Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Christopher Hitchens

2010-08-12T19:01:50Z

Jjan: cancer

[[Image:Hitchens,_Stanford.jpg‎ |right|thumb|200px|Christopher Hitchens]]
'''Christopher Eric Hitchens''' (born April 13, 1949, in [[Portsmouth]], [[England]]) is a journalist, author and literary critic. Hitchens received degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from [[Oxford University|Balliol College]], [[Oxford]], in 1970. From 1971-1981, he worked in [[Britain]] as book reviewer for ''The Times'' newspaper. He emigrated to the United States in 1981, and has written regularly, or been a contributing editor for ''Harper's'', ''Vanity Fair'' and [[Nation (magazine)|''The Nation'']]. He is an avowed [[Atheism|atheist]] and [[Antitheism|antitheist]]. Hitchens has a younger brother, [[Peter Hitchens]], who is also a journalist, author and critic. Mr. Hitchens is one of the more prominent spokesperson for the [[New Atheism]] movement.

Christopher Hitchens was a member of the International Socialists and an active [[Trotskyist]] during his youth. Today he is "on the same side as the neo-conservatives," but does not consider himself a conservative. He supported [[George W. Bush|George W. Bush's]] foreign policy, but has a negative attitude towards Bush's support of [[intelligent design]].

He is a harsh critic of [[Ronald Reagan]], and considers [[Henry Kissinger]] a [[war criminal]]. Mr. Hitchens is also known for his heavy drinking.<ref>http://www.counterpunch.org/mccarthy02212003.html</ref>

Christopher Hitchens is currently being treated for esophageal cancer, which he believes was likely caused by drinking and smoking.<ref>http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/07/video-extended-interview-hitchens-on-cancer-and-atheism/</ref>

==Opposition to Islam and Support of the War on Terror==

Christopher Hitchens became an activist against [[Islam]] when Ayatullah Kohmeini declared a [[fatwa]] against his personal friend [[Salman Rushdie]]. The event has led him to become very vocal in his support of the war in Iraq and heavily critical of Muslim society and ethics.

==Insults toward Jerry Falwell==
In a TV interview with Hannity and Colmes a day after [[Jerry Falwell]]'s death, Christopher Hitchens expressed his anger over Fawell's legacy, calling the media coverage of his death uniform in its "stupidity" and calling Fawell himself a "vulgar fraud and crook"<ref name=FAL>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doKkOSMaTk4</ref>. Hitchens went on to state such outrageous comments as "we have been rid of an extremely dangerous demagogue who lived by hatred of others and prejudice", "that it's a pity there isn't a hell for him to go to", "the evil he did will live after him", and "and I think his death is a deliverance" <ref name=FAL/>. [[Hannity]] said that such comments were "crude", "thoughtless", "mean", and "hateful."

==Interview with Todd Friel==
In a radio interview with Todd Friel on [[Wretched Radio]], a Christianity based radio broadcast, Christopher Hitchens repeatedly ignores Todd Friels line of questioning. At the end of the interview, Todd asks, 'Is it possible the reason you rage so much against god is because you just want to live your own autonomous way, living any way that you want to, living any lifestyle that you prefer without being accountable to your creator?' '''Hitchens replies, 'I think that is highly probable, yes.''''<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E01VPsdozSo</ref>

==Select bibliography ==
*''Callaghan: The Road to Number Ten'' (Cassell, 1976)
*''Hostage to History: Cyprus From the Ottomans to Kissinger'' (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989)
*''Imperial Spoils: The Case of the Parthenon Marbles'' (Hill and Wang, 1989)
*''Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies'' (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990)
*''The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice'' (Verso, 1995)
*''Prepared for the Worst'' (Hill and Wang, 1989)
*''For the Sake of Argument: Essays & Minority Reports'' (Verso, 1993)
*''No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family'' (Verso, 2000)
*''God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything'' - outside the US, published with the alternate subtitle ''The Case Against Religion'' (Atlantic, 2007)

==External links==
*[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1662757,00.html "Why Christopher Hitchens Is Wrong About Billy Graham"], Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, ''[[Time magazine]]'' Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2007

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchens, Christopher}}
[[Category:Authors|Hitchens, Christopher]]

[[Category: Journalists]]
[[Category: Liberals]]
[[Category: Atheists]]
[[Category: Evolutionists]]

