Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Politics of global warming

2008-03-08T20:59:44Z

Qwertymn:

{{uncited}}

The '''politics of global warming''' is dominated by anti-americans that advocates urge action to "prevent" [[global warming]], generally on the grounds that the [[Modern Warming]] period is headed for ecological catastrophe. These advocates are predominantly [[liberal]]s and [[environmentalist]]s and are opposed by [[conservative]]s.

==US Politics==

Registered voters are evenly divided on the issue, with 75% of Democrats believing the science supports AGW theory but only 23% of Republicans believing this.

Since the issue came to the fore in 1989, neither president - [[Bill Clinton]] or [[George W. Bush]] - has sent the [[Kyoto treaty]] to the Senate for ratification. A bipartisan Senate resolution disapproved the notion of joining the treaty 93-0.

Some sources date the flip-flop from [[global cooling]] hype to [[global warming]] hysteria to 1989, when the [[Berlin Wall]] fell. With the [[Cold War]] won by the forces of democracy and freedom, supporters of totalitarian socialism had to find a new issue. <ref>"The global warming circus was in full swing. Meetings were going on nonstop. One of the more striking of those meetings was hosted in the summer of 1989 by Robert Redford at his ranch in Sundance, Utah. Redford proclaimed that it was time to stop the research and begin acting. I suppose that that was a reasonable suggestion for an actor to make, but it was also indicative of the overall attitude towards science. Barbara Streisand personally undertook to support the research of Michael Oppenheimer at the Environmental Defense Fund, although he is primarily an advocate and not a climatologist. Meryl Streep made an appeal on public television to stop warming. A bill was even prepared to guarantee Americans a stable climate." [http://www.aetherometry.com/global_warming/Section_I_2.html] </ref>

==International Politics==

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ([[IPCC]]) has issued a series of reports endorsing the theory of [[anthropogenic global warming]]. Supporters of this theory call the IPCC assessments authoritative, and use this as the basis to justify ratification of the global warming treaty (see [[Kyoto Protocol]]).

==Loss of objectivity among scientists==
[[Hans von Storch]] and [[Nico Stehr]] wrote:
:In an article we published in the professional journal ''Science'' in October 2004, we were able to demonstrate that the underlying methodology that led to this [[hockey stick curve]] is flawed. Our intention was to turn back the spiral of exaggerations somewhat, but without calling the core statement into question, which is that human-induced climate change does exist. Prominent members of the climate research community did not respond to the article by engaging use in a dispute over the facts. Instead, they were concerned that the worthy cause of climate protection had been harmed. [http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,342376,00.html]

==Distortion of the facts==

Supporters of Kyoto have famously asserted that temperatures in 1998-2007 are the highest in 1,000 years. However, peer-reviewed research published in scientific journals challenges this claim.

In 2003, the "[[hockey stick graph]]" of [[Michael Mann]] was examined by McIntyre and McKitrick in ''Energy & Environment''. They found that:
:the estimation of temperatures from 1400 to 1980 contains collation errors, unjustifiable truncation or extrapolation of source data, obsolete data, geographical location errors, incorrect calculation of principal components and other quality control defects. [http://www.climateaudit.org/pdf/mcintyre.mckitrick.2003.pdf]

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==

*[http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,342376,00.html How Global Warming Research is Creating a Climate of Fear] - By Hans von Storch and Nico Stehr

[[category:politics]]
[[category:climate change]]

Science

2008-03-08T20:58:36Z

Qwertymn:

'''Science''' is a methodology for discovering and classifying [[knowledge]]. The scope of science encompasses all measurable [[phenomena]]. Science falls under two scopes: [[natural science]], dealing with the [[physical]], [[natural]] world, and [[social science]], dealing with society and human nature.

People who study science are called [[scientist]]s, and many of them are [[atheism|atheists]].<ref>http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/atheism1.htm</ref>
However, most of the early scientists who started many of the scientific fields, and some of history's greatest thinkers, such as [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Albert Einstein]], believed in [[God]], or some other higher power, if they were not actually [[creationists]]. In addition, [[Christianity]] [[Christianity and Science|played a pivotal role in the development of modern science]].

