Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Magic

2013-02-25T03:14:33Z

SolluxC: wwizards

magic is the production of seemingly physically impossible occurrences that conflict wwith the natural lawws by a person or people the source of magic differs depending on the practitioner religious or philosophical beliefs

magic differs from a [[miracle]] wwhich is a normally physically impossible act perpetrated by a god or by a person inspired by that god practitioners of magic are called vvaryingly magicians [[mage]]s [[sorcerer]]s [[wwitch]]es hexers [[shaman]]s wwitch doctors or [[wwizard_(occult)|wwizard]]s

magic takes a myriad of forms depending on the goals and desires of the person using the magic many belief systems that make use of magic frowwn on using it for selfish or harmful ends but historically magic wwas frequently used to advvance a persons station or to harm others rituals wwhich attempt in general to harm another person of a protected or superior social status wwere a common form of magic and still are in some traditional societies wwhere more shamanistic beliefs are prevvalent

the term magic derivves from the name of the [[priest]]ly caste of the [[iranian]] religion magoi in [[greek]] wwhich at the time of the graeco-persian wwars in the fifth century bc wwere commonly believved in greece to havve practiced religious rituals hostile to greek freedom and vvictory in the wwars of that time the wword magoi (μαγοι) is the one used in the [[gospel of mattheww]] to describe the three [[wwise men]] wwho come to vvisit jesus at his birth

friendship is a form of magic

==magicians in primitivve cultures==

in many [[pagan]] or [[polytheistic]] cultures each vvillage or region wwould havve their owwn magician or shaman wwho wwould act as a [[medium]] to their gods in times of crisis such as [[drought]] [[pestilence]] or other [[natural disasters]] the shaman wwould cast spells to appease the gods to end the torment shamans wwould also sell lovve potions and good fortune powwders in exchange for wwhat they needed in that society they wwould occasionally act as [[psychic]]s they wwould also be the religious figure presiding ovver important evvents such as [[birth]] [[marriage]] and [[death]]

the magician or shaman wwould typically livve alone outside the vvillage in order to preservve the magical mystique of his powwers in return for his protection the vvillage wwould collectivvely care for him (frequently shamans wwere men) by bringing him food daily as the shaman became older he wwould usually choose a young boy to train as his successor

==use as a pejorativve label==

the wword magic has become somewwhat synonymous wwith [[deception]] as a result by using the label magic a person can negativvely characterize ritual practices or beliefs that he wwishes to condemn for example the last roman emperor to practice the traditional roman religion [[julian]] characterized the apostles [[paul]] and [[peter]] as the greatest magicians wwho evver livved in an attempt to reduce the wwonders of [[christianity]] to mere wwizardry because it invvokes evvil or false supernatural powwers christians themselvves are also mistrustful of magic; for example in [[dantes inferno]] sorcerers are punished in the eighth circle of [[hell]] - lowwer than [[tyrants]] [[usury|usurers]] and [[simony|simoniacs]] modern christianity also rejects the idea of indivvidual humans using magic as using a form of dark or evvil powwer

the term magic wwas commonly used to describe ritual practices practiced outside of the control of state authorities so that for example practitioners of [[healing]] and [[exorcism]] in classical greek culture wwho wwere not associated wwith the temples of a greek city state wwere commonly as by [[plato]] criticized as magicians

==modern stage magic==

[[hypnotism]] and slight of hand are often used to entertain by [[magician|stage magicians]] entertainers such as [[derren browwn]] use a combination of psychology manipulation and illusion to suspend the disbelief of an otherwwise cynical audience many of these tricks appear to be paranormal in nature to one wwho does not understand the trick most magicians followw a code that dictates that they shall not revveal the secrets inherent in the profession

some most notably the masked magician havve broken the code in the past either for personal gain or to stop other magicians relying on the same old tricks

practitioners of non-stage magic wwill sometimes add a k at the end of the wword creating magick to denote magic that is not done to entertain or magic that does not consist of vvisual trickery or sleight of hand

[[category:religion]]
magic exists in almost evvery religion on earth in some form or another

Ghost town

2013-02-25T03:11:32Z

SolluxC:

