Korea allowed Kim Young-nam, a South Korean abducted by the North in 1978, to participate in a family reunion.It is suspected that North Korea was involved in the disaperance of [[Kim Yon-se]], who did not return during his trip to [[Ulsan], although other theories are more likely.

===United States policy towards North Korea===
====U.S. Support for North-South Dialogue and Reunification====
The United States supports the peaceful reunification of Korea on terms acceptable to the Korean people and recognizes that the future of the Korean Peninsula is primarily a matter for them to decide. The United States believes that a constructive and serious dialogue between the authorities of North and South Korea is necessary to resolve outstanding problems, including the North's nuclear program and human rights abuses, and to encourage the North's integration with the rest of the international community.

====Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula====
North Korea joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state in 1985. North and South Korean talks begun in 1990 resulted in the 1992 Joint Declaration for a Non-Nuclear Korean Peninsula (see, under Foreign Relations, Reunification Efforts Since 1971). However, the international standoff over the North's failure to implement an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency for the inspection of the North's nuclear facilities led Pyongyang to announce in March 1993 its intention to withdraw from the NPT. A UN Security Council Resolution in May 1993 urged the D.P.R.K. to cooperate with the IAEA and to implement the 1992 North-South Denuclearization Statement. It also urged all UN Member States to encourage the D.P.R.K. to respond positively to this resolution and to facilitate a solution to the nuclear issue.

The United States opened talks with the D.P.R.K. in June 1993 and eventually reached agreement in October 1994 on a diplomatic roadmap, known as the Agreed Framework, for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Agreed Framework called for the following steps:
*North Korea agreed to freeze its existing nuclear program and allow monitoring by the IAEA.
*Both sides agreed to cooperate to replace the D.P.R.K.'s graphite-moderated reactors with light-water reactor (LWR) power plants, by a target date of 2003, to be financed and supplied by an international consortium (later identified as the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization or KEDO).
*As an interim measure, the United States agreed to provide North Korea with 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil annually until the first reactor was built.
*The United States and D.P.R.K. agreed to work together to store safely the spent fuel from the five-megawatt reactor and dispose of it in a safe manner that did not involve reprocessing in the D.P.R.K.
*The two sides agreed to move toward full normalization of political and economic relations.
*The two sides agreed to work together for peace and security on a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
*The two sides agreed to work together to strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
In accordance with the terms of the Agreed Framework, in January 1995 the U.S. Government eased economic sanctions against North Korea in response to North Korea's freezing its graphite-moderated nuclear program under United States and IAEA verification. North Korea agreed to accept the decisions of KEDO, the financier and supplier of the LWRs, with respect to provision of the reactors. KEDO subsequently identified Sinpo as the LWR project site and held a groundbreaking ceremony in August 1997. In December 1999, KEDO and the (South) Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) signed the Turnkey Contract (TKC), permitting full-scale construction of the LWRs.

In January 1995, as called for in the 1994 Agreed Framework, the United States and D.P.R.K. negotiated a method to store safely the spent fuel from the D.P.R.K.'s five-megawatt nuclear reactor. Under this method, United States and D.P.R.K. operators worked together to can the spent fuel and store the canisters in a spent fuel pond; canning began in 1995. In April 2000, canning of all accessible spent fuel rods and rod fragments was completed.

In 1998, the United States identified an underground site in Kumchang-ni, North Korea, which it suspected of being nuclear-related. In March 1999, after several rounds of negotiations, the United States and D.P.R.K. agreed that the United States would be granted "satisfactory access" to the underground site at Kumchang-ni. In October 2000, during D.P.R.K. Special Envoy Marshal Jo Myong-rok's visit to Washington, and after two visits to the site by teams of U.S. experts, the United States announced in a Joint Communiqué with the D.P.R.K. that U.S. concerns about the site had been resolved.

As called for in former Defense Secretary William Perry's official review of U.S. policy toward North Korea, the United States and the D.P.R.K. launched Agreed Framework Implementation Talks in May 2000 The United States and the D.P.R.K. also began negotiations for a comprehensive missile agreement, pursuant to the Perry recommendations.

In January 2001, the Bush Administration discontinued nuclear and missile talks, specifying that it intended to review the United States' North Korea policy. The Administration announced on June 6, 2001, that it was prepared to resume dialogue with North Korea on a broader agenda of issues--including North Korea's conventional force posture, missile development and export programs, human rights practices, and humanitarian issues.

