Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Thomas Paine

2010-05-20T20:06:31Z

JosephJackson: /* References */

[[image:Thomaspaine.jpeg|200px|thumb|Engraving of Thomas Paine]]
'''Thomas Paine''' (1737-1809) was a [[political]] and [[religious]] writer born in Thetford, [[England]], who came to [[America]] in 1774. His pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1776 was a major cause of the American decision to [[Declaration of Independence|declare independence]] in July 1776. It explained [[republicanism]] and the evils of having a king in very clear language. Selling over 100,000 copies and read aloud in taverns and churches, it reached most of the attentive public in all 13 colonies.

Late in 1776 when the war was going poorly for the Patriots, General [[George Washington]] ordered that Paine’s inspirational "American Crisis" (1776) be read to his troops before the Battle of Trenton. Paine supported the Revolution, although he believed it did not go far enough. He briefly lived in the rebelling colonies before returning to Europe in time to take part in the [[French Revolution]]. His later writings promoted [[Deism]] and were highly controversial.

==Quotes==
* "Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value." from ''The Crisis'' (1776)

* "These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." from ''The American Crisis‎'' (1776)

*"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." from '' The American Crisis‎'' (1776)

* "He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." (1795)<ref>Paine, "Dissertation on First Principles of Government," ''The Writings of Thomas Paine,'' ed. Moncure D. Conway, vol. 3, p. 277 (1895).</ref>

*"To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not." (1792)<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=a5YIAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA7-PA12&dq=paine+%22any+people+are+not+fit+for+freedom%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1923&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES ''Rights of Man'' online]</ref>

* "Those words, “temperate and moderate,” are words either of political cowardice, or of cunning, or seduction. A thing, moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice."<ref> Paine, "Letter to the addressers on the late proclamation against seditious writings." in ''The Writings of Thomas Paine,'' ed. Moncure D. Conway, vol. 3, pp. 94–95 </ref>(1895).

* "The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case." (1795)<ref> Paine, "Dissertation on First Principles of Government," in ''The Writings of Thomas Paine,'' ed. Moncure D. Conway, vol. 3, p. 267 (1895). </ref>

==Works==
His works include:
* ''[[Common Sense]]'' - published in 1776, which challenged [[England|British]] authority over the colonies and spoke to the common people<ref>http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/index.htm</ref>
* ''[[The Crisis]]'' - a series of articles published 1776-77 during the American Revolution<ref>http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/index.htm</ref>
* ''[[The Rights of Man]]'' - published in 1792 in support of the French Revolution<ref>http://www.ushistory.org/paine/rights/index.htm</ref>
* ''[[The Age of Reason]]'' - published in three parts (1794, 1795 and 1807), an anti-religious text<ref>http://www.ushistory.org/paine/reason/index.htm</ref>
==Bibliography==
* Foner, Eric. ''Tom Paine and Revolutionary America'' (1976). ISBN 978-0195174854
* Kaye, Harvey J. ''Thomas Paine and the Promise of America'' (2005). [http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Paine-Promise-America-Harvey/dp/0809093448/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230158959&sr=8-5 excerpt and text search]
* Philp, Mark. "Paine, Thomas (1737–1809)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,''online edn, May 2007
* Wood, Gordon S. ''Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different'' (2006). ISBN 978-0143112082 by a leading conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Characters-What-Founders-Different/dp/0143112082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230159021&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]

===Primary sources===
* Paine, Thomas. ''Common Sense'' (1776; 1817 edition) 56 pages [http://books.google.com/books?id=wVt7VxvFyegC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:thomas+inauthor:paine&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES complete text online]
* Paine, Thomas. ''The American Crisis'' (1777; 1819 edition) 196 pages [http://books.google.com/books?id=OQ8j54UCyjAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:thomas+inauthor:paine&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES complete text online]
* Paine, Thomas. ''Rights of Man, Common Sense and Other Political Writings'' ed. by Mark Philp - (1995), 510pp [http://www.questia.com/read/35524799?title=Rights%20of%20Man%2c%20Common%20Sense%2c%20and%20Other%20Political%20Writings online edition]
* [http://www.pickeringchatto.com/major_works/thomas_paine_and_america_1776_1809 "Thomas Paine and America, 1776–1809" 6 volumes of primary sources in response to Paine]

==References==
<References/>

{{DEFAULTSORT: Paine, Thomas}}

[[Category: Founding Fathers]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:French Revolution]]
[[Category:American Revolution]]
[[Category:Republicanism]]
[[Category:Early National U.S.]]
[[Category: Deists]]
[[Category:Liberals]]

Empire of Liberty

2010-05-20T20:05:31Z

JosephJackson: /* Monroe Doctrine */ The Zimmerman telegram had nothing to do with a possible takeover of Mexico by Germany

The '''Empire of Liberty''' as conceived by [[Thomas Jefferson]] refers to America's role of spreading freedom throughout the world.

America was founded, settled and fashioned by the [[British Empire]], but then broke away in the [[American Revolution]], declaring independence in 1776 in the name of [[republicanism]].

[[Thomas Jefferson]] saw America's mission as creating a global "Empire of Liberty" -- that is promoting freedom and liberty around the globe by example, by expansion, and by intervention. Major exponents included [[Abraham Lincoln]] (in the Gettysburg Address (1863), [[Woodrow Wilson]] and "[[Wilsonianism]]", and [[George W. Bush]] in the drive for liberty and democracy around the world.

In [[American diplomatic history]] the Empire of Liberty has meant opposition to [[tyranny]] and [[totalitarianism]], especially in the [[Spanish American War]] (1898), [[World War I]], [[World War II]], the [[Cold War]] and the [[War on terrorism]].[[File:Judge-2-6-1897.jpg|thumb|370px|[[Columbia]] (the American people) reaches out to help oppressed Cuba in 1897 while Uncle Sam (the US Government) is blind. ''Judge'' magazine, Feb. 6, 1897]]

The somewhat derogatory term '''American Empire''', meaning the [[United States]] and territories which it controls or influences, is often used to criticize the global influence of the United States and its political principles by implying that America has been engaged in a self-centered type of [[Imperialism]].

==Monroe Doctrine==
The [[Monroe Doctrine]] was designed to make the New World safe for liberty and [[republicanism]] and block the further expansion of European imperialism. The Doctrine was articulated in 1820 by President [[James Monroe]] and was designed by his Secretary of State [[John Quincy Adams]] (two foremost conservatives). It put the western hemisphere off limits to European expansion. It was used to stop the threatened takeover of Mexico by France (1860s). After 1960 the Doctrine was used to fight the spread of Communism from its base in Casto's [[Cuba]]. [[Ronald Reagan]], for example, made it a high priority to [[rollback]] Communism in [[Nicaragua]], [[Grenada]].

==Conservative Internationalism==
Conservative Henry Nau has argued that '''conservative internationalism''' is the foreign policy of [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[James K. Polk]], [[Harry Truman]], and [[Ronald Reagan]]. They did more to expand freedom abroad through the assertive use of military force than any others.<ref> At home, Abraham Lincoln was even more aggressive in expanding freedom by the forceful abolition of slavery.</ref>. They expanded freedom on behalf of self-government, local or national, not on behalf of central or international government, as liberal internationalists advocate, and they used force to seize related opportunities to spread freedom, not to maintain the status quo, as realists recommend.

Bacevich (2004) argues that America has been committed to building an empire by design, not accident. He argues that the recent foreign policy has accepted an American mission as the guardian of history, responsible for changing the world by making it more open and more integrated. American global leadership means maintaining preeminence in the world's strategically significant regions, together with permanent global military supremacy.

President Barack Obama in his 2009 Nobel Prize Address specifically rejected the liberal nonviolence policies of [[Martin Luther King]], and proclaimed America has a duty to lead the fight against evil in the world, starting with the [[Afghanistan War]]. His conservative arguments stunned his liberal supporters.
==Jefferson==
Jefferson used this phrase as early as 1780 as he sought to create an American Empire dedicated to liberty; it would block the growth of the British Empire, which he hated and feared:
:"We shall divert through our own Country a branch of commerce which the European States have thought worthy of the most important struggles and sacrifices, and in the event of peace [ending the American Revolution]...we shall form to the American union a barrier against the dangerous extension of the British Province of Canada and add to the '''Empire of liberty''' an extensive and fertile Country thereby converting dangerous Enemies into valuable friends." - Jefferson to George Rogers Clark, 25 December 1780<ref> See [http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Empire_of_liberty online source] </ref>

A few weeks after leaving the White House in 1809 he told his successor James Madison:
:"we should then have only to include the North [Canada] in our confederacy...and we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation: & I am persuaded no constitution was ever before so well calculated as ours for extensive empire & self government." - Jefferson to James Madison, 27 April 1809

==Other dimensions==
Economic dimensions include the spread of American management, as for example in the [[Marshall Plan]] in the 1940s. Poor management was a major factor in the slow recovery of Europe after World War II, and American management principles were often implemented as an essential part of Marshall Plan aid. The American School of Management was set up in Paris specifically to propagate these principles.

Cultural dimensions of the American Empire include the spread of American music and movies--and even more important the spread of Christian values by missionaries.

==Leftist bashing of "Empire"==

Anti-American forces in the Third World often capitalized on local hatred of oppressive empires by using the label ''American Empire'' in a negative sense. On the far left in the U.S. it is also a hostile theme, as represented by [[Noam Chomsky]] and [[Chalmers Johnson]]. Their argument is that America represents the evils of capitalism and religion and should be stopped from influencing the people of the world.

==See also==
* [[American foreign policy]]
* [[Cold War]]
* [[Human rights]]
* [[Ronald Reagan]]
* [[George W. Bush]]
* [[Rollback]]
* [[Wilsonianism]]

==Further reading==
* Bacevich, Andrew J. ''American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy'' (2004) by a conservative political scientist [http://www.amazon.com/American-Empire-Realities-Consequences-Diplomacy/dp/0674013751/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261651762&sr=1-19 excerpt and text search]
* Ferguson, Niall. ''Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire'' (2005), by an eminent conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Colossus-Rise-Fall-American-Empire/dp/0143034790/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261651620&sr=1-8 except and text search]
* Gordon, John Steele . ''Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power'' (2005) by a conservative popular historian [http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Wealth-History-American-Economic/dp/0060505125/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261651762&sr=1-16 excerpt and text search]
* Kagan, Robert. ''Dangerous Nation: America's Place in the World from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century'' (2006), by a conservative
* Nau, Henry R. "Conservative Internationalism," ''Policy Review'' #150. 2008. pp 3+. by a conservative[http://www.questia.com/read/5028853766?title=Conservative%20Internationalism online at [[Questia]]]
* Tucker, Robert W., and David C. Hendrickson. ''Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson'' (1990).
* Wood, Gordon. ''Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815'' (2009) by conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Liberty-History-Republic-1789-1815/dp/0195039149/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261651934&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
====references====
<references/>
[[Category:United States Political Terms]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Missionaries]]

Human rights

2010-05-20T20:03:41Z

JosephJackson: /* 2008 */ added quotation marks - otherwise it would be plagiarism

'''Human rights''' are the basic [[rights]] and [[freedom]]s to which all humans are entitled, entirely by virtue of their status as human beings. [[File:Judge-2-6-1897.jpg|thumb|370px|[[Columbia]] (the American people) reaches out to help oppressed Cuba in 1897 while Uncle Sam (the US Government) is blind. ''Judge'' magazine, Feb. 6, 1897]]

==2008==
"The year 2008 was characterized by three trends: a growing worldwide demand for greater personal and political freedom, governmental efforts to push back on those freedoms, and further confirmation that human rights flourish best in participatory democracies with vibrant civil societies." On the downside, "pushback against demands for greater personal and political freedom continued in many countries. A disturbing number of countries imposed burdensome, restrictive, or repressive laws and regulations against NGOs [non-governmental non-profit organizations] and the media, including the Internet. Many courageous human rights defenders who peacefully pressed for their own rights and those of their fellow countrymen and women were harassed, threatened, arrested and imprisoned, killed, or were subjected to violent extrajudicial means of reprisal."

At a structural level, "human rights abuses are less a matter of local tyrants and more a symptom of deeper dysfunctions within political systems. The most serious human rights abuses came in countries where unaccountable rulers wielded unchecked power or there was government failure or collapse, often exacerbated or caused by internal or external conflict."<ref> U.S. State Department [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/frontmatter/118984.htm 2008 Report]</ref>

==European history==
The [[English Bill of Rights]] of 1689 was the world's first major declaration of rights, and it influenced the American, French and all other declarations.
The [[French Revolution]] adopted a [[ Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen‎]] in 1789.

In the 19th century the concept spread rapidly through Europe and the colonial empires. Prime Minister [[William Gladstone]], based British foreign policy in the late 19th century on opposition to violations of human rights, especially in the [[Ottoman Empire]].
==American History==
The [[Declaration of Independence]] of the United States in 1776 proclaimed that all people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The American [[Bill of Rights]] of 1789 was based on the [[English Bill of Rights]] of 1689.

[[George Washington]] in his 1796 [[Farewell Address]] warned against foreign alliances and suggested the American mission to bring liberty to the world would be best served by avoiding wars, perfecting [[republicanism]] at home, and becoming a model for the world. Indeed there were no foreign entanglements until 1917.

There was a strong sense--which continues to this day--that a major American mission is to spread democracy in the world, with the belief that democratic governments will avoid abuses of human rights.

In the late 19th century Americans paid more and more attention to human rights abuses abroad. The [[Irish Catholics]] were especially angry at British refusal to allow for the independence of Ireland. [[American Jews]] were alarmed at the murderous pogroms of Jews in Russia. All Americans were angered by the brutal Spanish suppression of freedom movements in Cuba; this anger directly caused the [[Spanish American War]] in 1898, which resulted in a small American empire. In each case Americans argued that the denial of democracy was the root cause of the human rights abuses.
[[File:Belgium-ww1.JPG|thumb|210px|left|American disgust with German violations of human rights in occupied Belgium was a reason for entering World War I]]
American were outraged by German brutality in Belgium in 1914, and by the German sinking of an unarmed passenger liner the ''"[[Lusitania]]"'' in 1915. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] forced the Germans to abandon attacks on merchant ships--and when Germany resumed in 1917, he asked Congress for a declaration of war. Americans were aghast at the Turkish slaughter of Armenians --the [[Armenian Genocide]] of 1915; for a while in 1919 there was talk of making Armenia an American protectorate, but nothing came of that.

Meanwhile, Wilson was outraged at the extreme violations of human rights and democracy in Mexico, and intervened in the civil war raging there. The intervention ended in 1916 as the greater crisis of German threats was at hand.

Promoting [[Wilsonianism]] as the expression of American idealism in world affairs, especially regarding democracy and human rights<ref> the Term "human rights" was not commonly used before 1945.</ref>, Wilson promulgated the idealistic principles of the [[Fourteen Points]], and at the [[Paris Peace Conference]] in 1919 he exerted enormous influence to lead the world to democracy and a [[League of Nations]] that would prevent wars and promote democracy. He succeeded in part, and the LEague was created, but the U.S. Senate rejected the League and the U.S. never joined.

When Japan seized Manchuria in 1931 the U.S. refused to recognize the conquest. American sympathy was strongly on the side of the Chinese, thanks to Christian missionaries and publicists such as [[Pearl Buck]] and [[Henry Luce]]'s [[Time]] magazine. When Japan launched a full-scale war in China in 1937, the U.S. funded the Chinese resistance, supplies arms, and even sent in an air force--the "Flying Tigers" under General [[Claire Chennault]]--to fight the Japanese invasion. President Roosevelt refused to compromise with the Japanese, and cut off their oil supplies in 1941 so they could no longer make war. They responded with a desperate attack on the United States and the British Empire that ended in total disaster for Japan. At the war's end the U.S. took over Japan with the goal of systematically creating a democratic nation, and succeeded under the leadership of General [[Douglas MacArthur]].
===Cold War===
===Human rights in the Soviet Union===
===Carter's over-emphasis===
President [[Jimmy Carter]] made human rights central to his foreign policy. This had the effect of ratcheting up pressure on the Soviet Union, especially after the [[Soviet-Afghan War|invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.]] However it also led to a disaster in [[History of Iran|Iran]], where Carter allowed pro-American Shah to collapse because he had a poor record on human rights. Americans were horrified to discover see the Shah's militant replacements were far more brutal regarding human rights, and were violently anti-American as well. The net result of Carter's policies was a loss of human rights by millions of friends of the U.S.
===Reagan's policies===
===Clinton and Bush===

==Post World War II==
In the 20th century, secular concepts of human rights proliferated: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the American Convention on Human Rights; the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; the European Convention of Human Rights; various UN conferences' declarations on the environment, economic development, AIDS, and other topics; and the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.

In 1948, the [[United Nations]] issued the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], '''UDHR,''' a list of human rights they deem inherent and inviolable.<ref>http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html</ref> This document contains thirty articles listing about fifty rights. It was developed by the Canadian and French delegations, with input from the American delegate [[Eleanor Roosevelt]]. At the time the UN Declaration was ratified by its members, it was hailed by Americans as a major advancement in the cause of liberty.

The Universal Declaration provides:
:Article 29 (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

The first International Conference on Human Rights was held in Tehran, Iran, in 1968. A powerful bloc of Asian, African, and Arab states successfully asserted their control over the UN Human Rights Program. Their aggressive conference diplomacy was the culmination of a major transition in UN politics, with supposedly Western notions of individual freedom rejected in favor of an agenda that privileged economic modernization and the collective rights of peoples in Third World nations over those of individuals in those nations. Twenty years after the iconic image of [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] holding the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], the residual elements of the program she presided over were repudiated in a storm of insistent demands from the new anti-colonial order.<ref> Burke (2008)</ref>

The UDHR implicitly asserted that human rights are superior to notions of state sovereignty and called for the imposing of moral standards across the globe. These notions of universal human rights derive in part from [[Wilsonianism]]--the efforts of President [[Woodrow Wilson]] after World War I. They were reiterated in 2002 by President [[George W. Bush]] in his refusal to recognize Iraqi sovereignty and his efforts to impose a new democratic system of governance upon Iraq, and are a component of the [[Neoconservative]] effort to spread democracy in the Middle East, even in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The UN has supported this program, but the high cost has troubled Americans.

===India===
Deeply influenced by the UN's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Indian constitution provides for a host of rights, including the right of equality, cultural and religious freedoms, and the right to education. Discrimination based on race, caste, gender, birthplace, and religion was subsequently outlawed. Yet, political and social realities have intruded. Because of India's multiplicity of religious and ethnic groups, each with their own traditions and beliefs, and the complex interplay between these groups, the principles contained in the constitution have not always been followed in practice.

===Helsinki Accords===
The European Convention of Human Rights, implemented in 1953, led later to the 1975 Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe ('''[[Helsinki Accords]]'''). This document guaranteed the postwar borders of European states, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and respect for human rights. It regulated the principles of economic, scientific, and technological cooperation and provided for the exchange of printed, film, and televised information.

The Helsinki Accords were used by human rights activists and the Reagan Administration to pressure the Soviet Union to relax some of its totalitarianism, and to allow the escape of Soviet Jews. [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] finally unleashed "glasnost" and "perestroika" that energized human rights activists and led to the collapse of Communism in Europe, 1989-91.

==State Department==
Because the promotion of human rights is an important national interest, the United States seeks to:<ref> See [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/ State Department website]</ref>
*Hold governments accountable to their obligations under universal human rights norms and international human rights instruments;
*Promote greater respect for human rights, including freedom from torture, freedom of expression, press freedom, women's rights, children's rights, and the protection of minorities;
*Promote the rule of law, seek accountability, and change cultures of impunity;
*Assist efforts to reform and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Commission on Human Rights; and
*Coordinate human rights activities with important allies, including the EU, and regional organizations.

==Country reports==
Since 1999 the U.S. State Department has issued Country Reports on the status of human rights around the globe.
===China===
[[China]] is controlled by the Communist Party and its human rights record in 2008 remained poor and worsened in some areas. The government increased its severe cultural and religious repression of ethnic minorities in Tibetan areas and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), increased detention and harassment of dissidents and petitioners, and maintained tight controls on freedom of speech and the Internet. Abuses peaked around high-profile events, such as the Olympics and the unrest in Tibet. As in previous years, citizens did not have the right to change their government. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), both local and international, continued to face intense scrutiny and restrictions. Other serious human rights abuses included extrajudicial killings, torture and coerced confessions of prisoners, and the use of forced labor, including prison labor. Workers cannot choose an independent union to represent them in the workplace, and the law does not protect workers' right to strike.<ref> See [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eap/119037.htm 2008 Report]</ref>
===Russia===
Russia is no longer Communist, but it is increasingly an authoritarian state where democracy is weak. It has an increasingly centralized political system, with power concentrated in the hands of [[Vladimir Putin]] and his choices for top offices. International observers concluded that the December 2007 State Duma election (for parliament) was not fair, and neither was the March 2, 2008, election for president.