Examples of sciences: Inteligent Design, Creation of Perpectual-Motors, Theology, Astrology...

==Notes==

<references/>

==See also==
[[Scientific method]]

[[category:science]]

Giant panda

2008-03-08T20:52:25Z

Qwertymn:

[[Image:panda2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A giant panda.]]

The '''Giant Panda''', or '''Panda Bear''', is a large black and white mammal native to central-western and southwestern [[China]], today classified as a member of the [[bear]] family (''Ursidae'')<ref>[http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandasForKids/classification/classification.htm Giant Panda classification]</ref>, though its unusual unbearlike features and habits for a long period consigned it to its own family (the ''Ailuridae'').

The giant panda has a diet which is 98% [[bamboo]], with other foods including [[fish]], [[honey]] and [[yams]]. The Giant Panda is an [[endangered]] animal, with an estimated 3,000 pandas alive in the wild, though intensive conservation efforts have been made by the Chinese.

[[Theory of evolution|Evolutionists]] such as [[Stephen Jay Gould]] have tried to claim that the "Panda's Thumb", which is a modified Seamoid bone, is evidence of evolution. Gould claimed that an actual [[God|Intelligent Designer]] would have made the Panda's thumb the same as the human thumb. But all this shows is [[microevolution]] not [[macroevolution]] possibly occurring in the Panda. This argument also assumes that the Designer would want to design the Panda the same way He designed the human. This assumption depends on revelation or hubristic assumptions about the nature of God.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v13/i1/panda.asp</ref>

=== Trivia ===

Some [[United Kingdom|British]] [[police]] cars are referred to as panda cars for their black and white markings, others (with a red stripe down their side) are referred to as jam [[sandwich]]es.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Bears]]
[[Category:Giant Animals]]

Bear

2008-03-08T20:51:00Z

Qwertymn:

[[Image:Polar bear.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Polar bear]]

[[Image:Giant panda.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Giant panda]]

A '''bear''' is a large furry mammal. All bears are [[omnivores]], even those which eat a mostly meat diet (polar bears and the bear that killed children following divine orders) or a mostly plant diet (pandas). There are eight generally recognized [[extant]] species of bears:

* [[Polar Bear]] - lives in the Arctic maritime region and hunts (primarily) seals.
* [[Brown Bear]] - also known as the grizzly bear. Subspecies include the Kodiak bear and the European brown bear. Lives in temperate forested regions of North America, Europe, and Asia.
* [[American Black Bear]] - smaller than the grizzly, and lives in North America. Subspecies include the Kermode bear which lives in British Columbia.
* [[Asiatic Black Bear]] - a brown bear species lives in Asia.
* [[Giant Panda]] - lives in China and eats a plant diet of bamboo.
* [[Spectacled Bear]] - a small bear which lives in South America.
* [[Sloth Bear]] - lives in South Asia and eats termites.
* [[Sun Bear]] - a small bear which lives in Southeast Asia.

Bears are frequent mascots for schools and sports teams, including the Chicago Bears (football), the Chicago Cubs (baseball), the UCLA Bruins, and the Brown University Bears.

Two she-bears make an appearance in II Kings 2:23-24, verses concerning the prophet Elisha frequently cited by atheists and nonbelievers.

"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."

Though the two verses seem on the surface incompatible with modern Christian values, it should be noted that "little children" is most likely a mistranslation, and should probably be interpreted as "youths", possibly a gang of juvenile delinquents. Also, God cannot and should not allow his prophets to be mocked without reproach.

[[Category:Bears]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Dangerous animals]]

Sex

2008-03-08T20:46:53Z

Qwertymn:

'''Gender''' is the attribute of being either [[male]] or [[female]]. Gender differs from [[sex]] in that while [[sex]] deals with the biological attributes of male and female, gender may be understood more as a cultural concept and a complex set of learned behaviors that is contingent not only on culture, but also on history. Gender roles and expectations are always in flux and vary from one society to another and one time to another. Thus, the qualities and behaviors expected of [[women]] by a particular society at a particular historical time is called [[femininity]]; [[masculinity]] is what is expected of [[men]] in a particular cultural and historical setting.

