Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Erick Stakelbeck

2019-10-03T16:54:40Z

Irenefenswick:

'''Erick Stakelbeck''' is an American investigative reporter and analyst of conservative persuasion on terrorism and national security issues. A 2013 [[Jerusalem Post]] profile stated that “Within Evangelical Christian circles, Stakelbeck is considered by many to be the leading authority” on the issues of terrorism, radical [[Islam]] and the [[Middle East]].

==Stakelbeck's work==

He is the host of the CBN News program, Stakelbeck on Terror since 2005. He appears frequently on FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, al-Hurra, BBC, and the Savage Nation. He has written articles on issues of national security and Islamic extremism for the Wall Street Journal Europe, Weekly Standard, Washington Times, New York Post, New York Sun, Jerusalem Post, and National Review Online, and other publications. He is also a regular contributor to Glenn Beck’s The Blaze TV. He regularly addresses public forums and gatherings on issues involving terrorism, including events for Christians United for Israel (CUFI), ACT for America, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), the Values Voter Summit and the Faith and Freedom Coalition
From 2003 to 2005 he worked as senior writer and analyst at The Investigative Project on Terrorism, a counter-terrorism think tank. Stakelbeck was formerly a regular contributor to both David Horowitz's Frontpage Magazine.com and Michelle Malkin’s HotAir.com, two leading conservative websites.

==Education==

Stakelbeck is a graduate of Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Much of his expertise comes from his personal experiences and research.

==Publications==

His publications include: The Terrorist Next Door, 2011; The Brotherhood-America’s Next Great Enemy, 2013; Dateline Jerusalem-An Eyewitness Account of Prophecies Unfolding in the Middle East, 2013; ISIS exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam, 2015; ISIS-Inside the Army of Terror, 2015.<ref>amazon.com</ref> His blog, The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck, can be found on CBNNews.com.<ref>http://www.cbn.com/Authors/cbnnews/Erick-Stakelbeck/</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[www.erickstakelbeck.com]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stakelbeck, Erick}}

[[Category:American Authors]]

Emily Brontë

2019-10-03T16:49:12Z

Irenefenswick:

'''Emily Brontë''' (1818-1848) was the [[British]] author of ''Wuthering Heights'' (1847).<ref>''The New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference''. Prentice-Hall: New York, 1991.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronte, Emily}}
[[Category:British Authors]]

Election day registration

2019-10-03T16:43:50Z

Irenefenswick:

'''Election day registration''' (also called '''same-day registration''') is the practice of allowing voters to register on the day of an [[election]] and then immediately cast a [[ballot]]. In other states, eligible voters must register a specified number of days before an election to vote in that election.

If a voter arrives at a polling place and is not already on the voter rolls, the election officials verify the voter's identity and add the name to the voter database. The newly registered voter can then cast a ballot in that day's election. Because the polling places are all connected to a central voter database, the system prevents voters from registering at more than one location or voting multiple times in the same election. Prior to the advent of reliable and secure computer networking, the only way to prevent the possibility of multiple registrations and votes was to freeze the voter list days before the election and then physically transport the list of registered voters to individual polling places so that voters could be manually checked.

Eight states currently have some form of Election day voter registration: Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington DC. Montana began Election day voter registration in 2006, and Iowa in 2008. Connecticut and Rhode Island also have Election day registration for only presidential elections. Connecticut expanded to municipal elections in 2013. California will start in 2015 once it has implemented a statewide voter registration database. (North Dakota, unique among the states, has no voter registration requirement at all.)

[[Category:Election Terms]]

Eastern Orthodox music

2019-10-03T16:38:37Z

Irenefenswick:

Orthdox music developed from the medieval [[Byzantine]] sacred chant of Christian Churches following the [[Orthodox]] rite. This tradition, compassing the [[Hellenistic]] world, arose in Byzantium from the establishment of its capital, [[Constantinople]], in 330 until its fall in 1453. Byzantine music drew on the artistic and technical productions of the classical age, influenced by Jewish music, and inspired by the monophonic vocal music that developed in the early Christian cities of [[Alexandria]], [[Antioch]] and Epheus. Thus, Orthodox music developed from a Greek musical background. <ref>https://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/History.htm</ref>

Orthodoxy has spread and its music adapted to its various regions, however, Orthodox music has retained its distinctive features and differs from European music. On important occasions, singing is used in place of chanting, thus some things which are chanted at minor services are sung at more important services. Singing is as varied and multi-faceted in its forms as chanting and vestments, changing with the Church 'seasons' of commemoration thus singing during Great Lent is always somber and during Holy Week nearly becomes a sorrowful dirge while during Pascha (Easter) and the Paschal season the notes are high and quick and as joyful as they were sad during Lent. The power of music is used to its full effect to bring about spiritual renewal in the listeners.

Over the centuries Orthodox church music has expanded and become more elaborate. The Church uses eight 'tones' or 'modes,' which are broad categories of melodies. Within each of these tones are many small more precise melodies. All of these tones and their melodies rotate weekly so that during each week a particular tone is used for singing music.

Note that no instruments are permitted in the Orthodox Church. Song being essentially prayer, nothing is allowed to come between the praising soul and its Creator. <ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=XVrKuCEWRGIC&pg=PA443&dq=No+instrument+of+any+kind+is+permitted+in+the+Orthodox&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX7-yLrNzfAhURY6wKHd_BA-MQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=No%20instrument%20of%20any%20kind%20is%20permitted%20in%20the%20Orthodox&f=false</ref> <ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3Y5AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA26&dq=eastern+orthodox+oktavist&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn--Soq9zfAhUunq0KHQBzCnkQ6AEILTAB#v=onepage&q=eastern%20orthodox%20oktavist&f=false</ref>

= Byzantine Notation =
Byzantine notation, also called Chrysanthean notation (Chrysanthean of Madytos being one of its inventors) is a neumatic system of musical notation used for rendering Byzantine chant into written form.

Byzantine notation is very different from Western notation in most ways. The following comparison assumes familiarity with Western notation.
Western notation is based upon a staff, where the location of the note with regard to the staff determines the pitch, regardless of the previous note. Byzantine notation, on the other hand, is relational; the note is dependent on the previous note and the symbol itself, which specifies the interval from the previous note.
Whilst there are differences in speed and in whether a certain note should be flat or sharp in Western music, Byzantine music has this down to a highly complex form of art, employing specific tones which always have a specific note being sharp or flat.
One near-similarity is the scale. In Western music, Do (the start of the scale) corresponds to the Byzantine note Ni, which is a note below the start of the Byzantine scale.
Byzantine music has eight tones (or modes), sometimes associated with particular "moods" (though the notion that the music is designed to be emotional would certainly be distasteful to the saints who developed it). Also, much of Byzantine chanting can be done without use of written music, due to the use of original melodies (Greek, αυτόμελον) and improvisation. While there are tens of thousands of hymns in Byzantine music, they are all based on less than two hundred original melodies.

= Oktavist =
Russian Orthodox choral music is known for its Oktavists, singers capable of an exceptionally deep-ranged basso profundo. This voice type has a vocal range which extends down to A1 (an octave below the baritone range) and sometimes to F1 (an octave below the bass staff) with the extreme lows for oktavists, such as Mikhail Zlatopolsky or Alexander Ort, reaching C1.

Slavic choral composers may occasionally descend to lower notes such as F1 in "Kheruvimskaya pesn" (Song of Cherubim) by Krzysztof Penderecki, G1 in "Ne otverzhi mene" by Pavel Chesnokov or B♭1 in the Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil, although such notes sometimes make an appearance likewise in repertoire by non-Slavic composers (e.g. B♭1 appears in Gustav Mahler's Second and Eighth Symphonies). Russian composers often make no distinction between a basso profondo, an oktavist or a contrabass singer.

Sergei Kochetov, Vladimir Miller, and Mikhail Kruglov recorded a number of classic Russian folk songs and similar music, singing them in a low-pitched key to invoke the old oktavist tradition which dates back to the Tsar's court.

= Examples =

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHJY0T9RsQ&list=PL19E492C9232965D4&index=1 Eastern Orthodox songs]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODg5V7_PeHg&list=PL806E1B9124B199C3 Gospodi, pomilui (Lord, Have mercy) - playlist 1]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tLITt9FbKk&playnext=1&list=PLECB2F7D530E93FF4 Gospodi, pomilui (Lord, Have mercy) - playlist 2]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV-TcieiykI Greek Orthodox Christian Byzantine Music]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTnxFgmQLKc Russian Orthodox Choir Chanting Choral Vocal Top 10 Collection]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Y1aktEE-M Beautiful Russian Orthodox Choir Chanting Choral Vocal]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7vvPXz-Qes Valaam Brethren Choir]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WpD2Cspn6g Russian Basso Profondo: The Lowest Voices]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8qu4OOQ_Dc The Power of the Russian Oktavist]
[[Category:Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Sacred Music]]

Demas

2019-10-03T16:27:12Z

Irenefenswick:

'''Demas''' is the name of a Biblical person mentioned three times in the [[New Testament]]. The mentions are shown below in what is traditionally considered chronological order:

*First, in Philemon 24, he is mentioned as a "fellow laborer" along with others so named.
*Second, in Colossians 4:14, he is simply mentioned by name (along with Luke "the beloved physician")
*Third and last, in 2 Timothy 4:10 (commonly believed to be Paul's last epistle), he is mentioned as having forsaken Paul, "having loved this present world".

[[Category:Biblical Persons]]

Daisy Bell

2019-10-03T16:19:46Z

Irenefenswick:

'''"Daisy Bell (On a Bicycle Built for Two)"''' is one of the oldest American pop songs, first written and recorded in 1892 by Harry Dacre.<ref>http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2283</ref> Harry found it difficult to publish, and it was first popular in [[England]] rather than the [[United States]].<ref>http://www.daisyfield.com/music/htm/Dacre/Daisy-Bell.htm</ref>

It became famous in the 60s when it was sung by an IBM computer.<ref>https://www.universetoday.com/44482/why-did-hal-sing-daisy/</ref>

==Lyrics==
There is a flower 
Within my heart, 
Daisy, Daisy! 
Planted one day 
By a glancing dart, 
Planted by Daisy Bell! 
Whether she loves me 
Or loves me not, 
Sometimes it's hard to tell, 
Yet I am longing to share the lot 
Of beautiful Daisy Bell! 

Daisy, Daisy, 
Give me your answer do! 
I'm half crazy, 
All for the love of you! 
It won't be a stylish marriage, 
I can't afford a carriage 
But you'll look sweet upon the seat 
Of a bicycle built for two. 

We will go 'tandem' 
As man and wife, 
Daisy, Daisy! 
"Ped'ling" away 
Down the road of life, 
I and my Daisy Bell! 
When the road's dark 
We can both despise 
P'licemen and "lamps" as well, 
There are "bright lights" 
In the dazzling eyes 
Of beautiful Daisy Bell! 

Daisy, Daisy, 
Give me your answer do! 
I'm half crazy, 
All for the love of you! 
It won't be a stylish marriage, 
I can't afford a carriage 
But you'll look sweet upon the seat 
Of a bicycle built for two. 

I will stand by you 
In "wheel" or woe, 
Daisy, Daisy! 
You'll be the bell(e) 
Which I'll ring you know, 
Sweet little Daisy Bell! 
You'll take the "lead" 
In each "trip" we take, 
Then if I don't do well, 
I will permit you to 
Use the brake, 
My beautiful Daisy Bell! 

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqvuNb8DevE Original 1894 Recording] on YouTube

[[Category:Children's Songs]]
[[Category:Pop Songs]]

Crazy Atheists Compilation

2019-10-03T16:12:33Z

Irenefenswick:

The Crazy Atheist Compilation is a viral video, originally uploaded to the [[YouTube]] channel Atheists Exposed. The original video, uploaded back in 2014, was falsely flagged by atheists [http://imgur.com/euDTUSX] before the author uploaded it again in 2015. Once again, atheists false flagged the video through mass reporting [http://imgur.com/LvnHwco] but the author managed to get the video back online permanently after YouTube reviewed it. Also in 2015, the author created a new compilation video of atheists.

Since then it has been uploaded to numerous other video sharing sites such as LiveLeak and archive.org along with download sites. There is also a YouTube version that combines the two compilation videos into one.

== External Links ==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ulkFhAmE6M Atheism is Irrational - Crazy and Intolerant Atheists Compilation]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfJCzGRWSFo Atheism is Irrational - The Crazy Atheists Compilation (combination)]
*[http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e23_1422246561 LiveLeak.com - Crazy Atheists Compilation - Atheism is Irrational]
*[https://archive.org/details/CrazyAtheistsCompilation Crazy Atheist Compilation]

[[Category:YouTube]]
[[Category:Atheism]]

Company town

2019-10-03T16:05:17Z

Irenefenswick:

A '''company town''' is a town where nearly all businesses and housing is actually owned by the company. During the early days of the American Industrial Revolution, employees were forced to rent houses from their employer and buy only from the company store (which would charge exorbitant prices, keeping the workers essentially in economic bondage to the company; country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford, in his song "Sixteen Tons", lamented "St. Peter don't you call me cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store").

Changes in the law forced the end of company-owned towns. Today, the term refers to an area that is dominated (and dependent) on one employer's business success or failure.

[[Category:Economics]]

Broadest Reasonable Interpretation

2019-10-03T15:43:37Z

Irenefenswick:

The '''Broadest Reasonable Interpretation''' (BRI) was a rule of construction used by the Patent & Trademark Office ([[PTO]]) which created a bias against inventors such that the PTO would construe their patent claims as broadly as possible after they were issued, and then invalidate them based on an overly broad interpretation. Patent-holders have traditionally been denied the ability to narrow their claims by amendment after a patent is issued.

This rule was replace by the "''Phillips''" rule in October 2018, based on comments<ref>https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-trial-and-appeal-board/comments-changes-claim-construction</ref> to the PTO that overwhelmingly supported this change by the agency.<ref>[https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/11/2018-22006/changes-to-the-claim-construction-standard-for-interpreting-claims-in-trial-proceedings-before-the Federal Register]</ref>
== See also ==
*[http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/02/13/patent-claim-interpretation-the-broadest-reasonable-interpretation-standard/id=66067/ Gene Quinn, Editor and Founder of IP Watchdog]
== References ==
<references/>
[[category:Patent Law]]

Blow your own trumpet

2019-10-03T15:25:07Z

Irenefenswick:

This is a saying that means acting in a boastful, self-promoting manner.

== Biblical Origins ==

The beginning of the sixth chapter of the [[Gospel]] according to Mark says:

1. Be careful not to perform your acts of charity in front of men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2. So when you do your duty, do not sound a trumpet before you, the way the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. I tell you truly: they will get what's coming to them.

3. But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4. so that your acts of charity may be hidden, and your Father, who sees in a hidden way Himself, will reward you openly.

5. And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to pray when standing in the synagogues and in the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. I tell you truly: They will get what's coming to them.

6. But you, when you pray, go into your private room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father Who is hidden, and your Father, who sees in a hidden manner, will reward you openly.
[http://www.conservapedia.com/Matthew_1-9_(Translated)#Chapter_6]

[[Category:Idioms]]
[[Category:Conservative Bible]]

Chutes and Ladders

2019-09-25T17:00:24Z

Irenefenswick: added links to other wiki pages

'''Chutes and Ladders''' is a [[board game]] produced by Milton Bradley, based on the game "Snakes and Ladders" from [[India]].

The Milton Bradley version is comprised of 100 squares numbered accordingly, players move alternately from left to right then from right to left, from 1 (bottom left) to 100 (top left), rolling a single die numbered 1 to 6. The first player to reach square 100 on an exact roll is the winner.

Movement is helped by a series of 19 ladders (upward movement) and hindered by a series of 19 chutes (downward movement). A player landing on the bottom square of a ladder moves up to the top of the ladder; a player landing on the top square of a chute moves down to the bottom of the chute. (A player landing on the top of a ladder or the bottom of a chute does not move further.) The Milton Bradley version uses the ladders/chutes squares to teach morality, and the rewards of good behavior (moving up the ladder)<ref>For example, square 4 shows a boy reading a book at the bottom of the ladder; square 14 at the top of the ladder shows him graduating.</ref> or the consequences of bad behavior (moving down the chute)<ref>For example, square 47 shows a boy fishing in a NO FISHING spot at the top of the chute; square 26 at the bottom of the chute shows him being kicked off the property.</ref>.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Board Games]]

Chicago Board Options Exchange

2019-09-25T16:48:54Z

Irenefenswick: added a link to another wiki page

The '''Chicago Board Options Exchange''' (CBOE), founded in 1973 in [[Chicago]], is one of the largest exchange holdings companies in the world. It is privately owned and provides trading markets for equities in the U.S. and Europe. It also establishes markets for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and global foreign exchange (FX) products.

In 1975, the CBOE introduced computerized price reporting for the first time. In 1977, the CBOE created "put" options, and purchased the Midwest Stock Exchange's options operations.
[[Category:Finance]]

California Department of Consumer Affairs

2019-09-25T16:41:48Z

Irenefenswick: added links to other wiki pages

'''California Department of Consumer Affairs''' (DCA) is a department within the California Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. It protects the best interests of [[California]] consumers by managing the licensing of all professionals in California whose roles impact the health and safety of California consumers. This includes everything from physicians, architects, and even barbers. The DCA maintains online databases so that the license status of all such professionals can be verified.<ref>http://www.dca.ca.gov/</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Police State]]
[[Category:Websites]]

Betrayal at House on the Hill

2019-09-25T16:30:16Z

Irenefenswick: added links to other wiki pages

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a 2004 American horror-themed [[board game]] with exploration and cooperative elements, allowing up to six players. <ref>https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10547</ref> It was designed by Bruce Glassco with assistance from Rob Daviu, Bill McQuillan, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn Woodruff. <ref>http://avalonhill.wizards.com/games/betrayal-at-house-on-the-hill</ref> The haunted house is constructed as the players explore it, with several scenarios, traps, and omens revealed as the play progresses. After enough omen points are accumulated, the haunt begins, and a new objective pits players against each other in some form.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Board Games]]
[[Category:Horror]]

Andrew Brunson

2019-09-25T16:20:11Z

Irenefenswick: added links to other wiki pages

'''Andrew Brunson''' is an American Christian [[Pastor]] who was previously held in captivity for two years in [[Turkey]].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunson, Andrew}}
[[Category:Clergy]]
[[Category:Americans]]
[[Category:Turkey]]

Oleh Tyahnybok

2019-09-25T16:03:11Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

'''Oleh Yaroslavovych Tyahnybok''' is a [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] politician and the leader of the [[Svoboda (political party)|Svoboda]] political party.<ref name=SIEKP81212>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/tiahnybok-reelected-svoboda-party-head-317346.html Tiahnybok reelected Svoboda party head], Kyiv Post (8 December 2012)</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/svoboda-tames-radicals-to-get-into-parliament-316584.html], a former candidate for President of Ukraine Kyiv Post. 22 November 2012. ''Svoboda tames radicals to get into parliament'' Article written by Katya Gorchinskaya</ref>

In the speech, which was aired on television in the summer of 2004, he made comments such as,<ref name=KyivPost>[http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/30697 Tyahnybok: Nationalist, fearful of Russia, favors NATO], Kyiv Post (29 October 2008)</ref> "[You are the ones] that the [[Moscow]]-[[Jewish]] [[mafia]] ruling Ukraine fears most" and "They were not afraid and we should not be afraid. They took their automatic guns on their necks and went into the woods, and fought against the [[Moscow|Muscovites]], [[Germans]], [[Jews]] and other scum who wanted to take away our Ukrainian state." In April 2005, Tyahnybok co-signed an open letter to President [[Viktor Yushchenko]] calling for a parliamentary investigation into the "criminal activities of organized Jewry in Ukraine."<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20051114152743/http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/042005Ukr_letter.shtml Ukraine Notables Sign Anti-Semitic Letter, Anti-Semitism in Ukraine, NCSJ, 04.20.2005</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyahnybok, Oleh}}

[[Category:Ukraine]]
[[Category:European Politics]]
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:2010s]]

Hillary Clinton Secretary of State

2019-09-25T15:38:24Z

Irenefenswick: fixed dead links

On December 1, 2008, Obama announced the appointment of [[Hillary Clinton]] as [[Secretary of State]]. In late December Hillary entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the [[Obama administration]] about the potential [[conflict of interest]] with her role as Secretary of State and Mr. [[Bill Clinton]] actively soliciting political donations for [[United States presidential election, 2016|Hillary's 2016 presidential]] bid on behalf of the [[Clinton Foundation]].<ref>[http://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/judiciary/upload/2015-08-28%20Ex.%20A%20(State%20DAEO%20for%20Pres.%20Clinton%20Activities).pdf Memorandum of Understanding] and associated documents, December 18, 2008.</ref> The memorandum stipulated complete disclosure of the foundation's donor list annually. According to ''[[Reuters]]'', Hillary Clinton violated the understanding from the very beginning and made no disclosures beyond the first year.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-clinton-donations-idUSKBN0MF2FQ20150319</ref>

With the theft of government records and scrubbing of the Clinton Chappaqua email server by Clinton and underlings, the exact extent of a conflict of interest and violation of the memorandum of understanding at present is unclear.<ref>[https://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/30/gowdy-hillary-clinton-wiped-her-server-between-october-and-december-2014 Gowdy: Hillary Clinton Wiped Server Between October & December 2014], On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, ''[[FOX News]]'', 30 March 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-clinton-email-scandal-20160327-story.html How Hillary Clinton's email scandal took root], Robert O'Harrow Jr., ''Washington Post'', 27 March 2016.</ref>

Questions have linger about her commitment to women's rights, the rights of children, and [[human rights]].<ref>[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/hillary-clinton-womens-rights-record-saudi-arabia-116160 Has Hillary Really Helped the World’s Women?], By Valerie Hudson and Patricia Leidl, Poliico, March 17, 2015. politico.com</ref>

==Chinese debt deal==
Clinton's first assignment was to travel to [[China]] and convince them to purchase [[U.S. Treasury]] obligations to finance Obama’s [[stimulus]] package.<ref>AFP (February 22, 2009). [http://www.warandpeace.ru/en/news/view/32887/ "Clinton wraps Asia trip by asking China to buy US debt"]. Reprinted at War and Peace website.</ref> The veto-proof Democratic Congress voted to add $4.5 trillion to the [[national debt]] for "jobs creation" which, by the end of her tenure four years later, added a paltry 1.3 million jobs.<ref>Total Nonfarm Payrolls of All Employees in the United States stood at 133,977,000 in January of 2009; by January of 2013 when Clinton left office the number stood at 135,293,000, an increase of 1,316,000 jobs, or a cost of $3.4 million ''per job''. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.</ref> Clinton told Chinese leaders that the [[Obama administration]] considered [[human rights]] secondary to economic well-being.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4735087/Hillary-Clinton-Chinese-human-rights-secondary-to-economic-survival.html Hillary Clinton: Chinese human rights secondary to economic survival,] Richard Spencer, ''London Telegraph,'' 20 Feb 2009.</ref>

==Foreign Policy==
{{Main|Hillary Clinton Foreign Policy}}
Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State was marked by an escalation in U.S. casualties in Afghanistan, a decline in American prestige abroad, an explosion of jihadists recruiting and the [[global jihad]], and a soaring [[national debt]] owed to foreign entities.
===Libyan War and the Benghazi attack===
:''See also [[Libyan War]] and [[Benghazi attack]]''
Hillary Clinton was the driving force behind the United States military action in Libya. On March 14 she met in Paris with members of the Libyan [[jihad]]is and [[Bernard Henri Levy]]. Mrs. Clinton was one of a handful of top administration aides who had been arguing for intervention. Within hours, Mrs. Clinton and the aides had convinced Obama that the United States had to act, and the president ordered up military plans, which Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hand-delivered to the White House the next day. On Thursday (March 17), during an hour-and-a-half meeting, Obama signed off on using American pilots to join Europeans and jihadists in military strikes against the Libyan government... The president had a caveat, though. The American involvement in military action in Libya should be limited — no ground troops — and finite. “Days, not weeks,” a senior White House official recalled him saying.<ref name=Cooper>Cooper, Helene and Myers, Steven Lee (March 18, 2011). [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html?_r=2&hp "Shift by Clinton helped persuade President to take a harder line"]. ''New York Times'', p. A1, reprinted at ''New York Times'' website.</ref>

On March 17, in Tunisia, Hillary said: ''"Gaddafi must go," calling him "a ruthless dictator that has no conscience and will destroy anyone or anything in his way." "If Gaddafi does not go, he will just make trouble," she said. "That is just his nature. There are some creatures that are like that."''<ref>Associated Press (March 17, 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20131105095520/http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/17/hillary-clinton-in-tunisia-need-plan-for-economic-development/ "Clinton: UN no-fly zone requires bombing Libya"]. AolNews website/World. Retrieved from November 5, 2013 archive at Internet Archive.</ref>

In joining Susan Rice and [[Samantha Power]], Mrs. Clinton made an unusual break with Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]], who, along with the national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, and the counterterrorism chief, [[John O. Brennan]], had urged caution. Libya was not vital to American national security interests, the men argued, and Mr. Brennan worried that the Libyan rebels remained largely unknown to American officials, and could have ties to Al Qaeda.<ref name=Cooper/>

Hillary stated:
:"We are currently doing everything we can to bomb, strafe and use missiles to carry the rebels into power in Libya. We want them to win. We just don’t know who they are.”<ref>Preston, Bryan (June 23, 2011). [http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2011/06/23/hillary-clinton-to-libya-skeptics-whose-side-are-you-on/ "Hillary Clinton to Libya skeptics: 'Whose side are you on?'"]. PJMedia website/PJTatler.</ref>

The president fully articulated American foreign policy toward Libya as formulated by Hillary Clinton: "Left unchecked... a humanitarian crisis would ensue.... The democratic values that we stand for would be overrun."<ref>Obama, President Barack (March 18, 2011). "Remarks by the President on the situation in Libya". The White House/The Press Office quoted by Congressional Research Service (March 30, 2011). [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fas.org%2Fsgp%2Fcrs%2Fnatsec%2FR41725.pdf&ei=kJkNUeedJ43DiwLCm4H4DQ&usg=AFQjCNHhRCTBkk8zUd7wMWao9DKaab8bww&sig2=8SrhE1X08403SM783aYujg&bvm=bv.41867550,d.cGE ''Operation Odyssey Dawn (Libya): Background and issues for Congress''] (Gertler, Jeremiah, coordinator, Washington D.C.: GPO), p. 3.</ref> Nonetheless, after being captured on October 20, 2011 by forces backed by Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration, Gaddafi was first brutally sodomized, murdered, and his lifeless body paraded through the streets.<ref>Daly, Corbett (October 20, 2011). [https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20123348-503544/clinton-on-qaddafi-we-came-we-saw-he-died/ "Clinton on Qaddafi: 'We came, we saw, he died'"] CBS News website.</ref>

On September 11, 2012, the anniversary of the [[9/11 terror attacks]], Islamist terrorists attacked the American embassy and killed four people. In testimony before Congress on January the 23th, 2013 Clinton was asked why the [[Obama administration]] deliberately put out false information about the attack just prior to the [[Presidential Election of 2012]], Clinton screamed at Senators, "WHAT DIFFERENCE AT THIS POINT DOES IT MAKE?".<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/23/senator-calls-for-top-to-bottom-review-state-department-ahead-clinton-testimony/ "Clinton set for long-awaited Libya testimony, as senator urges 'top-to-bottom review'"] (January 23, 2013). Fox News website/Politics/Senate.</ref>

===Mali & Algeria===
Hillary Clinton further testified in the wake of the Benghazi murders that occurred under her stewardship, that weapons and fighters equipped by the Obama administration made their way into [[Mali]] and [[Algeria]]:
{{cquote|There is no doubt that the Algerian terrorists had weapons from Libya. There is no doubt that the Malian remnants of AQIM ([[Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb]]) have weapons from Libya.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-says-militants-used-weapons-libya-algeria-attack-154222664.html "Clinton says militants used weapons from Libya in Algeria attack"] (January 23, 2013). Reuters website/World/U.S./Washington.</ref>}}
Two more Americans were killed, along with 35 others, after being taken hostage by rebel jihadists in Mali shortly after the Libyan upheaval.<ref>Associated Press (January 21, 2013). [https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2013/jan/21/algeria-37-foreigner-hostages-killed-in-attack/ "Algeria: 37 foreigner hostages killed in attack"]. ''San Diego Union-Tribune'' website/News.</ref>

President [[Vladimir Putin]] of Russia observed, "Upheaval in Libya, accompanied by the uncontrolled proliferation of arms, contributed to the deterioration of the situation in Mali. Terrorist attacks in Algeria that took away the lives of innocent people—including those from foreign countries—became the consequences of such tragic developments."<ref>[http://rt.com/news/putin-libya-mali-algeria-704/ "Putin links Algeria attack, Mali unrest to Libyan upheaval"] (January 25, 2013). Russia Today website/News.</ref>

===Syria===
'''2011'''
*'''11 March.''' ''Reuters'' reports ‘a large shipment of weapons and explosives and night-vision goggles … in a truck coming from Iraq’ carrying 'dozens of grenades and pistols as well as rifles and ammunition belts’ is seized at al-Waleed (known in Syria as al-Tanf) southern bordering crossing, some 400 west of Baghdad. The Syrian Government News Agency (SANA) said the weapons were intended ‘for use in actions that affect Syria’s internal security and spread unrest and chaos.’ The driver said the weapons had been loaded in Baghdad and he was to be paid $5,000 to deliver them to Syria.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-iraq-idUSTRE72A3MI20110311 Syria says seizes weapons smuggled from Iraq], Mar 11, 2011</ref>

*'''18 March.''' Armed protesters in Daraa, Syria open fire on regime security forces.<ref>[http://www.handsoffsyriasydney.com/tag/tim-anderson-hands-off-syria%3Fprint%3Dpdf-page&ved=0ahUKEwiYxtTe5ILUAhXqxFQKHa_9CuEQFgiQATAV&usg=AFQjCNH9o86l1MN0vnd-zHPh1oDfAyqFpA&sig2=oDLtUoswAqdmZaGZGoLyDw]</ref> Security forces return fire.<ref>http://www.trans-int.com/wordpress/index.php/2014/04/14/father-frans-on-the-syrian-rebellion-the-protestors-shot-first/</ref> What began as a popular movement for greater freedom and democracy is over by April 2011. The continuing war is fueled and funded by outside sources, and foreign fighters entering Syria from Turkey and Northern Iraq. The fighters are principly equipped and funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, although the CIA by June 2011 is supplying jihadist elements with weapons from captured Libyan stockpiles. Airial transport originates in Benghazi and flown to Incirlik, Turkey. Sea transport originates in Derna, Libya to the Turkish port of Iskenderun, 35 miles from the Syrian border.<ref>http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/5897</ref>

*'''23 March.''' Syrian government seizes weapons stored at Al-Omari mosque in the city of Daraa.<ref>https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=abc_1357562508#KLo202ZH2GdJQ6Jj.99</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110324084454/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143026]</ref> ''Daily Mail'' reports "'an armed gang' of 'peaceful protesters' opened fire on an ambulance, killing 'a doctor, a paramedic and a policeman'".

*'''26 March.''' A blogger in Latakia, Syria, a majority Alewite/Shia port city in northern Syria, posts there is the "presence of foreign armed elements...The situation in Lattaka is terrible, [on March 26] five people got killed, and there were '''snipers who shot at the people from buildings'''...It looks as if '''certain groups there want to stir up a sectarian conflict''' to make people afraid and to become more powerful themselves,..."<ref>[https://ikvpaxmenablog.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/angst-neemt-toe-onder-syriers/]</ref> evidence the Syrian uprising was planned by professionals who brought in '''snipers that killed people from both sides''': regime supporters and Sunni protesters to create blind hatred and anger.

*'''28 March.''' ''AP'' reports [[Turkey]] takes over running the Benghazi, Libya airport.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110618103616/https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/turkey-will-run-benghazi-airport-prime-m ''AP, March 28, 2011]</ref> This is the beginning of a direct flightline to Adana, Turkey where captured Gaddadi regime weapons are delivered to AQI/ISI jihadis, for the purpose of overthrowing the [[Bashar Assad|Assad]] regime. The group eventually evolves into the [[Islamic State]].

*'''22 April.''' Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood and AQI [Al Qaeda in Iraq, later ISIS] supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, are infiltrated into the southwest Syrian border town of Daraa, a town of 150,000 inhabitants. Western media previously claimed 300,000 protesters were in the streets. 20 Syrian government soldiers are ambushed and beheaded. These are the first known instances of what would become the US-backed Salafi-jihadi's trademark use of terrorism. Government troops are lured into the town after rooftop snipers begin shooting at police during a civil demonstration. 90 people are killed in the days fighting. This marks the end of civil opposition to the regime. For the next half decade, Syria's "Civil War," as it is referred to in Western media, is a war between the Syrian Army and foreign jihadists backed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Gulf states.