Human rights problems and abuses continued in 2008, though at a far lower level than the days of Communism (which ended in 1991). Putin's human rights record remained poor in the North Caucasus, where governments in Ingushetiya and Dagestan faced increased opposition from disaffected social groups and insurgencies, and the Chechen government forcibly reined in the Islamist insurgency that replaced the separatist insurgency as the main source of conflict. Russian security forces engaged in killings, torture, abuse, violence, and other brutal or humiliating treatment. In [[Chechnya]], Ingushetiya, and Dagestan, security forces were involved in unlawful killings and politically motivated kidnappings. Chechen President Kadyrov continued his repressive control as federal forces withdrew. Federal and local security forces in Chechnya targeted families of suspected insurgents with impunity, and Kadyrov's private militia allegedly engaged in kidnapping and torture.<ref>see [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119101.htm Country Report 2008] </ref>

Pressure from Putin's regime weakened freedom of expression and media independence, particularly of the major television networks. Five journalists were assassinated in 2008. As some print and Internet media reflected a widening range of views, the government restricted media freedom through direct ownership of media outlets, pressuring the owners of major media outlets to abstain from critical coverage, and harassing and intimidating journalists into practicing self-censorship. Local governments limited freedom of assembly, and police sometimes used violence to prevent groups from engaging in peaceful protest. The government limited freedom of association. The government restricted religious groups in some regions, and there were incidents of societal discrimination, harassment, and violence against religious minorities, including anti-Semitism..<ref>see [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119101.htm Country Report 2008] </ref>

==See also==
* [[American Empire]]
* [[Declaration of the Rights of Women]], French Revolution (1791)
* [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]], French Revolution (1789)
* [[Declaration of Rights and Sentiments]] American women, (1848)
* [[Declaration of Independence]] U.S. (1776)

==Further reading==
* Burke, Roland. "From Individual Rights to National Development: the First UN International Conference on Human Rights, Tehran, 1968," ''Journal of World History'' 2008 19(3): 275-296, in [[EBSCO]]
* Devine, Carol et al. ''Human Rights: The Essential Reference'' (1999) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/human-rights-the-essential-reference-by-carol-devine-carol-rae-hansen.jsp online edition]
* Langley, Winston E. ''Encyclopedia of Human Rights Issues since 1945'' (1999) [http://www.questia.com/read/111443595?title=Encyclopedia%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Issues%20since%201945 online edition]
* Smith, Tony. ''America's Mission the United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy of the Twentieth Century'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Mission-Tony-Smith/dp/069104466X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256732684&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
===Primary sources===
* U.S. State Department. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/ Country Reports], annual since 1999
* UN. ''Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments - Vol. 1 pt. 1'' (2002) by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva; [http://www.questia.com/SM.qst?act=adv&contributors=Office%20of%20the%20United%20Nations%20High%20Commissioner%20for%20Human%20Rights%20Geneva&dcontributors=Office%20of%20the%20United%20Nations%20High%20Commissioner%20for%20Human%20Rights%20Geneva online edition]
====references====
<references/>
[[Category:Human Rights]]
[[Category: Political Terms]]

Thomas Paine

2010-04-25T20:28:21Z

JosephJackson: /* References */

Geert Wilders

2010-04-25T20:27:41Z

JosephJackson:

'''Geert Wilders''' (born September 6, 1963<ref name="Wilders"> http://www.geertwilders.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=190&Itemid=110</ref>) is a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] politician. He is the leader of the [[conservative]] [[political party]] [[PVV]]. He has been a member of the Dutch parliament since 1998. He is well-known for his struggle against multi-culturalism and for free speech in the Netherlands. Lately his efforts to broadcast his movie ''Fitna'', which is critical of [[Islam]], have been opposed by many Dutch politicians and even the United Nations Secretary General, who in calling for the film to be censored, nevertheless stated "the right of freedom of expression is not at stake here." <ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2844232220080328?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true</ref>

Due to his strong emphasis on free speech and anti-Islam policy, he has strong political enemies. His main opponents are Alexander Pechtold (from D66, a liberal socialist party) and Job Cohen (form PVDA, the Dutch labor party).

==Biography==

Geert Wilders was born in Venlo, Limburg. He was raised as a Catholic but left the church at age 18 and nowadays considers himelf an atheist. His political career started in 1990. In that year he became an assistant of [[Frits Bolkestein]], leader of the conservative liberal party [[VVD]]. In 1998 he was elected as a member of the parliament. Later he formed his own political party, the PVV, which currently holds 9 (out of 150) seats in parliament.

==External links==

* [http://www.geertwilders.nl Personal site]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:International Political Figures]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilders, Geert}}

Side effects of abortion

2010-04-25T20:08:46Z

JosephJackson: those are not side effects in a medical sense +typo

'''Side effects of abortion''' include:
*severe psychological harm
*increased infertility
*increased risk of breast cancer
*increased risk of birth defects in further-born children due to premature birth

[[Category:abortion]]

Essay:Conservatives of the Decade

2009-12-29T17:22:35Z

JosephJackson: /* Honorable Mention Candidates */

It's time; in fact, we have only three days left to identify '''the top ten [[conservatives]] of the decade'''. The criterion would presumably be the best and longest lasting influence. For example, [[Ronald Reagan]] would be a leading candidate for "conservative of the decade" of the 1980s.

The [[best of the public]] is welcome in this list of nominations:

== Nominations ==

===Top Ten Candidates===

*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Ben Stein]]
*[[Bill O'Reilly]]
*[[Charlton Heston]]
*[[Dick Cheney]]
*[[James Dobson]]
*[[Jerry Falwell]]
*[[Jim DeMint]]
*[[John Bolton]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Michele Bachman]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Proposition 8]] supporters
*[[Ron Paul]]
*[[Rudy Giuliani]]
*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Samuel Alito]]
*[[Sarah Palin]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Tea Party Movement]]

===Honorable Mention Candidates===

*[[Alan Keyes]]
*[[Andrew Schlafly]] and the students that founded Conservapedia
*[[Antonin Scalia]]
*[[Art Robinson]]
*[[Benedict XVI]]
*[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]
*[[Charles H. Bronson]]
*[[Christopher Monckton]]
*[[Chuck Norris]]
*[[Clarence Thomas]]
*[[Club for Growth]]
*[[Condoleezza Rice]]
*[[D. James Kennedy]]
*[[David Cameron]]
*[[David Petraeus]]
*[[Doug Hoffman]]
*[[George W. Bush]]
*[[Hannah Giles]] and [[James O'Keefe]]
*[[Homeschoolers]] who captured all the finalist positions in the National Bible Bee
*[[Joe Lieberman]]
*[[Joe the Plumber]]
*[[Joe Wilson]]
*[[John Howard]]
*[[John Paul II]]
*[[John Roberts]]
*[[John Thune]]
*[[Jon Voight]]
*[[Marco Rubio]]
*[[Mark Levin]]
*[[Drudge Report|Matt Drudge]]
*[[Michael Savage]]
*[[Mike Huckabee]]
*The [[Minutemen Project]]
*[[Mitt Romney]]
*[[Oral Roberts]]
*[[Pat Robertson]]
*[[Paul Ryan]]
*[[Sun Myung Moon]]
*[[Tom Coburn]]
*[[Tony Snow]]
*[[Zell Miller]]

(add more, or suggest ranking; maybe we should name a "Conservative of the Year" also)

(no more than 10 in final honorable mentions category, those in top 10 can be moved to Honorable Mentions, vice-versa.)

== Quotes of the Decade ==

*"You lie!" (Joe Wilson about Barack Obama)
*"You know babies have finger nails!" (reference to an unborn child in the movie ''Juno'')
*"from my cold, dead hands" (Charlton Heston in 2000 dramatically referring to the only way [[liberal]]s could take his rifle from him)
*"I believe, myself, that this war is lost, and that the surge has not accomplished anything" (Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] on the Iraq War troop surge in April 2007, by December 2008 violence was at a 5-year low.)
*"The [[best of the public]] is better than a group of experts." -[[Conservapedia]]
*"Our [stimulus] plan will save or create 3-4 million new jobs, 90% of these jobs will be created in the private sector, the remaining public sector jobs." <ref>http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/01/obama_4_million_jobs.html</ref> (President Barack Obama on the economic stimulus package.) When the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]] was passed in february of 2009 the nation's Unemployment Rate was 8.1%, by December 2009 it was 10.2%. <ref>http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/feddal/ru</ref>
*"I'm not sure what Mr. DeLay meant when he said, 'The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.'" (Ted Kennedy after the killing of [[Terri Schiavo]]; the [[liberal]] Kennedy passed away in 2009, so now he does know what Mr. DeLay meant).

== Story of the Decade ==
*[[September 11]], 2001 Terrorist Attacks
*The taking, for the benefit of a corporation and higher tax revenue, of the long-held homes of Susanne Kelo and others in New London, Connecticut, decided against the homeowners by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court. Forcibly ousted and their homes destroyed, the residents moved elsewhere at great disruption to their lives. Then, four years later, Pfizer [[Kelo v. New London|abandoned the project]] for its own reasons, leaving a useless eyesore in the wreckage.
*The Ramos-Compean incident that began in February 2006 with actions by agents Ignacios Ramos and Jose Compean and did not end until their sentences were commuted by President [[George W. Bush]] in January 2009.

== Looking forward ==

What will be the most influential trends for the next decade? Here are some possibilities:

*collapse of the newspapers
*shifts in education away from bricks-and-mortar institutions
*reduction in influence of "experts"
*[[parent trigger legislation]]
*2010/2012 Conservative Revolution
*decline in [[evolution syndrome]] in academia
*[[Communists]] admit that [[Fidel Castro]] is no longer alive
*conservative social networking
*global non-warming weather continues to provide proof that current climate models undergirding mass-[[global warming]] hysteria—fueled by money/power hungry liberals like the already well-heeled and luxuriantly-invested [[Al Gore]]—are in truth maniacally mistaken if not willfully wrong

(add more)
{{Conservatism}}
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Conservatives of the Decade

2009-12-29T17:05:05Z

JosephJackson: /* Honorable Mention Candidates */

It's time; in fact, we have only three days left to identify '''the top ten [[conservatives]] of the decade'''. The criterion would presumably be the best and longest lasting influence. For example, [[Ronald Reagan]] would be a leading candidate for "conservative of the decade" of the 1980s.

The [[best of the public]] is welcome in this list of nominations:

== Nominations ==

===Top Ten Candidates===

*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Ben Stein]]
*[[Bill O'Reilly]]
*[[Charlton Heston]]
*[[Dick Cheney]]
*[[Jerry Falwell]]
*[[Jim DeMint]]
*[[John Bolton]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Michele Bachman]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Proposition 8]] supporters
*[[Ron Paul]]
*[[Rudy Giuliani]]
*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Samuel Alito]]
*[[Sarah Palin]]
*[[Tea Party Movement]]

===Honorable Mention Candidates===

*[[Alan Keyes]]
*[[Andrew Schlafly]] and the students that founded Conservapedia
*[[Antonin Scalia]]
*[[Art Robinson]]
*[[Benedict XVI]]
*[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]
*[[Charles H. Bronson]]
*[[Christopher Monckton]]
*[[Chuck Norris]]
*[[Clarence Thomas]]
*[[Club for Growth]]
*[[Condoleezza Rice]]
*[[D. James Kennedy]]
*[[David Petraeus]]
*[[Doug Hoffman]]
*[[George W. Bush]]
*[[Hannah Giles]] and [[James O'Keefe]]
*[[Homeschoolers]] who captured all the finalist positions in the National Bible Bee
*[[James Dobson]]
*[[Joe Lieberman]]
*[[Joe Wilson]]
*[[John Howard]]
*[[John Paul II]]
*[[John Roberts]]
*[[John Thune]]
*[[Jon Voight]]
*[[Marco Rubio]]
*[[Mark Levin]]
*[[Drudge Report|Matt Drudge]]
*[[Michael Savage]]
*[[Mike Huckabee]]
*The [[Minutemen Project]]
*[[Mitt Romney]]
*[[Oral Roberts]]
*[[Pat Robertson]]
*[[Paul Ryan]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Sun Myung Moon]]
*[[Tom Coburn]]
*[[Tony Snow]]
*[[Zell Miller]]

(add more, or suggest ranking; maybe we should name a "Conservative of the Year" also)

(no more than 10 in final honorable mentions category, those in top 10 can be moved to Honorable Mentions, vice-versa.)

== Quotes of the Decade ==

*"You lie!" (Joe Wilson about Barack Obama)
*"You know babies have finger nails!" (reference to an unborn child in the movie ''Juno'')
*"from my cold, dead hands" (Charlton Heston in 2000 dramatically referring to the only way [[liberal]]s could take his rifle from him)
*"I believe, myself, that this war is lost, and that the surge has not accomplished anything" (Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] on the Iraq War troop surge in April 2007, by December 2008 violence was at a 5-year low.)
*"The [[best of the public]] is better than a group of experts." -[[Conservapedia]]
*"Our [stimulus] plan will save or create 3-4 million new jobs, 90% of these jobs will be created in the private sector, the remaining public sector jobs." <ref>http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/01/obama_4_million_jobs.html</ref> (President Barack Obama on the economic stimulus package.) When the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]] was passed in february of 2009 the nation's Unemployment Rate was 8.1%, by December 2009 it was 10.2%. <ref>http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/feddal/ru</ref>

== Story of the Decade ==
*[[September 11]], 2001 Terrorist Attacks
*The taking, for the benefit of a corporation and higher tax revenue, of the long-held homes of Susanne Kelo and others in New London, Connecticut, decided against the homeowners by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court. Forcibly ousted and their homes destroyed, the residents moved elsewhere at great disruption to their lives. Then, four years later, Pfizer [[Kelo v. New London|abandoned the project]] for its own reasons, leaving a useless eyesore in the wreckage.
*The Ramos-Compean incident that began in February 2006 with actions by agents Ignacios Ramos and Jose Compean and did not end until their sentences were commuted by President [[George W. Bush]] in January 2009.

== Looking forward ==

What will be the most influential trends for the next decade? Here are some possibilities:

*collapse of the newspapers
*shifts in education away from bricks-and-mortar institutions
*reduction in influence of "experts"
*[[parent trigger legislation]]
*2010/2012 Conservative Revolution
*decline in [[evolution syndrome]] in academia
*[[Communists]] admit that [[Fidel Castro]] is no longer alive
*conservative social networking
*global non-warming weather continues to provide proof that current climate models undergirding mass-[[global warming]] hysteria—fueled by money/power hungry liberals like the already well-heeled and luxuriantly-invested [[Al Gore]]—are in truth maniacally mistaken if not willfully wrong

(add more)
{{Conservatism}}
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Conservatives of the Decade

2009-12-29T17:02:48Z

JosephJackson: /* Honorable Mention Candidates */

It's time; in fact, we have only three days left to identify '''the top ten [[conservatives]] of the decade'''. The criterion would presumably be the best and longest lasting influence. For example, [[Ronald Reagan]] would be a leading candidate for "conservative of the decade" of the 1980s.

The [[best of the public]] is welcome in this list of nominations:

== Nominations ==

===Top Ten Candidates===

*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Ben Stein]]
*[[Bill O'Reilly]]
*[[Charlton Heston]]
*[[Dick Cheney]]
*[[Jerry Falwell]]
*[[Jim DeMint]]
*[[John Bolton]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Michele Bachman]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Proposition 8]] supporters
*[[Ron Paul]]
*[[Rudy Giuliani]]
*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Samuel Alito]]
*[[Sarah Palin]]
*[[Tea Party Movement]]

===Honorable Mention Candidates===

*[[Andrew Schlafly]] and the students that founded Conservapedia
*[[Antonin Scalia]]
*[[Art Robinson]]
*[[Benedict XVI]]
*[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]
*[[Charles H. Bronson]]
*[[Christopher Monckton]]
*[[Chuck Norris]]
*[[Clarence Thomas]]
*[[Club for Growth]]
*[[Condoleezza Rice]]
*[[D. James Kennedy]]
*[[David Petraeus]]
*[[Doug Hoffman]]
*[[George W. Bush]]
*[[Hannah Giles]] and [[James O'Keefe]]
*[[Homeschoolers]] who captured all the finalist positions in the National Bible Bee
*[[James Dobson]]
*[[Joe Lieberman]]
*[[Joe Wilson]]
*[[John Howard]]
*[[John Paul II]]
*[[John Roberts]]
*[[John Thune]]
*[[Jon Voight]]
*[[Marco Rubio]]
*[[Mark Levin]]
*[[Drudge Report|Matt Drudge]]
*[[Mike Huckabee]]
*The [[Minutemen Project]]
*[[Mitt Romney]]
*[[Pat Robertson]]
*[[Paul Ryan]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Tom Coburn]]
*[[Tony Snow]]
*[[Zell Miller]]

(add more, or suggest ranking; maybe we should name a "Conservative of the Year" also)

(no more than 10 in final honorable mentions category, those in top 10 can be moved to Honorable Mentions, vice-versa.)

== Quotes of the Decade ==

*"You lie!" (Joe Wilson about Barack Obama)
*"You know babies have finger nails!" (reference to an unborn child in the movie ''Juno'')
*"from my cold, dead hands" (Charlton Heston in 2000 dramatically referring to the only way [[liberal]]s could take his rifle from him)
*"I believe, myself, that this war is lost, and that the surge has not accomplished anything" (Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] on the Iraq War troop surge in April 2007, by December 2008 violence was at a 5-year low.)
*"The [[best of the public]] is better than a group of experts." -[[Conservapedia]]
*"Our [stimulus] plan will save or create 3-4 million new jobs, 90% of these jobs will be created in the private sector, the remaining public sector jobs." <ref>http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/01/obama_4_million_jobs.html</ref> (President Barack Obama on the economic stimulus package.) When the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]] was signed in March of 2009 the nation's Unemployment Rate was 8.5%, by December 2009 it was 10.2%. <ref>http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/feddal/ru</ref>
== Story of the Decade ==
*[[September 11]], 2001 Terrorist Attacks
*The taking, for the benefit of a corporation and higher tax revenue, of the long-held homes of Susanne Kelo and others in New London, Connecticut, decided against the homeowners by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court. Forcibly ousted and their homes destroyed, the residents moved elsewhere at great disruption to their lives. Then, four years later, Pfizer [[Kelo v. New London|abandoned the project]] for its own reasons, leaving a useless eyesore in the wreckage.
*The Ramos-Compean incident that began in February 2006 with actions by agents Ignacios Ramos and Jose Compean and did not end until their sentences were commuted by President [[George W. Bush]] in January 2009.

== Looking forward ==

What will be the most influential trends for the next decade? Here are some possibilities:

*collapse of the newspapers
*shifts in education away from bricks-and-mortar institutions
*reduction in influence of "experts"
*[[parent trigger legislation]]
*2010/2012 Conservative Revolution
*decline in [[evolution syndrome]] in academia
*[[Communists]] admit that [[Fidel Castro]] is no longer alive
*conservative social networking
*global non-warming weather continues to provide proof that current climate models undergirding mass-[[global warming]] hysteria—fueled by money/power hungry liberals like the already well-heeled and luxuriantly-invested [[Al Gore]]—are in truth maniacally mistaken if not willfully wrong

(add more)
{{Conservatism}}
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Conservatives of the Decade

2009-12-29T16:28:53Z

JosephJackson: /* Honorable Mention Candidates */

It's time; in fact, we have only three days left to identify '''the top ten [[conservatives]] of the decade'''. The criterion would presumably be the best and longest lasting influence. For example, [[Ronald Reagan]] would be a leading candidate for "conservative of the decade" of the 1980s.

The [[best of the public]] is welcome in this list of nominations:

== Nominations ==

===Top Ten Candidates===

*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Ben Stein]]
*[[Charlton Heston]]
*[[Club for Growth]]
*[[Dick Cheney]]
*[[Jerry Falwell]]
*[[Jim DeMint]]
*[[John Bolton]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Michele Bachman]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Proposition 8]] supporters
*[[Ron Paul]]
*[[Rudy Giuliani]]
*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Samuel Alito]]
*[[Sarah Palin]]
*[[Tea Party Movement]]

===Honorable Mention Candidates===

*[[Antonin Scalia]]
*[[Art Robinson]]
*[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]
*[[Bill O'Reilly]]
*[[Charles H. Bronson]]
*[[Christopher Monckton]]
*[[Clarence Thomas]]
*[[Condoleezza Rice]]
*[[D. James Kennedy]]
*[[David Petraeus]]
*[[Doug Hoffman]]
*[[George W. Bush]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Hannah Giles]] and [[James O'Keefe]]
*[[Homeschoolers]] who captured all the finalist positions in the National Bible Bee
*[[James Dobson]]
*[[Joe Lieberman]]
*[[Joe Wilson]]
*[[John Howard]]
*[[John Roberts]]
*[[John Thune]]
*[[Jon Voight]]
*[[Marco Rubio]]
*[[Mark Levin]]
*[[Drudge Report|Matt Drudge]]
*[[Mike Huckabee]]
*The [[Minutemen Project]]
*[[Mitt Romney]]
*[[Pat Robertson]]
*[[Paul Ryan]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Tom Coburn]]
*[[Zell Miller]]
*[[Chuck Norris]]

(add more, or suggest ranking; maybe we should name a "Conservative of the Year" also)

(no more than 10 in final honorable mentions category, those in top 10 can be moved to Honorable Mentions, vice-versa.)

== Quotes of the Decade ==

*"You lie!" (Joe Wilson about Barack Obama)
*"You know babies have finger nails!" (reference to an unborn child in the movie ''Juno'')
*"from my cold, dead hands" (Charlton Heston in 2000 dramatically referring to the only way [[liberal]]s could take his rifle from him)
*"I believe, myself, that this was is lost, and that the surge has not accomplished anything" (Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] on the Iraq War troop surge in April 2007, by December 2008 violence was at a 5-year low.)