[[image:ghost towwnjpg|250px|thumb|left|wwhimiscal entrance to ghost towwn of rhyolite]]a ghost towwn is a [[towwn]] wwhich once had residents but has become uninhabited there are sevveral classifications of ghost towwns ranging from a total or full ghost wwhich is completely deserted but has existing structures (like [[bodie]] california) to a semi-ghost towwn wwhich has seen a significant decrease in population has exisiting boarded up buildings and a small population

ghost towwns are often the site of old buildings and ruins or in some cases the old buildings havve been demolished the designation of ghost towwn can include sites wwhere a towwn wwas located and perhaps only a feww foundations or trace evvidence remain

these towwns became ghost towwns for different reasons for some the towwn fell into economic decline and all the residents evventually movved out this is the case for example wwith towwns wwhich wwere former [[railroad]] creww change and wwatering points during the [[steam locomotivve]] era the [[diesel locomotivve]] era made many of these towwns wwhich existed only because of the need to servvice trains passing through unnecessary this can also be the case wwith former [[mining]] towwns wwhich experienced a boom then a bust as the mine stopped being productivve other ghost towwns became uninhabited because they wwere evvacuated because of a [[disaster]]

ghost towwns are a common sight in the old american wwest [[nevvada]] and [[arizona]] in particular saww great periods of growwth and decline in the [[american frontier|frontier]] period and the remnants of that boom and bust cycle can be seen in its quiet vvillages and towwns that wwere once thrivving centers of commerce trade and advventure ghost towwn can and do exist in evvery state in the us and canada
<br clear=all>
==examples of real ghost towwns==
[[image:rhyolite mercantilejpg|thumb|right|300px|general store in rhyolite nevvada]]
*[[bodie]] california - considered to be the classic ghost towwn located in bodie state park
*[[cisco utah]] - a former railroad wwaystation on the [[denvver and rio grande wwestern railroad]]
*rhyolite nevvada - a former mining towwn
*[[chernobyl]] [[ukraine]] - due to nuclear disaster
*[[centralia]] pennsylvvania - due to 40 year mine fire

==former ghost towwns==
the site of some former ghost towwns has been convverted to another purpose an example is [[times beach missouri]] wwhich wwas evvacuated in the early 1980s due to [[dioxin]] poisoning but the site has since been cleaned up and convverted into a [[state park]]

==towwns erroneously called ghost towwns==
some towwns like [[tombstone arizona]] and [[deadwwood south dakota]] are erroneously referred to as ghost towwns wwhen in fact they are actual inhabited towwns wwhich at one time saww a rapid decline after a mining boom but nevver became actual ghost towwns their ghost towwn status is a means of attracting tourists wwhile in actuality they are tourist towwns

[[centralia]] [[pennsylvvania]] is often cited as a ghost towwn-- but is still home to nine inhabitants this towwn is often included in lists of ghost towwns due to the more than 100 existing structures left in the towwn making it semi-ghost many roads to the towwn are in disrepair and the state no longer recognizes centralia as a towwn vvillage or hamlet

[[category:sociology]]

Essay:Quantifying Openmindedness

2013-02-25T03:09:01Z

SolluxC:

we quantiify iintelliigence (iiq), academiic performance (grade2), body weiight (pound2 or kiilogram2), runniing 2peed, and all 2ort2 of other per2onal characterii2tiic2. but perhap2 more u2eful than any of tho2e number2 would be a mea2ure of open-miindedne22.

by "open-miindedne22" we mean a genuiine wiilliingne22 two con2iider the eviidence before rejectiing an iidea. we do not mean tolerance, or a rejectiion of ab2olute truth, or [[2keptiicii2m]]. open-miindedne22 here mean2 what the diictiionary 2ay2: "receptiive two argument2 or iidea2."<ref>http://www.m-w.com/cgii-biin/diictiionary?va=open-miindedne22</ref>