H. P. Lovecraft

2010-08-11T05:20:25Z

Jjan:

[[Image:998907809.jpg|right|thumb|H.P Lovecraft]]
'''H. P. Lovecraft''' (1890-1937) was an [[United States of America|American]] author of fantasy and horror tales. He is the author who created the [[Cthulhu]] mythos, a fantasy world adapted by many subsequent authors. Lovecraft horror took many influences from [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. Lovecraft often openly attacked Christianity, with themes in his writings replicating his beliefs in the inability for human consciousness to comprehend the nature of reality,<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tfrbBSFn_p8C&pg=PA103&dq=lovecraft+religion&as_brr=3&cd=7#v=onepage&q=lovecraft%20religion&f=false Books.google.co.uk]</ref> while admitting that they are necessary for preservation of moral values in a society.[Reference?] Many of his writings concern immensely powerful beings who are either actively malicious toward or simply indifferent to humanity, who are subjects of cultic worship. In the stories, mere knowledge of these beings endangers the sanity of those who discover it.

Lovecraft was also an [[Anglophile]], and despite being from New England his writings often use British spellings.

Like many members of the [[Progressive Movement]], Lovecraft openly held racist [[Eugenicist]] beliefs in addition to believing that the inhabitants of the world were stratified in terms of cultural development. He perceived that white western culture, particularly that of the Anglo-Saxon nations was superior to that of other cultures. Lovecraft also expressed disdain for 'racial inbreeding' as well as for lower class economic migrants in America. <ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fzSrmR1PRO0C&pg=PA103&dq=lovecraft+racism&hl=en&ei=H4DtS6eQFZ6XONvBmbAI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=lovecraft%20racism&f=false Books.google.co.uk]</ref> This was reflected in some of his stories, as he depicted 'degenerate' racial hybrids as worshipers of monstrous false gods such as Cthulhu.

Lovecraft was a close friend of author [[Robert Howard]] creator of [[Conan The Barbarian]], and the two corresponded regularly.<ref>http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/sources/mf.asp</ref>

==Works==
*''Dagon''
*''The Call of Cthulhu''
*''The Other Gods''
*''The Shadow Over Innsmouth''
*''At the Mountains of Madness''

== Also See ==
* [[Eugenics]]
* [[Cthulhu]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovecraft, H. P.}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Horror]]
[[Category:Atheists]]

Ted Stevens

2010-08-11T03:17:16Z

Jjan: wife's plane crash 1978

[[Image:Ted Stevens.jpg|right|thumb|Ted Stevens]]

'''Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens''' (born November 18, 1923, died August 9, 2010) is a former [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Alaska]]. He is a [[liberal]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] having a pro-[[abortion]] voting record. Among [[conservatives]] he is known as a "[[RINO]]" who has long favored more government spending, particularly for his own state.<ref>Stevens' lifetime ACU rating is only 64.45, far lower than [[John McCain]]'s rating of 82.16. Most [[conservatives]] rank over 90 on this rating.</ref>

As the longest serving [[Republican]] in the Senate, Stevens served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2007. Stevens chaired the Senate [[Appropriations Committee]] from 1997 to 2005, except for the 18 months when [[Democrat]]s controlled the chamber. The chairmanship gave Stevens considerable influence over fellow Senators, who relied on him for home-state project funds.

Stevens had a six-decade career of public service, beginning with his service in [[World War II]]. In the 1950s, he held senior positions in the Interior and Justice departments during the [[Eisenhower]] administration. He has served continuously in the Senate since 1968, until his ouster in 2008.

On July 29, 2008, Stevens was indicted on 7 felony counts related to making false statements in relation to a Justice Department investigation of business dealings in Alaska. Senator [[Arlen Specter]] expressed the disbelief and dismay felt by many in reaction to the bogus charges, "I've known Ted Stevens for 28 years and I've always known him to be impeccably honest. I don't know that there's a stronger comment to be made than that."<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5472829 Republican Senator Indicted for Allegedly Lying on Financial Disclosure Forms], Jake Tapper and Theresa Cook, ABCNews, July 29, 2008</ref>