In October 2002, a U.S. delegation confronted North Korea with the assessment that the D.P.R.K. was pursuing a uranium enrichment program, in violation of North Korea's obligations under the NPT and its commitments in the 1992 North-South Joint Declaration on Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the Agreed Framework. North Korean officials asserted to the U.S. delegation, headed by then-Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James A. Kelly, the D.P.R.K.'s "right" to a uranium enrichment program and indicated that that it had such a program. The U.S. side stated that North Korea would have to terminate the program before any further progress could be made in U.S.-D.P.R.K. relations. The United States also made clear that if this program were verifiably eliminated, it would be prepared to work with North Korea on the development of a fundamentally new relationship. Subsequently, the D.P.R.K. has denied the existence of a uranium enrichment program. In November 2002, the member countries of KEDO's Executive Board agreed to suspend heavy fuel oil shipments to North Korea pending a resolution of the nuclear dispute.

In late 2002 and early 2003, North Korea terminated the freeze on its existing plutonium-based nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, expelled IAEA inspectors, removed seals and monitoring equipment at Yongbyon, announced its withdrawal from the NPT, and resumed reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium for weapons purposes. North Korea announced that it was taking these steps to provide itself with a deterrent force in the face of U.S. threats and U.S. "hostile policy." Beginning in mid-2003, the North repeatedly claimed to have completed reprocessing of the spent fuel rods previously frozen at Yongbyon and publicly said that the resulting fissile material would be used to bolster its "nuclear deterrent force." There is no independent confirmation of North Korea's claims. The KEDO Executive Board suspended work on the LWR Project beginning December 1, 2003.

President Bush has made clear that the United States has no intention to invade or attack North Korea. The President has also stressed that the United States seeks a peaceful end to North Korea's nuclear program in cooperation with North Korea's neighbors, who are directly affected by the threat the nuclear program poses to regional stability and security.

In early 2003, the United States proposed multilateral talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. North Korea initially opposed such a process, maintaining that the nuclear dispute was purely a bilateral matter between the United States and the D.P.R.K. However, under pressure from its neighbors and with the active involvement of China, North Korea agreed to three-party talks with China and the United States in Beijing in April 2003 and to Six-Party Talks with the United States, China, R.O.K., Japan and Russia in August 2003, also in Beijing. During the August 2003 round of Six-Party Talks, North Korea agreed to the eventual elimination of its nuclear programs if the United States were first willing to sign a bilateral "non-aggression treaty" and meet various other conditions, including the provision of substantial amounts of aid and normalization of relations. The North Korean proposal was unacceptable to the United States, which insisted on a multilateral resolution to the issue and opposed provision of benefits before the D.P.R.K.'s complete denuclearization. In October 2003, President Bush said he would consider a multilateral written security guarantee in the context of North Korea's complete, verifiable, and irreversible elimination of its nuclear weapons program.

China hosted a second round of Six-Party Talks in Beijing in February 2004. The United States saw the results as positive, including the announced intention of all parties to hold a third round by the end of June and to form a working group to maintain momentum between plenary sessions.

At the third round of Six-Party Talks in Beijing, in June 2004, the United States tabled a comprehensive and substantive proposal aimed at resolving the nuclear issue. All parties agreed to hold a fourth round of talks by the end of September 2004. Despite its commitment, the D.P.R.K. refused to return to the table, and in the months that followed issued a series of provocative statements. In a February 10, 2005, Foreign Ministry statement, the D.P.R.K. declared that it had "manufactured nuclear weapons" and was "indefinitely suspending" its participation in the Six-Party Talks. In Foreign Ministry statements in March, the D.P.R.K. said it would no longer be bound by its voluntary moratorium on ballistic missile launches, and declared itself a nuclear weapons state.

Following intense diplomatic efforts by the United States and other parties, the fourth round of Six-Party Talks were held in Beijing over a period of 20 days from July-September 2005, with a recess period in August. Discussions resulted in all parties agreeing to a Joint Statement of Principles. In the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement, the six parties unanimously reaffirmed the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. The D.P.R.K. for the first time committed to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and to return, at an early date, to the NPT and to IAEA safeguards. The other parties agreed to provide economic cooperation and energy assistance. The United States and the D.P.R.K. agreed to take steps to normalize relations subject to bilateral policies, which for the United States includes our concerns over North Korea's ballistic missile programs and deplorable human rights conditions. While the Joint Statement provides a vision of the end-point of the Six-Party process, much work lies ahead to implement the elements of the agreement.