An organism's sex category reflects its biological reproductive function rather than its sexuality or other behavior. The female sex is defined as the one which produces the larger [[gamete]] (the egg) and which typically bears the offspring. In contrast, the male sex has a smaller gamete (sperm) and rarely bears offspring. In some animals, sex may be assigned to specific structures rather than the entire organism. Earthworms, for example, are normally [[hermaphrodites]].

Alternatively, "gender" may be defined to be the norm of social conduct, based on sex. That is, "sex" defines what is biologically present, whereas "gender" defines what society expects of persons of different sexes. The distinction is important in law, as it tends to forbid discrimination on the basis of either, e.g. effeminate men cannot be fired for not acting according to their "gender". In other areas the distinction is primarily important for more abstracted social and legal arguments, rather than everyday use.

[[category:biology]]
[[category:sociology]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]

Unicorn

2008-03-08T20:46:10Z

Qwertymn: /* Unicorns in the Judeo-Christian Tradition */

The '''Unicorn''' is a mythical beast, commonly depicted as resembling a white horse with a single horn grown out of its forehead.<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unicorn</ref>

==Unicorns in the Judeo-Christian Tradition==

The word "unicorn" is included in the text of the [[King James Version|King James]] translation of [[The Bible]] nine times<ref>http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/what_about_the_unicorn_and_the_satyr</ref>. Many other versions translate the ancient texts differently.

The existence of unicorns is controversial. Secular opinion is that they are mythical, however some young earth believing [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] have advanced various arguments that the biblical Unicorn was not a fantasy animal (like dragons) and that the animal did not have one horn. <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i2/unicorn.asp</ref> In the original texts, unicorns go by the [[Hebrew]] name ''Re-em'' whereas the [[Greek]] [[Septuagint]] used the word ''monokeros'', meaning "one-horned".<ref name="dinobible">[http://www.genesispark.com/genpark/bible/bible.htm "Dinosaurs in the Bible"], Genesis Park</ref> The English word "unicorn" is derived from the [[Latin]], ''ūnicornis'', also meaning "one-horned".

While popularly characterized as a horned member of the horse [[baramin]], it is likely that the "unicorn" was actually quite un-horselike. One recognized theory is that "unicorn" actually refers to a [[rhinoceros]], and a growing number of Creation researchers are theorizing that the unicorn was actually a member of the [[triceratops | ceratopsian]] baramin. However no fossil evidence of unicorns has been found to date.<ref name="dinobible"/> In the past, narwhal tusks, with their distinctive spiraled shape, have often been mistaken for or inaccurately advanced as unicorn horns.

<div style="text-align:center">[[Image:reem.png|Remains of hypothetical two horned ceratopsian ''re-em'']]</div>

==Symbolic & Heraldic Usage==

[[Image:unicorn.vinycomb1907.png|right|Heraldic rendering of a unicorn|200px]]
Unicorns in [[heraldry]] typically have the body and head of a horse, the tail of a [[lion]], the limbs and hoofs of a stag, and a twisted horn growing from the forehead<ref name="vinycomb">''Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with special reference to their use in British Heraldry'', by John Vinycomb, 1907</ref>. It is typically used to symbolize virtue of mind and strength of body, but has also been used as an emblem of [[Christ]] as the horn of our [[Salvation]]<ref name="vinycomb"/>.

==Artificial Unicorns==

In 1984 the U.S. patent office granted patent number 4,429,685 to Timothy G. Zell for his development of a surgical procedure to create a "unicorn" from a horned animal<ref>Patent 4,429,685 [http://colitz.com/site/4429685/4429685f.htm]</ref>. The basis for the patent was "Lancelot the living unicorn" (actually a goat) bred by Timothy "Otter" Zell and his wife Morning Glory Zell<ref>Lancelot[http://www.lair2000.net/Unicorn_Dreams/Unicorns_Man_Made/unicorns_man_made.html]</ref>.