*'''6 June.''' Jisr ash-Shugur massacre in Syria. 120 Syrian regime personnel are executed by US-backed "unarmed peaceful opposition protesters," according to Western media accounts. Many are beheaded and their bodies thrown from a bridge into the Orontes river.<ref>[https://www.ted.com/talks/markham_nolan_how_to_separate_fact_and_fiction_online/transcript?language=en]</ref> The atrocity is videotaped and uploaded to YouTube, later censored by Western cyberwarfare information specialists.

*'''18 July.''' Former [[Clinton administration]] State Dept. Spokesman Jamie Rubin, husband of CNN’s [[Christiane Amanpour]] emails Hillary:
{{Quotebox|It is a pleasure to see the State Department again leading the administration on [Libya]. Syria, too...the White House doesn’t seem like it cares very much. In general, the [[NSC]] seems uncomfortable with creative applications of American power and influence. And we all know the military and the [[Pentagon]] resist limited military operations, especially airpower-only engagements. So, it must be you and your colleagues at State. Well done. . . . }}

*'''7 December.''' Special Operations Forces from US, UK, France, Jordan, Turkey are already on the ground in Syria training opposition forces and ready to act within 2–3 months.<ref>https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/16/1671459_insight-military-intervention-in-syria-post-withdrawal.html</ref>

'''2012'''
*'''January.''' A Saudi diplomatic cable reads that the Kingdom "must seek by all means available and all possible ways to overthrow the current regime in Syria," expresses fear of Russian intervention if it cannot be done quickly, and note "there is a lack of ‘desire’ and not a lack of ‘capability’ on the part of Western countries, chief among them the United States, to take firm steps…”<ref>https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/02/26/newly-translated-wikileaks-saudi-cable-overthrow-the-syrian-regime-but-play-nice-with-russia/</ref>
[[File:C9Pak4-W0AIldKy (1).jpg|right|350px|thumb|[[Jake Sullivan]]<ref>
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/a-conversation-with-jake-sullivan-video/</ref> to Hillary Clinton: Al Qaeda is on our side.]]
*'''12 February.''' Deputy Assistant to President Barack Obama,<ref>Jake Sullivan b. 1976. Sullivan, who was 35 years old at the time is presumably one of the "35-year-old PhDs who love to talk, because that's the way you let everybody know how smart you are, is how much you talk." Sec. Hagel continues, "[Obama] has a staff around him that's very inexperienced. I don't think there's one veteran on his senior staff at the White House. I don't believe there's one business person. I don't believe there's one person who's ever run anything. Other than [[Vice President Biden]], none of them have ever been elected to anything." Sec. Gates criticized "staffers calling senior commanders out in the field and asking them questions, of second guessing commanders...I told my combatant commanders and field commanders … if you get calls from … the president, that's one thing. But if you get a call from some White House or National Security Council staffer, you tell them to call me instead, and then tell them, by the way, go to hell." Hagel also criticized Susan Rice's approach and subservience to Obama. https://youtu.be/GPPx83VoLyY</ref> emails Sec. Clinton to notify her "[Al Qaeda] is on our side in Syria. Otherwise, things have basically turned out as expected;"<ref>[https://mobile.twitter.com/wikileaks/status/852266094379380738/photo/1]</ref> the only legal basis Obama has for the use force (2001 AUMF) is to destroy Al Qaeda and associated groups.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-perils-of-president-obamas-latest-undeclared-war/413566/</ref>

*'''23 April.''' [week of 22-29]. 18328 Wikileaks Hillary Clinton email archive. NEW IRAN AND SYRIA 2.DOC. Lays out justification and strategy for the anti-Assad campaign.<ref>The document reads in part: "Iran's nuclear program and Syria's civil war may seem unconnected, but they are. For Israeli leaders, the real threat from a nuclear-armed Iran is not the prospect of an insane Iranian leader launching an unprovoked Iranian nuclear attack on Israel that would lead to the annihilation of
both countries. What Israeli military leaders really worry about -- but cannot talk about -- is losing their nuclear monopoly. An Iranian nuclear weapons capability would not only end that nuclear monopoly but could also prompt other adversaries, like Saudi Arabia and [[Egypt]], to go nuclear as well. The result would be a precarious nuclear balance in which Israel could not respond to provocations with conventional military strikes on Syria and Lebanon, as it can today."https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/18328</ref>

*'''21 June.''' ''New York Times'' reports "C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government...[weapons] are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html</ref><ref>https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/an-arms-pipeline-to-the-syrian-rebels.html?_r=0</ref>

*'''27 July.''' Adventure film maker [[Bernard-Henri Levy]] tells al-Arabiya TV, "What we did in Libya is more doable in Syria."<ref>https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=87e_1456332942</ref>

*'''30 July.''' ''The Guardian'' reports,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/30/al-qaida-rebels-battle-syria</ref>
{{Quotebox|these were not average members of the Free Syrian Army. Abu Khuder and his men fight for [[al-Qaida]]. They call themselves the ghuraba’a, or “strangers”, after a famous jihadi poem celebrating Osama bin Laden’s time with his followers in the Afghan mountains, and they are one of a number of jihadi organisations establishing a foothold in the east of the country now that the conflict in Syria has stretched well into its second bloody year. 

They try to hide their presence. “Some people are worried about carrying the [black] flags” ... 

...[they] are working closely with the military council that commands the Free Syrian Army brigades in the region. “We meet almost every day,” he said. “We have clear instructions from our [al-Qaida] leadership that if the FSA need our help we should give it. We help them with IEDs and car bombs. Our main talent is in the bombing operations” ... 

“The FSA lacks the ability to plan and lacks military experience. That is what [al-Qaida] can bring. ... 

“In the beginning, there were very few. Now, mashallah, there are immigrants joining us and bringing their experience,” he told the gathered people. “Men from [[Yemen]], Saudi, Iraq and Jordan... 

“[Al-Qaida’s] goal is establishing an Islamic state and not a Syrian state,” he replied. “Those who fear the organisation fear the implementation of Allah’s jurisdiction...}}

*'''31 July.''' NBC News reports anti-Assad forces obtained shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/48427738</ref>

*'''1 August.''' ''Reuters'' reports Obama issued a secret Presidential Finding earlier in the year authorising transfer of captured weapons from Libya to Syria.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170216061621/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/obama-secret-syria-order_n_1730712.html?tw_p=twt ''Reuters, August 1, 2012]</ref>
{{Quotebox|under provisions of the presidential finding, the United States was collaborating with a secret command center operated by Turkey and its allies. 

Last week, Reuters reported that, along with [[Saudi Arabia]] and Qatar, Turkey had '''established a secret base near the Syrian border to help direct vital military and communications support to Assad’s opponents.

This “nerve center” is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 60 miles (100 km) from the Syrian border, which is also home to Incirlik, a U.S. air base where U.S. military and intelligence agencies maintain a substantial presence.''' 

Turkey’s moderate Islamist government has been demanding Assad’s departure with growing vehemence. Turkish authorities are said by current and former U.S. government officials to be increasingly involved in providing Syrian rebels with training and possibly equipment. 

European government sources said wealthy families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were providing significant financing to the rebels. Senior officials of the Saudi and Qatari governments have publicly called for Assad’s departure.}}

*Amb. [[Christopher Stevens]] put in charge of the covert operation. The aim is to arm jihadist groups which transformed themselves into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to overthrow [[Bashar al Assad]].

*'''12 August.''' [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] document circulated widely among government agencies, including [[CENTCOM]], the CIA, FBI, [[DHS]], NGA (National Geospacial Agency), State Dept., and many others. The document states the West (NATO powers), members of the Gulf Cooperation Council ([[Bahrain]], [[Kuwait]], [[Oman]], Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the [[United Arab Emirates]]), and [[Turkey]] want an [[Islamic State]] ("Salafist principality in Eastern Syria") to oppose the regime of [[Bashar al-Assad]].
{{Quotebox|AQI [al Qaeda in Iraq] SUPPORTED THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION FROM THE BEGINNING, BOTH IDEOLOGICALLY AND THROUGH THE MEDIA…

... AFTER THE RISE OF THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA, THE RELIGIOUS AND TRIBAL POWERS IN THE REGIONS BEGAN TO SYMPATHIZE WITH THE SECTARIAN UPRISING. THIS (SYMPATHY) APPEARED IN FRIDAY PRAYER SERMONS, WHICH CALLED FOR VOLUNTEERS TO SUPPORT THE SUNNIS IN SYRIA...

THE FUTURE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE CRISIS:

...DEVELOPMENT OF THE CURRENT EVENTS INTO PROXY WAR: …OPPOSITION FORCES ARE TRYING TO CONTROL THE EASTERN AREAS (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), ADJACENT TO THE WESTERN IRAQI PROVINCES (MOSUL AND ANBAR), IN ADDITION TO NEIGHBORING TURKISH BORDERS. ...

'''WESTERN COUNTRIES, THE GULF STATES AND TURKEY ARE SUPPORTING THESE EFFORTS.''' ...'''SIMILAR TO WHAT TRANSPIRED IN LIBYA WHEN BENGHAZI WAS CHOSEN AS THE COMMAND CENTER''' OF THE TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT...

...THE WEST, GULF COUNTRIES, AND TURKEY SUPPORT THE [SYRIAN] OPPOSITION… THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A '''DECLARED OR UNDECLARED [[Salafi|SALAFIST]] PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA''' (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS '''EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT''', IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME…

…ISI COULD ALSO '''DECLARE AN ISLAMIC STATE THROUGH ITS UNION WITH OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA'''...}}

*Gen. [[Michael T. Flynn]] had been Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency for about three weeks. Flynn opposed the creation of the Islamic State. After it was declared in June 2014, Flynn was fired.

*'''5 September.''' A Libyan ship called Al Entisar (“The Victory”) docks in the Turkish port of Iskenderun carrying 400 tons of cargo including weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and shoulder-launched SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles (aka [[MANPADS]]) destined for Syrian rebels.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/25/was-syrian-weapons-shipment-factor-in-ambassadors-benghazi-visit.html</ref><ref>
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/syrian-rebels-squabble-over-weapons-as-biggest-shipload-arrives-from-libya-pr2rmxkpg8d</ref>

*'''5 October.''' ''[[Time magazine]]'' announces the formation of the 20,000 strong Omar al-Farouq Brigade in Syria, one of the "moderate rebel" groups receiving American funding under the umbrella [[Free Syrian Army]].<ref>http://world.time.com/2012/10/05/syrias-up-and-coming-rebels-who-are-the-farouq-brigades-2/</ref> In May 2015 [[Human Rights Watch]] releases a video of one of its commanders carving the heart and liver out of a dead Assad regime soldier and eating the heart.

===Boko Haram===
Hillary Clinton and the State Department refused to place [[Boko Haram]] on the list of foreign terrorist organizations in 2011, after the group bombed the UN headquarters in Abuja. The refusal came despite the urging of the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and over a dozen Senators and Congressmen.<ref>Morrissey, Ed (May 8, 2014). [https://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/08/did-hillary-refuse-to-designate-boko-haram-as-a-terrorist-organization/ "Did Hillary refuse to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organization?"] Hot Air website.</ref>

In 2014 Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Black African Christian girls and has sold them into slavery, reports indicate.

===Middle East===
In November 2009 before George Mitchell's awkward removal as Middle East emissary, Clinton finally took a foreign policy initiative in the highly sensitive Palestine-Israeli peace process. However, she offended the Palestinians by praising Israel for offering to curb its settlement-building program in the [[West Bank]].<ref>Associated Press (November 1, 2009). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/01/palestinians-accuse-clinton-undermining-peace-talks-shift-settlements/ "Palestinians accuse Clinton of undermining peace talks with shift on settlements"]. Fox News website/Politics/Executive.</ref> The Palestinians accused her of undermining progress toward Mideast peace talks (the Palestinians want to see all settlements dismantled). To try and make amends and smooth over Palestinians, she issued a new statement saying the US wants [[Israel]] settlement halt forever, “We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity and we have a very firm belief that ending all settlement activity, current and future, would be preferable.” <ref>JTA (November 4, 2009). [http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/in_cairo_clinton_clarifies_settlement_position_20091104/ "In Cairo, Clinton clarifies settlement position"]. Jewish Journal website/News/Israel.</ref>

Once again, Clinton's failure as Secretary of State came into question as [[John Kerry]] planned a visit to [[Iran]], which Iran rejected.<ref>Solomon, Jay (December 24, 2009). [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126161465189603571.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_us "Kerry floats plan to visit Tehran"], ''The Wall Street Journal'' website/U.S./Politics.</ref> Kerry was named as the replacement of Hillary Clinton after President Obama's embarrassing failure to garner support for Amb. Susan Rice's nomination.<ref>"Kerry plays a key role for the President" (October 22, 2009). ''Philadelphia Inquirer''/World/U.S. [https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/nation_world/20091022_Kerry_plays_key_role_for_the_president.html].</ref>

===China and Tibet===
The [[Dalai Lama]] was made [[Tibet]]an head of state in 1950, the same year that China invaded and occupied Tibet.<ref name=DalaiLama>FlorCruz, Jaime, CNN Beijing Bureau Chief (February 18, 2010). [https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/18/analysis.china.dalai.lama/index.html "Analysis: Why the Dalai Lama angers China"]. Cable News Network website/World/Asia Pacific.</ref> [[CNN]] reports the Chinese find it "unacceptable when they see the Dalai Lama treated as a VIP, or even akin to a head of state."<ref name=DalaiLama/>

After the Dalai Lama met with President Obama in February, 2010 he was unceremoniously escorted through a side door that trash is regularly carried out to a photo op with awaiting cameras.

===Japan, North Korea and Burma===
In [[Japan]], she met publicly with Yukio Hatoyama, the former opposition leader, who won a landslide election in Sept, 2009. The question was over whether the new government would continue to follow American foreign policy regarding economic affairs, [[North Korea]]'s development of [[nuclear weapons]],<ref>Johnson, Ben (January 3, 2003). [http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=20448 "Appeasing North Korea: The Clinton legacy"]. FrontPageMag website.</ref> and the issue of 47,000 troops American troops stationed there. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in his election campaign vowed to review a 2006 agreement to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Base from an urban to a coastal part of the southern island of Okinawa. The base has angered residents because of aircraft noise and friction with U.S. servicemen; while in opposition, Hatoyama suggested it could be moved off the island altogether, a move the United States under Bush strongly opposed.

In July 2009, Bill Clinton travelled to [[North Korea]] to attempt to negotiate for the release of Americans held hostage. She was asked by a Congolese university student what her husband thought of international relations. She responded annoyed, "My husband is not Secretary of State, I am," and "I am not going to be channeling my husband." Diplomats laughed when Clinton took umbrage at a Congolese questioner whom she took to be asking her husband's opinion, but it later surfaced that the question had been mistranslated.

In addition, a U.S. senator flew to Burma to bargain for the release of yet another American. Also, envoys of the reclusive North Korean regime have come to the U.S. for a meeting privately with New Mexico Gov. [[Bill Richardson]]. All this had America wondering if Hillary has been marginalized in her Obama Administration role.

===Africa===
Clinton went to Africa to demonstrate the administration is giving Africa a higher priority than usual. Clinton has long been outspoken on causes like development, health, poverty, and gender violence. Her first stop was [[Kenya]], where the U.S. policy is to stabilize the political situation which has been on the brink of civil war. Also important is economic development, with a continent-wide economic conference. Under Bill Clinton the "African Growth and Opportunity Act" expanded the number of tariff-free goods sub-Saharan countries could export to the United States. Kenya is an economic engine in eastern Africa, and needs encouragement to seek economic growth and leadership rather than risk an ethnic civil war.

[[South Africa]] is the superpower on the continent, but relations were strained with the U.S. under the country's erratic former president, Thabo Mbeki. He for example, fought against American effort to stamp out AIDS, suggesting the disease was a Western conspiracy. The new president, Jacob Zuma, is an unknown quantity. South Africa is in its first recession in more than a decade. With riots on the streets over his failure to deliver on promises to the country's poor, Zuma may hope to capitalize on improved relations with the United States. That bodes well for Clinton. One of the biggest splits was over Zimbabwe, where Bush wanted Mbeki to take a more pro-active role, while Mbeki wanted the United States to stay out of his tyranny.
[[Angola]] is now the top oil exporter in Africa, with the usual corrupt pattern of concentrated oil wealth, wobbly, and a 48% unemployment rate. American oil companies are active and the U.S. is providing business and military support. American support for Angola causes resentment in the rest of Africa, where critics attack the American friendship with President José Eduardo Dos Santos, who has held power for more than 30 years. President Bush's oft-stated concern for human rights and democracy in Angola was seen by African nationalists as little more than a pretence.
<blockquote>
Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, embarked on an official African trip that took her to Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
In a press conference in Lusaka, Clinton is reported to have warned her host continent about ‘new colonialism' in Africa from external actors and investors interested only in extracting Africa's natural resources... Clinton did not mention [[China]] by name, but as her officials later confirmed to reporters, she wanted to stress that African countries should beware of the Chinese and hold their investors to high standards.<ref>Odoom, Isaac (June 25, 2011). [http://www.herald.co.zw/interpreting-clintons-new-colonialism/ "Interpreting Clinton's 'new colonialism'"]. The Herald [Zimbabwe] website.</ref>
</blockquote>

===South America===
Hillary's trip to [[Argentina]] became controversial as she meddled into a touchy subject by attempting to force [[Britain]] to accept talks on the future of the [[Falkland Islands]]. This action will undoubtedly strain relationships between the U.S., the U.K. and Argentina. Residents of the Falklands were outraged.<ref>Whittell, Giles et al. (March 3, 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110510010956/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7047309.ece "Argentina coup as Hillary Clinton calls for Falklands talks"]. ''The Times'' [U.K.] website. First of two pages retrieved from October 10, 2011 archive at Internet Archive.</ref>

===Boko Haram===
Hillary Clinton and the State Department refused to place [[Boko Haram]] on the list of foreign terrorist organizations in 2011, after the group bombed the UN headquarters in Abuja. The refusal came despite the urging of the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and over a dozen Senators and Congressmen.<ref>Morrissey, Ed (May 8, 2014). [https://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/08/did-hillary-refuse-to-designate-boko-haram-as-a-terrorist-organization/ "Did Hillary refuse to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organization?"] Hot Air website.</ref>

In 2014 Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Black African Christian girls and has sold them into slavery, reports indicate.

===Middle East===
In November 2009 before George Mitchell's awkward removal as Middle East emissary, Clinton finally took a foreign policy initiative in the highly sensitive Palestine-Israeli peace process. However, she offended the Palestinians by praising Israel for offering to curb its settlement-building program in the [[West Bank]].<ref>Associated Press (November 1, 2009). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/01/palestinians-accuse-clinton-undermining-peace-talks-shift-settlements/ "Palestinians accuse Clinton of undermining peace talks with shift on settlements"]. Fox News website/Politics/Executive.</ref> The Palestinians accused her of undermining progress toward Mideast peace talks (the Palestinians want to see all settlements dismantled). To try and make amends and smooth over Palestinians, she issued a new statement saying the US wants [[Israel]] settlement halt forever, “We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity and we have a very firm belief that ending all settlement activity, current and future, would be preferable.” <ref>JTA (November 4, 2009). [http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/in_cairo_clinton_clarifies_settlement_position_20091104/ "In Cairo, Clinton clarifies settlement position"]. Jewish Journal website/News/Israel.</ref>

Once again, Clinton's failure as Secretary of State came into question as [[John Kerry]] planned a visit to [[Iran]], which Iran rejected.<ref>Solomon, Jay (December 24, 2009). [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126161465189603571.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_us "Kerry floats plan to visit Tehran"], ''The Wall Street Journal'' website/U.S./Politics.</ref> Kerry was named as the replacement of Hillary Clinton after President Obama's embarrassing failure to garner support for Amb. Susan Rice's nomination.<ref>"Kerry plays key role for the President" (October 22, 2009). ''Philadelphia Inquirer''/World/U.S. [https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/nation_world/20091022_Kerry_plays_key_role_for_the_president.html].</ref>

===China and Tibet===
The [[Dalai Lama]] was made [[Tibet]]an head of state in 1950, the same year that China invaded and occupied Tibet.<ref name=DalaiLama>FlorCruz, Jaime, CNN Beijing Bureau Chief (February 18, 2010). [https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/18/analysis.china.dalai.lama/index.html "Analysis: Why the Dalai Lama angers China"]. Cable News Network website/World/Asia Pacific.</ref> [[CNN]] reports the Chinese find it "unacceptable when they see the Dalai Lama treated as a VIP, or even akin to a head of state."<ref name=DalaiLama/>

After the Dalai Lama met with President Obama in February, 2010 he was unceremoniously escorted through a side door that trash is regularly carried out to a photo op with awaiting cameras.

===Japan, North Korea and Burma===
In [[Japan]], she met publicly with Yukio Hatoyama, the former opposition leader, who won a landslide election in Sept, 2009. The question was over whether the new government would continue to follow American foreign policy regarding economic affairs, [[North Korea]]'s development of [[nuclear weapons]],<ref>Johnson, Ben (January 3, 2003). [http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=20448 "Appeasing North Korea: The Clinton legacy"]. FrontPageMag website.</ref> and the issue of 47,000 troops American troops stationed there. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in his election campaign vowed to review a 2006 agreement to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Base from an urban to a coastal part of the southern island of Okinawa. The base has angered residents because of aircraft noise and friction with U.S. servicemen; while in opposition, Hatoyama suggested it could be moved off the island altogether, a move the United States under Bush strongly opposed.

In July 2009, Bill Clinton travelled to [[North Korea]] to attempt to negotiate for the release of Americans held hostage. She was asked by a Congolese university student what her husband thought of international relations. She responded annoyed, "My husband is not Secretary of State, I am," and "I am not going to be channeling my husband." Diplomats laughed when Clinton took umbrage at a Congolese questioner whom she took to be asking her husband's opinion, but it later surfaced that the question had been mistranslated.

In addition, a U.S. senator flew to Burma to bargain for the release of yet another American. Also, envoys of the reclusive North Korean regime have come to the U.S. for a meeting privately with New Mexico Gov. [[Bill Richardson]]. All this had America wondering if Hillary has been marginalized in her Obama Administration role.

===Africa===
Clinton went to Africa to demonstrate the administration is giving Africa a higher priority than usual. Clinton has long been outspoken on causes like development, health, poverty, and gender violence. Her first stop was [[Kenya]], where the U.S. policy is to stabilize the political situation which has been on the brink of civil war. Also important is economic development, with a continent-wide economic conference. Under Bill Clinton the "African Growth and Opportunity Act" expanded the number of tariff-free goods sub-Saharan countries could export to the United States. Kenya is an economic engine in eastern Africa, and needs encouragement to seek economic growth and leadership rather than risk an ethnic civil war.

[[South Africa]] is the superpower on the continent, but relations were strained with the U.S. under the country's erratic former president, Thabo Mbeki. He for example, fought against American effort to stamp out AIDS, suggesting the disease was a Western conspiracy. The new president, Jacob Zuma, is an unknown quantity. South Africa is in its first recession in more than a decade. With riots on the streets over his failure to deliver on promises to the country's poor, Zuma may hope to capitalize on improved relations with the United States. That bodes well for Clinton. One of the biggest splits was over Zimbabwe, where Bush wanted Mbeki to take a more pro-active role, while Mbeki wanted the United States to stay out of his tyranny.
[[Angola]] is now the top oil exporter in Africa, with the usual corrupt pattern of concentrated oil wealth, wobbly, and a 48% unemployment rate. American oil companies are active and the U.S. is providing business and military support. American support for Angola causes resentment in the rest of Africa, where critics attack the American friendship with President José Eduardo Dos Santos, who has held power for more than 30 years. President Bush's oft-stated concern for human rights and democracy in Angola was seen by African nationalists as little more than a pretence.
<blockquote>
Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, embarked on an official African trip that took her to Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
In a press conference in Lusaka, Clinton is reported to have warned her host continent about ‘new colonialism' in Africa from external actors and investors interested only in extracting Africa's natural resources... Clinton did not mention [[China]] by name, but as her officials later confirmed to reporters, she wanted to stress that African countries should beware of the Chinese and hold their investors to high standards.<ref>Odoom, Isaac (June 25, 2011). [http://www.herald.co.zw/interpreting-clintons-new-colonialism/ "Interpreting Clinton's 'new colonialism'"]. The Herald [Zimbabwe] website.</ref>
</blockquote>

===South America===
Hillary's trip to [[Argentina]] became controversial as she meddled into a touchy subject by attempting to force [[Britain]] to accept talks on the future of the [[Falkland Islands]]. This action will undoubtedly strain relationships between the U.S., the U.K. and Argentina. Residents of the Falklands were outraged.<ref>Whittell, Giles et al. (March 3, 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110510010956/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7047309.ece "Argentina coup as Hillary Clinton calls for Falklands talks"]. ''The Times'' [U.K.] website. First of two pages retrieved from October 10, 2011 archive at Internet Archive.</ref>

==Clinton Foundation==
:''Main article : [[Clinton Foundation]]''
In 2009 Hillary Clinton entered into a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Senate about the potential [[conflict of interest]] with her role as Secretary of State and Mr. Clinton actively soliciting political donations for Hillary's 2016 presidential bid on behalf of the Clinton Foundation.<ref>[http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/memorandum_of_understanding_clinton.pdf Memorandum of Understanding - Hillary Clinton], December 18, 2008. washingtonpost.com</ref>

Sen. [[Elizabeth Warren]] joined in the criticism of foreign corporations who donated cash to the Clinton Foundation, criticizing "a French company", the Veolia Group, "that sued Egypt after Egypt raised its minimum wage.” Veolia contributed between $50,001 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Warren criticized Philip Morris, part of the Altria group—another Clinton Foundation donor. And “a Swedish company", Vattenfall, a state-owned Swedish utility; the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency contributed between $1 million and $10 million.<ref>[https://freebeacon.com/politics/elizabeth-warren-targets-clinton-foundation-donors/ Elizabeth Warren Targets Clinton Foundation Donors], Brent Scher, May 8, 2015. freebeacon.com</ref>

The Clinton Foundation also received donations from countries that Secretary Hillary Clinton oversaw the transfer of weapons to.<ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/hillary-clinton-foundation-state-arms-deals Hillary Clinton Oversaw US Arms Deals to Clinton Foundation Donors], Bryan Schatz, ''Mother Jones'', May 28, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://www.quora.com/Did-Hillary-Clinton-receive-donations-from-Saudi-Arabia Did Hillary Clinton receive donations from Saudi Arabia?], www.quora.com</ref><ref>[http://prospect.org/article/clinton-foundation-donor-list-released CLINTON FOUNDATION DONOR LIST RELEASED.] ''The American Prospect''. prospect.org</ref><ref>[https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/apr/20/reince-priebus/hillary-clinton-took-money-kings-four-countries-go/ Hillary Clinton took money from the kings of four countries, GOP chief Reince Priebus says], By Tom Kertscher on Monday, April 20th, 2015. www.politifact.com</ref>

==Laureate International Universities==
Between 2010 and 2014 while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State, Bill Clinton made $16.5 million for his role as honorary chancellor of Laureate Education, a for-profit college company.<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-31/hillary-and-bill-clinton-paid-43-million-in-federal-taxes</ref> The [[State Department]] funneled $55 million in grants during Hillary Clinton’s tenure to groups associated with Laureate’s founder. The International Youth Federation, an organization connected to Laureate chairman Douglas Becker, received [[USAID]] funding.<ref>http://www.iyfnet.org/people/douglas-l-becker</ref> Becker is a major donor to the Clintons and the [[Clinton Foundation]].<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/laureate-a-for-profit-education-firm-finds-international-success-with-a-clintons-help/2014/01/16/13f8adde-7ca6-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html</ref><ref>https://jonathanturley.org/2016/06/08/the-clintons-university-problem-laureate-education-lawsuits-present-problem-for-clintons/</ref>

In her first year as Secretary of State, Hillary is quoted as directly asking that Laureate be included in a high-profile policy dinner — just months before the lucrative contract was given to Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton later references “Laureate Universities, started by Doug Becker who Bill likes a lot".<ref>http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/hillarys-emails-reveal-lucrative-ties-to-for-profit-colleges/</ref> “It’s a for-profit model that should be represented,” she wrote in the August 2009 email.<ref>https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/09/02/clinton-sought-invite-laureate-state-dept-dinner</ref><ref>[https://foia.state.gov/searchapp/DOCUMENTS/HRCEmail_JulyWeb/Web_031/DOC_0C05763085/C05763085.pdf]</ref><ref>https://foia.state.gov/searchapp/DOCUMENTS/HRCEmail_JulyWeb/Web_032-033/DOC_0C05763758/C05763758.pdf</ref>

Later, while campaigning for president, Hillary called for a crackdown on for-profit companies but was criticized for her association with Laureate.<ref>https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/10/hillary-clinton-cracks-down-on-for-profit-colleges/</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hillary Clinton early life and career]]
*[[Hillary Clinton First Lady]]
*[[Hillary Clinton Senate career]]
*[[Clinton Foundation conflicts of interest]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://foia.state.gov/Search/results.aspx?searchText=Clinton+Email&beginDate=&endDate=&publishedBeginDate=&publishedEndDate=&caseNumber= 12,173 declassified stolen Clinton emails recovered by State Department]
*[https://foia.state.gov/Search/Results.aspx?collection=Clinton_Email 30,322 stolen Clinton emails recovered by State Department under the FOIA]
*[https://www.rt.com/usa/complete-emails-guccifer-clinton-554/ Stolen Clinton emails recovered by Russian Television]

[[Category:Hillary Clinton]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of State]]
[[Category:Obama Cabinet]]
[[Category:First Ladies]]
[[Category:Clinton Administration]]
[[Category:Neoconservativism]]
[[Category:Iraq War]]
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:2008 Presidential Candidates]]
[[Category:2016 Presidential Candidates]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Hillary Clinton email scandal]]
[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]
[[Category:Corruption]]
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Illinois]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Liberal Bias]]
[[Category:Best Selling Authors]]
[[Category:2000s]]
[[Category:2010s]]

Islamophobia

2019-09-25T15:18:56Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

[[File:Richard Dawkins photo.jpg|alt=Richard Dawkins|thumbnail|260px|right|[[Richard Dawkins]] is dismissive of the concept of "Islamophobia" and declared: "I’m always being accused of Islamophobia, that’s a non-word."<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/richard-dawkins-defends-ahmed-mohamed-comments-and-dismisses-islamophobia-as-a-non-word-10515389.html Richard Dawkins defends Ahmed Mohamed comments and dismisses Islamophobia as a 'non-word'], ''Independent'', 24 September 2015</ref> See: [[Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations]] ]]
'''"Islamophobia"''' is, literally, "fear of Islam" though the term can be used for a variety of purposes, like: ''"fear or hatred of [[Islam]] and Muslims"'', and is often used to smear people opposed to and critical of Islam.

"Islamophobia" is a neologism which defines hatred of [[Muslims]] and Islam as an "irrational fear". It is generally used to intimidate critics of Islam in America and prosecute critics in Europe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11464025 |title=Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders goes on trial|date=2010-10-04|publisher=BBC News Europe}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://michellemalkin.com/2006/06/12/the-trial-of-oriana-fallaci/|title=The Trial of Oriana Fallaci|author=Michelle Malkin|date=2006-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://frontpagemag.com/2011/11/30/the-political-persecution-of-elisabeth-sabaditsch-wolff/|title=The Political Persecution of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff|date=2011-11-30|author=Ned May|publisher=Front Page Magazine}}</ref>

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known use of the term "Islamophobia" was in 1976, though it has become more frequently used since the 1997 publication of ''Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All'' by Trevor Phillips of the Runnymede Trust, a left-wing UK think tank that focuses on race and racism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/16/national/main563594.shtml|title=Anti-Muslim Discriination On Rise|author=Jennifer C. Kerr|date=2009-05-18|publisher=CBS News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4102389.stm|title=‘Rise’ in Muslim discrimination|author-Dominic Casciani|publisher=BBC News|date=2004-12-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_42_37/ai_79339769/ |title=Interfaith group deplores anti-Muslim violence|date=2001-10-05|newspaper=National Catholic Reporter|accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=127fe2880e48951b564ac2f3e171242e|title=Big Jump in Hate Crimes Against Muslims Documented|date=2006-10-10|author=Jim Lobe|publication=New America Media}}</ref> However, according to former Imam Abdur-Rahman Muhammad in a Daily News article, the term "Islamophobia" was conceived in Islamic think tanks for the purpose of "beating down critics." <ref>http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ground-zero-mosque-built-u-s-muslims-access-american-dream-article-1.440737&date=2012-04-24</ref>

The Runnymede Trust defines "Islamophobia" as having the following characteristics:

#Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.
#Islam is seen as separate and "other". It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.
#Islam is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist.
#Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a Clash of Civilizations.
#Islam is seen as a political ideology, used for political or military advantage.
#Criticisms made of 'the West' by Islam are rejected out of hand.
#Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.
#Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural and normal.

