Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

African Americans

2012-08-03T20:04:16Z

Conservativekitten:

[[Image:Paterson.jpg|thumb|[[David A. Paterson]] = the first black governor of New York)]]

'''African American''' is a [[politically correct]] term some use to describe the ethnic background of Americans with [[Africa]]n ancestry. The great majority of African Americans are descended from Africans brought to North America as [[slavery|slaves]] beginning four centuries ago. Others (like [[Colin Powell]]) were twentieth century immigrants from the [[West Indies]] or Africa. Many American [[conservative]]s believe that the use of terms such as "African-American" or "Mexican-American," collectively referred to as "[[hyphenated American|hyphenated Americanism]]," make the mistake of "putting America second" and emphasize racial differences over common national identity <ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/on_becoming_an_unhyphenated_am.html</ref>

==Terms==
The preferred terminology changes constantly. Currently "black" and "African American" are in favor, and "Afro-American" and "Negro" are out of favor. The situation before 1960 was just the reverse. "Colored" was popular until the 1950s, but now is generally out of favor except among some [[leftist]] groups.

==History==
see [[Black history]]

Blacks were originally brought to America to serve as slaves in southeastern states on large-scale plantations. During the [[Civil War]], all slaves were freed by [[Abraham Lincoln]] though the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], the [[Thirteenth Amendment]], and some state actions. During [[Reconstruction]] the Freedmen (freed slaves) gained citizenship and civil and political rights, including the right to marry, move about, and keep their wages.

The system of [[Sharecropper|sharecropping]] instituted after the end of the war left most Freedmen poor, while the [[Jim Crow]] policies of racial [[segregation]] that were implemented after the end of [[Reconstruction]] limited their civic and political rights.

Blacks left the rural south in two waves, the first around 1915-20, the second coming after [[World War II]] when machinery ended the need for large numbers of people to pick cotton by hand. The migrants headed to the large cities of the North and West, and also in the South, moving from very poorly paid farm work to wage labor.

==Politics==
Blacks tended to support the [[Republican Party]] from the 1860s to the 1960s, but few who lived in the South voted. The [[New Deal]] provided large-scale relief for blacks during the [[Great Depression]]. Some black Republican organizations, as in Chicago, switched overnight to the [[Democrat]]s. This sudden change is often attributed to the leftist sentiments that were growing in the late twentieth century. The [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965 allowed blacks to vote in the South, and has been vigorously enforced. Since 1964 blacks have voted 85% to 95% for Democratic presidential candidates, with an occasional black Republican elected to state office.

==Religion==
[[Image:President Barack Obama.jpg|thumb|150px|Barack Obama, the first President with black ancestry]]

Among African-Americans, religiosity is very high, and the standard practice since [[Reconstruction]] is for black ministers to be community spokespersons, and political power brokers; they often run for office. The great majority of African Americans are [[Protestant]]s, with their own [[Baptist]], [[Pentecostal]], and [[Methodist]] churches. A few are [[Muslim]]s.<ref>The Pluralism Project at Harvard University[http://www.pluralism.org/resources/statistics/tradition.php#Islam] Twenty-four percent of American Muslims are black, according to American Muslim Council's Zogby poll of August 2000.</ref>

==Culture==
Over 73% of the people in the United States on welfare are black; and they make up roughly two-thirds of the unemployed workforce. As a result blacks have a much higher tendency to commit crimes. In 2011 over 82% of felonies were committed by African Americans. They are also twice as likely as any other race to be massively obese. Most agree this is a direct result of their diet. Fried chicken, chitterlings (fried pig intestines), and fried okra are dietary staples for most African Americans. The majority of healthy blacks are known to eat collard greens, black eyed peas, and watermelon.

==References==
<references/>
* [http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI)]

==See also==
* [[Black History]]
* [[Civil Rights]]
* [[Jim Crow]]
* [[Race]]
* [[Black Republican]]

[[category:Ethnicities]]
[[category:The South]]
[[category:Civil Rights]]
[[category:Black History]]

Isaac Asimov

2012-08-03T19:36:23Z

Conservativekitten:

[[Image:453px-Isaac asimov.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Isaac Asimov''' (January 2, 1920 - April 6, 1992) was a scientist and author of [[science fiction]]. He was also a [[Jew|Jewish]] [[atheist]] (or more strictly [[Humanist]]) of [[Russia]]n descent, whose parents emigrated to the United States from the [[Soviet Union]] when he was three years of age. He celebrated his birthday on January 2nd, but might have been born as early as October 4th 1919<ref>http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html#non-literary3.</ref>. The family arrived in New York City on February 3rd 1923<ref>http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html#non-literary3.</ref>. He is often viewed as one of the "Big Three" of so-called classic science fiction, along with [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and [[Robert A. Heinlein]], both of whom he viewed as friends.