== Story of the Decade ==
*[[September 11]], 2001 Terrorist Attacks
*The taking, for the benefit of a corporation and higher tax revenue, of the long-held homes of Susanne Kelo and others in New London, Connecticut, decided against the homeowners by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court. Forcibly ousted and their homes destroyed, the residents moved elsewhere at great disruption to their lives. Then, four years later, Pfizer [[Kelo v. New London|abandoned the project]] for its own reasons, leaving a useless eyesore in the wreckage.
*The Ramos-Compean incident that began in February 2006 with actions by agents Ignacios Ramos and Jose Compean and did not end until their sentences were commuted by President [[George W. Bush]] in January 2009.

== Looking forward ==

What will be the most influential trends for the next decade? Here are some possibilities:

*collapse of the newspapers
*shifts in education away from bricks-and-mortar institutions
*reduction in influence of "experts"
*[[parent trigger legislation]]
*2010/2012 Conservative Revolution
*decline in [[evolution syndrome]] in academia
*[[Communists]] admit that [[Fidel Castro]] is no longer alive
*conservative social networking
*global non-warming weather continues to provide proof that current climate models undergirding mass-[[global warming]] hysteria—fueled by money/power hungry liberals like the already well-heeled and luxuriantly-invested [[Al Gore]]—are in truth maniacally mistaken if not willfully wrong

(add more)
{{Conservatism}}
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Conservatives of the Decade

2009-12-29T16:20:26Z

JosephJackson: /* Quotes of the Decade */

It's time; in fact, we have only three days left to identify '''the top ten [[conservatives]] of the decade'''. The criterion would presumably be the best and longest lasting influence. For example, [[Ronald Reagan]] would be a leading candidate for "conservative of the decade" of the 1980s.

The [[best of the public]] is welcome in this list of nominations:

== Nominations ==

===Top Ten Candidates===

*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Ben Stein]]
*[[Charlton Heston]]
*[[Club for Growth]]
*[[Dick Cheney]]
*[[Jerry Falwell]]
*[[Jim DeMint]]
*[[John Bolton]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Michele Bachman]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Proposition 8]] supporters
*[[Ron Paul]]
*[[Rudy Giuliani]]
*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Samuel Alito]]
*[[Sarah Palin]]
*[[Tea Party Movement]]

===Honorable Mention Candidates===

*[[Antonin Scalia]]
*[[Art Robinson]]
*[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]
*[[Bill O'Reilly]]
*[[Charles H. Bronson]]
*[[Christopher Monckton]]
*[[Clarence Thomas]]
*[[Condoleezza Rice]]
*[[D. James Kennedy]]
*[[David Petraeus]]
*[[George W. Bush]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Hannah Giles]] and [[James O'Keefe]]
*[[Homeschoolers]] who captured all the finalist positions in the National Bible Bee
*[[James Dobson]]
*[[Joe Lieberman]]
*[[Joe Wilson]]
*[[John Howard]]
*[[John Roberts]]
*[[John Thune]]
*[[Jon Voight]]
*[[Marco Rubio]]
*[[Mark Levin]]
*[[Drudge Report|Matt Drudge]]
*[[Mike Huckabee]]
*The [[Minutemen Project]]
*[[Mitt Romney]]
*[[Pat Robertson]]
*[[Paul Ryan]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Tom Coburn]]
*[[Zell Miller]]
*[[Chuck Norris]]

(add more, or suggest ranking; maybe we should name a "Conservative of the Year" also)

(no more than 10 in final honorable mentions category, those in top 10 can be moved to Honorable Mentions, vice-versa.)

== Quotes of the Decade ==

*"You lie!" (Joe Wilson about Barack Obama)
*"You know babies have finger nails!" (reference to an unborn child in the movie ''Juno'')
*"from my cold, dead hands" (Charlton Heston in 2000 dramatically referring to the only way [[liberal]]s could take his rifle from him)
*"Mission accomplished" (President Bush declares victory in the Iraq War)

== Story of the Decade ==
*[[September 11]], 2001 Terrorist Attacks
*The taking, for the benefit of a corporation and higher tax revenue, of the long-held homes of Susanne Kelo and others in New London, Connecticut, decided against the homeowners by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court. Forcibly ousted and their homes destroyed, the residents moved elsewhere at great disruption to their lives. Then, four years later, Pfizer [[Kelo v. New London|abandoned the project]] for its own reasons, leaving a useless eyesore in the wreckage.
*The Ramos-Compean incident that began in February 2006 with actions by agents Ignacios Ramos and Jose Compean and did not end until their sentences were commuted by President [[George W. Bush]] in January 2009.

== Looking forward ==

What will be the most influential trends for the next decade? Here are some possibilities:

*collapse of the newspapers
*shifts in education away from bricks-and-mortar institutions
*reduction in influence of "experts"
*[[parent trigger legislation]]
*2010/2012 Conservative Revolution
*decline in [[evolution syndrome]] in academia
*[[Communists]] admit that [[Fidel Castro]] is no longer alive
*conservative social networking
*global non-warming weather continues to provide proof that current climate models undergirding mass-[[global warming]] hysteria—fueled by money/power hungry liberals like the already well-heeled and luxuriantly-invested [[Al Gore]]—are in truth maniacally mistaken if not willfully wrong

(add more)
{{Conservatism}}
[[Category:Essays]]

Sacred cow

2009-09-26T19:44:02Z

JosephJackson:

A '''sacred cow''' is an [[idea]], object, or other thing considered so sacred or valuable to a person or group that it is considered immune from criticism, or (more commonly) criticism is considered morally reprehensible in and of itself.

Sacred cows can be identified by the disproportionate personal attacks and/or censorship elicited by criticism.

Examples of contemporary sacred cows include:
* [[Evolution]] among evolutionists;
* [[Global warming]] among environmentalists;
* [[Ataturk]] among Turks;
* [[Muhammad]] among Muslims;
* [[Atheism and mass murder]] among atheists;
* The place of birth of [[Barack Hussein Obama]] among Democrats;
* [[Abortion and breast cancer]] link amongst pro-choicers;
* [[Liberalism]] among liberals

=== Origin ===
The term comes from belief in Hindu (and other ancient religions) that cows are holy, and must therefore not be eaten or otherwise harmed. In Hinduism, cows are believed to be reincarnated humans; therefore, Hindus do not eat beef or kill cows and they are left to wander aimlessly through city streets and across busy roads. Similarly, many other ancient religions (such as Zoroastrianism) woshipped cows, and the Israelites created a [[Golden calf]] to worship in the wilderness.

The use of the term as a [[simile]] and [[metaphor]] originated in the United States in the late 19th century. For example:

* The New York Herald, March 1890: "While the great ditch may be regarded as one of the commercial diversities of the commonwealth, to worship it as a sort of sacred cow is not necessarily a work of true statesmanship."

* The Galveston Daily News, September 1909: "They understand Mr. Bryan's position to be one of antagonism to the contention that raw material is a 'sacred cow,' immune from tariff reform, ever to be upon the dutiable list and in consequence enjoying the blessings of incidental protection."

[[Category:Hinduism]]
[[Category:Metaphors]]

Atheism and mass murder

2009-09-26T19:43:58Z

JosephJackson: Redirected page to Atheism and Mass Murder

#REDIRECT [[Atheism and Mass Murder]]

Mesoamerica

2009-08-05T05:15:13Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:Teotihuacan.jpg|250px|thumb|Teotihuacán, the biggest Mesoamerican city]]
'''Mesoamerica''' is the region of [[Mexico]] and [[Central America]], which extends from the [[Tropic of Cancer]] to [[Costa Rica]]. The term Mesoamerica is only applied in a historical context, when referring to the precolumbian civilizations of the area. The word Mesoamerica was coined by the German anthropologist [[Paul Kirchhoff]].

Mesoamerican civilizations and peoples include:
* [[Aztecs]]
* [[Mayas]]
* [[Mixtecs]]
* [[Olmecs]]
* [[Tarascans]]
* [[Teotihuacán]]
* [[Toltecs]]
* [[Veracruz Civilization]]
* [[Xicallancas]]
* [[Zapotecs]]

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]

Mayas

2009-08-05T05:10:29Z

JosephJackson: Redirected page to Maya

#REDIRECT [[Maya]]

Mesoamerica

2009-08-05T05:10:14Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:Teotihuacan.jpg|250px|thumb|Teotihuacán, the biggest Mesoamerican city]]
'''Mesoamerica''' is the region of [[Mexico]] and [[Central America]], which extends from the [[Tropic of Cancer]] to [[Costa Rica]]. The term Mesoamerica is only applied in a historical context, when referring to the precolumbian civilizations of the area. The word Mesoamerica was coined by the German anthropologist [[Paul Kirchhoff]].

Mesoamerican civilizations and peoples include:
* [[Aztecs]]
* [[Mayas]]
* [[Mixtecs]]
* [[Olmecs]]
* [[Tarascans]]
* [[Teothuacán]]
* [[Toltecs]]
* [[Veracruz Civilization]]
* [[Xicallancas]]
* [[Zapotec]]

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]

Mesoamerica

2009-08-05T05:09:51Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:Teotihuacan.jpg|250px|Teotihuacán, the biggest Mesoamerican City]]
'''Mesoamerica''' is the region of [[Mexico]] and [[Central America]], which extends from the [[Tropic of Cancer]] to [[Costa Rica]]. The term Mesoamerica is only applied in a historical context, when referring to the precolumbian civilizations of the area. The word Mesoamerica was coined by the German anthropologist [[Paul Kirchhoff]].

Mesoamerican civilizations and peoples include:
* [[Aztecs]]
* [[Mayas]]
* [[Mixtecs]]
* [[Olmecs]]
* [[Tarascans]]
* [[Teothuacán]]
* [[Toltecs]]
* [[Veracruz Civilization]]
* [[Xicallancas]]
* [[Zapotec]]

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Mexican history]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]

Maya

2009-08-05T05:05:21Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:jaina01.jpg|left]]
[[Image:Maya map.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Mayan Cities]]
The '''Maya''' (MAH-yuh or MEYE-uh) are a people in Southern [[Mexico]] and northern [[Central America]]. They number about 9 million people, consisting of about 30 different groups. The Maya formed one of the great [[Mesoamerica]]n civilizations, the apogee of their civilization was from A.D. 300 to 900.

The Maya have been called the "[[Greek]]s of the New World" by many historians. The Maya had some knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, ritual [[ball]] games for entertainment, and the use of their complex written language. The Maya may have been the first civilization that used the concept of zero, the oldest Mayan inscriptions using a zero glyph date from the first century before Christ, but it is likely that the Mayas copied it from an earlier civilization, most likely Olmecs or Zapotecs.

The reasons for the decline of the Mayan civilization are not completely understood, but seem to be related to the destruction of the natural environment. The Maya needed trees to make stucco to cover their pyramids, which lead to erosion, which led to insufficient crops, which led the Maya to build more temples, which continued the cycle. Mayan cities were abruptly abandoned in the 800s. After this point, the Maya civilization became small villages.

{{clear}}
[[Image:Calakmul 2.jpg|right|240px|Calakmul]]
==Politics==

The Maya were politically formed similarly to the [[Greek]] city-states. Each city was politically independent and ruled by a king who had multiple wives. Each king had a ceremonial center containing temple pyramids, ball courts and stelae, which are tall stone statues containing a portrait on one side and glyphs on the other. Some cities politically controlled other sites, as Copan controlled Quirigua until a revolt in which the people of Quirigua beheaded the ruler of Copan, Waxaklahun Ub'a K'awiil, or 18 Rabbit. The four major sites are [[Palenque]], [[Tikal]], [[Calakmul]] and [[Copan]]. Later, [[Chichen Itza]] was built, but this site was built after the collapse of many others. For food, the Maya grew maize (corn), squash and beans. Like other American Indians the Maya had no coins or paper money, but sometimes traded in cacao (chocolate) beans, shells or other goods. The Maya were probably the only Mesoamerican civilization with a fully functional writing system, based on the use of hieroglyphs, although other people like the Mixtecs and the Aztecs had a comic book like writing system, that was not as fully developed as the Mayan one, and there also exist (as of yet undeciphered) Epi-Olmec and Olmec hieroglyphs.

==Religion==

The Maya [[religion]] was [[polytheistic]] and the Maya "appeased the gods" by engaging in [[human sacrifice]] and autosacrifice. Autosacrifice and the use of hallucinogenic drugs were important to the Maya religion because they allowed the use of visions, which the Maya used to speak to their ancestors. The Maya believed in creation as explained in their religious text named the "Popol Vuh." Wealthy women enjoyed some rights in the society, and in some cases were Queen when there was no male heir. The Maya wrote accordion-fold, bark paper books called codices. There are only 4 known in existence today, which are in museums in Europe. There are approximately 10,000 other pieces of Mayan writing, but not book form. Mayan writing and the ability to read their writing had been in decline for hundreds of years since the end of the classical period, but there were still some who could read and write when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish under [[Fray Diego de Landa]] burned Mayan codices on July 12th, 1562 because he believed the books to be anti-[[Christian]]. De Landa claims to have burned 27 books, while others claim 99 times that number. Diego was later recalled to stand trial in Spain for excessive practices. Whatever the cause, the ability to understand the ancient script was lost shortly thereafter and it was only in the second half of the 20th century that enough progress was made in decoding the script to more fully understand the writings that have survived.

==Astronomy==

The Maya used a yearly solar calendar that was fairly precise, using 18 months and 20 days per month, with five additional unlucky days at the end, which totals to 365 days. The Maya did not take into account the additional 1/4 day, which we take into account through leap year, because it was not important for them. They additionally had a 260 day ritual calendar which worked in conjunction with the 365 day calendar to create a 52-year cycle. They also used a Long Count calendar which counts the number of days since the creation of the world on August 13, 3113 BC. This calendar returns to zero in 2012, which has caused an Apocalypse scare. However, this stems from a misunderstanding of the calendar, because the calendar is generally abbreviated to 5 places, when in reality there are over 40, so the calendar will continue after this date. The calendar is written with five numbers with a period between each, such as 5.4.3.2.1. Each of the numbers between the period represents a place, since the Maya number system was base-20. In this date, for example, the 1 represents 1 days, the 2 represents 2*20 days, the 3 represents 3*360 days, the 4 represents 4*7,200 and the 5 represents 5*144,000. Each digit except the second (2) and the last (5) goes to 19 before returning to zero. The second only goes to 18 and the last only goes to 13. The original date for the world was 13.0.0.0.0, which will be the same date on December 21, 2012, and the reason for the Apocalypse scare.

== The Maya today ==
Today the Mayans live in [[Guatemala]], [[Belize]], Southern [[Mexico]] and the western fringes of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], with emigrant communities in the [[United States]] and the rest of Mexico. Mayan languages are still spoken by about 4 million people; the Mayan languages with the largest number of speakers are Yucatec in Mexico and K'iché in Guatemala, with up to one million speakers each. Many Mayas follow the [[Roman Catholic]] religion, often strongly mixed (syncretic) with precolumbian beliefs. In recent decades many Mayans have converted to [[Protestantism]], especially [[Evangelical]] and [[Pentecostal]] churches.

The most famous contemporary Maya is probably [[Rigoberta Menchú]], a Guatemalan activist who won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1992.

== See also ==

*[[Calakmul]]
*[[Chichen Itza]]
*[[Jaina]]
*[[Edzna]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/mexico/mexicoindex.html Art and Architecture of Mexico] Mary Ann Sullivan, Photographer.

[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Mayan world]]

Maya

2009-08-05T05:04:40Z

JosephJackson: /* Politics */

[[Image:jaina01.jpg|left]]
[[Image:Maya map.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Mayan Cities]]
The '''Maya''' (MAH-yuh or MEYE-uh) are a people in Southern [[Mexico]] and northern [[Central America]]. They number about 9 million people, consisting of about 30 different groups. The Maya formed one of the great civilizations of the precolumbian Americas, the apogee of their civilization was from A.D. 300 to 900.

The Maya have been called the "[[Greek]]s of the New World" by many historians. The Maya had some knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, ritual [[ball]] games for entertainment, and the use of their complex written language. The Maya may have been the first civilization that used the concept of zero, the oldest Mayan inscriptions using a zero glyph date from the first century before Christ, but it is likely that the Mayas copied it from an earlier civilization, most likely Olmecs or Zapotecs.

The reasons for the decline of the Mayan civilization are not completely understood, but seem to be related to the destruction of the natural environment. The Maya needed trees to make stucco to cover their pyramids, which lead to erosion, which led to insufficient crops, which led the Maya to build more temples, which continued the cycle. Mayan cities were abruptly abandoned in the 800s. After this point, the Maya civilization became small villages.

{{clear}}
[[Image:Calakmul 2.jpg|right|240px|Calakmul]]
==Politics==

The Maya were politically formed similarly to the [[Greek]] city-states. Each city was politically independent and ruled by a king who had multiple wives. Each king had a ceremonial center containing temple pyramids, ball courts and stelae, which are tall stone statues containing a portrait on one side and glyphs on the other. Some cities politically controlled other sites, as Copan controlled Quirigua until a revolt in which the people of Quirigua beheaded the ruler of Copan, Waxaklahun Ub'a K'awiil, or 18 Rabbit. The four major sites are [[Palenque]], [[Tikal]], [[Calakmul]] and [[Copan]]. Later, [[Chichen Itza]] was built, but this site was built after the collapse of many others. For food, the Maya grew maize (corn), squash and beans. Like other American Indians the Maya had no coins or paper money, but sometimes traded in cacao (chocolate) beans, shells or other goods. The Maya were probably the only Mesoamerican civilization with a fully functional writing system, based on the use of hieroglyphs, although other people like the Mixtecs and the Aztec had a comic book like writing system, that was not as fully developed as the Mayan one, and there also exist (as of yet undeciphered) Epi-Olmec and Olmec hieroglyphs.

==Religion==

The Maya [[religion]] was [[polytheistic]] and the Maya "appeased the gods" by engaging in [[human sacrifice]] and autosacrifice. Autosacrifice and the use of hallucinogenic drugs were important to the Maya religion because they allowed the use of visions, which the Maya used to speak to their ancestors. The Maya believed in creation as explained in their religious text named the "Popol Vuh." Wealthy women enjoyed some rights in the society, and in some cases were Queen when there was no male heir. The Maya wrote accordion-fold, bark paper books called codices. There are only 4 known in existence today, which are in museums in Europe. There are approximately 10,000 other pieces of Mayan writing, but not book form. Mayan writing and the ability to read their writing had been in decline for hundreds of years since the end of the classical period, but there were still some who could read and write when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish under [[Fray Diego de Landa]] burned Mayan codices on July 12th, 1562 because he believed the books to be anti-[[Christian]]. De Landa claims to have burned 27 books, while others claim 99 times that number. Diego was later recalled to stand trial in Spain for excessive practices. Whatever the cause, the ability to understand the ancient script was lost shortly thereafter and it was only in the second half of the 20th century that enough progress was made in decoding the script to more fully understand the writings that have survived.

==Astronomy==

The Maya used a yearly solar calendar that was fairly precise, using 18 months and 20 days per month, with five additional unlucky days at the end, which totals to 365 days. The Maya did not take into account the additional 1/4 day, which we take into account through leap year, because it was not important for them. They additionally had a 260 day ritual calendar which worked in conjunction with the 365 day calendar to create a 52-year cycle. They also used a Long Count calendar which counts the number of days since the creation of the world on August 13, 3113 BC. This calendar returns to zero in 2012, which has caused an Apocalypse scare. However, this stems from a misunderstanding of the calendar, because the calendar is generally abbreviated to 5 places, when in reality there are over 40, so the calendar will continue after this date. The calendar is written with five numbers with a period between each, such as 5.4.3.2.1. Each of the numbers between the period represents a place, since the Maya number system was base-20. In this date, for example, the 1 represents 1 days, the 2 represents 2*20 days, the 3 represents 3*360 days, the 4 represents 4*7,200 and the 5 represents 5*144,000. Each digit except the second (2) and the last (5) goes to 19 before returning to zero. The second only goes to 18 and the last only goes to 13. The original date for the world was 13.0.0.0.0, which will be the same date on December 21, 2012, and the reason for the Apocalypse scare.

== The Maya today ==
Today the Mayans live in [[Guatemala]], [[Belize]], Southern [[Mexico]] and the western fringes of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], with emigrant communities in the [[United States]] and the rest of Mexico. Mayan languages are still spoken by about 4 million people; the Mayan languages with the largest number of speakers are Yucatec in Mexico and K'iché in Guatemala, with up to one million speakers each. Many Mayas follow the [[Roman Catholic]] religion, often strongly mixed (syncretic) with precolumbian beliefs. In recent decades many Mayans have converted to [[Protestantism]], especially [[Evangelical]] and [[Pentecostal]] churches.

The most famous contemporary Maya is probably [[Rigoberta Menchú]], a Guatemalan activist who won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1992.

== See also ==

*[[Calakmul]]
*[[Chichen Itza]]
*[[Jaina]]
*[[Edzna]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/mexico/mexicoindex.html Art and Architecture of Mexico] Mary Ann Sullivan, Photographer.

[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Mayan world]]

Talk:Mystery:Did Eternity Originate With Christianity?