==Liberal Islamophobia==
Liberals use the term "Islamophobia" often as a way to demonize and smear their opposition. But true Islamophobia is often espoused by the defenders of Islam. Politically correct attitudes of liberals demand concerns for Islamic sensitivity, a fear of offending Islam, demand concessions for Islam over legitimate religions, obfuscate or whitewash Islamic beliefs as to minimize their true intentions. For example, liberals combat so-called "Islamophobia" by exercising [[tolerance]] for the [[sharia law|Islamic judicial process]] which demands that persons convicted of homosexual acts be thrown from the highest point, usually a tall building. The liberal idea of "Islamophobia" is not an irrational fear of Muslims but rather a fear of offending Muslims.

[[CAIR]] is notorious for using the term, heavily equating "Islamophobia" with "[[racism]]" despite Islam being a socio-political ideology and not a "race" or a "religion".

==Examples of "Islamophobia"==
In a May 2001 interview, [[British]] politician Nick Griffin stated "Muslims are the biggest problem at present, for several reasons, because they have the highest birth rate, which means their communities need living space - that's what the ethnic cleansing is about. They have political corruption in their own countries, and when they have a chance to get council [housing] places they are there for graft. Most important of all is that Islam is an aggressive religion." <ref>‘Far right aims to gain foothold in Oldham’, Jeevan Vasagar, May 30, 2001 The Guardian"</ref>

On September 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a [[Sikh]] man (known for wearing distinctive beards and turbans) was mistaken for a Muslim and murdered at a gas station in Mesa, Arizona. His murderer, Frank Silva Roque, was convicted and initially sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole by the Arizona Supreme Court.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3154170.stm</ref>

==Criticism of the concept of "Islamophobia"==
Kenan Malik, a British writer, has criticized the concept of "Islamophobia", calling it a myth. He argues that the charge of "Islamophobia" is leveled against those who criticize [[Islam]] or Muslims in any way (even when those criticisms are legitimate) to serve as a "chilling effect."

Rowan Atkinson, a British comic-actor has likewise stated that although criticizing another person's race is ridiculous and irrational, criticizing another's religion, which is a voluntary belief, is a right. He further stated that laws should not be created which protect certain types of ideas from criticism and not others.

[[Stephen Schwartz]], an American [[writer]] and critic of [[Wahabbism]], has stated that although the charge of "Islamophobia" is sometimes leveled too quickly against an opponent, that it is still a real phenomenon,<ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17874</ref> which he defines as:

#Attacking the entire religion of Islam as a problem for the world;
#Condemning all of Islam and its history as extremist;
#Denying the active existence, in the contemporary world, of a moderate Muslim majority;
#Insisting that Muslims accede to the demands of non-Muslims (based on ignorance and arrogance) for various theological changes, in their religion;
#Treating all conflicts involving Muslims (including, for example, that in Bosnia-Hercegovina a decade ago), as the fault of Muslims themselves;
#Inciting war against Islam as a whole.

[[Daniel Pipes]] argues that the word "Islamophobia" conflates "fear of Islam and fear of radical Islam" and is used to suppress all criticism of Islam including radical Islam. Even moderate Muslims who critically examine the excesses of fellow Muslims are labeled "Islamophobes".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meforum.org/pipes/3075/islamophobia|title=Islamophobia?|author=Daniel Pipes|publication=Middle East Forum|date=Oct 25, 2005}}</ref> The term is used to make Muslims another victim-group.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/islamophobia-is-a-fabrication-20090329-9fjm.html?page=-1|title=Islamophobia is a fabrication|author=Paul Sheehan|date=March 30, 2009|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> Paul Jackson in his study of anti-Islamic politics in the UK, criticizes the Runnymede criteria as lacking in distinctions. He points out the term prevents justifiable examination of jihadi groups.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.radicalism-new-media.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/The_EDL_Britains_New_Far_Right_Social_Movement.pdf|author=Paul Jackson|page=10|title=The EDL}}</ref>

David Horowitz and Robert Spencer wrote that accusations of "Islamophobia" are a [[political correctness|PC]] thought crime used by liberals against conservatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://frontpagemag.com/2012/david-horowitz-and-robert-spencer/islamophobia-thought-crime-of-the-totalitarian-future-4/|title=Islamophobia: Thought Crime of the Totalitarian Future|author=David Horowitz and Robert Spencer}}</ref>

== Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations ==

''See:'' [[Richard Dawkins and Islamophobia accusations]] and [[New Atheism and Islamophobia]]

== See also ==

*[[Atheism vs. Islam]]
*[[Islam and Christianity]]
*[[Muzzamil Hassan]]
*[[Atheist fear of conservative Christians]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.combatantsforpeace.org/ Combatants for Peace]
*[https://ivypanda.com/essays/islamophobia/ Islamophobia]
*[https://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/04/10/thought-europes-muslims-gradually-blend-britains-diverse-landscape-known-better/ UK Equalities Chief Who Popularised The Term ‘Islamophobia’ Admits: ‘I Thought Muslims Would Blend into Britain… I Should Have Known Better’]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Phobias]]
[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Hillary Clinton]]

Obama's Religion

2019-09-18T14:45:18Z

Irenefenswick: fixed 2 dead links and grammar errors

This article examines the evidence concerning the former U.S. President [[Barack Obama]]'s religion.
==Evidence in favor of Obama being a Muslim==
Opinion polls taken in 2010 and 2012 showed that one in five [[America]]ns conclude that Barack Hussein Obama is a [[Muslim]].<ref name=pew13>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref name=pew10>[https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> '''''The following is a partial list of examples suggesting that Obama is a Muslim''''':
[[Image:OBAMA MUSULMAN.jpg|right|thumb|'''Then-Senator Obama wearing traditional African garb''', a gift from his hosts while visiting Kenya<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-wore-muslim-gear-during-kenya-trip]</ref> Obama was disappointed that even in his parental homeland, the native Kenyans seemed to extend "white privilege" to tourists and visitors.]]
*Obama pursued a foreign policy toward the Arab world that was so pro-Muslim that only a Muslim commander-in-chief could have authorized it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nikitas3.com/7000/obama-foreign-policy-pro-muslim-disaster/|title=Obama Foreign Policy is a Pro-Muslim Disaster|date=August 8, 2014|accessdate=June 3, 2014}}</ref> President Obama even sent an unprecedented $1.7 billion in actual cash to [[Iran]].<ref>https://zeldin.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-zeldin-president-obamas-17-billion-cash-payment-iran-was-direct</ref>
*Obama addressed the United Nations on September 25, 2012 to affirm support for freedom for religious worship. He said "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."<ref>http://www.mediaite.com/tv/obamas-tragic-pander-the-future-must-not-belong-to-those-who-slander-the-prophet-of-islam/</ref><ref name="obamawhitehouse.archives.gov">{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly|title=Remarks by the President to the UN General Assembly|accessdate=June 2, 2017}}</ref>
*In a rare speech from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>https://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]]. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*In early 2016, after issuing public statements praising Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]], President Obama attended a memorial service at the Supreme Court for Scalia but did not attend the [[Christian]] funeral services for either. Islam is unique among belief systems in disfavoring entry into a church.<ref>disfavors or even prohibits entering churches. [https://islamqa.info/en/111832] However, "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles." [http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html]</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*From ages six to 10, Obama lived in the [[Islam]]ic country of [[Indonesia]], where he attended a Catholic school and later a public school. Fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity in areas with high concentrations of Muslims.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref> But high Muslim retention rates are in areas with high concentrations of Muslims. In the United States, the retention rate for those raised a Muslim is 76%.<ref>[http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-atheists-have-lowest-retention-rate-compared-to-religious-groups-78029/ Study: Atheists Have Lowest 'Retention Rate' Compared to Religious Groups]. Christian Post</ref> In addition, Obama spent most of his childhood in multicultural Hawaii. Presently, Hawaii has 5,000 or so Muslims — less than 1 percent of the state's population.<ref>[https://apnews.com/d296daac0ed546b89e18dde2a6f87d12/travel-ban-challenge-puts-hawaiis-few-muslims-spotlight Travel ban challenge puts Hawaii’s few Muslims in spotlight]</ref>
[[File:Dollard why believe Obama.png|thumbnail|right|300px]]
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[https://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has. Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, thereby an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[https://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html] https://youtu.be/yeDuOR6vkLM</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that in 1996 then-state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! The nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992); he is claimed to have joined the United Church of Christ in 1988.[http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate]</ref>
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there.
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> Obama had Gaddafi murdered by jihadists<ref>https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/gaddafi_and_obama_one_of_them_was_fighting_islamist_terrorists_in_libya.html</ref> after Gaddafi betrayed Islam and forged an alliance with the infidel West.<ref>https://youtu.be/rpT7fJChBRo</ref>]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20120306215933/http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>https://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of misstating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath. In 2013, the oath was administered properly while Obama's hand was on a Bible.
*At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia''', Custodian of the Islamic Holy Places - April 2009]] Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> The White House denied it was a bow, and President Trump was put in a similar situation when the King presented him with a medal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/20/trump-mocked-obama-for-bowing-to-a-saudi-king-and-then-he/?utm_term=.c34da4a06d16|title=Trump mocked Obama for bowing to a Saudi king. And then he …|work=Washington Post|date=May 20, 2017|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref>
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the [[individual mandate]] and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama further impedes the Christian faith on gay rights, telling military chaplains a statutory provision that would allow military chaplains to opt-out of performing gay marriages is “unnecessary and ill-advised,” but he signed the bill into law anyway.<ref>[http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/obama-calls-conscience-clause-for-military-chaplains-ill-advised.html Obama calls Conscience Clause for Military Chaplains “Ill-Advised”, Fox News, January 3, 2013]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of [[Las Vegas]] for unknown reasons, and Obama has also criticized state lotteries despite being heavily favored by most [[Democrats]]. The reason may be that [[gambling]] is forbidden in the [[Koran]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria.{{fact}} This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] birth father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> He also described his Indonesian step-father Lolo Soetoro as following "a brand of [[Islam]] that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths.".<ref>Obama, Barack (2004) [1995], ''Dreams from my father: a story of race and inheritance''. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3., p. 37.</ref> For most of his childhood, Obama was lived with his maternal grandparents who were Methodists. There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was a student at Harvard Law School from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-obama-turkey/obama-appeals-to-faiths-in-istanbul-idUKTRE5351HW20090407</ref>

== Obama's Claims to be a Christian ==
:''Main article: [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]''
[[File:Evergreen-chapel-tree-of-knowledge.jpg|thumb|left|Evergreen Chapel at Camp David]]
While campaigning for president in 2008, the rumor led Obama to publicly state that he was [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref name=ct/> Obama asserted, "I am a Christian and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously, it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."<ref name=ct>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

Obama is a welcomed member of the [[United Church of Christ]]. In 2007, the UCC magazine quoted him as saying:
<blockquote>You come to church in the first place precisely because you are of this world, not apart from it, Obama wrote. You need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away because you are human and need an ally in this difficult journey. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity UCC on 95th Street in the Southside of Chicago one day and affirm my Christian faith.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate|title=Barack Obama, candidate for President, is 'UCC'|date=February 8, 2007|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

Obama also discussed his religious views each year in a speech at the annual National Prayer Breakfast.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/02/02/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast|title=Remarks by the President at the National Prayer Breakfast|date=February 2, 2012|accessdate=May 30, 2017|quote=I wake up each morning and I say a brief prayer, and I spend a little time in scripture and devotion. And from time to time, friends of mine, some of who are here today, friends like Joel Hunter or T.D. Jakes, will come by the Oval Office or they’ll call on the phone or they’ll send me an email, and we’ll pray together, and they’ll pray for me and my family, and for our country.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/05/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast|title=Remarks by the President at National Prayer Breakfast|date=February 5, 2015|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref>

The Obama family has attended several Protestant churches since moving to Washington, D.C., in 2009, including Shiloh Baptist Church and St. John's Episcopal Church. The Obamas also worship at Evergreen Chapel at [[Camp David]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1908437,00.html|title=The Obamas Find a Church Home — Away from Home|work=Time Magazine|date=June 29, 2009|accessdate=May 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/us/as-the-obamas-celebrate-christmas-rituals-of-faith-stay-on-the-sidelines.html|last=Parker|first=Ashley|title=As the Obamas Celebrate Christmas, Rituals of Faith Become Less Visible|work=The New York Times|date= December 28, 2013|accessdate=June 3, 2017|quote=Part of Mr. Obama’s decision to largely opt-out of religious services reflects a desire to avoid disruptions by his Secret Service detail and security requirements, echoing concerns of Ronald Reagan, who presidential historians say rarely went to church.}}</ref><ref>Gilgoff, Dan. "[https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/06/30/time-report-white-house-reaction-raise-more-questions-about-obamas-church-hunt TIME Report, White House Reaction Raise More Questions About Obama's Church Hunt]," ''U.S. News & World Report'', June 30, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2017.</ref><ref>"[http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/04/22/first-lady-we-use-sundays-for-naps-if-were-not-going-to-church/ First Lady: We Use Sundays For Naps If We're Not Going To Church]," ''CBS DC'', April 22, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2017.</ref>

[[Donald Trump]], who later was elected U.S. President, investigated both the rumor that Obama was born outside the United States and that he was a Muslim. He concluded that the rumors were started by Obama's 2008 primary opponents and that they were false.<ref name=trump>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/09/16/trump-clinton-trade-barbs-over-obama-birther-movement.html|title=Trump says Obama born in US, ‘period’ – after new ‘birther’ dust-up|date=September 16, 2016|work=Fox News|accessdate=May 26, 2017}}</ref>

There are direct refutations of the claims made above by those seeking to spread the "Obama is a Muslim" rumor.
__TOC__

=== Public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol and smoking ===

[[File:Pig.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

Many Muslims drink beer, but there is a misconception that the [[Koran]] forbids it. In fact, only some alcoholic drinks are prohibited in Islam. (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121). The Koran forbids the eating of pork (Koran 2:173).

Barack Obama has been seen eating [[Spam]],<ref>
*[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]
*[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]
*[https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+wine&rlz=1C1PRFG_enUS744US744&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia1rns9Y_UAhWBUiYKHTj2CTcQ_AUIBygC&biw=819&bih=510#tbm=isch&q=obama+beer 1st set of pictures of Obama drinking alcohol]
*[https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+wine&rlz=1C1PRFG_enUS744US744&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia1rns9Y_UAhWBUiYKHTj2CTcQ_AUIBygC&biw=819&bih=510 2nd set of pictures of Obama drinking alcohol]
</ref> which is most popular in [[Hawaii]] where Obama grew up,<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/Menuism/why-do-hawaiians-love-spam-so-much_b_1901306.html Why is spam so popular in Hawaii], Huffington Post</ref> and which Muslims are not allowed to eat.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/23/larger-implications-of-ob_n_153200.html|title=Larger Implications Of Obama’s Taste For Spam Uncovered|date=Jan 23, 2009|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America certifies the foods that Muslims are allowed to eat, and neither Hormel nor Spam is on the list. http://www.ifanca.org/Pages/Certified-Products.aspx</ref>

Pictures of Obama drinking alcohol can be found [https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+wine&rlz=1C1PRFG_enUS744US744&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia1rns9Y_UAhWBUiYKHTj2CTcQ_AUIBygC&biw=819&bih=510#tbm=isch&q=obama+beer HERE] and [https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+wine&rlz=1C1PRFG_enUS744US744&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia1rns9Y_UAhWBUiYKHTj2CTcQ_AUIBygC&biw=819&bih=510 HERE.]

The first Muslim [[fatwa]]s discouraging the use of tobacco dates from 1602,<ref>{{cite news|title=How tobacco firms try to undermine Muslim countries' smoking ban|url=http://www.observerbd.com/2015/04/21/84683.php|accessdate=May 29, 2017|publisher=[[The Bangladesh Observer]]|date=April 21, 2015}}</ref> and Muslim leaders continue to discourage smoking for health reasons. Observant Muslims do not smoke, although smoking is increasing among young people in predominantly Muslim countries. Obama has smoked for most of his life, although he has tried to quit since becoming President.

=== Donations to Charity ===
Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam,<ref name=pillars/> requires all Muslims to give at least 2.5% of their income to charity or other good causes. The publicly released Obama tax returns show that he and Mrs. Obama give an average of less than 1% of their income to charity.

=== Homosexuality ===
People spread the rumor that candidate Obama was a Muslim to create a fear that he would advance a Muslim agenda as President. The fact that he went on to advocate same-sex marriage and homosexuals in the military shows that the fear was unfounded.

As in the [[Bible]], the [[Koran]] has anti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Among Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws, as do some states in the United States. So, President Obama's actions as President undercut the claim that he is a Muslim.
=== Praying five times a day ===

Devout Muslims pray five times a day facing Mecca.<ref name=pillars>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No Secret Service agents have reported that he prayed toward Mecca while in the White House or under their protection.

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref name=pillars/> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

===Pilgrimage to Mecca===
Devote Muslims travel to Mecca on a religious pilgrimage.<ref name=pillars/> Only Muslims are allowed access to the holy sites in Mecca. Despite all of the power and access of the Presidency, Obama never attempted to travel to Mecca.
=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike dogs?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.
===Other point-by-point rebuttals===
====Oval Office Address following San Bernadino attack====
The first section of this article states, "from the Oval Office, on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting Islam to the American people." The purpose of the Oval Office address was to discuss an attack in San Bernadino that killed 14 Americans. Obama condemned the attack and explained what the government was doing to prevent future attacks. He called for preventing terrorists on the no-fly list from buying guns and for an assault weapons ban. He asked for legislation for "stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they’ve traveled to warzones." He did have a paragraph (which was very similar to President Trump's speech in May 2017) that said:
<blockquote>Here’s what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world -- including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology. Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim. If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate.<ref>https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/06/address-nation-president</ref></blockquote>
So, the claim is false and does not show President Obama to be a Muslim.
====Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel and invading Syria====
The first section of this article argues that because President Obama appointed [[Chuck Hagel]] as Secretary of Defense, Obama must be a Muslim. Hagel was confirmed by a 58–41 Senate vote. Two possible reasons why Hagel was nominated are that as a Republican, he would be easier to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate and that he was a veteran who later was active in Congress on defense issues.

The first section of this article argues that Obama must be a Muslim because "Obama supports a military invasion of Syria." In fact, the Obama administration negotiated a deal where Syria put their chemical weapons under Russian control, avoiding any need for an invasion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-i-understand-american-people-arent-with-me-on-syria-strike/|title=Obama: "I understand" American people aren't with me on Syria strike|date=Sept. 11, 2103|work=CBS News|accessdate=May 30, 2017}}</ref> Obama did not want to invade Syria and worked to avoid it.

If Obama were a Muslim pushing a pro-Muslim agenda in the mid-east, there should be clear differences with the policies of his Christian successor, Donald Trump. However, it appears that their approach to the mid-east is similar. Both want to work with mid-east countries to eliminate the terrorist movements there and to bring stability to the region.

==== Liberal Christianity and liberalism ====
The first section of this article states without support, "Obama's background and outlook are Muslim, and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity." In fact, during Obama's formative years, he was raised by his maternal grandparents, who were Methodist. He was never a Muslim, the percentage of Muslims who convert to Christianity is not relevant. Obama was raised with a liberal and Christian outlook, not a Muslim one.

For 20 years, Obama attended the United Church of Christ which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptized in this church. [[Barack Obama]] left the congregation in Chicago and rarely attended any church while in [[D.C.]], out of concerns that security precautions would inconvenience the other worshipers. When the Obama family spent their weekends at [[Camp David]] in Maryland, they worshiped at the Evergreen Chapel.

==== Obama took the backup oath of office without a Bible ====
For the planned 2009 public ceremonial swearing-in Obama used a Bible. However, the Chief Justice misstated the oath and dropped by the White House to administer it a second time just to remove any questions. In 2013, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes the oath of office]</ref> Contrary to fake news rumors, he did not use a Koran.

==== Absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====
The first section of this article claims that Obama did not attend the funeral services for Scalia and Nancy Reagan because as a Muslim, he does not like to enter churches. The first section did not say that President Obama ''was invited'' to attend the Scalia or Nancy Reagan funerals. President Obama did pay tribute to the legacy of Nancy Reagan in his weekly television address of March 12, 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/12/weekly-address-legacy-nancy-reagan|title=WEEKLY ADDRESS: The Legacy of Nancy Reagan|date=March 12, 2016|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref> Barack and Michelle Obama also issued an official statement of condolences.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/06/statement-president-and-first-lady|title=Statement by the President and the First Lady|date=March 6, 2016|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref> Mrs. Obama attended the funeral which was held under a tent at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California and not in a church.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/12/us/politics/nancy-reagan-funeral.html|title=At Nancy Reagan’s Funeral, Honoring the Queen of a Republican Camelot|work=NY Times|date=March 11, 2016|accessdate=June 1, 2017}}</ref> Regarding Scalia, President Obama issued a proclamation that flags should be flown at half-staff.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/13/presidential-proclamation-death-antonin-scalia|title=Presidential Proclamation: Death of Antonin Scalia|date=February 13, 2016|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref> President Obama also issued a statement<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/13/remarks-president-passing-us-supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia|title=Remarks by the President on the Passing of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia|date=February 13, 2016|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref> and attended a memorial service held at the Supreme Court, with Vice President Biden attending the official funeral the next day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/us/politics/antonin-scalia-funeral-supreme-court.html?_r=0|title=Funeral for Scalia Will Be Held Saturday|date=Feb. 16, 2016|accessdate=May 28, 2017|work=New York Times}}</ref>

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan might be explained by his busy schedule or by his desire not to disrupt the funerals with the added security that the Secret Service brings to any Presidential event. Also, to preserve the continuity of government, the President, Vice President, and the cabinet avoids attending the same public events to reduce creating terrorism targets. In any case, the kind words he said upon their passing is not evidence of President Obama being a Muslim.

To the extent that the first section of this article claims that President Obama was reluctant to enter churches, there are numerous counter-examples. While in Chicago, he was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years. As a community organizer, many of his meetings were held in churches. While President, he attended services at Shiloh Baptist Church and St. John's Episcopal Church.

====== Attended other funerals======
On August 28, 2009, Obama gave a eulogy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston for Senator Edward Kennedy who was Catholic.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/29/edward-kennedy-funeral-president-obama|title=
President Obama leads US political elite at Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral|date=Aug. 29, 2009|accessdate=May 30, 2017|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

On September 30, 2016, Obama traveled to Israel and attended the funeral of former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres who was Jewish.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jaffe|first1=Greg|title=Obama will travel to Israel for Shimon Peres's funeral|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/28/obama-will-travel-to-israel-for-shimon-peres-funeral/|accessdate=September 29, 2016|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 28, 2016}}</ref>

On December 10, 2013, President Obama traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa to speak at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/12/10/remarks-president-obama-memorial-service-former-south-african-president-|title=Remarks by President Obama at Memorial Service for Former South African President Nelson Mandela|date=December 10, 2013|accessdate=May 30, 2017|quote=Mandela led ...so men and women could stand up for their God-given dignity.}}</ref>

On June 6, 2015, President Obama delivered the eulogy at the pulpit of the St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington, Delaware for Beau Biden.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/06/politics/beau-biden-funeral/|title='A man of character': Obama delivers emotional eulogy for Beau Biden|date=June 6, 2015|accessdate=June 1, 2017}}</ref>

Obama attended the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref> While the Scalia and Reagan funerals may not be a counter-example to the Muslim rumor, the Peres, Biden and Inouye funeral are.

When a racist shot up the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed eight people, President Obama traveled to Charleston to deliver the eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney who was among those killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/26/remarks-president-eulogy-honorable-reverend-clementa-pinckney|title=Remarks by the President in Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney|date=June 26, 2015|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref>

President Obama traveled to Joplin, Missouri, to speak at a memorial service for those who died in a storm.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/29/remarks-president-memorial-service-joplin-missouri|title=Remarks by the President at a Memorial Service in Joplin, Missouri|date=May 29, 2011|accessdate=May 28, 2017}}</ref>

==== Views on Israel ====
The first section of this article makes the vague subjective claim that "Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel." All of President Obama's public foreign policy statements were carefully vetted and delivered without emotion. President Obama visited Israel on March 20, 2013 and September 30, 2016.
==== Obama's ring ====
The first section of this article claims Obama's "ring has Islamic inscriptions." The statement is sourced to World Net Daily, which did not actually examine the ring, but rather blurry enlargements of photos of the ring. It suggests that the pattern on the outside of the ring is in the form of Arabic symbols, rather than claiming there is an engraved message on the inside of the band. Snopes featured a clear, closeup of the ring and showed that the design is a series of loops and not Arabic symbols.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/weddingring.asp|title=Obama’s Wedding Ring|date=October 8, 2014|accessdate=May 30, 2017}}</ref>
==== Muslim call to prayer ====
The first section of this article claims, "Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is 'one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset,' and recited 'with a first-class Arabic accent' the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...." citing a WND web posting that in turn referenced an Obama interview with ''New York Times'' reporter Nicholas Kristof in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06kristof.html|title=Obama: Man of the World|work=New York Times|date=March 6, 2007|accessdate=May 30, 2017}}</ref> Kristof wrote a column in 2008 making reference to it in terms of "Mr. Obama has spoken respectfully of Islam" but denied being a Muslim himself.<ref name=kristof>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/opinion/09kristof.html|title=Obama and the Bigots|work=New York Times|date=March 9, 2008|accessdate=May 30, 2017}}</ref> Just because a person praises the sound of a religious practice does not mean that the person has accepted the content as his own personal religious belief. By analogy, a person can also recite a television advertising jingle from memory without wanting to ever buy the product.
==== Protecting freedom of religion ====
At times, the first section of this article had taken a quotation out of context from President Obama's September 25, 2012 address to the United Nations General Assembly. In the weeks prior to that speech, ISIL propagandists had released a video to create the impression that the United States was anti-Muslim. The video that was falsely attributed to the US government, drew widespread protests in the Arab world. Obama's address drew upon that tension to discuss the importance of the right of free exercise of religion worldwide. The end of the speech turned to the future with a series of statements each with "The future must not belong to..." which advocated religious tolerance.<ref name="obamawhitehouse.archives.gov"/>
==== Accepting Islams' role in the modern world ====
The first section of this article argues that Obama must be a Muslim because he once wrote, "Islam can be compatible with the modern world." There are pluralistic modern societies where Muslims live side-by-side with Christians. Indeed, given America's founding values have included religious freedom, modern American society is a successful example. Obama did not write Islam ''is always'' compatible with the modern world. Only radical Islamic terrorists believe that Islam cannot be compatible with the modern world because that world embodies Western Judeo-Christian values.
==== Did not attend church as a President-elect ====
The first section of this article quotes Politico as saying Obama did not attend church since the 2008 election. That article was correct, but it was published on November 23, 2008, just three weeks after the election. A second article is footnoted that states the Obamas did not attend church on Christmas 2008. Both articles explain that the Obamas did not want to disrupt local services with a large security detail and procedures. Because the Obamas later began to attend services at the Evergreen Chapel of Camp David, this does not prove that Obama is a Muslim.
====Female genital mutilation====
Some Muslims practice [[female genital mutilation]], and the practice was widespread in Indonesia when Obama lived there. However, the Obama Administration took many actions against the practice, signing a 2013 law tightening the prohibition against FGM, and supported the [[United Nations]]' efforts against FGM. There is nothing to suggest that the Obama family practiced FGM.

== Possible closet atheist/agnostic ==

There are several reasons to doubt that Obama is an atheist. Very few Africans or African Americans are atheists, for example, and even fewer still who were raised in multi-cultural Hawaii and Indonesia as was Obama. He has displayed none of the common characteristics of atheists, such as [[evolution syndrome]], a "wannabe" desire to be accepted intellectually, belief in an [[Old Earth]], obesity, or a lack of ambition. His favorite science fiction movies show no propensity towards atheism.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/14/obama-favorite-sci-fi-tv-shows-movies</ref>

[[File:arrogant_obama.jpg|right|200px|thumbnail|Charles Krauthammer said [[Barack Obama]] is arrogant narcissist who essentially worships himself.<ref name="Krauthammer: Obama 'narcissist'">[https://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/charles-krauthammer-barack-obama-narcissist-110975 Krauthammer: Obama 'narcissist'], Politico</ref> ]]
=== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ===
[[File:Obama Wright.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|For 20 years, Obama attended a church which practiced [[liberal Christianity]]. The Reverend [[Jeremiah Wright]] was pastor of that church.]]
Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]].

=== Obama isn't especially religious ===

Barack Obama isn't particularly religious. As noted above, he was the first president to host an [[Atheist organizations|atheist organization]] at the White House.

Obama is a [[narcissism|narcissist]] who essentially often worships himself.<ref name="Krauthammer: Obama 'narcissist'"/> His first campaign was rightly criticized for making Obama into some messiah-like figure.{{fact}} Atheists are known for being very arrogant (see: [[Atheism and arrogance]]). Obama is known for being arrogant (see: [[Barack Obama and liberal elitism]]). On the other hand, the traits of arrogance and narcissism are not exclusive to atheists.

Furthermore, Obama's lack of religiosity/devoutness is not surprising as this is frequently a characteristic of people who attend [[liberal Christianity]] type churches like Obama has done. Liberal churches are bleeding members profusely due to people's lack of commitment to the Christian faith.{{fact}}

To compound matters, Obama's mother, Ann Durham, was a [[secular humanism|secular humanist]] which is a type of [[Atheism|atheist]].

=== Purported worldviews of parents and grandparents ===

Obama's birth father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr, was an ex-Muslim who became an [[Anglican]] at the young age of six years old.<ref>Jacobs (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=EHw1Jy4ZvcYC&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 26]: Her brother Baraka, as she [Hawa Auma] recalls, converted to Christianity when he was about six years old and changed his name to the more Christian-sounding Barack because the Christian missionaries at the early schools that he attended insisted that he do so.</ref> He later became an atheist. Barack Obama declared in a ''Time'' magazine article entitled "[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1546579,00.html My spiritual journey]": "My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was 2 years old; in any event, although my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition."

Kenya is the home country of Barack Hussein Obama Sr., but Obama Sr. had virtually no influence on the raising of his son. Obama's mother remarried, and ultimately, Obama was raised by his maternal grandparents. In Barack Obama's memoir, ''Dreams From My Father'', he describes his great-grandparents as "stern [[Methodism|Methodist]] parents who did not believe in drinking, playing cards, or dancing.". Obama's stepfather was an atheist.

According to both Obama's father's sister and Obama, Obama's father became a Christian when he was six years old. Obama's father attended an Anglican missionary school according to Obama's father's sister, when he became a Christian.<ref>Jacobs (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=EHw1Jy4ZvcYC&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 26]: Her brother Baraka [Obama Sr.], as she [Hawa Auma] recalls, converted to Christianity when he was about six years old and changed his name to the more Christian-sounding Barack because the Christian missionaries at the early schools that he attended insisted that he do so.</ref>

Since colonial times and to this day, schools run by Christian missionaries in Africa have had a reputation of having the best schools in various areas of Africa and some Muslim parents send their children to these school in order to receive a better education.<ref name="Muslim World League website article">[http://themwl.org/global/content/universities-and-islamic-institutions-east-africa Muslim World League website article]</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37321355 Kenyan Muslims can wear hijab at Christian schools - court], BBC</ref> There have been Muslim children who attend these schools who have become Christians.<ref name="Muslim World League website article">Kenyan Muslims can wear hijab at Christian schools - court, BBC</ref> As far as evidence that Obama Sr. received a strong education as a youth, Obama Sr. is a Harvard University graduate, and Harvard had a highly competitive admissions process.

As far as Kenya, a 2015 study estimates some 70,000 Christian believers from a Muslim background in the country, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/16338087/Believers_in_Christ_from_a_Muslim_Background_A_Global_Census Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11: 14]</ref>

In a ''Al Jazeera'' interview the prominent Muslim cleric Ahmad Al Qataani indicated the number of Muslims in Africa diminished greatly in the last century and that 6 million African Muslims were converting to Christianity every year.<ref name="americanthinker.com">[https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2006/05/six_million_african_muslims_le.html In Africa Alone Everyday, 16,000 Muslims Leave Islam]</ref>

The Muslim cleric Ahmad Al Qataani specifically declared:
{{Cquote|Islam used to represent, as you previously mentioned, Africa's main religion and there were 30 African languages that used to be written in Arabic script. The number of Muslims in Africa has diminished to 316 million, half of whom are Arabs in North Africa. So in the section of Africa that we are talking about, the non-Arab section, the number of Muslims does not exceed 150 million people. When we realize that the entire population of Africa is one billion people, we see that the number of Muslims has diminished greatly from what it was at the beginning of the last century. On the other hand, the number of Catholics has increased from one million in 1902 to 329 million 882 thousand (329,882,000). Let us round off that number to 330 million in the year 2000.