According to Republican Senate caucus rules, Stevens resigned from his post as ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. On October 27, Stevens was found guilty on all 7 counts of corruption. On April 1, 2009, the Justice department filed a motion to drop its case against Stevens. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] decided to abandon the case due to prosecutorial misconduct. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/01/doj-sources-say-case-dropped-ex-sen-ted-stevens/ Justice Department Files Motion to Drop Case Against Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens], Mike Levine, ''FOXNews.com'', April 01, 2009</ref> <ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102589818 Justice Dept. Seeks To Void Stevens' Conviction], Nina Totenberg, ''NPR'', April 01, 2009</ref>

On August 9, 2010, Ted Stevens died in a small plane crash along with five others. <ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/10/national/main6760221.shtml</ref> This was not the first plane crash he had been in, in 1978 his first wife, Ann Mary, died in a plane crash that also left him with lasting injuries <ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-alaska-crash-past-20100811,0,7987348.story</ref>.

==Early years==

Ted Stevens was born in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], in 1923. During World War II, he was an Army Air Forces C-47 pilot in the China-Burma-India theater with the "Flying Tigers" of the Fourteenth Air Force from 1943 to 1946, holding the rank of First Lieutenant. There he received two [[Distinguished Flying Cross]]es and two [[Air Medal]]s, as well as the [[Yuan Hai]] medal awarded by the Republic of [[China]].

After the war, Stevens attended UCLA, where he was a member of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]], and [[Harvard Law School]]. In the early 1950s he moved to Alaska, then a territory.

In Fairbanks, Stevens practiced law, and he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Fairbanks in 1953.

In 1956, Stevens was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he worked as legislative counsel and assistant to Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton. He also pushed for the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, which occurred in 1959. In 1960, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower promoted Stevens to solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

After returning to Alaska, Stevens practiced law in Anchorage. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, and became House majority leader in his second term.

==U.S. Senate==

In December 1968, Governor Walter Joseph Hickel appointed Stevens to the U.S. Senate after the death of Democrat Bob Bartlett. In 1970, Stevens was elected to finish the term in a special election, and has been reelected six times since, in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002.

Stevens served as the Assistant Republican Whip from 1977 to 1985. In 1994, Stevens was appointed Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Stevens became the Senate's president pro tempore when Republicans regained control of the chamber as a result of the 2002 mid-term elections, during which the previous most senior republican senator and former president pro tempore Strom Thurmond retired. He is a former Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. In the past, Stevens also has served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, the Arms Control Observer Group, and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.

His campaign political action committee is called the "Northern Lights PAC."

Ted Stevens was criticized when he attempted to [[earmark]] the "Bridge to Nowhere," a bridge in Alaska which would have connected the town of [[Ketchikan]] (population 8,900) with its airport on the island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million, by way of three separate earmarks in a highway bill. A ferry service runs to the island, but some in the town complained about its wait (15 to 30 minutes) and fee ($6 per car). The Heritage Foundation maintained that "the Gravina Island bridge project is an embarrassment to the people of Alaska and the U.S. Congress...fiscally responsible Members of Congress should be eager to zero out its funding."<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm889.cfm</ref>

==Copyright controversy and "Series of Tubes" phenomenon==

In 2002, Stevens cosponsored a controversial bill called the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). Put forth by former Democratic Senator [[Fritz Hollings]], if the bill had been passed, it would have forced all computer manufacturers to include inherent forms of copy protection.<ref>http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2002/03/51245</ref> This was held unfavorably by open-source activists and developers, who often referred to Hollings using such titles as "The Disney Senator" and "Senator Mickey" due to his ties to the entertainment industry.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,47296,00.html</ref> This bill was never passed into law, though similar private efforts are occurring.<ref>http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html</ref>

In 2006, Stevens spoke before Congress in opposition to [[net neutrality]]. However, his speech was viewed as "rambling" and lacking basic knowledge of computers - for example, saying "an Internet" instead of "an e-mail message", claiming the Internet was not used for commercial purposes, and in a failed attempt to summarize technical definition of "pipe" - referred to the Internet as a "series of tubes". This became a major Internet fad.<ref>http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/03/0643238</ref>

== Legal Troubles ==

In July of 2008, Stevens was indicted on charges of taking gifts from the oil servicing company VECO and its CEO Bill Allen who benefited from his legislation. Stevens' son Ben, the leader of the state senate, and other state politicians have also been implicated in corruption related to VECO.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/31/vo.stevens.court.depart.cnn?iref=videosearch Stevens pleads not guilty]</ref>
On October 27th, 2008, Stevens was convicted on seven counts of corruption, after a highly politicized trial that attempted to learn the extent of his dealings.
Stevens, however, vowed to continue his bid. On November 18th, Stevens' 85th birthday, the final vote tallies showed that Democrat Mark Begich had won the election by a narrow margin.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/stevens Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid]</ref>

Stevens' conviction was later overturned after U.S. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] requested the presiding Judge to vacate the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct.

