Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Conservapedia talk:Ideological blocking

2008-11-26T00:24:41Z

Fox:

==On "ideological blocking"==
We had a saying in the Army about inclusiveness: "Better to have them inside the tent p****** out than outside the tent p****** in." I think that CP has conclusively proved this to be true. Following the (unilateral?) decision to kick out and block the accounts of all those who held a different opinion, they have caused more disruption, pain and heartache to this site as "outlaws" than ever would have been the case had they been allowed to argue on talk pages. The eventual content of the articles would still have followed a conservative pov, and would more than likely have been far better than a lot of what we now have instead. Dissent is a funny thing. Democracies allow it. Whoever carried out the infamous Night of The Long Knives should hang their heads in shame, because the mass ideological banning that took place has caused more harm to this project than allowing arguments on talk pages ever would have. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 19:08, 25 November 2008 (EST)

:The "outlaws" as you call them did not become troublemaking, vandalizing sorts because they were blocked for dissent. Few if any of them ever dissented, which is to say, they never argued a point. They came, they vandalized, thinking themselves clever, added nothing to the dialogue, and were rightly banned. Calling reasonable action ideological is a real stretch from reality. [[User:RodWeathers|- Rod Weathers]] 19:13, 25 November 2008 (EST)

::As you've only been here 5 minutes, you're opinion may be misguided. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 19:18, 25 November 2008 (EST)

::*Rod, liberals are big fans of revisionist thinking, none more so than European Socialists, often masquerading as Christians or someone at least "religious". They can found their own blog and rant endlessly to themselves, because being [[liberals]] they certainly won't allow any dissent whatsoever, all the while proclaiming their tolerance! --[[User:TK|₮K]][[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 19:20, 25 November 2008 (EST)
:::Of course, what TK says is true. Masqueraders are definitely anathema to this site. Although fortunately we can ''normally'' detect them by the amount of sycophantry they produce and their attempts to curry favor and fawn in an obsequious manner. TK is an expert in this, having caught many masqueraders while at the helm. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 19:24, 25 November 2008 (EST)

Conservapedia talk:Ideological blocking

2008-11-26T00:18:10Z

Fox:

Conservapedia talk:Ideological blocking

2008-11-26T00:08:35Z

Fox: New page: ==On "ideological blocking"== We had a saying in the Army about inclusiveness: "Better to have them inside the tent p****** out than outside the tent p****** in." I think that CP has concl...

User talk:RobertTB

2008-11-25T23:06:41Z

Fox: New page: ==As sure as...== ...G-d made little green apples, I'm sure you'll be back, Ames. I'm not misguided though - just operating under the guidelines of the site as they are. We've hashed this ...

==As sure as...==
...G-d made little green apples, I'm sure you'll be back, Ames. I'm not misguided though - just operating under the guidelines of the site as they are. We've hashed this out many times over the last year or so, and I've even unblocked your main once. Cost me my sysop position, effectively lol. But no hard feelings, I hope - let's keep this on a purely "intellectual" level (weird, but I lol'd as I countenanced using that as the correct term). Email me - how's life in your neck of the woods? [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 18:06, 25 November 2008 (EST)

Professor Intolerance

2008-11-25T23:00:59Z

Fox:

{{merge|Professor values}}
Intolerance is a common trait among the almost exclusively [[liberal]] professors in modern American colleges, who cannot seem to accept that alternative viewpoints to their own even exist, let alone are held by their more intelligent students. Examples include:
*censorship of any mention of creation science in any biology class
*A recent professor quit his role as adviser to a conservative group at Texas A&M, opposing their justified opposition to the tactics of terrorist [[William Ayers]]<ref>[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/6128862.html]</ref>
*Refusing to acknowledge that gun control always increases crime
*intolerance of any questioning of their beliefs, even (especially) while forcing them upon their students
*intolerance of academic accountability, believing that being granted tenure ensures they can do whatever they want for the rest of their careers, and that they have a right to keep their jobs no matter what. *opposition to drug testing, even though parents have a right to know if their children are being taught by criminals and addicts

==References==
{{reflist}}

Boy George

2008-11-25T22:48:18Z

Fox: Undo revision 569182 by BradJohnson (Talk)lets not glamorize this sordid little man,mkay?

'''George Alan O'Dowd''' is a [[homosexual]] [[British]] pop [[singer]] and [[Disc jockey|DJ]] better known by his stage name '''Boy George'''. The former [[heroin]] addict was convicted of [[cocaine]] possession in [[Manhattan]] in 2006.

[[Category: Musicians]]

Boy George

2008-11-25T22:09:43Z

Fox: Undo revision 569138 by BRichtigen (Talk)

Red Hot Lies

2008-11-25T22:05:57Z

Fox:

'''Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You Misinformed''' is a "meticulously researched"<ref> [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29584 Cynthia Grenier] </ref> [[book]] arguing against the theory of global warming, written by Christopher C. Horner.

==Notes==
<references />
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Environment]]

Boy George

2008-11-25T22:04:09Z

Fox: sp

Boy George

2008-11-25T21:48:44Z

Fox:

'''George Alan O'Dowd''' is a [[homosexual]] [[British]] pop [[singer]] and [[Disc jockey|DJ]] better known by his stage name '''Boy George'''. The former [[heroin]] addict was convicted of [[cocaine]] posession in [[Manhattan]] in 2006.

[[Category: Musicians]]

George Frideric Handel

2008-11-25T21:15:22Z

Fox:

[[Image:George Handel.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Balthasar Denner's portrait of Handel (1733)]]
[[George Frideric Handel]] (1685 - 1759) (German: '''Georg Friedrich Händel''') was a [[German]]-born composer and organist. His works fall within the [[Baroque]] era of Western [[Classical music]]. Handel was, during his lifetime, perhaps the most internationally famous of all musicians. [http://www.8notes.com/school/history/handel.asp] The legacy of Handel may be found in the dramatic power and lyrical beauty inherent in his [[music]].

== List of works ==

[[Opera|OPERAS]]:
* Hamburg: Almira, Nero (lost) (both 1705)
* Florindo e Dafne (lost) (1707)
* Florence: Rodrigo (1707)
* Venice: Agrippina (1709)
* London: Rinaldo (1711, rev. 1731)
* Il pastor fido (1712; 2nd version with ballet Terpsicore, 1734)
* Teseo (1712)
* Silla (1714)
* Amadigi di Gaula (1715)
* Radamisto (1720, rev. 1720, 1721, 1728)
* Muzio Scevola, Floridante (both 1721)
* Ottone (1722)
* Flavio (1723)
* Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1723-4)
* Tamerlano (1724, rev. 1731)
* Rodelinda, regina de'Longobardi (1725)
* Scipione, Alessandro (both 1726)
* Admeto, Riccardo I (both 1727)
* Siroe, Tolomeo (both 1728)
* Lotario (1729)
* Partenope (1729-30, rev. 1730, 1736)
* Poro (1731)
* Ezio, Sosarme (both 1732)
* Orlando (1733)
* Arianna (1734)
* Ariodante, Alcina (both 1735)
* Atalanta (1736)
* Arminio, Giustino, Berenice (all 1737)
* Faramondo, Serse (both 1738)
* Imeneo (1738-40)
* Deidamia (1740)

[[Orchestra|ORCHESTRA]]:
* [[Water Music]] (c.1717)
* [[Music for Royal Fireworks]] (1749)

DRAMATIC ORATORIOS:
* [[Rome]]: La Resurrezione, Trionfo del Tempo (1708)
* Naples: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (1709)
* Hamburg: Der für die Sünde der Welt gemartete und sterbende Jesus (Brockes Passion) (?1716)
* London: Haman and Mordecai (masque 1720, later rev. as Esther in 1732)
* Acis and Galatea (1718; rev. 1732 incorporating part of 1708 cantata on same subject, and 1743)
* Deborah (1733)
* Athalia (1733)
* Alexander's Feast (1736)
* Israel in Egypt (1738)
* Saul, Ode for St Cecilia's Day (1739)
* L'Allegro, il Pensieroso ed il Moderato (1740)
* [[Handel's Messiah|Messiah]] (1741)
* Samson (1741-2)
* Joseph and his Brethren, Semele (1743)
* Belshazzar, Hercules (1744)
* Occasional Oratorio, Judas Maccabaeus (1746)
* Alexander Balus, Joshua (1747)
* Solomon, Susanna (1748)
* Theodora, Alceste (1749)
* Choice of Hercules (1750)
* Jephtha (1751)
* Triumph of Time and Truth (1757)

CANTATAS AND CHAMBER DUETS: Handel comp. 100 of the former and 20 of the latter. Among the best known are:
* Silete Venti, sop., instr. (1729)
* La terra è liberata (Apollo e Dafne), sop., bass, instr. (c.1708)
* O numi eterni (La Lucrezia), sop., continuo (1709)

CHURCH MUSIC:
* Gloria Patri (1707)
* Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate (1712-13)
* Dettingen Te Deum (1743)
* 11 Chandos Anthems (1717-18)
* 4 Coronation Anthems (1727: The King Shall Rejoice; Let thy hand be strengthened; My heart is inditing; Zadok the Priest)
* The Ways of Zion do Mourn, funeral anthem for Queen Caroline (1737)

VOCAL:
* Birthday Ode for Queen Anne (1713)
* 9 German Arias (1729)

INSTRUMENTAL AND CHAMBER MUSIC:
* 6 Concerti Grossi, str., ww., continuo, Op.3 (1734)
* 12 Concerti Grossi, str., optional wind, Op.6 (1739)
* 5 Concerti, orch. (1741)
* 6 organ concerti, Op.4 (1738)
* 6 organ concerti, Op.7 (1760)
* 6 organ concerti (1740)
* 15 chamber sonatas (fls., recorders), Op.1 (1724)
* 3 concerti a due cori
* 2 ob. sonatas
* 12 fl. sonatas
* 6 trio sonatas
* 9 trio sonatas, Op.2 (1722-33)
* 7 trio sonatas, Op.5 (1739)
* va. da gamba sonata
* 8 suites de pièces, hpd. (1720)
* 8 suites de pièces (1733, these incl. the well-known Chaconne in G)
* 6 Fugues (1736) See also Harmonious Blacksmith

== See also ==

*[[Franz Schubert]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/George_Frideric_Handel/24403.htm HANDEL, GEORGE FRIDERIC BIOGRAPHY]
*[http://www.8notes.com/school/history/handel.asp George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handel, George Frideric}}

[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Composers]]

Jonathan Pollard

2008-11-25T19:57:57Z

Fox:

[[Image:Jonathan Pollard.JPG|right|thumb|Jonathon Pollard]]
'''Jonathan Pollard''' (born 7 August 1954, [[Indiana]]) was convicted of spying for [[Israel]] against the [[United States of America]] in 1986 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Pollard, a [[U.S. Navy]] intelligence analyst, pleaded guilty to providing Israel with information about the military capabilities of [[Arab]] states, including [[Iraq]].

==Background==
In the mid 1980's Pollard had discovered that information vital to Israel's security was being deliberately withheld by certain elements within the U.S. national security establishment. Israel was legally entitled to this vital security information according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries. The information being withheld from Israel included [[Syria]]n, [[Iraq]]i, [[Libya]]n and [[Iran]]ian nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets. When Pollard discovered this suppression of information and asked his superiors about it, he was told to "mind his own business", and that "Jews get nervous talking about poison gas; they don't need to know." He also learned that the objective of cutting off the flow of information to Israel was to severely curtail Israel's ability to act independently in defense of her own interests.
Pollard was painfully aware that Israeli lives were being put in jeopardy as a result of this undeclared intelligence embargo. He did everything he possibly could to stop this covert policy and to have the legal flow of information to Israel restored. When his efforts met no success, he began to give the information to Israel directly.<ref>The Facts of the Pollard Case [http://www.jonathanpollard.org/facts.htm Justice for Jonathan Pollard]. Accessed 27 December 2007.</ref>

On 11 May 1998, Israel formally acknowledged Pollard had been an Israeli agent, handled by high ranking authorities within Lekem (''Lishkat Kishrei Mada'' "Bureau of Scientific Relations"), which collected scientific and technical intelligence. Lakem was disbanded following Pollard's arrest.<ref>Document: Official Recognition as An Agent by the State of Israel. [http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1998/051198d.htm jonathonpollard.org]. Accessed 27 December 2007.</ref>

==Sentencing controversy==
Pollard's supporters point to how grossly disproportionate his life sentence is when compared to the sentences of others who spied for allied nations. He is the only person in the history of the United States to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally; the maximum sentence today for such an offence is 10 years.
The median sentence for this offence is 2 to 4 years. Pollard's life sentence is also disproportionate even when compared to the sentences of those who committed far more serious offences by spying for enemy nations. [[Aldrich Ames]] who spied for an enemy nation (the Soviet Union), committed treason, and was responsible for the deaths of at least 11 American agents, received the same sentence as Jonathan Pollard. Pollard's only indictment was a single count of passing classified information to an ally.<ref>Comparative Sentences [http://www.jonathanpollard.org/sentences.htm jonathonpollard.org]. Accessed 27 December 2007.</ref>

==Wall Street Journal==
On February 15 February 1991 The Wall Street Journal published a letter from Pollard, written to his [[Rabbi]] in 1989, in which he stated that: ''any objective examination of the record will show that no American agent, facility or program was compromised as a result of my actions - not one. But this salient fact was conveniently overlooked by [[Caspar Weinberger|Mr. Weinberger]], who felt that I deserved the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] for having had the audacity to make Israel "too strong."'' With reference to the type of intelligence that Pollard turned over to Israel, he stated: ''The problem ... lay in the fact that many of the photos that I turned over to the Israelis were of a number of Iraqi chemical weapons manufacturing plants which the government did not want to admit existed. Why? Well, if no one knew about these facilities the State and Defense Departments would have been spared the embarrassing task of confronting Iraq over its violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which banned the use of chemical weapons in war. You have to remember... that at the time of my sentencing the massacre of Kurdish civilians in Halabja had not yet occurred, and what little concern was being voiced over Iraq's apparent use of poison gas was largely ignored by the administration which did not want to anger the Arab world by criticizing the use of such barbaric weapons against Iran. The photos I gave Israel, though, if "compromised" would have jeopardized the administration's policy of callous indifference to this issue, in that they constituted hard, irrefutable proof that Iraq was indeed engaged in the production and wide scale use of chemical weapons. What the administration was really concerned about was being placed in a position where it would have to admit that it had tacitly condoned the creation of an Iraqi chemical weapons manufacturing capability.''<ref>'''Pollard, J.''' "Appeasement of Iraq Made Me A Spy" (1989) [http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1991/021591.htm jonathonpollard.org]. Accessed 27 December 2007.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.jonathanpollard.org/ Justice for Jonathan Pollard]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard,Jonathan}}

[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Espionage]]

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T17:43:09Z

Fox: cat

[[Image:Thing from another world poster.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The original 1951 promotional poster. Note the "above the movie" billing given to Howard Hawks.]]
[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras, an unidentified aircraft, weighing approximately 20,000 tons, which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!" The final frames, like ''The Blob'' seven years later, are filled not with a "THE END" title card, but with a question mark.

==Analysis==
The movie was released only 4 years after the [[Roswell|Roswell Incident]], and coincided with [[McCarthyism]] and the "red scare", the [[Korean War]], and the beginning of the [[Cold War]]. It was released in the same year as another classic sci-fi movie, ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' but the two were polar opposites in how they dealt with Man's first contact with extraterrestrial life. Mark Bourne's retrospective (2003) analysis of the two movies summarizes: "In ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', a Christ-like man from space, on a mission to save us from our "petty squabbling" and "strange, unreasoning attitudes," is besieged by trigger-happy, paranoid militarists before appealing to the superior minds of Earth's scientists, then flies away having given us food for thought. Meanwhile, all namby-pamby First Contact niceties were torched to the ground in ''The Thing from Another World'', where the worst way to deal with its flying saucer pilot is to let the eggheads trump our men in uniform in the name of some fatally wrongheaded "communication" and "understanding." This taut and entertaining thriller is to ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' what ''[[Alien]]'' is to ''[[Star Trek]]'', or the [[Rolling Stones]] to the [[Beatles]]."<ref name="bourne">Bourne, Mark [http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/t/thingfromanotherworld.shtml ''Review''] [http://www.dvdjournal.com dvdjournal.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref>

The clash between the military and the scientist has been a recurring theme in many films of this type, and ''The Thing...'' portrays "one of the rare occasions in sci-fi/horror film history where the military is actually the level headed side of this equation."<ref>[http://www.houseofhorrors.com/thingfromanotherworld.htm ''Review''] [http://www.houseofhorrors.com houseofhorrors.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> The "brilliant yet blissfully naive Dr. Arthur Carrington... naturally, assumes 'the Thing' is only homicidal because he is misunderstood... [but] as the truly frightening potential of the creature reveals itself, it becomes a race against time to destroy it, before it kills everyone, leaves the base, and reproduces countless seedlings of itself to conquer the world."<ref name="burgraff">Burgraff, Ben [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/ ''Reviews''] [http://www.imdb.com imdb.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> The movie portrays Dr. Carrington as "driven only by the 'quest for knowledge', his desire to protect the monster, even to the point of sacrificing his fellow humans, com[ing] off as murderously naive. When he says admiringly of the Thing, "Its development was not handicapped by emotional or sexual factors," we suspect that Carrington's was."<ref name="bourne" />

[[Stephen King]] writes, in his authoritative study of horror fiction, ''"Danse Macabre"'': "''The Thing...'' is the first movie of the fifties to offer us the scientist in the role of the Appeaser, that creature who for reasons either craven or misguided, would open the gates to the Garden of Eden and let all the evils fly '''in''' (as opposed, let us say, to those Mad Labs proprietors of the thirties, who were more than willing to open [[Pandora's Box]] and let all the evils fly '''out''' - a major distinction, although the end results are the same). That scientists should be so constantly vilified in the techno-horror films of the fifties - a decade that was apparently dedicated to the idea of turning out a whole marching corps of men and women in white lab coats - is perhaps not so surprising when we remember that it was science which opened those same gates so that the [[atomic bomb]] could be brought into Eden - first by itself and then trundled on missile carriers. The average Jane or Joe on the street during those spooky eight or nine years that followed the surrender of [[Japan]] had extremely schizoid feelings about science and scientists - recognizing the need for them and at the same time loathing the things they had let in forever. On the one hand, there was their pal, that neat little all-round guy, [http://www.toonopedia.com/reddy_k.htm Reddy Kilowatt]; on the other hand, before getting into the first reel of ''The Thing...'' down at your local theater, you could watch newsreel footage as an Army mockup of "a town just like yours" was vaporized in a nuclear furnace."<ref name="king">King, Stephen "Danse Macabre" (Berkeley, 1987) ISBN 0-4251-0433-8</ref>

Bourne points out that although "the film's [[conservative]] stance was criticized as pro-[[martial law]] and anti-science, countering ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'''s more high-minded aspirations [such] an argument forgets that the film presents both the Military and Science camps as working pros who [eventually] join together to defeat the unquestionably deadly Big Bad. The soldiers bungle when they follow "standard operating procedure" and verbal barbs fly at the expense of military bureaucracy... If the film is "anti" anything it's rigid dogmatism. The scientists and the military men defeat the Thing only when both throw out their respective rule books and act from situational common sense."<ref name="bourne" /> Similarly, Kawin deduces: "The film's bias is in favor of [the] friendly, witty, sexy, and professionally effective - Hawksian - human community, and opposed to the dark forces that lurk outside (the Thing as ''[[Beowulf|Beowulf's]]'' "Grendel"). The film... opposes the lack of balanced professionalism [as depicted by] the scientist who becomes indifferent to the human coimmunity and whose professionalism approaches the fanatical, as opposed to the effective captain and the klutzy, but less seriously flawed, reporter."<ref name="kawin">Kawin, Bruce "''The Mummy's Pool''" p.6 "Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film" ed. Grant, Barry Keith (Scarecrrow Press, 2004) ISBN 0-8108-5013-3</ref>

==Directorship==
Although Nyby is credited as the director, Hawk's receives "above the movie" billing and is generally believed to have directed the movie. Hawks is known to have been on set throughout filming, and when interviewed cast members have said "Hawks ran the entire show."<ref name="burgraff" /> Critics observe that "Hawks’ fingerprints are all over The Thing; it is a "Howard Hawks film" in everything but name. Characteristically, the story revolves around a group of people under pressure, who overcome adversity thanks to their common sense, their ingenuity, and above all their ability to band together and work as a team in the face of danger. Hawks was one of the screen’s leading humanists, evincing a simple and enjoyable faith in the ability of human beings to rise to any occasion and deal with whatever crisis confronted them."<ref name="aycyas">[http://twtd.bluemountains.net.au/Rick/thing.htm ''Review''] [http://www.aycyas.com And You Call Yourself A Scientist!]. Retrieved 25 November 2008</ref> That Hawks directed also seems apparent from his trademark avoidance of expressionism and frills, and his well-known use of overlapping, conversational dialogue. As is typical for a hawks movie, scenes are staged for efficiency and filmed from an objective viewpoint, typically from eye level.<ref>Christensen, David [http://www.monsterzine.com/200110/thing.php3 ''Nobody trusts anybody now'']: Some views of The Thing From Another World (1951) and John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) [http://www.monsterzine.com MonsterZine.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008</ref>

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. The movie is now in the [[Public domain]]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Movies]]

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T17:42:32Z

Fox:

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T17:01:44Z

Fox: /* Analysis */

[[Image:Thing from another world poster.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The original 1951 promotional poster. Note the "above the movie" billing given to Howard Hawks.]]
[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras, an unidentified aircraft, weighing approximately 20,000 tons, which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!" The final frames, like ''The Blob'' seven years later, are filled not with a "THE END" title card, but with a question mark.

==Analysis==
The movie was released only 4 years after the [[Roswell|Roswell Incident]], and coincided with [[McCarthyism]] and the "red scare", the [[Korean War]], and the beginning of the [[Cold War]]. It was released in the same year as another classic sci-fi movie, ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' but the two were polar opposites in how they dealt with Man's first contact with extraterrestrial life. Mark Bourne's retrospective (2003) analysis of the two movies summarizes: "In ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', a Christ-like man from space, on a mission to save us from our "petty squabbling" and "strange, unreasoning attitudes," is besieged by trigger-happy, paranoid militarists before appealing to the superior minds of Earth's scientists, then flies away having given us food for thought. Meanwhile, all namby-pamby First Contact niceties were torched to the ground in ''The Thing from Another World'', where the worst way to deal with its flying saucer pilot is to let the eggheads trump our men in uniform in the name of some fatally wrongheaded "communication" and "understanding." This taut and entertaining thriller is to ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' what ''[[Alien]]'' is to ''[[Star Trek]]'', or the [[Rolling Stones]] to the [[Beatles]]."<ref name="bourne">Bourne, Mark [http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/t/thingfromanotherworld.shtml ''Review''] [http://www.dvdjournal.com dvdjournal.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref>

The clash between the military and the scientist has been a recurring theme in many films of this type, and ''The Thing...'' portrays "one of the rare occasions in sci-fi/horror film history where the military is actually the level headed side of this equation."<ref>[http://www.houseofhorrors.com/thingfromanotherworld.htm ''Review''] [http://www.houseofhorrors.com houseofhorrors.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> The "brilliant yet blissfully naive Dr. Arthur Carrington... naturally, assumes 'the Thing' is only homicidal because he is misunderstood... [but] as the truly frightening potential of the creature reveals itself, it becomes a race against time to destroy it, before it kills everyone, leaves the base, and reproduces countless seedlings of itself to conquer the world."<ref>Burgraff, Ben [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/ ''Reviews''] [http://www.imdb.com imdb.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> The movie portrays Dr. Carrington as "driven only by the 'quest for knowledge', his desire to protect the monster, even to the point of sacrificing his fellow humans, com[ing] off as murderously naive. When he says admiringly of the Thing, "Its development was not handicapped by emotional or sexual factors," we suspect that Carrington's was."<ref name="bourne" />

[[Stephen King]] writes, in his authoritative study of horror fiction, ''"Danse Macabre"'': "''The Thing...'' is the first movie of the fifties to offer us the scientist in the role of the Appeaser, that creature who for reasons either craven or misguided, would open the gates to the Garden of Eden and let all the evils fly '''in''' (as opposed, let us say, to those Mad Labs proprietors of the thirties, who were more than willing to open [[Pandora's Box]] and let all the evils fly '''out''' - a major distinction, although the end results are the same). That scientists should be so constantly vilified in the techno-horror films of the fifties - a decade that was apparently dedicated to the idea of turning out a whole marching corps of men and women in white lab coats - is perhaps not so surprising when we remember that it was science which opened those same gates so that the [[atomic bomb]] could be brought into Eden - first by itself and then trundled on missile carriers. The average Jane or Joe on the street during those spooky eight or nine years that followed the surrender of [[Japan]] had extremely schizoid feelings about science and scientists - recognizing the need for them and at the same time loathing the things they had let in forever. On the one hand, there was their pal, that neat little all-round guy, [http://www.toonopedia.com/reddy_k.htm Reddy Kilowatt]; on the other hand, before getting into the first reel of ''The Thing...'' down at your local theater, you could watch newsreel footage as an Army mockup of "a town just like yours" was vaporized in a nuclear furnace."<ref name="king">King, Stephen "Danse Macabre" (Berkeley, 1987) ISBN 0-4251-0433-8</ref>

Bourne points out that although "the film's [[conservative]] stance was criticized as pro-[[martial law]] and anti-science, countering ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'''s more high-minded aspirations [such] an argument forgets that the film presents both the Military and Science camps as working pros who [eventually] join together to defeat the unquestionably deadly Big Bad. The soldiers bungle when they follow "standard operating procedure" and verbal barbs fly at the expense of military bureaucracy... If the film is "anti" anything it's rigid dogmatism. The scientists and the military men defeat the Thing only when both throw out their respective rule books and act from situational common sense."<ref name="bourne" /> Similarly, Kawin deduces: "The film's bias is in favor of [the] friendly, witty, sexy, and professionally effective - Hawksian - human community, and opposed to the dark forces that lurk outside (the Thing as ''[[Beowulf|Beowulf's]]'' "Grendel"). The film... opposes the lack of balanced professionalism [as depicted by] the scientist who becomes indifferent to the human coimmunity and whose professionalism approaches the fanatical, as opposed to the effective captain and the klutzy, but less seriously flawed, reporter."<ref name="kawin">Kawin, Bruce "''The Mummy's Pool''" p.6 "Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film" ed. Grant, Barry Keith (Scarecrrow Press, 2004) ISBN 0-8108-5013-3</ref>

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. The movie is now in the [[Public domain]]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

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

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T16:58:43Z

Fox: /* Analysis */

[[Image:Thing from another world poster.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The original 1951 promotional poster. Note the "above the movie" billing given to Howard Hawks.]]
[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras, an unidentified aircraft, weighing approximately 20,000 tons, which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!" The final frames, like ''The Blob'' seven years later, are filled not with a "THE END" title card, but with a question mark.