As to how that happened, well there are now 1.5 million churches whose congregations account for 46 million people. In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity. These numbers are very large indeed <ref name="americanthinker.com">[https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2006/05/six_million_african_muslims_le.html In Africa Alone Everyday, 16,000 Muslims Leave Islam]</ref>}}

John L. Allen, Jr., editor of the Catholic news website Crux, wrote:
{{Cquote|Africa is the zone of Christianity’s greatest growth. It is already the world’s most populous Christian continent, with slightly more Christians today than there are in North America, and the numbers are burgeoning. The Pew Forum projects that by 2050, sub-Saharan Africa will have 1.1 billion Christians, almost twice as much as its nearest rival for adherents, Islam.<ref>[https://cruxnow.com/faith/2015/12/30/africa-christianitys-greatest-growth-and-greatest-threat/ Africa: Christianity's greatest growth, and greatest threat] by John L. Allen, Jr., Crux</ref>}}

Many people, but certainly not all, follow the steps of their parents when it comes to their religious faith or their lack thereof. Admittedly though the retention rate for people raised on the atheist household is low in the United States (around 30%) so Obama's parents' atheism is not as big of a factor as many people might suppose (see: [[Atheism and its retention rate in individuals]]).

=== Atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to meet with an atheist group. It met with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Summary of argument that Obama is a closet atheist/agnostic ===

Given that Obama isn't particularly religious, his parents' irreligion and the toxicity of being an atheist in terms of electability to a political office in the United States (see: [[Views on atheists]]), there have been accusations that Obama is a [[closet atheist]]/closet [[agnosticism|agnostic]].<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/barack-obama-closeted-non_b_692751.html Barack Obama: Closeted Non-Believer?], Huffington Post</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/24/bill-maher-obama-hes-drop-dead-atheist/ Bill Maher on Obama: ‘He’s a drop-dead atheist’], Washington Times</ref>

==Reaction of others==
:''See also: [[Debate:Is Obama a Muslim?]]''
Many people believe that politics is the motive behind the attacks on President Obama's religious beliefs. By questioning Obama's stated Christian beliefs, a political opponent can call him an untrustworthy liar without being direct. Polling data suggests that if Obama's primary opponents could convince the public that he was a Muslim, it would hurt his electability. In a 2007 Gallup poll, 94 percent of Americans said they would vote for a black candidate for president and 88 percent for a woman. However, only 34 percent of respondents in a 2006 ''Los Angeles Times'' poll said they could vote for a Muslim for president.<ref name=kristof/>

A survey in March 2008 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that ten percent of American voters believed that then-Senator Barack Obama was Muslim. 16% of conservative Republicans, 16% of white evangelical Protestants and 19% of rural Americans believed Obama, who at the time was a Presidential candidate, was Muslim.<ref>USA Today, ''Poll: 1 in 10 think Obama is Muslim'', Posted 4/1/2008, by Daniel Burke, Religion News Service, retrieved 10/16/2008.[https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-04-01-obama-muslim_N.htm]</ref> In a later survey, in July 2008, the number had risen to 12% of American voters who thought Obama was a Muslim. Interestingly, 37% of those who thought he was Muslim intended to vote for him.<ref>Pew Research Center, ''12% - Still Think Obama is Muslim'', retrieved 10/16/08 [http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=509]</ref>

According to September 2015 survey data, 39% say he is Protestant, 29% say he is Muslim, 11% of people say Obama's not religious, 4% say he is Catholic, and 14% that they just don't know. Among college-educated people, 63% say he is Protestant.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/13/politics/barack-obama-religion-christian-misperceptions/ Misperceptions persist about Obama's faith, but aren't so widespread], CNN</ref> And of course, in the United States, where many people are religious (especially African Americans who are very commonly Obama supporters), Obama supporters are more likely to say he is religious.

So, it is not surprising that investigators hired by Donald Trump found that the rumors originated with President Obama's primary opponents.<ref name=trump/>

==See also==
* [[Debate:Is Obama a Muslim?]]
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

John F. Kennedy, Jr.

2019-09-18T14:07:22Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

'''John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr.''' (November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999) was an American lawyer, pilot and the eldest son of President [[John F. Kennedy]] and First Lady [[Jacqueline Kennedy]]. Kennedy died in a plane crash in 1999. On July 16, Kennedy and his wife [[Carolyn Bessette]] were reported missing. They were en route to the wedding of [[Rory Kennedy]]. On July 21, their bodies were discovered on the ocean floor. The [[NTSB]] determined that Kennedy lost control of his [[Saratoga]] due to spatial disorientation and crashed into the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20110717025457/http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_08_21_a_choking.htm</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Jr., John F.}}
[[Category:Lawyers]]
[[Category:Kennedy Family]]

TCOT Report

2019-09-18T13:24:33Z

Irenefenswick: fixed 2 dead links and grammar errors

'''The TCOT Report''' (or "'''#TCOT Report'''")<ref name=tcot>[http://tcotreport.com/ #TCOT Report]</ref> is an [[Internet]]-only [[news]] [[Web site]] from a [[conservative]] point of view, founded by [[Michael Patrick Leahy]]. The TCOT Report uses the tagline, "Breaking News From the Conservative World!" The name "TCOT" stands for "Top Conservatives on Twitter," namely as a representation of the hashtag used for tracking political updates on [[Twitter]].<ref>Michael Patrick Leahy, Co-Creator of #TCOT Tag, on how Twitter Changes Politics. [https://abcnews.go.com/WN/tcot-drives-tea-party-republican-message-social-media/story?id=11682222 The Conversation: Understanding 'Hashtag Politics'], ''[[ABC News]]'', September 20, 2010.</ref> The TCOT Report strongly supports the [[Tea Party Movement]], but does not endorse or have any connection as an organization with any particular Tea Party group.<ref name=list>[http://www.topconservativesontwitter.org Top Conservatives on Twitter], topconservativesontwitter.org.</ref>

==Drudge meets Twitter==
The TCOT Report was modeled on [[Drudge Report]]. It has been described in the press as "Drudge meets Twitter."<ref>[http://tcotprojects.ning.com/ TCOT Action Projects]</ref> The TCOT Report has stated the following:
{{cquote|They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We are hoping that our friend, Mr. Drudge, will take kindly to our efforts, and have currently sent a message to him via emissaries to make him aware of this effort, and to see if he has no objections. Should he object, we will change the format right away.<ref name=tcot/>}}

===Twitter hashtag===
The #TCOT hashtag stands for a community of conservative [[Americans]] who think that the [[Republican Party]] has lost track of its core values.<ref>[http://commonsenseinohio.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-get-most-out-of-tcot.html How to get the most out of #TCOT], ''Common Sense In Ohio'', December 22, 2008.</ref> The TCOT Report does not "own" the #TCOT hashtag, and the news source is not affiliated with the ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'' organization.
Success in the development of the TCOT Report has widely been associated with its ability to incorporate social media [[technology]], namely [[Twitter]], as part of its strategy for building a reader base. Since the site began, "#TCOT" has remained the most successful Twitter hashtag of all time, consistently dominating as the #1 used hashtag for tweets sent on Twitter.<ref>[http://www.tcotreport.com/toptenfeb.html Top Ten Twitter Hashtags of All Time], ''TCOT Report'', February 18, 2009.</ref> In an independent study, data showed that conservatives using the #TCOT hashtag out-tweeted [[democrats]], [[Progressive Party|progressives]] and [[liberals]] by more than 3.5 to 1.<ref>Allan Bromanich. [http://drunkonpolitics.com/2009/10/28/twiberals-vs-conservatwives-the-twitter-hashtag-battle/ Twiberals vs Conservatwives. The Twitter Hashtag Battle], ''Drunk on Politics'', November 28, 2009.</ref>

Research at [[SourceWatch]] showed that in the [[House of Representatives]], [[Republicans]] are far more prolific at using Twitter, sending out five times as many messages as their [[Democrat]]ic counterparts. In the [[Senate]], Republicans' tweets outnumber Democrats' by a smaller 35% margin. Because Republican Congressmen tweet more often, more people subscribe, or "follow," their Twitter feeds. Twitter activity from groups like ''Top Conservatives On Twitter'' (#TCOT hashtag), has led to Republicans occupying 18 of the top 20 spots in terms of followers on Twitter. Republicans "follow" people back, too—or at least more than Democrats, according to research. The study says they subscribe to more people's feeds by a factor of 10.<ref>Taylor Buley. [https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/13/congress-republicans-democrats-technology-personal-twitter.html Republican's Tweet Revenge], Forbes.com, January 13, 2010.</ref>

==Collaboration with the TCOT organization==
Approved unanimously on January 8, 2009, all members of the ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'' organization, which included Michael Patrick Leahy, agreed to collaborate under the guidelines of the following four principles, called "the 4 C's of the #TCOT community."
:1. [[Conservatism]]
:2. [[Collaboration]]
:3. Constructive Dialogue
:4. Community.

These four pillars of conservatism are four of the five pillars established at the formation of the [[Heritage Foundation]] almost three decades earlier. However, neither The TCOT Report or the ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'' organization is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, but instead, are a [[grassroots]] extension of the policies the Heritage Foundation promotes.<ref>[http://tcotreport.com/statementofprinciples.html Statement of Principles], ''The #TCOT Report'', January 8, 2009.</ref> [[Rob Neppell]], co-founder of the organization called ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'', is not associated with the TCOT Report news source, nor is the TCOT Report affiliated with ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'', though Mr. Leahy is a co-founder of ''Top Conservatives on Twitter''.<ref>[http://kithbridge.com/tcot/index.php/tcot-feed A Message from TCOT Co-Founder Rob Neppell], April 30, 2009.</ref>

===TCOT list===
The TCOT list was first placed on the [[World Wide Web|web]] on November 28, 2008. In the time since then, it has become a bit of a "rallying point" for conservatives on Twitter.<ref name=list/> Because the TCOT Report bloggers and members on the ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'' list are involved in a [[grassroots]] movement, as well are working in collaboration with each other, it was reported that members of the TCOT list "cannot be merely a 'campaign profile' [or] 'political office holder profile' or a 'radio or television program or publication promotional profile.'"<ref>[http://kithbridge.com/tcot/index.php/about-the-list About the List]</ref>

==The TCOT Report Staff==
The TCOT Report relies upon the nationwide network of conservative [[activists]] who use Twitter and are members of the ''Top Conservatives on Twitter'' list to provide on-duty editors with breaking news of interest to conservatives, and at a speed "faster than any other current news source."<ref name=tcot/> The website also relies upon the cleverness and initiative of #TCOT Twitter-feed readers, and the TCOT Report [[blog]]gers and [[columnist]]s for much of the content. The TCOT Report has a stated goal to build a team of 24 people who can update the news website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Currently, there are four [[Editor]]s, one Publisher, and one Managing Editor. The four editors are [[Michael J. Bernard]], [[Dennis Mooney]], and two users on Twitter who go by the names "Johnny Alamo, Pundit," and "Citizen Strategist." Michael Patrick Leahy is the [[Publisher]], and [[Bill Meeker]] was named Managing Editor.<ref>[http://www.tcotreport.com/meekereditor.html Bill Meeker Named Managing Editor of the #TCOT Report], December 30, 2008.</ref>

==Breaking news exclusives==
Similar to the Drudge Report, the TCOT Report primarily focuses on linking to breaking news stories that are of interest to conservatives. However, the publisher, Michael Patrick Leahy, occasionally writes TCOT Report exclusives, spotlighting the goal to publish news at a speed "faster than any other current news source." Leading up to the [[New York]] 23rd special elections vote, in an exclusive breaking news story, the TCOT Report uncovered the widely controversial actions by Assemblywoman [[Janet Duprey]], how she "threw the nomination to her friend Assemblywoman [[Dede Scozzafava]], despite the wishes of the majority of [[Republicans]] in the county where she also serves as party chairman."<ref>Michael Patrick Leahy. [http://www.tcotreport.com/23ny1.html Nomination of Liberal Republican in New York 23rd Tainted by Breach of Trust], ''The TCOT Report'', October 19, 2009.</ref><ref>Michael Patrick Leahy. [http://www.tcotreport.com/josephoct20.html Republican County Chairman in NY 23rd Slams Scozzafava, Says He's Written Off Election], ''The TCOT Report'', October 20, 2009.</ref><ref>Michael Patrick Leahy. [http://www.tcotreport.com/implosionoct21.html Is Dede Scozzafava's Campaign Imploding Due to Erratic Leadership and Very Odd Behavior?], ''The TCOT Report'', October 21, 2009.</ref> As the story unraveled, Dede Scozzafava, as the Republican nominee for [[Congress]] in the 23rd Congressional District special election, dropped out from the race less than an hour after a Siena Poll showed that she could not win.<ref>Michael Patrick Leahy. [http://www.tcotreport.com/sienapolloct31.html Scozzafava Drops Out of NY 23 Race as Final Siena Poll Shows It's a 2 Man Race Between Hoffman and Owens], ''The TCOT Report'', October 31, 2009.</ref> The TCOT Report endorsed [[Doug Hoffman]], as he was the [[Conservative Party of New York]] nominee for Congress from the 23rd district.

==See also==
* For an up-to-date list, compiled by a conservapedian as a sole-credited user-essay, of Twitter users generally recognized as conservatives and influencing the conversation on Twitter, see: [[Essay:Top conservatives on Twitter]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20190402185214/http://tcotreport.com/ The TCOT Report]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20100208214323/http://kithbridge.com:80/tcot/ Top Conservatives on Twitter Rankings List] {dead link}

[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Websites]]
[[Category:Conservative Media]]
[[Category:Conservative News Organizations]]

Chris Christie

2019-09-13T14:46:21Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

{{Officeholder
|name=Chris Christie
|image=Chris-christie3.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Mary Pat Christie
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=New Jersey
|terms=January 19, 2010 – January 16, 2018
|preceded=[[Jon Corzine]]
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Phil Murphy]]
}}
}}

'''Christopher Christie''' (born September 6, 1962, in Newark, New Jersey) was the 55th Governor of [[New Jersey]], having won in the 2009 election by a 49%-45% margin over incumbent [[Democrat]] [[Jon Corzine]]. A [[Republican]], Christie previously served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Christie declined to run for president in 2012, but endorsed [[Mitt Romney]] early and at a pivotal time when Romney was struggling with [[evangelical]] statements against him. But Christie was passed over by Romney in his selection of a candidate for Vice President, despite how Christie might have attracted [[Catholic]] voters nationwide, as well as Irish and Italian American voters, and helped carry nearby [[Pennsylvania]]. Instead, Christie was picked to deliver the keynote address at the [[Republican National Convention]]. However, Christie earned the ire of [[conservative]]s with his fervent embrace of [[Barack Hussein Obama]] at a critical moment, likely costing Romney the election.

Christie caved into the [[homosexual agenda]] by prohibiting [[conversion therapy]] for minors, which is a shocking infringement on liberty and parental rights. This probably rendered Christie unelectable as a candidate for the Republican nomination for president. Christie's nominations to the New Jersey Supreme Court have also been astoundingly liberal and even included a break with tradition in order not to renominate the existing conservatives on that bench.

Other issues, Christie has wandered between [[conservative]] values and [[RINO]] positions. Christie has vetoed same-sex marriage bills and other socially [[liberal]] legislation. He pardoned a man who received an absurdly long sentence for peaceful gun possession, but Christie has also been criticized for sometimes supporting [[gun control]]. Conservatives have also criticized him for his stance on immigration reform.<ref>http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/chris_christies_immigration_record/</ref> He believes in the liberal hoax known as [[global warming]],<ref>https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55793.html</ref> and has supported the [[Obamacare]] [[Medicaid]] expansion.

On the important [[abortion]] issue, Christie is a bit of a [[PLINO]] - pro-life in name only. Christie has occasionally espoused [[pro-life]] views, but since early 2010 he has done almost nothing for unborn children. The [[abortion]] rate in [[New Jersey]] remains among the highest in the nation. Still, it is unlikely that Christie would run ads in support of abortion in certain cases, as Romney did in 2012.

After promoting a key part of the [[homosexual agenda]] by signing into law a ban on [[conversion therapy]] for minors, Christie then ran for reelection without significant opposition by [[liberal]] donors. Christie easily won reelection in 2013, winning in a landslide against Democrat Barbara Buono.

On June 30, 2015, Christie announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the [[2016 presidential election]].<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/30/christie-announces-2016-bid-for-white-house-becomes-14th-gop-hopeful/</ref> While originally endorsing conservative [[Donald Trump]], he split with Trump after the election.<ref>Caplan, Joshua (January 26, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/26/chris-christie-on-primarying-trump-in-2020-never-say-never/ Chris Christie on Primarying Trump in 2020: ‘Never Say Never’]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved January 27, 2019.</ref>

==Biography==
Prior to his election as governor, Christie's only elected experience was serving on the Morris County Board of Freeholders from 1995-1998. His colleagues praised him as effective, such as requiring as the policy that the freeholder board go out for three quotations even on no-bid contracts. They also noted that he was unusually ambitious when he unsuccessfully ran for State Assembly just two months into his term.<ref>http://www.politickernj.com/max/26275/political-career-three-parts-chris-christie-freeholder</ref> During his tenure in office county taxes decreased by 6.6%.<ref>http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/gop_candidate_chris_christie_l.html</ref>

After serving as a top fundraiser for [[George W. Bush]]'s 2000 presidential campaign, the [[Bush administration]] appointed Christie as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and served from 2002-2008. He was also one of the 17 U.S. Attorneys on [[Attorney General]] [[Alberto Gonzales]]'s advisory committee. Christie's most high-profile prosecutions included State Senator and [[Newark]] Mayor Sharpe James for mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiring to rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress.<ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/newark_ex_mayor_sharpe_james_convicted.html] Mayor James convicted</ref> He also led the felony conviction of State Senator Wayne Brant of mail and wire fraud, and bribery for soliciting a job at the School of Osteopathic Medicine.<ref>http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/topstories/index.ssf/2008/11/exlawmaker_bryant_guilty_of_br.html</ref> As attorney, Christie won convictions or guilty pleas from over 130 public officials, without losing a single case.

Christie's service as a prosecutor had an influence in [[national security]], when he led the team that prosecuted Hemant Lakhani, who had the desire to broker the sale of shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down American passenger jets.<ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-6229181-details/%27Del+Boy%27+trader+on+arms+charge/article.do;jsessionid=2F40D75F1AFD0FA79E8E876DCB944F88 {{dead link}}</ref> When leaving office on December 2008 he was praised by every major newspaper in New Jersey. The Philadelphia Inquirer editorialized "Christie has already done more good for New Jersey than some previous governors." The [[New York Times]] wrote that Christie "won widespread admiration for his aggressive fight against political corruption." <ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=14677&ShowAllPoll=Y</ref>

Even Governor Corzine, Christie's opponent in the gubernatorial election praised Christie in 2005, saying "I have supported Chris Christie as being our U.S. attorney, fought for his ability to be that, endorsed what he's doing...There have been as many Republicans as Democrats who have been brought to justice because of Chris Christie. I think he's doing a great job." <ref>http://www.christiefornj.com/images/negativeattacks.pdf</ref>

==2009 Gubernatorial Campaign==
[[Image:Christiemap.jpg|thumb|right|250px|2009 Election Results]]
In the Republican primary, Christie defeated former mayor [[Steve Lonegan]].

Although a Democratic state, Christie was elected while advocating the need to downsize state [[government]] and reduce property taxes. New Jersey had faced a weakened economy, high budget deficit and a high tax burden, resulting in Corzine's defeat.

In July, Christie endorsed [[Barack Hussein Obama|President Obama]]'s nomination of [[Sonia Sotomayor]] to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], saying "Elections have consequences. One of those consequences is judicial appointments. While Judge Sotomayor would not have been my choice, President Obama has used his opportunity to fill a seat on the Supreme Court by choosing a nominee who has more than proven her capability, competence, and ability." <ref>http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/07/gop_gov_candidate_chris_christ_3.html</ref>

Christie is pro-life:
:"I believe in the sanctity, dignity and inherent value of all human life. Hearing the heartbeat of my unborn daughter 14 years ago had a profound effect on me. I am pro-life because I believe her life and the life of every child is precious." <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20090430072740/http://www.christiefornj.com/questions-for-chris</ref>

===Notable Endorsements===
*Former [[New York City]] [[Mayor]] [[Rudy Giuliani]]
*Former [[Massachusetts]] Governor [[Mitt Romney]]
*Former New Jersey Governor [[Thomas H. Kean]]
*Economist [[Steve Forbes]]
*New Jersey Right to Life Committee <ref>https://www.lifenews.com/state4512.html</ref>

==Record as Governor==
On Christie's first day as governor, he signed eight executive orders and froze several government regulations. He gave a nod to casinos, signing an order saying that their employees are essential to state workers and will not have to close in any future state government shutdown, as they were in 2006. Christie also added unions to the list of groups who cannot receive state contracts of more than $17,500 if they have donated more than $300 to a campaign for governor or county political committee in the previous 18 months.<ref>http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/new_jersey/article_63a14ff8-8038-591a-8f1a-7503e1bbcbcc.html</ref>

In February, Christie announced that he would immediately freeze all state spending. Saying New Jersey is on the verge of bankruptcy, Christie declared a fiscal emergency, announcing drastic cuts.<ref>http://wcbstv.com/local/governor.christie.freezes.2.1487727.html {{dead link}}</ref>

On March 16, 2011, Christie announced major cuts to education to help balance the budget bloat caused by years under Democratic governors.<ref>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/03/22/25559/</ref> The New Jersey Education Association hotly contested these vital cuts, as they would almost certainly require the firing of non-tenured teachers to balance local school budgets, a problem the teacher's union created in the first place. Recently, the cuts have been challenged by the Supreme court, despite there being no link between New Jersey's relatively large amount of educational spending and increased statewide academic success.<ref>http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/christies_school_aid_cuts_left.html</ref>

In August 2011, Christie raised controversy by dismissing legitimate concerns voters and members of the New Jersey state legislature had raised concerning his appointment of Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim attorney with a history of defending Muslims after [[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]], as a judge on the state bench. Christie used profanity in referring to concerns that Mohammed would institute [[Sharia law]] from his position as a state judge, and called citizens concerned about the Islamization of America "crazies."<ref>http://nation.foxnews.com/chris-christie/2011/08/04/christie-defends-appointing-muslim-judge-sharia-law-business-crap</ref>

Governor Christie has endorsed a plan to merge part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) with Rutgers University. The plan would include UMDNJ's New Brunswick-Piscataway campus — Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the School of Public Health and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The change would help raise Rutgers’ profile and draw more research dollars to the state, according to the recommendations.<ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/umdnj-rutgers_partial_merger_r.html Gov. Christie strongly endorses partial merger of Rutgers and UMDNJ]</ref> Rutgers, one of the few state universities without its own medical school, has been lobbying for a merger since another state task force headed by former New Jersey Gov. [[Thomas H. Kean]] first suggested the idea in January 2011. The reorganization has an “aggressive” target date of July 1, 2012. By adding a medical school, Rutgers’ rank among universities in spending on research and development would rise dramatically<ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/no_time_wasted_creating_rutger.html No time is being wasted creating Rutgers medical school]</ref>

He has also failed in getting the New Jersey Grand Prix ready for 2013, it will now be held in 2014.

==Controversy==
Christie's administration allegedly used "thug tactics"<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/01/08/Christie-Staff-Using-Thug-Tactics</ref> to shut down a bridge in New Jersey as retaliation against a Democrat who would not endorse Christie. The resulting traffic delays led to the death of an elderly woman and a number of investigations are ongoing. Numerous comparisons with [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Watergate]] have been drawn, even by former allies and supporters.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303754404579310952856880802</ref><ref>http://www.nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/01/nixon-christie-bridgegate.html</ref><ref>http://www.mediaite.com/online/glenn-beck-finds-the-good-news-in-christies-fat-furious-bridgegate-scandal/</ref>

According to RedState, "I have had Congressmen, Governors, and the staffers of Congressmen and Governors tell me horror stories about dealing with Christie’s people. All of them seem to dread it."<ref>https://www.redstate.com/2014/01/08/the-politics-of-a-holes/</ref> The Daily Caller elaborates: "But style aside, why should Republicans trust a candidate who has been openly antagonistic to them?"<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2014/01/08/bedford-the-myth-of-chris-christie-exposed/</ref> Even some [[RINO]]s such as Lindsay Graham have begun to question Christie<ref>https://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/09/the-first-big-name-republican-to-attack-christie-over-bridgegate-is-lindsey-graham/</ref> although most are avoiding the issue.<ref>https://www.wnd.com/2014/01/rush-limbaugh-rinos-like-wildebeests/?cat_orig=politics</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.state.nj.us/governor/ Governor of New Jersey Official Site]
*[https://www.chrischristie.com/ Chris Christie 2016 campaign site]

===Videos===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICIa-KJeUtM&feature=related Governor Christie: Style]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evtt-R7Rmdw&feature=related Governor Christie: Day of Reckoning]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVccFQLFmUo&feature=related Conservative Governor on his "confrontational tone"]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzA9dgZ1qM&feature=related Rush Limbaugh: Governor Chris Christie Slaughters a Liberal Reporter]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXBlZdPENU&feature=related Governor Chris Christie For President 2012]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIVr0dVgww&feature=related Christie Slams Teacher Unions]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuri7p_9pm4&feature=related Chris Christie vs. Teachers Unions]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ksLlAi3iIc&feature=related Governor Christie: Not About Teachers]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkv6uo5nZDM&feature=related Governor Christie on Hannity]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Christopher}}
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]
[[Category:New Jersey Governors]]
[[Category:Republican Governors]]
[[Category:The 100 Americans The Left Hates Most]]
[[Category:Rino Backers]]
[[Category:RINOs]]
[[Category:2016 Presidential Candidates]]

Famous American Buildings

2019-09-13T14:25:01Z

Irenefenswick: removed 'dead link' sign

<center>
 
[[Image:480px-Manhattan at Dusk by slonecker.jpg|thumb|[[Empire State Building|The Empire State Building]].]]


'''Famous American Buildings''' 
</center>
 

:"Architecture is worth great attention since it shows so much." [[Thomas Jefferson]].
<center>

<gallery perrow="5">
Image:56eugyjnm.jpg|[[The White House]].
Image:Washington Cathedral.jpg|'''Washington National Cathedral.'''
Image:Jefferson Memorial.jpg|'''Jefferson Memorial.'''
Image:Golden Gate Bridge.jpg|[[Golden Gate Bridge]].
Image:US Capitol.jpg|'''US Capitol.'''
Image:Lincoln memorial.jpg|[[Lincoln Memorial]].
Image:Sears Tower from ground.jpg|'''Sears Tower.'''
Image:Chrysler skyscraper.jpg|'''The Chrysler Building'''
Image:Statue of Liberty.jpg|[[Statue of Liberty]].
File:800px-The Pentagon US Department of Defense building.jpg|[[The Pentagon]] '''US Department of Defense Building'''.
File:Un building.jpg|[[UN]] Building.
File:Wall Street.jpg|[[Wall Street]] '''Stock Exchange Building'''.
File:Massachusetts Hall building.jpg|'''Massachusetts Hall Building''', [[Harvard]].
File:Federal Hall Wall Street New York.jpg|'''Federal Hall Building'''.
Image:Rease biltmore estate.jpg|'''Biltmore Estate.'''
</gallery>
</center>

== See also ==
[[Image:Guggenheim.jpg|thumb|200px|Guggenheim.]]

*[[Architecture]]
*[[Architectural Sculpture Gallery]]
*[[World treasures]]
*[[Famous American artists]]
*[[Famous American Architects]]
*[[Arlington House]]

 
[[Image:Taft museum.jpg|thumb|370px|left|Belmont]]
[[File:University of Virginia.jpg|thumb|The Rotunda of the University of Virginia designed by [[Thomas Jefferson]].]]

{{Clear}}

== External links ==

*[http://www.pritzkerprize.com/ The Pritzker Architecture Prize]
*[http://architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects/p/wright.htm Frank Lloyd Wright, America's Most Famous Architect]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20070502121917/http://www.aia.org/press2_template.cfm?pagename=release%5F020707%5F150Buildings Empire State Building Ranks Highest in Poll of America’s Favorite Architecture] Designed by Gregory Johnson.
*[http://www.oldandsold.com/articles10/famous-buildings-51.shtml Famous Buildings In America] Originally Published 1915.
*[http://www.spjelkavik.vgs.no/Prosjekt/prosjekt.html Famous Buildings and Monuments in the USA]
*[http://www.e-architect.co.uk/american_architecture.htm American Buildings]
*[http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Amer-arch American architecture.]

[[File:Supreme_Court.jpg|thumb|The U.S. Supreme Court.]]
 
[[Image:Prometheus Fountain at the Rockefeller Center.jpg]]

'''Rockefeller Center.'''

 

<center>
[[Image:Library of Congress.JPG]]

'''Library of Congress.'''
</center>

[[Category:Architecture]]

Famous American Buildings

2019-09-13T14:23:21Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

<center>
 
[[Image:480px-Manhattan at Dusk by slonecker.jpg|thumb|[[Empire State Building|The Empire State Building]].]]


'''Famous American Buildings''' 
</center>
 

:"Architecture is worth great attention since it shows so much." [[Thomas Jefferson]].
<center>

<gallery perrow="5">
Image:56eugyjnm.jpg|[[The White House]].
Image:Washington Cathedral.jpg|'''Washington National Cathedral.'''
Image:Jefferson Memorial.jpg|'''Jefferson Memorial.'''
Image:Golden Gate Bridge.jpg|[[Golden Gate Bridge]].
Image:US Capitol.jpg|'''US Capitol.'''
Image:Lincoln memorial.jpg|[[Lincoln Memorial]].
Image:Sears Tower from ground.jpg|'''Sears Tower.'''
Image:Chrysler skyscraper.jpg|'''The Chrysler Building'''
Image:Statue of Liberty.jpg|[[Statue of Liberty]].
File:800px-The Pentagon US Department of Defense building.jpg|[[The Pentagon]] '''US Department of Defense Building'''.
File:Un building.jpg|[[UN]] Building.
File:Wall Street.jpg|[[Wall Street]] '''Stock Exchange Building'''.
File:Massachusetts Hall building.jpg|'''Massachusetts Hall Building''', [[Harvard]].
File:Federal Hall Wall Street New York.jpg|'''Federal Hall Building'''.
Image:Rease biltmore estate.jpg|'''Biltmore Estate.'''
</gallery>
</center>

== See also ==
[[Image:Guggenheim.jpg|thumb|200px|Guggenheim.]]

*[[Architecture]]
*[[Architectural Sculpture Gallery]]
*[[World treasures]]
*[[Famous American artists]]
*[[Famous American Architects]]
*[[Arlington House]]

 
[[Image:Taft museum.jpg|thumb|370px|left|Belmont]]
[[File:University of Virginia.jpg|thumb|The Rotunda of the University of Virginia designed by [[Thomas Jefferson]].]]

{{Clear}}

== External links ==

*[http://www.pritzkerprize.com/ The Pritzker Architecture Prize]
*[http://architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects/p/wright.htm Frank Lloyd Wright, America's Most Famous Architect]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20070502121917/http://www.aia.org/press2_template.cfm?pagename=release%5F020707%5F150Buildings Empire State Building Ranks Highest in Poll of America’s Favorite Architecture] Designed by Gregory Johnson. {{dead link}}
*[http://www.oldandsold.com/articles10/famous-buildings-51.shtml Famous Buildings In America] Originally Published 1915.
*[http://www.spjelkavik.vgs.no/Prosjekt/prosjekt.html Famous Buildings and Monuments in the USA]
*[http://www.e-architect.co.uk/american_architecture.htm American Buildings]
*[http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Amer-arch American architecture.]

[[File:Supreme_Court.jpg|thumb|The U.S. Supreme Court.]]
 
[[Image:Prometheus Fountain at the Rockefeller Center.jpg]]

'''Rockefeller Center.'''