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Ted_Stevens.htm On the Issues - Ted Stevens] issue positions and quotes
*[http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/497 "Series of Tubes" speech]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Stevens, Ted}}
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

Ted Stevens

2010-08-11T00:22:47Z

Jjan:

[[Image:Ted Stevens.jpg|right|thumb|Ted Stevens]]

'''Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens''' (born November 18, 1923, died August 9, 2010) is a former [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Alaska]]. He is a [[liberal]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] having a pro-[[abortion]] voting record. Among [[conservatives]] he is known as a "[[RINO]]" who has long favored more government spending, particularly for his own state.<ref>Stevens' lifetime ACU rating is only 64.45, far lower than [[John McCain]]'s rating of 82.16. Most [[conservatives]] rank over 90 on this rating.</ref>

As the longest serving [[Republican]] in the Senate, Stevens served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2007. Stevens chaired the Senate [[Appropriations Committee]] from 1997 to 2005, except for the 18 months when [[Democrat]]s controlled the chamber. The chairmanship gave Stevens considerable influence over fellow Senators, who relied on him for home-state project funds.

Stevens had a six-decade career of public service, beginning with his service in [[World War II]]. In the 1950s, he held senior positions in the Interior and Justice departments during the [[Eisenhower]] administration. He has served continuously in the Senate since 1968, until his ouster in 2008.

On July 29, 2008, Stevens was indicted on 7 felony counts related to making false statements in relation to a Justice Department investigation of business dealings in Alaska. Senator [[Arlen Specter]] expressed the disbelief and dismay felt by many in reaction to the bogus charges, "I've known Ted Stevens for 28 years and I've always known him to be impeccably honest. I don't know that there's a stronger comment to be made than that."<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5472829 Republican Senator Indicted for Allegedly Lying on Financial Disclosure Forms], Jake Tapper and Theresa Cook, ABCNews, July 29, 2008</ref>

According to Republican Senate caucus rules, Stevens resigned from his post as ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. On October 27, Stevens was found guilty on all 7 counts of corruption. On April 1, 2009, the Justice department filed a motion to drop its case against Stevens. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] decided to abandon the case due to prosecutorial misconduct. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/01/doj-sources-say-case-dropped-ex-sen-ted-stevens/ Justice Department Files Motion to Drop Case Against Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens], Mike Levine, ''FOXNews.com'', April 01, 2009</ref> <ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102589818 Justice Dept. Seeks To Void Stevens' Conviction], Nina Totenberg, ''NPR'', April 01, 2009</ref>

On August 9, 2010, Ted Stevens died in a small plane crash along with five others. <ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/10/national/main6760221.shtml</ref>

==Early years==

Ted Stevens was born in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], in 1923. During World War II, he was an Army Air Forces C-47 pilot in the China-Burma-India theater with the "Flying Tigers" of the Fourteenth Air Force from 1943 to 1946, holding the rank of First Lieutenant. There he received two [[Distinguished Flying Cross]]es and two [[Air Medal]]s, as well as the [[Yuan Hai]] medal awarded by the Republic of [[China]].

After the war, Stevens attended UCLA, where he was a member of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]], and [[Harvard Law School]]. In the early 1950s he moved to Alaska, then a territory.

In Fairbanks, Stevens practiced law, and he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Fairbanks in 1953.

In 1956, Stevens was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he worked as legislative counsel and assistant to Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton. He also pushed for the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, which occurred in 1959. In 1960, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower promoted Stevens to solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

After returning to Alaska, Stevens practiced law in Anchorage. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, and became House majority leader in his second term.

==U.S. Senate==

In December 1968, Governor Walter Joseph Hickel appointed Stevens to the U.S. Senate after the death of Democrat Bob Bartlett. In 1970, Stevens was elected to finish the term in a special election, and has been reelected six times since, in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002.