==Analysis==
The movie was released only 4 years after the [[Roswell|Roswell Incident]], and coincided with [[McCarthyism]] and the "red scare", the [[Korean War]], and the beginning of the [[Cold War]]. It was released in the same year as another classic sci-fi movie, ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' but the two were polar opposites in how they dealt with Man's first contact with extraterrestrial life. Mark Bourne's retrospective (2003) analysis of the two movies summarizes: "In ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', a Christ-like man from space, on a mission to save us from our "petty squabbling" and "strange, unreasoning attitudes," is besieged by trigger-happy, paranoid militarists before appealing to the superior minds of Earth's scientists, then flies away having given us food for thought. Meanwhile, all namby-pamby First Contact niceties were torched to the ground in ''The Thing from Another World'', where the worst way to deal with its flying saucer pilot is to let the eggheads trump our men in uniform in the name of some fatally wrongheaded "communication" and "understanding." This taut and entertaining thriller is to ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' what ''[[Alien]]'' is to ''[[Star Trek]]'', or the [[Rolling Stones]] to the [[Beatles]]."<ref name="bourne">Bourne, Mark [http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/t/thingfromanotherworld.shtml ''Review''] [http://www.dvdjournal.com dvdjournal.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref>

The clash between the military and the scientist has been a recurring theme in many films of this type, and ''The Thing...'' portrays "one of the rare occasions in sci-fi/horror film history where the military is actually the level headed side of this equation."<ref>[http://www.houseofhorrors.com/thingfromanotherworld.htm ''Review''] [http://www.houseofhorrors.com houseofhorrors.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> The "brilliant yet blissfully naive Dr. Arthur Carrington... naturally, assumes 'the Thing' is only homicidal because he is misunderstood... [but] as the truly frightening potential of the creature reveals itself, it becomes a race against time to destroy it, before it kills everyone, leaves the base, and reproduces countless seedlings of itself to conquer the world."<ref>Burgraff, Ben [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/ ''Reviews''] [http://www.imdb.com imdb.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> The movie portrays Dr. Carrington as "driven only by the 'quest for knowledge', his desire to protect the monster, even to the point of sacrificing his fellow humans, com[ing] off as murderously naive. When he says admiringly of the Thing, "Its development was not handicapped by emotional or sexual factors," we suspect that Carrington's was."<ref name="bourne" />

[[Stephen King]] writes, in his authorative study of horror fiction, ''"Danse Macabre"'': "''The Thing...'' is the first movie of the fifties to offer us the scientist in the role of the Appeaser, that creature who for reasons either craven or misguided, would open the gates to the Garden of Eden and let all the evils fly '''in''' (as opposed, let us say, to those Mad Labs proprietors of the thirties, who were more than willing to open [[Pandora's Box]] and let all the evils fly '''out''' - a major distinction, although the end results are the same). That scientists should be so constantly vilified in the techno-horror films of the fifties - a decade that was apparently dedicated to the idea of turning out a whole marching corps of men and women in white lab coats - is perhaps not so surprising when we remember that it was science which opened those same gates so that the [[atomic bomb]] could be brought into Eden - first by itself and then trundled on missile carriers. The average Jane or Joe on the street during those spooky eight or nine years that followed the surrender of [[Japan]] had extremely schizoid feelings about science and scientists - recognizing the need for them and at the same time loathing the things they had let in forever. On the one hand, there was their pal, that neat little all-round guy, [http://www.toonopedia.com/reddy_k.htm Reddy Kilowatt]; on the other hand, before getting into the first reel of ''The Thing...'' down at your local theater, you could watch newsreel footage as an Army mockup of "a town just like yours" was vaporized in a nuclear furnace."<ref name="king">King, Stephen "Danse Macabre" (Berkeley, 1987) ISBN 0-4251-0433-8</ref>

Bourne points out that although "the film's [[conservative]] stance was criticized as pro-[[martial law]] and anti-science, countering ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'''s more high-minded aspirations [such] an argument forgets that the film presents both the Military and Science camps as working pros who [eventually] join together to defeat the unquestionably deadly Big Bad. The soldiers bungle when they follow "standard operating procedure" and verbal barbs fly at the expense of military bureaucracy... If the film is "anti" anything it's rigid dogmatism. The scientists and the military men defeat the Thing only when both throw out their respective rule books and act from situational common sense."<ref name="bourne" /> Similarly, Kawin deduces: "The film's bias is in favor of [the] friendly, witty, sexy, and professionally effective - Hawksian - human community, and opposed to the dark forces that lurk outside (the Thing as ''[[Beowulf|Beowulf's]]'' "Grendel"). The film... opposes the lack of balanced professionalism [as depicted by] the scientist who becomes indifferent to the human coimmunity and whose professionalism approaches the fanatical, as opposed to the effective captain and the klutzy, but less seriously flawed, reporter."<ref name="kawin">Kawin, Bruce "''The Mummy's Pool''" p.6 "Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film" ed. Grant, Barry Keith (Scarecrrow Press, 2004) ISBN 0-8108-5013-3</ref>

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. The movie is now in the [[Public domain]]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

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

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T16:23:44Z

Fox: /* Plot summary */

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:45:16Z

Fox: /* External links */

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:40:35Z

Fox: /* Plot summary */

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:34:50Z

Fox: typo

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:34:23Z

Fox: img

[[Image:Thing from another world poster.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The original 1951 promotional poster. Note the "above the movie" billing giving to Howard Hawks.]]
[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras, an unidentified aircraft, weighing approximately 20,000 tons, which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with the Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!"

==Analysis==
this section {{inuse}}

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

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

File:Thing from another world poster.jpg

2008-11-25T15:32:32Z

Fox: {{License|license = Fair use This is a web resolution reproduction of an image used purely for an educational article about the image subject by a non-commercial site; it is believed its use here does not impede the rights of the licence holder. The o

{{License|license = [[Fair use]] This is a web resolution reproduction of an image used purely for an educational article about the image subject by a non-commercial site; it is believed its use here does not impede the rights of the licence holder. The original copyright was held by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Copies made from it will be of inferior quality. This image is of a very low resolution and cannot be used to make reproductions of the original movie poster which could be passed off as the original or replace use of the original. The poster is used to illustrate an article which gives critical analysis and commentary about the movie.|source = |usableonuserpage = no}}
[[Category:Image]][[Category:Fair use]]

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:24:45Z

Fox: /* Plot summary */

[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras, an unidentified aircraft, weighing approximately 20,000 tons, which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with the Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!"

==Analysis==
this section {{inuse}}

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

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

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:22:55Z

Fox: /* Analysis */

[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with the Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!"

==Analysis==
this section {{inuse}}

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

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

The Thing from Another World

2008-11-25T15:22:24Z

Fox: New page: The Thing from Another World is a science fiction movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes....

[[The Thing from Another World]] is a [[science fiction]] movie released by RKO Radio Pictures Inc. in 1951 and considered a classic of the genre.<ref name="rot">[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021242-thing/# ''Review''] at [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com rottentomatoes.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Produced by [[Howard Hawks]] and marking the directorial debut of Christian Nyby, the movie features [[Hollywood|Hollywood's]] first "space-age" monster and is credited with kickstarting the decade of similarly themed [[United States of America|U.S.]] movies which followed.<ref>Delapa, Thomas [http://archive.boulderweekly.com/030807/reeltoreel.html ''Reel to reel - Weekly Pick''] [http://www.boulderweekly.com/20081120/home1.html Boulder Weekly]. Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> Filmed in [[Montana|Montana's]] [[Glacier National Park]] and an ice storage plant in [[Los Angeles]],<ref name="justice">Justice, Chris. [http://classic-horror.com/reviews/thing_from_another_world_1951 ''Review''] at [http://classic-horror.com/ classic-horror.com] Retrieved 25 November 2008.</ref> the movie revolves around a group of US scientists and servicemen stationed in the [[Arctic]] who investigate a crashed [[UFO]] and unwittingly release an almost invincible [[extraterrestrial life|extra-terrestrial lifeform]]. Loosely based on the novel ''[http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/3756/jc/who/bonusid.htm Who Goes There?]'' (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr., it was later remade by [[John Carpenter]] as ''"The Thing"'' in 1982.

==Cast==
*Margaret Sheridan - ''Nikki''
*Kenneth Tobey - ''Captain Patrick Hendry''
*Robert Cornthwaite - ''Dr. Carrington''
*Douglas Spencer - ''Scotty''
*James R. Young - ''Lt. Eddie Dykes''
*Dewey Martin - ''Crew Chief''
*Robert Nichols - ''Lt. Ken McPherson''
*William Self - ''Corporal Barnes''
*Eduard Franz - ''Dr. Stern''
*Sally Creighton - ''Mrs. Chapman''
*James Arness - ''The Thing''

==Plot summary==
The movie opens in a US military base in [[Anchorage]], [[Alaska]]. A request for assistance is received from a group of [[scientist]]s stationed in an isolated Arctic outpost who have detected, via [[seismic]] instruments and [[radioactivity|radiation-triggered]] remote telescopic cameras which has crashed 48 miles from their base. A military team, accompanied by a [[Journalism|journalist]], respond to the request, and at the crash site discover a frozen spacecraft embedded in the ice. Attempts to melt the ice using thermite explosive charges result in the destruction of the craft, but they subsequently discover the body of its pilot and bring him back to their station still frozen in a block of ice. Unintentionally, they thaw the body, an eight-foot tall humanoid composed of a plant-like material. Despite displaying [[Homicide|homicidal]] behaviour, the scientists want to preserve and study him, while the military personnel want to destroy him. These competing interest groups come into conflict to determine the creature's fate, until finally the military personnel win. By rigging up a section of the metallic flooring to a high voltage [[electricity|electrical]] supply, the creature is eventually defeated.<ref name="justice" />

The movies closes with the Scotty, the journalist, relaying his report to fellow newsmen via radio: "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are - Watch the skies... everywhere! Keep looking... Keep watching the skies!"

==Analysis==

==External links==
*[http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=23391856913864011&ei=KfMrScfWI5-QiQLU7ci6BQ&q=The+Thing+from+Another+World&hl=en The Thing From Another World] - complete movie on streaming video from video.google. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
*[http://leonscripts.tripod.com/scripts/THING51.htm Early screenplay] by Charles Lederer. Retrieved 25 November 2008.

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

Washington insider

2008-11-25T12:07:21Z

Fox:

The term '''Washington insider''' is often used in the [[media]] to denote a person (usually anonymously) with an 'inside' knowledge of Federal politics. 'Insiders' can be elected politicians, such as members of [[Congress]], but also include public servants, special advisers and their staff, [[lobbyist]]s, [[journalist]]s, publicists and representatives of [[NGO]]s. Washington insiders need not reside in the capital itself, but most of them live 'inside the [[Beltway]]'.

[[Category:Politics]]

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T13:44:34Z

Fox: /* References */

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]
The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Unionism|Trade Unions]] rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==
''"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"'' was written by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in his play '''Richard III''' (1594). It actually means that the period of discontent or unhappiness is ending, winter marking the end of a cycle. The phrase was used to describe the social and industrial unrest of the 1978-79 winter by the political editor of the British national [[newspaper]] ''[[The Sun]]''.

==Background==
When the [[Labour Party]] was elected in 1974 its manifesto stated "It is our intention to bring about a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families." However the 1974-9 government imposed the greatest attacks on working class living standards since the depression of the 1930s:
*Housing - By 1978 fewer council houses were being built than in any year since the Second World War.
*Health - 25,000 hospital bed places were removed in the first two years of the Labour government.
*Education - teachers suffered large scale redundancies for the first time in living memory.
*Prices - doubled between February 1974 and December 1978.
*Jobs - an average of 1,000 a day went in Labour's first three years. [[Unemployment]] was 500,000 in 1974. It reached 1.6 million in 1976.
*Wages - a family of four on average earnings was worse off in 1979 than in 1974.<ref name="swo">''Winter of Discontent 1978-9: We struck because Labour betrayed us'' (2002) [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11511 Socialist Worker Online]. Retrieved 20 November 2008</ref>

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of Britain's trade unions, had become "tied" to the government following the adoption of the [[Social Contract]]<ref>''The agreement was known colloquially among rank and file union members however as the "Social Con Trick".</ref>, a bipartite arrangement between the government and the trade union movement. "The package was an attempt to control inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of employment through industrial strategy and improve the social wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of public expenditure, and was to include a programme of employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 , introduction of new statutory protections for employees and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial democracy . The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining wages."<ref name="emire">''Social Contract'' (2007) [http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UNITED%20KINGDOM/SOCIALCONTRACT-EN.htm European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions]. Retrieved 20 November 2008.</ref> Although the governement failed to deliver its side of the bargain, the TUC insisted on upholding theirs, even to the detriment of its member unions: in 1976 the Seamen's Union proposed strike action over a delayed pay award. The general secretary of the TUC, Len Murray, told them, "By god, we'll make sure no union supports you. We'll cripple you."<ref name="swo" /> A further three major strikes by groups of skilled workers in 1977 collapsed after the TUC instructed other workers to cross the picket lines.<ref name="swo" />

The "discontent" of British workers continued to build for several years; [[inflation]] had reached 26.9% in August 1975, and the incumbent [[Labour Party|Labour]] government under [[Prime Minister]] [[Harold Wilson]] introduced a "cap" on pay increases for workers at limits set by the government, and far below the rate of inflation. For workers earning under £8,500 ($17,000) a year the maximum pay increase could not exceed £6 ($12) per week. By 1978, inflation had almost halved, but the government refused to remove the caps, fixing the maximum pay increase at 5%. However, at the end of 1977, [[firefighter]]s had gone on strike and, despite being forced back to work (the strike had ended violently, with the firefighters even attacking their own Union officials whom they felt had betrayed them), achieved a 10% increase, followed in early 1978 by further concessions from the government, giving them an increase in real terms of 20%. Furthermore, their salaries became index linked against inflation, a privilege which had previously only been accorded to the Army Chiefs, police and judges, as a compensation for not being allowed to strike. The firefighters had however still retained the right to strike. Told that ''their'' rises would still be capped at 5% the remainder of the already disgruntled workforce took notice of how the firefighters had been successful in "defeat" and began to see how weak the government had become when challenged by direct action.<ref name="winter">''The Winter of Discontent'' "History and Class Consciousness in the U.K." (2002) [http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html Revolt Against an Age of Plenty]. Accessed 1 February 2008</ref>

In April 1976, Wilson had been replaced as Prime Minister by Labour's [[James Callaghan]], and it was widely expected that he would call for a general election and the removal of the wage caps in September 1978 following the TUC conference. Instead, he announced that there would be no general election and that the cap would remain for at least another year to allow the economy to stabilise. The same month, a pay increase for workers at [[Ford Motor Company]] was set by the company within the allotted 5% designated by the government but was rejected by the workers. A strike began when 15,000 Ford workers walked off the job on September 22 and by September 26 had been joined by 57,000 others, leaving 23 Ford factories unmanned.<ref name="aspden">'''Aspden, Alex''' ''1978-1979: Winter of Discontent'' (2007) [http://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent Libcom.org]. Retrieved 1 February 2008</ref>

==The Ford deal==
The strike by the Ford workers was unofficial, and had not been formally sanctioned by the workers' union, the '''Transport and General Workers Union''' (TGWU), however, given the determination of their members not to return to work, and the violence that had marked the previous year's firefighter's strike, the TGWU officially gave its support on 5 October. They demanded a 25% pay increase and a reduction to a 35 hour working week, and negotiations began with the management of Ford. On 22 November they accepted a 17% pay increase, with no reduction in working hours, and returned to work. The government were furious that Ford had breached the pay policy and attempted to impose sanctions on the company, but this was defeated in [[House of Commons (UK)|Parliament]], with Callaghan only narrowly surviving a motion of confidence. Humiliated and further weakened, the government was now powerless to enforce the 5% cap, which would now be challenged by strikes in both the public and private sectors.<ref name="aspden" />

Unlike the strikes which were to follow, the Ford strike was unique in that the entire workforce withdrew their labour - no picket lines were required. English workers in ancilliary industries assisted the strike by preventing the movement of components both on the motorways and in the docks, and this also enabled the workers to turn the division of labour between [[Europe|European]] states against Ford as the majority of European factories were prevented from operating because of the lack of components or because components destined for English factories were held up. Henry Ford said, "It was the worst strike I have ever seen".<ref name="winter" /> Analysts have concluded that it was this single strike which caused the Labour Government to fall.<ref name="winter" />

==Transport strikes==
In an attempt to win a 40% pay increase, fuel tanker drivers employed by [[British Petroleum]] and [[Esso]] had begun "working to rule" and refusing to work overtime. They received such small allowances for overnight stops that they were forced to sleep three to a room in dirty hostels.<ref name="swo" /> On 9 January 1979, all truck drivers of the TGWU went out on strike for more pay. This crippled the national distribution system, causing food shortages as well as halting the transport of materials required by industry. Fuel stations were closed due to no deliveries to fill their storage tanks, and oil refineries were blockaded by [[flying picket]]s. In less than a month, with road distribution at a standstill, the drivers achieved a pay deal just £1 ($2) less per week than they had asked for.

==Floodgates opened==
[[Image:Waste collectors strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Uncollected refuse spilling onto the streets remains an iconic image of the Winter of Discontent]]
While the transport strike was still in force, many public sector workers launched strikes of their own. The railwaymens' unions, the '''National Union of Railwaymen''' (NUR) and the '''Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen''' (ASLEF)<ref>A popular joke among workers at the time was that "ASLEF" stood for "As'lef'ma'train in the depot"</ref> had begun to close down the public transport network, and on 22 January the public sector unions called a "Day of Action" which saw 1.5 million workers refusing to work, the largest general stoppage of work in the UK since the General Strike of 1926. Schools and airports were forced to close and ambulance drivers and nurses working for the [[National Health Service]] began refusing to treat patients except for life-threatening emergencies. Many workers who struck on the Day of Action simply did not return to work afterwards, staying out on strike until February. In late January, gravediggers went out on strike, and health officials began contingency planing for burials at sea. However, after two weeks of strike action, the gravediggers achieved a 14% pay increase and returned to work. Waste collection workers were also on strike, and refuse began to pile high in the streets. They remained on strike until 21 February, achieving an 11% increase.<ref name="aspden" />

=="Crisis? What crisis?"==
It is generally held that these three words sealed the fate of the government, even though the person to whom they were attrributed never actually said them. At the height of the strikes, Callaghan flew to Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, to attend a summit. On his return to Heathrow, he was asked what he made of the mounting chaos. He gave a typically complacent, convoluted answer, "I don't think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos". A journalist for The Sun translated that as "Crisis? What Crisis?" and this was the newspaper's headline on 11 January 1979. Callaghan's standing in the polls went from a five-point lead over the Conservatives in November 1978 to a 20-point deficit in February 1979. After losing a confidence motion, he was forced to call a general election and the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher won by a landslide. Labour received its lowest share of the vote since the war, while the Liberals and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists saw their support slump from previous highs enjoyed in 1974.

==Political and social impact==
The effects of the Winter of Discontent were far reaching and changed British society, politics, economics and working practices in ways which noone could have foreseen. These included:
*victory for the Conservatives, making [[Margaret Thatcher]] Britain's first ever woman prime minister.
*the birth of [[Thatcherism]]
*the rise of [[Militant Tendency]]
*the decline of trade union influence
*trade union membership halved
*privatisation by the government and the loss of Britain's manufacturing base
*the birth of New Labour and the decline of Old Labour
*the confrontation between the state and the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984-1985
*the abandonment of [[Keynes' General Theory]] which had been the blueprint for Britain's post war settlement

==Media==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7598647.stm ''Winter of Discontent: 30 years on''] - Slideshow including [[BBC]] archive material, and interviews with politicians, union leaders and commentators [[Denis Healey]], Rodney Bickerstaffe, Brendan Barber, Geoffrey Goodman, and Lord Bernard Donoghue.

==See also==
*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:British History]]

Thatcherism

2008-11-24T13:43:27Z

Fox: cats

[[Thatcherism]] refers to the economic policy of Margaret Thatcher while British prime minister between 1979 and 1990.
It consisted of
*[[free market]] [[Supply-side economics|supply-side economics]]
*[[tax]] reduction
*artificial manipulation of the money supply to reduce [[inflation]]
*[[privatization]] of public industry
*reining in of [[Trade Unionism|trade union]] influence and power

By 1983, Thatcherism in Britain had led to the worst [[unemployment]] figures since 1923.
[[Category:Economics]][[Category:British History]]

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T13:31:44Z

Fox: /* "Crisis? What crisis?" */ typo

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T13:26:28Z

Fox: /* Background */

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]
The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Unionism|Trade Unions]] rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==
''"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"'' was written by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in his play '''Richard III''' (1594). It actually means that the period of discontent or unhappiness is ending, winter marking the end of a cycle. The phrase was used to describe the social and industrial unrest of the 1978-79 winter by the political editor of the British national [[newspaper]] ''[[The Sun]]''.