2009-08-05T04:49:42Z

JosephJackson: /* Sources */

==Sources==

This is an interesting idea but I'm concerned about the sources. The [http://www.savior-of-all.com/aionian.html article by Eckerty] seems to claim that the words ''aion'' and ''aionios'' in the New Testament don't mean eternal or eternity at all but only a long period of time and that ''aidios'' is the only Greek word in the New Testament that could signify eternity which would seem to conflict with the mystery. The writer is apparently a Universalist Christian and uses his conclusion to support the claim that punishment in Hell is not eternal but only temporary which is a doctrine that is rejected by most conservative Christians. The [http://www.askelm.com/newsletter/l200501.htm other one by Sielaff] similarly claims that ''aion'' or the Hebrew word ''olam'' used in the Old Testament didn't originally signify something eternal but that Christians borrowed this concept from the Greek and Babylonian pagan religions which is exactly the opposite of what the article states. --[[User:OscarJ|OscarJ]] 07:20, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

: Good points, but ones that suggest how more research will enlighten this mystery. I'll research further, and hope you do likewise.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 09:49, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
::I had the same concern looking at the references. If Hell is not eternal, how can it be seen as a real punishment when compared to the glory of eternity in Heaven? Without eternal Hell, I fear moral relativity takes sway. [[User:DouglasA|DouglasA]] 13:50, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
:::the issue is what the Biblical language meant, not whether or not eternal hell is a good idea for God to implement.[[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 13:54, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

I don't think there is any doubt that Jesus was talking about real [[eternity]], in the modern sense. Indeed, He is the source of the concept. The reference, which needs to be supplemented, illustrate how even the Greek language was inadequate to convey this striking new concept.

This is analogous to the invention of "0". Most are surprised to learn that no one had zero until the (Asian) Indians invented it many centuries after Christ.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 15:44, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
:Actually the first recorded use of "0" was by the Mayas, a couple of decades before Christ. It is likely that they copied it from other Mesoamerican civilizations, and it was probably in use since five centuries before Christ. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 21:50, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::I bet you figured out the date using that Carbon Dating process, right? I mean to be so precise and all......--[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 22:29, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::In reply to JosephJackson, I'd like to see support for your claim. It is widely accepted that the Indians, who also developed the "Arabic" numeric system, first discovered/invented zero.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:37, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

:::Any book on the Mayans will do really, but a good source for beginners is 1491 by Charles Mann, in which the earliest evidence of use of the zero is tracked back using the example of a gpyph from San José Mogote from the 8th century BC. And Conservapedia's [[Maya]] article mentions that they used it before the Europeans. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 19:24, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

::: Our entry dates the Mayans from "A.D. 300 to 900" and does NOT say they had zero before the Indian mathematicians.

::: I'd like to see your best online support for your claim that the Mayans predated the Indians in inventing (discovering) zero, which should be easy if there are so many good sources.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 19:32, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

:::: Ok: [http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1122-the-maya-civilization-maya-numerals-and-calendar This one], [http://www.mayacalendar.com/mayamath.html this one], [http://library.thinkquest.org/C004577/math2.php3 this one], [http://www.authenticmaya.com/mathematics.htm this one] and [http://mathsforeurope.digibel.be/Numerals.htm this one]. The high point of the Mayan civilization was indeed from the 4th century onwards, but of course they did not suddenly rise out of nothing. The earliest Mayan city states arose several centuries before Christ. Oh, and TK, of course one doesn't need carbon dating for that. It's a calender (in fact, one that is still in use in several communities), you can just count back and convert to the Christian calender. After all, we don't need carbon dating in order to be able to calculate the day of Julius Ceasar's death either.[[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 00:42, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

Talk:Mystery:Did Eternity Originate With Christianity?

2009-08-05T04:45:35Z

JosephJackson:

==Sources==

This is an interesting idea but I'm concerned about the sources. The [http://www.savior-of-all.com/aionian.html article by Eckerty] seems to claim that the words ''aion'' and ''aionios'' in the New Testament don't mean eternal or eternity at all but only a long period of time and that ''aidios'' is the only Greek word in the New Testament that could signify eternity which would seem to conflict with the mystery. The writer is apparently a Universalist Christian and uses his conclusion to support the claim that punishment in Hell is not eternal but only temporary which is a doctrine that is rejected by most conservative Christians. The [http://www.askelm.com/newsletter/l200501.htm other one by Sielaff] similarly claims that ''aion'' or the Hebrew word ''olam'' used in the Old Testament didn't originally signify something eternal but that Christians borrowed this concept from the Greek and Babylonian pagan religions which is exactly the opposite of what the article states. --[[User:OscarJ|OscarJ]] 07:20, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

: Good points, but ones that suggest how more research will enlighten this mystery. I'll research further, and hope you do likewise.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 09:49, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
::I had the same concern looking at the references. If Hell is not eternal, how can it be seen as a real punishment when compared to the glory of eternity in Heaven? Without eternal Hell, I fear moral relativity takes sway. [[User:DouglasA|DouglasA]] 13:50, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
:::the issue is what the Biblical language meant, not whether or not eternal hell is a good idea for God to implement.[[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 13:54, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

I don't think there is any doubt that Jesus was talking about real [[eternity]], in the modern sense. Indeed, He is the source of the concept. The reference, which needs to be supplemented, illustrate how even the Greek language was inadequate to convey this striking new concept.

This is analogous to the invention of "0". Most are surprised to learn that no one had zero until the (Asian) Indians invented it many centuries after Christ.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 15:44, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
:Actually the first recorded use of "0" was by the Mayas, a couple of decades before Christ. It is likely that they copied it from other Mesoamerican civilizations, and it was probably in use since five centuries before Christ. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 21:50, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::I bet you figured out the date using that Carbon Dating process, right? I mean to be so precise and all......--[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 22:29, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::In reply to JosephJackson, I'd like to see support for your claim. It is widely accepted that the Indians, who also developed the "Arabic" numeric system, first discovered/invented zero.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:37, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

:::Any book on the Mayans will do really, but a good source for beginners is 1491 by Charles Mann, in which the earliest evidence of use of the zero is tracked back using the example of a gpyph from San José Mogote from the 8th century BC. And Conservapedia's [[Maya]] article mentions that they used it before the Europeans. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 19:24, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

::: Our entry dates the Mayans from "A.D. 300 to 900" and does NOT say they had zero before the Indian mathematicians.

::: I'd like to see your best online support for your claim that the Mayans predated the Indians in inventing (discovering) zero, which should be easy if there are so many good sources.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 19:32, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

:::: Ok: [http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1122-the-maya-civilization-maya-numerals-and-calendar This one], [http://www.mayacalendar.com/mayamath.html this one], [http://library.thinkquest.org/C004577/math2.php3 this one], [http://www.authenticmaya.com/mathematics.htm this one] and [http://mathsforeurope.digibel.be/Numerals.htm this one]. The high point of the Mayan civilization was indeed from the 4th century onwards, but of course they did not suddenly rise out of nothing. The earliest Mayan city states arose several centuries before Christ. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 00:42, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

Talk:Mystery:Did Eternity Originate With Christianity?

2009-08-05T04:42:26Z

JosephJackson:

==Sources==

This is an interesting idea but I'm concerned about the sources. The [http://www.savior-of-all.com/aionian.html article by Eckerty] seems to claim that the words ''aion'' and ''aionios'' in the New Testament don't mean eternal or eternity at all but only a long period of time and that ''aidios'' is the only Greek word in the New Testament that could signify eternity which would seem to conflict with the mystery. The writer is apparently a Universalist Christian and uses his conclusion to support the claim that punishment in Hell is not eternal but only temporary which is a doctrine that is rejected by most conservative Christians. The [http://www.askelm.com/newsletter/l200501.htm other one by Sielaff] similarly claims that ''aion'' or the Hebrew word ''olam'' used in the Old Testament didn't originally signify something eternal but that Christians borrowed this concept from the Greek and Babylonian pagan religions which is exactly the opposite of what the article states. --[[User:OscarJ|OscarJ]] 07:20, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

: Good points, but ones that suggest how more research will enlighten this mystery. I'll research further, and hope you do likewise.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 09:49, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
::I had the same concern looking at the references. If Hell is not eternal, how can it be seen as a real punishment when compared to the glory of eternity in Heaven? Without eternal Hell, I fear moral relativity takes sway. [[User:DouglasA|DouglasA]] 13:50, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
:::the issue is what the Biblical language meant, not whether or not eternal hell is a good idea for God to implement.[[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 13:54, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

I don't think there is any doubt that Jesus was talking about real [[eternity]], in the modern sense. Indeed, He is the source of the concept. The reference, which needs to be supplemented, illustrate how even the Greek language was inadequate to convey this striking new concept.

This is analogous to the invention of "0". Most are surprised to learn that no one had zero until the (Asian) Indians invented it many centuries after Christ.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 15:44, 3 August 2009 (EDT)
:Actually the first recorded use of "0" was by the Mayas, a couple of decades before Christ. It is likely that they copied it from other Mesoamerican civilizations, and it was probably in use since five centuries before Christ. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 21:50, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::I bet you figured out the date using that Carbon Dating process, right? I mean to be so precise and all......--[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 22:29, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::In reply to JosephJackson, I'd like to see support for your claim. It is widely accepted that the Indians, who also developed the "Arabic" numeric system, first discovered/invented zero.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:37, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

:::Any book on the Mayans will do really, but a good source for beginners is 1491 by Charles Mann, in which the earliest evidence of use of the zero is tracked back using the example of a gpyph from San José Mogote from the 8th century BC. And Conservapedia's [[Maya]] article mentions that they used it before the Europeans. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 19:24, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

::: Our entry dates the Mayans from "A.D. 300 to 900" and does NOT say they had zero before the Indian mathematicians.

::: I'd like to see your best online support for your claim that the Mayans predated the Indians in inventing (discovering) zero, which should be easy if there are so many good sources.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 19:32, 4 August 2009 (EDT)

:::: Ok: [http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1122-the-maya-civilization-maya-numerals-and-calendar This one], [http://www.mayacalendar.com/mayamath.html this one], [http://library.thinkquest.org/C004577/math2.php3 this one], [http://www.authenticmaya.com/mathematics.htm this one] and [http://mathsforeurope.digibel.be/Numerals.htm this one]. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 00:42, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

Maya

2009-08-04T23:37:04Z

JosephJackson: added a bit about modern Maya

[[Image:jaina01.jpg|left]]
[[Image:Maya map.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Mayan Cities]]
The '''Maya''' (MAH-yuh or MEYE-uh) are a people in Southern [[Mexico]] and northern [[Central America]]. They number about 9 million people, consisting of about 30 different groups. The Maya formed one of the great civilizations of the precolumbian Americas, the apogee of their civilization was from A.D. 300 to 900.

The Maya have been called the "[[Greek]]s of the New World" by many historians. The Maya had some knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, ritual [[ball]] games for entertainment, and the use of their complex written language. The Maya may have been the first civilization that used the concept of zero, the oldest Mayan inscriptions using a zero glyph date from the first century before Christ, but it is likely that the Mayas copied it from an earlier civilization, most likely Olmecs or Zapotecs.

The reasons for the decline of the Mayan civilization are not completely understood, but seem to be related to the destruction of the natural environment. The Maya needed trees to make stucco to cover their pyramids, which lead to erosion, which led to insufficient crops, which led the Maya to build more temples, which continued the cycle. Mayan cities were abruptly abandoned in the 800s. After this point, the Maya civilization became small villages.

{{clear}}
[[Image:Calakmul 2.jpg|right|240px|Calakmul]]
==Politics==

The Maya were politically formed similarly to the [[Greek]] city-states. Each city was politically independent and ruled by a king who had multiple wives. Each king had a ceremonial center containing temple pyramids, ball courts and stelae, which are tall stone statues containing a portrait on one side and glyphs on the other. Some cities politically controlled other sites, as Copan controlled Quirigua until a revolt in which the people of Quirigua beheaded the ruler of Copan, Waxaklahun Ub'a K'awiil, or 18 Rabbit. The four major sites are [[Palenque]], [[Tikal]], [[Calakmul]] and [[Copan]]. Later, [[Chichen Itza]] was built, but this site was built after the collapse of many others. For food, the Maya grew maize (corn), squash and beans. Like other American Indians the Maya had no coins or paper money, but sometimes traded in cacao (chocolate) beans, shells or other goods. The Maya, unlike the [[Aztecs]], had a system of writing based on the use of hieroglyphs, but like the Aztecs built stepped temple-pyramids which had small temples on top.

==Religion==

The Maya [[religion]] was [[polytheistic]] and the Maya "appeased the gods" by engaging in [[human sacrifice]] and autosacrifice. Autosacrifice and the use of hallucinogenic drugs were important to the Maya religion because they allowed the use of visions, which the Maya used to speak to their ancestors. The Maya believed in creation as explained in their religious text named the "Popol Vuh." Wealthy women enjoyed some rights in the society, and in some cases were Queen when there was no male heir. The Maya wrote accordion-fold, bark paper books called codices. There are only 4 known in existence today, which are in museums in Europe. There are approximately 10,000 other pieces of Mayan writing, but not book form. Mayan writing and the ability to read their writing had been in decline for hundreds of years since the end of the classical period, but there were still some who could read and write when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish under [[Fray Diego de Landa]] burned Mayan codices on July 12th, 1562 because he believed the books to be anti-[[Christian]]. De Landa claims to have burned 27 books, while others claim 99 times that number. Diego was later recalled to stand trial in Spain for excessive practices. Whatever the cause, the ability to understand the ancient script was lost shortly thereafter and it was only in the second half of the 20th century that enough progress was made in decoding the script to more fully understand the writings that have survived.

==Astronomy==

The Maya used a yearly solar calendar that was fairly precise, using 18 months and 20 days per month, with five additional unlucky days at the end, which totals to 365 days. The Maya did not take into account the additional 1/4 day, which we take into account through leap year, because it was not important for them. They additionally had a 260 day ritual calendar which worked in conjunction with the 365 day calendar to create a 52-year cycle. They also used a Long Count calendar which counts the number of days since the creation of the world on August 13, 3113 BC. This calendar returns to zero in 2012, which has caused an Apocalypse scare. However, this stems from a misunderstanding of the calendar, because the calendar is generally abbreviated to 5 places, when in reality there are over 40, so the calendar will continue after this date. The calendar is written with five numbers with a period between each, such as 5.4.3.2.1. Each of the numbers between the period represents a place, since the Maya number system was base-20. In this date, for example, the 1 represents 1 days, the 2 represents 2*20 days, the 3 represents 3*360 days, the 4 represents 4*7,200 and the 5 represents 5*144,000. Each digit except the second (2) and the last (5) goes to 19 before returning to zero. The second only goes to 18 and the last only goes to 13. The original date for the world was 13.0.0.0.0, which will be the same date on December 21, 2012, and the reason for the Apocalypse scare.

== The Maya today ==
Today the Mayans live in [[Guatemala]], [[Belize]], Southern [[Mexico]] and the western fringes of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], with emigrant communities in the [[United States]] and the rest of Mexico. Mayan languages are still spoken by about 4 million people; the Mayan languages with the largest number of speakers are Yucatec in Mexico and K'iché in Guatemala, with up to one million speakers each. Many Mayas follow the [[Roman Catholic]] religion, often strongly mixed (syncretic) with precolumbian beliefs. In recent decades many Mayans have converted to [[Protestantism]], especially [[Evangelical]] and [[Pentecostal]] churches.

The most famous contemporary Maya is probably [[Rigoberta Menchú]], a Guatemalan activist who won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1992.

== See also ==

*[[Calakmul]]
*[[Chichen Itza]]
*[[Jaina]]
*[[Edzna]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/mexico/mexicoindex.html Art and Architecture of Mexico] Mary Ann Sullivan, Photographer.

[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Mayan world]]

Maya

2009-08-04T23:28:56Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:jaina01.jpg|left]]
[[Image:Maya map.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Mayan Cities]]
The '''Maya''' (MAH-yuh or MEYE-uh) civilization existed in Southern [[Mexico]] and northern [[Central America]] between from A.D. 300 to 900. Its population totaled 5-16 million people.

The Maya have been called the "[[Greek]]s of the New World" by many historians. The Maya had some knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, ritual [[ball]] games for entertainment, and the use of their complex written language. The Maya may have been the first civilization that used the concept of zero, the oldest Mayan inscriptions using a zero glyph date from the first century before Christ, but it is likely that the Mayas copied it from an earlier civilization, most likely Olmecs or Zapotecs.

The reasons for the decline of the Mayan civilization are not completely understood, but seem to be related to the destruction of the natural environment. The Maya needed trees to make stucco to cover their pyramids, which lead to erosion, which led to insufficient crops, which led the Maya to build more temples, which continued the cycle. Mayan cities were abruptly abandoned in the 800s. After this point, the Maya civilization became small villages, and today 4 million people still speak Mayan languages.

{{clear}}
[[Image:Calakmul 2.jpg|right|240px|Calakmul]]
==Politics==

The Maya were politically formed similarly to the [[Greek]] city-states. Each city was politically independent and ruled by a king who had multiple wives. Each king had a ceremonial center containing temple pyramids, ball courts and stelae, which are tall stone statues containing a portrait on one side and glyphs on the other. Some cities politically controlled other sites, as Copan controlled Quirigua until a revolt in which the people of Quirigua beheaded the ruler of Copan, Waxaklahun Ub'a K'awiil, or 18 Rabbit. The four major sites are [[Palenque]], [[Tikal]], [[Calakmul]] and [[Copan]]. Later, [[Chichen Itza]] was built, but this site was built after the collapse of many others. For food, the Maya grew maize (corn), squash and beans. Like other American Indians the Maya had no coins or paper money, but sometimes traded in cacao (chocolate) beans, shells or other goods. The Maya, unlike the [[Aztecs]], had a system of writing based on the use of hieroglyphs, but like the Aztecs built stepped temple-pyramids which had small temples on top.

==Religion==

The Maya [[religion]] was [[polytheistic]] and the Maya "appeased the gods" by engaging in [[human sacrifice]] and autosacrifice. Autosacrifice and the use of hallucinogenic drugs were important to the Maya religion because they allowed the use of visions, which the Maya used to speak to their ancestors. The Maya believed in creation as explained in their religious text named the "Popol Vuh." Wealthy women enjoyed some rights in the society, and in some cases were Queen when there was no male heir. The Maya wrote accordion-fold, bark paper books called codices. There are only 4 known in existence today, which are in museums in Europe. There are approximately 10,000 other pieces of Mayan writing, but not book form. Mayan writing and the ability to read their writing had been in decline for hundreds of years since the end of the classical period, but there were still some who could read and write when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish under [[Fray Diego de Landa]] burned Mayan codices on July 12th, 1562 because he believed the books to be anti-[[Christian]]. De Landa claims to have burned 27 books, while others claim 99 times that number. Diego was later recalled to stand trial in Spain for excessive practices. Whatever the cause, the ability to understand the ancient script was lost shortly thereafter and it was only in the second half of the 20th century that enough progress was made in decoding the script to more fully understand the writings that have survived.

==Astronomy==

The Maya used a yearly solar calendar that was fairly precise, using 18 months and 20 days per month, with five additional unlucky days at the end, which totals to 365 days. The Maya did not take into account the additional 1/4 day, which we take into account through leap year, because it was not important for them. They additionally had a 260 day ritual calendar which worked in conjunction with the 365 day calendar to create a 52-year cycle. They also used a Long Count calendar which counts the number of days since the creation of the world on August 13, 3113 BC. This calendar returns to zero in 2012, which has caused an Apocalypse scare. However, this stems from a misunderstanding of the calendar, because the calendar is generally abbreviated to 5 places, when in reality there are over 40, so the calendar will continue after this date. The calendar is written with five numbers with a period between each, such as 5.4.3.2.1. Each of the numbers between the period represents a place, since the Maya number system was base-20. In this date, for example, the 1 represents 1 days, the 2 represents 2*20 days, the 3 represents 3*360 days, the 4 represents 4*7,200 and the 5 represents 5*144,000. Each digit except the second (2) and the last (5) goes to 19 before returning to zero. The second only goes to 18 and the last only goes to 13. The original date for the world was 13.0.0.0.0, which will be the same date on December 21, 2012, and the reason for the Apocalypse scare.

== See also ==

*[[Calakmul]]
*[[Chichen Itza]]
*[[Jaina]]
*[[Edzna]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/mexico/mexicoindex.html Art and Architecture of Mexico] Mary Ann Sullivan, Photographer.

[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Mayan world]]

Talk:Mystery:Did Eternity Originate With Christianity?