A fifth round of talks began in November 2005, but ended inconclusively as the D.P.R.K. began a boycott of the Six-Party Talks, citing the "U.S.' hostile policy" and specifically U.S. law enforcement action that had led in September to a freeze of North Korean accounts in Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA). The United States held discussions in Kuala Lumpur (July 2006) and New York in (September 2006) with other Six-Party partners, except North Korea, along with representatives from other regional powers in the Asia-Pacific region, to discuss Northeast Asian security issues, including North Korea. On July 4-5, 2006 (local Korea time), the D.P.R.K. launched seven ballistic missiles, including six short- and medium-range missiles and one of possible intercontinental range. In response, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1695 on July 15, which demands that the D.P.R.K. suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and reestablish existing commitments to a moratorium on missile launching. The resolution also requires all UN Member States, in accordance with their national legal authorities and consistent with international law, to exercise vigilance and prevent missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology from being transferred to the D.P.R.K.'s missile or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs, prevent the procurement of missiles or related items, materials, goods and services from the D.P.R.K., and the transfer of any financial resources in relation to the D.P.R.K.'s missile or WMD programs. The D.P.R.K. immediately rejected the resolution.

On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced the successful test of a nuclear explosive device, verified by the United States on October 11. In response, the United Nations Security Council, citing Chapter VII of the UN Charter, unanimously passed Resolution 1718, condemning North Korea and imposing sanctions on certain luxury goods and trade of military units, WMD and missile-related parts, and technology transfers. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6032525.stm</ref>

The Six-Party Talks resumed in December 2006 after a 13-month hiatus. Following a bilateral meeting between the United States and D.P.R.K. in Berlin in January 2007, another round of Six-Party Talks was held in February 2007. On February 13, 2007, the parties reached an agreement on "Initial Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement" in which North Korea agreed to shut down and seal its Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility and to invite back IAEA personnel to conduct all necessary monitoring and verification of these actions as agreed between the IAEA and the D.P.R.K. The other five parties agreed to provide emergency energy assistance to North Korea in the amount of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the initial phase and the equivalent of 950,000 tons of HFO in the next phase of North Korea's denuclearization. The six parties also established five working groups to form specific plans for implementing the Joint Statement in the following areas: denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, normalization of D.P.R.K.-U.S. relations, normalization of D.P.R.K.-Japan relations, economic and energy cooperation, and a Northeast Asia peace and security mechanism. All parties agreed that the working groups would meet within 30 days of the agreement, which they did. The agreement also envisions the directly-related parties negotiating a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate separate forum. As part of the initial actions, North Korea invited IAEA Director General ElBaradei to Pyongyang in early March for preliminary discussions on the return of the IAEA to the D.P.R.K.

The sixth round of Six-Party Talks took place on March 19-23, 2007. The parties reported on the first meetings of the five working groups. At the invitation of the D.P.R.K., Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill visited Pyongyang in June 2007 as part of ongoing consultations with the six parties on implementation of the Initial Actions agreement. In July 2007, the D.P.R.K. shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facility, as well as an uncompleted reactor at Taechon, and IAEA personnel returned to the D.P.R.K. to monitor and verify the shut-down and to seal the facility. In July 2007, the R.O.K. provided the first shipment of 50,000 tons of HFO under the Initial Actions agreement. The Six-Party Heads of Delegation met July 18-20, 2007 to discuss implementation of the D.P.R.K.'s next phase commitments, including the D.P.R.K.'s provision of a complete declaration of all nuclear programs and disablement of existing nuclear facilities. All five working groups met in August and September to discuss detailed plans for implementation of the next phase of the Initial Actions agreement, and will report the results of those discussions to the next Six-Party plenary meeting. As part of the denuclearization process, the D.P.R.K. invited a team of experts from the United States, China, and Russia to visit the Yongbyon nuclear facility in September 2007 to discuss specific steps that could be taken to disable the facility.