 

<center>
[[Image:Library of Congress.JPG]]

'''Library of Congress.'''
</center>

[[Category:Architecture]]

United Russia

2019-09-13T13:41:21Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

{{PoliticalParty
| party_name = United Russia
| party_logo =
| website = [http://www.er.ru/ er.ru]
| leader = [[Dmitry Medvedev]]
| parleader = Sergey Neverov
| foundation = 2001
| ideology = [[Authoritarianism]] [[Statism]]
| position = Big tent
| international =
| colors = white, blue and red
| footnotes =
}}
'''United Russia''' is the largest political party in [[Russia]]. It was formed in 2001 as a union of Fatherland - All Russia and Unity Party of Russia.<ref name=RUSSIAPROFILE>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110120021206/http://www.russiaprofile.org/resources/political/majorparties/unitedrussia/index.wbp United Russia] ''Russiaprofile.org''</ref><ref name="RTDPSNR67">{{cite book
|author=
|title= Russia Transformed: Developing Popular Support for a New Regime
|publisher= Cambridge University Press
|location=
|year=
|pages= p67
|isbn= 0521871751
|oclc=
|doi=
}}</ref> Its current leader is [[Dmitry Medvedev]].<ref>http://rt.com/politics/medvedev-united-russia-leader-293/</ref> The headquarters of the United Russia is situated in [[Moscow]]. The party is ideologically [[centrist]].<ref>[http://parties-and-elections.eu/russia.html]</ref>

== History ==
The strategic goal of the party is "to raise people’s living standards to European standards."<ref name=RUSSIAPROFILE/> According to the statement adopted at the founding congress on December 1, 2001, the priorities of the party are administrative reform, transparent state policy, development of local self-administration, improvement of the nation's defense, judicial reform, etc.<ref name=RUSSIAPROFILE/>

The creation of this party largely isolated the communists and liberals at the extremes.<ref name="RTDPSNR67"/> In the 2003 Russian legislative election, the party won nearly half of the seats in the [[Duma]].<ref name="RTDPSNR67"/> In the Russian Presidential Election in 2004, the party supported [[Vladimir Putin]]; in the Russian Presidential Election in 2008, the party supported [[Dmitry Medvedev]], because of term limits on Putin's presidency. In the [[Russian Presidential Election 2012]] and 2018 it again supported Putin, who was reelected.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.er.ru/ Official Website (Russian)]

[[Category:Russian Political Parties]]

Suharto

2019-09-13T13:11:20Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

{{Dictator bio
| image =
| name =Suharto
| birth =8 June 1921 , near Yogyakarta, Dutch East Indies
| parents = Kertosudiro and Sukirah
| religion =Islam
| spouse =Siti Hartinah (d. 1996)
| children =Siti Hardiyanti Hastuti, Sigit Harjojudanto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, Siti Hediyati Hariyadi, Hutomo Mandala Putra, Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih
| death =27 January 2008 (aged 86)
| deathmanner =Sepsis, anaemia, heart failure
| burial =Buried in Solo with military honors
| country =[[Indonesia]]
| military =Led military purge of Communists; KOSTRAD Commander from 1961-65; Chief of Staff from 1965-67
| rank =Chief of Staff and later Commander
| polbeliefs =Militarist
| party =Golkar
| dictatordate =12 March 1967 (Official Date)
| war =Invasion of East Timor
| deathnumber =Post-Coup Purges: 78,000 to 1,200,000 (range of estimates) East Timor: 100,000
}}

'''Suharto''' (June 8, 1921 - January 27, 2008) was an anti-communist [[Indonesia]]n [[military]] and [[political]] leader. He started as a military officer in the Indonesian National Revolution. He came to power following a bloodless [[coup]] in 1967, and served as the second President of Indonesia from 1967-1998 during which time he was involved in a number of massacres aimed at eliminating communists in Indonesia.<ref>[http://dannyreviews.com/h/Suharto.html Suharto: A Political Biography], be R.E. Elson</ref> He was forced to resign his presidency in 1998 after mass demonstrations due to his [[authoritarian]] and corrupt administration.{{fact}} He passed away on January 27, 2008.

Suharto was a close ally of the United States during the [[Cold War]]. As a result, he became a bête noire of the far left. In the mass anti-communist killings of 1965, it is still not clear exactly what role the army played nor indeed precisely how much control Suharto, still struggling with Sukarno, had. Although Indonesia was never a democracy under Suharto, there was a wide degree of permissible discussion, by Southeast Asian standards a fairly liberal press, and many of the procedures of social consultation that characterize democracy. Under his rule, millions of people were freed from poverty, Indonesia became self-sufficient in rice, and a sizeable manufacturing economy grew up.<ref>[http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/gregsheridan/index.php/theaustralian/comments/farewell_to_jakartas_man_of_steel/P25/ Remembering Jakarta's Man of Steel]</ref>

==Atrocities in East Timor==
Suharto ordered an invasion of the small island of East Timor to overthrow the murderous communist front group FRETELIN. A Truth Commission found that 17,600-19,600 Timorese were violently killed and about 100,000 died from hunger and illness. The deaths were spread out evenly over the entire 25-year occupation. Indonesian forces were responsible for more than two-thirds of the killings. The excess deaths have not been attributed definitively to either side.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080512075108/http://www.ictj.org/en/news/features/846.html</ref> Radical leftists attempted to conflate the slaughter with the Cambodian Holocaust, in which the communists massacred or starved to death 2.2 million people in four years of peacetime—27% of Cambodia's 1975 population of 8.1 million. There is no comparison between the two crimes. The closest comparison would probably be the brief period of communist rule in East Timor.{{fact}}

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:International Political Figures]]
[[Category:Dictators]]

Allison Kolb

2019-09-02T17:56:10Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link and grammar errors

{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Allison Ray Kolb
| image =
| image_size=
| birth_date=November 1, 1915
| birth_place=Colfax, Grant Parish [[Louisiana]] USA
| death_date=December 23, 1973
| death_place=[[Baton Rouge]], Louisiana
| resting_place=Greenoaks Mausoleum in Baton Rouge
| office=Louisiana State Auditor
| term_start=1952
| term_end=1956
| preceded=L. B. Baynard
| succeeded=[[Bill Dodd|William Joseph "Bill" Dodd]]
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| spouse=Dorothy Marjorie Halphen (1917-2007)
| children=No children
| parents =Robert Manning and Margaret Wiggins Kolb
| religion=[[United Methodist]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1967)
| occupation=[[Lawyer|Attorney]]; [[Business]]man
}}

'''Allison Ray Kolb''' (November 1, 1915 – December 23, 1973)[1] was the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] auditor of [[Louisiana]] from 1952-1956, who angered many local officials in the pursuit of his job duties and was hence defeated by former Lieutenant Governor [[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]] in the 1956 party primary. While he was a Democrat, Kolb was a part of the anti-Long faction in Louisiana politics.

On February 6, 1968, Kolb sought a political comeback as the [[Republican Party|Republican]] nominee in a race to succeed retiring State Treasurer Andrew Patrick "Pat" Tugwell, Sr., a part of the Long faction. Kolb was overwhelmed in the general election by Democrat Mary Evelyn Dickerson Parker, an Allen Parish native and an operative from the administrations of both former Governor Earl Kemp Long and then Governor [[John J. McKeithen]].

==Democratic campaign for auditor, 1955-1956==

Kolb was a native of Colfax, the seat of Grant Parish in north-central Louisiana. He was a Baton Rouge attorney, banker, and businessman whom voters nominated for auditor in the 1952 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election. He served under a fellow Democrat, Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]]. In 1955, Bill Dodd announced that he would attempt to unseat Kolb in the primary held on January 1956.

In his memoirs, Dodd claimed that Kolb "would be a sitting duck for anyone who ran against him. He had alienated every local official and professional politician in Louisiana. He did it by publicizing nitpicking mistakes and suggesting that each and every sheriff, clerk of court, tax assessor, parish school superintendent, police juror (the equivalent of county commissioner in other states), and school board member was a crook. The news media had bragged on Allison [Kolb] while criticizing all those local officials. Allison could not have defeated Hitler, had the fuhrer been alive and running against him."[2]

[[Earl Long]] and his wife, Blanche Revere Long, endorsed Dodd's candidacy against Kolb. Mrs. Long had a grudge against Kolb because, in Dodd's words, "old Allison [He was then forty-one.] had audited her brother and recommended that he be indicted. Her brother had purchased a lawnmower through his public office and paid for it with his personal check. He did it to save a few dollars, but violated a bookkeeping rule, not any law, or even the code of ethics."[3]

After they agreed to support Dodd for the auditor, either Earl or Blanche Long, or both, enticed [[Douglas Fowler]], a local politician from Coushatta in Red River Parish, to enter the race. At first, Earl Long let Fowler speak on the platform, but Dodd said that "the public felt that I was the real Long candidate, and Fowler finally quit making our meetings. Miss Blanche threw me a couple of curves, including the printing up of some Earl Long ticket sample ballots with my number beside Fowler's name. But we caught her trick and corrected it."[4]

Fowler lost the race, but Governor Long named him "custodian of voting machines" thereafter. The position was later called "elections commissioner," and it was abolished in 2004, with duties returned to the office of the secretary of state. Long had created the post as a result of a feud that he waged with Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr. (1911-1990)."[5]

Dodd sent Jack M. Dyer, a young Baton Rouge attorney and later a state representative (1960-1964), to the secretary of state's office to get photocopies of every corporation that Kolb had chartered as state auditor and on which Kolb took stock for fees and in which he became a director. Dodd found that Kolb had ordered the construction of a "semiprivate paved road" to Kolb's property. "We could find no project number. Allison got it built secretly." Dodd also challenged Kolb's involvement in the Gulf Union Corp. and the Gulf Union Holding Co.[6] (In 1959, Dyer was Dodd's candidate for the new position of Louisiana voting machine custodian, which was won by Douglas Fowler.)

All the Long candidates were nominated outright in the 1956 primary. There were no runoffs because Louisiana law at the time provided for runoffs for lesser constitutional offices, including lieutenant governor, only if there was also to be a second gubernatorial primary.

==Republican campaign for treasurer, 1968==

In 1967, Kolb switched parties and became the GOP choice for treasurer by acclamation at the state convention in Baton Rouge. With Tugwell's retirement, only Mrs. Parker entered the Democratic race for treasurer. She, like Dodd, had roots in Allen Parish. Over the years, however, Mrs. Parker refused to support Dodd for governor, and, in Dodd's words, undercut him whenever she could."[7]

In his memoirs, Dodd described Mrs. Parker accordingly: "As a teacher [in Oakdale High School], I had taught her how to speak; as a legislator, I had gotten her a scholarship that gave her a college education; and as lieutenant governor, I had found her a big job in our administration. She was a wonderful speaker and a good administrator, but she must have been a born ingrate."[8]

Mrs. Parker had also been the Louisiana welfare commissioner. She was the Democratic national committeewoman from Louisiana from 1948-1952 and was, therefore, a staunch party loyalist. As Dodd attested to her speaking talent, in the 1964 Democratic gubernatorial runoff primary campaign, she delivered a speech entitled "All That Glitters Is Not Gold." Though a line from Shakespeare, Mrs. Parker's speech was really a vituperative attack on the record of McKeithen's intraparty opponent, former New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr.[9]

Mrs. Parker ran for treasurer, with McKeithen's full support. McKeithen had defeated conservative Democratic Congressman John Richard Rarick in the primary and was unopposed in the general election for his second consecutive term, the first permitted in state history.

There was not much of a campaign for treasurer. Kolb was the only statewide Republican candidate, and voters historically do not consider a minor party nominee if there is no gubernatorial candidate setting the campaign theme. Mrs. Parker won all 64 parishes: 337,234 (73.7 percent) to Kolb's 120,253 (26.3 percent). Kolb fared best in [[Lafayette]] Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish, where he polled 43 percent each. It was in those two parishes where Republicans had won special state legislative races in 1966 and 1967, respectively. Kolb polled 37 percent in St. Mary Parish, his third-best showing.[10]

Mrs. Parker held the treasurer's post for nineteen years; she retired effective January 1, 1987. Fellow Democrat [[Mary Landrieu]] of New Orleans was elected to succeed her in a special 1987 election held at the same time as the jungle primary for a full term. Landrieu filled out Mrs. Parker's remaining months and then served two full terms as treasurer. She stepped down in 1996 and was succeeded by Democrat (later Republican) John N. Kennedy (no relation to the late president). Landrieu had run unsuccessfully for governor in the 1995 primary. In November 1996, however, she revived her political fortunes with a narrow victory for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by popular Democrat [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]] Landrieu is the first woman from Louisiana ever to have been elected to the Senate.[11] She was unseated in 2014 by the Republican [[Bill Cassidy]] of Baton Rouge.

Retiring State Republican Chairman [[Charlton Lyons]] of Shreveport, the 1964 gubernatorial nominee, declared that he was not discouraged by Mrs. Parker's large victory over Allison Kolb. Lyons said that the GOP had "just lost one scrimmage." Lyons vowed that the Republicans would continue to be politically active until they established a two-party system in Louisiana. Kolb said that the "voice of the loyal opposition has been heard" and added that he thought a two-party format could produce checks and balances in state government.[12]

==Kolb's obituary and legacy==

Kolb founded Kolb and Rooks law office in Baton with his partner J. Taylor Rooks, who died on May 3, 2006.[13]

Kolb died in Baton Rouge General Hospital at the age of fifty-eight. Services were held at his home church, the University [[United Methodist]] Church on Christmas Eve afternoon, 1973. Entombment was in the Greenoaks Mausoleum. (His old rival Dodd is buried in the overall Greenoaks Memorial Park.)[14]

Kolb was survived by his wife, the former Dorothy Marjorie Halphen (March 19, 1917 – June 3, 2007), four sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews. Mrs. Kolb, a native of the community of Omaha in Morris County in the northeast [[Texas]], was the daughter of Walton Felix Halphen and the former Zepher Wood. She received [[Bachelor of Arts]] degrees in music and art from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She previously taught music at Kaplan High School in Kaplan in Vermilion Parish in southwestern Louisiana. Thereafter, she was a private music teacher in Baton Rouge. She was the president of the Baton Rouge Opera Guild from 1978-1980. A charter member of the Louisiana chapter of Phi Beta Phi sorority, Mrs. Kolb was active in the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as the First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge.[15]

In addition to the Gulf Union Corporation, Kolb was associated with the Capital Bank and Trust Co., Redi-Bilt Corp., Community Bank of Lafourche, American Bank and Trust Co. of Houma, Belair Corp., and Rollins International, Inc. He was a member of the nonpartisan Council for a Better Louisiana.[16]

Kolb is remembered through the philanthropic Allison R. Kolb Foundation, which was formed to help deserving students obtain a higher education. His foundation also operates High Beam Research (highbeam.com) from Baton Rouge.[17] LSU's College of Business Administration offers the annual Allison R. Kolb Memorial Award in the amount of $1,000 to an outstanding junior or senior who majors in banking or finance.[18]

In 1955, Kolb wrote ''Louisiana's Financial Development, a Fiscal Survey.'' [19]

==References==

^ http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi (no longer available on-line)

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishers, 1991

^ ''Election Statistics, 1968'', Baton Rouge: Secretary of State

^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060907070327/http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/Facts/StbySt/LA.html

^ ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', February 7, 1968

^ http://www.bannergraphic.com/story/1230101.html

^ Allison Kolb obituary," ''Baton Rouge Morning Advocate'', December 24, 1973

^ Obituary of Mrs. Allison Kolb, June 4, 2007: https://www.legacy.com/theadvocate/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=88659093

^ Allison Kolb obituary," ''Baton Rouge Morning Advocate'', December 24, 1973

^ http://www.bannergraphic.com/story/1230101.html

^ http://www.colorado.edu/Libraries/govpubs/lsca/states/louisiana.htm

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allison_Kolb" by the author, Billy Hathorn. Wikipedia planned to delete this article but decided to keep it on grounds that Mr. Kolb held a statewide constitutional office.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolb, Allison}}

[[Category:Political Figures]]
[[Category:Lawyers]]
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]

David Petraeus

2019-09-02T17:24:49Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link and a few grammar errors

[[File:Gen. David Petraeus.jpg|Left|thumb|250px| David H. Petraeus]]

General '''David Petraeus''' is the former Director of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] and the former head of the U.S. Central Command, the region spanning from Afghanistan to Egypt. As head of the U.S.-led multinational force in [[Iraq]] he led the successful 'Surge' strategy, destroying insurgents terrorist groups. He was unanimously confirmed by the [[US Senate]], particularly because of his long-established reputation for honesty. Speaking of honesty, Petraeus stepped down from his CIA post after getting caught in an [[adultery|extramarital affair]].

==Early Years==
Petraeus, {{age|1952|11|07}}, has a wife [[Holly Petraeus|Holly]] and two children, a son and a daughter.<ref>[http://www.dodig.mil/IGInformation/archives/LTG_Petreaus.pdf Commanding General Biography] DODIG.mil</ref>
He was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, to Sixtus and Miriam Petraeus. Attended and was a 1970 graduate of Cornwall Central High School. From there he attended [[West Point]] military academy. Petraeus would earn high marks, graduating top of his class. After graduating, he married [[Holly Petraeus]], the daughter of General [[William A. Knowlton]], a four-star general and NATO commander. He earned an M.P.A. and a Ph.D. His doctoral thesis was ''The American military and the lessons of Vietnam: a study of military influence and the use of force in the post-Vietnam era., 1987.'' Later, he would author the manual devoted to counterinsurgency operations. This new counterinsurgency field manual became the backbone for an overwhelming success by the U.S. military in Iraq.

==Leading up to the Surge==
Senator [[Hillary Clinton]], who helped appoint him, called him a liar when he gave his September 2007 report on President Bush's "[[troop surge]]".<ref>When questioning him on September 11, she lectured that, "I think that the reports that you provide to us really require a willing suspension of disbelief." [https://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/EDITORIAL/109180036/1013&template=nextpage (Washington Times editorial)]</ref> In response to this report, Petraeus was the victim of [[liberal]] advocacy group [[MoveOn.org]]'s "vicious"<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/09/11/moveons_mccarthy_moment/ MoveOn's McCarthy moment], By Peter D. Feaver, ''Boston Globe'', September 11, 2007.</ref> attack campaign subsidized by the ''[[New York Times]]''<ref>[http://www.nypost.com/seven/09132007/news/nationalnews/times_gives_lefties_a_hefty_di.htm Time Gives Lefties a Hefty Discount for "Betray us" Ad], Charles Hurt, ''New York Post'', September 13, 2007.</ref> which contributed a monetary discount for an advertisement, without foundation, entitled "General Petraeus or General Betray Us"? The accusation of treason sparked so much controversy that even the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-controlled [[Senate]] passed a resolution condemning the attack on General Petraeus.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297498,00.html Senate Votes to Condemn MoveOn for Ad Attacking General Petraeus], [[FOX News]], September 20, 2007.</ref>
===The Surge: 2007-8===
President Bush removed Defense Secretary [[Donald Rumsfeld]] and tried the warfighting strategy proposed by General Petraeus, who was given additional forces. Petraeus sent in 30,000 additional combat troops under Lt. Gen. [[Ray Odierno]], who contained the insurgency and cleared the enemy out of the "belts" surrounding Baghdad. Sunni leaders and tribal chiefs, fed up with al Qaeda atrocities, set up militias in a tactical alliance with the coalition and Iraqi government forces, The long ceasefire of Moqtada al Sadr's Shia extremists helped to reduce sectarian tension. Within a few months, Baghdad had been transformed: attacks were down by 60%, civilian deaths had dropped 70% and sectarian attacks of one sort and other had fallen by a staggering 90%. The success of "The Surge" strategy made possible the achievement of Bush's timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq's major cities in summer 2009.<ref>Kimberly Kagan, ''The Surge: A Military History'' (2009)</ref>

==Benghazi attack==
:''Main article:'' [[Benghazi massacre]]
On September 11, 2012, four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador [[Christopher Stevens]] were murdered in Benghazi, Libya in a terrorists attack on the US embassy compound by [[Islamic]] extremists. Despite internal communications that acknowledge the terrorist nature of the attacks within minutes, the Obama administration falsely reported to the public that the attacks were instead a protest gone awry after an anti-Islamic YouTube video.

Some Obama officials become frustrated with Dir. Petraeus as he opposed efforts to edit out mentions of terrorism from the public Benghazi talking points. Petraeus deputy, Mike Morell, was given charge over the edits, and aligned himself with [[Hillary Clinton]]’s [[State Department]] against Petraeus’s desires.<ref>https://sharylattkisson.com/obama-era-surveillance-timeline/ </ref> Petraeus was blackmailed in a sex scandal and removed from his position.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, in addressing the Congress, said on the House floor,
{{Quotebox|“This administration knows that General Petraeus has information that would virtually destroy any credibility that the administration might still have nationally and internationally, so what else would this administration do but leave over his head for a year and a half the threat, ‘We’re going to prosecute you so you better keep your mouth shut.' 

“So if you wonder why General Petraeus has not come out in the last year in a half and said, ‘No those weren’t our talking points, somebody that created them needs to be prosecuted, it was a fraud on the American people.' He’s not going to say that, he’s got this administration hanging a prosecution over his head. What do you expect? 

I doubt he’ll ever be able to say it without worrying about something over his shoulder coming on after him. So here he is, he’s been defensive of the administration, he’s been a good solider, said what he’s wanted them to say, he hasn’t told all he could say and they’re going to make sure he doesn’t or if he does, he pays a heavy criminal price.” }}

==See also==
*[[James Mattis]]
*[[John F. Kelly]]
*[[H.R. McMaster]]
*[[Michael Flynn]]
*[[Susan Rice]]
*[[Eric Holder]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4587&page=0 Counterinsurgency Field Manual: Afghanistan Edition] Foreign Policy, January 2009
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20121019091901/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/david-h.-petraeus.html CIA Website profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petraeus, David}}
[[Category:Soldiers]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:Iraq War]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Obama Presidency]]
[[Category:The 100 Americans The Left Hates Most]]

Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act

2019-09-02T17:06:07Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

The '''Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act''' requires all colleges and universities that receive any kind of [[federal]] funding (including financial aid for students) to report annually on their participation by gender in athletic programs. This must include participation numbers, scholarships, budgets, and coaching salaries.

This information is used to enforce compliance with [[Title IX]].

== Sources ==
[http://web.archive.org/web/20081013063943/http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/ed_outreach/gender_equity/faq.html NCAA FAQs]

[[Category:United States Law]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Sports]]

University of Connecticut

2019-09-02T16:54:55Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link and a grammar error

{{University
|name=University of Connecticut
|image=UConn1.gif
|text=white
|background=rgb(1,24,68)
|type=Public
|size=23,630 undergrad, 8,397 grad<ref name=fact>http://uconn.edu/content/uploads/2017/01/INT-003-Fact-Sheet-011117-WEB-1.pdf</ref>
|faculty=1,518 academic & 489 UConn Health<ref name=fact/>
|expense=$26,238 in state, $48,030 out of state<ref name=fact/>
|endowment=$377.2 million<ref name=fact/>
|city=Storrs, Connecticut
|sports=baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball<ref name="sports">http://www.uconnhuskies.com/</ref>
|colors=navy blue, gray, white
|degrees=Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctoral<ref>{{cite web|work=College Board|language=English|accessdate=May 28, 2010|title=College Search - University of Connecticut - UConn - At a Glance|url=http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=492}}</ref>
|mascot=Jonathan the Husky
|website=[http://www.uconn.edu uconn.edu]
}}
The '''University of Connecticut''' (sometimes shortened to '''UConn''') is a [[Connecticut]] [[public school|public]] [[university]] founded in 1881.<ref>http://www.uconn.edu/about/index.php</ref> The school is located in Storrs, Connecticut. It ranked #64 in US News's 2008 "National [[University|Universities]]: Top Schools" list.<ref>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php</ref>
==Athletics==

[[Image:Uconn Huskies logo2013.png|100px|left|thumb|The UConn Huskies]]
Connecticut currently has 10 men's and 12 [[Title IX|women's]] [[sports]] teams.<ref name="sports"/> The football program has won three bowl games while losing two.<ref>http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bowl_history_connecticut.html</ref> The men's basketball program has won three national championships,<ref>http://www.ncaa.com/history/basketball-men/d1</ref> The women's basketball team is perennially among the best in the country, and has won seven national championships.
{{clear}}
===Effect of Title IX===

In 2000, UConn upgraded its football team to Division I-A, the highest level. As a result, they added many more scholarships. In order to comply with [[Title IX]], the Huskies were therefore forced to drop all scholarships from men's ice hockey, so that the men's and women's scholarship amounts were equal <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20140115091915/http://www.dailycampus.com/sports/hockey-needs-more-support-1.1714401</ref> For the next ten years, the Huskies were among the worst hockey teams in the country,{{fact}} as most Division I teams offer full scholarships. The Huskies frequently finished as one of the two worst teams in the Atlantic Hockey Association, the worst hockey conference in Division 1 ([[American International College]] was the only team that UConn was able to regularly compete with). The Huskies did see some improvement in recent years thanks to the addition of decent non-scholarship players,{{fact}} but still remained in the middle of the AHA, and in the bottom third of teams nationally, according to the RPI rankings.{{fact}}

However, the Huskies announced in 2012 that they will add men's hockey scholarships beginning in 2014 and will upgrade to the Hockey East Conference, one of the premier national conferences. More women's scholarships will be added in other sports to comply with Title IX.{{fact}}

==Notable Alumni==

[[Sam Webb]], the current chair of [[Communist Party USA]], is an alumnus of UConn. So is [[Thomas Joseph Meskill]], a Republican who was Governor of Connecticut from 1971-1975. [[Joe Courtney]], a Democratic Congressman who serves the district UConn is located in, is also a graduate.

==Notable Faculty==

Paul Siegel, a prominent [[Marxist]], is a former faculty member at UConn. Currently, notable [[Austrian economics|Austrian economist]] Richard Langois is on the faculty.

==Newspaper==

UConn's newspaper is ''The Daily Campus'', which is published every weekday during the academic year. The paper has four main sections - commentary (opinion), news, sports, and focus, which is about video games, movies, and other entertainment.

In 1994, commentary columnist Jennifer Nielsen called the school's affirmative action program "racist". This led to a serious of protests among [[liberal]] and [[minority students]] who demanded that the undergraduate fee for the paper be eliminated (it wasn't). However, this piece did not represent the paper's opinion, only Nielsen's. As the editor pointed out, only the editorial is the paper's opinion, and the other articles just represent the individual columnists' opinions.<ref>http://articles.courant.com/1994-10-06/news/9410060277_1_minority-students-student-newspaper-undergraduate-fees</ref>

In 2003, 9,000 papers were stolen from the loading dock one day after weekly columnist Josh Levinson wrote a column that called campus cultural centers (such as the African-American, Latino, and Gay/Lesbian centers) "exclusionary". No conclusive link between the two was ever proven, but the column is believed to be the cause. Two suspects were identified by security footage, but no charges were ever filed.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Nb_US_universities|Connecticut‎}}

Eugenics

2019-09-02T16:45:52Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link and a few grammar errors

[[Image:Gtr766.png|right|thumb|300px|Logo of the Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921.]]
'''Eugenics''' was a movement which tried to eliminate "dangerous human pests" and "the rising tide of imbeciles" through what has been euphemistically called "[[selective breeding]]." What this meant, in actual practice, was [[forced sterilization]] of American immigrants and minorities (particularly in California),<ref>Crichton, Michael (2004). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070315005147/http://www.michaelcrichton.net/fear/index.html "Why politicized science is dangerous"]. Excerpt from ''State of Fear'' (New York: Harper). Retrieved from March 15, 2007 archive of MichaelCrichton.com at Internet Archive on September 17, 2014.</ref> and then the promotion of abortion by [[liberal]] whites in black and Hispanic communities.

==Connection with the theory of evolution==

The [[theory of evolution]] suggests that humans are merely evolving animals. The claimed biological struggle for survival that brought humans here is continuing. Man's long-term survival is, according to evolution, a biological [[survival of the fittest]]. Evolution theory teaches that there must be a biological struggle for survival among various human races and groups.

[[Charles Darwin]] declared in ''[[The Descent of Man]]'':<ref>Darwin, Charles (1901). [http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-descent-of-man/chapter-06.html "Chapter 1"]. ''The Descent of Man'' (London: John Murray), pp. 241-42 (footnote * is a reference to ''Anthropological Review'', April, 1867, p. 236).</ref>

:At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked,* will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.

Darwin was not the first to claim racial superiority. But he was the first to teach that some races of man "will almost certainly exterminate, and replace" other races of man. His followers developed a new intellectual field called "eugenics" for this mythical biological struggle.

In fact, the term "eugenics" was coined by Darwin's cousin, [[Francis Galton]].<ref>Multiple references:
*Cavanaugh-O'Keefe (2000). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204002402/http://www.eugenics-watch.com/roots/chap02.html "Chapter two: Francis Galton and the Eugenics Society"]. ''Roots of Racism and Abortion: An Exploration of Eugenics.'' Retrieved from February 4, 2012 archive of Eugenics Watch at Internet Archive on September 17, 2014.
*Francis Galton (1883). [http://eugenics.us/francis-galton-coins-the-word-eugenics-as-the-science-of-better-breeding-men-brutes-and-plants-quote-of-the-day/344.htm ''Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development''] (London: Macmillan and Co., 1883), 24-25." Retrieved August 11, 2015 from http://www.eugenics.us.</ref>

Defenders of Darwin, and Darwinism, often try to argue that Darwin, and Darwinism, have no logical connection to eugenics at all. However, in a 1914 speech, Charles Darwin's son, Francis Darwin, wrote: "In the first edition of ''The Descent of Man'', 1874, [my father] distinctly gives his adherence to the eugenic idea by his assertion that many might by selection do something for the moral and physical qualities of the race."<ref>Francis Darwin (1914). [http://eugenics.us/eugenics-is-darwinism-and-evolution-applied/144.htm "The Galton Lecture, as found in ''The Eugenics Review''."] Retrieved August 11, 2015 from http://www.eugenics.us.</ref> He based his ideas on his cousin's work.

Francis Darwin's clear statement that his father endorsed Galton's conception of eugenics is important because many people try to distance Darwin from the taint of eugenics by pointing out that Darwin himself never advocated for it by name. But Galton coined the word after Darwin's death, so naturally, he wouldn't have used the word 'eugenics.' Darwin's son can be expected to have understood his father's theory well enough to know whether or not his father's book, "The Descent of Man", 'gave adherence to the eugenic idea.'

==Etymology and history==

The word "eugenics" is based on Greek roots meaning "well-born." The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides 1883 as the date of origin for the term. Later, [[Leonard Darwin|Darwin's son, Leonard]], served as the president of the First Congress of Eugenics in 1912 in London.

The encyclopedia describes eugenics as now being "in disrepute,"<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20010224015950/www.fwkc.com/encyclopedia/low/articles/e/e007001431f.html</ref> although Professor [[Peter Singer]] of Princeton University has sought to remove the stigma from it. Evolutionist and atheist [[Richard Dawkins]] has stated in one letter his wish that it no longer be banned from polite discussion.<ref>Dawkins, Richard (November 19, 2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20090113170158/http://www.sundayherald.com/life/people/display.var.1031440.0.eugenics_may_not_be_bad.php "Eugenics may not be bad"]. ''Sunday Herald'' [Scotland]. Retrieved from January 13, 2009 archive at Internet Archive on September 24, 2014.</ref>

The [[Spartans]] in ancient Greece practiced a primitive form of eugenics, wherein babies which were judged to be too "weak" or "sickly" would be left to die.

In the early 1900s, many influential officials advocated Darwinism and eugenics. Supreme Court Justice [[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]] became a strong proponent. So did many others in prominent government and academic positions. Members of the British Eugenics Society, including the [[Planned Parenthood|International Planned Parenthood Federation]], are listed.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19970801030506/http://homepages.enterprise.net/eugenics/briteugen/index.html "British Eugenics Society"] (1997). Eugenics Watch. Retrieved from August 1, 1997 archive at Internet Archive on September 24, 2014.</ref>

===Eugenics in America===
[[Image:Eugenic categories.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Categories]]
Between 1907 and 1937, 32 American states passed eugenics laws requiring sterilization of citizens deemed to be misfits, such as the mentally infirm. Oliver Wendell Holmes and all but one conservative Democratic Justice upheld such laws in a Supreme Court decision that included Holmes' offensive statement that "three generations of imbeciles are enough." [[Buck v. Bell]], 274 U.S. 200, 207 (1927).<ref>United States Supreme Court (May 2, 1927). [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=274&invol=200 "Buck v. Bell"], 274 U.S. 200, 207. Retrieved from ''FindLaw'' on September 24, 2014.</ref> In fact, the third generation "imbecile" was very bright but was declared by a eugenics "expert" as "supposed to be a mental defective," apparently without an examination.

Eugenics was taught as part of the evolution curriculum of many science classes in America in the early 1900s. For example, it was featured in the textbook used in the famous [[Scopes Trial|Scopes trial]] in 1925.

"By 1928, the American Genetics Association boasted that there were 376 college courses devoted exclusively to eugenics. High-school biology textbooks followed suit by the mid-1930s, with most containing material favorable to the idea of eugenic control of reproduction. It would thus have been difficult to be an even moderately educated reader in the 1920s or 1930s and not have known, at least in general terms, about the claims of eugenics."<ref name="sm">''See'' Allen, Garland E. (August–September 1996). "Science misapplied: the eugenics age revisited". ''Technology Review'', vol. 99, no. 6, at p. 22(10).</ref>

Important remnants of the evolution-eugenics approach exist today, in part because many of Justice Holmes' opinions are still controlling law. The very first quote in the infamous [[Roe v. Wade]] abortion decision is an unprincipled statement of Justice Holmes in a 1905 opinion. Indeed, Holmes once wrote favorably in a letter to a future Supreme Court Justice about "restricting propagation by the undesirables and putting to death infants that didn't pass the examination.<ref>Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. (September 3, 1921). "Letter to Felix Frankfurter". For a detailed criticism of Justice Holmes' judicial Darwinism, see Professor Albert W. Alschuler's ''Law Without Values: The Life, Work, and Legacy of Justice Holmes'' (Univ. of Chicago Press 2000).</ref>

Existing laws requiring students to receive controversial vaccines are based on a eugenics-era decision granting the State the power to forcibly vaccinate residents.<ref>United States Supreme Court (February 20, 1905). [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=197&invol=11 "Jacobson v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts"], 197 U.S. 11. Retrieved from ''FindLaw'' on September 25, 2014.</ref> That decision, in fact, was the cited precedent for Justice Holmes' offensive "imbeciles" holding quoted above.