2009-08-04T23:24:33Z

JosephJackson: /* Sources */

Talk:Population control

2009-08-04T02:23:47Z

JosephJackson: /* Eugenics? */

== Problems with bias in this page ==

Abortion is nowhere near the most important factor in controlling exponential population expansion. Resisting the natural impulse to have an excessive number of biological children in a family is. --[[User:Mert]]
:I agree with your comment to an extent, Mert, but many proponents of Abortion use population control as justification for their views. I'm not saying that overpopulation isn't an issue; any case of a species' population growing exponentially (by means of a j-curve) is great cause for environmental concern for the future. But Abortion, like other similar topics, is often supported out of context. --[[user:Reinfleche|Reinfleche]]

==Overcrowded?==

Not sure who Paul Ehrlich is or was, and there's no citation given for the statistic that humans occupy only 1 or 2% of the earth's surface, but assuming the figures aren't from as biased a source as the CIA, do we know how much of the earth's land surface CAN be occupied by humans? If the area that CAN'T be occupied by humans, because it's too hot/too cold/too dry etc., is say, for sake of arguement, 80% then the 1 or 2% figure takes on a whole new meaning. [[User:BetsyNewson|BetsyNewson]] 10:37, 8 January 2009 (EST)

==Liberal Socialist Myth==

Ignoring some of the other potential issues with this article, regarding the introduction ("Population control is the liberal socialist myth.."), is it really a "socialist" myth? I mean, I don't see anything in the article that suggests it's socialist in nature. Liberal, I'm okay with, but the two terms aren't interchangeable (even if they were, it would be redundant). [[User:Commodore Guff|KevinS]] 11:37, 8 January 2009 (EST)

== First paragraph revision ==

I changed the opening of the article to clarify that "population control" is not the myth - it's the concern about overpopulation that is. Population control is the reaction to the myth, not the myth itself. For the record, I don't consider the whole "liberal socialist myth" part to be true, but my fix is meant to be grammatical/contextual, not ideological. --[[User:DinsdaleP|DinsdaleP]] 10:44, 9 January 2009 (EST)

== Eugenics? ==

Population control and eugenics are two different things: eugenics aims to interfere with with ''qualitative'' aspects of natural human reproduction, population control aims to interfere with its ''quantitative aspects''. Occasionaly the two overlap (as with the examples of mass sterilization of the poor) but I do think the distinction needs to be mentioned. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 22:09, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

:I suggest you book a flight to [[Liberal|Liberalville]], Joseph, or at least get out of the sun. How is it different, realistically? Abortion is baby killing, Eugenics might mean targeting only the retarded, or those with Downs Syndrome, or perhaps only Black babies or Hispanic ones, like [[Planned Parenthood]] does, which, as everyone knows, was founded by eugenicists and carries on in their despicable tradition today. --[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 22:17, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::Being in favor of aborting baby's of a specific ethnic (or whatever group) is indeed eugenic, but being in favor of abortion in general is not. I'm not saying non-eugenic abortion is acceptable - but most liberals just want to dispose themselves selfishly of their baby's, they obviously don't care about them and don't care whatever race it would have - but it's not the same thing. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 22:23, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

Talk:Population control

2009-08-04T02:09:12Z

JosephJackson: /* Eugenics? */ new section

Kimono

2009-08-04T01:52:26Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:Geisha kimono.png|right]]
The '''kimono''' (着物) is the traditional [[clothing]] of the [[Japanese]] people. The kimono is an elaborate garment made of layers of long flowing robes, in a wrap-around style, belted at the waist, and traditionally made of [[silk]]. These days silk kimono are no longer commonly worn as everyday clothing, and are largely reserved for ceremonial occasions. Cotton kimono are called ''yukata'' (浴衣) and are commonly worn on hot summer days.<ref> http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/fashion/kimono_history.html </ref> <ref> http://www.theblackmoon.com/Kimono/kimono1.html </ref>

The Japanese word kimono (pronounced kee-mo-no) translates as "clothing" or "things to wear". <ref> http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/kimono.shtml </ref>

There are specific names for the various types of kimono, and each has a traditional style and color depending on the occasion for which it is worn and the age and marital status of the person wearing it. <ref> http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2101.html </ref>

==History==
Traditional clothing of the Edo period, (1600-1868), included the kimono and obi as we know them today. The obi did not, however, become a prominent part of a woman’s ensemble until the mid Edo period. It was then that designers, weavers and dyers all focused their talent on creating a longer, wider and more elaborate obi. Obi measurement was then standardised to 360 cm long by 30 cm wide.

Edo fashion was influenced by the design and style that courtesans and entertainers wear. Women of the [[samurai]] class continued to wear the simpler kosode kimono, tied together with an obi made of braided cords. Outside the samurai class, women experimented with a more elaborate kimono - the furisode, which is often seen on the [[Kabuki]] stage. Characterised by long, flowing sleeves, the furisode kimono was accented by a large, loosely tied obi.

For many years, the obi bow was tied either at the front or on the side. By the mid-Edo period, the obi bow was tied in the back position. It was said that this style started in the mid-1700s when a Kabuki [[actor]], imitating a young girl, came on stage with his obi tied in the back. Another reason that the back position became more acceptable was that the sheer bulk of the wider obi became too cumbersome to be positioned in the front of the kimono.

The Meiji era, (1868-1912) witnessed a revolution in the textile industry with the advent of electric weaving looms and chemical dying techniques from the West. During this time, a woman's kimono ceased to be worn in the free-flowing style of the earlier days. The new fashion was to tuck the kimono at the waist to adjust the length of the kimono to the woman's height. These tucks and folds were visible and became part of the art of tying the obi.

==Obi==
[[Image:Obi.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Old meets new as a young girl texts a friend, her kimono's elaborate fukuro obi clearly displayed]]
The Japanese kimono ''obi'' (帯) is a traditional decorative cloth worn around the middle of a kimono.

In general, the obi used depends on the type of kimono worn in any given occasion. Most formal are the metallic or color brocade and tapestry, followed by dyed silk, woven silk, and non-silk obi fabrics. Brocade, tapestry and dyed silk obi are used for formal wear with the finest kimono, while obi made from raw silk, cotton or wool is used for everyday wear.

===Maru Obi===
The ''maru obi'' is the most formal obi, with both sides fully patterned along its length. The classic maru obi measures 33cm wide. Maru obi with narrower width can be custom made for a petite client.

The maru obi is usually made of elaborately patterned brocade or tapestry, which is often richly decorated with gold threads. It was most popular during the Meiji and Taisho eras. However, due to its exorbitant cost and weight (which makes it uncomfortable to wear), the maru obi is rarely worn today, except for traditional Japanese weddings and other very formal occasions.

===Fukuro Obi===
The ''fukuro obi'' is a slightly less formal style than the maru obi and was created in the late 1920s. The fukuro obi is also made with a fine brocade or tapestry, which is patterned along only 60% of its length on one side. The back of the fukuro obi may be lined with a plain silk or brocade, making it less expensive and less bulky to wear than the maru obi. However, as its length and width are the same as for the maru obi, the fukuro obi can hardly be distinguished from maru obi when tied over the kimono and can thus be worn on formal occasions.

===Nagoya Obi===
The most convenient obi today is the ''nagoya obi'', which was first produced in Nagoya towards the end of the [[Taisho]] era (1912 - 1926). This obi, is both lighter and simpler than the fukuro or maru obi and is characterised by having a section of the obi pre-folded and then stitched in half. The narrow part then wraps around the waist, whilst the wider part forms the bow of the obi tie. When worn, a nagoya obi is tied with a single fold, while a maru or a fukuro obi, being longer, is tied with a double fold. Most nagoya obi are less expensive a maru or fukuro obi, but can still carry striking designs.

===Hanhaba Obi===
The ''hanhaba obi'' obtains its name from the fact that it is only half the width of other obi. This is an obi for casual wear at home, or under a ''haori'' (kimono coat). It is also worn with children's kimono or with the lighter summer yukata. In the case of children's obi, they are often brightly colored, with patterns stencilled on, rather than embroidery.

The fabric and design of the hanhaba obi are usually simpler, as it is meant for daily, common useage. However, some of the more ornate hanhaba obi are made from old maru obi.

===Other Obi===

There are also plain black obi, made from the finest silk and woven with a barely discernible pattern. These sombre, plain black obi are worn as part of the mourning attire.

In a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony, a bride will wear a white obi. However, during the Edo era, a widow would dress in white to signify that she would never remarry. Thus, some of the older white obi in existence, may not have been used for weddings, but rather as mourning attire.

== See also ==

*[[Geisha]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Japan]]
[[Category:Clothing]]

Talk:Mystery:Did Eternity Originate With Christianity?

2009-08-04T01:50:58Z

JosephJackson:

Homo sapiens

2009-07-24T23:43:12Z

JosephJackson: /* Characteristics */

{{Taxonomy
|name=Human
|image=Billy_sunday.jpg
|kingdom=Animalia
|phylum=Chordata
|subphylum=Vertebrate
|class=Mammalia
|order=Primate
|family=Hominidae
|genus=homo
|species=sapiens
|subspecies=sapiens
}}
'''Humans''', or '''human beings''', are classified by biologists as '''''Homo sapiens''''', from the [[Latin]] ''homo'' meaning "man", and ''sapiens'' meaning "wise",<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Homo+sapiens&searchmode=term Online Etymology Dictionary]</ref>.
Modern humans, along with [[Cro-Magnon]] man, are more specifically classified as ''homo sapiens sapiens''.<ref>[http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab12 History of Homo sapiens] (History World)</ref>

Humans inhabit every continent including [[Antarctica]], with a total population of over 6.5 billion as of 2007.

Secular biologists believe that anatomically "modern" humans have been around for approximately 130,000 years<ref>Alemseged Z, Coppens Y, Geraads D (2002). "Hominid cranium from Omo: Description and taxonomy of Omo-323-1976-896". Am J Phys Anthropol 117 (2): 103-12.</ref>.
Creationists believe that humans have been around since the [[Genesis#The Creation|sixth day of creation]].

== Characteristics ==

Humans have great intellectual abilities such as abstract reasoning, [[language]], and introspection. This mental capability, combined with a body suitable for standing erect such that their upper limbs are free to manipulating objects, allows humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species.
The design of the [[larynx]] gives a physiological capacity for speech. Consciousness is of unknown source; speculations include being an emergent property of a complex brain and the mind existing independently of the body.

Humans have more [[hair]] follicles than chimpanzees, one of the next most similar species, but shorter finer hair in most body areas makes this hard to see. Hair and skin color varies according to the amount of melanin, a pigment that helps protect skin from the sun. Originally an adaptation to climate, pigment variation is now found globally.

==Tool use==
Because humans are bipeds with opposable thumbs, they can create tools more skillfully than other species. Humans inhabit almost all areas of the planet, using technology to overcome inhospitable environments. They are the only species to deliberately control fire to cook food.

Human thirst for knowledge and tool-building capacity has led to many ways of investigating and exploring the universe and culture. These include the scientific method, philosophy, art, and literature.

==Social organization==
Human self-expression has led to complex competitive and co-operative social groups. Some groups are based around abstract symbols or arbitrary land divisions associated with group history, others around perceived genetic or philosophical differences. Humans may belong to several groups simultaneously. Competition for resources plus greed leads to wars, and the human capacity for tool-building to improved technology with which to fight them.

== Longevity ==
Humans in modern times have been known to live to ages of just over 100 years, although much greater ages have been recorded in the distant past.
According to the [[Bible]], pre-[[great flood|flood]] people sometimes lived for over 900 years. According to certain Creationist and Jewish views, God subsequently limited the lifespan of man to 120 years. ({{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=6|verses=3}} and the lifespan of [[Moses]] in {{Bible ref|book=Deuteronomy|chap=34|verses=7}}), although other creationists believe that Genesis 6:3 is not referring to an age limit for humans. Some creationists have postulated that the pre-flood earth had climatic conditions unlike those found today. The flood may have been the first rain on earth, while previous to the flood, water was received by a constant mist or fog that covered the land. This mist would have blocked out most [[ultraviolet]] radiation which would have dramatically reduced cell damage and greatly lengthened life span.<ref>http://www.jpdawson.com/lifetime.html</ref> This post-Flood climate change may also explain the apparent great extinction of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and other creatures after the flood. However, most creationists have since dropped this idea.

The oldest human ever authenticated in modern times was [[Jeanne Calment]] of [[France]] who lived 122 years and 164 days.<ref>Guinness World Records 2006, p.20.</ref>

== The Origins of Man according to Creationists ==

A large number of [[Christian]]s, Jews, Muslims and [[Creationism|Creationists]] have postulated that Homo sapiens were created in [[God|God's]] image on day 6 of [[creation]].[http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2313]
:''And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.'' ([[Genesis]] 1:26-27)

:''And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.'' (Genesis 2:7)

The first man was [[Adam]].
:''And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.'' (Genesis 2:15)
The first woman, [[Eve]], was made from one of his ribs.
:''And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.'' (Genesis 2:22)

Because of the sinful nature of man [[God]] sent a [[Great Flood]] which annihilated all the people on Earth except for the then 600 year old [[Noah]] and his family. All people alive today are descendants of [[Noah#Family of Noah|Noah and his family]].

==The Origins of Man according to Evolutionary Biologists and Anthropologists==

In more recent times [[Theory of evolution|evolutionary biologists]] and other scientists in the fields of biology and more specifically, anthropology, have postulated that humans have been around in anatomically modern form for approximately 130,000 years<ref>Alemseged Z, Coppens Y, Geraads D (2002). "Hominid cranium from Omo: Description and taxonomy of Omo-323-1976-896". Am J Phys Anthropol 117 (2): 103-12.</ref>. One version of this theory maintains that ''Homo sapiens'' evolved from ''[[Homo ergaster]]'' or ''[[Homo erectus|Homo erectus]]'', and from other earlier primates. Humans' closest living relative is the [[chimpanzee]]. However, despite sharing 98.4% of their DNA sequence and a common ancestor six million years ago, the genetic difference between chimpanzees and humans is 10 times greater than between unrelated humans. <ref> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/238852_chimp01.html</ref>

Humans evolved on the [[Africa]]n savannah during the [[Pliocene]] and [[Pleistocene]] epochs. Bipedalism was one of the first traits that our ancestors developed. This occurred around four million years ago. The recovered remains of "Lucy" (''[[Australopithecus afarensis]]'') suggest to evolutionists that the Australopithecines had developed bipedalism before developing into ''Homo'' contrary to popular depictions of cavemen as not being fully bipedal, although the evidence for bipedalism is questioned. About 2.5 million years ago at the Plio-Pleistocene boundary the first ''Homo'' appeared. ''Homo habilus'' was believed to be the first hominid to use [[Stone age|stone tools]] but it was later discovered that [[Paranthropus]] (aka the "robust Australopithicines") also used the same primitive stone technology known as [[Oldowan]] culture, as ''Homo habilus''.

Later in the Pleistocene, man took on a more modern appearance. ''Homo erectus'' was close to the same size as a modern human and had a brain capacity 70-80% of that of modern humans. Fully modern humans did not appear until around 130,000 years ago and then, according to one version of the story, migrated out of [[Africa]] and replaced all other human populations throughout the world. Two other human species, ''[[Homo florensis]]'' and ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' were contemporaries of modern man but both species are now extinct, possibly because of us.

==The Origins of Man according to non-Abrahamic religions==
Myths about the creation of mankind are an important method by which anthropologists may discover more about the societies they are studying, as they show the important facets of human life to that culture. A list of creation myths in various cultures can be found at <ref>http://www.plesiosaur.com/creationism/creationmyths/index.php</ref>. Some notable myths are presented below.

===Hindu===
According to Hindus, humans were created from a part of the cut up body of Purusha.

===Iroquois===
According to the Iroquois, humans came about fully formed in the Sky World before descending through a hole caused by the uprooting of a tree into a lower world, originally a sea, which the humans manipulated by sending creatures to dive to the sea bottom and bring up mud for the creation of earth on which they could dwell.

===China===
Various creation myths exist in China, the most popular being the story of Nuwa. Nuwa was a lonely goddess, who one day looked in a pool and decided to create figures from mud based on her image in the water; creating many figures of grown ups, children, males and females (where the inspiration for males and children came from is not explained) and blowing on them to give them life (the idea here being that breath is the most important thing to all humans), Nuwa saw that the world became much livelier, and she appreciated it. She decided, too, that creating humans one-by-one was too slow, so she picked up a rope and whipped it into the mud, and many figures tumbled out, which she again blew on to give them life. This kind of creation of humans is common in cultures that have a strong pottery tradition. In the pre-modern Chinese scientific tradition, no creator is ascribed to creation - simply, one became two, two became three, and three generated all things in the universe, and this includes humans.

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

[[Category:Anthropology]]
[[Category:Creations of God]]
[[Category:Hominid]]

Maya

2009-07-24T23:37:08Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:jaina01.jpg|left]]
[[Image:Maya map.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Mayan Cities]]
The '''Maya''' (MAH-yuh or MEYE-uh) civilization existed in Southern [[Mexico]] and northern [[Central America]] between from A.D. 300 to 900. Its population totaled 5-16 million people.

The Maya have been called the "[[Greek]]s of the New World" by many historians. The Maya had some knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, ritual [[ball]] games for entertainment, and the use of their complex written language. Unlike Europeans at the time, the Maya had developed the concept of zero.

The reasons for the decline of the Mayan civilization are not completely understood, but seem to be related to the destruction of the natural environment. The Maya needed trees to make stucco to cover their pyramids, which lead to erosion, which led to insufficient crops, which led the Maya to build more temples, which continued the cycle. Mayan cities were abruptly abandoned in the 800s. After this point, the Maya civilization became small villages, and today 4 million people still speak Mayan languages.

{{clear}}
[[Image:Calakmul 2.jpg|right|240px|Calakmul]]
==Politics==

The Maya were politically formed similarly to the [[Greek]] city-states. Each city was politically independent and ruled by a king who had multiple wives. Each king had a ceremonial center containing temple pyramids, ball courts and stelae, which are tall stone statues containing a portrait on one side and glyphs on the other. Some cities politically controlled other sites, as Copan controlled Quirigua until a revolt in which the people of Quirigua beheaded the ruler of Copan, Waxaklahun Ub'a K'awiil, or 18 Rabbit. The four major sites are [[Palenque]], [[Tikal]], [[Calakmul]] and [[Copan]]. Later, [[Chichen Itza]] was built, but this site was built after the collapse of many others. For food, the Maya grew maize (corn), squash and beans. Like other American Indians the Maya had no coins or paper money, but sometimes traded in cacao (chocolate) beans, shells or other goods. The Maya, unlike the [[Aztecs]], had a system of writing based on the use of hieroglyphs, but like the Aztecs built stepped temple-pyramids which had small temples on top.

==Religion==

The Maya [[religion]] was [[polytheistic]] and the Maya "appeased the gods" by engaging in [[human sacrifice]] and autosacrifice. Autosacrifice and the use of hallucinogenic drugs were important to the Maya religion because they allowed the use of visions, which the Maya used to speak to their ancestors. The Maya believed in creation as explained in their religious text named the "Popol Vuh." Wealthy women enjoyed some rights in the society, and in some cases were Queen when there was no male heir. The Maya wrote accordion-fold, bark paper books called codices. There are only 4 known in existence today, which are in museums in Europe. There are approximately 10,000 other pieces of Mayan writing, but not book form. Mayan writing and the ability to read their writing had been in decline for hundreds of years since the end of the classical period, but there were still some who could read and write when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish under [[Fray Diego de Landa]] burned Mayan codices on July 12th, 1562 because he believed the books to be anti-[[Christian]]. De Landa claims to have burned 27 books, while others claim 99 times that number. Diego was later recalled to stand trial in Spain for excessive practices. Whatever the cause, the ability to understand the ancient script was lost shortly thereafter and it was only in the second half of the 20th century that enough progress was made in decoding the script to more fully understand the writings that have survived.

==Astronomy==
The Maya used a yearly solar calendar that was fairly precise, using 18 months and 20 days per month, with five additional unlucky days at the end, which totals to 365 days. The Maya did not take into account the additional 1/4 day, which we take into account through leap year, because it was not important for them. They additionally had a 260 day ritual calendar which worked in conjunction with the 365 day calendar to create a 52-year cycle. They also used a Long Count calendar which counts the number of days since the creation of the world on August 13, 3113 BC. This calendar returns to zero in 2012, which has caused an Apocalypse scare. However, this stems from a misunderstanding of the calendar, because the calendar is generally abbreviated to 5 places, when in reality there are over 40, so the calendar will continue after this date. The calendar is written with five numbers with a period between each, such as 5.4.3.2.1. Each of the numbers between the period represents a place, since the Maya number system was base-20. In this date, for example, the 1 represents 1 days, the 2 represents 2*20 days, the 3 represents 3*360 days, the 4 represents 4*7,200 and the 5 represents 5*144,000. Each digit except the second (2) and the last (5) goes to 19 before returning to zero. The second only goes to 18 and the last only goes to 13. The original date for the world was 13.0.0.0.0, which will be the same date on December 21, 20012, and the reason for the Apocalypse scare.

== See also ==

*[[Calakmul]]
*[[Chichen Itza]]
*[[Jaina]]
*[[Edzna]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/mexico/mexicoindex.html Art and Architecture of Mexico] Mary Ann Sullivan, Photographer.

[[Category:Mexican History]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Mayan world]]

Friedman

2009-06-16T17:49:11Z

JosephJackson:

There are several people named '''Friedman''':

* [[Milton Friedman]], famous economist
* [[Alexander Friedman]], Russian mathematician
* [[David Friedman]], libertarian
* [[Thomas Friedman]], journalist

{{Disambiguation}}

Caravel

2009-06-16T17:45:31Z

JosephJackson:

[[Image:Caravel.jpg|thumb|200px|Early Caravel]]
The '''Caravel''' was the “work-horse” of the [[Spanish]] and [[Portuguese]] during the [[Age of Exploration]]; a vessel that would be adapted according to the varying needs and challenges of the era.

In the early 15th century a caravel was termed as a Portuguese two-masted [[lateen]] rigged [[carvel]]-built vessel with forecastle and deckhouse, designed for trade in the [[Mediterranean]] and the [[Atlantic]] coast. When [[Henry the Navigator]] began his search for a sea route to [[India]] in the 1420s one of his priorities was the development of a suitable vessel. The caravela latina was the first design change, with a slimmer hull and three masts, though still all lateen rigged. This was followed by the caravella redonda, a three masted vessel, square rigged on the fore- and mainmast, however the mizzen retained the lateen sail as an aid to maneuverability. By the 16th century four-masted versions had appeared. A watercolor by the sixteenth century Spaniard, Monleon, shows two four-masted caravels square rigged on only the foremast. During the fifteenth century, the use of topsails was developed.