==Background==
When the [[Labour Party]] was elected in 1974 its manifesto stated "It is our intention to bring about a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families." However the 1974-9 government imposed the greatest attacks on working class living standards since the depression of the 1930s:
*Housing - By 1978 fewer council houses were being built than in any year since the Second World War.
*Health - 25,000 hospital bed places were removed in the first two years of the Labour government.
*Education - teachers suffered large scale redundancies for the first time in living memory.
*Prices - doubled between February 1974 and December 1978.
*Jobs - an average of 1,000 a day went in Labour's first three years. [[Unemployment]] was 500,000 in 1974. It reached 1.6 million in 1976.
*Wages - a family of four on average earnings was worse off in 1979 than in 1974.<ref name="swo">''Winter of Discontent 1978-9: We struck because Labour betrayed us'' (2002) [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11511 Socialist Worker Online]. Retrieved 20 November 2008</ref>

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of Britain's trade unions, had become "tied" to the government following the adoption of the [[Social Contract]]<ref>''The agreement was known colloquially among rank and file union members however as the "Social Con Trick".</ref>, a bipartite arrangement between the government and the trade union movement. "The package was an attempt to control inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of employment through industrial strategy and improve the social wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of public expenditure, and was to include a programme of employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 , introduction of new statutory protections for employees and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial democracy . The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining wages."<ref name="emire">''Social Contract'' (2007) [http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UNITED%20KINGDOM/SOCIALCONTRACT-EN.htm European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions]. Retrieved 20 November 2008.</ref> Although the governement failed to deliver its side of the bargain, the TUC insisted on upholding theirs, even to the detriment of its member unions: in 1976 the Seamen's Union proposed strike action over a delayed pay award. The general secretary of the TUC, Len Murray, told them, "By god, we'll make sure no union supports you. We'll cripple you."<ref name="swo" /> A further three major strikes by groups of skilled workers in 1977 collapsed after the TUC instructed other workers to cross the picket lines.<ref name="swo" />

The "discontent" of British workers continued to build for several years; [[inflation]] had reached 26.9% in August 1975, and the incumbent [[Labour Party|Labour]] government under [[Prime Minister]] [[Harold Wilson]] introduced a "cap" on pay increases for workers at limits set by the government, and far below the rate of inflation. For workers earning under £8,500 ($17,000) a year the maximum pay increase could not exceed £6 ($12) per week. By 1978, inflation had almost halved, but the government refused to remove the caps, fixing the maximum pay increase at 5%. However, at the end of 1977, [[firefighter]]s had gone on strike and, despite being forced back to work (the strike had ended violently, with the firefighters even attacking their own Union officials whom they felt had betrayed them), achieved a 10% increase, followed in early 1978 by further concessions from the government, giving them an increase in real terms of 20%. Furthermore, their salaries became index linked against inflation, a privilege which had previously only been accorded to the Army Chiefs, police and judges, as a compensation for not being allowed to strike. The firefighters had however still retained the right to strike. Told that ''their'' rises would still be capped at 5% the remainder of the already disgruntled workforce took notice of how the firefighters had been successful in "defeat" and began to see how weak the government had become when challenged by direct action.<ref name="winter">''The Winter of Discontent'' "History and Class Consciousness in the U.K." (2002) [http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html Revolt Against an Age of Plenty]. Accessed 1 February 2008</ref>

In April 1976, Wilson had been replaced as Prime Minister by Labour's [[James Callaghan]], and it was widely expected that he would call for a general election and the removal of the wage caps in September 1978 following the TUC conference. Instead, he announced that there would be no general election and that the cap would remain for at least another year to allow the economy to stabilise. The same month, a pay increase for workers at [[Ford Motor Company]] was set by the company within the allotted 5% designated by the government but was rejected by the workers. A strike began when 15,000 Ford workers walked off the job on September 22 and by September 26 had been joined by 57,000 others, leaving 23 Ford factories unmanned.<ref name="aspden">'''Aspden, Alex''' ''1978-1979: Winter of Discontent'' (2007) [http://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent Libcom.org]. Retrieved 1 February 2008</ref>

==The Ford deal==
The strike by the Ford workers was unofficial, and had not been formally sanctioned by the workers' union, the '''Transport and General Workers Union''' (TGWU), however, given the determination of their members not to return to work, and the violence that had marked the previous year's firefighter's strike, the TGWU officially gave its support on 5 October. They demanded a 25% pay increase and a reduction to a 35 hour working week, and negotiations began with the management of Ford. On 22 November they accepted a 17% pay increase, with no reduction in working hours, and returned to work. The government were furious that Ford had breached the pay policy and attempted to impose sanctions on the company, but this was defeated in [[House of Commons (UK)|Parliament]], with Callaghan only narrowly surviving a motion of confidence. Humiliated and further weakened, the government was now powerless to enforce the 5% cap, which would now be challenged by strikes in both the public and private sectors.<ref name="aspden" />

Unlike the strikes which were to follow, the Ford strike was unique in that the entire workforce withdrew their labour - no picket lines were required. English workers in ancilliary industries assisted the strike by preventing the movement of components both on the motorways and in the docks, and this also enabled the workers to turn the division of labour between [[Europe|European]] states against Ford as the majority of European factories were prevented from operating because of the lack of components or because components destined for English factories were held up. Henry Ford said, "It was the worst strike I have ever seen".<ref name="winter" /> Analysts have concluded that it was this single strike which caused the Labour Government to fall.<ref name="winter" />

==Transport strikes==
In an attempt to win a 40% pay increase, fuel tanker drivers employed by [[British Petroleum]] and [[Esso]] had begun "working to rule" and refusing to work overtime. They received such small allowances for overnight stops that they were forced to sleep three to a room in dirty hostels.<ref name="swo" /> On 9 January 1979, all truck drivers of the TGWU went out on strike for more pay. This crippled the national distribution system, causing food shortages as well as halting the transport of materials required by industry. Fuel stations were closed due to no deliveries to fill their storage tanks, and oil refineries were blockaded by [[flying picket]]s. In less than a month, with road distribution at a standstill, the drivers achieved a pay deal just £1 ($2) less per week than they had asked for.

==Floodgates opened==
[[Image:Waste collectors strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Uncollected refuse spilling onto the streets remains an iconic image of the Winter of Discontent]]
While the transport strike was still in force, many public sector workers launched strikes of their own. The railwaymens' unions, the '''National Union of Railwaymen''' (NUR) and the '''Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen''' (ASLEF)<ref>A popular joke among workers at the time was that "ASLEF" stood for "As'lef'ma'train in the depot"</ref> had begun to close down the public transport network, and on 22 January the public sector unions called a "Day of Action" which saw 1.5 million workers refusing to work, the largest general stoppage of work in the UK since the General Strike of 1926. Schools and airports were forced to close and ambulance drivers and nurses working for the [[National Health Service]] began refusing to treat patients except for life-threatening emergencies. Many workers who struck on the Day of Action simply did not return to work afterwards, staying out on strike until February. In late January, gravediggers went out on strike, and health officials began contingency planing for burials at sea. However, after two weeks of strike action, the gravediggers achieved a 14% pay increase and returned to work. Waste collection workers were also on strike, and refuse began to pile high in the streets. They remained on strike until 21 February, achieving an 11% increase.<ref name="aspden" />

=="Crisis? What crisis?"==
It is generally held that these three words sealed the fate of the governemnt, even though the person to whom they were attrributed never actually said them. At the height of the strikes, Callaghan flew to Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, to attend a summit. On his return to Heathrow, he was asked what he made of the mounting chaos. He gave a typically complacent, convoluted answer, "I don't think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos". A journalist for The Sun translated that as "Crisis? What Crisis?" and this was the newspaper's headline on 11 January 1979. Callaghan's standing in the polls went from a five-point lead over the Conservatives in November 1978 to a 20-point deficit in February 1979. After losing a confidence motion, he was forced to call a general election and the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher won by a landslide. Labour received its lowest share of the vote since the war, while the Liberals and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists saw their support slump from previous highs enjoyed in 1974.

==Political and social impact==
The effects of the Winter of Discontent were far reaching and changed British society, politics, economics and working practices in ways which noone could have foreseen. These included:
*victory for the Conservatives, making [[Margaret Thatcher]] Britain's first ever woman prime minister.
*the birth of [[Thatcherism]]
*the rise of [[Militant Tendency]]
*the decline of trade union influence
*trade union membership halved
*privatisation by the government and the loss of Britain's manufacturing base
*the birth of New Labour and the decline of Old Labour
*the confrontation between the state and the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984-1985
*the abandonment of [[Keynes' General Theory]] which had been the blueprint for Britain's post war settlement

==Media==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7598647.stm ''Winter of Discontent: 30 years on''] - Slideshow including [[BBC]] archive material, and interviews with politicians, union leaders and commentators [[Denis Healey]], Rodney Bickerstaffe, Brendan Barber, Geoffrey Goodman, and Lord Bernard Donoghue.

==See also==
*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:United Kingdom]]

Thatcherism

2008-11-24T13:23:43Z

Fox: superfluous link - reagonomics redirects to Supply-side economics

Thatcherism

2008-11-24T13:21:25Z

Fox: New page: Thatcherism refers to the economic policy of Margaret Thatcher while British prime minister between 1979 and 1990. It consisted of *free market supply-side economics *tax reduc...

[[Thatcherism]] refers to the economic policy of Margaret Thatcher while British prime minister between 1979 and 1990.
It consisted of
*[[free market]] supply-side economics
*[[tax]] reduction
*artificial manipulation of the money supply to reduce [[inflation]]
*[[privatization]] of public industry
*reining in of [[Trade Unionism|trade union]] influence and power

By 1983, Thatcherism in Britain had led to the worst [[unemployment]] figures since 1923.

==See also==
*[[Reaganomics]]

Margaret Thatcher

2008-11-24T13:06:53Z

Fox: /* See also */

{{Prime Minister
|image=Margaret_Thatcher.jpg
|seq=71
|term_start=May 4 1979
|term_end=November 28 1990
|party=Conservative Party
|previous=James Callaghan
|next=John Major
|birth_date=October 13 1925
|birth_place=Grantham
|spouse=[[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
}}

'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts)''', later Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (born October 13, 1925), was [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the position. With the possible exceptions of [[Harold Macmillan]] and (less frequently) [[Tony Blair]], she is usually regarded as the greatest post-[[World War II|WWII]] Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Thatcher was chosen to be the leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975, succeeding former Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]. She was opposed to socialism and out-of-control union power which had brought down the previous Conservative government in 1974. She led the Conservatives to victory in the May 1979 [[General Election]] and was thus appointed Prime Minister.

Lady Thatcher sold many of the nationalized industries back to private investors and made tax cuts. She broke the power of the trade unions which stood in the way of the rationalization of the coal industry and modernization of the newspaper industry. Due to her strong standards and her leadership style, she became known as the "[[Iron Lady]]," a term originally coined as an insult by the communist [[Soviet Union]], but one she adopted, at the instigation of her political ally [[Enoch Powell]], with glee. A famous statement of hers was that "the lady is not for turning", in reference to calls from within her own party to back down on issues that were important to her. Thatcher was always a strong supporter of the the [[United States]], and was a good friend of President [[Ronald Reagan]], uniting with him in actions against the Communists.

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over sovereignty of the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries, and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When that failed, the U.S. supported Britain with vital intelligence information. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict.

Thatcher won a total three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987). By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside. She was challenged for the party leadership, and when it became clear to her that she would not have the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second party vote in 1990. [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister. Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister in more than 150 years and, alongside Winston Churchill, many consider her to be one of the two most important British political leaders of the twentieth century.

Her regime was controversial, however. Social mobility decreased, whilst education and the [[National Health Service]] suffered a number of cuts. [[Unemployment]] rose to unprecedented levels, exceeding one in ten, and the method of counting was regularly altered to lower the published figures. Many of her actions in the north of England seemed petulant, infamously the sudden closure of much of the mining industry, whilst refusing to interfere with the consequences.

She fundamentally moved the British economy from an industrialist model, to a financial, speculative economy. This shift also served to undermine trade union power with fewer people in stable long term employment and instead in the service industry.

[[Time Magazine]] wrote of Lady Thatcher: ''"She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. [[Champion]] of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism"'' [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Career prior to 1979==

The predominant influence in Lady Thatcher's early life was her father, [[Alfred Roberts]]. Roberts was a grocer by occupation who was active in local politics. Years later, Lady Thatcher continued to acknowledge his formative influence on her (for example, in the second volume of her memoirs, ''The Path to Power'').

Lady Thatcher attended Somerville College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where she read chemistry and became chairman of the university Conservative association. After graduating, she worked for a time as a research chemist before qualifying as a barrister and practicing as a [[tax]] lawyer, an indication of her interest in financial matters. In this time period, it was uncommon in Britain for a female from an ordinary middle-class background to go to a top-class university and then to pursue a career in the male-dominated and somewhat elitist world of the Bar.

Lady Thatcher married [[Denis Thatcher]], a successful businessman whom she met at a Conservative Party meeting. They had two children, twins [[Mark Thatcher|Mark]] and [[Carol Thatcher|Carol]].

Under the troubled Conservative premiership of [[Edward Heath]] (1970-1974), Thatcher served as Secretary of State for Education during which time her most noted achievement was the withdrawal of a daily milk ration to primary age schoolchildren earning her the nickname Milk-Snatcher. After the Conservatives were defeated in the elections of February and October 1974, Thatcher challenged the more liberal Heath for the leadership of the party. When she went into Heath's office to tell him her decision, he did not even bother to look up. "You'll lose," he said. "Good day to you." [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

Though at the time she was a relatively untested figure (and many in the party were wary of choosing a woman leader), she defeated both Heath and other male rivals in the contest in February 1975. Heath subsequently became a prominent personal and political adversary of Thatcher, drawing accusations of bitterness.

In the 1970s, Lady Thatcher's strongly conservative, pro-capitalist stance resonated with a new mood among the British electorate, many of whom had become dissatisfied with the post-[[World War II]] liberal consensus (the "post-war consensus", sometimes also called "Butskellism" after the centrist Conservative politician [[Rab Butler]] and the moderate Labour politician [[Hugh Gaitskell]]). Thatcher and the Conservatives offered a clear alternative vision for an increasingly aspirational society. The Conservative politician Sir [[Keith Joseph]] was the primary intellectual force behind these theories that later became known as ''Thatcherism''. They were strongly influenced by the pro-market intellectuals [[Friedrich von Hayek]] and [[Milton Friedman]].
[[Image:503px-Thatcher-loc.jpg|right|thumb|Margaret Thatcher as Leader of the Opposition in 1975.]]

===Attitude to Abortion===

Margaret Thatcher, throughout her parliamentary career, voted in favor of liberal abortion laws.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1988thatcher.html]
==1979 election==
The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".

Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978-9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match. Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

==Prime Ministership==
===Economic poicy===
Thatcher's chief goals in power were to reverse Britain's economic decline and to reduce the range of the state as well as standing taller on the international stage. She found a soul-mate in Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980 but whom she had met in 1975. Thatcher started by increasing interest rates to drive down inflation which hit the manufacturing sector and caused unemployment to rise sharply and there was a deep recession in the early 1980s blamed on her Government's economic policy. This led to her famous quote: 'the lady is not for turning', and she refused a policy u-turn and, despite an open letter from 364 economists, taxes were increased in the middle of a recession. Although unemployment did not reach 3 million till 1982, a year earlier British cities burned as thousands took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration. Inflation was going down though, allowing interest rates to fall.
===Falkland Islands===
As the economy started to recover Argentina invaded the Falklands, the first (and unprovoked) invasion of sovereign British territory by a foreign government since the Second World War. This invasion was preceded by her withdrawal of military defense from the islands. Thatcher immediately declared her resolve to recapture the islands in line with the wishes of their inhabitants, and dispatched a naval task force to that end. With help from President [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] of [[Chile]] and, more covertly, [[Ronald Reagan]], the British forces swiftly recaptured the islands. The resulting wave of patriotic enthusiasm as well as her right to buy policy for council homes, and a uselessly divided opposition, meant she got a landslide victory in the June 1983 general election.
===Unions===
The central theme of Thatcher's second term was reducing the power of the trade unions with a series of measures that a number of unions reacted to with industrial action. In particular the National Union of Mineworkers led by Arthur Scargill. The Tories had prepared for the strike by building up coal reserves and the deploying well paid police units fitted out with new riot gear brought in after the disturbances of 1981 who taunted the strikers by waving fivers at them. The miners responded with bricks and very ugly scenes developed on picket lines that split the country. Scargill's failure to hold a ballot for the strike undermined public support and the striker's chant of 'vote with your feet' calling miners to join the strike was turned on them as more and more returned to work over the year of the strike.
===IRA===
In the middle of the strike, on October 12 1984, the IRA detonated a bomb during the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Thatcher escaped injury but five people died in the attack and Margaret Tebbit was left paralyzed, the conference went on as normal.
===Privatization===
Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasized free markets and since gaining power she had experimented in selling off nationalized industries starting with the National Freight company, most of the large utilities followed.

Privatization was perhaps the most enduring legacy of the political economy developed under Thatcher. She privatized long-nationalized corporations (such as the telephone and aerospace firms) and, most important, sold public housing to tenants, all on favorable terms. The policy developed an important electoral dimension during the second Thatcher government (1983-90). It involved more than denationalization: wider share ownership was the second plank of the policy, and this provides an important historical perspective on the relationship between Thatcherism and 20th-century conservatism.<ref> Richard Stevens, "The Evolution of Privatisation as an Electoral Policy, c. 1970-90." ''Contemporary British History'' 2004 18(2): 47-75. Issn: 1361-9462 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

===Foreign policy===
Thatcher supported Reagan's policies of deterrence against the Soviets and US forces stationed nuclear cruise missiles at British bases, arousing mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She supported the US bombing raid on [[Libya]] from bases in Britain in 1986 and, by refusing to side with a European consortium, in backing a the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of the USA over a British company Westland. Michael Heseltine resigned in protest at her style of leadership over this. In 1984 she visited [[China]] and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with [[Deng Xiaoping]] that agreed the handover of [[Hong Kong]] in 1997. Also that year at the Fontainebleau summit Thatcher argued that the UK paid far more to the EEC than it received in spending and negotiated a budget rebate using the argument that ‘We want our money back’. In 1985, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for education.
===Reelected 1987===
In 1987, Thatcher became the first British Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections since [[Lord Liverpool]] (1812-1827).
===Environment===
In the late 1980's Thatcher began to be concerned by environmental policy and in 1988 she made a major speech accepting the problems of global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain.
===Europe===
At Bruges, she made a speech in which she outlined her opposition to proposals from the European Communities for a federal structure and increasing centralization of decision-making believing that the role of the EC should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition. She was specifically against Economic and Monetary Union, through which a single currency would replace national currencies, and for which the EC was making preparations. In 1989 the economy high interest rates were imposed to stop an unsustainable boom. At the Madrid European summit, Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to agree the circumstances in which she would join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a preparation for monetary union. She took revenge on both by demoting Howe and listening more to her adviser Sir Alan Walters on economic matters. Lawson resigned that October and in November, a so-called ‘stalking horse candidate Sir Anthony Meyer challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party. In 1989 a new system of local government finance to replace the rates was introduced for Scotland in 1989 and for England and Wales in 1990. Called the 'Community Charge' but known as the Poll Tax was applied at the same amount to every individual resident with only limited discounts. Widespread opposition culminated in a huge [http://newsfilm.bufvc.ac.uk/article.php?story=200510081953085 demonstration] in London on March 31 that turned into the largest outbreak of public disorder central London had seen in a century which was followed by millions of people refusing to pay the tax. This along with her government's handling of the economy, her perceived arrogance and a general feeling that she would never retire, made her politically vulnerable. Geoffrey Howe resigned on November 1 and condemned Thatcher's policy on the European Communities then openly invited 'others to consider their own response'. Michael Heseltine's response was a leadership challenge which resulted in a narrow failure, by two votes, for Thatcher to win automatic re-election. After consulting with cabinet colleagues she found a vast majority thought that she could not win on the second ballot. On November 22nd Thatcher announced that she would not be a candidate in the second ballot. She supported John Major as her successor, and retired from Parliament at the 1992 election.

==Life after being Prime Minister==

After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher was dubbed '''Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven''' and entered the House of Lords, an entirely normal and expected honor for a British ex-Prime Minister. More controversially, Denis Thatcher was given a Baronetcy, which ensured that their son, Mark, would inherit the title of "Sir Mark".

Leaving power reportedly depressed Lady Thatcher, and aside from writing her memoirs, her role as 'backseat driver' in the Major administration was not well received. She publicly endorsed [[William Hague]] against [[Kenneth Clarke]] for the Conservative leadership in 1997. She made many speaking engagements around the world, including very vocal support of former dictator General [[Augusto Pinochet]], whom the new Labour administration extradited to Spain on charges of torturing political opponents. In March 2002 she suffered a mild stroke, and she was told by her doctors to make no more public speeches on health grounds. Nevertheless she insisted in 2004 on attending the funeral of her old friend and political soul-mate, Ronald Reagan, against her doctor's orders. Baroness Thatcher is still seen at Tory party gatherings and has continued endorsing party leaders, such as Iain Duncan Smith. In August 2008, the world had the misfortune to learn from Lady Thatcher's daugher that Lady Thatcher had been suffering from [[dementia]] for as many as eight years.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7579352.stm</ref> This has been a debilitating blow for her loyal supporters and supporters of freedom worldwide.

[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html][http://www.fandmpublications.co.uk/pages/margaretbiography1.htm][http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

==Quick Facts==
*Born: 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire

*First entered Parliament: 8 October 1959

*Became leader of the [[Conservative]] Party in February 1975

*Elected as Prime Minister in May 1979

*Age she became PM: 53 years, 204 days

*Maiden Speech: 5 February 1960 during the second reading of her Private Member's Bill

*Total time as PM: 11 years, 209 days

*Nickname: "The Iron Lady"

*Education: Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and Somerville College, Oxford

*Before Thatcher became an MP, she worked as a research chemist for British Xylonite and then Lyons & Company, where she helped develop methods for preserving ice cream.

*Family: Margaret Thatcher is the younger of two daughters. She often gave her father as an example of an outstanding citizen. She married [[Sir Denis Thatcher]], and has one son and one daughter.

*Interests: Music, art, opera and reading.

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Husband==
Denis Thatcher, ''as the first male PM spouse in history'', was always likely to be the center of media attention - and he didn't disappoint.

When she met him, Baroness Thatcher remarked that "it was clear to me at once that Denis was an exceptional man - he had a certain style and dash." Described as a man of integrity, humor and common sense, he had a strong business background and fought with the Royal Artillery during the war.

It was said that Denis was in 'the Thatcher party not the Tory party'. He once famously remarked, recalling the words of Mark Twain, that: "it's better to keep my mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt."

When he died in 2003 his wife paid tribute to the man she loved by saying: "Being PM is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be - you cannot lead from a crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend."

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

== Notable quotes==

*"I like Mr Gorbachev, we can do business together."

*"The lady is not for turning"

*"I have made it quite clear that a unified Ireland was one solution that is out. A second solution was a confederation of two states. That is out. A third solution was joint authority. That is out-that is a derogation of sovereignty."

*"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

*"If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you."

*"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."

*"There is no such thing as society."

*"What Britain needs is an iron lady."

*"Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past."

*"I just owe almost everything to my father [and] it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."

*"Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend." [http://www.quoteworld.org/authors/margaret-thatcher/1/]

*"It will be years before a woman either leads the Conservative Party or becomes Prime Minister. I don't see it happening in my time" (in 1970)[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

== See also ==
*[[Thatcherism]]
*[[Conservative Links]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/ Margaret Thatcher Foundation]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* Adonis, Andrew, and Tim Hames, eds. ''A Conservative Revolution: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade'' (1994), comparative perspective
* Backhouse, Roger E. "The Macroeconomics of Margaret Thatcher," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 313-334 online at EBSCO
* Campbell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 1: The Grocer's Daughter.'' (2000); ''Margaret Thatcher. vol. 2: Iron Lady'' (2007), 520pp; 913pp; long, detailed authoritative biography
* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO
* Dellheim, Charles. ''The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher's Capitalist Revolution.'' (1995) 352 pp.
* Evans, Brendan. ''Thatcherism and British Politics, 1975-1997'' (2000)
* Evans, Eric J. ''Thatcher and Thatcherism.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 176 pp [http://www.questia.com/read/107494201?title=Thatcher%20and%20Thatcherism online edition]
* Fry, Geoffrey K. ''Politics of the Thatcher Revolution: An Interpretation of British Politics 1975 - 1990'' (2008)
* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F. ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp. [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]
* Haseler, Stephen. ''The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals.'' (1990). 195 pp.
* Holmes, Martin. ''The First Thatcher Government, 1979-83: Contemporary Conservatism and Economic Change'' (1985); ''Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87.'' (1989). 174 pp. a sympathetic assessment.
* Jenkins, Peter. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era.'' (1988). 417 pp. critical
* Johnson, Christopher. ''The Grand Experiment: Mrs. Thatcher's Economy and How It Spread.'' (1993). 341 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis. ''Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus?'' (1987). 334 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis, and Anthony Seldon, eds. ''The Thatcher Effect'' (1989), major interpretive essays by experts
* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435-454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.
* Krieger, Joel. ''Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Decline.'' (1987). 247 pp.
* Moon, Jeremy. ''Innovative Leadership in Democracy: Policy Change under Thatcher.'' (1993). 157 pp.
* Morgan, K.O. ''The People's Peace: British History, 1945-90'' (1990) survey by leading scholar
* Pugliese, Stanislao, ed. ''The Political Legacy of Margaret Thatcher.'' (2003). 419 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-2001.'' (2003). 260 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''Tory Radicalism: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-1997.'' (1997). 222 pp.
* Riddell, Peter. ''The Thatcher Decade: How Britain Has Changed during the 1980's.'' (1989). 236 pp.
* Roy, Subroto and Clarke, John, eds. ''Margaret Thatcher's Revolution: How It Happened and What It Meant.'' (2005). 209 pp.
* Savage, S.P., and L. Robbins, eds. ''Public Policy under Thatcher'' (1990), essays by experts
* Sharp, Paul. ''Thatcher's Diplomacy: The Revival of British Foreign Policy.'' (1997). 269 pp.
* Smith, Geoffrey. ''Reagan and Thatcher.'' (1991). 285 pp.
* Thompson, Juliet S., and Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]
* Waine, Barbara. ''The Rhetoric of Independence: The Ideology and Practice of Social Policy in Thatcher's Britain.'' (1992). 172 pp.
* Wall, Stephen. ''A Stranger in Europe: Britain and the EU from Thatcher to Blair'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Europe-Britain-Thatcher-Blair/dp/0199284555/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823185&sr=1-26 excerpt and text search]
* Walters, A. A. ''Britain's Economic Renaissance: Margaret Thatcher's Reforms, 1979-1984.'' (1986). 200 pp.
* Wapshott, Nicholas. ''Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage.'' (2007) 329 pp.
* Whipple, Amy C. "'Ordinary People': The Cultural Origins of Popular Thatcherism in Britain, 1964-1979." PhD dissertation Northwestern U. 2004. 253 pp. DAI 2004 65(5): 1926-A. DA3132626 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* Young, Hugo. ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched
* [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Bibliography-Bibliographies-Statesmen/dp/book-citations/0313282889/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=citing#citing additional books]
===Primary sources===
* Clark, Alan. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Minister: The Private Diaries of Alan Clark.'' (1994). 421 pp.
* Thatcher, Margaret. ''The Path to Power (1995); ''The Downing Street Years.'' (1993). 914 pp., highly detailed memoirs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Margaret}}

[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]

Margaret Thatcher

2008-11-24T13:06:29Z

Fox: /* "Thatcherisms" */ Thatcherism is a recognised economic policy; less confusing to keep it as a heading just for that policy

{{Prime Minister
|image=Margaret_Thatcher.jpg
|seq=71
|term_start=May 4 1979
|term_end=November 28 1990
|party=Conservative Party
|previous=James Callaghan
|next=John Major
|birth_date=October 13 1925
|birth_place=Grantham
|spouse=[[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
}}

'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts)''', later Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (born October 13, 1925), was [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the position. With the possible exceptions of [[Harold Macmillan]] and (less frequently) [[Tony Blair]], she is usually regarded as the greatest post-[[World War II|WWII]] Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Thatcher was chosen to be the leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975, succeeding former Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]. She was opposed to socialism and out-of-control union power which had brought down the previous Conservative government in 1974. She led the Conservatives to victory in the May 1979 [[General Election]] and was thus appointed Prime Minister.