For the same reason that evolution teaching led to eugenics, evolution teaching today encourages acceptance of abortion and euthanasia. Under evolution theory, after all, we are merely animals fighting for biological survival.

===Eugenics in Europe===

German Darwinist [[Ernst Haeckel]] promoted evolution by drawing fraudulent pictures of humans embryos, to pretend that their developmental stages imitate a historical evolution of humans from other species.<ref>''See'' [[Haeckel diagrams]]. These fraudulent drawings remain a part of American textbooks and were only exposed a century later as false by the ''New York Times''.</ref>

In 1904, Haeckel reiterated the view of Darwin quoted above: "These lower races … are psychologically nearer to the mammals (apes or dogs) than to civilized Europeans; we must, therefore, assign a totally different value to their lives." <ref>Haeckel, Ernst (1904). ''The Wonders of Life'' (New York: Harper), pp. 56-57.</ref>

It wasn't long before intellectuals viewed war as an essential evolutionary process. ''Vom Heutigen Kriege'', a popular book by Geberal Bernhardi, "expounded the thesis that war was a biological necessity and a convenient means of ridding the world of the unfit. These views were not confined to a lunatic fringe, but won wide acceptance especially among journalists, academics and politicians."<ref>Carr, William (October 1991). ''A History of Germany 1815-1990'' (London: Bloomsbury), 4th ed., p. 205.</ref> In America, Justice Holmes similarly wrote that "I always say that society is founded on the death of men - if you don't kill the weakest one way you kill them another."<ref>Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. (February 26, 1922). "Letter to Sir Frederick Pollock".</ref>

World War I entailed a brutality unknown in the history of mankind. Gregg Easterbrook, a senior editor of the liberal ''[[New Republic]]'' magazine, observed that "prior to the Scopes trial in 1925, [[William Jennings Bryan]] had been on a revival tour of Germany and had been horrified by the signs of incipient Nazism. Before this point, Bryan had been moderate in the evolution debate; for instance, he had lobbied the Florida legislature not to ban the teaching of Darwin, only to specify that evolution must be taught as a theory rather than a fact. But after hearing the National Socialists talk about the elimination of genetic inferiority, [historian Gary] Wills wrote, Bryan came to feel that evolutionary ideas had become dangerous; he began both to oppose and to lampoon them."

The march of evolution/eugenics continued unabated in Germany. By the 1920s, German textbooks were teaching evolution concepts of heredity and racial hygiene. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics was founded in 1927.

In 1933, Germany passed the Law for the Protection of Heredity Health. Next was the Nazi sterilization law entitled "Eugenics in the service of public welfare." It required compulsory sterilization for the prevention of progeny with hereditary defects in cases including congenital mental defects, schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, and hereditary epilepsy.

The German schools indoctrinated their students. In 1935, a German high-school math textbook included the following problem:<ref name="sm"/> "… how much does it cost the state if:

:a. 868 [mentally infirm] patients stay longer than 10 years?
:b. 260 [mentally infirm] patients stay longer than 20 years?
:c. 112 [mentally infirm] patients stay longer than 2 years?"

One German student was [[Josef Mengele]], who studied anthropology and paleontology and received his Ph.D. for his thesis entitled "Racial Morphological Research on the Lower Jaw Section of Four Racial Groups." In 1937, Mengele was recommended for and received a position as a research assistant with the Third Reich Institute for Hereditary, Biology and Racial Purity at the University of Frankfort. He became the "Angel of Death" for directing the operation of gas chambers of [[the Holocaust]] and for conducting horrific medical experiments on inmates in pursuit of eugenics.

===Genocide===

The [[liberal]] American Medical Society provided this summary:<ref>Barondess, Jeremiah A. (November 27, 1996). "Medicine against society: lessons from the Third Reich". ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'', vol. 276, no. 20, p. 1657(5).</ref>

:"The publication of Darwin's ''[[Origin of Species]]'' in 1859 led to the rise of the eugenics movement in Europe. Eugenics supporters believed that [[race]]s could be improved by [[selective breeding]]. The [[Nazi Party]] adopted this belief and began a campaign against the Jews. Many physicians joined the Nazi Party because they needed jobs."

Many [[genocide]]s have been committed in the name of Eugenics, most notably the Holocaust. [[Adolf Hitler]] was a strong believer in eugenics and evolution and believed that Jewish people were closest to apes, followed by Africans, Asians, non-Aryan Europeans, and finally, Aryans, who he believed were most evolved.

Pat Milmoe McCarrick and Mary Carrington Coutts, reference librarians for the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature at [[Georgetown University]], were more succinct: "The Nazi [[racial hygiene]] program began with involuntary sterilizations and ended with genocide." <ref>McCarrick, Pat Milmoe and Coutts, Mary Carrington et al. (June 1995). [https://web.archive.org/web/20041013060122/http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/scopenotes/sn28.htm "Introduction"]. ''Eugenics'', Scope Note series, no. 28. Georgetown University/The Joseph and Rose Kennedy Institute of Ethics/National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature website. Retrieved from October 13, 2004 archive at Internet Archive on September 18, 2014.</ref>

===American scientists and Nazi Germany===

From ''The Nazi Connection'':<ref>Kühl, Stefan (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=UGYfRv3DWuQC&dq=nazi+socialism&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 ''The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism'' [preview]] (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Preview retrieved from GoogleBooks on September 25, 2014.</ref>{{cquote|When Hitler published ''Mein Kampf'' in 1924, he held up a foreign law as a model for his program of racial purification: The U.S. Immigration Restriction Act of 1924, which prohibited the immigration of those with hereditary illnesses and entire ethnic groups. When the Nazis took power in 1933, they installed a program of eugenics—the attempted "improvement" of the population through forced sterilization and marriage controls—that consciously drew on the U.S. example. By then, many American states had long had compulsory sterilization laws for "defectives," upheld by the Supreme Court in 1927. Small wonder that the Nazi laws led one eugenics activist in Virginia to complain, "The Germans are beating us at our own game."

In ''The Nazi Connection'', Stefan Kuhl uncovers the ties between the American eugenics movement and the Nazi program of racial hygiene, showing that many American scientists actively supported Hitler's policies. After introducing us to the recently resurgent problem of scientific racism, Kuhl carefully recounts the history of the eugenics movement, both in the United States and internationally, demonstrating how widely the idea of sterilization as a genetic control had become accepted by the early twentieth century. From the first, the American eugenicists led the way with radical ideas. Their influence led to sterilization laws in dozens of states—laws which were studied, and praised, by the German racial hygienists. With the rise of Hitler, the Germans enacted compulsory sterilization laws partly based on the U.S. experience, and American eugenists took pride in their influence on Nazi policies. Kuhl recreates astonishing scenes of American eugenicists traveling to Germany to study the new laws, publishing scholarly articles lionizing the Nazi eugenics program, and proudly comparing personal notes from Hitler thanking them for their books. Even after the outbreak of war, he writes, the American eugenicists frowned upon Hitler's totalitarian government, but not his sterilization laws. So deep was the failure to recognize the connection between eugenics and Hitler's genocidal policies, that a prominent liberal Jewish eugenicist who had been forced to flee Germany found it fit to grumble that the Nazis "took over our entire plan of eugenic measures."

By 1945, when the murderous nature of the Nazi government was made perfectly clear, the American eugenicists sought to downplay the close connections between themselves and the German program. Some of them, in fact, had sought to distance themselves from Hitler even before the war. But Stefan Kuhl's deeply documented book provides a devastating indictment of the influence—and aid—provided by American scientists for the most comprehensive attempt to enforce racial purity in world history.}}

==Liberal eugenics==
Some argue that parents who abort infants with a genetic mutation or other disabilities are practicing a form of eugenics.<ref>Kristof, Nicholas D. (July 4, 2003). [https://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/07/04/nyt.kristof/index.html "The new eugenics"]. ''The New York Times''. Reprinted at CNN.com International/U. S. webpage. Retrieved on September 18, 2014.</ref> Some doctors and scientists have defended this practice and named it "liberal eugenics" in order to differentiate it from traditional forms of eugenics such as Nazi eugenics.<ref>Hauskeller, Michael (November 2, 2005). [http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=4541 "Review of ''Liberal Eugenics: In Defence of Human Enhancement''"], Agar, Nicholas (2004, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing). Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.</ref> Eugenicists in the United States and elsewhere have been known to employ or advocate [[abortion]] as a method of eugenics.

==Eugenics in film==

In the 2006 satirical comedy ''Idiocracy,'' the entire movie is premised on the idea that the out-breeding of the stupid over the intelligent will lead to a uniformly stupid world run by advertisers, marketers, and anti-intellectualism.

==See also==
* [[Genetic engineering]]
* [[Planned Parenthood]]
* [[Margaret Sanger]]
* [[Liberalism]]
* [[Abortion]]
* [[Daniel Kevles]]

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

{{evolution}}
{{Liberalism}}

[[Category:Eugenics]]
[[Category:Genetics]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Liberalism]]

Stephen King

2019-09-02T15:58:36Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

'''Stephen Edwin King''' is a best-selling American novelist and short story writer, often considered the "Master of Horror". His books have been translated into 33 different languages and published in over 35 different countries. There are over 300 million copies of his novels in publication. Some of his novels take on [[occult]] themes.

== Biography and first works==

Stephen King was born in 1947, in Maine. He attended Lisbon High School in Lisbon.

King's amateur press, Triad and Gaslight Books, published a two part book titled "The Star Invaders" in 1964. He made his first published appearance in 1965 in the magazine ''Comics Review'' with his pulp story "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber." The story ran about 6,000 words in length.

In 1966, King graduated from high school and took a scholarship to attend the University of Maine. Later that summer he was already working on a novel called "Getting It On", about some kids who take over a classroom and try unsuccessfully to ward off the [[National Guard]]. During his first year at college, King completed his first full-length novel, "The Long Walk." He submitted the novel to Bennett Cerf/Random House only to have it rejected. King took the rejection badly and filed the book away. "The Long Walk" would later be published under King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman.

It was around those times that he made his first small sale with his story "The Glass Floor" for the amount of thirty-five dollars.

In June 1970, King graduated from the University of Maine with a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a certificate to teach high school.

His next idea came from the poem by [[Robert Browning]], "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", which gave him the inspiration for his later ''Dark Tower'' series. Due to his lack of income he was unable to further pursue the novel at great length and it too was filed away. King took a measly job of pumping gas earning $1.25 an hour. Also he earned money for his writings by submitting his short stories to men's magazines such as ''Cavalier''.

== Writing career ==

On January 2, 1971, Stephen King married Tabitha Jane Spruce. In the fall of 1971, King took a teaching job at Hampden Academy earning $6,400 a year. The Kings then moved to Hermon, a town west of Bangor, Maine.

Stephen King then began to work on a short story about a teenage girl named Carietta White. After a completing a few pages, King decided it was not a worthy story and crumpled the pages up and tossed them into the trash. Fortunately, his wife took the pages out and read them. She encouraged her husband to continue the story.

In January 1973, King submitted '''Carrie''' to Doubleday. In March, Doubleday bought the book and sold the paperback rights to New American Library for $400,000. Based on the book contract, Stephen King would get half of that. King quit his teaching job to pursue writing full-time.

Since then, King has had numerous short stories and novels published and movies created from his work, sometimes directed by high-profile names. Worth mentioning are the film versions of "Carrie", directed
by Brian de Palma; "The Shining", by Stanley Kubrick; "Misery", by Rob Reiner; and "[[The Shawshank Redemption]]", by Frank Darabont. In his review of "The Green Mile", award-winning critic Roger Ebert wrote that ''"Stephen King, sometimes dismissed as merely a best-seller, has in his best novels some of the power of [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]], who created worlds that enveloped us and populated them with colorful, peculiar, sharply seen characters. King in his strongest work is a storyteller likely to survive as Dickens has, despite the sniffs of the litcrit establishment."''<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991210/REVIEWS/912100302/1023</ref>

In June 1999, Stephen King was severely injured in an accident that left him in critical condition with injuries to his lung, broken ribs, a broken leg, and a severely fractured hip. After three weeks of operations, he was released from the Central Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. Stephen continued to be bedridden and required intensive rehabilitation over the remainder of this year. He is expected to be able to walk about 9–12 months after the accident. Due to Stephen King's injuries, his projects were delayed at least a year.
He relives this incident in ''The Dark Tower'', the final book in the ''Dark Tower'' series, in which his life is saved by Jake Chambers.

In 2003, he was awarded The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and currently collaborates for ''Entertainment Weekly'' magazine.

== Politics ==
Stephen King is a [[liberal]]; he is a self-proclaimed supporter of the [[Democratic Party]], and [[Barack Obama]].<ref>[https://www.realitytvworld.com/news/stephen-king-backing-barack-obama-50049396.php Stephen King backing Barack Obama]</ref> He has also expressed distaste for [[conservative]] political commentators such as [[Rush Limbaugh]], [[Bill O'Reilly]], and [[Glenn Beck]].<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1924348-3,00.html Roberts, Nicholas "Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?" ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine/''[[The New York Times]]'', September 17, 2009; Page 3 of 4]</ref>

On April 4, 2008, King made comments which have been criticized as elitist and anti-military. While addressing a symposium of high school students, he stated that "The fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that." These comments were criticized by Noel Sheppard, a conservative blogger.<ref>http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/05/05/writer-stephen-king-if-you-cant-read-youll-end-army-or-iraq</ref> King has since refused to apologize for the comments, blaming the controversy on conservative commentators and claiming that Sheppard and other conservatives "...take their cues from [conservative commentators Rush] Limbaugh and [Bill] O’Reilly, who are adept at shifting discussion from what they don’t want to talk about, such as the failures of the war in Iraq, to what they want to talk about..." According to King, "[Conservative commentators] shift the discussion away from education to who’s supporting the troops. Of course, I support the troops. In this country, there’s an equating of intelligence with elitism, and elitism with being unpatriotic. But smart people love the U.S., too." <ref>http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=164062&zoneid=176</ref>

== List of Stephen King's works ==

*Carrie (1974)
*Salem's Lot (1975)
*Rage (as Richard Bachman) (1977)
*The Shining (1977)
*Night Shift (1978)
*The Stand (1978)
*The Dead Zone (1979)
*The Long Walk (as Richard Bachman) (1979)
*Danse Macabre (1980) - Non-fiction
*Firestarter (1980)
*Cujo (1981)
*Roadwork (as Richard Bachman) (1981)
*Creepshow (1982)
*Different Seasons (1982)
*The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (1982)
*The Running Man (as Richard Bachman) (1982)
*Christine (1983)
*Pet Sematary (1983)
*The Talisman (1984)
*Thinner (as Richard Bachman) (1984)
*Cycle of the Werewolf (1985)
*Skeleton Crew (1985)
*The Bachman Books (1985)
*It (1986)
*Misery (1987)
*The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
*The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
*The Tommyknockers (1987)
*The Dark Half (1989)
*Four Past Midnight (1990)
*The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (1990)
*Needful Things (1991)
*The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
*Dolores Claiborne (1992)
*Gerald's Game (1992)
*Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993)
*Insomnia (1994)
*Rose Madder (1995)
*The Green Mile: All 6 Parts (1996)
*The Regulators (as Richard Bachman) (1996)
*Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
*Six Stories (1997)
*Apt Pupil (1998)
*Bag of Bones (1998)
*Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
*Storm of the Century (1999)
*The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
*On Writing (2000) - Non-fiction
*Secret Windows (2000)
*Black House (2001)
*Dreamcatcher (2001)
*Everything's Eventual (2002)
*From a Buick 8 (2004)
*Cell (2006)
*Lisey's Story (2006)
*Blaze (as Richard Bachman) (2007)
*Duma Key (2008)
*Under the Dome (2009)
*Blockade Billy (2010)
*Full Dark, No Stars (2010)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stephenking.com/ Stephen King: The Official Website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Stephen}}

[[Category:Best Selling Authors]]
[[Category:American Authors]]
[[Category:Horror]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Dystopian Fiction]]

Hugo Chavez

2019-08-26T17:58:38Z

Irenefenswick: fixed broken links in references

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:chavez.jpg|200px]]
| name =Hugo Chavez
| birth =July 28, 1954 Sabaneta, Venezuela
| parents =Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Elena Frías de Chávez
| religion =Roman Catholic
| education =Daniel Florencio O'Leary High School, Barinas Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, Caracas
| spouse =Nancy Colmenares (div.) Marisabel Rodríguez (div.)
| children =Rosa Virginia María Gabriela Hugo Rafael Rosinés (with Marisabel)
| death = circa Dec. 11, 2012 (denied by the [[lamestream media]] until Mar. 5, 2013)
| deathmanner = illness in a Cuban hospital
| burial =The museum of the Bolivarian Revolution in Caracas
| country =[[Venezuela]]
| military =Venezuelan army
| rank =Lieutenant colonel
| polbeliefs =[[Socialism]]
| party =Fifth Republic Movement United Socialist Party
| dictatordate =November 2000
| war =n/a
| deathnumber =n/a
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías''' (b. July 28, 1954 – d. circa Dec. 11, 2012) <ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21476917 (obviously staged photo)</ref> was the [[leftist]] President of the Bolivarian Republic of [[Venezuela]] from 1999 to 2012. Chavez was not seen in public since he entered a Cuban hospital near death on December 11, 2012. Venezuela's [[socialist]] regime engaged in [[liberal denial]] about his death for nearly three months, even releasing a photo of an ostensibly fit and smiling Chavez. But on March 5, 2013, likely due to pressure from other nations that already knew Chavez had died, Venezuelan [[Communist]]s finally admitted Chavez was dead.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-dead-at-58-good-riddance.html "Hugo Chavez dead at 58] "How little we know about the manner in which - or when - he died"</ref><ref>[http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130311/DA4UKU7G0.html Venezuela candidate: Govt exploits Chavez death]</ref>

A self-proclaimed [[socialist]] and [[collectivist]], his disastrous economic policies led to food shortages, quotas, and rationing in his oil-rich country, causing thousands to flee.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>
After a campaign full of the promise of "esperanza y cambio" (hope and change),<ref>[https://www.prageru.com/sites/default/files/courses/transcripts/dsouza-hows_socialsim_doing_in_venezuela-transcript.pdf How's Socialism Doing In Venezuela?]</ref> Chávez assumed power as President in 1999 and pledged to aid Venezuela's poor majority.
Fraudulent elections were held in 2000 and in 2006, allowing Chavez to retain his [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] power. As such it would be accurate to describe him as a [[dictator]].

*{{Venezuela blunder}}

Due to an illness, in early April 2012 "Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on [[God]] to spare his life."<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9189962/Hugo-Chavez-weeps-and-calls-on-God-to-spare-his-life.html</ref> That contrasts with Jesus's request in his time of crisis, when [[Jesus]] prayed, "O Father, if You can, let this cup pass from Me. But ''don't do what I want, but rather what You want''."<ref>[[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#26:39|Matthew 26:39]].</ref>

==Election fraud==
Steven F. Hayward wrote:
* While exit polls conducted by the very reliable American firm of Penn, Schoen, and Berland showed Chavez losing by a large margin (41 to 59), the official results put Chavez free and clear by a vote of 58 to 41 percent.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5A8D0094-4590-4DFB-A7F0-C2E06A6820FB]</ref>

A February 26, 2003 report by Robert Tracinski obliterates the left-wing mythology around Chavez:
<blockquote>
: '''Step one''': Chavez has initiated formal proceedings to revoke the licenses of independent, privately owned television and radio stations. Meanwhile, his political militias, the Bolivarian Circles, have staged violent attacks on independent media outlets. After all, elections don't mean much if all people watch is propaganda on state-run television.

: '''Step two''': Chavez has used a moratorium on currency conversion--needed to pay for imported goods--to punish his opponents. Vowing "no dollars for coup-mongers," he has used this power, for example, to prevent opposition newspapers from importing ink. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are too busy worrying where their next meal is coming from.

: '''Step three''': Venezuelan police acting on Chavez's orders have arrested Carlos Fernandez, the head of Venezuela's largest business federation and a leader of the recent anti-Chavez strike, charging him with rebellion and sabotage. Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor union, has gone into hiding. In one move, Chavez has neutralized two potential rivals for the presidency. After all, elections don't mean much if all of the other candidates are in jail.

: '''Step four''': Last week, four protesters were kidnapped while returning from an anti-Chavez rally. They were blindfolded, tortured, and shot execution-style. Some of the victims were witnesses to a previous pro-Chavez political killing, and they had planned to testify against the shooter. Consider the message sent to the opposition when the mutilated bodies of their friends start showing up in the city streets. After all, elections don't mean much if your opponents are afraid to leave their houses and walk to the polls.

: '''Step five''': A few days ago, Chavez delivered a speech denouncing Spain, Colombia, and the US for interfering in Venezuela. This morning in Caracas, the diplomatic missions of Spain and Colombia were bombed. Credit was claimed by a splinter pro-Chavez group--but this was not a bunch of kids cooking up homemade bombs in their basement. The bombs were powerful plastic explosives, the kind of weapons that are difficult to obtain without government complicity.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2514-dictatorship-by-the-numbers-in-venezuela.html {{dead link}}</ref>
</blockquote>

$4 billion was spent paying paramilitary groups to attack unarmed protestors and other dissidents during and after the elections.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/2968-venezuela-a-new-junket-for-a-dictator-s-best-friend-jimmy-carter.html</ref>

The [[European Union]] condemned the conditions placed on election monitors as unacceptable and declined to attend. The Carter Center was shut out for three days. Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have identified signs of fraud based on statistical analysis.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

==Human rights concerns==
Hugo Chávez was a great friend of the tyrannical [[Cuba]]n despot [[Fidel Castro]] and is said to have drawn his political style through influences such as [[Che Guevara]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Simon Bolivar]]. The U.S. State Department ''Report on Global Anti-Semitism'' cited Chavez in August 2004 warning citizens against following the lead of Jewish citizens in the effort to overturn his referendum victory.<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm Report on Global Anti-Semitism] U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, [[Human Rights]], and Labor, January 5, 2005.</ref> Chavez also embraced a number of world leaders that have hostile relations with the United States, including Holocaust-denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], the then-President of [[Iran]], who Chavez has referred to as "my brother".<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_pol_art_31A756133.shtml Chávez decorated in Iran; initials cooperation pacts]</ref> U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives [[Nancy Pelosi]] said of Chavez, "Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern-day [[Simon Bolivar]], but all he is is an everyday thug."<ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/pruden092206.php3 Back to the old days, if only for a minute], Wesley Pruden, ''Jewish World Review'', Sept. 22, 2006.</ref> He was also considered to be an ally of [[leftist]] [[Ecuador]]ian president [[Rafael Correa]], [[Bolivia]]n president [[Evo Morales]] and the president of [[Nicaragua]], [[Daniel Ortega]] ... all radical leftists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm Correa]</ref>

In May 2007, Chavez silenced the privately owned RCTV, the only remaining opposition television station critical of his regime and its repression, by revoking its licence and seizing its studios and infrastructure for the use of his newly formed state-run propaganda channel TVes.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2085952,00.html Chávez silences critical TV station], Rory Carroll, ''[[The Guardian]]'', May 23, 2007.</ref> Crowds of students demonstrated saying they feared for the future of human rights in Venezuela. National Guard troops were ordered to fire [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]]. Two students were injured, a third was hit with a tear gas canister, and about 20 people needed emergency medical attention for inhaling tear gas.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070602122247/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela], Fabiola Sanchez, [[Associated Press]], 05.28.07. Retrieved from [[Forbes.com]] 05/31/07.</ref> Chavez employed discrimination against [[migrant workers]] in the country.<ref>http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/americas/3924-the-carter-stamp-of-approval-on-the-venueuzlan-election-less-than-worthless.html</ref>

Chavez said, "I am going to go after those who resist the revolution and eliminate them one by one."<ref>[http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/07/guest_commentary_we_must_help_venezuela_because_fr/ Because Freedom Matters], By U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and Blanquita Cullm, ''Naples Daily News'', July 7, 2007.</ref>

===Trafficking in Persons===
Venezuela under Chavez was on the U.S. State Department's Tier 3 list for [[trafficking in persons]] since 2004, which means that the government was categorized as one that has failed to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department's June 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report maintains that Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for [[sexual exploitation]] and [[forced labor]].<ref>U.S. Department of State, [http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/ Trafficking in Persons Report], June 12, 2007, p. 207.</ref>

==Relations with the United States==
[[File:Chavez Obama.jpg|thumb|At the Fifth Summit of the Americas.]]
Foreign relations between the [[United States of America]] and [[Venezuela]] are presently unstable. Chavez often hypocritically criticized the United States for its "imperialism" on his radio segment ''Alo Presidente'', and alleged the United States supported a 2002 coup in Venezuela which toppled Chávez momentarily and later removed by Chávez supporters, also known as "Chávistas". Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade revenue from oil sales to the United States. Chavez has founded [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|ALBA]] an international organization of leftist countries on the [[Caribic]]s and Southern America. Chavez said that the ALCA is a "instrument of imperialism".

===Terrorism===
In May 2006, the State Department determined that, pursuant to Section 40A of the [[Arms Export Control Act]], Venezuela was not fully cooperating with U.S. [[antiterrorism]] efforts. This triggered a prohibition on the sale or license of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Other countries on the Section 40A list include [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Syria]], not to be confused with the "state sponsors of
terrorism" list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, which currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. The State Department asserted that the Section 40A determination was based on Venezuela's near lack of antiterrorism cooperation over the last year, citing its support for Iraqi insurgents and Iran's development of nuclear capabilities, the country's status as a safe haven for Colombian and Basque terrorist groups, and its effort to derail hemispheric efforts to advance counter-terrorism policies in the OAS. In May 2007, the State Department again included Venezuela in its annual Section 40A determination that it was not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.

In late April 2007, the State Department issued its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, which asserted that President Chávez "persisted in public criticism of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven" by Colombian terrorist groups.

There have been long-held suspicions that Chávez has supported leftist Colombian guerrillas, although Chávez denies such support. The State Department's terrorism report maintains that units of Colombia's two leftist terrorist groups — the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) and the [[National Liberation Army]] (ELN) — often crossed into Venezuela "to rest and regroup with relative impunity."

In addition, according to the report, splinter groups of the FARC and a rightist terrorist group, the [[AUC|United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) reportedly operate in various parts of the country and are involved in drug trafficking. The report maintained, however, that "it remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan Government provided material support to Colombian terrorists."

In addition, according to the report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive waystation for terrorists. In July 13, 2006, congressional testimony, the State Department's Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Urbancic, asserted that the United States was detaining increasing numbers of third-country aliens at its borders carrying falsified or fraudulently issued Venezuelan documents. U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about President Chávez's close relationship with Cuba's Fidel Castro, but Chávez defends his relationship with Cuba. Overall Venezuelan support to Cuba is estimated to be more than $2 billion a year.<ref>Frances Robles and Phil Gunson, ''Cuba Spotlights Chávez Friendship,'' [[Miami Herald]], January 26, 2007.</ref> Venezuela supplies some 90,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba on a concessionary basis under PetroCaribe. In return, Venezuela has received support from thousands of Cuban health care workers and sports instructors in the country.

During an April 2005 trip to Cuba, Presidents Chávez and Castro announced commercial deals worth over $400 million, including a joint shipyard to build small navy ships and a joint housing construction company. In January 2007, a delegation of Cuban officials visited Caracas and signed a number of agreements to increase economic linkages, including an agreement for joint oil exploration in both countries.

PdVSA is also involved in refurbishing an unfinished oil refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Beyond Latin America, the Bush Administration has expressed concerns with Venezuela's growing relations with Iran. In February 2006, Secretary of State Rice referred to Venezuela, along with Cuba, as "sidekicks" of Iran in reference to those countries’ votes in the International Atomic Energy Agency against reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment program.<ref>Pablo Bachelet, "Rice Bashes Venezuelan Leader, Politics," [[Miami Herald]], February 17, 2006; House International Relations Committee, Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007 International Affairs Budget, Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, February 16, 2006.</ref> In testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in February 2006, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte expressed concern that President Chávez "is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea."<ref>Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hearing on World Wide Threats, Testimony of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, February 2, 2006.</ref> ran and Venezuela signed an agreement for a $200 million fund to finance joint investment and social projects, and commercial agreements in the early stages include plans for a cement factory, oil exploration in the Orinoco River belt, and a joint operation to build oil and liquid natural gas tankers.<ref>Steven Dudley, "Chávez’s Wooing of Iran Called Troubling," [[Miami Herald]], March 2, 2006.</ref> During a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela in mid-January 2007, the two countries announced they would use a $2 billion investment fund to finance projects in both countries and other countries as well.<ref>Simon Romero, ''Iranian President Visits Venezuela to Strengthen Ties,'' [[The New York Times]], January 14, 2007.</ref>

Some Members of Congress have expressed concerns about relations between Venezuela and Iran. In the 110th Congress, H.Res. 435 (Klein) would, among its provisions, express concern over national security implications of the relationship between the leaders of Iran and Venezuela.

According to the ''[[Washington Post]]'' Chavez was accused of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels, of financing Bolivian and Ecuadorian groups seeking to establish "Marxist" states, and of being, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro's guidance, a "[[subversion (political)|subversive]]" everywhere else in the region.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082501420.html?nav=rss_world/centralamerica ''Dealing With the Good and Bad Hugo Chavez''], Marcela Sanchez, [[The Washington Post]] 25 August 2005.</ref>

==Expropriation==
[[Image:Hugo-chavez8.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Fidel Castro.]]

In typical socialist rhetoric, Chavez made wild claims to fund the government by nationalizing foreign assets. Typical reasons included accusing companies of environmental damage and exploiting its workers. In 2010 alone, Chavez seized 195 companies.<ref>[http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/20/en_eco_art_a-total-of-195-busin_20A4631291.shtml A total of 195 businesses has been seized in 2010, El Universal, October 20, 2010]</ref> Spanish-owned farm supply and U.S.-based Ohio bottle company were recently taken over. Other recognized multi-national companies such ExxonMobil, steel maker Sidor, cement company CEMEX fell to the same fate.<ref>[http://wellsy.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/chavez-takes-over-venezuelan-plants-of-oh-company/ Chavez takes over Venezuelan plants of OH company, Wellsy's World, October 26, 2010]</ref> Venezuela is supposed to compensate the companies but nobody expects Chavez to provide other than peanuts for assets he steals.

Through Venezuela's state-owned petroleum industry and membership in [[OPEC]], Chávez used powers granted to him by Parliament to increase oil prices, adding revenue for the Bolivarianist projects. Countries such as the United States have criticized Chávez for the increase in cost for crude oil. Chavez was at the forefront of wanting to set crude oil prices at $60 a barrel minimum, according to the ''Asia Times''<ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HL07Dj01.html ''Bush, OPEC and Chavez of Arabia''], Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, 7 December 2006.</ref> The state-owned oil company PDVSA is estimated to have spent in excess of $120 million sponsoring the [[Formula 1]] team, Williams F1, so that they would give the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a seat.