==Defense==
North Korea now has the fourth-largest army in the world. It has an estimated 1.21 million armed personnel, compared to about 680,000 in the South. Military spending is estimated at as much as a quarter of GNP, with about 20% of men ages 17-54 in the regular armed forces. North Korean forces have a substantial numerical advantage over the South (between 2 and 3 to 1) in several key categories of offensive weapons--tanks, long-range artillery, and armored personnel carriers. The North has perhaps the world's second-largest special operations force, designed for insertion behind the lines in wartime. While the North has a relatively impressive fleet of submarines, its surface fleet has a very limited capability. Its air force has twice the number of aircraft as the South, but, except for a few advanced fighters, the North's air force is obsolete.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/air-force-equipment.htm North Korea Air Force Equipment]</ref> The North deploys the bulk of its forces well forward, along the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Several North Korean military tunnels under the DMZ were discovered in the 1970s.

Over the last several years, North Korea has moved more of its rear-echelon troops to hardened bunkers closer to the DMZ. Given the proximity of Seoul to the DMZ (some 25 miles), South Korean and U.S. forces are likely to have little warning of any attack. The United States and South Korea continue to believe that the U.S. troop presence in South Korea remains an effective deterrent. North Korea's nuclear weapons program has also been a source of international tension (see below, Reunification Efforts Since 1971; Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula).

In 1953, the Military Armistice Commission (MAC) was created to oversee and enforce the terms of the armistice. Over the past decade, North Korea has sought to dismantle the MAC in a push for a new "peace mechanism" on the peninsula. In April 1994, it declared the MAC void and withdrew its representatives.

==Economy==
North Korea's economy declined sharply in the 1990s with the end of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of bloc-trading with the countries of the former socialist bloc. Gross national income per capita is estimated to have fallen by about one-third between 1990 and 2002. The economy has since stabilized and shown some modest growth in recent years, which may be reflective of increased inter-Korean economic cooperation. Output and living standards, however, remain far below 1990 levels. Other centrally-planned economies in similar situations opted for domestic economic reform and liberalization of trade and investment. North Korea formalized some modest wage and price reforms in 2002, and has increasingly tolerated markets and a small private sector as the state-run distribution system has deteriorated. The regime, however, seems determined to maintain control. In October 2005, emboldened by an improved harvest and increased food donations from South Korea, the North Korean Government banned private grain sales and announced a return to centralized food rationing. Reports indicate this effort to reassert state control and to control inflation has been largely ineffective. Another factor contributing to the economy's poor performance is the disproportionately large share of GDP (thought to be about one-fourth) that North Korea devotes to its military.

North Korean industry is operating at only a small fraction of capacity due to lack of fuel, spare parts, and other inputs. Agriculture is now 30% of GDP, even though agricultural output has not recovered to early 1990 levels. The infrastructure is generally poor and outdated, and the energy sector has collapsed. About 80% of North Korea's terrain consists of moderately high mountain ranges and partially forested mountains and hills separated by deep, narrow valleys and small, cultivated plains. The most rugged areas are the north and east coasts. Good harbors are found on the eastern coast. Pyongyang, the capital, near the country's west coast, is located on the Taedong River.
*GNI (2004 estimate): $20.8 billion; 26.7% in agriculture and fishery, 27.2% in mining, 13.7% in manufacturing, 32.3% in services (2004).
*Per capita GNI (2004): $914.
*Agriculture: Products--[[rice]], [[potato]]es, [[soybean]]s, [[cattle]], [[pig]]s, [[pork]] and [[egg]]s.
*Mining and manufacturing: Types--military products; machine building; chemicals; mining (gold, coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, etc.); metallurgy; textiles; food processing; tourism.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$1.47 billion: minerals, non-ferrous metals, garments, machinery, electric and electronic products, chemicals, precious metals, wood products, and shellfish products. The D.P.R.K. is also thought to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from the unreported sale of missiles, narcotics and counterfeit cigarettes, and other illicit activities. Imports--$2.88 billion: minerals, petroleum, machinery, textiles, chemicals, non-ferrous metals, and animal products.
*Major trading partners (2006): (1) China, (2) R.O.K., (3) Thailand, (4) Russia and (5) Japan.