Lady Thatcher sold many of the nationalized industries back to private investors and made tax cuts. She broke the power of the trade unions which stood in the way of the rationalization of the coal industry and modernization of the newspaper industry. Due to her strong standards and her leadership style, she became known as the "[[Iron Lady]]," a term originally coined as an insult by the communist [[Soviet Union]], but one she adopted, at the instigation of her political ally [[Enoch Powell]], with glee. A famous statement of hers was that "the lady is not for turning", in reference to calls from within her own party to back down on issues that were important to her. Thatcher was always a strong supporter of the the [[United States]], and was a good friend of President [[Ronald Reagan]], uniting with him in actions against the Communists.

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over sovereignty of the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries, and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When that failed, the U.S. supported Britain with vital intelligence information. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict.

Thatcher won a total three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987). By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside. She was challenged for the party leadership, and when it became clear to her that she would not have the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second party vote in 1990. [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister. Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister in more than 150 years and, alongside Winston Churchill, many consider her to be one of the two most important British political leaders of the twentieth century.

Her regime was controversial, however. Social mobility decreased, whilst education and the [[National Health Service]] suffered a number of cuts. [[Unemployment]] rose to unprecedented levels, exceeding one in ten, and the method of counting was regularly altered to lower the published figures. Many of her actions in the north of England seemed petulant, infamously the sudden closure of much of the mining industry, whilst refusing to interfere with the consequences.

She fundamentally moved the British economy from an industrialist model, to a financial, speculative economy. This shift also served to undermine trade union power with fewer people in stable long term employment and instead in the service industry.

[[Time Magazine]] wrote of Lady Thatcher: ''"She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. [[Champion]] of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism"'' [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Career prior to 1979==

The predominant influence in Lady Thatcher's early life was her father, [[Alfred Roberts]]. Roberts was a grocer by occupation who was active in local politics. Years later, Lady Thatcher continued to acknowledge his formative influence on her (for example, in the second volume of her memoirs, ''The Path to Power'').

Lady Thatcher attended Somerville College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where she read chemistry and became chairman of the university Conservative association. After graduating, she worked for a time as a research chemist before qualifying as a barrister and practicing as a [[tax]] lawyer, an indication of her interest in financial matters. In this time period, it was uncommon in Britain for a female from an ordinary middle-class background to go to a top-class university and then to pursue a career in the male-dominated and somewhat elitist world of the Bar.

Lady Thatcher married [[Denis Thatcher]], a successful businessman whom she met at a Conservative Party meeting. They had two children, twins [[Mark Thatcher|Mark]] and [[Carol Thatcher|Carol]].

Under the troubled Conservative premiership of [[Edward Heath]] (1970-1974), Thatcher served as Secretary of State for Education during which time her most noted achievement was the withdrawal of a daily milk ration to primary age schoolchildren earning her the nickname Milk-Snatcher. After the Conservatives were defeated in the elections of February and October 1974, Thatcher challenged the more liberal Heath for the leadership of the party. When she went into Heath's office to tell him her decision, he did not even bother to look up. "You'll lose," he said. "Good day to you." [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

Though at the time she was a relatively untested figure (and many in the party were wary of choosing a woman leader), she defeated both Heath and other male rivals in the contest in February 1975. Heath subsequently became a prominent personal and political adversary of Thatcher, drawing accusations of bitterness.

In the 1970s, Lady Thatcher's strongly conservative, pro-capitalist stance resonated with a new mood among the British electorate, many of whom had become dissatisfied with the post-[[World War II]] liberal consensus (the "post-war consensus", sometimes also called "Butskellism" after the centrist Conservative politician [[Rab Butler]] and the moderate Labour politician [[Hugh Gaitskell]]). Thatcher and the Conservatives offered a clear alternative vision for an increasingly aspirational society. The Conservative politician Sir [[Keith Joseph]] was the primary intellectual force behind these theories that later became known as ''Thatcherism''. They were strongly influenced by the pro-market intellectuals [[Friedrich von Hayek]] and [[Milton Friedman]].
[[Image:503px-Thatcher-loc.jpg|right|thumb|Margaret Thatcher as Leader of the Opposition in 1975.]]

===Attitude to Abortion===

Margaret Thatcher, throughout her parliamentary career, voted in favor of liberal abortion laws.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1988thatcher.html]
==1979 election==
The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".

Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978-9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match. Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

==Prime Ministership==
===Economic poicy===
Thatcher's chief goals in power were to reverse Britain's economic decline and to reduce the range of the state as well as standing taller on the international stage. She found a soul-mate in Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980 but whom she had met in 1975. Thatcher started by increasing interest rates to drive down inflation which hit the manufacturing sector and caused unemployment to rise sharply and there was a deep recession in the early 1980s blamed on her Government's economic policy. This led to her famous quote: 'the lady is not for turning', and she refused a policy u-turn and, despite an open letter from 364 economists, taxes were increased in the middle of a recession. Although unemployment did not reach 3 million till 1982, a year earlier British cities burned as thousands took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration. Inflation was going down though, allowing interest rates to fall.
===Falkland Islands===
As the economy started to recover Argentina invaded the Falklands, the first (and unprovoked) invasion of sovereign British territory by a foreign government since the Second World War. This invasion was preceded by her withdrawal of military defense from the islands. Thatcher immediately declared her resolve to recapture the islands in line with the wishes of their inhabitants, and dispatched a naval task force to that end. With help from President [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] of [[Chile]] and, more covertly, [[Ronald Reagan]], the British forces swiftly recaptured the islands. The resulting wave of patriotic enthusiasm as well as her right to buy policy for council homes, and a uselessly divided opposition, meant she got a landslide victory in the June 1983 general election.
===Unions===
The central theme of Thatcher's second term was reducing the power of the trade unions with a series of measures that a number of unions reacted to with industrial action. In particular the National Union of Mineworkers led by Arthur Scargill. The Tories had prepared for the strike by building up coal reserves and the deploying well paid police units fitted out with new riot gear brought in after the disturbances of 1981 who taunted the strikers by waving fivers at them. The miners responded with bricks and very ugly scenes developed on picket lines that split the country. Scargill's failure to hold a ballot for the strike undermined public support and the striker's chant of 'vote with your feet' calling miners to join the strike was turned on them as more and more returned to work over the year of the strike.
===IRA===
In the middle of the strike, on October 12 1984, the IRA detonated a bomb during the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Thatcher escaped injury but five people died in the attack and Margaret Tebbit was left paralyzed, the conference went on as normal.
===Privatization===
Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasized free markets and since gaining power she had experimented in selling off nationalized industries starting with the National Freight company, most of the large utilities followed.

Privatization was perhaps the most enduring legacy of the political economy developed under Thatcher. She privatized long-nationalized corporations (such as the telephone and aerospace firms) and, most important, sold public housing to tenants, all on favorable terms. The policy developed an important electoral dimension during the second Thatcher government (1983-90). It involved more than denationalization: wider share ownership was the second plank of the policy, and this provides an important historical perspective on the relationship between Thatcherism and 20th-century conservatism.<ref> Richard Stevens, "The Evolution of Privatisation as an Electoral Policy, c. 1970-90." ''Contemporary British History'' 2004 18(2): 47-75. Issn: 1361-9462 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

===Foreign policy===
Thatcher supported Reagan's policies of deterrence against the Soviets and US forces stationed nuclear cruise missiles at British bases, arousing mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She supported the US bombing raid on [[Libya]] from bases in Britain in 1986 and, by refusing to side with a European consortium, in backing a the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of the USA over a British company Westland. Michael Heseltine resigned in protest at her style of leadership over this. In 1984 she visited [[China]] and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with [[Deng Xiaoping]] that agreed the handover of [[Hong Kong]] in 1997. Also that year at the Fontainebleau summit Thatcher argued that the UK paid far more to the EEC than it received in spending and negotiated a budget rebate using the argument that ‘We want our money back’. In 1985, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for education.
===Reelected 1987===
In 1987, Thatcher became the first British Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections since [[Lord Liverpool]] (1812-1827).
===Environment===
In the late 1980's Thatcher began to be concerned by environmental policy and in 1988 she made a major speech accepting the problems of global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain.
===Europe===
At Bruges, she made a speech in which she outlined her opposition to proposals from the European Communities for a federal structure and increasing centralization of decision-making believing that the role of the EC should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition. She was specifically against Economic and Monetary Union, through which a single currency would replace national currencies, and for which the EC was making preparations. In 1989 the economy high interest rates were imposed to stop an unsustainable boom. At the Madrid European summit, Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to agree the circumstances in which she would join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a preparation for monetary union. She took revenge on both by demoting Howe and listening more to her adviser Sir Alan Walters on economic matters. Lawson resigned that October and in November, a so-called ‘stalking horse candidate Sir Anthony Meyer challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party. In 1989 a new system of local government finance to replace the rates was introduced for Scotland in 1989 and for England and Wales in 1990. Called the 'Community Charge' but known as the Poll Tax was applied at the same amount to every individual resident with only limited discounts. Widespread opposition culminated in a huge [http://newsfilm.bufvc.ac.uk/article.php?story=200510081953085 demonstration] in London on March 31 that turned into the largest outbreak of public disorder central London had seen in a century which was followed by millions of people refusing to pay the tax. This along with her government's handling of the economy, her perceived arrogance and a general feeling that she would never retire, made her politically vulnerable. Geoffrey Howe resigned on November 1 and condemned Thatcher's policy on the European Communities then openly invited 'others to consider their own response'. Michael Heseltine's response was a leadership challenge which resulted in a narrow failure, by two votes, for Thatcher to win automatic re-election. After consulting with cabinet colleagues she found a vast majority thought that she could not win on the second ballot. On November 22nd Thatcher announced that she would not be a candidate in the second ballot. She supported John Major as her successor, and retired from Parliament at the 1992 election.

==Life after being Prime Minister==

After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher was dubbed '''Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven''' and entered the House of Lords, an entirely normal and expected honor for a British ex-Prime Minister. More controversially, Denis Thatcher was given a Baronetcy, which ensured that their son, Mark, would inherit the title of "Sir Mark".

Leaving power reportedly depressed Lady Thatcher, and aside from writing her memoirs, her role as 'backseat driver' in the Major administration was not well received. She publicly endorsed [[William Hague]] against [[Kenneth Clarke]] for the Conservative leadership in 1997. She made many speaking engagements around the world, including very vocal support of former dictator General [[Augusto Pinochet]], whom the new Labour administration extradited to Spain on charges of torturing political opponents. In March 2002 she suffered a mild stroke, and she was told by her doctors to make no more public speeches on health grounds. Nevertheless she insisted in 2004 on attending the funeral of her old friend and political soul-mate, Ronald Reagan, against her doctor's orders. Baroness Thatcher is still seen at Tory party gatherings and has continued endorsing party leaders, such as Iain Duncan Smith. In August 2008, the world had the misfortune to learn from Lady Thatcher's daugher that Lady Thatcher had been suffering from [[dementia]] for as many as eight years.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7579352.stm</ref> This has been a debilitating blow for her loyal supporters and supporters of freedom worldwide.

[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html][http://www.fandmpublications.co.uk/pages/margaretbiography1.htm][http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

==Quick Facts==
*Born: 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire

*First entered Parliament: 8 October 1959

*Became leader of the [[Conservative]] Party in February 1975

*Elected as Prime Minister in May 1979

*Age she became PM: 53 years, 204 days

*Maiden Speech: 5 February 1960 during the second reading of her Private Member's Bill

*Total time as PM: 11 years, 209 days

*Nickname: "The Iron Lady"

*Education: Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and Somerville College, Oxford

*Before Thatcher became an MP, she worked as a research chemist for British Xylonite and then Lyons & Company, where she helped develop methods for preserving ice cream.

*Family: Margaret Thatcher is the younger of two daughters. She often gave her father as an example of an outstanding citizen. She married [[Sir Denis Thatcher]], and has one son and one daughter.

*Interests: Music, art, opera and reading.

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Husband==
Denis Thatcher, ''as the first male PM spouse in history'', was always likely to be the center of media attention - and he didn't disappoint.

When she met him, Baroness Thatcher remarked that "it was clear to me at once that Denis was an exceptional man - he had a certain style and dash." Described as a man of integrity, humor and common sense, he had a strong business background and fought with the Royal Artillery during the war.

It was said that Denis was in 'the Thatcher party not the Tory party'. He once famously remarked, recalling the words of Mark Twain, that: "it's better to keep my mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt."

When he died in 2003 his wife paid tribute to the man she loved by saying: "Being PM is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be - you cannot lead from a crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend."

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

== Notable quotes==

*"I like Mr Gorbachev, we can do business together."

*"The lady is not for turning"

*"I have made it quite clear that a unified Ireland was one solution that is out. A second solution was a confederation of two states. That is out. A third solution was joint authority. That is out-that is a derogation of sovereignty."

*"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

*"If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you."

*"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."

*"There is no such thing as society."

*"What Britain needs is an iron lady."

*"Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past."

*"I just owe almost everything to my father [and] it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."

*"Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend." [http://www.quoteworld.org/authors/margaret-thatcher/1/]

*"It will be years before a woman either leads the Conservative Party or becomes Prime Minister. I don't see it happening in my time" (in 1970)[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

== See also ==

*[[Conservative Links]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/ Margaret Thatcher Foundation]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* Adonis, Andrew, and Tim Hames, eds. ''A Conservative Revolution: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade'' (1994), comparative perspective
* Backhouse, Roger E. "The Macroeconomics of Margaret Thatcher," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 313-334 online at EBSCO
* Campbell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 1: The Grocer's Daughter.'' (2000); ''Margaret Thatcher. vol. 2: Iron Lady'' (2007), 520pp; 913pp; long, detailed authoritative biography
* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO
* Dellheim, Charles. ''The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher's Capitalist Revolution.'' (1995) 352 pp.
* Evans, Brendan. ''Thatcherism and British Politics, 1975-1997'' (2000)
* Evans, Eric J. ''Thatcher and Thatcherism.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 176 pp [http://www.questia.com/read/107494201?title=Thatcher%20and%20Thatcherism online edition]
* Fry, Geoffrey K. ''Politics of the Thatcher Revolution: An Interpretation of British Politics 1975 - 1990'' (2008)
* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F. ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp. [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]
* Haseler, Stephen. ''The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals.'' (1990). 195 pp.
* Holmes, Martin. ''The First Thatcher Government, 1979-83: Contemporary Conservatism and Economic Change'' (1985); ''Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87.'' (1989). 174 pp. a sympathetic assessment.
* Jenkins, Peter. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era.'' (1988). 417 pp. critical
* Johnson, Christopher. ''The Grand Experiment: Mrs. Thatcher's Economy and How It Spread.'' (1993). 341 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis. ''Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus?'' (1987). 334 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis, and Anthony Seldon, eds. ''The Thatcher Effect'' (1989), major interpretive essays by experts
* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435-454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.
* Krieger, Joel. ''Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Decline.'' (1987). 247 pp.
* Moon, Jeremy. ''Innovative Leadership in Democracy: Policy Change under Thatcher.'' (1993). 157 pp.
* Morgan, K.O. ''The People's Peace: British History, 1945-90'' (1990) survey by leading scholar
* Pugliese, Stanislao, ed. ''The Political Legacy of Margaret Thatcher.'' (2003). 419 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-2001.'' (2003). 260 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''Tory Radicalism: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-1997.'' (1997). 222 pp.
* Riddell, Peter. ''The Thatcher Decade: How Britain Has Changed during the 1980's.'' (1989). 236 pp.
* Roy, Subroto and Clarke, John, eds. ''Margaret Thatcher's Revolution: How It Happened and What It Meant.'' (2005). 209 pp.
* Savage, S.P., and L. Robbins, eds. ''Public Policy under Thatcher'' (1990), essays by experts
* Sharp, Paul. ''Thatcher's Diplomacy: The Revival of British Foreign Policy.'' (1997). 269 pp.
* Smith, Geoffrey. ''Reagan and Thatcher.'' (1991). 285 pp.
* Thompson, Juliet S., and Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]
* Waine, Barbara. ''The Rhetoric of Independence: The Ideology and Practice of Social Policy in Thatcher's Britain.'' (1992). 172 pp.
* Wall, Stephen. ''A Stranger in Europe: Britain and the EU from Thatcher to Blair'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Europe-Britain-Thatcher-Blair/dp/0199284555/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823185&sr=1-26 excerpt and text search]
* Walters, A. A. ''Britain's Economic Renaissance: Margaret Thatcher's Reforms, 1979-1984.'' (1986). 200 pp.
* Wapshott, Nicholas. ''Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage.'' (2007) 329 pp.
* Whipple, Amy C. "'Ordinary People': The Cultural Origins of Popular Thatcherism in Britain, 1964-1979." PhD dissertation Northwestern U. 2004. 253 pp. DAI 2004 65(5): 1926-A. DA3132626 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* Young, Hugo. ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched
* [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Bibliography-Bibliographies-Statesmen/dp/book-citations/0313282889/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=citing#citing additional books]
===Primary sources===
* Clark, Alan. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Minister: The Private Diaries of Alan Clark.'' (1994). 421 pp.
* Thatcher, Margaret. ''The Path to Power (1995); ''The Downing Street Years.'' (1993). 914 pp., highly detailed memoirs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Margaret}}

[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T13:04:20Z

Fox: /* Political and social impact */ link maggie

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]
The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Unionism|Trade Unions]] rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==
''"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"'' was written by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in his play '''Richard III''' (1594). It actually means that the period of discontent or unhappiness is ending, winter marking the end of a cycle. The phrase was used to describe the social and industrial unrest of the 1978-79 winter by the political editor of the British national [[newspaper]] ''[[The Sun]]''.

==Background==
When the [[Labour Party]] was elected in 1974 its manifesto stated "It is our intention to bring about a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families." However the 1974-9 government imposed the greatest attacks on working class living standards since the depression of the 1930s:
*Housing - By 1978 fewer council houses were being built than in any year since the Second World War.
*Health - 25,000 hospital bed places were removed in the first two years of the Labour government.
*Education - teachers suffered large scale redundancies for the first time in living memory.
*Prices - doubled between February 1974 and December 1978.
*Jobs - an average of 1,000 a day went in Labour's first three years. Unemployment was 500,000 in 1974. It reached 1.6 million in 1976.
*Wages - a family of four on average earnings was worse off in 1979 than in 1974.<ref name="swo">''Winter of Discontent 1978-9: We struck because Labour betrayed us'' (2002) [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11511 Socialist Worker Online]. Retrieved 20 November 2008</ref>

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of Britain's trade unions, had become "tied" to the government following the adoption of the [[Social Contract]]<ref>''The agreement was known colloquially among rank and file union members however as the "Social Con Trick".</ref>, a bipartite arrangement between the government and the trade union movement. "The package was an attempt to control inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of employment through industrial strategy and improve the social wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of public expenditure, and was to include a programme of employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 , introduction of new statutory protections for employees and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial democracy . The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining wages."<ref name="emire">''Social Contract'' (2007) [http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UNITED%20KINGDOM/SOCIALCONTRACT-EN.htm European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions]. Retrieved 20 November 2008.</ref> Although the governement failed to deliver its side of the bargain, the TUC insisted on upholding theirs, even to the detriment of its member unions: in 1976 the Seamen's Union proposed strike action over a delayed pay award. The general secretary of the TUC, Len Murray, told them, "By god, we'll make sure no union supports you. We'll cripple you."<ref name="swo" /> A further three major strikes by groups of skilled workers in 1977 collapsed after the TUC instructed other workers to cross the picket lines.<ref name="swo" />

The "discontent" of British workers continued to build for several years; [[inflation]] had reached 26.9% in August 1975, and the incumbent [[Labour Party|Labour]] government under [[Prime Minister]] [[Harold Wilson]] introduced a "cap" on pay increases for workers at limits set by the government, and far below the rate of inflation. For workers earning under £8,500 ($17,000) a year the maximum pay increase could not exceed £6 ($12) per week. By 1978, inflation had almost halved, but the government refused to remove the caps, fixing the maximum pay increase at 5%. However, at the end of 1977, [[firefighter]]s had gone on strike and, despite being forced back to work (the strike had ended violently, with the firefighters even attacking their own Union officials whom they felt had betrayed them), achieved a 10% increase, followed in early 1978 by further concessions from the government, giving them an increase in real terms of 20%. Furthermore, their salaries became index linked against inflation, a privilege which had previously only been accorded to the Army Chiefs, police and judges, as a compensation for not being allowed to strike. The firefighters had however still retained the right to strike. Told that ''their'' rises would still be capped at 5% the remainder of the already disgruntled workforce took notice of how the firefighters had been successful in "defeat" and began to see how weak the government had become when challenged by direct action.<ref name="winter">''The Winter of Discontent'' "History and Class Consciousness in the U.K." (2002) [http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html Revolt Against an Age of Plenty]. Accessed 1 February 2008</ref>

In April 1976, Wilson had been replaced as Prime Minister by Labour's [[James Callaghan]], and it was widely expected that he would call for a general election and the removal of the wage caps in September 1978 following the TUC conference. Instead, he announced that there would be no general election and that the cap would remain for at least another year to allow the economy to stabilise. The same month, a pay increase for workers at [[Ford Motor Company]] was set by the company within the allotted 5% designated by the government but was rejected by the workers. A strike began when 15,000 Ford workers walked off the job on September 22 and by September 26 had been joined by 57,000 others, leaving 23 Ford factories unmanned.<ref name="aspden">'''Aspden, Alex''' ''1978-1979: Winter of Discontent'' (2007) [http://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent Libcom.org]. Retrieved 1 February 2008</ref>

==The Ford deal==
The strike by the Ford workers was unofficial, and had not been formally sanctioned by the workers' union, the '''Transport and General Workers Union''' (TGWU), however, given the determination of their members not to return to work, and the violence that had marked the previous year's firefighter's strike, the TGWU officially gave its support on 5 October. They demanded a 25% pay increase and a reduction to a 35 hour working week, and negotiations began with the management of Ford. On 22 November they accepted a 17% pay increase, with no reduction in working hours, and returned to work. The government were furious that Ford had breached the pay policy and attempted to impose sanctions on the company, but this was defeated in [[House of Commons (UK)|Parliament]], with Callaghan only narrowly surviving a motion of confidence. Humiliated and further weakened, the government was now powerless to enforce the 5% cap, which would now be challenged by strikes in both the public and private sectors.<ref name="aspden" />

Unlike the strikes which were to follow, the Ford strike was unique in that the entire workforce withdrew their labour - no picket lines were required. English workers in ancilliary industries assisted the strike by preventing the movement of components both on the motorways and in the docks, and this also enabled the workers to turn the division of labour between [[Europe|European]] states against Ford as the majority of European factories were prevented from operating because of the lack of components or because components destined for English factories were held up. Henry Ford said, "It was the worst strike I have ever seen".<ref name="winter" /> Analysts have concluded that it was this single strike which caused the Labour Government to fall.<ref name="winter" />

==Transport strikes==
In an attempt to win a 40% pay increase, fuel tanker drivers employed by [[British Petroleum]] and [[Esso]] had begun "working to rule" and refusing to work overtime. They received such small allowances for overnight stops that they were forced to sleep three to a room in dirty hostels.<ref name="swo" /> On 9 January 1979, all truck drivers of the TGWU went out on strike for more pay. This crippled the national distribution system, causing food shortages as well as halting the transport of materials required by industry. Fuel stations were closed due to no deliveries to fill their storage tanks, and oil refineries were blockaded by [[flying picket]]s. In less than a month, with road distribution at a standstill, the drivers achieved a pay deal just £1 ($2) less per week than they had asked for.