==Anti-Semitism==
[[File:Chavez ahmad.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chavez and Holocaust denier [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]]]
Chavez was known to be fiercely [[Anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]],<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080914010858/http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hugo-ch-vez-s-jewish-problem-11455
</ref> which was the likely reason for his friendship and political alliance with Iranian dictator and [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]] [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]].<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402428.html</ref> As a result of the anti-Semitic policies of the Chavez regime and the wave of violent attacks on Venezuelan Jews that it caused, the [[Jewish]] population of Venezuela decreased by more than 50 percent within a decade of Chavez coming to power.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20160407204756/http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/venezuela.php</ref>

==Drug problem in Venezuela==
The ''[[Associated Press]]'' reported in July 2007 that since Chavez's ascension to power, illegal narcotics passing through Venezuela from [[Colombia]] has risen by as much as 30 tons a year and now accounts for roughly a third of the world's supply of [[cocaine]]. Mildred Camero who was in charge of Venezuela's anti-drug efforts stated, "[[Caracas]] is replacing [[Bogota]] as a center of everything related to drug operations." Camero was fired in 2005 after reporting high-level corruption.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875048.html Venezuela Becomes Cocaine Conduit], By Ian James and Frank Bajak, ''[[Associated Press]]'', 1 July 2007. Retrieved from [[Forbes.com]] 8 July 2007.</ref>

In 2008 Chavez revealed that he himself regularly chews coca leafs, the leafs from which cocaine is made. This is a common custom in that area of South America.<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/01/26/uk-venezuela-chavez-coca-idUKN2638848320080126 Venezuela's Chavez swaps coffee for coca in speech], [[Reuters]]</ref>

==Religious views==
Though Chavez claimed to be a devout Catholic, he has had public disputes with the Church before. Chavez demanded that [[Pope Benedict]] apologize for saying the Roman Catholic Church purified Indians in Latin America. Chavez called the treatment of Indians after [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in 1492 a "holocaust".<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519 Chavez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments], [[Reuters]], May 19, 2007</ref> In addition, he denounced Catholic leaders, claiming they "cared more about the rich than the poor". After his condition continued to deteriorate due to cancer, Chavez became more overtly religious, calling on God to help him.<ref>http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-significance-of-hugo-chavezs-death-and-faith-91410/</ref>

==2011–2012 Health Crisis and subsequent cover-up and Constitutional Crisis==
On June 30, 2011, the 56-year-old President admitted, in a televised speech, to having cancer.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13991906]</ref> He sought treatment, to no avail, in Brazil.<ref>http://latindispatch.com/2011/07/14/hugo-chavez-to-receive-cancer-treatment-in-brazil/</ref>

Despite being aware of his condition, Chavez chose to run again for President. On October 7, 2012, a terminally ill Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008</ref>

Chavez was not seen since December 11, 2012, the last time he appeared in public, when he was admitted to a hospital in Cuba. He may have died on this date or shortly afterward. However, the Cuban and Venezuelan Communists attempted to keep his death secret, and pretended he was alive for another two and a half months, going as far as using his [[Twitter]] account to post fake messages from a supposedly recovering Chavez.

Chavez should have taken the oath of office on January 10, 2013, the necessary step to assume the presidency for his new period. However, Venezuela's Supreme Court ignored the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution (reformed by Chavez himself in 1999) and allowed Chavez to become president without taking the oath of office, thus doing away with any remaining semblance of constitutional government.

On February 18, it was announced by the Chavez regime that Chavez had returned to Venezuela to finish his recovery.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/18/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela-from-cuba-after-months-medical-treatment/</ref> The then-Venezuelan vice-president [[Nicolás Maduro]] claimed that Chavez had been flown in secrecy from [[Havana]] to [[Caracas]] in the early hours of the morning to avoid possible attacks from his enemies. The two top floors of Caracas' military hospital were sealed from the public, with Chavez supposedly recovering on the eighth floor and the seventh floor closed to guarantee his security. On March 5, the Venezuelan ''de facto'' government finally ended the charade and announced that Chavez had died, claiming also that his cancer and death had been the result of an assassination plot by "the historical enemies of the Fatherland" (referring to the United States and the Venezuelan democratic opposition). On March 7, Maduro announced that Chavez's body should be embalmed and put on permanent display inside a glass tomb, thus imitating the treatment given to the corpses of other Communist dictators like [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Klement Gottwald]], [[Georgi Dimitrov]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Ho Chi Minh]], [[Kim Il-Sung]] and [[Kim Jong-Il]].<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/07/chavez-body-embalmed-to-be-permanently-on-display/ Chavez's body embalmed, to be permanently on display], [[Fox News]] (March 7, 2013)</ref> But this was canceled because Chavez's body would otherwise have to be brought for a time to Russia to do the embalming.

==Personal Wealth==
Around the time that Hugo Chavez passed away, reports surfaced that he had amassed a personal wealth of over a billion dollars.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2289427/Was-Hugo-Chavez-worth-1bn-died-Claims-amassed-huge-fortune-countrys-oil-wealth.html#ixzz3kOYeG7al Was Chavez worth over $1bn when he died? Intelligence analyst claims he amassed huge fortune from country's oil wealth], [[Daily Mail]]</ref> Some reports put his personal wealth at $2 billion.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9993238/Venezuela-the-wealth-of-Chavez-family-exposed.html Venezuela: the wealth of Chavez family exposed], [[Daily Telegraph]]</ref>

New reports have come out detailing his daughter's wealth. María Gabriela is reported to be a billionaire, worth over $4 billion,<ref>[https://dailycaller.com/2015/08/10/iron-fisted-socialism-benefited-hugo-chavezs-daughter-to-the-tune-of-billions-reports-say/ Iron-Fisted Socialism Benefited Hugo Chavez’s Daughter To The Tune Of BILLIONS, Reports Say] [[Daily Caller]]</ref> which would make her the richest person in [[Venezuela]].<ref>[http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/08/10/hugo-chavez-daughter-is-richest-individual-in-venezuela-report-claims/ Hugo Chávez daughter is the richest individual in Venezuela, report claims], [[Fox News]]</ref>

Socialist dictators are known for ransacking the people they claim to support. [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] was one of the richest people in the world when he died. Neither Gaddafi nor Chavez did anything in their lives that would have earned them this kind of wealth.

==Quotes from Hugo Chavez==
* On closure of RCTV, claiming the network's broadcasts amounted to a "permanent attack on public morals" with cartoons that were "poisoned with hatred, violence and even sex."

* "Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost...If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me."

==See also==
* [[Previous Breaking News/Hugo Chavez|Articles about '''Hugo Chavez''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'état]]
* [[Cult of personality]]
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]

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

==Further reading==
*[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/] An in-depth view on Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=706] An overview of articles on Venezuela's business under Hugo Chávez.
*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_24_06_AVL.html ''Why The Left Should Cringe at The Mention of Hugo Chavez''], Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Independent Institute, February 24, 2006.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200108/ai_kepm313968 ''Bolivar, Dictator or Paladin?''] Interview: Hugo Chavez talks about Venezuela, Maria Amparo Lasso, [[Newsweek]], Aug 20, 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo}}
[[Category:Venezuela]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Socialists]]

Rape jihad

2019-08-26T17:28:22Z

Irenefenswick: fixed broken link in references

'''Rape jihad''' (Arabic: تحرش جنسي, ''taharrush jinsi''; [[sexual harassment]]) refers to the organized abduction, rape and/or enslavement of non-Muslim women or children<ref name="Kern">{{cite web|url=http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3846/britain-child-grooming|title=Britain: "Rape Jihad" Against Children|last=Kern|first=Soeren|date=11 July 2013|publisher=Gatestone Institute|accessdate=13 December 2014}}</ref> by [[Islamism|Islamic extremists]]. The term was used as early as 2004 in descriptions of Darfur and [[Beslan massacre|Beslan]],<ref name="spencer24092004">{{cite web|url=http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=11278|title=The Rape Jihad|last=Spencer|first=Robert|authorlink=[[Robert Spencer]] (author)|date=24 September 2004|publisher=FrontPageMagazine.com|accessdate=13 December 2014}}</ref> and has since been applied to more recent incidents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/sexual-terrorism-in-africa-a-case-of-two-crimes-in-one|title=Sexual terrorism in Africa: a case of two crimes in one|last=Salifu|first=Uyo|date=2 October 2013|publisher=Institute for Security Studies|accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.afternoonvoice.com/after-love-jihad-now-rape-jihad.html|title=After love jihad, now rape jihad|date=17 October 2014|work=Afternoon Voice|accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="greenfield">{{cite web|url=http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/rape-jihad-inside-isis-harem-for-captured-non-muslim-women/|title=Rape Jihad: Inside ISIS’ Harem for Captured Non-Muslim Women|last=Greenfield|first=Daniel|date=28 August 2014|publisher=FrontPageMag.com|accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=|title=Perfect Enemy: The Law Enforcement Manual of Islamist Terrorism|author=Dean T. Olson|page=176|isbn=978-0-398-07885-0|publisher=Charles C Thomas Publisher LTD|date=2009|accessdate=4 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=|title=Islamic Violence in America's Streets|author=Ronald K. Pierce|page=92|isbn=978-1-49173-681-4|publisher=iUniverse|date=2014|accessdate=4 April 2015}}</ref> The largest case of rape jihad in [[Europe]] was at New Years Evening 2015 in [[Cologne]], [[Germany]].

== Justification ==
It has been claimed that disparaging attitudes toward non-Muslim women and girls are promoted in some [[mosque]]s<ref name="Dixon">{{cite web|last1=Dixon|first1=Hayley|title=‘Imams promote grooming rings’, Muslim leader claims|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10061217/Imams-promote-grooming-rings-Muslim-leader-claims.html |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=16 May 2013|accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref> and that sexual predation of them is supported in religious text<ref name="McLoughlin">{{cite web|last1=McLoughlin|first1=Peter|title="Easy Meat": Multiculturalism, Islam and Child Sex Slavery|url=http://lawandfreedomfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Easy-Meat-Multiculturalism-Islam-and-Child-Sex-Slavery-05-03-2014.pdf |pages=222–258|publisher=Law and Freedom Foundation|date=March 2014|accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref> as a form of [[sexual slavery]] sanctioned in [[Quran]]ic scriptures, such as ''[[surah|suras]]'' 4:24 and 33:50, in which sex is permitted with ''"[[Ma malakat aymanukum]]"'' (captive women).<ref name="mccarthy">{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/391814/isis-and-rape-jihad-andrew-c-mccarthy|title=ISIS and the Rape Jihad|last=McCarthy|first=Andrew|authorlink=Andrew C. McCarthy|date=3 November 2014|publisher=National Review Online|accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref>

In its digital magazine, ''[[Dabiq (magazine)|Dabiq]]'', the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) explicitly claimed religious justification for enslaving Yazidi women (see section following). Specifically, ISIL argued that the Yazidi were idol worshipers and appealed to the [[shariah]] practice of [[Prisoners of war in Islam|spoils of war]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Islamic State Seeks to Justify Enslaving Yazidi Women and Girls in Iraq|url=http://www.newsweek.com/islamic-state-seeks-justify-enslaving-yazidi-women-and-girls-iraq-277100 |accessdate=3 November 2014|work=Newsweek|agency=Reuters|date=13 October 2014}}</ref><ref>Athena Yenko, [http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/569402/20141013/islamic-state-dabiq-magazine-isis-slavery.htm#.VD7r9EnD_Gg "Judgment Day Justifies Sex Slavery Of Women – ISIS Out With Its 4th Edition Of Dabiq Magazine"] ''International Business Times-Australia'', October 13, 2014{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref><ref>Allen McDuffee, [https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/isis-confirms-and-justifies-enslaving-yazidis-in-new-magazine-article/381394/ "ISIS Is Now Bragging About Enslaving Women and Children,"] ''[[The Atlantic]]'', Oct 13 2014</ref><ref name="Abdelaziz - ISIS States Justification">{{cite news|last=Abdelaziz|first=Salma|title=ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery |publisher=[[CNN]]|date=13 October 2014|accessdate=1 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Spencer|first=Richard|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11158797/Thousands-of-Yazidi-women-sold-as-sex-slaves-for-theological-reasons-says-Isil.html|title=Thousands of Yazidi women sold as sex slaves 'for theological reasons', says Isil|date=13 October 2014|work=The Telegraph|accessdate=3 November 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21625870-jihadists-boast-selling-captive-women-concubines-have-and-hold "To have and to hold: Jihadists boast of selling captive women as concubines,"] ''[[The Economist]]'', Oct 18th 2014</ref><ref>By AFP, [http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2014/10/13/ISIS-declares-return-of-slavery-.html "ISIS jihadists boast of enslaving Yazidi women,"] ''[[Al Arabiya]]'', October 13, 2014</ref> ISIL asserts that certain [[Hadith]] and [[Quran]]ic verses support their right to enslave and rape captive non-Muslim women.<ref name="Abdelaziz - ISIS States Justification" /><ref name="Kumar">{{cite news|last=Kumar|first=Anugrah|title=ISIS Claims Islam Justifies Making 'Infidel' Women Sex Slaves|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-claims-islam-justifies-making-infidel-women-sex-slaves-128004|agency=CHRISTIAN POST CONTRIBUTOR|work=[[The Christian Post]]|date=13 October 2014|accessdate=1 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Sypher - Rape">{{cite news|last= Sypher|first= Ford|title= Rape and Sexual Slavery Inside an ISIS Prison|url= https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/28/rape-and-sexual-slavery-inside-an-isis-prison.html|agency=Horror|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date= 28 August 2014|accessdate= 5 January 2015}}</ref> ISIL appealed to [[Islamic eschatology|apocalyptic beliefs]] and "claimed justification by a Hadith that they interpret as portraying the revival of slavery as a precursor to the end of the world."<ref>Nour Malas, [http://online.wsj.com/articles/ancient-prophecies-motivate-islamic-state-militants-1416357441 "Ancient Prophecies Motivate Islamic State Militants: Battlefield Strategies Driven by 1,400-year-old Apocalyptic Ideas,"] ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', November 18, 2014 (accessed November 22, 2014){{subscription required}}</ref> According to ''Dabiq,'' "enslaving the families of the [[kuffar]] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Sharia’s that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Qur'an and the narration of the Prophet … and thereby apostatizing from Islam."<ref name="Kumar"/><ref name="TZ - 10-14-2014">{{cite news|title= ISIL seeks to justify enslaving Yazidi women and girls in Iraq|url= http://www.todayszaman.com/national_isil-seeks-to-justify-enslaving-yazidi-women-and-girls-in-iraq_361547.html |agency=abril|publisher=''[[Today's Zaman]]''|date=14 October 2014|accessdate=2 January 2014}}</ref> In late 2014 ISIL released a pamphlet that focused on the treatment of female slaves.<ref name="Smith - ISIS Publish Pamphlet">Amelia Smith, [http://www.newsweek.com/isis-release-questions-and-answers-pamphlet-how-treat-female-slaves-290511 "ISIS Publish Pamphlet On How to Treat Female Slaves,"] ''[[Newsweek]]'', 12/9/2014</ref><ref name="Our faith condones"/><ref name="Lackey - Pamphlet provides guidelines">Katharine Lackey, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/13/pamphlet-islamic-state-guidelines-sex-slaves/20359049/ "Pamphlet provides Islamic State guidelines for sex slaves,"] ''[[USA Today]]'', December 13, 2014</ref> It says fighters are allowed to have sex with adolescent girls and to beat slaves as discipline. The pamphlet's guidelines also allow fighters to trade slaves, including for sex, as long as they have not been impregnated by their owner.<ref name="Smith - ISIS Publish Pamphlet"/><ref name="Our faith condones">{{cite news|title=Our faith condones raping underage slaves: ISIS publishes shocking guidebook telling fighters how to buy, sell and abuse captured women|url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2872884/Our-faith-condones-raping-underage-slaves-ISIS-publishes-shocking-guidebook-telling-fighters-buy-sell-abuse-captured-women.html|author=Abul Taher|work=[[Daily Mail]]|date=13 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lackey - Pamphlet provides guidelines"/>

==Rape in war==
{{main|Jihadism|Wartime sexual violence}}
===History===
{{main|History of rape}}
Rape has accompanied warfare in virtually every known historical era.<ref>{{cite book |last= Levinson |first=Bernard M |title= Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East |url=https://books.google.com/?id=2rZnXQwPX8gC&dq=rape+in+warfare+ancient |page= 203 |year=2004 |isbn= 978-0-567-08098-1}}</ref> Mass rape of both women or youths regardless of gender was among the punitive measures that might be taken against captured towns by [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], [[Persian Empire|Persian]], or [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] troops.<ref>On ancient Rome, see Sara Elise Phang, ''Roman Military Service: Ideologies of Discipline in the Late Republic and Early Principate'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 244, 253–254, 267–268 ''et passim''. See also [[Sexuality in ancient Rome#Sex in the military|Sex in the Roman military]].</ref> Female slavery and war rapes were also common during the medieval [[Arab slave trade]], where prisoners of war captured in battle from non-Arab lands often ended up as concubine slaves (who are considered free when their master dies).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml#section_7 |title=Islam and slavery: Sexual slavery |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2014-04-30}}</ref>
During the [[Islamic Golden Age]], some Muslim jurists writing on [[Islamic military jurisprudence|military jurisprudence]] advocated severe penalties for rebels who use "stealth attacks" and practise [[kidnapping|abductions]], poisoning of water wells, [[arson]], attacks against wayfarers and travellers, [[assault]]s under the cover of night and [[rape]].<ref name = Fadl>Abou El Fadl, Khaled. [Commentary: Terrorism Is at Odds With Islamic Tradition]. Muslim Lawyers</ref>

The [[Lieber Code]] of 1863 codified the protection of civilians and stated that "all rape...[is] prohibited under the penalty of death"<ref name="Askin_35_36">{{harvp|Askin|1997|pp=35–36}}</ref> and subsequent [[Law of war|laws of war]] and [[humanitarian law]] have made maltreatment of civilians criminal.<ref name="black book">Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, [[Stéphane Courtois]], ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]: Crimes, Terror, Repression'', [[Harvard University Press]], 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, ISBN 0-674-07608-7, page 5.</ref> Slavery was formally abolished in nearly all countries by the mid 20th century,<ref>Murray Gordon. 'Slavery in the Arab World', New York: New Amsterdam, 1989, p. 234.</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4091579.stm | work=BBC News | title=Slavery: Mauritania's best kept secret | date=December 13, 2004 | accessdate=May 5, 2010}}</ref> though in the 21st century some Muslim scholars<ref>Khaled Abou El Fadl and William Clarence-Smith</ref> have expressed concern at a "worrying trend" of conservative [[Salafi]] Islamic scholars "reopening" the issue of slavery after its "closing" earlier in the 20th century when [[Majority Muslim countries|Muslim countries]] banned slavery and "most Muslim scholars" found the practice "inconsistent with Qur'anic morality."<ref>Abou el Fadl, ''Great Theft'', HarperSanFrancisco, c2005.</ref><ref>[http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/GEHN/GEHNPDF/Islam&SlaveryWGCS.pdf "Islam and Slavery", William G. Clarence-Smith]</ref>

===Siege of Vienna===
During the Siege of Vienna of 1683 historical accounts report men were slaughtered by Turkish Muslims and women raped.<ref>https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/under-marys-holy-name-victory-in-vienna-september-12-1683</ref>

===ISIL===
:''See:'' [[Iraq insurgency]]
In 2014, the ISIL raided [[Yazidis|Yazidi]] settlements in [[Iraq]], massacring the men and selling the women into sexual slavery.<ref name="Greenfield">{{cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Daniel |title=Rape Jihad: Inside ISIS’ Harem for Captured Non-Muslim Women|url=http://www.jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8449:rape-jihad-inside-isis-harem-for-captured-non-muslim-women&catid=125:iranian-threat&Itemid=331|agency=|work=[[Jewish Voice]]|date=3 September 2014|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref>

=== Boko Haram ===
{{main|Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping}}
In April 2014, during a raid on [[Chibok]], [[Boko Haram]], an Islamic Jihadist and terrorist organization based in northeast [[Nigeria]], took prisoner several hundred Christian schoolgirls, who, after efforts to secure their release [[Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping#Reaction|were ineffective]], were [[Slavery in 21st-century Islamism|sold in slave auctions]] to prospective husbands and forcibly converted to Islam.<ref name=csmonitor1>{{cite news|author=Howard LaFranchi|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2014/0505/What-role-for-US-in-efforts-to-rescue-Nigeria-s-kidnapped-girls-video |title=What role for US in efforts to rescue Nigeria's kidnapped girls?|publisher=CSMonitor|date=5 May 2014|accessdate=9 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://therainbow.com.ng/tabloid/boko-haram-kidnapped-the-230-school-girls-as-wives-for-its-insurgents/ |title=Boko Haram kidnapped the 230 school girls as wives for its insurgents|work=The Rainbow|date=29 April 2014|accessdate=6 May 2014}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref><ref name=TelegApr30>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/10797454/Nigeria-kidnapped-schoolgirls-sold-as-wives-to-Islamist-fighters.html|title=Nigeria: kidnapped schoolgirls 'sold as wives to Islamist fighters'|first=Laura|last=Heaton|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=30 April 2014|accessdate=2 May 2014}}</ref> In May, a video in which Boko Haram leader [[Abubakar Shekau]] claimed responsibility for the kidnappings emerged; he claimed, ''"Allah instructed me to sell them...I will carry out his instructions."''<ref name =BBC>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27283383|title=Boko Haram admits abducting Nigeria girls from Chibok|publisher=BBC News|date=5 May 2014|accessdate=5 May 2014}}</ref> and ''"[[Islamic views on slavery|Slavery is allowed in my religion]], and I shall capture people and make them [[Ma malakat aymanukum|slaves]]."''<ref name=CNNEssenceTerror>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-analysis/|agency=[[CNN]]|title=Boko Haram: The essence of terror|last=Lister|first=Tim|date=6 May 2014 |accessdate=13 May 2014}}</ref> He said the girls should not have been in school and instead should have been married since girls as young as nine are suitable for marriage.<ref name=BBC/><ref name=CNNEssenceTerror/>

=== Darfur ===
{{Main|Rape during the Darfur genocide}}
Throughout the ongoing [[genocide]] in the [[Darfur war]] in [[Sudan]], there has been a systematic campaign of rape,<ref name="spencer24092004">{{cite web|url=http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=11278|title=The Rape Jihad|last=Spencer|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Spencer (author)|date=24 September 2004|publisher=FrontPageMagazine.com|accessdate=13 December 2014}}</ref> which has been used as a [[war rape|weapon]] of war, in the [[ethnic cleansing]] of black Africans from the region.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=107}}{{sfn|GOMA|2011}}{{sfn|Hagan|2005|p=531}} The majority of rapes have been carried out by the Sudanese government forces and the [[Janjaweed]] ("evil men on horseback"){{sfn|Straus|2005|p=126}} paramilitary groups.{{sfn|Hirsch|2012}}{{sfn|Hashim|2009|p=226}} The actions of the Janjaweed have been described as [[genocidal rape]], with not just women, but children also being raped, as well as babies being bludgeoned to death and the sexual mutilation of victims being commonplace.{{sfn|Rothe|2009|p=53}}{{sfn|Hagan|2005|pp=525–562}}

==Child sexual exploitation==
{{main|Child sex trade}}
=== UK grooming cases ===

Widespread organized [[child sexual abuse]] took place in many places throughout [[England]], dating from 1997,<ref name="Kern"/><ref name="mccarthy" /><ref name="Britain">{{cite web|last1=Kern|first1=Soeren|title=Britain's "Rape Jihad" Crisis|url=http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/07/13/britains_rape_jihad_crisis_105316.html |publisher=RealClearWorld|date=13 July 2013|accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|last1=Jay|first1=Alexis|title=Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997 - 2013)|url=http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/1407/independent_inquiry_cse_in_rotherham |page=92|website=http://www.rotherham.gov.uk|publisher=Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council|accessdate=26 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=BBC1Nov2013>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-24771229|title=Alexis Jay will lead child abuse failings probe at Rotherham|date=1 November 2013 | work=[[BBC News]]|accessdate=26 August 2014}}</ref> in which it was conservatively estimated that 1,400 children had been sexually abused in the city, predominantly by gangs of British-Pakistani men. Abuses described included [[child abduction|abduction]], [[rape]], [[torture]] and [[sex trafficking]] of children.<ref name=autogenerated1/><ref name=Saul26Aug2014>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rotherham-child-abuse-report-finds-1400-children-subjected-to-appalling-sexual-exploitation-within-16year-period-9691825.html|title=Rotherham child abuse report finds 1,400 children subjected to 'appalling' sexual exploitation within 16-year period | work=[[The Independent]]|location=London|date=26 August 2014|first=Heather|last=Saul|accessdate=26 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=BBC26Aug2014>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28939089|title=Rotherham child abuse scandal: 1,400 children exploited, report finds|date=26 August 2014|work=[[BBC News]]|accessdate=26 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="dutt">{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20141216180321/https://udayindia.in/english/content_27sept2014/cover-story.html|title=MYSTERY OF LOVE JIHAD|last=Dutt|first=Vijay|date=27 September 2014|publisher=Uday India|accessdate=14 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="guardian13032013">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/13/english-defence-league-sex-grooming|title=English Defence League exploiting sex-grooming fears, says report|last=Smith|first=Mark|date=13 March 2013|work=The Guardian|accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="bbc14052013">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22522232|title=Uncomfortable truths of child exploitation in Britain|last=Easton|first=Mark|date=14 May 2013|work=BBC.com|publisher=BBC|accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Love jihad]]
* [[Nikah Misyar]]
* [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

[[Category:Islam]]

==External links==
*[https://youtu.be/uGfP8CyJAhg 16 year old German girl pleads for help from onslought of Muslim immigration]. youtube.com

[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Politics]]

Vaccine

2019-08-23T15:03:09Z

Irenefenswick: fixed grammar errors and a dead link

[[Image:Vaccine.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[Avian flu]] vaccine development]]
A '''vaccine''' is a pharmaceutical product containing an [[antigen]] designed to stimulate the production of antibodies against a particular disease or diseases.<ref>https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-what-vaccine</ref> Vaccination requirements are inserted into laws, often unjustifiably, by [[Big Pharma]] for profits and by governmental officials to increase their control. It is common for outspoken advocates of vaccination to receive undisclosed pro-vaccine compensation or similar incentives, either directly or through a spouse.

Many injuries from vaccination are admitted by the government, and severe potential side effects are disclosed on packaging labels that most parents never see. The sharp rise in [[autism]], which is generally considered incurable and afflicts 1 out of every 59 children, has a correlation with the increase in vaccination; the incidence of autism is greater in states where children receive more vaccines, such as [[New Jersey]] and [[North Carolina]].<ref>https://www.healthline.com/health/autism/autism-rates-by-state#2</ref> "The new estimate represents a 15% increase from two years prior and a 150% increase since 2000."<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/health/autism-prevalence-cdc/index.html</ref> ''See generally'' [[vaccines and autism]].

Traditionally a few highly tested vaccines were recommended for children to protect against deadly or severe diseases, such as [[smallpox]] and [[polio]]. Beginning in the 1990s, however, profit-driven vaccine manufacturers lobbied states and pediatrician organizations to compel numerous additional vaccines for sexually transmitted or less dangerous diseases. In addition, emotion based on inadequate information can cause over-vaccination.

17 US states have philosophical exemptions allowing parents to decline the vaccines; 47 states have religious exemptions; all states have medical exemptions,<ref>https://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/cc-exem.htm</ref> but they are hardest to obtain. Some parents choose to [[homeschooling|homeschool]] rather than submit their children to numerous vaccinations as required by state laws, due to lobbying by vaccine manufacturers, as a condition of being in school.

==Mechanism==

If the body produces an antibody against a particular disease or toxin it can identify the infection early on and the [[immune system]] can destroy it. Vaccines work by exposing the body to a form of the disease in such a way that it is much less likely to cause illness but still allows antibodies to develop. This confers a level of immunity to the person or animal vaccinated.<ref>http://www.howstuffworks.com/immune-system7.htm How stuff works: Antibodies</ref>

Since the adoption of mass vaccination programs, many diseases have been curbed. [[Smallpox]], a contagious disease that killed 30 percent of those it infected, has been entirely eliminated through vaccination, excepting some strains maintained in labs for research purposes. Vaccination programs of the 19th and 20th century were effective at curbing the disease, and in 1979 the World Health Organization declared smallpox to be eradicated.<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html</ref>

Another disease that has been eliminated from the US is [[Polio]], which killed over 3,000 people in the United States in 1952,<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/VSUS_1952_2.pdf</ref> and afflicted such noted persons as President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], actor Alan Alda, and musician Itzak Perlman. When doctors began using a vaccine to fight polio, it practically eradicated the disease in the developed world.<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/polio/progress/index.htm</ref>

The incidence of other diseases such as [[diphtheria]], [[pertussis]], and [[measles]], has decreased greatly from improvements in sanitation, increased awareness of the benefits of hand-washing and other preventive measures, and the invention of vaccines against these diseases.<ref>https://www.unicef.org/pon96/hevaccin.htm</ref>

While vaccines have been successful at preventing infectious disease, they have also resulted in controversy regarding their safety and effectiveness, legal and ethical issues surrounding mandatory vaccination, and whether children should be vaccinated against STDs<ref>https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/ethical-issues-and-vaccines</ref><ref>https://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/January-2018/are-vaccine-ingredients-safe.aspx</ref>

There are five major types of vaccines and they are differentiated by what type of antigen is used. Live attenuated vaccines are created from the actual disease in question, however before injection the [[pathogen]] is [[attenuated]] (weakened) by growing successive generations of the pathogen in poor nutrient conditions. Because they contain live pathogens, it is still possible for these vaccines to cause infection, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Inactivated vaccines are created from pathogens that have been killed, usually with [[formaldehyde]]. Toxoid vaccines are created by using toxins produced by the pathogen, these toxins are exposed to heat and/or chemicals such as formaldehyde to inactivate the toxins, but [[antibodies]] that are produced to these deactivated toxins will also protect against the real toxin. Subunit vaccines use pieces of the pathogen in the vaccine. These pieces often consist of unique protein segments that stimulate the production of antibodies. Finally, conjugate vaccines protect against bacteria that are encapsulated in polysaccharides (complex sugars), which disguise the bacteria, making it hard for the immune system to recognize them. Conjugate vaccines overcome this by attaching the sugar to a protein the does stimulate the immune system, thus triggering the immune system to react to the sugar in the future even if it is not accompanied by the protein.<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-understand-color-office.pdf</ref>

==Influenza Vaccine==

The flu vaccine is an example of modern vaccination. Due to the change in [[allele]] frequency over time in the population of the influenza virus, new influenza vaccines are created each year. In some years the vaccines are less effective than in other years. According to the [https://www.cdc.gov/ CDC],<ref>"Inactivated Influenza Vaccine, What you need to know," a publication of the Center for Disease Control, 2006. Available online at: https://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-flu.pdf</ref>
<blockquote>
Influenza viruses are always changing. Therefore, influenza vaccines are updated every year, and annual vaccination is recommended.
</blockquote>
Since the production of the vaccine must begin many months before the influenza season starts models of the population genetics of the virus must be produced.<ref>http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v5/n3/full/nrd1988.html Influenza vaccines</ref> The success of vaccinations programs is dependent on the accuracy of these predictions.<ref>http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030324/full/030324-5.html Flu changes modeled</ref> The National Institute of Health recently assigned $26 million to establish a research center to better develop molecular models of influenza.<ref>http://www.spiritindia.com/health-care-news-articles-8024.html $26 million NIH contract to establish new flu/bird flu Center of Excellence</ref>

==Herd immunity and mandatory vaccination==
When a certain percentage of a population is vaccinated, those within the population who are not vaccinated are protected from the disease, this is called [[herd immunity]]. If 90 percent of a population is immune, then the chances that a carrier of the disease will come into contact with a non-immune member of the population (or "herd") is low.<ref>http://www.mathepi.com/maindir/herd.html The mathematics of herd immunity</ref> Herd immunity is the goal of most vaccination programs as it is the point where disease can start to be eliminated from a population altogether.