Stevens served as the Assistant Republican Whip from 1977 to 1985. In 1994, Stevens was appointed Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Stevens became the Senate's president pro tempore when Republicans regained control of the chamber as a result of the 2002 mid-term elections, during which the previous most senior republican senator and former president pro tempore Strom Thurmond retired. He is a former Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. In the past, Stevens also has served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, the Arms Control Observer Group, and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.

His campaign political action committee is called the "Northern Lights PAC."

Ted Stevens was criticized when he attempted to [[earmark]] the "Bridge to Nowhere," a bridge in Alaska which would have connected the town of [[Ketchikan]] (population 8,900) with its airport on the island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million, by way of three separate earmarks in a highway bill. A ferry service runs to the island, but some in the town complained about its wait (15 to 30 minutes) and fee ($6 per car). The Heritage Foundation maintained that "the Gravina Island bridge project is an embarrassment to the people of Alaska and the U.S. Congress...fiscally responsible Members of Congress should be eager to zero out its funding."<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm889.cfm</ref>

==Copyright controversy and "Series of Tubes" phenomenon==

In 2002, Stevens cosponsored a controversial bill called the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). Put forth by former Democratic Senator [[Fritz Hollings]], if the bill had been passed, it would have forced all computer manufacturers to include inherent forms of copy protection.<ref>http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2002/03/51245</ref> This was held unfavorably by open-source activists and developers, who often referred to Hollings using such titles as "The Disney Senator" and "Senator Mickey" due to his ties to the entertainment industry.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,47296,00.html</ref> This bill was never passed into law, though similar private efforts are occurring.<ref>http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html</ref>

In 2006, Stevens spoke before Congress in opposition to [[net neutrality]]. However, his speech was viewed as "rambling" and lacking basic knowledge of computers - for example, saying "an Internet" instead of "an e-mail message", claiming the Internet was not used for commercial purposes, and in a failed attempt to summarize technical definition of "pipe" - referred to the Internet as a "series of tubes". This became a major Internet fad.<ref>http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/03/0643238</ref>

== Legal Troubles ==

In July of 2008, Stevens was indicted on charges of taking gifts from the oil servicing company VECO and its CEO Bill Allen who benefited from his legislation. Stevens' son Ben, the leader of the state senate, and other state politicians have also been implicated in corruption related to VECO.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/31/vo.stevens.court.depart.cnn?iref=videosearch Stevens pleads not guilty]</ref>
On October 27th, 2008, Stevens was convicted on seven counts of corruption, after a highly politicized trial that attempted to learn the extent of his dealings.
Stevens, however, vowed to continue his bid. On November 18th, Stevens' 85th birthday, the final vote tallies showed that Democrat Mark Begich had won the election by a narrow margin.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/stevens Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid]</ref>

Stevens' conviction was later overturned after U.S. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] requested the presiding Judge to vacate the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct.

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Ted_Stevens.htm On the Issues - Ted Stevens] issue positions and quotes
*[http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/497 "Series of Tubes" speech]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Stevens, Ted}}
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

Ted Stevens

2010-08-10T18:47:54Z

Jjan: rest in peace Ted Stevens (added refrence confirming his death, date of death)

[[Image:Ted Stevens.jpg|right|thumb|Ted Stevens]]

'''Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens''' (born November 18, 1923, died August 9, 2010) is a former [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Alaska]]. He is a [[liberal]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] having a pro-[[abortion]] voting record. Among [[conservatives]] he is known as a "[[RINO]]" who has long favored more government spending, particularly for his own state.<ref>Stevens' lifetime ACU rating is only 64.45, far lower than [[John McCain]]'s rating of 82.16. Most [[conservatives]] rank over 90 on this rating.</ref>

As the longest serving [[Republican]] in the Senate, Stevens served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2007. Stevens chaired the Senate [[Appropriations Committee]] from 1997 to 2005, except for the 18 months when [[Democrat]]s controlled the chamber. The chairmanship gave Stevens considerable influence over fellow Senators, who relied on him for home-state project funds.

Stevens had a six-decade career of public service, beginning with his service in [[World War II]]. In the 1950s, he held senior positions in the Interior and Justice departments during the [[Eisenhower]] administration. He has served continuously in the Senate since 1968, until his ouster in 2008.