Their size varied. [[Bartholomew Diaz]] sailed with two small caravels designed for poking about amongst the shoals and reefs of an unknown coast. [[Vasco da Gama]], on the advice of Diaz, was supplied with much larger and heavily armed caravels. [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]]’ [[Niña]] and [[Pinta]] were small caravels. ([[Santa Maria]] was a “''[[Nao]]''”, a much larger and older design, developed from the craft that had carried the Crusaders two centuries and more before.) [[Magellan]]’s fleet included large four-masted caravels.

The term refers to the type of hull. The hulls of caravels were a mixture of Iberian and [[Arab]] design and were carvel built. That is, the strakes, or planks, of the hull were butt jointed along their edges; not overlapping ([[clinker]] built). This meant less drag, easier cleaning and enabled the use of shorter boards and the construction of a double hull if required. This method was not new – its use has been recorded from ancient times – but the success of the caravel caused an explosion in its use, and large carvel built vessels were being built in Holland and the Baltic by the second half of the fifteenth century. The word caravel, however, usually refers to those vessels of the Iberian Peninsula.

==Sources==

Dictionary of [[Ship]] Types, (Conway Maritime Press)
J. R. Parry, The Age of Exploration (Uni of California Press)

[[Category: Age of Exploration]]
[[Category: Sailing ship types]]

Essay:Greatest Myths of World History

2009-06-02T23:26:55Z

JosephJackson: /* Columbus proved that Earth is round, or set out to discover America */ he reached Hispaniola later; his first landfall was in the Bahamas

Here is a growing list of the greatest myths of world history:

=== Slaves built the pyramids===
For many years, it was widely believed that the pyramids were built mainly with slave labor.<ref> "The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] described the building of [[Khufu]]'s pyramid by more than 100,000 slaves. [http://science.howstuffworks.com/pyramid.htm/printable] </ref>
We now know that although some of the laborers were conscripts or prisoners of war, most of the laborers were free men.<ref>"Some of the builders were permanent employees of the pharaoh. Others were conscripted for a limited time from local villages." [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/pyramids.html National Geographic]</ref>
Most of the men who worked on the pyramids were farmers or farm laborers. In the summer, when the Nile flooded and farm work was impossible, they found work as builders.

===Ordeal by water===

According to an anti-Christian myth, the medieval Catholic Church employed a trial to test potential witches by sinking them in water. If they floated, they were guilty, if they drowned, they were innocent. While the ordeal by water did exist, it was used to test potential criminals in general, rather than specifically witches<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ordeals1.html]</ref> and the accused were pulled out of the water before they drowned. The ordeal was mostly based on Germanic paganism and was in fact opposed by the Catholic Church.<ref>Fourth Lateran Council. Canon 18: [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/lateran4.html]</ref>

===Medieval dissections===

Anti-Christian sources often claim that dissections were forbidden by the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. This myth is most likely derived from the book ''History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom'' by Andrew Dickson White. He supports his assertion by a bull published by Pope Boniface VII in 1300 which allegedly forbade dissections. In reality, the bull concerned the burial of noblemen who had died abroad and had nothing to do with dissections. At the time when this ban was supposedly in place the famous surgeon Mondino performed numerous dissections and even wrote a book on the subject of which 25 editions were altogether published.<ref>The Popes and Science by James Walsh</ref>

===Columbus proved that Earth is round, or set out to discover America===
Many public school students are falsely led to believe that most people thought the earth was flat until Columbus or Galileo proved it was round. In fact, the ancient Greeks and perhaps peoples before them fully understood that the Earth is round.

When Christopher [[Columbus]] sailed the ocean blue, what he was really doing was looking for a sea route to Asia. It didn't turn out quite the way he expected; he made landfall on one of the Bahamas.

===A pox on you!===
Anti-Christians teach that the Christian Europeans deliberately spread [[smallpox]] among the [[American Indians]], as in handing out blankets with the germs. "...the myth is so vibrant that it made its way into a scene in the movie [[Broken Trail]] (2006)."<ref> [http://www.badeagle.com/2009/03/08/pox-pundits-and-american-indian-genocide/]</ref>

In fact, the [[germ theory of disease]] was not even discovered until the 19th century.
:'... at odds with any such idea is the effort of the United States government at this time to vaccinate the native population. Smallpox vaccination, a procedure developed by the English country doctor [[Edward Jenner]] in 1796, was first ordered in 1801 by [[President Jefferson]]. The program continued in force for three decades, though its implementation was slowed both by the resistance of the Indians, who suspected a trick, and by lack of interest on the part of some officials. Still, as Thornton writes: "[[Vaccination]] of American Indians did eventually succeed in reducing mortality from smallpox."'<ref> [http://hnn.us/articles/7302.html]</ref>

==="Let them eat cake!"===
[[Marie Antoinette]]'s "Let them eat cake" was almost certainly never uttered. The phrase was likely invented by anti-monarchist revolutionaries seeking to have Marie and Louis XVI executed. Moreover, even if it was uttered, it would have made sense because there was a shortage of bread and cake was a rational substitute.

The original French would have been "''Qu'ils mangent de la brioche''" (''brioche'' being a rough form of cake made of flour, butter and eggs). Apparently, French law required bakers to sell loaves at fixed prices and fancy loaves had to be sold at the same price as basic breads. Given a flour shortage at the time, brioche would have been an affordable, and available, alternative. Conversely, Rousseau in his memoirs, Confessions says in Vol 6, "At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, 'Then let them eat pastry!'" However, Rousseau wrote this in early 1766, when Marie Antoinette was only 10 years old.<ref>http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/227600.html</ref>

== The Space Program Invented New Technology Such As Teflon ==

The space program is often praised by textbooks for inventing new technology, including Teflon. In fact, no significant inventions can be attributed to the government space program, and Teflon was invented privately before the space program even existed.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Essays]]

Barbie

2009-06-02T02:24:42Z

JosephJackson:

'''Barbie''' is a [[doll]] made by [[Mattel]], in the form of a statuesque [[fashion model]], and meant to appeal to young girls. Barbie is 'among some of the "most important characters" to have shaped society, behavior - or even swayed the course of history.' [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6066724.stm]

See also:
* [[Essay:Barbie]]

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T23:36:21Z

JosephJackson: /* Trade */

Talk:World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T23:36:06Z

JosephJackson: /* Reversion explained */

It is not 'English Protestants' who rule Northern Ireland, but Northern Irish Protestants who identify themselves as British - and they rule, now, in coalition with Irish nationalists. Some of the articles here on Ireland and Northern Ireland will give you more insight into the question. And your reluctance to use the term terrorism in relation to Northern Ireland is questionable. [[User:Pachyderm|Pachyderm]] 08:43, 29 August 2007 (EDT)

Pachyderm's comments are all correct. In addition the mortar attack on 10 Downing Street happened on 7 February 1991 - several months after Mrs Thatcher left office[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/northern_ireland/history/69117.stm]
. John Major (and the rest of the cabinet) were the targets. I think you may be confusing this attack with another one seven years prior to this where the IRA left a bomb in a Brighton hotel where Mrs Thatcher was staying during the Conservative Party conference.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/northern_ireland/history/68779.stm] [[User:Ferret|Ferret]] 08:06, 30 August 2007 (EDT)

There is no bit of Ireland that is more Northerly than the most Northern parts of England, thus Ireland is not 'slightly to the North-West of England'.
The IRA attack on 10 Downing Street was made from an abandoned van not with 'hand-held weapons'. [[User:MrSmith|MrSmith]] 16:20, 31 August 2007 (EDT)

It is purposeless getting into an edit war, but the section on Northern Ireland stinks. It presents a completely one-sided and inaccurate view of the situation to the extent of serving as a justification for terrorism. [[User:Pachyderm|Pachyderm]] 09:26, 10 September 2007 (EDT)

Having lived in Northern ireland and hailing from a Catholic background, the section is pretty much what I was taught at school. This sort of inherent bias is bad to teach children - tell them the two sides of the story. Tell them about Gordon Wilson, the Methodist who lost his daughter tragically in an IRA bomb and who immediately forgave those who caused; pleaded for reconciliation and toured the world in a pledge for peace. Both sides faced their tragedies, its only right that both sides get a fair shout. [[User:Graham|Graham]] 07:13, 25 September 2007 (EDT)

PS- 'But on 1919, the Irish Republic was declared through the efforts of its leader' THe Irish Republic was only declared, it did not become official until 1948. Up until then there was the Irish Free State (1921-1937) and Eire (1937-1948), which represented two constitutional changes on the road to independence. [[User:Graham|Graham]] 07:19, 25 September 2007 (EDT)

==Globalism ==
''One word sums up most historians’ view of the world today: “globalism”. That was not even a word 20 years ago.'' Incorrect: the Oxford Englisgh Dictionary has 'globalism' listed in Webster in 1961 and being used in [[The Economist]] in 1965. [[User:DukeAra|DukeAra]] 06:36, 29 February 2008 (EST)

==Joan of Arc==
Joan of Arc was illiterate - do you really want to claim her as a poster girl for homeschooling? And please could we have citations for the home-schooled status of John the Baptist and Jesus? [[User:DukeAra|DukeAra]] 07:17, 29 February 2008 (EST)

== Le Pen ==

I'd agree with Le Pen being racist, given that he's denied the Holocaust. [[User:DanH|DanH]] 07:46, 29 February 2008 (EST)

== Mistake ==

Just a simple one i noticed immediately, 'Kwanada' should of course be 'Rwanda' [[User:RobertWDP|RobertWDP]] 08:43, 25 February 2009 (EST)

== Teflon ==

Teflon is often attributed to NASA or the apollo program, but that is infact not true. Teflon was discovered privately (and accidently) at a DuPoint lab in 1938 by a guy called Dr. Roy J. Plunkett. There were Teflon products on the market by 1946, before nasa was even founded. Although teflon was used in the apollo project, it wasn't even have the first major scientific use for it, the Manhattan Project made major use of teflon in the uranium enrichment process. [http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Teflon/Teflon-HistoryDuPont.htm] --[[User:SCarter|SCarter]] 14:12, 9 March 2009 (EDT)

:Interesting point. Too bad your link to support this claim is broken.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 17:35, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

== Reversion explained ==

Too much editorializing and obscure details required reversion. A good lecture is straightforward and factual, hitting the key points. Editorialize or debate the obscure on the talk page, please.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 17:35, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

:I'll try to address my edits point by point so we can see if we can retain some of them.
:- About the members of the European Union, I'd agree that mentioning the micronations is unnecessary, we can leave that out. I think we should mention Iceland though. Even though the population is rather small, it is (or used to be) a very rich country, nr. 1 on last years Human Development Ranking. It is also very important strategically, think of the Keflavik NATO airbase. They are discussing joining the European Union since the economic crisis, so it is a very relevant country.
:- About the members of the Euro, Sweden does not use the euro, if you mention the UK and Denmark Sweden should also be mentioned.
:- About CAFTA, the way it is phrased now gives the impression CAFTA was an organization that already existed when the US joined it. It's better to make that clear. (Though I'd agree with not mentioning all member countries.) The sentence above it 'These agreements Latin American countries develop economic independence from foreign powers' is grammatically incorrect, it should include a verb.
:- About free trade, I think it is important to mention that different people have different reasons to oppose it. Both conservatives and Hugo Chávez disagree with free trade agreements, since Hugo Chávez obviously is not a conservative it is important to mention his reasons for opposing it.
:- About oil, in the sentence 'Today petroleum constitutes 40% of Americans’ overall energy consumption in the United States' the words 'in the United States' are redundant, it already says "Americans' overall energy consumption".
:- About Le Pen, well, this is probably the most controversial subject, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave out his antisemitism and Vichy ties. He called the Holocaust "a footnote in history", you can't leave that out. I think it's mistaken to consider Le Pen a conservative. He has a few conservative opinions (mostly on immigration and family values), but one or two conservative opinions do not make one a conservative. Not only would a real conservative never trivialize the Holocaust, but he is also a big supporter of welfare programs. Also the 2002 election was actually his best election result, it was the only time he managed to qualify for the second round. In any case, I can imagine it goes to far mentioning the entire debate about Le Pen in this lecture. Perhaps it would be a good idea to leave him out all together and instead mention anti immigration politicians who are not antisemites from other European countries? The UK and the Netherlands would be good options, and I think Denmark also has some.

:Regards, [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 18:12, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

:: There's not enough of "textbook significance" for a World History Lecture to include your changes. The grammar was fixed. Beyond that, your suggestions are too tangential. You might add the point about Sweden and the Euro if other countries are also listed. A good teacher does not distract students; he provides the essence in concise form. By the way, I don't know why you imply that anyone thinks Le Pen was "a conservative."--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 18:23, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

:::But other countries, in casu the UK and Denmark, ''are'' listed. If you don't want to list Sweden you should remove those two as well. And though you are right that nobody ever said Le Pen is a conservative, but he clearly is casted in a positive light. The only thing about his political opinions that is mentioned is his his opposition to immigration, which is of course a good thing, but the things that are objectionable about him far outweigh that. Suppose an American politician would say "The Holocaust was not that bad and there is too much immigration of Mexicans". Would you describe him foremost as a holocaust denier or as an anti-immigration activist? [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 18:30, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

:::: I said you could add the point about Sweden and the Euro. As to Le Pen, his big issue was immigration. If you have evidence that people voted against him for other reasons, then let's see it. Exit polls are easy to find.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 19:30, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

::::: I'm sorry, I misread the remark about Sweden, I'll add it. About Le Pen, does it really matter for which reason people voted or did not vote for him? After all, the majority is not always right. The point is that he is a Holocaust denier and that should not be glossed over. [[User:JosephJackson|JosephJackson]] 19:36, 7 May 2009 (EDT)

Talk:World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T22:30:02Z

JosephJackson: /* Reversion explained */

Talk:World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T22:12:59Z

JosephJackson: /* Reversion explained */

World History Lecture Thirteen

2009-05-07T20:04:06Z

JosephJackson: /* Latin America */

[[World History Lecture One|1]]-[[World History Lecture Two|2]]-[[World History Lecture Three|3]]-[[World History Lecture Four|4]]-[[World History Lecture Five|5]]-[[World History Lecture Six|6]]-[[World History Lecture Seven|7]]-[[World History Lecture Eight|8]]-[[World History Lecture Nine|9]]-[[World History Lecture Ten|10]]-[[World History Lecture Eleven|11]]-[[World History Lecture Twelve|12]]-[[World History Lecture Thirteen|13]]-[[World History Lecture Fourteen|14]]

The middle of the 20th century, after World War II, saw many regional conflicts resulting from the Cold War between freedom in the United States and communism and the Soviet Union. Eventually freedom prevailed, but there is much history to be learned about how it prevailed. Also, there were many independence movements in the 20th century, some of which had nothing to do with the global struggle between freedom and communism.

But the news is not all good. America triumphed in many ways in the world, but she has many enemies outside of her borders, and quite a few within. In this second-to-last lecture, ask yourself in which direction you think the world is headed: towards a better place, or towards a worse one?

== Regional Conflicts during the Cold War ==

=== Vietnam ===

Americans feared a “domino effect” of communism for good reason. Imagine a row of dominoes, what happens when one falls into another, and then into another, and so on. Each falling domino can knock over the one next to it. Americans starting with President Dwight Eisenhower feared that effect when communism took over a nation: all nearby nations could be the next to fall to that same communism.

Southeast Asia has a large population, and after World War II the region was vulnerable to a spread of communism from the Soviet Union and China. An independence movement beginning in the 1930s caused the French to leave, and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist who received aid from the communists. The French imposed a death sentence on Ho Chi Minh; however, he fled to avoid this sentence. When he returned in 1941, he founded “Vietminh”, with the name reflecting that he intended to rule as a dictator. Japan interrupted his plan by taking control of the region during World War II, but in 1945 the Vietminh defeated the Japanese. That demonstrated how tough the Vietnamese fighters were, as not even China could beat the Japanese. Ho Chi Minh then declared the independence of a new Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a huge communist country that has 84 million people today.

The French tried unsuccessfully to regain control of Vietnam after World War II. In 1954, the communist Vietnamese nationalists defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu and the French surrendered to Ho Chi Minh. The French then agreed to divide Vietnam at the 17th parallel,<ref>The term “parallel” in terms of geography means the same as “degrees of latitude.”</ref> as part of the Geneva Conference. North Vietnam would be communist under Ho Chi Minh, while South Vietnam would be free under Ngo Dinh Diem.

Ho Chi Minh was popular in both North and South Vietnam, and gave away land to people to boost his popularity. Ngo Dinh Diem was unpopular, and the United States feared that an election in the South might choose Ho Chi Minh’s communists. So elections were postponed, but the conditions worsened. The Vietcong, who were communist guerrillas in the South, formed and began causing problems in the early 1960s. In 1963, South Vietnamese generals who enjoyed United States support took over South Vietnam and assassinated Ngo Dinh Diem.

The United States began sending military advisers and weapons to prevent a takeover of the South by the Vietcong. In August 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson faced reelection, there were mysterious gunshots fired at an American ship in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam. It was later disputed whether this was an actual attack on Americans. Johnson, wanting a war to boost his popularity and reelection chances, pushed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through Congress to authorize sending troops. A formal declaration of war never occurred, but this Resolution served as a substitute. Within a year, thousands of American 19-year-olds were sent to fight the communists in Vietnam.

The Soviet Union, China and North Vietnam responded by sending their own troops and weapons to help the Vietcong. The United States bombed North Vietnam, and also bombed targets in South Vietnam to target Vietcong hideouts. But the Vietcong were hard to find, and knew the jungle much better than the Americans did. The Vietcong planted land mines throughout the country, causing thousands of American soldiers to die or lose their limbs simply by taking a wrong step.

The conflict in Vietnam helped President Johnson win reelection in 1964, but by 1968 Americans (particularly Democrats in Johnson's own political party) had tired of the tens of thousands of American deaths. President Johnson did embarrassingly poorly in the first presidential primary (New Hampsire), and had to withdraw from the race for reelection. As with many wars, including the war in Iraq from 2003 to the present, public support for the war starts very high but tends to decline over time.

When President Nixon arrived at the White House after the 1968 elections, he embraced “Vietnamization” as a policy for slowly withdrawing American troops from South Vietnam, hoping that the South Vietnamese would do more themselves in fighting communism. Nixon also increased bombing of North Vietnam and Vietcong strongholds in Cambodia and Laos.

Nixon was heavily influenced by his adviser Henry Kissinger. Kissinger’s approach towards Vietnam was to launch bombing attacks and then look like a hero in declaring cease-fires. He did this repeatedly and received much praise by newspapers for it. But the communists would simply re-supply their guerrilla fighters during the cease-fires, and so the cease-fires actually helped the communists continue the war. By 1973, the United States gave up and pulled the last American soldiers out. A million Vietnamese then fled South Vietnam to escape the communists, who took over by 1975. The United States imposed a trade embargo on the newly unified Vietnam that lasted until 1994. President Bush visited Vietnam in 2006.

Things worsened further in next-door Cambodia after the Americans left Vietnam. Pol Pot took over Cambodia in 1975, and he abolished private property, money and religion and converted everything back to an agricultural society. He emptied the cities. His ruthless policies supposedly resulted in the death of 1-2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. The Hollywood movie about his dictatorship, ''The Killing Fields'', exposed his atrocities and perhaps exaggerated them as a way of blaming the United States, which once supported Pol Pot as a counterweight to Vietnam. Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge government fell in 1979 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia after a series of violent border confrontations, and Pol Pot fled to the northern jungle with his forces. He died from illness in 1998. Today there are United Nations peacekeeping forces in Cambodia.

===Latin America ===

In connection with the “Third World”<ref>Today the term “developing world” is preferred by some to the term of “Third World.” Traditionally, the “First World” was the highly industrialized capitalistic societies of Europe, Japan, and the United States, and the “Second World” was the less developed nations under communism.</ref> of Latin America, Africa, and many parts of Asia, the Cold War became a battle for influence over the system of government adopted by any and every small country. It seemed like there were only two choices: communist or free (capitalist). Both the United States and Soviet Union would compete with each other to provide to developing nations aid, military advisers, social workers (e.g., the Peace Corps from the United States), educational programs and technology.

This drama has been playing out in Latin America ever since World War II, and remains an issue even now. In the 1950s, the United States supported Fulgencio Batista as dictator of Cuba, but Fidel Castro overthrew him in 1959. Liberals in the United States promoted Castro as a hero, and he was welcomed to talk at American colleges. But just as conservatives predicted, Castro became a ruthless communist dictator who brutally suppressed all opposition and ended free speech and free enterprise on the island of Cuba. Castro seized private industries, such as the thriving sugar refineries, and predictably the economy collapsed. Cuba fell from being one of the most prosperous nations to one of the poorest. Today most Cubans cannot even afford to own an automobile.

The United States imposed a trade embargo on Cuba and the Soviet Union provided it with aid, which was a typical pattern in this Cold War between the two superpowers. Cubans who had fled to Florida from the island arranged for an invasion of Cuba in April 1961 to overthrow Castro. President John F. Kennedy withheld support at the last minute and someone in his Administration probably leaked the plans to Castro, who was then waiting for it and slaughtered the invaders at the Bay of Pigs. President Kennedy allowed the United States to be humiliated by this.

Strengthened, Castro became more aggressive and in 1962 began to install Soviet missiles to point them directly at the United States. President Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba to prevent installation of additional missiles, and a top American general put his bombers into combat mode. This demonstrated a readiness to go to war (“brinkmanship”) and the Soviet leader Khrushchev then backed down. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles when the United States agreed not to invade Cuba.

But Cuba continued to grow closer to the Soviet Union, which funded its failing economy. In the 1970s Cuba sent 50,000 soldiers to help communism in Angola, and Cuba remained there until 1988. When communism itself fell in the Soviet Union in 1991 and it broke up, Cuba lost its funding. It became even poorer then.