While he is predominantly viewed as a [[science fiction]] writer, he produced works on many subjects both fiction and nonfiction; of particular note are his works on astronomy and his books of collected essays. He also earned a doctorate in [[chemistry]] from Columbia University in 1948<ref>Grolier Encyclopedia</ref> <ref>http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html#non-literary3.</ref>. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of the Twentieth or, indeed, any century; a [[conservative estimate]] puts him as the author of more than three hundred books.

Though he was never vocal against religion, he had little tolerance for those he viewed as crackpots, such as strict creationists, and viewed Judaism and Christianity both as mythologies comparable to Greek myth and other folklore. Despite this, he viewed the Bible itself as a notable work of literature, publishing several nonfiction books about both the [[Bible]] and the [[Book of Ruth]], among others.

The works which tend to be most strongly associated with him remain ''I, Robot'', a collection of his short stories about the existential dichotomy of artificial intelligence (which was somewhat less-than-faithfully recreated in the Hollywood title of the same name starring [[Will Smith]]), as well as the Foundation series, a work sometimes viewed as the first in the genre of "future histories". He died on April 6, 1992 of complications due to [[AIDS]], which he contracted via a tainted blood transfusion during a heart bypass operation. Recently, there has been controversy as to how exactly he contracted the disease. Conservatives who knew him have evidence that he was indeed gay; and some going as far as to say he was a robot.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asimov, Isaac}}

[[Category: Authors|Asimov, Isaac]]

Cat

2012-08-03T19:26:58Z

Conservativekitten: /* Common lineage */

:''For the biological cat family, see [[Felidae]]''.
{{Taxonomy|image = cat.jpg|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Chordata|subphylum = Vertebrata|class = Mammalia|order = Carnivora|family = Felidae|genus = Felis|species = F. silvestris|sub = F. s. catus (Domesticated cat)}}

'''Cats''' are a group of [[carnivore|carnivorous]] [[mammals]] with sharp [[teeth]] and retractable [[claw]]s (except in the case of the [[cheetah]]) on their paws, originally distributed worldwide apart from [[Australasia]], [[Madagascar]] and [[Antarctica]]. Several of the larger kinds of cat can be dangerous to humans.

The [[domestic cat]], believed to derive from the [[Africa]]n wildcat, has been used to control [[vermin]] or kept as a pet for thousands of years, and worshiped as a god by the ancient [[Egyptian]]s, amongst others. Today, the domestic cat, sometimes affectionately known as a kitten when it is young, remains extremely popular as a [[pet]]; there are an estimated 76 million pet cats in the [[United States]].

Species of cats include the [[lion]], [[tiger]], [[leopard]], [[cheetah]], [[jaguar]], [[puma]], [[cougar]], [[ocelot]], [[lynx]], [[caracal]], [[serval]] and many smaller types.

==Common lineage==
There is some disagreement about whether cats form one common [[baramin]] or if they come in two distinct kinds. While there are a good deal of characteristics in common, all small cats share a second set of vocal cords which allow them to purr, and the only large cat with this characteristic is the [[cougar]].
While on the arc, it is commonly believed that cats often stayed by Noah's side in order to keep small dinosaurs from attacking him.

==Feral Cats==

A '''feral cat''' is a direct descendant of a domestic cat but is untamed and generally frightened of any human contact. A feral cat is usually one that has returned to the wild, foraging for food and living in areas with open space. This is usually as a result of someone abandoning a cat (or cats), some of which are able to survive in the wild and breed, which leads to the establishment of a colony of feral cats. Such colonies usually exist for social and mutual protection purposes, but individual cats within each colony are expected to find their own food.

The life of a feral cat is usually difficult, and many do not survive for very long, due to various factors such as having to catch their own food, inadequate shelter from the elements, encounters with other animals ([[skunk]]s, [[raccoon]]s, etc) or dogs or other feral cats, dangers from vehicles on roadways, and not receiving medical treatment for illnesses or injuries. Cats as domesticated animals (pets) on average are afforded better care and thus have a better quality of life and longer life spans.

A ''stray'' cat is a cat that is unowned, but generally accepts [[human]] [[touch]], may take food directly from a human, etc. The terms are often interchangeable, especially in popular usage.

==External Links==
*[http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
*[http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/feral_cats/ Humane Society Info on feral cats]

*[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290840,00.html FOXNews.com - Oscar the Cat Predicts Nursing Home Deaths]

{{Nb_zl_felines}}
[[Category:Felines]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Domestic Animals]]
[[Category:Mammals]]