On July 29, 2008, Stevens was indicted on 7 felony counts related to making false statements in relation to a Justice Department investigation of business dealings in Alaska. Senator [[Arlen Specter]] expressed the disbelief and dismay felt by many in reaction to the bogus charges, "I've known Ted Stevens for 28 years and I've always known him to be impeccably honest. I don't know that there's a stronger comment to be made than that."<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5472829 Republican Senator Indicted for Allegedly Lying on Financial Disclosure Forms], Jake Tapper and Theresa Cook, ABCNews, July 29, 2008</ref>

According to Republican Senate caucus rules, Stevens resigned from his post as ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. On October 27, Stevens was found guilty on all 7 counts of corruption. On April 1, 2009, the Justice department filed a motion to drop its case against Stevens. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] decided to abandon the case due to prosecutorial misconduct. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/01/doj-sources-say-case-dropped-ex-sen-ted-stevens/ Justice Department Files Motion to Drop Case Against Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens], Mike Levine, ''FOXNews.com'', April 01, 2009</ref> <ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102589818 Justice Dept. Seeks To Void Stevens' Conviction], Nina Totenberg, ''NPR'', April 01, 2009</ref>

On August 9, 2010, Ted Stevens died in a small plane crash along with five others. <ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/10/national/main6760221.shtml</ref>

==Early years==

Ted Stevens was born in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], in 1923. During World War II, he was an Army Air Forces C-47 pilot in the China-Burma-India theater with the "Flying Tigers" of the Fourteenth Air Force from 1943 to 1946, holding the rank of First Lieutenant. There he received two [[Distinguished Flying Cross]]es and two [[Air Medal]]s, as well as the [[Yuan Hai]] medal awarded by the Republic of [[China]].

After the war, Stevens attended UCLA, where he was a member of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]], and [[Harvard Law School]]. In the early 1950s he moved to Alaska, then a territory.

In Fairbanks, Stevens practiced law, and he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Fairbanks in 1953.

In 1956, Stevens was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he worked as legislative counsel and assistant to Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton. He also pushed for the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, which occurred in 1959. In 1960, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower promoted Stevens to solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

After returning to Alaska, Stevens practiced law in Anchorage. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, and became House majority leader in his second term.

==U.S. Senate==

In December 1968, Governor Walter Joseph Hickel appointed Stevens to the U.S. Senate after the death of Democrat Bob Bartlett. In 1970, Stevens was elected to finish the term in a special election, and has been reelected six times since, in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002.

Stevens served as the Assistant Republican Whip from 1977 to 1985. In 1994, Stevens was appointed Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Stevens became the Senate's president pro tempore when Republicans regained control of the chamber as a result of the 2002 mid-term elections, during which the previous most senior republican senator and former president pro tempore Strom Thurmond retired. He is a former Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. In the past, Stevens also has served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, the Arms Control Observer Group, and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.

His campaign political action committee is called the "Northern Lights PAC."

Ted Stevens was criticized when he attempted to [[earmark]] the "Bridge to Nowhere," a bridge in Alaska which would have connected the town of [[Ketchikan]] (population 8,900) with its airport on the island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million, by way of three separate earmarks in a highway bill. A ferry service runs to the island, but some in the town complained about its wait (15 to 30 minutes) and fee ($6 per car). The Heritage Foundation maintained that "the Gravina Island bridge project is an embarrassment to the people of Alaska and the U.S. Congress...fiscally responsible Members of Congress should be eager to zero out its funding."<ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm889.cfm</ref>

== Legal Troubles ==

In July of 2008, Stevens was indicted on charges of taking gifts from the oil servicing company VECO and its CEO Bill Allen who benefited from his legislation. Stevens' son Ben, the leader of the state senate, and other state politicians have also been implicated in corruption related to VECO.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/31/vo.stevens.court.depart.cnn?iref=videosearch Stevens pleads not guilty]</ref>
On October 27th, 2008, Stevens was convicted on seven counts of corruption, after a highly politicized trial that attempted to learn the extent of his dealings.
Stevens, however, vowed to continue his bid. On November 18th, Stevens' 85th birthday, the final vote tallies showed that Democrat Mark Begich had won the election by a narrow margin.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/stevens Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid]</ref>

Stevens' conviction was later overturned after U.S. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] requested the presiding Judge to vacate the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct.