==Floodgates opened==
[[Image:Waste collectors strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Uncollected refuse spilling onto the streets remains an iconic image of the Winter of Discontent]]
While the transport strike was still in force, many public sector workers launched strikes of their own. The railwaymens' unions, the '''National Union of Railwaymen''' (NUR) and the '''Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen''' (ASLEF)<ref>A popular joke among workers at the time was that "ASLEF" stood for "As'lef'ma'train in the depot"</ref> had begun to close down the public transport network, and on 22 January the public sector unions called a "Day of Action" which saw 1.5 million workers refusing to work, the largest general stoppage of work in the UK since the General Strike of 1926. Schools and airports were forced to close and ambulance drivers and nurses working for the [[National Health Service]] began refusing to treat patients except for life-threatening emergencies. Many workers who struck on the Day of Action simply did not return to work afterwards, staying out on strike until February. In late January, gravediggers went out on strike, and health officials began contingency planing for burials at sea. However, after two weeks of strike action, the gravediggers achieved a 14% pay increase and returned to work. Waste collection workers were also on strike, and refuse began to pile high in the streets. They remained on strike until 21 February, achieving an 11% increase.<ref name="aspden" />

=="Crisis? What crisis?"==
It is generally held that these three words sealed the fate of the governemnt, even though the person to whom they were attrributed never actually said them. At the height of the strikes, Callaghan flew to Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, to attend a summit. On his return to Heathrow, he was asked what he made of the mounting chaos. He gave a typically complacent, convoluted answer, "I don't think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos". A journalist for The Sun translated that as "Crisis? What Crisis?" and this was the newspaper's headline on 11 January 1979. Callaghan's standing in the polls went from a five-point lead over the Conservatives in November 1978 to a 20-point deficit in February 1979. After losing a confidence motion, he was forced to call a general election and the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher won by a landslide. Labour received its lowest share of the vote since the war, while the Liberals and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists saw their support slump from previous highs enjoyed in 1974.

==Political and social impact==
The effects of the Winter of Discontent were far reaching and changed British society, politics, economics and working practices in ways which noone could have foreseen. These included:
*victory for the Conservatives, making [[Margaret Thatcher]] Britain's first ever woman prime minister.
*the birth of [[Thatcherism]]
*the rise of [[Militant Tendency]]
*the decline of trade union influence
*trade union membership halved
*privatisation by the government and the loss of Britain's manufacturing base
*the birth of New Labour and the decline of Old Labour
*the confrontation between the state and the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984-1985
*the abandonment of [[Keynes' General Theory]] which had been the blueprint for Britain's post war settlement

==Media==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7598647.stm ''Winter of Discontent: 30 years on''] - Slideshow including [[BBC]] archive material, and interviews with politicians, union leaders and commentators [[Denis Healey]], Rodney Bickerstaffe, Brendan Barber, Geoffrey Goodman, and Lord Bernard Donoghue.

==See also==
*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:United Kingdom]]

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T13:03:05Z

Fox:

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]
The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Unionism|Trade Unions]] rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==
''"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"'' was written by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in his play '''Richard III''' (1594). It actually means that the period of discontent or unhappiness is ending, winter marking the end of a cycle. The phrase was used to describe the social and industrial unrest of the 1978-79 winter by the political editor of the British national [[newspaper]] ''[[The Sun]]''.

==Background==
When the [[Labour Party]] was elected in 1974 its manifesto stated "It is our intention to bring about a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families." However the 1974-9 government imposed the greatest attacks on working class living standards since the depression of the 1930s:
*Housing - By 1978 fewer council houses were being built than in any year since the Second World War.
*Health - 25,000 hospital bed places were removed in the first two years of the Labour government.
*Education - teachers suffered large scale redundancies for the first time in living memory.
*Prices - doubled between February 1974 and December 1978.
*Jobs - an average of 1,000 a day went in Labour's first three years. Unemployment was 500,000 in 1974. It reached 1.6 million in 1976.
*Wages - a family of four on average earnings was worse off in 1979 than in 1974.<ref name="swo">''Winter of Discontent 1978-9: We struck because Labour betrayed us'' (2002) [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11511 Socialist Worker Online]. Retrieved 20 November 2008</ref>

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of Britain's trade unions, had become "tied" to the government following the adoption of the [[Social Contract]]<ref>''The agreement was known colloquially among rank and file union members however as the "Social Con Trick".</ref>, a bipartite arrangement between the government and the trade union movement. "The package was an attempt to control inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of employment through industrial strategy and improve the social wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of public expenditure, and was to include a programme of employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 , introduction of new statutory protections for employees and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial democracy . The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining wages."<ref name="emire">''Social Contract'' (2007) [http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UNITED%20KINGDOM/SOCIALCONTRACT-EN.htm European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions]. Retrieved 20 November 2008.</ref> Although the governement failed to deliver its side of the bargain, the TUC insisted on upholding theirs, even to the detriment of its member unions: in 1976 the Seamen's Union proposed strike action over a delayed pay award. The general secretary of the TUC, Len Murray, told them, "By god, we'll make sure no union supports you. We'll cripple you."<ref name="swo" /> A further three major strikes by groups of skilled workers in 1977 collapsed after the TUC instructed other workers to cross the picket lines.<ref name="swo" />

The "discontent" of British workers continued to build for several years; [[inflation]] had reached 26.9% in August 1975, and the incumbent [[Labour Party|Labour]] government under [[Prime Minister]] [[Harold Wilson]] introduced a "cap" on pay increases for workers at limits set by the government, and far below the rate of inflation. For workers earning under £8,500 ($17,000) a year the maximum pay increase could not exceed £6 ($12) per week. By 1978, inflation had almost halved, but the government refused to remove the caps, fixing the maximum pay increase at 5%. However, at the end of 1977, [[firefighter]]s had gone on strike and, despite being forced back to work (the strike had ended violently, with the firefighters even attacking their own Union officials whom they felt had betrayed them), achieved a 10% increase, followed in early 1978 by further concessions from the government, giving them an increase in real terms of 20%. Furthermore, their salaries became index linked against inflation, a privilege which had previously only been accorded to the Army Chiefs, police and judges, as a compensation for not being allowed to strike. The firefighters had however still retained the right to strike. Told that ''their'' rises would still be capped at 5% the remainder of the already disgruntled workforce took notice of how the firefighters had been successful in "defeat" and began to see how weak the government had become when challenged by direct action.<ref name="winter">''The Winter of Discontent'' "History and Class Consciousness in the U.K." (2002) [http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html Revolt Against an Age of Plenty]. Accessed 1 February 2008</ref>

In April 1976, Wilson had been replaced as Prime Minister by Labour's [[James Callaghan]], and it was widely expected that he would call for a general election and the removal of the wage caps in September 1978 following the TUC conference. Instead, he announced that there would be no general election and that the cap would remain for at least another year to allow the economy to stabilise. The same month, a pay increase for workers at [[Ford Motor Company]] was set by the company within the allotted 5% designated by the government but was rejected by the workers. A strike began when 15,000 Ford workers walked off the job on September 22 and by September 26 had been joined by 57,000 others, leaving 23 Ford factories unmanned.<ref name="aspden">'''Aspden, Alex''' ''1978-1979: Winter of Discontent'' (2007) [http://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent Libcom.org]. Retrieved 1 February 2008</ref>

==The Ford deal==
The strike by the Ford workers was unofficial, and had not been formally sanctioned by the workers' union, the '''Transport and General Workers Union''' (TGWU), however, given the determination of their members not to return to work, and the violence that had marked the previous year's firefighter's strike, the TGWU officially gave its support on 5 October. They demanded a 25% pay increase and a reduction to a 35 hour working week, and negotiations began with the management of Ford. On 22 November they accepted a 17% pay increase, with no reduction in working hours, and returned to work. The government were furious that Ford had breached the pay policy and attempted to impose sanctions on the company, but this was defeated in [[House of Commons (UK)|Parliament]], with Callaghan only narrowly surviving a motion of confidence. Humiliated and further weakened, the government was now powerless to enforce the 5% cap, which would now be challenged by strikes in both the public and private sectors.<ref name="aspden" />

Unlike the strikes which were to follow, the Ford strike was unique in that the entire workforce withdrew their labour - no picket lines were required. English workers in ancilliary industries assisted the strike by preventing the movement of components both on the motorways and in the docks, and this also enabled the workers to turn the division of labour between [[Europe|European]] states against Ford as the majority of European factories were prevented from operating because of the lack of components or because components destined for English factories were held up. Henry Ford said, "It was the worst strike I have ever seen".<ref name="winter" /> Analysts have concluded that it was this single strike which caused the Labour Government to fall.<ref name="winter" />

==Transport strikes==
In an attempt to win a 40% pay increase, fuel tanker drivers employed by [[British Petroleum]] and [[Esso]] had begun "working to rule" and refusing to work overtime. They received such small allowances for overnight stops that they were forced to sleep three to a room in dirty hostels.<ref name="swo" /> On 9 January 1979, all truck drivers of the TGWU went out on strike for more pay. This crippled the national distribution system, causing food shortages as well as halting the transport of materials required by industry. Fuel stations were closed due to no deliveries to fill their storage tanks, and oil refineries were blockaded by [[flying picket]]s. In less than a month, with road distribution at a standstill, the drivers achieved a pay deal just £1 ($2) less per week than they had asked for.

==Floodgates opened==
[[Image:Waste collectors strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Uncollected refuse spilling onto the streets remains an iconic image of the Winter of Discontent]]
While the transport strike was still in force, many public sector workers launched strikes of their own. The railwaymens' unions, the '''National Union of Railwaymen''' (NUR) and the '''Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen''' (ASLEF)<ref>A popular joke among workers at the time was that "ASLEF" stood for "As'lef'ma'train in the depot"</ref> had begun to close down the public transport network, and on 22 January the public sector unions called a "Day of Action" which saw 1.5 million workers refusing to work, the largest general stoppage of work in the UK since the General Strike of 1926. Schools and airports were forced to close and ambulance drivers and nurses working for the [[National Health Service]] began refusing to treat patients except for life-threatening emergencies. Many workers who struck on the Day of Action simply did not return to work afterwards, staying out on strike until February. In late January, gravediggers went out on strike, and health officials began contingency planing for burials at sea. However, after two weeks of strike action, the gravediggers achieved a 14% pay increase and returned to work. Waste collection workers were also on strike, and refuse began to pile high in the streets. They remained on strike until 21 February, achieving an 11% increase.<ref name="aspden" />

=="Crisis? What crisis?"==
It is generally held that these three words sealed the fate of the governemnt, even though the person to whom they were attrributed never actually said them. At the height of the strikes, Callaghan flew to Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, to attend a summit. On his return to Heathrow, he was asked what he made of the mounting chaos. He gave a typically complacent, convoluted answer, "I don't think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos". A journalist for The Sun translated that as "Crisis? What Crisis?" and this was the newspaper's headline on 11 January 1979. Callaghan's standing in the polls went from a five-point lead over the Conservatives in November 1978 to a 20-point deficit in February 1979. After losing a confidence motion, he was forced to call a general election and the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher won by a landslide. Labour received its lowest share of the vote since the war, while the Liberals and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists saw their support slump from previous highs enjoyed in 1974.

==Political and social impact==
The effects of the Winter of Discontent were far reaching and changed British society, politics, economics and working practices in ways which noone could have foreseen. These included:
*victory for the Conservatives, making Margaret Thatcher Britain's first ever woman prime minister.
*the birth of [[Thatcherism]]
*the rise of [[Militant Tendency]]
*the decline of trade union influence
*trade union membership halved
*privatisation by the government and the loss of Britain's manufacturing base
*the birth of New Labour and the decline of Old Labour
*the confrontation between the state and the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984-1985
*the abandonment of [[Keynes' General Theory]] which had been the blueprint for Britain's post war settlement

==Media==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7598647.stm ''Winter of Discontent: 30 years on''] - Slideshow including [[BBC]] archive material, and interviews with politicians, union leaders and commentators [[Denis Healey]], Rodney Bickerstaffe, Brendan Barber, Geoffrey Goodman, and Lord Bernard Donoghue.

==See also==
*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:United Kingdom]]

Militant Tendency

2008-11-24T12:54:07Z

Fox:

'''Militant Tendency''' was a group of [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]]s within the [[Labour Party]], organised around the newspaper 'Militant' and led by [[Ted Grant]], a former leader of the [[Revolutionary Communist Party (UK)|Revolutionary Communist Party]]. It achieved some strength in certain constituency Labour Parties in the 1970s and early '80s, deselecting right-wing and centrist Labour [[MP]]s and parliamentary candidates and replacing them with more ideologically acceptable candidates, and it was also able to gain control of [[Liverpool]] City Council in the early 1980s. In 1985 the Labour Party leader [[Neil Kinnock]] expelled Militant leaders from the party, and began a process of rooting out others. In 1991 the last remaining members withdrew from the Labour Party.

==External links==
*[http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/militant/ The Rise of Militant] - Official history of Militant Tendency

[[Category:British Politics]]

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T12:51:56Z

Fox: /* Political and social impact */

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]
The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Union]]s rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==
''"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"'' was written by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in his play '''Richard III''' (1594). It actually means that the period of discontent or unhappiness is ending, winter marking the end of a cycle. The phrase was used to describe the social and industrial unrest of the 1978-79 winter by the political editor of the British national [[newspaper]] ''[[The Sun]]''.

==Background==
When the [[Labour Party]] was elected in 1974 its manifesto stated "It is our intention to bring about a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families." However the 1974-9 government imposed the greatest attacks on working class living standards since the depression of the 1930s:
*Housing - By 1978 fewer council houses were being built than in any year since the Second World War.
*Health - 25,000 hospital bed places were removed in the first two years of the Labour government.
*Education - teachers suffered large scale redundancies for the first time in living memory.
*Prices - doubled between February 1974 and December 1978.
*Jobs - an average of 1,000 a day went in Labour's first three years. Unemployment was 500,000 in 1974. It reached 1.6 million in 1976.
*Wages - a family of four on average earnings was worse off in 1979 than in 1974.<ref name="swo">''Winter of Discontent 1978-9: We struck because Labour betrayed us'' (2002) [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11511 Socialist Worker Online]. Retrieved 20 November 2008</ref>

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of Britain's trade unions, had become "tied" to the government following the adoption of the [[Social Contract]]<ref>''The agreement was known colloquially among rank and file union members however as the "Social Con Trick".</ref>, a bipartite arrangement between the government and the trade union movement. "The package was an attempt to control inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of employment through industrial strategy and improve the social wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of public expenditure, and was to include a programme of employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 , introduction of new statutory protections for employees and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial democracy . The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining wages."<ref name="emire">''Social Contract'' (2007) [http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UNITED%20KINGDOM/SOCIALCONTRACT-EN.htm European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions]. Retrieved 20 November 2008.</ref> Although the governement failed to deliver its side of the bargain, the TUC insisted on upholding theirs, even to the detriment of its member unions: in 1976 the Seamen's Union proposed strike action over a delayed pay award. The general secretary of the TUC, Len Murray, told them, "By god, we'll make sure no union supports you. We'll cripple you."<ref name="swo" /> A further three major strikes by groups of skilled workers in 1977 collapsed after the TUC instructed other workers to cross the picket lines.<ref name="swo" />

The "discontent" of British workers continued to build for several years; [[inflation]] had reached 26.9% in August 1975, and the incumbent [[Labour Party|Labour]] government under [[Prime Minister]] [[Harold Wilson]] introduced a "cap" on pay increases for workers at limits set by the government, and far below the rate of inflation. For workers earning under £8,500 ($17,000) a year the maximum pay increase could not exceed £6 ($12) per week. By 1978, inflation had almost halved, but the government refused to remove the caps, fixing the maximum pay increase at 5%. However, at the end of 1977, [[firefighter]]s had gone on strike and, despite being forced back to work (the strike had ended violently, with the firefighters even attacking their own Union officials whom they felt had betrayed them), achieved a 10% increase, followed in early 1978 by further concessions from the government, giving them an increase in real terms of 20%. Furthermore, their salaries became index linked against inflation, a privilege which had previously only been accorded to the Army Chiefs, police and judges, as a compensation for not being allowed to strike. The firefighters had however still retained the right to strike. Told that ''their'' rises would still be capped at 5% the remainder of the already disgruntled workforce took notice of how the firefighters had been successful in "defeat" and began to see how weak the government had become when challenged by direct action.<ref name="winter">''The Winter of Discontent'' "History and Class Consciousness in the U.K." (2002) [http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html Revolt Against an Age of Plenty]. Accessed 1 February 2008</ref>

In April 1976, Wilson had been replaced as Prime Minister by Labour's [[James Callaghan]], and it was widely expected that he would call for a general election and the removal of the wage caps in September 1978 following the TUC conference. Instead, he announced that there would be no general election and that the cap would remain for at least another year to allow the economy to stabilise. The same month, a pay increase for workers at [[Ford Motor Company]] was set by the company within the allotted 5% designated by the government but was rejected by the workers. A strike began when 15,000 Ford workers walked off the job on September 22 and by September 26 had been joined by 57,000 others, leaving 23 Ford factories unmanned.<ref name="aspden">'''Aspden, Alex''' ''1978-1979: Winter of Discontent'' (2007) [http://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent Libcom.org]. Retrieved 1 February 2008</ref>

==The Ford deal==
The strike by the Ford workers was unofficial, and had not been formally sanctioned by the workers' union, the '''Transport and General Workers Union''' (TGWU), however, given the determination of their members not to return to work, and the violence that had marked the previous year's firefighter's strike, the TGWU officially gave its support on 5 October. They demanded a 25% pay increase and a reduction to a 35 hour working week, and negotiations began with the management of Ford. On 22 November they accepted a 17% pay increase, with no reduction in working hours, and returned to work. The government were furious that Ford had breached the pay policy and attempted to impose sanctions on the company, but this was defeated in [[House of Commons (UK)|Parliament]], with Callaghan only narrowly surviving a motion of confidence. Humiliated and further weakened, the government was now powerless to enforce the 5% cap, which would now be challenged by strikes in both the public and private sectors.<ref name="aspden" />

Unlike the strikes which were to follow, the Ford strike was unique in that the entire workforce withdrew their labour - no picket lines were required. English workers in ancilliary industries assisted the strike by preventing the movement of components both on the motorways and in the docks, and this also enabled the workers to turn the division of labour between [[Europe|European]] states against Ford as the majority of European factories were prevented from operating because of the lack of components or because components destined for English factories were held up. Henry Ford said, "It was the worst strike I have ever seen".<ref name="winter" /> Analysts have concluded that it was this single strike which caused the Labour Government to fall.<ref name="winter" />

==Transport strikes==
In an attempt to win a 40% pay increase, fuel tanker drivers employed by [[British Petroleum]] and [[Esso]] had begun "working to rule" and refusing to work overtime. They received such small allowances for overnight stops that they were forced to sleep three to a room in dirty hostels.<ref name="swo" /> On 9 January 1979, all truck drivers of the TGWU went out on strike for more pay. This crippled the national distribution system, causing food shortages as well as halting the transport of materials required by industry. Fuel stations were closed due to no deliveries to fill their storage tanks, and oil refineries were blockaded by [[flying picket]]s. In less than a month, with road distribution at a standstill, the drivers achieved a pay deal just £1 ($2) less per week than they had asked for.

==Floodgates opened==
[[Image:Waste collectors strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Uncollected refuse spilling onto the streets remains an iconic image of the Winter of Discontent]]
While the transport strike was still in force, many public sector workers launched strikes of their own. The railwaymens' unions, the '''National Union of Railwaymen''' (NUR) and the '''Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen''' (ASLEF)<ref>A popular joke among workers at the time was that "ASLEF" stood for "As'lef'ma'train in the depot"</ref> had begun to close down the public transport network, and on 22 January the public sector unions called a "Day of Action" which saw 1.5 million workers refusing to work, the largest general stoppage of work in the UK since the General Strike of 1926. Schools and airports were forced to close and ambulance drivers and nurses working for the [[National Health Service]] began refusing to treat patients except for life-threatening emergencies. Many workers who struck on the Day of Action simply did not return to work afterwards, staying out on strike until February. In late January, gravediggers went out on strike, and health officials began contingency planing for burials at sea. However, after two weeks of strike action, the gravediggers achieved a 14% pay increase and returned to work. Waste collection workers were also on strike, and refuse began to pile high in the streets. They remained on strike until 21 February, achieving an 11% increase.<ref name="aspden" />

=="Crisis? What crisis?"==
It is generally held that these three words sealed the fate of the governemnt, even though the person to whom they were attrributed never actually said them. At the height of the strikes, Callaghan flew to Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, to attend a summit. On his return to Heathrow, he was asked what he made of the mounting chaos. He gave a typically complacent, convoluted answer, "I don't think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos". A journalist for The Sun translated that as "Crisis? What Crisis?" and this was the newspaper's headline on 11 January 1979. Callaghan's standing in the polls went from a five-point lead over the Conservatives in November 1978 to a 20-point deficit in February 1979. After losing a confidence motion, he was forced to call a general election and the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher won by a landslide. Labour received its lowest share of the vote since the war, while the Liberals and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists saw their support slump from previous highs enjoyed in 1974.

==Political and social impact==
The effects of the Winter of Discontent were far reaching and changed British society, politics, economics and working practices in ways which noone could have foreseen. These included:
*victory for the Conservatives, making Margaret Thatcher Britain's first ever woman prime minister.
*the birth of [[Thatcherism]]
*the rise of [[Militant Tendency]]
*the decline of trade union influence
*trade union membership halved
*privatisation by the government and the loss of Britain's manufacturing base
*the birth of New Labour and the decline of Old Labour
*the confrontation between the state and the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984-1985
*the abandonment of [[Keynes' General Theory]] which had been the blueprint for Britain's post war settlement

==Media==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7598647.stm ''Winter of Discontent: 30 years on''] - Slideshow including [[BBC]] archive material, and interviews with politicians, union leaders and commentators [[Denis Healey]], Rodney Bickerstaffe, Brendan Barber, Geoffrey Goodman, and Lord Bernard Donoghue.

==See also==
*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:United Kingdom]]

Winter of Discontent

2008-11-24T11:52:55Z

Fox: /* Political and social impact */ better link, thnx Bugler for pointing me to the right title

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]
The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Union]]s rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==
''"Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"'' was written by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] in his play '''Richard III''' (1594). It actually means that the period of discontent or unhappiness is ending, winter marking the end of a cycle. The phrase was used to describe the social and industrial unrest of the 1978-79 winter by the political editor of the British national [[newspaper]] ''[[The Sun]]''.