For example, in 1962 Japan instituted mandatory vaccination against influenza in school children. This continued until 1987 when the program was changed to optional; it was abandoned in 1994. Approximately 85 percent of children were estimated to have been vaccinated.<ref>{{hnb|Glezen|2004}}</ref> Several studies examined the mortality rates due to influenza during this period of time and revealed that the death rates due to influenza in all population groups were drastically decreased, including older adult populations. Since there was no increased rate of vaccination in these populations, the decreased mortality was caused by herd immunity effects of vaccinating so many children.<ref>http://www.newsrx.com/newsletters/Vaccine-Weekly/2001-04-11/200104113335VW.html Mandatory Vaccination of Japanese Schoolchildren Demonstrates "Herd Immunity"</ref> Many researchers have written that this and other evidence argues strongly for mandatory vaccination programs worldwide as a means of controlling many diseases and preventing a [[pandemic]].<ref>http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1360502 Herd Immunity</ref>

The USA has federal vaccination recommendations according to an official CDC schedule. Requirements are up to the states. Most states have medical and religious exemptions. Some states make it very easy to opt-out of vaccines, while other states strictly enforce compliance for school attendance. The difference in vaccination rates between these states is actually very slight, and usually not nearly enough to affect herd immunity.{{cn}}

As of February 2008, the CDC noted that "fewer than 100 measles cases are now reported annually in the United States and virtually all of those are linked to imported cases" in which someone is infected during overseas travel. The USA maintains herd immunity for measles, even in states where it is easy to opt-out of vaccination requirements.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a3.htm]</ref> Measles can be serious; according to an article in The Times, "About one in every 15 children has complications that can include [[meningitis]], [[pneumonia]], [[fits]], [[encephalitis]] (swelling of the brain), [[blindness]] and [[brain damage]]."<ref>The Sunday Times, ''How the MMR scare led to the return of measles'', February 8, 2009 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683687.ece]</ref> In the England and Wales, there were 1,348 cases of measles in 2008; two children died of the disease.<ref>The Sunday Times, ''MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism'', by Brian Deer, February 8, 2009 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683671.ece]</ref>

The CDC notes that when a measles outbreak occurs, the cost to taxpayers can be substantial. Public health responsibilities include "identification of cases, isolation of patients and vaccination, administration of [[immune globulin]], and voluntary quarantine of contacts who have no evidence of measles immunity...In Iowa, the public health response to one imported measles case cost approximately $150,000."<ref>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, ''Outbreak of Measles --- San Diego, California, January--February 2008'', February 29, 2008 [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a3.htm]</ref>

Other diseases besides the measles have also started not only to reappear but also to kill children. Hib (''[[Haemophilus influenzae]]'' type B) meningitis recently killed an infant in Minnesota. The child who died had not been vaccinated. Two others who had been either partially, but not fully, vaccinated, or who had an immune deficiency became seriously ill. The vaccine for Hib is less than twenty years old, but this is the first death due to the disease in the state of Minnesota since the vaccine was introduced.<ref>[http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20090123/hib-outbreak-kills-unvaccinated-child Hib Outbreak Kills Unvaccinated Child]</ref>

===Herd Immunity in Britain===
Due to a decrease in vaccination, measles has become endemic in Britain. This means that measles does not need to be brought in by travelers, but instead has a large enough base of non-immune individuals for it to continuously spread inside the country. In London, only 71 percent of children receive the first dose of the vaccine and only 51 percent receive the second dose. Due to this decline, there were 461 measles cases in Britain in the first half of 2008. These cases have had tragic consequences, with the death of a 17-year-old reported in 2008.<ref>[http://www.healthdirect.co.uk/2008/07/measles-endemic-in-britain-official.html Health Direct NHS watch blog]</ref> This immunization failure is due to parents opting out of the MMR vaccine program in the wake of the false claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism.<ref>https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-doubt-the-mmr-vaccine-does-not-cause-autism-zpxk37ntzmh</ref>

== Adverse Reactions ==
{{See also|Vaccine Injury Compensation Program|Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System}}
Vaccines have substantial side effects, and many vaccines have significant morbidity and mortality associated with them. In the fiscal year 2017 alone, it is estimated that $220 million will be paid to victims of vaccines, and underpayments or improper denials of payment are common.<ref>http://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/05/09/whopping-vaccine-injury-payouts-us-fiscal-year-2017-released/</ref> More than Postvaccinial encephalitis is a known hazard of [[smallpox]] vaccine, for example. A recently introduced vaccine against human papilloma virus, the causative agent of cancer of the [[uterus|uterine]] cervix, has now been linked to a number of sudden deaths reported within days of its administration.<ref name=GardasilMM>Cockcroft, Lucy, "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/29/njab129.xml Cervical cancer drug Gardasil linked to deaths]," ''[[London]] Daily Telegraph'', October 29, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.</ref>

Bulging or swollen [[fontanelle]]s have been linked with many vaccines commonly given to infants, such as the diphtheria-[[tetanus]] (DPT) vaccine. Many families, out of concern for their child's health, have sought legal justice for the potential health damage.<ref>http://legaljustice4john.com/fontanellebulging.htm</ref>

Only live attenuated vaccines can still cause infection. All vaccines can cause illness, but this is commonly a hypersensitivity reaction (similar to an allergic response), not due to the disease itself. Very rarely a serious disease known as eczema vaccinatum can be caused by the smallpox vaccine. Vaccines that use pieces of pathogens often use a carrier virus in the injection. Those with very weak immune systems that are exposed to such a vaccine can become infected with the carrier virus and develop [[eczema]]. A recent case of this was reported in the United States after a military man was vaccinated with smallpox and his two-year-old son became ill.<ref>http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/183349/soldier_infects_toddler_son_with_lifethreatening.html AP article on eczema vaccinatum</ref>

A number of vaccination reactions are deemed serious enough to contraindicate further vaccinations of the same type. These include extensive swelling and redness at the injection site, prolonged fever, bronchospasm and laryngeal [[edema]] (narrowing of the airways causing difficulty in breathing), and collapse/seizures with or without unconsciousness and/or encephalitis.<ref>[http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=2067071044 General Practice Notebook - vaccine reactions]</ref>

===Published Adverse Reaction Rates===
Most medical journals and the CDC are heavily influenced by vaccine manufacturers, and hence their published information about side effects is one-sided. The packaging labels on vaccines are more candid.

This is what the CDC and medical journals claim:
*The Hepatitis B Vaccine (HBV) has a .000167% chance of causing [[anaphylaxis]] upon vaccination.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046738.htm]</ref>
*There is no correlation between the HBV and multiple sclerosis.<ref>[http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/Profs/PUarticles/vaccinenews.htm]</ref>
*The Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine has a 25% chance of causing [[arthralgia]] (joint pain) and a 10% chance of causing [[arthritis]]-like symptoms in women who are past puberty. This pain and stiffness begin 1–3 weeks after vaccination, persisting for 1 day to 3 weeks.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/combo-vaccines/mmr/faqs-mmr-hcp.htm]</ref>
*The MMR vaccine has a .00484% chance of causing [[thrombocytopenia]]. However, the measles and rubella both have much higher chances of causing thrombocytopenia.<ref>[http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/84/3/227 E Miller et al., Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and MMR vaccine in ''Archives of Disease In Childhood'', 84:227-229]</ref>

== Common Misconceptions Surrounding Vaccines ==
Many people assume that official vaccine recommendations are based on recommendations of independent panels of experts after reviewing risk-benefit and cost-benefit analyses. They are not. The government panels are dominated by vaccine industry representatives and they have no consumer representatives.{{cn}}

Vaccines have injured many in the developing world, sometimes due to contamination in donated stale vaccines. The vaccine was banned for over a year in Nigeria after concerns about safety were raised. The ban has since been lifted, but the vaccination rate remains low.{{cn}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Balbier
| Given = Thomas E., Jr.
| Year = 1999
| Date = 1999-09-28
| Title = Statement on National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by Thomas E. Balbier, Jr.
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t990928b.html
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Glezen
| Given = W. Paul
| Year = 2004
| Title = Control of Influenza
| volume = 31(1)
| pages = 39-41
| Publisher = Texas Heart Institute Journal
| URL = http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=387431
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Pear
| Given = Robert
| Year = 2008
| Date = 2008-01-21
| Title = Threats and Responses: Leagal Risks; For Victims of Vaccine, Winning Case Will Be Hard
| Publisher = [[The New York Times]]
| URL = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E2DC1E3AF937A25751C1A9649C8B63
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = United States Department of Justice
| Given = USDOJ
| Year = 2000
| Date = 2000-11-27
| Title = About the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/vicp/about.htm
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = United States Department of Health and Human Services
| Given = HRSA
| Year = 2008
| Title = Filing a Claim with the VICP
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/filing_claim.htm
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = United States Department of Health and Human Services
| Given = HRSA
| Year = 2007
| Date = 2007-04-20
| Title = National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) About VICP
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21



== See also ==
*[[Vaccines and autism]]
*[[HPV vaccine]]
*[[Vaccine Injury Compensation Program]]
*[[Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System]]
*[[Acellular vaccine]]
*[[Vaccine FAQ]]

==External links==
*[http://www.909shot.com/ National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)], a non-profit anti-vaccination organization
*[http://www.site.stopjenny.com/uploads/Compare_Risks.pdf Compare the Risks], A PDF detailing the risks between vaccination and non-vaccination
*[http://www.site.stopjenny.com/Home.html Stop Jenny McCarthy], A site devoted to fighting vaccine misinformation, contains many vaccine-related resources.

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

South Park

2019-08-23T14:38:15Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a dead link

[[Image:Southparkseason10opening.png|right|thumb|300px]]
'''''South Park''''' is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning animated cartoon series created by [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]], who are members of the [[Libertarian]] Party,<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20111028221410/http://www.libertarianism.com/pop_celebrity/trey-parker</ref> that is shown on American cable network [[Comedy Central]]. It is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and questionable depictions of religion, politics and other respected institutions. The show has touched on [[Catholic]]ism, [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormonism]], [[Islam]], [[Judaism]], [[Scientology]], [[atheism]] and [[agnosticism]]. It has made jokes about [[Jesus]], [[Moses]], [[Muhammad]] and other religious leaders.

The show has ran for 21 seasons, with many critics have believe that it is in decline, however not to the extent of other adult cartoons like ''[[Family Guy]]''.<ref>http://firstsignsoftrouble.blogspot.com/2011/04/south-park-decline-in-quality.html</ref><ref>http://www.tbseblog.com/2011/10/14/worst-thing-ever-the-decline-of-south-park/</ref>

==Premise==
Taking place in the fictional small town of South Park, [[Colorado]], the show follows four children who are friends: Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman. Due to the low quality animation that South Park utilizes, the majority of episodes are made in less than a week, allowing for the creators to change their storylines at the last minute to reflect on current events that are not otherwise touched on as quickly in other animated comedy shows such as ''[[The Simpsons]]''. For example, an early episode entitled ''Quintuplets 2000'' was changed to reflect the controversy surrounding Elian Gonzalez at the time. Many of the situations depicted are parodies of current events in politics and pop culture.

A running gag in the early seasons revolved Kenny dying in every episode, often in brutal ways, but his character would return the following episode, fully alive and with no one commenting on his previous death(s). The tradition was abandoned when Kenny was "killed off" for good for several seasons, before returning, where he only died occasionally.

==Movie==
Of the 1999 ''South Park'' movie, ''South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut,'' renowned film critic [[Roger Ebert]] said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the [[MPAA]] has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says.

A frequent criticism of ''South Park'' is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990630/REVIEWS/906300301/1023</ref>

A month later, Ebert modified his opinion: "I gave 'South Park' a marginal thumbs down (2.5 stars) because of what I called the movie's mean spirit, but I did like its intelligence and energy, and as the smoke clears from the summer of 1999 it's clear to me that this was a movie that took chances and made scathing criticisms of the broken-down [[MPAA rating system]]. I got carried away by my immediate reaction; but at least I was right when I called it 'the most slashing political commentary of the year'."<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990829/ANSWERMAN/908290306</ref> The film received mostly positive reviews from other critics and was nominated for an academy award for the song "Blame Canada".

==Reception==
''South Park'' has been praised for its often blunt [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day. For example, in "Chinpokomon" (a satire of the [[Pokémon]] craze), the boys learn that blindly following a trend can be dangerous, and that it's best to just be yourself. In "Super Best Friends," we discover that [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]], [[Buddha]], [[Moses]], [[Joseph Smith]], and [[Krishna]] are all friends, even though countries have gone to war over them.

==Politics==
Parker and Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some episodes have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism and support for legalized [[abortion]]. Other episodes have ridiculed the anti-immigration movement and other conservative causes. Despite this, the show usually does not outrightly condemn any social group; to date, only [[terrorism|terrorists]] and pedophiles have been given such treatment by the show. While [[Scientology]] itself has been heavily mocked, the creators have expressed sympathy for those who have been drawn into it.

There is a form of anti-censorship, libertarian-leaning conservatism known as "South Park Republicans" and "South Park Conservatives." The creators are uneasy about stating their political views (even hesitating to declare themselves libertarians),<ref>Charlie Rose interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtLudQtIGs</ref> though they note that of all the different groups they mock, [[Hollywood values|Hollywood Liberals]] display the most indignance.<ref>Interview on The Hour, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyVm4Rr2eo</ref> Matt Stone has stated, "I hate conservatives, but I really (expletive) hate liberals." <ref>http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_rp-hate_conservatives.htm</ref> Neither Trey Parker nor Matt Stone voted in the 2004 presidential election because they regarded both candidates as people they despised. More recently, the show has taken a more liberal tone, including mocking [[Glenn Beck]] and portraying [[Tea Party|"The Pissed Off And Angry Party"]] as sexually-insecure men who lack knowledge about government, however, the recent episode ''1%'' mocked the "Occupy" movement and the media frenzy that surrounded it. Glen Beck, a fan of the show, took South Park's parody of himself in good humour.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btsMZxDBYEg</ref> Parker and Stone have stated that the reason they mock liberals so frequently is their insistence on telling people what to do.

One of the few liberal causes which is consistently supported by the show is the [[homosexual agenda]]. The main Aesop in the season one episode ''Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride'' is that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle. The episode was enthusiastically received by the radical homosexual group [[GLAAD]] and was nominated for an award by it.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/television-lowbrow-and-proud-of-it-1153256.html Television: Lowbrow and proud of it - The Independent]</ref> Another episode from show's fifth season called ''Cripple Fight'' attempted to portray homosexuals as individuals capable of being responsible leaders for today's youth and children. However it should be noted that when the Liberal Elites try to force the Scouts to accept gays by cutting off their funding, Big Gay Al steps in to remind them (while wholly disagreeing with their position) of Mountain Scouts' right to form their own policies on homosexuality. This unfortunately results in Big Gay Al being called a homophobe, thus skewing the pro-gay lobbies as well. The show endorsed [[same-sex marriage]] in the episode ''Follow That Egg!''

This show is known as an equal opportunity offender of religions and popular for making people laugh at the expense of others. Nearly every episode uses the [[Lord]]'s name in vain. Their depictions of the prophet Mohammed nearly resulted in the show's creators being killed after Muslims extremists issued death threats.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/?pageId=144313 Islamic warning to 'South Park' still 'remains', WND, April 22, 2010]</ref>

The episode ''Krazy Kripples'' criticizes [[Human embryos in medical research|Stem cell research]].

Season 19 was the second season to have a serialized plot. It revolved around [[political correctness]] and [[social justice]].

==Controversies==
After the episode ''Trapped in the Closet'', an episode which dealt with Scientology, Isaac Hayes (a member of that group) left the show in 2006.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2008/08/south_park_scie.html</ref><ref>It should be noted that, around that time, Hayes had suffered a debilitating stroke, and was not in a position to make many decisions for himself.</ref> Following Isaac's departure, the character of Chef was killed off the following season. Chef's death was a parody of the third episode of the [[Star Wars]] saga, which left the possibility of Chef returning to the show. However, following Isaac's death in 2008, the character will obviously not return.

In 2010, the episodes ''200'' and ''201'', the 200th and 201st episodes respectively, caused controversy for depicting Muhammad. The celebrities that South Park has mocked over the years band together, and they decide that they need Muhammad, as they believe he is "unmockable," given the reactions to a Danish newspaper's printing of critical cartoons of Muhammad. Following the airing of the episode 200, threats were made against the creators of South Park. In ''201'', several minutes of dialogue at the end of the episode were bleeped out. The episodes are not available for streaming on the internet or on Netflix on Demand. Despite the flurry of controversy surrounding the depiction of Muhammad, the prophet was depicted in the episode ''Super Best Friends'' with no controversy.

==Main characters==
The vast majority of episodes focus on four native South Park boys in the third and later fourth grade, often referred to as just "the boys". The creators of South Park have stated that their personalities are usually reflected through Kyle & Stan.

===Stan Marsh===
Stan is voiced by co-creator Trey Parker and is more or less a filter for his personality and experiences. Though possessing a foul mouth and other shortcomings that typify his age, Stan is basically a good kid, with above-average [[intelligence]] and a strong sense of morality. He is the best friend of Kyle Broflovski, a good friend of Kenny McCormick, and about the closest thing to a friend that Eric Cartman can ever expect to have. He comes from a typical middle-class household. His father Randy is a geologist and his mother Sharon is a stay-at-home mom. Typical of the adult characters on South Park, both parents are frequently irrational, but they are also shown to genuinely love their son.

===Kyle Broflovski===
What Trey Parker is to Stan, co-creator Matt Stone is to Kyle. Similar to Stan in many ways, Kyle is arguably more intelligent and moral than Stan. His father Gerald is a lawyer, and his mother is a stay-at-home mom prone to moral outrage and stereotypical "Jewish mother" mannerisms. He and his family are [[Jewish]], though religion does not seem to play a major role in Kyle's day-to-day life. Kyle will commonly give the moral of an episode at the end, often with the prelude "you know, I learned something today." In the season 13 episode "Margaritaville" this tendency was brought to messianic proportions, where he is depicted as a "[[prophet]]" of the economy by telling residents that the economy is an abstract concept created by people, not a vengeful entity, and that it requires faith to function. The town council (an impromptu collection of adults led by Randy Marsh, who claims that America has angered the economy) hears of this "young Jew spreading heresy about the economy" and sets up a [[Judas]] figure (obviously, Cartman) to capture him. Kyle evades capture and instead uses a credit card with no spending limit to write off the debts of the other South Park residents.

===Kenny McCormick===
Originally more of a gimmick character, Kenny was killed in almost every episode of seasons 1-5, and then died "permanently" at the end of 5. This "permanent death" lasted until season 7, at which point he became a regular character who still died occasionally, though as before with no consequence to future episodes. Between season 5 and 7, Kenny's soul was "trapped in Cartman's body" after Eric Cartman confused his ashes with hot chocolate. After drinking these ashes, Cartman began having Kenny's memories and speaking his statements. Kenny is considerably poorer than the other boys, with a run-down house governed by parents who frequently abuse alcohol and engage in domestic violence. Despite this he gets along fine with his better-off friends and does not in general get made fun of for his poverty (except by Eric Cartman). He is "voiced" by Matt Stone, though this is of little consequence as everything he says is mumbled incomprehensibly from an oversized orange parka. The other characters, however, seem to understand him. For the 1999 movie, Kenny removed his parka, revealing his face and blonde hair color, to say "Goodbye, you guys" (this line was voiced by [[Mike Judge]], creator of [[Beavis & Butt-head]] and [[King of the Hill]]). In one episode written after the movie, Kenny's legible speech and face appeared again, though he was wearing different clothes, and it was not obvious that he was Kenny until he had died.

===Eric Cartman===
Often just called "Cartman," he is arguably the main character of the show. He is obese, bigoted, narcissistic, and generally sociopathic; he was originally conceived as an eight-year-old version of Archie Bunker from [[All in the Family]]. He is very antagonistic towards many people, especially Kyle, largely because of Kyle's ethnicity. (Cartman is anti-Semitic and admires [[Adolf Hitler]].) Fights between the two, usually stemming from mocking each character's respective obesity and ethnicity, have become a centerpiece of the show. Ironically, however, each has saved the other's life twice. All three of the other boys are open about their dislike for Cartman, but they still usually refer to him as their friend. Cartman has been shown to be extremely intelligent and manipulative, and he has a dark charisma that makes him a natural leader of the boys in times of adventure. Cartman's sociopathy has been traced to his upbringing by a single mother, Lianne. Lianne encourages Eric's obesity, and treats him like a friend instead of a son, thus not disciplining him. Lianne, a "crack whore" in the show, was also the name of Trey's former fiancée who Trey saw cheating with another man.

===Leopold "Butters" Stotch===
Though not originally a main character, Butters has seen considerable airtime since season 5 and is often considered the "breakout character" of the show. He is kind, wholesome, and trusting to a fault - in other words, he is basically the opposite of Cartman, and many episodes have been devoted to the relationship between the two. His parents are [[mentally ill]], with his father showing obsessive-compulsive behavior and mother having issues with anxiety and panic. Butters' mother attempted to kill him in one episode. During season 6 when Kenny was absent, Butters briefly filled in as the fourth boy. This eventually fell through, and Butters developed the alter-ego, Professor Chaos. Butters is based on Eric Stough, the animation director of South Park.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/ IMDB Website]
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Official Website]

[[Category:Cartoon Television Shows]]
[[Category:Comedy Television Shows]]
[[Category:Hollywood Values]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Satire]]

Railgun

2019-08-23T14:16:23Z

Irenefenswick: removed 'dead link' from sources since the dead link is not dead anymore

[[Image:Railgun Navy1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Photograph taken from a high-speed video camera during a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Va., on January 31, 2008, firing at 10.64MJ (megajoules) with a muzzle velocity of 2520 meters per second. At this speed, the test projectile actually burns, causing a wave of fire behind it.]]
A '''Railgun''' is a type of [[artillery]] that fires projectiles at [[supersonic]] speeds by launching them using [[electromagnetism]] instead of gunpowder or some other chemical propellant. Current expectations for railguns are a 400-mile (643.6-kilometer) range and an impact velocity in excess of [[Mach]] 8.

==Design==
Railguns are specifically weapons that consist of two conductive rails (often made of [[copper]]) and a conductive projectile that is inserted between the rails. A current is passed up through the negative rail, across the projectile and then down the positive rail, completing the circuit at the power supply. In some cases, the projectile itself is the sole conductor, while in other cases, a sabot is used to carry the (usually non-conductive) main projectile. Alternatively, a plasma armature can be used—in this setup, the thin metal foil is wrapped around a non-conductive projectile. When power is run through the rails and foil, the foil vaporizes into [[plasma]], which caries the needed current. The flow of electricity causes the railgun to behave like an electromagnet, and the [[Lorentz force]] causes the projectile to be launched down the rail. This process is specific to the functioning of the railgun, thereby giving the weapon its name.<ref>[http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20164/?nlid=857 Technology Review, Feb. 2008: "Electromagnetic Railgun Blasts Off"]</ref><ref name="HSW rail1">http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun1.htm</ref>
The power requirements of a rail gun are enormous. Significant power generation capability must be connected to [[capacitor]]s so that the needed burst of energy can be released. For larger rail guns, such as the military hopes to use, millions of amps are required to produce a sufficient electromagnetic force.<ref name="HSW rail1"/> 

The Railgun should not be confused with the coilgun, also known as the Gauss gun, a weapon which works by generating an electromagnetic field using coils external to the barrel and using a projectile that is contactless with the firing mechanism (the coils).

==Purpose==
Railguns can provide the capability for sustained, offensive power projection, complementary to missiles and tactical aircraft. They may be a cost-effective solution to the Marine Corp Naval Surface Fire Support requirements because of their unique capability to simultaneously satisfy three key war-fighting objectives:

#Extremely long ranges
#Short time-of-flight
#High lethality (energy-on-target)

Railguns also offer significantly improved defensive capabilities. A ship under attack could potentially lock on to, fire at, and destroy incoming missiles from over 200 [[nautical mile]]s away. Anything visible over the horizon could be targeted and engaged with incredible accuracy. 
The projectiles themselves can offer several benefits as well. Although the [[tungsten]] rail gun projectiles are not cheap, they are much less expensive than current weapon systems. Also, they are much smaller, meaning that a navy ship can carry a much greater compliment of weapons than is currently possible.

==Progress==
[[File:Railgun-test-general-atomics.gif|thumbnail|300px|General Atomics Blitzer railgun test in 2008]]
The U.S. Navy tested a railgun that shot a 7-pound projectile traveling seven times the speed of sound (mach 7), sending a visible shockwave through the air.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090501130850/http://www.nswc.navy.mil/ET/railgun/index.html U.S. Navy: Electromagnetic Railgun]</ref> As development has continued, these weapons now can fire projectiles weighing at least 23 pounds, which can travel for over 100 miles, and still possess enough kinetic energy to cause significant damage.<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rail-gun-u-s-navy-top-gun-article-1.1749616</ref> Developers are also working on other features, including [[GPS]] guidance systems and warheads in the railgun rounds.<ref>http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun3.htm</ref> 

Current problems with railguns are power generation and barrel life. Railguns require large amounts of power to work in the first place. They also go through barrels quickly because of the extreme temperatures inside the barrel, and intense forces driving the rails apart when used. Components have the tenancy to melt and wear out quickly. However, railguns are being developed successfully by U.S. companies such as General Atomics<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNLrQhn5nLo</ref> and BAE Systems.<ref>http://www.baesystems.com/en-us/product/electromagnetic--em--railgun</ref> Cool down, fire rate, fire speed, range, and projectile type are all elements in development, but offering all of these along with a durable rail system can be quite complicated.<ref>http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun2.htm</ref> Much work is being done to design a reliable device for the navy which satisfies these and other requirements. However, limited "hobby" models can be designed by almost anyone with enough knowledge in electrical engineering.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAs9EHtKfVc</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Weapons]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Railgun

2019-08-23T14:14:11Z

Irenefenswick: fixed a few grammar mistakes and a dead link

[[Image:Railgun Navy1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Photograph taken from a high-speed video camera during a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Va., on January 31, 2008, firing at 10.64MJ (megajoules) with a muzzle velocity of 2520 meters per second. At this speed, the test projectile actually burns, causing a wave of fire behind it.]]
A '''Railgun''' is a type of [[artillery]] that fires projectiles at [[supersonic]] speeds by launching them using [[electromagnetism]] instead of gunpowder or some other chemical propellant. Current expectations for railguns are a 400-mile (643.6-kilometer) range and an impact velocity in excess of [[Mach]] 8.

==Design==
Railguns are specifically weapons that consist of two conductive rails (often made of [[copper]]) and a conductive projectile that is inserted between the rails. A current is passed up through the negative rail, across the projectile and then down the positive rail, completing the circuit at the power supply. In some cases, the projectile itself is the sole conductor, while in other cases, a sabot is used to carry the (usually non-conductive) main projectile. Alternatively, a plasma armature can be used—in this setup, the thin metal foil is wrapped around a non-conductive projectile. When power is run through the rails and foil, the foil vaporizes into [[plasma]], which caries the needed current. The flow of electricity causes the railgun to behave like an electromagnet, and the [[Lorentz force]] causes the projectile to be launched down the rail. This process is specific to the functioning of the railgun, thereby giving the weapon its name.<ref>[http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20164/?nlid=857 Technology Review, Feb. 2008: "Electromagnetic Railgun Blasts Off"]</ref><ref name="HSW rail1">http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun1.htm</ref>
The power requirements of a rail gun are enormous. Significant power generation capability must be connected to [[capacitor]]s so that the needed burst of energy can be released. For larger rail guns, such as the military hopes to use, millions of amps are required to produce a sufficient electromagnetic force.<ref name="HSW rail1"/> 

The Railgun should not be confused with the coilgun, also known as the Gauss gun, a weapon which works by generating an electromagnetic field using coils external to the barrel and using a projectile that is contactless with the firing mechanism (the coils).

==Purpose==
Railguns can provide the capability for sustained, offensive power projection, complementary to missiles and tactical aircraft. They may be a cost-effective solution to the Marine Corp Naval Surface Fire Support requirements because of their unique capability to simultaneously satisfy three key war-fighting objectives:

#Extremely long ranges
#Short time-of-flight
#High lethality (energy-on-target)

Railguns also offer significantly improved defensive capabilities. A ship under attack could potentially lock on to, fire at, and destroy incoming missiles from over 200 [[nautical mile]]s away. Anything visible over the horizon could be targeted and engaged with incredible accuracy. 
The projectiles themselves can offer several benefits as well. Although the [[tungsten]] rail gun projectiles are not cheap, they are much less expensive than current weapon systems. Also, they are much smaller, meaning that a navy ship can carry a much greater compliment of weapons than is currently possible.

==Progress==
[[File:Railgun-test-general-atomics.gif|thumbnail|300px|General Atomics Blitzer railgun test in 2008]]
The U.S. Navy tested a railgun that shot a 7-pound projectile traveling seven times the speed of sound (mach 7), sending a visible shockwave through the air.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090501130850/http://www.nswc.navy.mil/ET/railgun/index.html U.S. Navy: Electromagnetic Railgun] ''(DEAD LINK)''</ref> As development has continued, these weapons now can fire projectiles weighing at least 23 pounds, which can travel for over 100 miles, and still possess enough kinetic energy to cause significant damage.<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rail-gun-u-s-navy-top-gun-article-1.1749616</ref> Developers are also working on other features, including [[GPS]] guidance systems and warheads in the railgun rounds.<ref>http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun3.htm</ref> 

Current problems with railguns are power generation and barrel life. Railguns require large amounts of power to work in the first place. They also go through barrels quickly because of the extreme temperatures inside the barrel, and intense forces driving the rails apart when used. Components have the tenancy to melt and wear out quickly. However, railguns are being developed successfully by U.S. companies such as General Atomics<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNLrQhn5nLo</ref> and BAE Systems.<ref>http://www.baesystems.com/en-us/product/electromagnetic--em--railgun</ref> Cool down, fire rate, fire speed, range, and projectile type are all elements in development, but offering all of these along with a durable rail system can be quite complicated.<ref>http://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun2.htm</ref> Much work is being done to design a reliable device for the navy which satisfies these and other requirements. However, limited "hobby" models can be designed by almost anyone with enough knowledge in electrical engineering.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAs9EHtKfVc</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Weapons]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Adam Smith

2019-08-23T14:00:03Z

Irenefenswick: fixed the dead link - added the same from web.archive

[[Image:Sigentha.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Adam Smith]]
:''For the [[Progressive]] [[Democrat]] congressman, see [[D. Adam Smith]]''
'''Adam Smith''' (June 16, 1723 to July 17, 1790) was a [[Scottish]] political [[economist]] and moral philosopher. He is considered the fundamental economist upon whose work modern [[capitalism]] is based, as he advocated individual economic growth, [[free enterprise]] and [[free will]]. He founded modern economic theory.

==Philosophy==

His most famous concept was that markets guide economic activity and act like an "[[invisible hand]]" - allocating resources through prices, which rise when there is a shortage of a commodity and fall when it is plentiful.

*Each individual strives to become wealthy "intending only his own gain" but to this end he must exchange what he owns or produces with others who sufficiently value what he has to offer; in this way, by division of labour and a free market, public interest is advanced.<ref>http://plus.maths.org/issue14/features/smith/</ref>

One of the key figures of the intellectual movement known as the Scottish Enlightenment, he is known primarily as the author of two treatises:
* ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments'' (1759)
* ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'' (1776)

His ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'' was one of the earliest attempts to study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe, as well as a sustained attack on the doctrines of mercantilism. That work helped to create the modern academic discipline of economics and provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for [[free trade]], capitalism, and [[libertarianism]]. It continues to greatly influence the writings of economists.

==Biography==
Smith was born in [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Scotland]] in 1723 and was raised by his widowed mother. Smith entered the [[University of Glasgow]] at the age of fourteen and then attended [[Balliol College]] at [[Oxford]] for six years until he graduated at the age of twenty-three. Adam returned to Scotland, and delivered a series of lectures which were very well received. Smith was appointed first chair of logic in 1751 at the University of Glasgow and later then chair of moral philosophy in 1752. In 1764, Adam Smith left the academy to tutor the young Duke of Buccleuch. They lived and traveled in France and Switzerland for two years. The duke had given his teacher a comfortable life pension, so Adam Smith retired to Kirkcaldy and began writing his book, ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations''. In 1778 Smith was appointed to a post as commissioner of customs in Scotland and went to live with his mother in [[Edinburgh]]. He died there on July 17, 1790, after suffering with the painful illness, proctalgia fugax, and was buried in the Canongate Kirkyard, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Smith is hailed as the one who discovered the [[invisible hand]], and explained the theoretical bases of free enterprise.

==Legacy==
With effect from March 13, 2007, Smith's portrait appears on the reverse of the English £20 note. He is the first true Scotsman to feature on currency issued by the [[Bank of England]], though others with Scottish noble titles have been so featured. His portrait also features on £50 notes issued by the Clydesdale Bank. Many members of the British Conservative Party revere his economic philosophy and insights, and the [[Adam Smith Institute]] is a prominent UK pro-free market think tank.

== Links ==
*[[Economics Lecture One]]
*[[Libertarian]] thinking

== See also ==
*[[Wear and tear]]

==References==

<References/>

==External links==
* [http://plus.maths.org/issue14/features/smith/ Adam Smith and the invisible hand] - Helen Joyce
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html Biography] at the ''Concise Encyclopedia of Economics''
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Rae/raeLS.html ''Life of Adam Smith''] by John Rae, at the Library of Economics and Liberty
* [http://www.mises.org/web/2691 ''The Celebrated Adam Smith''] by Murray N. Rothbard; full text of Chapter 16 of ''An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought'', Vol. I and II, Edward Elgar, 1995; Ludwig von Mises Institute 2006
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040814071551/http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/smith.htm Smith's works]
*[http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations''] at MetaLibri Digital Library
*[http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWNtoc.html ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations''], by Adam Smith. Fifth edition (1789), presented here, republished from: Edwin Cannan's annotated edition, 1904, Methuen & Co., Ltd. First edition: 1776.
* [https://librivox.org/author/395 Works by Adam Smith - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Adam}}

[[Category:Economists]]
[[Category:Philosophers]]
[[Category:Scottish People]]
[[Category:Academics]]
[[Category:Libertarians]]
[[Category:Enlightenment]]

Almond

2019-08-23T13:00:34Z

Irenefenswick: removed the information about the tree being the official tree of Indian states (the official tree is chinar, not almond)

The '''almond''', ''prunus dulcis'', is a species of [[tree]] native to the [[Middle East]], and the term also names the nuts which grow on that tree. The nut is a [[drupe]] an inch or two in length with a hard, yellowish outer shell and an edible [[seed]] inside. The world's largest producer of almonds is the [[United States]], and the nuts are the largest agricultural export of the state of [[California]]. The almond is used in a variety of dishes around the world, including baklava, marzipan, and amaretti. Additionally, almonds may be used to create a milk-like beverage or a paste called almond butter, similar in texture to peanut butter.

[[Category:Trees]]