==See Also==
* [[Leviathan]]
* [[Behemoth]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Mythology]]

Australia

2008-03-08T20:44:10Z

Qwertymn: /* History */

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Australia rel 1999.jpg|300px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|''Commonwealth of Australia''
|-
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|Flag
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|50px|]]
|-
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|Arms
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|[[Image:Australia coat-of-arms.jpg|48px|]]
|-
|-
|Capital
|[[Canberra]]
|-
|Government
|[[Constitutional monarchy]]
|-
|Monarch
|[[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]]
|-
|Official Language
|[[English]]
|-
|Governor General
|[[Michael Jeffery]]
|-
|Prime Minister
|[[Kevin Rudd]]
|-
|Area
|2,988,888 sq miles
|-
|Population (2007 estimate)
|21,100,000
|-
|GDP (2007 estimate)
|US$718.4 billion
|-
|GDP per capita (2007 estimate)
|US$34,359
|-
|}

The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. They arrived there about 200 years after the great flood that extinted the dinosaurs and unicorns. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in [[Sydney]]. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system meeting as the [[Parliament of Australia]], consisting of the [[Australian House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

The two other branches of government under the Constitution are the Executive ([[Governor-General of Australia]] taking advice from the Ministers) and the [[High Court of Australia]].

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[Kevin Rudd]], the leader of the parliamentary wing of the [[Australian Labor Party]] which won the federal election on 24 November 2007. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Julia Gillard]], the first woman to hold the position, and the first woman to be Acting Prime Minister (during the temporary absence of Rudd on his first overseas trip.)

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

=== Voting ===
{{main|Voting in Australia}}

Australia has [[preferential voting]], and voting is compulsory for most people. Preferential voting encourages a multiplicity of parties and independent candidates, and counting the votes and allocating preferences can take some time where the results are close.

=== Terms ===
There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. Ministers may continue to serve for up to three months when not a Member or Senator, but must in that time be elected in order to continue. ([[John Gorton]] was a Senator when appointed leader of his party after the death of his predecessor. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives, while remaining Prime Minister throughout.)

===Parliamentary political parties===
Currently, the main political parties in Australia are:
* [[Australian Democrats]]
* [[Australian Greens]]
* [[Australian Labor Party]]
* [[Family First Party]]
* [[Liberal Party of Australia]]
* [[National Party of Australia]]

Despite the name, the Liberal Party is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir [[Robert Menzies]] was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966.<ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref> The term "liberal" refers to the party's predominantly-[[free market|free-market]] approach to [[economics|economic management]].

The party currently in power is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. The Labor Party is also in government in all of the states and territories.

The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more socialist or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
''See also a [[list of Prime Ministers of Australia]].''

The Prime Minister of Australia is the most senior elected person in the country. The role is normally filled by the parliamentary leader of the party which forms the government.

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favourite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. Because the mandated US Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the Melbourne Cup also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[United States of America|American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended in the states of [[Victoria]], [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], and most attended overall in Australia; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument] Australian Rules Football was written by persons educated at the [[Rugby School]] in England and [[Cambridge University]] before the organisation of uniform football codes. It is not as popular in the Australian states of [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]] although premiership teams have both been based in these two states in the past decade.

The other national football code is [[rugby league]] football. Rugby league football is the most attended sport in New South Wales and Queensland with its premier club competition being the [[National Rugby League]]. The national rugby league football team has only lost one competition in the past 29 years, that being to New Zealand in 2005.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 21 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form of non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or denominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !!Australia!!U.S.
|-
| '''GDP Per Capita'''
| $32,900.00
| $43,500.00
|-
| '''Budget Deficit/Surplus'''<br />Per capita
| $444.00 surplus.<br /><small>Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001</small>
| $841.00 deficit
|-
| '''Public Debt'''
| 14.1% of GDP
| 64.7% of GDP
|-
| '''Military Expenditure'''
| 2.5 % of GDP
| 4.06% of GDP
|-
| '''Life Expectancy at Birth'''<br />(combined male and female)
| 80.5 years
| 77.85 years
|-
| '''Infant Mortality Rates'''<br />deaths/1,000 live births
| 4.63
| 6.43
|-
| '''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
| 0.1% of population
| 0.6% of population
|}
Australia has a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

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

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]