==Background==
When the [[Labour Party]] was elected in 1974 its manifesto stated "It is our intention to bring about a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people and their families." However the 1974-9 government imposed the greatest attacks on working class living standards since the depression of the 1930s:
*Housing - By 1978 fewer council houses were being built than in any year since the Second World War.
*Health - 25,000 hospital bed places were removed in the first two years of the Labour government.
*Education - teachers suffered large scale redundancies for the first time in living memory.
*Prices - doubled between February 1974 and December 1978.
*Jobs - an average of 1,000 a day went in Labour's first three years. Unemployment was 500,000 in 1974. It reached 1.6 million in 1976.
*Wages - a family of four on average earnings was worse off in 1979 than in 1974.<ref name="swo">''Winter of Discontent 1978-9: We struck because Labour betrayed us'' (2002) [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11511 Socialist Worker Online]. Retrieved 20 November 2008</ref>

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of Britain's trade unions, had become "tied" to the government following the adoption of the [[Social Contract]]<ref>''The agreement was known colloquially among rank and file union members however as the "Social Con Trick".</ref>, a bipartite arrangement between the government and the trade union movement. "The package was an attempt to control inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of employment through industrial strategy and improve the social wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of public expenditure, and was to include a programme of employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 , introduction of new statutory protections for employees and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial democracy . The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining wages."<ref name="emire">''Social Contract'' (2007) [http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UNITED%20KINGDOM/SOCIALCONTRACT-EN.htm European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions]. Retrieved 20 November 2008.</ref> Although the governement failed to deliver its side of the bargain, the TUC insisted on upholding theirs, even to the detriment of its member unions: in 1976 the Seamen's Union proposed strike action over a delayed pay award. The general secretary of the TUC, Len Murray, told them, "By god, we'll make sure no union supports you. We'll cripple you."<ref name="swo" /> A further three major strikes by groups of skilled workers in 1977 collapsed after the TUC instructed other workers to cross the picket lines.<ref name="swo" />

The "discontent" of British workers continued to build for several years; [[inflation]] had reached 26.9% in August 1975, and the incumbent [[Labour Party|Labour]] government under [[Prime Minister]] [[Harold Wilson]] introduced a "cap" on pay increases for workers at limits set by the government, and far below the rate of inflation. For workers earning under £8,500 ($17,000) a year the maximum pay increase could not exceed £6 ($12) per week. By 1978, inflation had almost halved, but the government refused to remove the caps, fixing the maximum pay increase at 5%. However, at the end of 1977, [[firefighter]]s had gone on strike and, despite being forced back to work (the strike had ended violently, with the firefighters even attacking their own Union officials whom they felt had betrayed them), achieved a 10% increase, followed in early 1978 by further concessions from the government, giving them an increase in real terms of 20%. Furthermore, their salaries became index linked against inflation, a privilege which had previously only been accorded to the Army Chiefs, police and judges, as a compensation for not being allowed to strike. The firefighters had however still retained the right to strike. Told that ''their'' rises would still be capped at 5% the remainder of the already disgruntled workforce took notice of how the firefighters had been successful in "defeat" and began to see how weak the government had become when challenged by direct action.<ref name="winter">''The Winter of Discontent'' "History and Class Consciousness in the U.K." (2002) [http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html Revolt Against an Age of Plenty]. Accessed 1 February 2008</ref>

In April 1976, Wilson had been replaced as Prime Minister by Labour's [[James Callaghan]], and it was widely expected that he would call for a general election and the removal of the wage caps in September 1978 following the TUC conference. Instead, he announced that there would be no general election and that the cap would remain for at least another year to allow the economy to stabilise. The same month, a pay increase for workers at [[Ford Motor Company]] was set by the company within the allotted 5% designated by the government but was rejected by the workers. A strike began when 15,000 Ford workers walked off the job on September 22 and by September 26 had been joined by 57,000 others, leaving 23 Ford factories unmanned.<ref name="aspden">'''Aspden, Alex''' ''1978-1979: Winter of Discontent'' (2007) [http://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent Libcom.org]. Retrieved 1 February 2008</ref>

==The Ford deal==
The strike by the Ford workers was unofficial, and had not been formally sanctioned by the workers' union, the '''Transport and General Workers Union''' (TGWU), however, given the determination of their members not to return to work, and the violence that had marked the previous year's firefighter's strike, the TGWU officially gave its support on 5 October. They demanded a 25% pay increase and a reduction to a 35 hour working week, and negotiations began with the management of Ford. On 22 November they accepted a 17% pay increase, with no reduction in working hours, and returned to work. The government were furious that Ford had breached the pay policy and attempted to impose sanctions on the company, but this was defeated in [[House of Commons (UK)|Parliament]], with Callaghan only narrowly surviving a motion of confidence. Humiliated and further weakened, the government was now powerless to enforce the 5% cap, which would now be challenged by strikes in both the public and private sectors.<ref name="aspden" />

Unlike the strikes which were to follow, the Ford strike was unique in that the entire workforce withdrew their labour - no picket lines were required. English workers in ancilliary industries assisted the strike by preventing the movement of components both on the motorways and in the docks, and this also enabled the workers to turn the division of labour between [[Europe|European]] states against Ford as the majority of European factories were prevented from operating because of the lack of components or because components destined for English factories were held up. Henry Ford said, "It was the worst strike I have ever seen".<ref name="winter" /> Analysts have concluded that it was this single strike which caused the Labour Government to fall.<ref name="winter" />

==Transport strikes==
In an attempt to win a 40% pay increase, fuel tanker drivers employed by [[British Petroleum]] and [[Esso]] had begun "working to rule" and refusing to work overtime. They received such small allowances for overnight stops that they were forced to sleep three to a room in dirty hostels.<ref name="swo" /> On 9 January 1979, all truck drivers of the TGWU went out on strike for more pay. This crippled the national distribution system, causing food shortages as well as halting the transport of materials required by industry. Fuel stations were closed due to no deliveries to fill their storage tanks, and oil refineries were blockaded by [[flying picket]]s. In less than a month, with road distribution at a standstill, the drivers achieved a pay deal just £1 ($2) less per week than they had asked for.

==Floodgates opened==
[[Image:Waste collectors strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Uncollected refuse spilling onto the streets remains an iconic image of the Winter of Discontent]]
While the transport strike was still in force, many public sector workers launched strikes of their own. The railwaymens' unions, the '''National Union of Railwaymen''' (NUR) and the '''Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen''' (ASLEF)<ref>A popular joke among workers at the time was that "ASLEF" stood for "As'lef'ma'train in the depot"</ref> had begun to close down the public transport network, and on 22 January the public sector unions called a "Day of Action" which saw 1.5 million workers refusing to work, the largest general stoppage of work in the UK since the General Strike of 1926. Schools and airports were forced to close and ambulance drivers and nurses working for the [[National Health Service]] began refusing to treat patients except for life-threatening emergencies. Many workers who struck on the Day of Action simply did not return to work afterwards, staying out on strike until February. In late January, gravediggers went out on strike, and health officials began contingency planing for burials at sea. However, after two weeks of strike action, the gravediggers achieved a 14% pay increase and returned to work. Waste collection workers were also on strike, and refuse began to pile high in the streets. They remained on strike until 21 February, achieving an 11% increase.<ref name="aspden" />

=="Crisis? What crisis?"==
It is generally held that these three words sealed the fate of the governemnt, even though the person to whom they were attrributed never actually said them. At the height of the strikes, Callaghan flew to Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, to attend a summit. On his return to Heathrow, he was asked what he made of the mounting chaos. He gave a typically complacent, convoluted answer, "I don't think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos". A journalist for The Sun translated that as "Crisis? What Crisis?" and this was the newspaper's headline on 11 January 1979. Callaghan's standing in the polls went from a five-point lead over the Conservatives in November 1978 to a 20-point deficit in February 1979. After losing a confidence motion, he was forced to call a general election and the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher won by a landslide. Labour received its lowest share of the vote since the war, while the Liberals and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists saw their support slump from previous highs enjoyed in 1974.

==Political and social impact==
The effects of the Winter of Discontent were far reaching and changed British society, politics, economics and working practices in ways which noone could have foreseen. These included:
*victory for the Conservatives, making Margaret Thatcher Britain's first ever woman prime minister.
*the birth of [[Thatcherism]]
*the birth of [[Militant Tendency]]
*the decline of trade union influence
*trade union membership halved
*privatisation by the government and the loss of Britain's manufacturing base
*the birth of New Labour and the decline of Old Labour
*the confrontation between the state and the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984-1985
*the abandonment of [[Keynes' General Theory]] which had been the blueprint for Britain's post war settlement

==Media==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7598647.stm ''Winter of Discontent: 30 years on''] - Slideshow including [[BBC]] archive material, and interviews with politicians, union leaders and commentators [[Denis Healey]], Rodney Bickerstaffe, Brendan Barber, Geoffrey Goodman, and Lord Bernard Donoghue.

==See also==
*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:United Kingdom]]

Trotskyism

2008-11-24T11:49:41Z

Fox: better link?

'''Trotskyism''' is an extreme left-wing political ideology which originated in the split in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] in the 1920s between supporters of [[Stalin]] and supporters of [[Leon Trotsky]]. Although personal animosity between Trotsky and Stalin was a major factor in the split, it came to be seen as centred on the incompatibility of views regarding the 'Revolution'. Trotsky believed that although the 'working class' had seized power in Russia, true [[socialism]] could not be established unless there was a global revolution. The Stalinists denied this, and held that they could create a socialist society in the [[USSR]]: the so-called 'Socialism in One Country' strategy. A wilier political operator than his opponent, Stalin was able to edge Trotsky and his supporters out of political power in the Soviet Union, and, by achieving domination of the [[Third International]] (the [[Comintern]]), was able to impose anti-Trotskist views on the worldwide Communist movement. Trotsky was exiled from the USSR in 1929, and murdered by Stalinist agents in [[Mexico]] in 1940.

Trotsky initially sought to recapture communist parties around the world from Stalinist influence, but inevitably small dissident groups, expelled from 'mainstream' communist parties, began to form independent organisations, often practicing [[Entryism|entrism]] in non-communist left-wing parties in an attempt to take them over. In 1938 Trotsky formed the [[Fourth International]], an umbrella body for Trotskyist national groups which sought to provide a global leadership.

Trotskyism

2008-11-24T11:48:29Z

Fox: copy edit and bravo

'''Trotskyism''' is an extreme left-wing political ideology which originated in the split in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] in the 1920s between supporters of [[Stalin]] and supporters of [[Leon Trotsky]]. Although personal animosity between Trotsky and Stalin was a major factor in the split, it came to be seen as centred on the incompatibility of views regarding the 'Revolution'. Trotsky believed that although the 'working class' had seized power in Russia, true [[socialism]] could not be established unless there was a global revolution. The Stalinists denied this, and held that they could create a socialist society in the [[USSR]]: the so-called 'Socialism in One Country' strategy. A wilier political operator than his opponent, Stalin was able to edge Trotsky and his supporters out of political power in the Soviet Union, and, by achieving domination of the [[Third International]] (the [[Comintern]]), was able to impose anti-Trotskist views on the worldwide Communist movement. Trotsky was exiled from the USSR in 1929, and murdered by Stalinist agents in [[Mexico]] in 1940.

Trotsky initially sought to recapture communist parties around the world from Stalinist influence, but inevitably small dissident groups, expelled from 'mainstream' communist parties, began to form independent organisations, often practicing [[entrism]] in non-communist left-wing parties in an attempt to take them over. In 1938 Trotsky formed the [[Fourth International]], an umbrella body for Trotskyist national groups which sought to provide a global leadership.

Essay: Homosexual recruitment

2008-11-22T21:58:47Z

Fox: parody

Essay: Homosexual bait and switch

2008-11-22T21:57:50Z

Fox: Replacing page with '{{speedy}}'

Sabbath

2008-11-22T21:29:46Z

Fox: /* Sabbath Law instituted at Creation */

{{Bible}}
[[Image:Girl on hill.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The spirit of the Sabbath is joy, refreshment and mercy, arising from remembrance of God's goodness as Creator and as the Deliverer from bondage.]]
''This article is about the [[Christian]] day of rest. For the Sabbath in [[Judaism]] see [[Shabbat]].'' The '''Sabbath''' ([[Hebrew]]: שַׁבָּת‎ ''shabbat'' "the day to cease/rest") is a weekly [[religion|religious]] day of rest as ordained by [[God]] in the [[Ten Commandments]]: <blockquote>''Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.'' ([[Exodus]] 20:8-11)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020:8-11&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>

==Sabbath Law instituted at Creation==
The day was already a [[holy]] day, sanctified by God following the [[Creation]]:
{{Bible quote|And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.|book=Genesis|chap=2|verses=2-3|version=KJV}}
That the Sabbath was already known and observed as man's day of rest before it was "set in stone" in the Commandments is confirmed by events several weeks ''before'' God gave the Ten Commandments to the nation of [[Israel]], when they first entered the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. Within a matter of days the Israelites' food supplies, which were limited to all they could carry with them from [[Egypt]], had been exhausted. They said to [[Moses]]: "Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." (Exodus 16:3)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2016:3;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> However, God promised to send [[manna]], a miraculous substance to nourish and sustain them, but He would provide it only for six days out of every seven. On the sixth day there would be twice as much as usual, but none on the seventh day. Moses explained that "Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the '''sabbath''', in it there shall be none." (Exodus 16:26)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2016:26;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
God considered that the Sabbath observance was ''already'' His law: some of the Israelites disobeyed Moses and went out looking for manna on the seventh day "but they found none" (Exodus 16:27)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2016:27;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> God's Word regarding this disobedience, and that seventh-day Sabbath observance was ''already'' a commandment was unequivocal:
{{Bible quote|And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.|book=Exodus|chap=16|verses=28-29|version=KJV}}

==The importance of Sabbath observance to God==
In [[Leviticus]], God reaffirmed to Moses the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath:<blockquote>''Six days shall work be done: '''but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation'''; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.'' ([[Leviticus]] 23:3)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2023:3;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
The [[prophet]] [[Isaiah]] said of the importance of the Sabbath as God's Word and Law:<blockquote>''If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.'' ([[Isaiah]] 58:13-14)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2058:13-14;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
Through the prophet [[Jeremiah]] God warned men to "''bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.''" (Jeremiah 17:21-22)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2017:21-22;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
"''But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.''" (Jeremiah 17:27)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2017:27;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>

Through the prophet [[Ezekiel]], God said:<blockquote>''Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.''(Ezekiel 20:12, 13, 16)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2020:12,%2013,%2016;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>

[[Matthew]], in his [[Olivet Prophecy]], reaffirms that [[Christian]]s at the [[Second Coming]] should still observe God's commanded seventh-day Sabbath<ref>''"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day"'' Matthew 24:14-20 [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:14-20;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> and Isaiah prophesied that it will be observed afterwards.<ref>''"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD."'' Isaiah 66:23 [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2066:23;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>

==The purpose of the Sabbath==
On the Sabbath all members of a household were to rest from labor, including servants, guests and even animals. All were to "cease" from their normal, routine work, and should spend much of the Sabbath with other family members as a family or household. God's Law was not directed merely to the Israelites: it applied even to the "stranger that is within thy gates", "it is the Sabbath of the Lord in '''all''' your dwellings." [[Jesus Christ]] Himself pointed out that "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." ([[Mark]] 2:27)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202:27;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> It was sanctified when mankind was made, with God creating [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] on the sixth day of Creation week and creating the Sabbath on the following day (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:1-3).

Immediately after repeating the Ten Commandments in [[Deuteronomy]] 5, God commanded the Israelites: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up ([[Deuteronomy]] 6:6-7).<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206:6-7;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>

The Sabbath is a day for teaching and learning of God's wondrous acts and laws, and God's great miracles are to be remembered on this day. "Thus the spirit of the Sabbath was joy, refreshment and mercy, arising from remembrance of God's goodness as Creator and as the Deliverer from bondage. The Sabbath was a perpetual sign and covenant, and the holiness of the day is collected with the holiness of the people; "that ye may know that I am Jehovah that doth sanctify you." (Exodus 31:12-17;<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206:6-7;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> [[Ezekiel]] 20:12<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2020:12;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>) Joy was the key-note Of their service. Nehemiah commanded the people, on a day holy to Jehovah ''Mourn not, nor weep: eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared.'' ([[Nehemiah]] 8:9-13<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah%208:9-13;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>)"<ref>''Sabbath'' [http://www.bible-history.com/smiths/S/Sabbath/ Smith's Bible Dictionary]. Accessed 15 February 2008</ref> This also shows that the Sabbath is a day to focus on [[charity]] to the less fortunate.

==Seventh day==
Many churches observe Sunday as their day of rest and worship, and many Christians erroneously assume that Sunday is therefore the Sabbath. However, Saturday is the seventh day of the week, and Sunday is the first day of the week. The seventh day according to God's calendar is, and always has been, the Sabbath day. Despite many modifications of calendars through the centuries, the seven-day weekly cycle has remained intact throughout history. The days of the week have always remained in their proper order, with Sunday as the first day of the week and Saturday as the seventh.<ref>''Which Day Is the Sabbath?'' [http://www.ucg.org.uk/UCG_BI_Literature/booklets/SS/daysabbath.htm UCG]. Accessed 15 February 2008</ref>

The Jewish people have observed this date for many millennia without interruption. When the [[Julian calendar]] was replaced by the [[Gregorian calendar]] in 1582 AD, ten days were deleted in order to bring the calendar in synchronism with the seasons. But the sequence of the days remained the same. Thus, 1582-OCT-4 (a Thursday) was followed by 1582-OCT-15 (a Friday), and the Sabbath of 1582-OCT-16 happened exactly 7 days after the previous Sabbath of OCT-9.<ref>''Has the Calendar been Changed?'' "Christian holy days: The weekly Sabbath: is it to be Saturday or Sunday?" [http://www.religioustolerance.org/sabbath.htm#move Religuious Tolerance.org]. Accessed 15 February 2008</ref>
Even in the 21st century Judaism still observes the seventh-day as the Sabbath - from sunset (the end of the day) Friday until sunset on the end of Saturday. Some Christian denominations (usually referred to as [[Sabbatarians]]) still observe God's seventh-day Sabbath, but the majority were polluted by [[pagan]] [[Roman]] beliefs and the whims of the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman]] church. The Roman religion of [[Mithra]]ism observed Sunday as their day of religious observance. In 321 AD, while still a pagan sun-worshipper, the Emperor [[Constantine]] declared that Sunday was to be the day of rest throughout the Roman Empire:<blockquote>''On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for gain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.''<ref>''Why and When the Weekly Sabbath was Moved'' "The weekly Sabbath: is it to be Saturday or Sunday?" [http://www.religioustolerance.org/sabbath.htm#move ReligiousTolerance,org]. Accessed 15 February 2008</ref></blockquote>

James Cardinal Gibbons, [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]] educator and archbishop of [[Baltimore]] in the late 1800s and early 1900s, was blunt about the change: "You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify. The Catholic Church correctly teaches that our Lord and His Apostles inculcated certain important duties of religion which are not recorded by the inspired writers... We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of faith." (''The Faith of Our Fathers'', John Murphy Company, Baltimore, 1917, p. 89).<ref>quoted in ''Which Day Is the Sabbath?'' [http://www.ucg.org.uk/UCG_BI_Literature/booklets/SS/daysabbath.htm UCG]. Accessed 15 February 2008</ref>

Jesus Christ, the [[apostle]]s and Jewish and gentile members of the early Church alike observed the seventh-day Sabbath. This is the only day authorized in the [[Bible]] and specifically commanded by God Himself since the [[Genesis|creation of Man]].

==The Sabbath and Jesus Christ==
As shown above, neither the Sabbath nor the annual [[Holy Days]] are Jewish in origin, as the commands to keep them come directly from the mouth of God, and He never gives any indication of changing them. It could only be classified as Jewish if it had originated with the Jews. That the Jews of Christ's time and today observe the biblically-commanded seventh-day Sabbath makes it no more a "Jewish tradition" than their observing the commandment against adultery makes marital fidelity a "Jewish tradition".<ref>''Jesus Christ's Example'' [http://sabbath.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Basics.Tour/ID/3/Jesus-Christs-Example.htm Sabbath.org]. Accessed 16 February 2008</ref>

Jesus observed the seventh-day Sabbath not because it was Judaic tradition or the culture of the time, and in fact He speaks out quite forcefully against following the "traditions of men" when they are at variance with the "commandments of God" ([[Matthew]] 15:3, 6;<ref>''But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?...And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2015:3,%206;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> Mark 7:7, 9, 13<ref>''Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men... And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%207:7,%209,%2013;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>) In the gospels, Jesus Christ has many disputes with the Jews, a number of which involve the Sabbath day. But they never disagree about which day is to be kept, only over what is acceptable for that day.<ref>''Jesus Christ's Example'' op cit</ref>

Some passages of the gospels are misconstrued to imply that Jesus broke the Sabbath: "''And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn And the [[Pharisee]]s said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?''" ([[Mark]] 2:23-24)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202:23-24;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>

The Pharisees were an excessively strict branch of Judaism holding considerable religious authority during Christ's time, and they were extreme in their interpretation of what was allowed on the Sabbath.<ref>Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'' (Zondervan; 1961) ISBN 0-3102-5720-4</ref> Jesus pointed out that their acts were perfectly acceptable according to the laws God had given the nation of Israel <ref>''When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn''([[Deuteronomy]] 23:25) [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2023:25;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>. God even commanded His people to leave portions of their fields unharvested so the poor and travellers would be able to eat what was left.<ref>''And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest... And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God... And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.'' ([[Leviticus]] 19:9, 10; 23:22) [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2019:9,%2010;%2023:22;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>. Jesus pointed out that King David and his hungry followers, when they were fleeing King Saul's armies, were given bread that was normally to be eaten only by priests, yet they were guiltless in God's sight (Mark 2:25-26)<ref>''And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202:25-26;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>. He also pointed out that even the priests serving in the temple worked on the Sabbath by conducting worship services and performing sacrifices, but God held them blameless (Matthew 12:5)<ref>''Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2012:5;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>.

Jesus' teaching in these verses is summarized by Freedman: "At times Jesus is interpreted to have abrogated or suspended the Sabbath commandment on the basis of controversies brought about by Sabbath healings and other acts. Careful analysis of the respective passages does not seem to give credence to this interpretation. The action of plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath by the disciples is particularly important in this matter. Jesus makes a foundational pronouncement: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The disciples' act of plucking grain infringed against the rabbinic halakhah of minute casuistry in which it was forbidden to reap, thresh, winnow, and grind on the Sabbath. Jesus reforms the Sabbath and restores it to its rightful place as designed in creation, where the Sabbath is made for all mankind and not specifically for Israel, as claimed by normative Judaism. It was God's will at creation that the Sabbath have the purpose of serving mankind for rest and [to] bring blessing."<ref>Freedman, David Noel ''Sabbath'' "The Anchor Bible Dictionary" vol. v; pp 855-856 (Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; 1992) ISBN 0-3854-2583-X</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|small}}
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Bible]]

John McCain

2008-11-22T20:29:07Z

Fox: Undo revision 566279 by Repub128 (Talk)

[[Image:Casmier.jpg|right|thumb|250px|'''Senator John McCain, R-Arizona''']] '''John Sidney McCain III''' (born in the U.S. [[Panama Canal]] Zone, August 29, 1936) <ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m0003http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Button_enter.png Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]</ref>, was the Republican candidate for President in 2008, is a prominent maverick politician and [[Vietnam War]] hero, and he is the senior [[United States Senate|Senator]] of [[Arizona]]. He has been an influential leader in American politics since 1986, when he ran for office attacking corruption, attacking [[pork barrel]] spending and working for [[campaign finance reform]]. He was defeated by [[George W. Bush]] for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, and lost to [[Barack Obama]] in the 2008 Presidential Election.

As a pilot for the [[United States Navy]] and former Prisoner-of-War ([[POW]]), he served in the military for 22 years.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m000303 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]</ref> McCain, a [[Baptist]],<ref> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296973,00.html</ref> has impressive credentials on issues of foreign policy and national security, which have propelled him in the forefront of national politics as both an outspoken voice for the United States military and as a Presidential contender for the Republican Party since 1993.<ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People. Published 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-47545-9</ref><ref>[http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NATIONWORLD/803050441/0/LOCAL1901 ''McCain clinches GOP nomination; Huckabee bows out''] 5 March 2008 IndyStar.com</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255535,00.html John McCain Announces Plans for '08 Presidential Candidacy on 'Late Night With David Letterman'], Associated Press, 1 March 2007</ref> If McCain had been elected President, he would have been the first President who was ever a POW of a foreign conflict.

==Early Life==
McCain's family has a long history of military service, including ancestors who fought as army soldiers in the Indian Wars, [[American Revolutionary War]], [[War of 1812]], for both the Union and the Confederate States of America during the [[American Civil War]], and in [[World War I]]. Both his father and grandfather were high-ranking United States Navy admirals. In addition, McCain's two sons are currently serving in the U.S. Navy.

In 1951, the McCain family moved to Northern [[Virginia]] and he attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. McCain was on the wrestling team and went on to graduate in 1954. He later joined the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1958.

==Military career==
[[Image:McCain 1965.jpg|left|thumb|200px|McCain photographed in 1965]]
McCain served heroically in the [[United States Navy]] from 1958 to 1981. He spent two and a half years as a naval aviator in training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida and the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas. By 1967, McCain was a veteran pilot aboard the ''USS Forrestal'' aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam. On 29 July 1967, while preparing to take off on a bombing run over North Vietnam, a missile accidentally fired from another plane, hitting the fuel tanks on McCain's aircraft and triggering explosions and a fire. McCain escaped from his plane by crawling onto the nose of the aircraft and diving on to the ship's deck which was ablaze from burning fuel. His attempt to rescue a fellow pilot whose flight suit was on fire was prevented when McCain was blown over by further explosions. When the fire was contained 24 hours later, 134 men had been killed and hundreds more injured. It was called the worst non-combat-related accident in U.S. naval history.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=526451&in_page_id=1811 ''The coronation of the ultimate survivor, John McCain''] 5 March 2008 [[Daily Mail]]</ref>

===Prisoner-Of-War (1967 - 1973)===

On October 26, 1967, as McCain was flying over Hanoi's Thermal Power Plant during his 23rd bombing mission, he was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese. He had just released his bombs when [[A-4 Skyhawk|his plane]] was shot down by a [[surface-to-air missile]]. As he ejected, unconscious from the accident, he broke his knee and both arms and descended by parachute into a lake. When he floated ashore, Vietnamese locals spit and kicked him, nearly killing him. The police took him to Hoa Loa Prison where he was held in solitary captivity without medical attention or sufficient food. During brutal interrogations, he was asked for information in return for medical care. McCain refused, giving only his name and date of birth. When it was discovered that he was the son of a top U.S. Admiral, he was given medical care. Hospital personnel never believed he would survive, as he had large wounds and weighed a mere 100 lbs. He also had completely white hair, a product of accelerated aging under harsh conditions. Nonetheless, his health improved and McCain was held as a Prisoner-Of-War (POW) at the [[Hanoi Hilton]]. As a prisoner, guards tortured him with frequent beatings and painful contortions, breaking his teeth and bones. <ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People. Published 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-47545-9</ref>

After months of beating sessions and intense interrogations, McCain was psychologically and physically weakened. At one point, he was forced to sign a statement which made claims exonerating his captors of inhumane treatment. The paper was intended for use as propaganda, but in all their subsequent attempts for promoting a "humane" image of the POW camp, McCain worked his hardest to thwart them. In 1971, four years from his capture, he was placed with 20 to 30 other Americans in better treatment. They were allowed to celebrate Christian holidays, including Christmas. McCain, who served as an impromptu chaplain, recalled that during their services, men cried; "They were tears of joy that for the first time... we were able to celebrate Christmas together."<ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People. Published 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-47545-9</ref> In light of his father's high military status, McCain was offered early release, which he adamantly refused in honor of the "First in, first out" clause of the POW Code of Conduct.