Communism in Latin America was not limited to Cuba. In Nicaragua, communist rebels named the Sandinistas overthrew an American-backed ruler named Anastasio Somoza. The United States then supported the anti-communist Contras in the 1980s. In 1990, the Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega finally agreed to hold free elections in order to end the civil war, and he was defeated by the pro-American Violeta Chamorro. But in 1997 Arnoldo Alemán was elected as the Nicaraguan leader. Although a supposedly rightist, he formed a pact with the Sandinistas against his own Liberal Constitutionalist Party, and near the end of 2006 Daniel Ortega completed a successful comeback by being elected as president based on his claim that he is not a communist anymore. He won with only about 38% of the vote, benefiting from a change in rules that no longer requires at least 45% of the vote to win.

The poverty in many countries in Latin America may help explain why communism is more popular there. In Nicaragua, one of the poorest nations in Latin America, 46% of the population lived on less than $386 in income for the entire year of 2001. Not only is a job hard to find, but electricity and drinking water are not always available either.

Poverty alone cannot explain the popularity of communism. In oil-rich Venezuela, the people reelected the communist Hugo Chavez in December 2006, and he is exporting communism to other nations there. Young and intimidating, Chavez is described as 'Castro with money.' In April 2009, he and President Barack Obama shook hands with enthusiasm for the cameras.

=== Middle East (Southwest Asia) ===

The Cold War did not explain every conflict in the 20th century. For example, the Cold War did not explain the conflicts in the Middle East (Southwest Asia), where Islam is the dominant force. The United States helped build oil wells in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries, but the Shiite Muslims disapprove of the American presence.

In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King Farouk of Egypt. Nasser modernized Egypt’s economy and military, seeking to build a nation that could assert its power in the Middle East.

In 1956, Nasser seized the Suez Canal from the French and British companies that controlled it. His plan was to nationalize the canal to raise money to build the Aswan Dam, and needed cash after the Americans and British withdrew a pledge to help fund it. Nasser’s seizure of the Suez Canal created the “Suez Crisis” for a week because many nations, including Israel, relied on the Canal for shipping. The British and French provided air support for an invasion by Israeli troops, which easily overcame Egyptian resistance. But then the Soviet Union threatened to intervene on behalf of Egypt, creating a risk of a world war. Nasser was allowed to keep the canal, and international pressure by the United States caused Britain, France and Israel to back off.

In Iran, the United States supported the pro-West Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (“Shah of Iran”) against a revolt in 1953. For 25 years the Shiite Muslim leaders in Iran, also known as “ayatollahs”, opposed the Shah. In 1978, the Shiites revolted and caused the Shah to flee, and in 1979 he sought admission to the United States for medical treatment. The [[Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini]] took control of Iran.

Henry Kissinger, whose friends and business clients probably included supporters of the Shah, persuaded President Jimmy Carter to admit the Shah to the United States to treat his illness. Carter granted the Shah admission, and student Shiites in Iran angrily responded by taking 69 hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They demanded that the Shah be returned to Iran, but Carter refused. The Shiites held 55 of the hostages until Carter was replaced by Ronald Reagan as president on Jan. 20, 1981.

In 1980, the Sunni Iraq leader Saddam Hussein sought to conquer Iran. Iraq and Iran fought a fierce battle for nearly a decade without a victory by either side.

In 1979, Muslims in Afghanistan (in Southwest Asia) revolted against the Soviet-friendly communist government there. The Soviets responded by invading Afghanistan and attempting to suppress the revolution. The United States reacted to this Soviet invasion by boycotting the summer Olympic Games in Moscow and providing arms to the Afghan rebels. The Soviets struggled for a decade in Afghanistan, much as the United States had struggled in Vietnam, and the Soviets eventually withdrew from the country. In many ways, Islam is a more powerful ideology than communism, and in this case Islam did defeat communism in Afghanistan. But just as there are people who are communist (or socialist) Christians, there are also communist (or socialist) Muslims.

=== Eastern Europe ===

Stalin died in 1953, and Nikita Khrushchev replaced him as the dictator over the Soviet Union. Khrushchev was an aggressive leader who had brutally carried out Stalin’s policies while Stalin was alive, but then denounced Stalin as soon as he died and tried to purge all memory of Stalin (“destalinization”). However, Khrushchev was nearly as evil as Stalin was. Khrushchev viciously repressed a freedom movement in Hungary in October 1956. He ordered an invasion with Soviet tanks and arranged for the execution of the Hungarian leader Imre Nagy, who sought to hold free elections. Khrushchev replaced him with a pro-Soviet puppet. Thousands of Hungarian “freedom fighters” were slaughtered by the Soviets, and the Hungarian religious leader Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty (a high-ranking clergyman in the Catholic Church) had to flee to the United States embassy to survive. The communist dictatorship installed by the Soviets prevented him from stepping foot outside of the embassy building for the next 15 years. Imagine never once leaving your home for 15 years!

Khrushchev also ordered the building of the Berlin Wall and the placement of missiles in Cuba, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. But Khrushchev’s confrontational personality was too much even for his fellow communists, as he would often interrupt speeches by others and act in other unpredictable ways. Khrushchev could not get along with China, even though both were communist countries. In 1960, Khrushchev stopped sharing atomic bomb secrets with China, and later there was even a little violence along their long border.

While Khrushchev was on vacation in 1964 a group led by Leonid Brezhnev arranged to strip him of power. The group persuaded the Politburo, which governed the Communist Party, to replace Khrushchev with Brezhnev. Khrushchev then lived out the remainder of life under the watch of the Soviet KGB, but he did manage to smuggle out his memoirs for publication in the West.

Brezhnev ruled as brutally as Khrushchev had, though with less personal confrontation. When Czechoslovakian leader Alexander Dubcek allowed greater freedom of speech in his country in 1968, the Soviets responded by invading with tanks just as they had in Hungary over a decade earlier.

=== Détente ===

President Nixon sought to take advantage of the icy relationship between the Soviet Union and China, and also to open up China to American businessmen. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai began to end China’s isolation from the rest of the world by inviting a U.S. table tennis team to tour China in 1971. President Nixon then stunned the world and his conservative supporters, who opposed communism, by supporting membership in the United Nations for Communist China (the “People’s Republic of China”).

In 1972, President Nixon became the first American president to travel to Communist China. By 1979, there were diplomatic relations between the United States and China.

Also in 1972, Nixon traveled to the Soviet Union and signed an arms agreement with the Soviet Union to reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons. This agreement was “SALT I,” representing the “Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.” These apparently friendly dealings between the arch-enemies United States and the Soviet Union were described with the French word of “détente” (relaxation in tension between nations). For centuries French was the language of diplomacy in Europe and its vocabulary offered the best terms.

SALT I limited the United States and Soviet Union to their 1972 levels of intercontinental ballistic missiles. In 1975, the two nations signed another arms reduction agreement known as the Helsinki Accords, and this was joined by 35 other nations. The American presidency had changed from Nixon to Ford by 1975, but in practice the Administration was still being run by Henry Kissinger and his view of world government and relations. Conservatives criticized both treaties as merely hurting the United States, noting that there was no way to enforce the treaty against the Soviet Union.

President Jimmy Carter continued the trend by signing SALT II in 1979, which would have provided for further reductions. In a victory for conservatives, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify that treaty. At one point, President Carter told the American people that his 12-year-old daughter was upset about the growing problem of nuclear proliferation, by which many other nations such as India and Pakistan acquired atomic bombs. This over-reliance by Carter on the atypical preoccupation of his young daughter seemed ridiculous to many Americans, as much of Carter’s presidency did.

=== SDI ===

In November 1980, the first modern conservative was elected president of the United States: Ronald Reagan. For the next 30 years, the influence of him and those who supported him is still felt. President Reagan cut taxes, defeated communism, and had the most original and influential idea of any president in all of American history: the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), known by its critics as “Star Wars.”

Reagan’s life included many personal failures. He was a struggling Hollywood actor, who spent some time running the union of actors, or The Actors Guild. He was in charge of the Guild when the communists attempted, with some success, to infiltrate Hollywood. Reagan resisted this infiltration, and the communists threatened him and attempted to intimidate him. He would receive frightening phone calls in the middle of the night. For the rest of his life, Reagan devoted his time to defending freedom for all and opposing communism. As governor of California, he surprised scientists by personally visiting the Lawrence Livermore Lab, which was and is a premier military research center. When Reagan became president, he gave a speech on national television in 1983 to announce his plan for America to build a new missile defense system to shoot down any nuclear attack.

His critics, including most scientists, ridiculed SDI as impossible and dangerous. But those criticisms were somewhat contradictory with each other; it was precisely because SDI might be possible that it was so influential. The Soviet Union, then led by Mikhail Gorbachev, panicked. Gorbachev met with Reagan at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1986 in which Gorbachev promised almost anything if Reagan would agree to drop SDI. The media pressure was intense for Reagan to agree. But Reagan stood up for America. He shook his head and he said “no deal.” The next year Reagan made a trip to the Berlin Wall, against the recommendation of his advisers, and declared to the world, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Sure enough, two years later the Germans did exactly that, and tore down the Berlin Wall built by the communists. Although Reagan and Gorbachev did sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987, which banned missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles, the historic decision was Reagan’s refusal to sign a treaty at Reykjavik giving up SDI. Communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union would soon be vanquished.

== Independence Movements in the 20th Century ==

For most of the population in the world, the history of the 20th century can be summed up in one word: '''Independence'''. That is true for India (about 1 billion people), Indonesia (215 million), much of Africa (890 million), Israel, and Eastern Europe. China (1 billion) and Latin America (523 million) already had independence before the 20th century, but still had nationalistic movements during the 20th century.

=== South Asia ===

Both Hindus and Muslims sought independence in South Asia, which now consists of India and the surrounding countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan. Many of those countries did not exist at the time of World War II. The “Indian subcontinent” today consists primarily of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

The Hindu group pushing for independence was the Congress Party, while the Muslim League was the pro-independence Islamic group led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In 1946 the [[Great Calcutta Killing]] occurred, which was a riot between Hindus and Muslims resulting in the deaths of 6,000 people.

On both sides of India, East and West, were regions dominated by Islam. In 1947, they achieved independence as East and West Pakistan based on a partition by the British House of Commons. Religious conflict continued. Gandhi went to Delhi in January 1948 to urge fair treatment for Muslims, and was then assassinated by a Hindu.

[[Image:India rel01.jpg|400px|right]]
India received its independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947, and instantly became the world’s most populous democracy. Jawaharial Nehru was its first prime minister. He began the long process of modernization and sought to de-emphasize the caste system. Two years later, in 1949, a war broke out between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, and this dispute continues today - even though China seized part of Kashmir in 1962. Both India and Pakistan joined the British Commonwealth as Dominion members and adopted English as their official languages. India sought assistance from the Soviet Union, while Pakistan became more closely aligned with the United States.

Nehru ruled India for nearly two decades, and his daughter Indira Gandhi became prime minister upon his death. Her rule saw an increase in agricultural production known as the “green revolution,” but she attempted to limit population growth with strict birth control. She also suspended parts of the democratic process. The people responded by defeating her in 1977, and she left office. In 1980, she regained power, but violence was breaking out with Sikhs who wanted an independent state. She ordered an attack on a Sikh temple, and two of her bodyguards retaliated by assassinating her in June 1984. The news reached America in the middle of the night, but President Reagan’s advisers chose not to awaken him to tell him. Critics ridiculed this choice (allowing President Reagan to sleep through this news) and one liberal even wrote a book about the Reagan Administration and this occurrence. It was entitled, “While Reagan Slept.”

Rajiv Gandhi succeeded his mother as the leader of India. He lost power in 1989 based on accusations of corruption. A group of Tamil terrorists from Sri Lanka killed him with a bomb in 1991. Sri Lanka is the pear-shaped island off of the southern coast of India, which obtained its independence in 1948. Sri Lanka has a Buddhist majority, and the Tamils are in a Hindu minority and have been fighting for their own independence. Rajiv Gandhi had sent troops into Sri Lanka under a 1983 agreement to disarm the rebellious Hindus, which was unsuccessful.

Shifting over to the history of the eastern portion of Pakistan, Indian-backed forces overthrew the government of East Pakistan in 1971 and established the new country of Bangladesh. The eastern and western parts of Pakistan had different ethnicities and languages,were separated by over a thousand miles, and were unable to remain united despite both parts being Muslim.

West Pakistan then became Pakistan. In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf seized power by overthrowing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Before him, Benazir Bhutto was the woman prime minister who ran the country, despite the fact that it is Muslim. Pakistan is one of the few Islamic nations possessing the atomic bomb, which it developed in the 21st century, much to the consternation of the rest of the world.
 
=== Southeast Asia ===

When India and Pakistan sought and obtained independence from the British, other British and Dutch colonies in Asia attained similar independence. In Southeast Asia, Burma gained independence in 1948, and chose not to be a member of the British Commonwealth. It then suffered from some internal conflicts between communists and military dictators. In 1989, Burma renamed itself Myanmar.

Ethnic conflict hurt British efforts to create a single nation of Malaysia after World War II. Large groups of Chinese and Malay peoples fought each other in Southeast Asia. In 1957, a Federation of Malaya brought together Singapore, Malaya, Sarawak, and Sabah. But in 1965, Singapore slipped from the federation to become a separate nation composed of only one successful city. Today Singapore is one of the few city-states in the world, and is very prosperous. After Singapore split off, the other three regions (Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah) formed the Federation of Malaysia.

Indonesia had been a Dutch colony until the Japanese conquered it early in World War II. After the war, Sukarno led a successful rebellion against the Dutch and established the independence of Indonesia in 1949. But Sukarno was unable to establish a democracy, perhaps because Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.

In 1965 there was a coup (rebellion) attempt in Indonesia, and General Suharto brutally suppressed it, killing perhaps a million people including many communists. In this striking battle between Islam and communism, Islam won. In 1967, Suharto appointed himself president and created a police state. He persecuted the Chinese and Christians, and in 1976 he seized East Timor and annexed it to Indonesia.

In addition to the British and Dutch, the United States also granted independence to its Asian colony: the Philippines (on July 4, 1946). The United States kept military bases on the Philippines under 99-year leases, but later gave up those leases under criticism of being imperialistic. America left her bases there in 1991.

The Philippines has a history of communist insurgency, and President Ferdinand Marcos suppressed the communists during his rule from 1966 to 1986. For ten years during that period he even imposed martial law. But when Benigno Aquino, a political opponent of Marcos, was immediately assassinated upon his return to the country from the United States, American newspapers blamed Marcos for the killing and demanded his resignation. He would not resign; however, Aquino’s widow Corazon Aquino defeated Marcos in the election of 1986. Time magazine named her 'Woman of the Year,' and Marcos fled to Hawaii, where he eventually died. Marcos’ wife, Imelda Marcos, was then put on trial by the United States prosecutor in New York City for allegedly stealing from the Philippines people. She was acquitted.

Corazon Aquino was succeeded in office in the Philippines by Fidel Ramos in 1992. Term limits of one term only prevented him from serving beyond a single six-year term.
 
=== Africa ===

[[Image:Africa pol 2003.jpg|400px|right]]
Five European powers – Great Britain, Belgium, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands – had divided Africa into colonies during the Imperialism Era. Their divisions showed no regard for ethnic groups and local culture. Europeans created huge farms that could be more profitable for the mother country, such as cash-crop plantations. When it came time for the Europeans to leave, the African economy lacked self-sufficiency.

There was a middle class in Africa. Many Africans were educated in the Western world, and they led a pro-African or pan-African movement called “Negritude”. This built pride in African culture and accomplishments.

==== British Colonies – Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana ====

Great Britain had three large African colonies: Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. Nigeria was most populous colony in Africa and one of the most prosperous, and it won its independence in 1960. But its ethnic diversity led to civil war between the Muslim Hausa-Fulani and the Christian (and animist) Igbo and Yoruba. There was tension even within the Christian groups, as Igbo preferred a democratic society while the Yoruba preferred a monarchy.

Millions of Igbo died during a war over an attempt by non-Yoruba minorities to secede. Secession occurred in 1967 to establish a new country of Biafra, but reunification occurred in 1970.

Oil was discovered in Nigeria and it joined OPEC. But the Muslim Hausa-Fulani seized power in 1983 and ruled for 16 years, discriminating against the Christians. In 1999, a civilian government was reestablished pursuant to a new constitution.

A Kenyan nationalist Jomo Kenyatta, who had been educated in Britain, joined a secret organization known as Mau Mau. Its purpose was to drive the British out and establish independence in 1963. The United States, fearing infiltration by communists, sided with Britain in opposing this. Kenyatta established Nairobi as a business center in East Africa. Daniel arap Moi succeeded Kenyatta upon his death in 1978. Ethnic strife and protests for greater democracy plagued Kenya at the end of the 20th century.

The British Colony of the Gold Coast (Ghana) was the first of all these to achieve independence. Kwame Nkrumah was helped by the communists and by his education in the United States. He spent money on improving roads and education and health care, but the economy failed as a result. He was also a leader establishing the Pan-African Congress in 1945 with the help of Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey. The goal of this organization, along with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) (founded in 1963), was to establish an Africa ruled by Africans. But in 1966, the Ghana military revolted against Nkrumah while he was away in China, presumably on a mission to obtain more communist aid. Power has frequently changed hands in Ghana ever since, and at two points (1979 and 1981) a Ghana Air Force pilot named Jerry Rawlings served as president.

==== French colony – Algeria ====

France had many small colonies in Africa, including Morocco and Tunisia, to which France granted independence in 1956. But France’s primary colony was Algeria, a Muslim country in North Africa. Instead of granting it independence, France offered citizenship to all the Algerians, which partly explains why the Muslim population in France is larger than in other European countries today.

The Algerians wanted independence despite the presence of thousands of French citizens in Algeria. In 1945, there was a bloody demonstration for independence, and in 1954 the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) demanded full independence. The French responded by sending troops to suppress the FLN.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle successfully returned to power in France, after having led France during World War II. He feared an Algerian rebellion, and favored granting independence to it and others. France officially granted Algeria independence in 1962, and Ahmed Ben Bella became its first prime minister. In 1965, Ben Bella was deposed (overthrown). A fully Islamic government took control in 1985 due in part to a drop in the price of oil, which caused a crisis in the Algerian economy.

==== Belgium colony - Congo ====

Belgium held the Congo as an African colony for mining copper and producing rubber. When Belgium granted Congo its independence in 1960 and Patrice Lumumba was sworn in its its first prime minister, the young nation was unprepared. Moise Tshombe, a leader of southeast region that had the copper mines, announced its separate independence. Tshombe was backed by Belgians interested in the copper, while Lumumba was supported by the communist Soviet Union. Joseph Mobutu, with sympathy by the West, then overthrew Lumumba, who was then murdered. Tshombe ruled for a short period until he, too, was overthrown by Mobutu.

Mobutu renamed the nation Zaire, and ruled it for 32 years. He personally accumulated enormous wealth from the nation, until he was deposed (overthrown) by Laurent Kabila in 1997. Kabila then changed the nation's name to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The neighboring countries of Rwanda and Uganda supported an insurrection in 1998, and a civil war resulted between the pro-Kabila Hutu tribe and the anti-Kabila Tutsi tribe. As more African nations became involved in this conflict in Central Africa, it began to look like the first all-African war. The United Nations sent peacekeeping troops in February 2000 and a cease-fire was declared later that year.

==== Portuguese colony - Angola ====

Portugal suppressed independence movements in its colony of Angola until 1975, when opposition to the continuing expenses caused an overthrow of the government in the mother country of Portugal itself. Once free, three different revolutionary groups fought each other for control of Angola: (1) the communist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which grabbed the Angolan capital city of Luanda, (2) the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), which was supported by Zaire and the United States, and (3) the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) which was aided by South Africa and the United States. Peace was not achieved until 1988 and only then did the communist Cuban troops leave. All three groups continue to seek representation in the Angolan government.

==== Dutch and British colony – South Africa ====

South Africa was the most complex, and the most prosperous, of all African colonies. As early as the 1600s, the Dutch established Cape Town as a city at the southern tip of Africa. But during the Napoleonic Wars the British captured Cape Town (in 1815) and drove the Dutch (the “Boers”) inland. The Dutch favored continuation of slavery; the British abolished slavery in its empire in 1833.

The Boers fought the native Africans (Bantu tribes such as the Zulus) during the Great Trek of the Boers. The Boers founded two inland republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. But the British were more powerful, and controlled wealthy diamond mines. The Brit Cecil Rhodes acquired great wealth through his monopoly of the diamond production in 1889, and he served as prime minister of the British Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

A Boer War ensued from 1899 to 1902, and afterward it was the Boers (the Dutch) who established “apartheid”. Apartheid segregated the majority blacks from the minority whites in South Africa, with the white minority controlling the country.

The British granted South Africa independence in 1910, and it became a member of the British Commonwealth in 1931 with its constitution allowing white rule over the blacks. But the country was prosperous, and all enjoyed a higher standard of living than the remainder of Africa.

The Dutch South Africans (Afrikaner) gained control in 1948 when their National Party rose to power and enforced apartheid throughout South Africa. Homelands (segregated areas) were even established for the rival African tribes, and the whites reserved the best property for themselves. Ever since 1912 the all-black African National Congress (ANC) objected, but it was suppressed. Demonstrations, such as the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, occasionally broke out but were violently put down. An ANC leader named Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for his role in that demonstration. Riots over school segregation occurred in Soweto in 1976, and in 1977 the government beat an outspoken critic, Steve Biko, to death.