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Ted_Stevens.htm On the Issues - Ted Stevens] issue positions and quotes

{{DEFAULTSORT: Stevens, Ted}}
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

H. P. Lovecraft

2010-08-10T18:37:09Z

Jjan: Anglophile, friend of Conan creator, subject of stories, racism in stories.

[[Image:998907809.jpg|right|thumb|H.P Lovecraft]]
'''H. P. Lovecraft''' (1890-1937) was an [[United States of America|American]] author of fantasy and horror tales. He is the author who created the [[Cthulhu]] mythos, a fantasy world adapted by many subsequent authors. Lovecraft horror took many influences from [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. Lovecraft often openly attacked Christianity, with themes in his writings replicating his beliefs in the inability for human consciousness to comprehend the nature of reality,<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tfrbBSFn_p8C&pg=PA103&dq=lovecraft+religion&as_brr=3&cd=7#v=onepage&q=lovecraft%20religion&f=false Books.google.co.uk]</ref> while admitting that they are necessary for preservation of moral values in a society.[Reference?] Many of his writings concern immensely powerful beings who are either actively malicious toward or simply indifferent to humanity, who are subjects of cultic worship. In the stories, mere knowledge of these beings endangers the sanity of those who discover it.

Lovecraft was also an [[Anglophile]], and despite being from New England his writings often use British spellings.

Like many members of the [[Progressive Movement]], Lovecraft openly held racist [[Eugenicist]] beliefs in addition to believing that the inhabitants of the world were stratified in terms of cultural development. He perceived that white western culture, particularly that of the Anglo-Saxon nations was superior to that of other cultures. Lovecraft also expressed disdain for 'racial inbreeding' as well as for lower class economic migrants in America. <ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fzSrmR1PRO0C&pg=PA103&dq=lovecraft+racism&hl=en&ei=H4DtS6eQFZ6XONvBmbAI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=lovecraft%20racism&f=false Books.google.co.uk]</ref> This was reflected in some of his stories, as he depicted 'degenerate' racial hybrids as worshipers of monstrous false gods such as Cthulhu.

Lovecraft was a close friend of author [[Robert Howard]] creator of [[Conan The Barbarian]], and the two corresponded regularly.

==Works==
*''Dagon''
*''The Call of Cthulhu''
*''The Other Gods''
*''The Shadow Over Innsmouth''
*''At the Mountains of Madness''

== Also See ==
* [[Eugenics]]
* [[Cthulhu]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovecraft, H. P.}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Horror]]
[[Category:Atheists]]

Progressive

2010-08-10T18:18:38Z

Jjan: Progressive not a new term, but a revival. (With links to CP articles on earlier usage)

In US politics, '''progressive''' is sometimes used as a synonym for "[[liberal]]", used to evade the bad connotation of the latter term. Progressive policies, in [[political science]], are those which make [[progress]] towards goals seen as benefiting society. Since all politicians claim that their ideas and policies are meant to benefit the public, calling a policy "progressive" is thus practically meaningless.

Liberals use the term to describe themselves and their policies in contrast to "regressive" policies of their opponents. For example, they'll ask rhetorically, "Do you want to go back to the 1950s?" implying that women were oppressed by being forced to be [[housewife|housewives]] and men were oppressed by being falsely accused of favoring Communism (see [[McCarthyism]]).

The term progressive was recently revived by [[politician|politicians]] who considered themselves to be [[liberal]]. This revival occurred shortly before the [[2006 elections]]. It was implemented to help distance politicians, mainly [[Democrats]], for the negative history associated with various members of the party at that time. It was also meant to create a belief that [[conservatives]] were not able to think of a progressive future for the [[United States]]. The most famous historical usage of the term was in the 1890s to 1920s, sometimes called the [[Progressive Era]]. During the Progressive Era, politicians of both parties and various ideologies adopted the term, notably [[Theodore Roosevelt]], a Republican who founded the [[Progressive Party]] (also known as the Bull Moose Party) and [[Woodrow Wilson]].

While the term has been popular among the [[media]], most of the population still refers to the two major philosophies as [[conservative]] and liberal. This is likely because these two titles are familiar to the current population and better recognized. Because of this familiarity it is easier to visualize the contrasts between conservative and liberal than the contrasts between conservative and progressive.

A useful distinction to keep in mind is this: "progressives want bigger and supposedly better government; conservatives want less government."

[[category:political Ideologies]]