On March 14, 1973, after five and a half years of imprisonment, McCain was released alongside 106 other pilots under the Nixon administration. McCain received a heartfelt reception at the White House and was pronounced a war hero and eminent voice for the Vietnam War. Awards from the military followed, including the Legion of Merit, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, a [[Purple Heart]], the [[Distinguished Flying Cross]], and the Vietnamese Legion of Honor.<ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People. Published 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-47545-9</ref> McCain's severe war injuries prevent him today from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. <ref>http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/McCain_character_loyal_to_a_fault+.shtml</ref>

===Return to the Navy (1973 - 1981)===

The Vietnam War and his military service remained strong in McCain's memory. He immediately wanted to rejoin the Navy, and spent years preparing with excruciating physical therapy and a year of study in the Naval War College, where he attacked the liberal anti-war movement for weakening the morale of his fellow POWs.<ref>Kirkpatrick, David D. "[http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/14/america/15pows.php In '74 thesis, the seeds of McCain's war views.]" The New York Times (June 15, 2008) p. A1.]</ref> With his extensive experience in the Navy's Aviation division, he was selected to reform the flying fleet as Commanding Officer. John McCain quickly transformed his crew's personnel, which had been underfunded in the post-Vietnam era. Carl Smith, who served under McCain, stated, "He immediately began making changes. He fired people, and he replaced people at the top who he thought were not being as effective as he wanted them to be. He wanted real leadership. He wanted the squadron to come to life."<ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People. pg. 57</ref> Many in his staff were disappointed to have him leave, and praised his work in promoting efficiency.<ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People.</ref>

During his assignment to the Senate as the Navy's liaison, 1977-81, McCain began to join the ranks of politicians. He transformed the position from a rather unimportant post into one of authority and respect{{fact}}, gaining allies in the Senate. The Senate liaison role provided a learning experience in national security policy and foreign affairs.

==Political career==
===Congressional (1982 - 1986)===

Prior to entering public service, McCain worked in [[Phoenix]] for his father-in-law's company, Hensley & Co, which was an Anheuser-Busch beer wholesaler and distributor. With nagging injuries and limited physical mobility, McCain realized he would never become a four-star general like his forefathers.<ref>[http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542249 John McCain Biography (1936-)]</ref> Some biographers argue that he shifted into politics so that he could achieve the equivalent in politics, leading to his Senatorial career. After gaining support from local business leaders, he ran for a congressional seat for Arizona's 1st congressional district as a Republican in 1982. His [[liberal]] opponents labeled him as a "carpetbagger". McCain responded to a voter making the charge of "carpetbagging" saying,

{{cquote|Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.}}

With the endorsements of local newspapers, McCain easily won the election. In 1983, he became President of the Republican freshman class of representatives. At the time, he largely supported Reagan's hard stance against the [[Soviet Union]], his tax cuts and matters on Indian Affairs. He did, however, break with the President on the decision to place a U.S. military presence in Lebanon, saying {{cquote|''I do not foresee obtainable objectives in Lebanon; I believe the longer we stay, the more difficult it will be to leave.''<ref>Alexander, Paul. John McCain: Man of the People. pg. 100</ref>}} During his four years in [[Congress]], McCain and his wife Cindy had three children.

===Senatorial (1986 - Present)===
[[Image:Reagan mccain.jpg|left|thumb|300px|3/3/1987 President Reagan and Nancy Reagan greet John McCain in the Blue Room during a dinner for newly elected members of the 100th Congress]]
When Republican and [[conservative]] icon [[Barry Goldwater]] retired from the United States Senate in Arizona in 1986, Congressman McCain announced his candidacy for the seat. He easily won the election, defeating his Democratic opponent Richard Kimball by 20 percentage points. When entering the Senate, he became a member of the powerful Armed Services Committee and he also joined the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee. During the 1988 Presidential Election, McCain was named chairman of Veterans for Bush. In 1991, Senator McCain became part of the "Keating Five" scandal, where McCain and four other Senators (all Democrats) were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received approximately $112,000 in political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined that McCain's involvement was minimal and was criticized for using "poor judgement".

===="Maverick" Image in the Senate====
John McCain has gained a reputation as a "maverick" for his sponsorship of many bills and leadership on almost every issue. Starting in 1994, he worked with Democratic [[Wisconsin]] Senator [[Russ Feingold]] on campaign finance reform. The McCain-Feingold bill banned "soft money". It passed and was signed into law on November 6th, 2002, by President Bush. In the 1990's, McCain gained attention for his strong opposition to pork barrel spending. He championed the 1996 Line Item Veto Act, which gave the President the power to veto individual spending items. However, in 1998, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled the act unconstitutional.

Voteview.com rated McCain as the second most conservative Senator in the 109th Congress (Jan. 2005 - Jan. 2007).<ref>http://voteview.com/SEN109.HTM</ref>

John McCain and the Bush administration agree on most issues. He voted with the Bush administration 95% of the time in 2007, according to Congressional Quarterly's "Presidential Support Scores". <ref>http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/512/ Politifact fact checks McCain's voting support</ref> Issues include making the Bush tax cuts permanent (even though he originally opposed and voted against them), energy independence, winning the war in Iraq, reforming Social Security, and continuing and expanding Bush's supply-side economic policies.

In 2008, McCain asked for $0 in earmarks.<ref>[http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2008_database 2008 ''Pig Book''], Council for Citizens Against Government Waste</ref>The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste has given him a rating of 100% in 2007 (88% lifetime).<ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/DocServer/2007_Senate_Ratings_Final.pdf?docID=3242 2007 Senate Scorecard]</ref> A score of 100% represents voting against all pork, and 0% represents voting ''for'' all pork. Democrats averaged 5% in 2007, whereas Republicans averaged 60%. <ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=11590 CCAGW Releases ''2007 Congressional Ratings'']</ref>

==Presidential Politics==
===2000 Presidential Campaign===
McCain launched his first campaign for President in 2000, when he challenged then-[[Texas]] Governor [[George W. Bush]] for the Republican nomination. McCain's campaign was surprisingly strong. By ignoring the [[Iowa Caucus]], he was able to win the [[New Hampshire]] Primary by nineteen percentage points. He then won the [[Michigan]] Primary. However, he went on to lose [[South Carolina]] and 9 out of the 13 [[Super Tuesday]] states. McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000.

After withdrawing, McCain announced that he supported the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the top of the South Carolina statehouse. During the primary he had stated he believed it was an issue for the state to decide, which was his true belief from a federal standpoint, but not his personal belief. He felt by withholding her personal belief that he had erred. He explained that he lived his life by being open and felt he should have been at that time and apologized for not speaking up sooner. <ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/04/19/mccain.sc/</ref>

===During Bush Presidency 2001 - 2008 ===
Following McCain's loss in the 2000 Presidential primary and reports of dirty tricks in [[South Carolina]]<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/ The anatomy of a smear campaign, March 21, 2004</ref><ref>http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2007/12/30/top-romney-advisor-tied-to-anonymous-attacks-of-previous-presidential-primary/ Top Romney advisor tied to anonymous attacks of previous presidential primary, December 30, 2007</ref>, McCain began to disagree with President Bush on many issues, such as tax cuts, climate change, and gun legislation. After the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], McCain wrote legislation that created the 9/11 Commission, while he and Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings co-sponsored the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that federalized airport security. In May 2005, McCain led the so-called "[[Gang of 14]]" in the Senate, which established a compromise that preserved the ability of senators to filibuster judicial nominees, but only in "extraordinary circumstances". McCain also co-sponsored comprehensive immigration reform (see below under political record for details). In addition to bipartisan work in the Senate, it was during this period that McCain was courted by the Senate Democrats, and considered switching parties.<ref>http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-say-mccain-nearly-abandoned-gop-2007-03-28.html</ref>

===2008 Presidential Campaign===

{{main|John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign}}

[[Image:McCain_nomination.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Senator John McCain accepting his party's presidential nomination, 09/04/08]] McCain announced his run for President in early 2007 at New Hampshire, a state which had boosted his floundering 2000 run for President. From the onset, he ran on an unwavering support for the Iraq War and a close tie to President Bush, stemming from his shift during the 2004 election. The Republican Party was highly splintered among political groups, with strong constituents of the Christian social conservatives (Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee), anti-immigration activists (Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo), and the blockbuster fundraisers, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, who appeared to be media favorites upon entry. McCain was not seen as a viable candidate by many Republicans because of his strong support for immigration reform and distaste for political fund-raising. Mitt Romney, for instance, had raised $23 million in the first three months of 2007, for instance, three times that of Sen. McCain.<ref>Cook, Charles. "The 2008 Presidential Primaries: What in America's Name Is Going On?" The Washington Quarterly Vol. 31 Issue 3 pp. 193-204.</ref>

Christian conservatives overwhelmingly backed Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback, rejecting McCain from longstanding offense he had struck during his 2000 run. John McCain had called politically-charged leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance" for their part in a smear campaign during the South Carolina Primary. Many Christians were angered by these remarks, and fumed that they would field a Third Party candidate if McCain was chosen as the nominee. McCain had shown unfavorable views on abortion and religious initiatives in the past, and many Republican voters were worried that he could not be a reliably conservative candidate. <ref>Luo, Michael. "Evangelicals see Dilemma in GOP Field." July 8, 2007. New York Times.</ref>

Sen. McCain's unwavering support for victory in Iraq was made into a hot-button issue by many politicians following stories of insurgent violence erupting during early 2007. People began to fear the worst in Iraq, and the idea of a timetable for withdrawal became a major issue. At this time, conservative Republicans also feared McCain's position on immigration reform, and booed him loudly at the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference. A news story by the New York Times was a major blow to the campaign, which reported that a scandalous affair between McCain and a lobbyist had taken place. It was found to be completely false, but the story severely hurt his political advances.

When news had spread that McCain's campaign bankrupted and "imploded" in the summer of 2007, the Republican nomination began a period of quick shifting; other candidates began to soar in the polls, detracting McCain's support. Rudy Giuliani, who collected a strong following based on his leadership as "America's Mayor", began to court evangelical Christians who felt uneasy about McCain, gaining the endorsement of televangelist Pat Robertson. However, as his less-than-flattering personal life and liberal positions on social issues became apparent, he quickly lost momentum to Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee.<ref>Cook, Charles. "The 2008 Presidential Primaries: What in America's Name Is Going On?" The Washington Quarterly Vol. 31 Issue 3 pp. 193-204.</ref> Fred Thompson, who entered late in the race, quickly withdrew because of lackadaisical popularity and poor fund-raising efforts. Huckabee remained popular in the Southern United States, but failed to win major contests among independents and Democrat voters.

Romney had the edge in early races, but couldn't deliver a knockout blow. McCain's poll numbers slowly increased and benefited as the field narrowed. After McCain defeated top contender Mitt Romney by a large margin on Super Tuesday in delegate-rich states like New York, California, and Arizona,<ref>Scott Neuman and Howard Berkes. "Mitt Romney Drops Out of GOP Presidential Race." Feb. 7, 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18772382</ref> Mitt Romney withdrew with some protest, leaving McCain the clear front-runner.<ref>Bumiller, Elisabeth, Kirkpatrick, David. "Romney Is Out; McCain Emerges as G.O.P. Choice." Feb. 8, 2008. New York Times.</ref> Although McCain's proportion of the vote was not much higher than Romney's, he won most of the 'winner take all' states giving him a much higher proportion of the delegate count. Without Romney's well-financed opposition, McCain easily clinched the necessary delegate lead of 1,191 in March after a spirited yet short-lived fight from Mike Huckabee.<ref>NPR.org. "Election 2008: Huckabee, Romney Stay in Race for GOP Nomination." Feb. 6, 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18739137</ref>

McCain had won the nomination and could focus on the [[2008 United States Presidential Election]].

==Domestic Policy==
[[Image:McCain_on_Meet_the_Press.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Senator John McCain discusses his opinions with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press", 2005]]

===Balanced Budget===
McCain has emphasized reducing government spending over tax cuts. He is one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of pork barrel spending and has pledged to veto any bill with pork as President. Congressional experience has enabled John McCain to identify items that are unnecessary. McCain is fiscally responsible with the taxpayers' money and created a simple method to detect spending abuses. <ref>[http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=d1a878d9-f16c-4570-b402-9d1bc3fe6ab9] , http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=d1a878d9-f16c-4570-b402-9d1bc3fe6ab9, U.S. Senate Pork Barrel Spending</ref>

* An appropriation that is not properly authorized by the Senate and not requested by the Administration.
* An unauthorized and unrequested, locality-specific or facility-specific earmark (including those funds that are above the Administration request).
* A budget add-on that would be subject to a budget point of order.
* The transfer or disposal of federal property or items under terms that circumvent existing law.
* New items added in conference that were never considered in either bill in either House.

===Economy===
McCain is a staunch advocate of freedom in the [[economy]]. He has spent his career fighting for deregulation and the prosperity of a free market. In 1999, McCain voted in favor of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which passed in the Senate by a vote of 54-44.<ref>http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00105</ref> The bill promoted more freedom for banks, brokerage houses, and insurance companies. In 2002 he voted for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which passed the Senate without opposition.<ref>http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00192</ref> In 2005 McCain co-sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act which would allow the office of Federal Housing Enterprise oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an independent Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Agency which shall have authority over Federal Home Associations. McCain said the following on May 26th, 2006:

''"If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that [[Fannie Mae]] and [[Freddie Mac]] pose to'' ''the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole."'' <ref>http://beltwaysnark.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-supported-a-proposal-for-an-agency-to-oversee-fannie-and-freddiein-2005/</ref>

Congress did not act, with the bill dying in committee.

===Earmarks===
John McCain staunchly opposes [[earmarks]] as wasteful spending. In his 28 years in federal government, McCain has never requested an earmark.

===Education===
McCain supports [[school vouchers]] and [[charter school]]s. His voting record shows support for reducing the federal government's role in [[education]]. He voted for school vouchers for Washington, D.C., education savings accounts, and against $5 billion for grants to local educational agencies. McCain sponsored the Education A-Plus bill in 1997 and again in 1999, which allowed parents to open tax-free saving accounts for their children's school supplies. McCain also co-sponsored the Child Nutrition Act, which would provide federal funding for at-risk children. He has publicly stated he supports [[intelligent design]] teaching in schools.<ref>http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/politics/90069 "On Tuesday, though, he sided with the president on two issues that have made headlines recently: teaching intelligent design in schools...McCain told the Star that, like Bush, he believes "all points of view" should be available to students studying the origins of mankind."</ref>

===Health Care===
McCain's record and stated positions on [[health care]] are based on true conservative principles. He is against socialized health care and health coverage mandates. McCain supports tax credits for personal health savings accounts and enhancing competition in the health care industry to improve quality and lower costs. He also supports allowing citizens to purchase out-of-state health insurance. In an October 2007 statement, McCain said: "In health care, we believe in enhancing the freedom of individuals to receive necessary and desired care. We do not believe in coercion and the use of state power to mandate care, coverage or costs." McCain is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. <ref>[http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/healthcare.htm Pro Healthcare]</ref>

===Energy===
John McCain has stated "ethanol subsidies, tariff barriers and sugar quotas drive up food prices and hurt Americans. However, we cannot take the wrong direction and cut off trade for American goods."<ref>[http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/4dbd2cc7-890e-47f1-882f-b8fc4cfecc78.htm], McCain Economic Plan</ref> “America’s most vital interests call us to the mission of energy security, and so does our sense of honor. And the straightest, swiftest path to energy security is to produce more, use less, and find new sources of power — so that no commodity can determine our security, and no crisis can undermine our economy,” McCain said in Houston, TX, June 16, 2008. He proposes to remove federal obstacles to offshore drilling. Among his major initiatives is the removal of the 27-year old federal moratorium on states’ abilities to explore and drill for oil and natural gas.<ref>[http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/06/17/mccain-slaps-obama-on-energy-calls-for-more-drilling/], McCain slaps Obama on energy, June 17th, 2008</ref> In addition, he wants the states to receive incentives and royalties to drill. The current ban on offshore drilling covers an estimated 80 percent of U.S. coastal waters."We've seen the impact of it in the form of food prices, in the form of gasoline, in the form of threats of inflation and indeed indications of inflation, and we must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil." <ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080616/ap_on_el_pr/mccain] , http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080616/ap_on_el_pr/mccain , AP McCain urges end to ban on offshore drilling , June 16, 2008</ref> He indicated, though, that the end of the ban on offshore drilling would have mostly psychological effects in the short term. At a town hall meeting, McCain stated, "I don't see an immediate relief, but I do see that exploitation of existing reserves that may exist -- and in view of many experts that do exist off our coasts -- is also a way that we need to provide relief. Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial."
He would support incentives for building new nuclear power plants. <ref>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/24/1163504.aspx</ref> John McCain wants more nuclear reactors to increase America's energy independence. He is calling for the construction of 45 new reactors by 2030. Also, McCain wants to increase federal funds for clean coal technology by 2 billion dollars to reduce dependence on foreign oil. <ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91CMT0O0&show_article=1] , http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91CMT0O0&show_article=1 , AP McCain calls for building 45 new nuclear reactors, June 18, 2008</ref>
McCain supports increasing ethanol imports and more production of hybrid vehicles. He is co-sponsor of a Senate cap-and-trade bill designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He has consistently voted for preserving the budget for ANWR but against drilling for [[oil]] in the [[Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]] (ANWR), because of environmental concerns. Conservationists differ from conservatives that 2000 acres for oil drilling is not enough to impact [[polar bears]] in the region.

===Environment===
McCain's position on [[global warming]] issues has put him at odds with conservatives. His [[environment]]al proposals are mostly sound modern thinking by someone that understands the enormity of the problem. McCain says that we can go green as a nation without bankrupting America. Per his website, Senator McCain "wants to leave a better future for our children."
On January 2007, McCain said, "we continue to learn more about the science of climate change and the dangerous precedence of not addressing this environmental problem. The science tells us that urgent and significant action is needed." On October 30, 2003, he co-sponsored the Climate Stewardship Act (S.139), which was defeated. McCain is a member of, and was endorsed by, the Republicans for Environmental Protection organization. His conservative stances include voting to confirm Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior and he is in favor of renewable energy such as solar, hydro, and wind. "Wind power is one of many alternative energy sources that are changing our economy for the better, and one day they will change our economy forever."

===Immigration===
John McCain says that he will secure the borders first and many [[immigration]] issue are still needed but will have to come later. In 2007, McCain worked to provide border security efforts with a temporary worker program and an eventual path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. Conservatives wanted nothing to do with the proposal and in June 2007, Congress' efforts collapsed. McCain said of the outcome,"I say it is a lesson learned about what the American people's priorities are. And their priority is to secure the borders." <ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-11-03-610628094_x.htm] , http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-11-03-610628094_x.htm, AP McCain emphasizes border security, November 4, 2007</ref> "..I support the same solution. But we've got to secure the borders first" says McCain

On Jan. 5, regarding the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Senator McCain announced that anyone who says he supported amnesty is "a liar, is lying." The senator stated "I do not support, nor would I ever support, any services provided to someone who came to this country illegally, nor would I ever and I never have supported [[Social Security]] benefits for people who are in this country illegally. Any assertion to the contrary is absolutely false." During the comprehensive immigration reform debate, Senator McCain voted to table an amendment that would have prevented illegal immigrants from receiving Social Security who "are not able to receive Social Security benefits as a result of unlawful activity."<ref>http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00130</ref> Senator McCain stated in a May 29, 2003 interview, "Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens." Arguing amnesty is not a free pass or a reward for law breaking, McCain stated, "Well, because amnesty, according to the dictionary, is forgiveness. The proposal that we had- would require fines, would require back in the line, would require deportation for some. It would require others to go back to the country of their origin" <ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/John_McCain_Immigration.htm] , Ontheissues.com, John McCain on Immigration</ref> At the [[Republican]] debate at the Reagan Library, McCain stated he supports the deportation of 2 million illegals who have committed crimes in the USA.

Conversely, in a June 2008 meeting with Hispanic leaders in Chicago, McCain indicated he would push legislation to overhaul federal immigration laws if elected. According to one attendee, Rosanna Pulido, head of the Illinois [[Minuteman Project]], ""He's one John McCain in front of white Republicans. And he's a different John McCain in front of Hispanics..." <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/20/mccain-discusses-immigrat_n_108297.html McCain Discusses Immigration With Hispanic Leaders</ref> <ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-06-19-4020801806_x.htm McCain Meets With Hispanic Leaders</ref> Pulido further stated, "He was telling one group of people one thing and the Hispanics another, I'm a conservative and I think he's throwing conservatives under the bus."<ref>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/06/title----mcca-1.html McCain Double-Talk on Immigration?</ref> Due to his support, members of the Minuteman Project, participating in the Minuteman Project Caravan, traveled to Washington, D.C. to register their disapproval. They made an entry into McCain's Guest Log Book asking him to uphold the Constitution and enforce the law. After making the entry, the group was forced to leave by a senior staffer for Senator McCain or be reported to the police. <ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1643181/posts Minuteman Project Thrown Out of McCain's Office</ref>

Senator McCain's position on illegal immigration has arguably resulted in the most criticisms from conservatives. On May 12, 2005, McCain joined Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] (D-[[Massachusetts]]) as co-sponsor of the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. The bill would legalize and eventually grant citizenship to the estimated 12–20 million [[illegal alien]]s in the United States and have them immediately start collecting social security and other government benefits. The bill never came for a vote on the Senate floor. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 are two additional compromises based on the original McCain-Kennedy bill. McCain has consistently voted for visas for skilled workers. McCain voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and has said border security should be a bigger priority then the illegal aliens who are currently here.

===Global Trade===
McCain has actively supported reducing barriers to trade and has shown leadership in the [[Senate]] on Free Trade Agreements (FTA). Senator McCain supports both pending FTAs for Columbia and [[South Korea]]. <ref>[http://useconomy.about.com/od/candidatesandtheeconomy/p/McCain_Trade.htm], John McCain and Trade</ref> He voted for and defends the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

===Social Security===
McCain is a strong supporter of private [[Social Security]] accounts.

===Tax Reform===
In 2001, McCain gained attention as one of only two Republicans who voted against President Bush's tax cuts. He opposed accelerating the cuts in 2003, saying, "I voted against the tax cuts because of the disproportional amount that went to the wealthiest Americans. I would clearly support not extending those tax cuts in order to help address the deficit." He has now changed his stance, by voting to make the tax cuts permanent, and says he would do the same as President. In 2002, Senator McCain was one of only two Republicans to twice vote against the permanent repeal of the Death Tax. He has also refused to sign a pledge put forth by Americans for Tax Freedom not to impose any new taxes or increase existing taxes. However, many of McCain's votes has shown support for lower taxes, such as eliminating the marriage penalty, a 1997 vote to cut capital gains taxes and he introduced measures that would require a sixty-vote majority to pass a tax increase.

==Foreign Policy==

===National Security===

McCain urges the Senate to pass FISA. “For months, House Democrats, the [[ACLU]], and the trial lawyers have held up legislation to modernize our nation’s terrorist surveillance laws. Today, the House passed a compromise bill to end this impasse. While I would have preferred to see the Senate bill enacted, which I voted for earlier this year, I am pleased Congressional leaders and the Administration were able to reach an agreement to reform our current surveillance law and not let FISA expire in August. I hope [[Senate]] Democrats will allow this matter to quickly be considered by the Senate and sent to the President for his signature. I will support this measure and hope that politics will be put aside in favor of this vital national security matter.” <ref>[http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=a7f9dc6c-da0e-459d-dd6c-91e20a46e1e5] , McCAIN URGES SENATE PASSAGE OF FISA
, June 20, 2008</ref> Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was established in 1978.

McCain has voted in support of the [[Patriot Act|USA PATRIOT Act]] as well as National Missile Defense. However, he has joined [[liberal]]s in support of immediately closing [[Guantanamo Bay]], and moving all the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth. On October 3, 2005, he introduced the McCain Detainee Amendment which prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The bill was passed and signed by President [[George W. Bush]]. McCain has recently criticized the practice of [[waterboarding]], saying "they should know what it is. It is not a complicated procedure. It is torture." McCain voted against HR 2082, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which included provisions that would have prevented the CIA from water boarding prisoners.

===Afghanistan===
After the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] McCain was a strong advocate for military action in [[Afghanistan]], saying:

''We did not cause this war. Our enemies did, and they are to blame for the deprivations and difficulties it occasions. They are to'' ''blame for the loss of innocent life. They are to blame for the geopolitical problems confronting our friends and us. We can help'' ''repair the damage of war. But to do so, we must destroy the people who started it.'' <ref>http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001375</ref>

McCain is currently calling for 15,000 additional troops to address the situation in Afghanistan, similar to his victorious 2007 troop surge in Iraq.