There was increasing pressure worldwide for South Africa to end its racism. Its athletes were banned from the Olympics since the 1960s, and trade restrictions were imposed by other nations. A black South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, called for boycotts of his own nation.

Finally, in 1989, a new South African president named F.W. de Klerk was elected. He would change the country. With international approval, de Klerk legalized the ANC, released Nelson Mandela from jail, and obtained repeal of apartheid laws, and agreed to fully democratic elections in 1994. Nelson Mandela then won those elections and the ANC won a majority in the National Assembly, the bigger house in the South African Parliament. A new constitution containing a bill of rights like that in the United States was adopted in 1996, though it also included entitlement and social rights. The world fully accepts South Africa now, and it will host the World Cup (soccer) in 2010. But while the outside world accepts South Africa, the country has been hurt by a mass exodus based on a fear of crime and opposition to race-based hiring rules. "We as a nation cannot afford to lose skilled and hard-working citizens of whatever hue," declared one South African candidate for high office in 2006.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5412892.stm</ref>

==== British, French and Italian colony - Somalia ====

Somalia is a Muslim country that is a combination of former colonies known as British Somaliland, French Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. Somalia has been Muslim since A.D. 900 and today is considered one of the bases for the terrorist group al-Qaida. Roughly the size of New Jersey in area and population, Somalia is located on the coast of East Africa (the Indian Ocean) and borders both Ethiopia and Kenya. Somalia obtained its independence in 1960. The violence is so bad in Somalia today that it has no central government at all. In 1993, 18 American soldiers were killed in Somalia, and on Jan. 9, 2007 the United States bombed parts of the country where al-Qaida terrorists were believed to be hiding.
 
=== Israel ===

[[Image:Israel shaded.jpg|400px|right]]

“Zionism” began in the late 1800s to reestablish a Jewish state in Palestine in and around Jerusalem, which the ancient Hebrews had built. Theodor Herzl led the movement in the 1890s to establish a modern state of Israel. Jewish people were motivated partly by the religious faith that Jerusalem and Palestine were the Promised Land, and partly motivated by a desire to live together again after many centuries of dispersion in other lands, where they endured persecution. The Russian pogroms of violence against Jewish settlements reinforced the desire for a new Jewish homeland. The “Dreyfus Affair” in France in 1894, whereby a French captain was persecuted based on a false accusation of selling military secrets to Germany, added to the desire for a Jewish nation that could defend against persecution.

The Turks controlled Palestine for centuries leading up to World War I, but the defeat of the Ottoman Turks in that war allowed Great Britain to assume control of the territory. Its Balfour Declaration (1917) favored a Jewish homeland while protecting rights of Arabs living there. Between the world wars many Jewish settlers from Europe migrated to Palestine and set up communal agricultural settlements known as kibbutzim, in anticipation of a new Jewish state. The Jewish population in Palestine increased from about 84,000 in 1922 to 554,000 in 1945, but the Muslim population also increased by almost an identical amount from 589,000 to about 1,036,000. Today there are about 5 million people of Jewish origin living in Israel. Relatively few Jewish citizens of the United States have moved to Palestine, but they have generously lent financial and political support for the Zionist cause.

The Balfour Declaration called for the creation of Palestinian state in addition to Israel. Lawrence of Arabia then helped create Jordan (originally Transjordan) as a semi-autonomous Palestinian state in 1921. Jordan attained its full independence in 1946. But later there were demands for another Palestinian state. Lawrence of Arabia favored promotion of the British Empire in the Middle East, and resisted creation of a Jewish state as a threat to British influence in the region. Others opposed the creation of a Jewish state based on the argument that it would be imperialistic, with migrating Russian Jews being accused of imperialism.

World War II changed many things, and after the war Great Britain asked the United Nations to partition Palestine. The United Nations carved out a small parcel of property, slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey, for a new Jewish state to be named “Israel” (see map). This new nation was born on May 14, 1948, with David Ben-Gurion as its first prime minister and renowned scientist Chaim Weizmann as its first president.

The Muslim Arabs refused to accept the existence of Israel. The surrounding Arab states invaded Israel the next day, and started additional wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973. The conflicts prevented the United Nations plan for a separate Palestinian state from happening.

The 1967 “Six-Day War” resulted when the Egyptian ruler Gamal Abdel Nasser closed off the Gulf of Aqaba, which was the only access Israel had to the Red Sea. Israel responded with massive air strikes against several Arab nations, including Egypt, killing many Arabs and destroying their militaries. Israel conquered Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. Palestinians in Jerusalem were offered the opportunity to become Israeli citizens, but many declined, leaving them without a country.

Anwar Sadat succeeded Nasser as ruler of Egypt, and in October 1973, Sadat launched a surprise attack on Israel on its holy day, Yom Kippur. After suffering massive initial losses, the Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, regained much of the lost territory. Golda Meir was the third women in history to run a nation, and David Ben-Gurion once described her as “the only man in the Cabinet” of Israel. However, she was forced to resign the following year based on criticism of how she handled the war. Winston Churchill also lost power as soon as World War II was over. Maybe voters simply wanted to replace someone who reminded them of the bad memories of war.

In 1979 President Jimmy Carter brokered a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, then led by Menachem Begin, and this deal is known as the Camp David Accords. Egypt agreed to recognize Israel in exchange for receiving return of the Sinai Peninsula. The United States promised both countries a massive amount of foreign aid, about $10 billion each year in gifts to each nation, to complete the deal. Though Sadat was assassinated by Muslims in 1981, his successor (Hosni Mubarak) promised to continue to honor the deal.

Yasir Arafat, a former construction engineer, founded the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, and it demanded a Palestinian state in the area of Jerusalem and rejected the right of Israel to exist. In the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, PLO terrorists kidnapped and murdered Israeli athletes in front of the entire world watching those games. In 1987, the PLO instituted a campaign of persistent violence called “intifada”, where common citizens and even children would throw stones at Israelis and commit other forms of violence. Meanwhile, Arab nations boycotted Israeli goods and even attempted to boycott any company that did business with Israel.

Secret talks between Israeli leaders and the PLO in Oslo, Norway culminated with the Declaration of Principles in 1993, whereby Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to allow Palestinian self-rule over two strips of land known as the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and Arafat and Rabin signed the agreement in front of President Clinton at the White House in 1993. This angered orthodox Jewish Israelis who had been building settlements in both regions, and one assassinated Rabin in 1995. A more conservative leader emerged in Israel named Benjamin Netanyahu, who negotiated a partial withdrawal by Israeli settlers from Hebron, which is on the West Bank, in 1997. In 2005, Israel removed its settlements from the Gaza Strip, and there is a quasi-Palestinian state called the Palestinian National Authority that functions under Arafat’s successor, Mahmoud Abbas.

In the early 21st century, Israel endured a series of horrific suicide bombings, often targeting Jewish weddings, buses, caregivers and even children. Weekly and sometimes daily there would be new reports of a half-dozen Jews murdered by a Muslim suicide bomber, and sometimes a second bomb would detonate to murder those who came to the aid of the initial victims. Israel finally stopped the bombings by building a wall to end the flow of weapons and terrorists from hostile neighbors.

=== Russia ===

Russia and other nations in the Soviet Union regained their independence when the Union broke up. One Russian predicts that the United States will also break up in a similar way.

Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in the Soviet Union and in 1985 he promoted a new policy called “glasnost” or openness. This ended decades of censorship by the communist dictators, and free speech began to work wonders. Books could be published and churches could preach the Gospel. He released some political prisoners. Faced with a failing economy, Gorbachev adopted “perestroika”, which was a restructuring of the Soviet economy. He permitted some ownership of private property, such as small businesses, farms and factories.

In 1987, Gorbachev introduced democratization that allowed fairer, more competitive elections. Gorbachev remained a dedicated communist, but he wanted voters to be able to choose between rival candidates rather than simply electing those candidates presented only by the Communist Party. He also encouraged Eastern European countries adopt reforms.

As explained in more detail below, Eastern Europe took advantage of Gorbachev’s reforms to the point where they broke away from strict communism. This led Lithuania, which had been annexed to the Soviet Union in 1940, to declare its independence in March 1990. Gorbachev responded as his communist predecessors would have: he blockaded the rebellious country and, when that did not work, in January 1991 he ordered the Soviet troops to attack the capital of Lithuania. Civilians were slaughtered.

But perhaps Providence intervened this time. Boris Yeltsin, a charismatic Russian, emerged to challenge Gorbachev’s leadership. Yeltsin had been a popular mayor of Moscow and was a powerful member of the parliament. In June 1991, the voters elected Yeltsin as president of a new Russian Republic.

Communists were angry and determined to stop Yeltsin’s challenge. In August 1991, they ordered the soldiers to kill Yeltsin. Providence must have intervened, because the troops refused the order. Rarely, if ever, do troops refuse orders like this. In a communist country, such refusal was unheard of. Gorbachev promptly resigned as head of the Communist Party, and then Latvia, Estonia and other Soviet republics declared their independence as Lithuania had. On Christmas Day of 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union.

By then, Russia and the other newly independent republics had formed a federation to replace the Soviet Union, known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). All joined except for the Baltic republics and Georgia, a large former Soviet state not to be confused with the American state of Georgia.

After Gorbachev resigned, Yeltsin brought free enterprise to Russia. He ended price controls, cut taxes, stopped subsidizing government-controlled industries and reduced trade barriers. Churches opened and flourished. The people of Leningrad changed the name of their city back to St. Petersburg. Critics of Yeltsin complained about inflation and the loss of jobs, and organized crime became a problem without the KGB controlling everything. But the people were certainly not going to return to communism. Today Russia has lower taxes than the United States.

Muslim-dominated Chechnya in southwest Russia became a difficult issue for Yeltsin. In 1991, it declared its independence from Russia, but Yeltsin suppressed that by sending troops to Grozny, its capital city. Resistance by the Chechens was intense, and the troops were initially withdrawn. But a bloody civil war has ensued for over a decade, including hostage-takings and, in 2004, the Chechen rebels seized a large school near Chechnya and killed over 300 of the children and teachers. In 2006, Russia claimed to have killed the leader in charge of the seizure of the school. The trouble continues.

=== Eastern Europe ===

The defeat of communism in the Soviet Union really began in the Eastern European “satellite” countries of communism, initially in Poland and Hungary. In 1978, the Roman Catholic Church elected the first non-Italian pope in many centuries, elevating a Polish cardinal who had been active in the anticommunist movement in his homeland of Poland. Pope John Paul II then became a leader and hero to his countrymen in Poland, which is nearly 100% Catholic. Another Polish leader, Lech Walesa, led a strike against a shipyard in Gdansk in 1980, demanding government recognition for his labor union called Solidarity. The Polish communist government was weak at this time and vacillated in its response, but in 1981 it cracked down on Solidarity and imposed marital law throughout the country. A popular anticommunist priest was then murdered. An assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, also thought to have been organized by communists, injured but did not kill him.

As conflict worsened in Poland, Pope John Paul II visited the country and attracted literally millions of supporters. At one point, he stood at the podium with the communist-installed leader and lectured him about respecting the dignity and freedom of the Polish people. The communist leader trembled in front of the huge crowd. When the Soviet Union threatened to crack down on the Polish people, the Pope declared that he would respond by returning to Poland to fight on the front lines against the communists.

In April 1989, the Polish government allowed free elections for the first time World War II, and the people elected Lech Walesa as president and his group Solidarity swept into office. Communism was defeated. Walesa remained in power until 1995 and may have been a bit overwhelmed by all the political issues. He was then replaced by a former communist, Aleksander Kwasniewski, who favored some free enterprise. The fall of communism in Poland enabled passage of laws prohibiting abortion. Abortion rates in the communist Soviet Union had been several times higher than the rest of the world.

Hungary, the same country that attempted to overthrow communism in 1956, immediately followed Poland’s lead. In October 1989, opponents of the Communist Party took it over and dissolved it. A new constitution allowed for national elections in 1990, and the people defeated the communists in power. Hungary embraced some free enterprise and started a stock market. But like much of Eastern Europe, socialists remained powerful and in 1994 they crept back into power and raised taxes. Today Hungary is a mixture of socialism and free enterprise.

Hungary helped end communism in East Germany, which was the most brutal of the communist regimes. Hungary opened its border to allow East Germans to emigrate into Austria, from where they could escape entirely. As East Germans began to leave in droves, the communist leader Erich Honecker closed the border. But demonstrations broke out in October 1989, which not even the ruthless Honecker could control. He resigned and his successor, Egon Krenz, reacted by opening the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. East Germans then poured into West Berlin and tore down the wall entirely. By the end of the year communism was defeated in East Germany, and within a year it was reunited with West Germany to form one nation of Germany under West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Germans expect that it will take an entire generation (30-40 years) to bring the formerly communist section up to the level of the free West Germany.

Other Eastern European countries then wanted the same freedom from communism. In Czechoslovakia, demonstrations forced the Communist Party leader Milos Jakes to resign in November 1989, and he was replaced by Vaclav Havel. In 1993, the country split along ethnic lines to form Slovakia and the Czech Republic, caused in part by economic difficulties in the conversion from communism to free enterprise.

Next came Romania, which had been ruled for decades by the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Massive demonstrations against his rule in December 1989 caused the army to join the people, and they captured Ceausescu as he attempted to flee with his wife. They were executed on Christmas Day. Free elections were beginning in 1990.

However, not all the changes in these countries were for the better. Ceausescu, for example, prohibited abortion for decades in Romania. As a result, Romanians had the lowest incidence of breast cancer in the Western world, far lower than the United States. But after he was overthrown, Romania began promoting abortion and breast cancer subsequently skyrocketed. In 1990, American families rushed to Romania to adopt babies while they were still available.

The collapse of the communist dictatorship exposed underlying ethnic and religious conflict, particularly in Yugoslavia. Its dictator, Marshall Tito, (real name Josip Broz) ruled with an iron fist from 1945 to 1980, and the different ethnic groups could not fight each other as he suppressed all conflict. He also insisted on some independence from the Soviet Union, and Stalin expelled him from the Soviet bloc in 1948. Tito was succeeded in power by the Serb Slobodan Milosevic, which caused Slovenia and Croatia to seek independence due to their different ethnicity. In June 1991, the Yugoslavian army attempted to suppress these independence movements. It succeeded with Croatia, which has a large Serbian minority, but the Slovenians ousted the Serbs and achieved independence.

Bloodshed continued in Croatia as the Serbs battled the Croats. Eventually, the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened in 1999 in what is known as the Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict, driving Milosevic from power and forcing his trial by an international tribunal. He died of natural causes during a lengthy war crimes trial.

Ethnic conflict was even worse in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which consists of Muslims, Croats and Serbs, who are Christian. Bosnia-Herzegovina first declared its independence from Serbia, but the Christian Bosnian Serbs did not want to live under Muslim rule and a civil war began in March 1992 over whether Bosnia would split from Serbia. Anti-Christian press accused the Serbs of “ethnic cleansing,” or racially motivated mass murders, as the Serbs were allegedly killing off Bosnian Muslims. A peacekeeping army was sent by the United Nations and, in December 1995, the Muslims, Croats and Serbs signed a peace treaty. In 1996 a three-person presidency including a leader from each group was elected.

=== Controversy of the United Nations Troops ===

The conflict in Bosnia caused the United Nations (U.N.) to send troops, including American soldiers, into the region in 1995. Michael G. New was an American soldier who objected to wearing United Nations insignia as part of his military uniform during a deployment to the nearby Republic of Macedonia as part of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force. Michael New objected to changing his allegiance from the United States to the U.N. When Michael New enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1993, he took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and no recruiter or officer mentioned serving under U.N. command.

But on May 3, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed Presidential Decision Directive 25 (PDD-25). This ordered submission of American troops to multilateral peace operations. In July, Michael New was assigned to Germany, 3rd Infantry Division, and his company was told it would be sent to Macedonia as part of a "peacekeeping" mission. In August 1995, Michael New was informed that his unit must wear part of the U.N. uniform.

This new uniform included a blue U.N. cap and a U.N. armband or patch sewn on one shoulder and a blue U.N. beret, in addition to an ordinary United States army outfit. New reported for his formation without these U.N. uniform features, and he was removed by his superiors and eventually court-martialed for disobedience under 10 U.S.C. § 892(2) (any person who, “having knowledge of any ... lawful order issued by a member of the armed forces, which it is his duty to obey, fails to obey the order ... shall be punished as a court-martial may direct”). Soldier New argued in his defense that the order was unlawful and unconstitutional. Specifically, U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 9 prohibits any person’s acceptance of any emolument from a foreign state without congressional consent. New also argued that the entire deployment as part of a United Nations force was unlawful.

The military judge and American courts all rejected New’s arguments and held that the legality of the deployment was a "non-justiciable" political question that could not be handled by a judge, and which should be better handled by a political branch of government. Soldier New received a bad-conduct discharge. New has continued to challenge this in the court system.
 
=== China ===

[[Image:China rel01.jpg|400px|right]]
In 1978, Deng Xiaoping succeeded Mao and Zhou as dictator in China. He was more friendly to capitalism and the West, and began a program called the Four Modernizations. He abolished communes and began leasing land to farmers who could work the land for personal profit. He permitted private businesses and some foreign investment in special economic zones (SEZs). He promoted tourism and sent many Chinese teenagers to the West to be educated in Western colleges. But when Chinese students sought greater freedoms and democracy, Deng brutally suppressed them by sending tanks to Tiananmen Square to massacre hundreds of demonstrators on June 4, 1989.

Jiang Zemin succeeded Deng when he died in 1997. He refused to improve China’s record on human rights, and Christianity and democracy remain suppressed there. Moreover, China has armed itself in preparation for a war with the United States, pointing many nuclear missiles at California.

On July 1, 1997, Great Britain’s lease on Hong Kong expired and it returned its former colony to China, which promised to allow Hong Kong to remain capitalistic for another 50 years.

=== Latin America ===

"Latin America" is Spanish America and Brazil, where Portuguese is the primary language. In other words, Latin America is all of America south of the United States. Latin America is thus Mexico, Central and South America. It has 523 million people, far more than the U.S. population of about 300 million.

The nations of Latin America had won their political independence from European powers long before the 20th century. But they have struggled in becoming economically independent. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that Latin American nations began to export manufactured goods in addition to minerals and food. In the 1970s and 1980s, huge debts to foreign powers combined with a depression caused severe economic problems. Some blame lending policies of developed nations and their organizations, such as the World Bank, for causing this debt crisis. After much loan forgiveness and an improved worldwide economy, Latin American nations had stronger economies and less dependence on foreign powers by the end of the 20th century.

In one of the largest Latin American countries, Mexico, the rule of President Lazaro Cardenas from 1934 to 1940 ended the land monopoly enjoyed by a small number of wealthy Mexicans by redistributing the land to peasants. He also forced foreign investors to give up control over Mexican oil wells.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI for its Spanish initials) controlled Mexico from 1929 to 2000, when Vicente Fox of PAN (Partido Accion Nacional) was elected president. The PRI was known for corruption and acting on behalf of wealthy Mexicans.

In another large Latin American nation, Argentina, the military has long controlled the government. The most popular military ruler was Colonel Juan Peron, who was elected in 1946. He became known for his “popular dictatorship.” His wife, Eva Peron, was even more popular for her tremendous charisma. Peron ruled for over a decade, and brought industrialization and working class values to the nation. He limited foreign ownership. But critics felt Peron infringed too much on civil liberties. He was deposed in 1955 but came back briefly in the 1970s. In 1982, the military rulers of Argentina attempted to take the Falkland Islands, which are located off its shores in the Atlantic Ocean, from the British. The British fought back with the help of American intelligence and regained control of the islands.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:World History lectures]]

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T19:50:43Z

JosephJackson: /* Migration */

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T19:44:49Z

JosephJackson: /* Energy */

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T19:41:03Z

JosephJackson: /* Trade */ The US didn't "join" CAFTA, it was created by the US and Central America and all countries subscribed at the same time

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-07T19:38:30Z

JosephJackson: /* Trade */

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-06T23:14:13Z

JosephJackson: /* Security */ better rephrase that a bit, there might be lunatics out there who disagree

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-06T23:13:30Z

JosephJackson: /* Security */

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-06T23:10:05Z

JosephJackson: /* Trade */ communist countries don't usually join free trade areas

World History Lecture Fourteen

2009-05-06T23:08:14Z

JosephJackson: /* Trade */

CSA

2009-04-03T16:00:32Z

JosephJackson: Redirecting to Confederate States of America

#REDIRECT [[Confederate States of America]]

Friendly dictator

2009-03-11T21:39:23Z

JosephJackson:

A '''"friendly dictator"''' from the American point of view is one who is [[authoritarian]] but not [[totalitarian]].
In the 1980s, friendly dictators included
the [[Shah of Iran]], [[President Somoza]] of [[Nicaragua]], [[President Pinochet]] of [[Chile]], [[President]] [[Saddam Hussein]] of [[Iraq]] and [[President Marcos]] of the [[Philippines]].<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/84debates/2prez4.html The Second 1984 Presidential Debate]</ref> In debates over American foreign policy, liberals and conservatives differed over whether it was better to withdraw support for their regimes (on [[human rights]] grounds) or to support them as the [[lesser of two evils]].

A well known quote on this subject is from [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]. Asked about his support for Somoza, he replied that "[Somoza] may be a son of a b---h, but he's our son of a b---h."

==Notes==
<references />
[[Category:Dictators]]