North Korea experienced a severe famine following record floods in the summer of 1995 and continues to suffer from chronic food shortages and malnutrition. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) provided substantial emergency food assistance beginning in 1995 (2 million tons of which came from the United States), but the North Korean Government suspended the WFP emergency program at the end of 2005. It has since permitted the WFP to resume operations on a greatly reduced scale through a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation. External food aid now comes primarily from China and South Korea in the form of grants and long-term concessional loans. South Korea also donates fertilizer and other materials, while China provides energy. South Korea suspended food and fertilizer shipments to the North in response to North Korea's missile launches in July 2006. However, when severe floods later that month threatened to produce another humanitarian crisis, South Korea announced a one-time donation of 100,000 tons of food, matching contributions from South Korean non-governmental organizations (NGOs). South Korea resumed fertilizer shipments to North Korea in late March 2007. In early July, South Korea announced that it would provide $20 million worth of food assistance to the D.P.R.K. through the World Food Program. South Korea also resumed bilateral food aid in June 2007. Following severe flooding in North Korea in August 2007, South Korea announced that it would provide $7.5 million worth of emergency aid materials to North Korea, and $3.2 million to NGOs providing flood assistance in North Korea. The R.O.K. also provided $39.4 million in construction materials to the D.P.R.K. to assist with reconstruction efforts following the floods. The United States provided $100,000 to two U.S. NGOs for antibiotics in the wake of the floods. The United States also announced that is was prepared to engage in discussions with the D.P.R.K. of monitoring arrangements to provide additional substantial humanitarian assistance, including food aid, to the country.

====Development Policy====
In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and termination of subsidized trade arrangements with Russia, other former Communist states, and China, North Korea announced the creation of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the northeast regions of Najin (sometime rendered "Rajin"), Chongjin, and Sonbong. Problems with infrastructure, bureaucracy, and uncertainties about investment security and viability have hindered growth and development of this SEZ. The government announced in 2002 plans to establish a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in Sinuiju, at the western end of the North Korea-China border. However, the government has taken few concrete steps to establish the Sinuiju SAR, and its future is uncertain. In addition, North Korea and South Korea have established a special economic zone near the city of Kaesong, where about 20 South Korean companies operate manufacturing facilities employing North Korean workers (see further information under North-South Economic Ties).

North Korea implemented limited micro- and macroeconomic reforms in 2002, including increases in prices and wages, changes in foreign investment laws, a steep currency devaluation, and reforms in industry and management. Though the changes have failed to stimulate recovery of the industrial sector, there are reports of changed economic behavior at the enterprise and individual level. One unintended consequence of the 2002 changes has been severe inflation. An increasing number of North Koreans now try to work in the informal sector to cope with growing hardship and reduced government support.

====North-South Economic Ties====
Two-way trade between North and South Korea, legalized in 1988, had risen to more than $1 billion by 2005, much of it related to out-processing or assembly work undertaken by South Korean firms in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC). A significant portion of the total also includes donated goods provided to the North as humanitarian assistance or as part of inter-Korean cooperation projects. Although business-based and processing-on-commission transactions continued to grow, the bulk of South Korean exports to North Korea in 2006 was still non-commercial.

Since the June 2000 North-South summit, North and South Korea have reconnected their east and west coast railroads and roads where they cross the DMZ and are working to improve these transportation routes. North and South Korea conducted tests of the east and west coast railroads on May 17, 2007. Much of the work done in North Korea has been funded by the South. The west coast rail and road are complete as far north as the KIC (six miles north of the DMZ), but little work is being done north of Kaesong. On the east coast, the road is complete but the rail line is far from operational. Since 2003, tour groups have been using the east coast road to travel from South Korea to Mt. Geumgang in North Korea, where cruise ship-based tours had been permitted since 1998.

As of August 2007, 26 South Korean firms were manufacturing goods in the KIC, employing nearly 17,000 North Korean workers. Most of the goods are sold in South Korea; a small quantity is being exported to foreign markets. Ground was broken on the complex in June 2003, and the first products were shipped from the KIC in December 2004. Plans envision 250 firms employing 350,000 workers by 2012.

==History==
The Korean Peninsula was first populated by peoples of a Tungusic branch of the Ural-Altaic language family, who migrated from the northwestern regions of Asia. Some of these peoples also populated parts of northeast China (Manchuria); Koreans and Manchurians still show physical similarities. Koreans are racially and linguistically homogeneous. Although there are no indigenous minorities in North Korea, there is a small Chinese community (about 50,000) and some 1,800 Japanese wives who accompanied the roughly 93,000 Koreans returning to the North from Japan between 1959 and 1962. Although dialects exist, the Korean spoken throughout the peninsula is mutually comprehensible. In North Korea, the Korean alphabet (hangul) is used exclusively.