===Iran===
McCain has said that "We continue to be concerned about [[Iran]]ian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons." He tried to ban Iran from playing in the 2006 World Cup, citing Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]'s [[Holocaust]] denials.

===Iraq===
[[Image:610x.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Senator John McCain with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, 03/17/08]] McCain voted with the majority [[Republican]] Party and 29 Democrats of the Senate in favor of the 2002 "[[Iraq War]] Resolution" authorizing President George W. Bush to go to war against Iraq and overthrow the [[Saddam Hussein]] regime. In 1998, McCain voted in favor of HR 4655 Iraq Liberation Act, signed by then President Clinton. <ref>[http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Legislation/ILA.htm], http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Legislation/ILA.htm, HR4655 Public Law: 105-338, October 31, 1998</ref> HR 4655 declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government. McCain went on to became a critic of the management of the war, arguing that there wasn't enough troop strength in the area. However, he never became a defeatist advocating surrender. McCain publicly stated that he had "no confidence" in then-Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]]. However, he refused to call for his resignation, saying that "the President picks his team, and the president has the right to stay with that team if he wants to." McCain became one of the strongest leading advocates in the Senate for the 2007 troop surge, which increased the number of American troops by 20,500, deployed to provide security to [[Baghdad]] and Al Anbar Province. On February 4, he criticized a non-binding resolution opposing the troop buildup, calling it a reckless "vote of no confidence" in the U.S. Commanders and in the military. Additionally, he voted against all measures aimed at withdrawal of U.S. forces and voted against cutting off of war funds. McCain rightly believes that Congress should not micromanage the war and to give the military everything they ask for to successfully complete the mission. He has mentioned in a town hall forum that staying the course in Iraq for 'a hundred years' would not bother him if no American soldier's were losing their lives. This became an issue for Democratic political strategy. The DNC lead by chairman [[Howard Dean]] repeatedly tried to use false statements in justifying attacking McCain.<ref>[http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/mccains_100year_war.html]http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/mccains_100year_war.html, Washington post Fact Checker, April 2, 2008</ref> What McCain said is very different from what the liberal media and the DNC were reporting. Asked in Derry, NH of the willingness to keep troops in Iraq for 50 years, he said "Make it 100" and

{{QuoteBox|"That's fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."}}

===Russia===
Senator McCain has strongly criticized [[Russia]]n President [[Vladimir Putin]]. During a primary debate he sad, ""He bullies his neighbors and he wants to get a control of the energy supply of Western Europe. This is a dangerous person. And he has to understand that there's a cost to some of his actions." In 2005 McCain and [[Connecticut]] senator [[Joe Lieberman]] drafted a resolution banning Russia from attending the Group of 8 (G8) international forum. McCain is also a strong supporter of ballistic national missile defenses.

===Cuba===
McCain forcefully supports the [[Cuban embargo]] and believes it should be maintained until certain specific political freedoms are restored to the country. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&fta=y&adxnnlx=1222106556-zea3cQG12OakFI9P97dogQ</ref>

==Social Issues==
===Abortion===
{{QuoteBox|"If I am fortunate enough to be elected as the next President of the United States, I pledge to you to be a loyal and unswerving friend of the right to life movement."}}

Sen. John McCain has more than a twenty year anti-[[abortion]] record, first in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], then in the U.S. Senate. McCain voted 11 times on anti-abortion and other [[pro-life]] issues in the House. Senator McCain has voted 119 times on anti-abortion and other pro-life measures in the Senate. <ref>[http://www.naral.org/assets/files/mccain_fact_sheet.pdf], http://www.naral.org/assets/files/mccain_fact_sheet.pdf</ref>

McCain's record in the Senate on abortion is pro-life. He voted for the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. McCain has also voted against government funding of birth control and sex education.<ref>http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00214 Voted Nay on an amendment to authorize grants to carry out programs to provide education on preventing teen pregnancies</ref> <ref>http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00075 Vote against allocation of $100m for prevention of unintended pregnancies </ref><ref>http://www.nowpublic.com/quiet-campaign-against-contraception Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's campaign officials boast that he has "consistently voted against taxpayer-funded contraception programs." And Mr. McCain reports that his adviser on sexual-health matters is Sen. Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, who leads campaigns claiming condoms are unsafe and opposing emergency contraception.</ref> During his first Presidential campaign for the 2000 election, McCain said the following on [[Roe v. Wade]], "I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations." <ref>http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07021908.html McCain's "</ref> He has since changed his position, saying Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

John McCain:
* Voted against a [[Roe v. Wade]] resolution
* Co-sponsored and voted for the Federal Abortion Ban
* Supported H.R.1997, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
* Voted for four anti-abortion U.S. Supreme Court judges
* Voted for six anti-abortion lower court judges
* Supported H.R.3913, to prohibit federal funds for abortion services in any case
* Voted to make it a federal crime for anyone but a parent to cross state lines for abortion termination
* Voted in favor of a national network of parental notification.

====Quotations====
“I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.” <ref>Ann Althouse, Rudy & Mitt Hem & Haw on Abortion, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 24, 2007.</ref>

*"I have many, many votes and it’s been consistent. And I’ve got a consistent zero from NARAL throughout all those years…."<ref>John McCain for President 2008, On the Issues: Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life</ref>
*"My record is clear, and I think the important thing is you look at people’s voting record because sometimes rhetoric can be a little… misleading…. As you know I don’t support Roe v. Wade…. I thought it was a bad decision, and I think that the decision should be made in the states"<ref>John McCain for President 2008, On the Issues: Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life</ref>
*“I’m proud that we have Justice Alito and Roberts on the United States Supreme Court. I’m very proud to have played a very small role in making that happen.” McCain explained further that he “will try to find clones of Alito and Roberts” to fill future court vacancies.<ref>[http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=26539], Letter from Sen. John McCain to Pro‐Life Community Janary 23, 2008</ref>

===Gun Control===
McCain's record on [[gun control]] is mixed. He co-sponsored the Gun Show Loophole Closing and Gun Law Enforcement Act of 2001. This act would reduce the number of gun shows, require gun-owners to purchase trigger locks, and allow federal agents to arrest those who violate federal gun laws. However, McCain has frequently voted in support of the Second Amendment, such as voting against background checks at gun shows and voting in support of prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. In August of 1999, McCain said he was open to voting for an assault weapon ban, depending on the details. However, he still voted against the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the efforts to renew it, as well as the Brady Bill.

A top official of the [[National Rifle Association]] said McCain has been a reliable ally of gun owners despite divisions with the powerful lobbying group on some issues. NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told The Associated Press "...We're not foolish enough to ignore the vast areas of agreement in which John McCain has been a friend to gun owners." <ref>[http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/may/0514_nra_mccain.shtml], http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/may/0514_nra_mccain.shtml, NRA chief stresses common ground with McCain, May 14, 2008</ref> The Republican presidential nominee has voted against a ban on assault-type weapons with restrictions which were objected.

===Same-sex marriage===
In the speech on the Senate floor July 13th, 2004, McCain stated “Mr. President, most Americans believe, as I do, that the institution of marriage should be reserved for the union of a man and a woman." <ref>http://www.friendsofmccain.com/news/dspnews.cfm?id=143</ref> John McCain revealed his decision based on super majority requirements and the current political realities within Congress. “By my count, there is not at this time even a small majority of senators who would vote for Senator Allard’s amendment, much less the 67 votes required by the Constitution. That won’t change, Mr. President, unless public opinion changes significantly. The [[Founders]], wisely, made certain that the Constitution is difficult to amend, and, as a practical political matter, can’t be done without overwhelming public approval. And thank God for that. Were it any easier I fear we could not make the claim for the Constitution’s enduring success that I have just made." Further, he explained his approach to the amendment's ultimate success “If a constitution is to be amended, Mr. President, it should be a state constitution." McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. In May 2008, the California Supreme Court effectively created a ruling to grant same-sex partners equal rights to [[Marriage]] and to be recognized by the state. A spokesman for Republican John McCain, who opposes gay marriage, said the Arizona senator "doesn't believe judges should be making these decisions."

===Evolution===
Senator John McCain's position on evolution is nuanced:

{{QuoteBox|"I think Americans should be exposed to every point of view, I happen to [[believe in evolution]]. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? '''Probably not'''." [http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/12/mccain-creationism/]}}

==Personal life==
[[Image:Cindy McCain.jpg|thumb|Cindy McCain]]
McCain has been married twice. His first marriage, to Carol Shepp, ended in [[divorce]] in 1980 after 15 years, of which he spent five in captivity. McCain publicly acknowledges the responsibility for the breakup as his, stating in a 2008 interview with Pastor Rick Warren that "My greatest moral failing, and I have been a very imperfect person, is the failure of my first marriage". .<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/rules021299.htm</ref> His second and current wife is Cindy Lou Hensley, to whom he has been married for 28 years. His son John Sidney IV is a Midshipman at the [[United States Naval Academy]], Annapolis, and his son James is a non-commissioned officer in the [[United States Marine Corps]], who is serving in [[Iraq]] as part of [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]]. Also, the McCains adopted a ten-week old baby girl in 1993, who they named Bridget, from [[Mother Teresa]]'s orphanage in [[Bangladesh]].<ref>[http://celebrity.rightpundits.com/?p=3183 Bridget McCain Biography] Rightpundits.com</ref> <ref>[http://www.newsanalysisindia.com/109022008.htm Bridget vs Sonia: McCain vs Rajiv Gandhi] News Analysis India</ref>
Cindy McCain was in the country as part of the American Voluntary Medical Team <ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-041408-cindy-mccain-bio,1,2151434.story Bio of Cindy McCain]</ref> in response to the 1991 [[Bangladesh]] cyclone.
===McCain's family===
*Wife Cindy
*4 sons
**Douglas
**Andrew
**John (''"Jack"'') Sidney IV
**James
*3 daughters
**Sidney
**Meghan
**Bridget
*Parents
**[[Admiral]] John Sydney McCain, Jr. (from [[Indiana]])
**[[Roberta McCain|Roberta Wright McCain]] (from [[Oklahoma]]).

== Books ==
* ''Faith of My Fathers'' (Random House; 1999) ISBN 0-3755-0191-6
* ''Odysseus in America'' (Scribner; 2002) ISBN 0-7432-1156-1
* ''Worth Fighting For: A Memoir'' (Diane Publ. Co; 2002) ISBN 0-7567-6759-8
* ''Medal of Honor'' (Artisan; 2003) ISBN 1-5796-5240-9
* ''Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life'' (Random House; 2004) ISBN 1-4000-6030-3
* ''Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember'' (Random House; 2005) ISBN 1-4000-6412-0
* ''Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them'' (Twelve; 2007) ISBN 0-4466-9911-X

==Further reading==
*McCain, John [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=513224&in_page_id=1811 ''My six years of hell: John McCain recalls life as a prisoner of war in Vietnam''] 8 February 2008 [[Daily Mail]]. Accessed 9 February 2008

==See Also==
* [[John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign]]
* [[Previous Breaking News/John McCain|Articles about John McCain from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[White House]]
*[[Cindy McCain]], spouse of John McCain
*[[Roberta McCain]], mother of John McCain

== External links ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQsckD9trn4&eurl=http://evangelicalsformccain.org/meetthesenator.htm ''John McCain: Courageous Service''] - Streaming video documentary hosted at YouTube, including footage of McCain's time as a POW and the Forrestal incident.
*[http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542249 John McCain Biography]
*[http://evangelicalsformccain.org/index.htm Evangelicals for McCain] - Christians, Families and Patriots for John McCain
*[http://studentsformccain08.blogspot.com/ Students for McCain 2008]
*[http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/01/mccains-mom-pop.html McCain's Mom Pops Off]
*[http://www.rd.com/national-interest/people-and-politics/our-interview-with-sen-john-mccain/article.html Presidential Candidate John McCain on the Issues]
*[http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53270 Voting record]

==References==
{{reflist|small}}

{{2008 presidential candidates}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCain, John}}

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:American war heroes]]

Anxiety

2008-11-22T20:04:05Z

Fox: Undo revision 566253 by JasonG (Talk)

Aperture

2008-11-22T20:03:53Z

Fox: Undo revision 566252 by JasonG (Talk)

[[Image:SmallDOF.jpg|thumb|right|150px|An image taken on f/3.2. Note the small depth of field]]
In [[photography]], the '''aperture''' is the opening in a camera lens that light passes through. The term "f-stop" is generally used to notate the diameter of the aperture. A large aperture, or low f-stop, will allow more light to be exposed to the film or image sensor. Low f-stops will also result in a smaller [[depth of field]].

[[Category:Photography]]

Aphasia

2008-11-22T20:03:41Z

Fox: Undo revision 566251 by JasonG (Talk)

'''Aphasia''' is a disorder caused by damage to the parts of the [[brain]] that control language. It can make it hard for the victim to read, write and say what they mean to say. It is most common in adults who have had a stroke. Brain [[tumor]]s, infections, injuries and dementia can also cause it. The type of problem the victims has and how bad it is depends on which part of their brain is damaged and how much damage there is.

There are four main types:

* Expressive aphasia – you know what you want to say, but you have trouble saying or writing what you mean
* Receptive aphasia – you hear the voice or see the print, but you can't make sense of the words
* Anomic aphasia – you have trouble using the correct word for objects, places or events
* Global aphasia – you can't speak, understand speech, read or write

Some people recover from aphasia without treatment. Most, however, need language therapy as soon as possible.

[[Category:Medicine]]

Talk:Messianic Judaism

2008-11-22T19:45:29Z

Fox: /* Church in Rome under Claudius Nero */ meh typing one handed isn't all it's cracked up to be

{{Wikiproject Religion}}
== Jews reaction ==

Orthodox Jews view messianic judaism as no more then a front for evangelical Christians, shouldn't something be added to that effect? [[User:DLerner|DLerner]] 12:29, 3 February 2008 (EST)

:Added. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|Fox]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 13:12, 3 February 2008 (EST)

== Cohn-Sherbok Reference==
This statement if 1) unreferenced and 2) not quite accurate. Cohn-Sherbok does not himself claim that, it is part of his argument for different "schools of thought" on Jewish identity. The way his ideas are presented in this article are misleading.[[User:Solomonsmined|Solomonsmined]] 23:37, 16 August 2008 (EDT)

==Supporters==

The biggest supporters of Messianic Judaism are denominations such as the Baptist, who give a large degree of financial and resource support. But, quite frankly, I can't see this belonging in the article as written. I doubt if Messianic Jews were asked who are your biggest supporters, that their first answer would be the Unification church. So even if the Unification church believes they are supports, if the Messianic congregations don't recognize it then it might belong under the Unification church article to discuss positions that the church takes, but not the Messianic Judaism article. Especially based on claims of anti-Jewish positions that used to be part of the article on the Unification church, perhaps it is best to simply leave this out. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 03:04, 22 November 2008 (EST)

== Church in Rome under <s>Claudius</s> Nero ==

I am not aware of any ancient text which makes the claim that the Church in Rome refused to allow Jewish believers to return to the Church. I would like to know where this is supported. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 03:11, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:Exegesis of Paul's letter to the Romans; Ignatius' letter to the Magnesians; the later commentary by Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho; the later writings by Origen of Alexandria, etc. Besides, if there were no problems with the gentile church accepting Jewish believers back, why would Paul go to all that trouble writing in the first place..? [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 11:30, 22 November 2008 (EST)
::Paul's writings are usually not taken to mean what you seem to be applying to them. Where do you feel he is putting a rift between Jewish believers in Christ? Paul was Jewish; the Disciples were Jewish. Their big meetings dealt with whether or not gentiles could even become part of the body of Christ without first undergoing Jewish conversion through circumcision. This is a very bold claim of a historical occurrence. A very specific claim is going to need very specific references that attest to its veracity. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 12:20, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:::Tommy-rot. Paul's Letter to the Romans is widely studied, multitudes of commentaries are available, and I doubt you will find many commentaries that interpret it as anything other than an attempt to heal a rift between the two branches of the church. Besides which you ignore Ignatius et al. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 12:23, 22 November 2008 (EST)
::::My commentaries don't share your perspective, including the NIV Study Bible, which is a huge one. If Paul saw a major problem within a church he would jump on it like he did in his letters to the Galatians and Corinthians. Paul was never shy when it came to pointing out shortcomings. Nevertheless, I am not going to tell you how you should believe. Your readings and perspectives are your own. But I am going to tell you that if we have a statement in the article claiming a specific historical event, then there better be specific historical backing for that position. You know the rules Fox. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 12:46, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:::::I know that there are rules for some religions and not for others. Nowhere else on CP is anybody harried and pursued about "ancient texts" except with regard to Jewish believers. For some reason, we are beholden to a substantially higher burden of proof than ANY other denomination or sect written about within this wiki. Fortunately such proofs are available. I would direct you to J. A. Fitzmyer's excellent commentary on Romans, (Anchor Bible Commentary, New York: Doubleday, 1993) or Leander E. Keck's "The New Interpreter's Bible" (Abingdon Press, 2003 ISBN 0-6870-6347-7) as a starting point on your studies. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 13:03, 22 November 2008 (EST)
::::::You make a claim of blame against a different religious tradition that so far has not produced an ancient source. Do not try to deflect this into a persecution issue -- simply provide it. I'm glad there are excellent commentaries. What do they quote? Please provide either in a private email or here. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 14:08, 22 November 2008 (EST)

(Unindent) You could take this article any number of ways. There is much history that could be discussed that isn't. Arguably the original Church described in Acts is Messianic Judaism. All of the Disciples were Jewish, Jesus was Jewish, and the word 'Christian' had never been invented. What happened from these early roots? How did the early church view gentile converts to what they considered to be Judaism with Messiah fulfillment? What conferences took place to decide what to do with gentiles who were grafted in and what decisions were made? When the church was persecuted and forced to scatter, what impact did it have? Paul would preach in synogague after synogague trying to reach his people before he would preach to the gentiles. Was he successful? Did any Jewish enclaves form apart from gentile believers? What eventually happened to the Jerusalem Church? Paul was taking up donations from the gentile churches to help out Jerusalem. That interrelationshp is not discussed. What impact did the Jewish revolt have on Messianic believers? As the church spread and became a new religion, what happened to the original Messianic roots? Did they assimilate? There's a lot you can do with the discussing the rich roots Messianic Judaism apart from they were persecuted by gentiles. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 14:08, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:As a labour of love, the article is intended to be much longer and more encompassing of eg the topics you mention. For one reason or another, it is still incomplete - be that due to competing in Cp competitions, anti-vandal work, other projects, internal falling-outs. I had returned to it these last few days but then found that I was having to protect it from the over zealous attentions of another editor and then the attentions of a Jews for Judaism supporter. Returning to the thrust of your comments, setting the scene for the friction between the early church, Jewish believers and later Christianity and Judaism is important for explaining the vociferous opposition towards Messianism from both Judaism and Christianity, and giving it the right context. Due to a rather bizarre accident about 20 minutes ago in which I somehow managed to set my hand on fire, I am again a little late in adding more to the piece. Please feel free to coo sympathetic noises regarding the hand - all I received here at home was an admonition for filling the kitchen with the odour of burning flesh. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 14:43, 22 November 2008 (EST)

Talk:Messianic Judaism

2008-11-22T19:44:30Z

Fox: /* Church in Rome under Claudius Nero */

{{Wikiproject Religion}}
== Jews reaction ==

Orthodox Jews view messianic judaism as no more then a front for evangelical Christians, shouldn't something be added to that effect? [[User:DLerner|DLerner]] 12:29, 3 February 2008 (EST)

:Added. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|Fox]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 13:12, 3 February 2008 (EST)

== Cohn-Sherbok Reference==
This statement if 1) unreferenced and 2) not quite accurate. Cohn-Sherbok does not himself claim that, it is part of his argument for different "schools of thought" on Jewish identity. The way his ideas are presented in this article are misleading.[[User:Solomonsmined|Solomonsmined]] 23:37, 16 August 2008 (EDT)

==Supporters==

The biggest supporters of Messianic Judaism are denominations such as the Baptist, who give a large degree of financial and resource support. But, quite frankly, I can't see this belonging in the article as written. I doubt if Messianic Jews were asked who are your biggest supporters, that their first answer would be the Unification church. So even if the Unification church believes they are supports, if the Messianic congregations don't recognize it then it might belong under the Unification church article to discuss positions that the church takes, but not the Messianic Judaism article. Especially based on claims of anti-Jewish positions that used to be part of the article on the Unification church, perhaps it is best to simply leave this out. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 03:04, 22 November 2008 (EST)

== Church in Rome under <s>Claudius</s> Nero ==

I am not aware of any ancient text which makes the claim that the Church in Rome refused to allow Jewish believers to return to the Church. I would like to know where this is supported. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 03:11, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:Exegesis of Paul's letter to the Romans; Ignatius' letter to the Magnesians; the later commentary by Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho; the later writings by Origen of Alexandria, etc. Besides, if there were no problems with the gentile church accepting Jewish believers back, why would Paul go to all that trouble writing in the first place..? [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 11:30, 22 November 2008 (EST)
::Paul's writings are usually not taken to mean what you seem to be applying to them. Where do you feel he is putting a rift between Jewish believers in Christ? Paul was Jewish; the Disciples were Jewish. Their big meetings dealt with whether or not gentiles could even become part of the body of Christ without first undergoing Jewish conversion through circumcision. This is a very bold claim of a historical occurrence. A very specific claim is going to need very specific references that attest to its veracity. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 12:20, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:::Tommy-rot. Paul's Letter to the Romans is widely studied, multitudes of commentaries are available, and I doubt you will find many commentaries that interpret it as anything other than an attempt to heal a rift between the two branches of the church. Besides which you ignore Ignatius et al. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 12:23, 22 November 2008 (EST)
::::My commentaries don't share your perspective, including the NIV Study Bible, which is a huge one. If Paul saw a major problem within a church he would jump on it like he did in his letters to the Galatians and Corinthians. Paul was never shy when it came to pointing out shortcomings. Nevertheless, I am not going to tell you how you should believe. Your readings and perspectives are your own. But I am going to tell you that if we have a statement in the article claiming a specific historical event, then there better be specific historical backing for that position. You know the rules Fox. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 12:46, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:::::I know that there are rules for some religions and not for others. Nowhere else on CP is anybody harried and pursued about "ancient texts" except with regard to Jewish believers. For some reason, we are beholden to a substantially higher burden of proof than ANY other denomination or sect written about within this wiki. Fortunately such proofs are available. I would direct you to J. A. Fitzmyer's excellent commentary on Romans, (Anchor Bible Commentary, New York: Doubleday, 1993) or Leander E. Keck's "The New Interpreter's Bible" (Abingdon Press, 2003 ISBN 0-6870-6347-7) as a starting point on your studies. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 13:03, 22 November 2008 (EST)
::::::You make a claim of blame against a different religious tradition that so far has not produced an ancient source. Do not try to deflect this into a persecution issue -- simply provide it. I'm glad there are excellent commentaries. What do they quote? Please provide either in a private email or here. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 14:08, 22 November 2008 (EST)

(Unindent) You could take this article any number of ways. There is much history that could be discussed that isn't. Arguably the original Church described in Acts is Messianic Judaism. All of the Disciples were Jewish, Jesus was Jewish, and the word 'Christian' had never been invented. What happened from these early roots? How did the early church view gentile converts to what they considered to be Judaism with Messiah fulfillment? What conferences took place to decide what to do with gentiles who were grafted in and what decisions were made? When the church was persecuted and forced to scatter, what impact did it have? Paul would preach in synogague after synogague trying to reach his people before he would preach to the gentiles. Was he successful? Did any Jewish enclaves form apart from gentile believers? What eventually happened to the Jerusalem Church? Paul was taking up donations from the gentile churches to help out Jerusalem. That interrelationshp is not discussed. What impact did the Jewish revolt have on Messianic believers? As the church spread and became a new religion, what happened to the original Messianic roots? Did they assimilate? There's a lot you can do with the discussing the rich roots Messianic Judaism apart from they were persecuted by gentiles. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 14:08, 22 November 2008 (EST)
:As a labour of love, the article is intended to be much longer and more encompassing of eg the topics you mention. For one reason or another, it is still incomplete - be that due to competing in Cp competitions, anti-vandal work, other projects, internal falling-outs. I had returned to it these last few days but then found that I was having to protect it from the over zealous attentions of another editor and then the attentions of a Jews for Judaism supporter. Returning to the thrust of your comments, setting the scene for the friction between the early church, Jewish believers and later Christianity and Judaism is important for explaining the vociferous opposition towards Messianism from both Judaism and Christianity, and giving it the right context. Due to a rather bizarre accident about 20 minutes ago in which I somehow managed to set my hand on fire, I am again a littel late in adding more to the piece. Please feel free to coo sympathetic noises regarding the hand - all I received here at home was an admonition for filling the kitchen with the odour of burning flesh. [[Image:User Fox.png|10px]] [[User:Fox|שועל]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 14:43, 22 November 2008 (EST)