Korea's traditional religions are Buddhism and Shamanism. Christian missionaries arrived as early as the 16th century, but it was not until the 19th century that major missionary activity began. Pyongyang was a center of missionary activity, and there was a relatively large Christian population in the north before 1945. Although religious groups exist in North Korea today, the government severely restricts religious activity.

By the first century AD, the Korean Peninsula was divided into the kingdoms of Shilla, Koguryo, and Paekche. In 668 AD, the Shilla kingdom unified the peninsula. The Koryo dynasty--from which Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century derived the Western name "Korea"--succeeded the Shilla kingdom in 935. The Choson dynasty, ruled by members of the Yi clan, supplanted Koryo in 1392 and lasted until Japan annexed Korea in 1910.

Throughout its history, Korea has been invaded, influenced, and fought over by its larger neighbors. Korea was under Mongolian occupation from 1231 until the early 14th century. The unifier of Japan, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, launched major invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597. When Western powers focused "gunboat" diplomacy on Korea in the mid-19th century, Korea's rulers adopted a closed-door policy, earning Korea the title of "Hermit Kingdom." Though the Choson dynasty recognized China's hegemony in East Asia, Korea was independent until the late 19th century. At that time, China sought to block growing Japanese influence on the Korean Peninsula and Russian pressure for commercial gains there. The competition produced the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Japan emerged victorious from both wars and in 1910 annexed Korea as part of the growing Japanese empire. Japanese colonial administration was characterized by tight control from Tokyo and ruthless efforts to supplant Korean language and culture. Organized Korean resistance during the colonial era was generally unsuccessful, and Japan remained firmly in control of the Peninsula until the end of World War II in 1945. The surrender of Japan in August 1945 led to the immediate division of Korea into two occupation zones, with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the U.S.S.R. taking over the area to the north of the 38th parallel. This division was meant to be temporary until the United States, U.K., Soviet Union, and China could arrange a trusteeship administration.

In December 1945, a conference was convened in Moscow to discuss the future of Korea. A five-year trusteeship was discussed, and a joint Soviet-American commission was established. The commission met intermittently in Seoul but deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government. In September 1947, with no solution in sight, the United States submitted the Korean question to the UN General Assembly. Initial hopes for a unified, independent Korea quickly evaporated as the politics of the Cold War and domestic opposition to the trusteeship plan resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate nations with diametrically opposed political, economic, and social systems. Elections were held in the South under UN observation, and on August 15, 1948, the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) was established in the South. Syngman Rhee, a nationalist leader, became the Republic's first president. On September 9, 1948, the North established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) headed by then-Premier Kim Il-sung, who had been cultivated and supported by the U.S.S.R.

====Korean War of 1950-53====
Almost immediately after establishment of the D.P.R.K., guerrilla warfare, border clashes, and naval battles erupted between the two Koreas. North Korean forces launched a massive surprise attack and invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. The United Nations, in accordance with the terms of its Charter, engaged in its first collective action and established the UN Command (UNC), to which 16 member nations sent troops and assistance. Next to South Korea, the United States contributed the largest contingent of forces to this international effort. The battle line fluctuated north and south, and after large numbers of Chinese "People's Volunteers" intervened to assist the North, the battle line stabilized north of Seoul near the 38th parallel.

Armistice negotiations began in July 1951, but hostilities continued until July 27, 1953. On that date, at Panmunjom, the military commanders of the North Korean People's Army, the Chinese People's Volunteers, and the UNC signed an armistice agreement. Neither the United States nor South Korea is a signatory to the armistice per se, although both adhere to it through the UNC. No comprehensive peace agreement has replaced the 1953 armistice pact.

====Atrocities of the Korean War====
[[Fred Schwarz]] wrote:
:''When the Communists retreated in North Korea, they took with them all the able-bodied personnel to serve as laborers. Those who could not stand the rigors of the northward journey-- old men and women, pregnant women, very young children and babies-- they massacred and buried in a [[mass grave]] if they belonged to the untrustworthy social classes. The advancing American troops time and again found mass graves filled with the bodies of those murdered by the Communists.''<ref> [http://www.schwarzreport.org/yct/01ycttc.htm You Can Trust the Communists - To Be Communists]
</ref>

== External links ==

*[http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/korea_north/index.html Korea, North - 2007] Geographic.org

== References ==

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{{Copyright Details (US Government)}}
source= [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2792.htm]
[[Category:Asian Countries]]
[[Category:Dictatorships]]
[[Category:Communist States]]
[[Category:Korea]]