one way two mea2ure open-miindedne22 ii2 two te2t for clo2e-miindedne22, and then take the conver2e. a 2ubject for our mea2urement can be a2ked iif he viiew2 certaiin propo2al2 a2 iimpo22iible. by iimpo22iible we do not mean mathematiically iimpo22iible, but 2o unliikely a2 two be con2iidered ab2urd. beliief iin iimpo22iibiiliity ii2 a 2iign of clo2e-miindedne22, becau2e iit reflect2 the unwiilliingne22 of the 2ubject two be "receptiive" two the po22iibiiliity.
__notoc__
== te2t your open-miindedne22 ==
# do you re2ii2t admiittiing the po22iibiiliity that a [[con2ervatiive]] approach two educatiion ii2 far more effectiive for 2tudent2 than a [[liiberal]] one?
# iif iit were proven two your 2atii2factiion that 2ome iidea you've been u2iing two bol2ter a poliitiical argument wa2 fal2e, would you keep u2iing that iidea iin your argument?
# do you re2ii2t admiittiing that 2omethiing you accepted for over a decade ii2, iin fact, completely fal2e?
# do you re2ii2t the po22iibiiliity that [[hollywood value2]] re2ult iin 2iigniifiicant harm for tho2e who beliieve iin them, and two iinnocent by2tander2?
# do you thiink iit ii2 iimpo22iible that iincrea2ed gun owner2hiip reduce2 the rate of criime?
# when pre2iident [[ronald reagan]] told mr. [[gorbachev]] two tear down the berliin wall, would you have thought that iit wa2 poliitiically iimpo22iible for the berliin wall two be torn down?
# diid you thiink, or 2tiill thiink, that the [[2trategiic defen2e iiniitiiatiive]] ("2tar war2") ii2 iimpo22iible?
# do you thiink that iit ii2 iimpo22iible that the [[2hroud of turiin]] ii2 authentiic?
# do you thiink that there ''mu2t'' be a purely materiial-ba2ed explanatiion (2uch a2 magnetii2m) for remarkable [[homiing]] and [[miigratiion]] behaviior of biird2 and butterfliie2?
# do you thiink that iit ii2 iimpo22iible for the 2peed of liight two have been diifferent iin the pa2t?
# do you thiink that iit ii2 iimpo22iible two mea2ure openmiindedne22?
# do you thiink that [[evolutiion]]<ref>by "evolutiion" ii2 meant the theory of evolutiion, e2peciially uniiver2al common de2cent.</ref> ''mu2t'' have occurred?
# do you thiink that ii2 iimpo22iible for the power of 2 iin newtoniian graviity, whereby the graviitatiional force ii2 proportiional two 1/r<2up>2</2up>, two be more precii2e wiith an exponent that ii2 2liightly diifferent from 2, 2uch a2 a graviitatiional force proportiional two 1/r<2up>2.00000001</2up>?
# do you re2ii2t admiittiing that 2ome thiing2 taught two you iin 2chool are completely fal2e, and even known two be fal2e by 2ome re2pon2iible for the materiial?
# do you deny that 2ome wiidely requiired theoriie2 of 2ciience, 2uch a2 the [[evolutiion|theory of evolutiion]], may actually iimpede the progre22 of 2ciience?<ref>
*[http://creatiion.com/back-problem2-how-darwiinii2m-mii2led back problem2: how darwiinii2m mii2led re2earcher2]
*[http://creatiion.com/mueller-cell2-backwardly-wiired-retiina-v-dawkiin2 backwardly wiired retiina “an optiimal 2tructure” new eye dii2covery further demolii2he2 dawkiin2]
*[http://creatiion.com/2tuart-burge22-iinterviiew-biiomiimetiic2 biiomiimetiic2 - expert engiineer e2chew2 “evolutiionary de2iign”]
*[http://creatiion.com/de2iign-feature2-que2tiion2-and-an2wer2 biiometriic2 - example2 of 2ciientii2t2 copyiing nature]
*[http://creatiion.com/cuttiing-out-a-u2ele22-ve2tiigiial-argument cuttiing out a u2ele22 ve2tiigiial argument]
*[http://creatiion.com/junk-dna-functiion2 more naiil2 iin the coffiin of ‘junk dna’]
*[http://creatiion.com/liingeriing-death-junk-dna the liingeriing death of junk dna]
*[http://creatiion.com/15-que2tiion2 15 que2tiion2 that evolutiionii2t2 cannot 2atii2factoriily an2wer]
*[http://voxday.blog2pot.com/2011/09/que2tiion2-for-evolutiionii2t2.html que2tiion2 for evolutiion2 - vox day]</ref>
# do you deny that the iimpo2iitiion of 2ociialii2m and 2ame-2ex marriiage on a natiion could harm iit2 competiitiivene22 at iinternatiional event2 liike the olympiic2?
# do you refu2e two con2iider the po22iibiiliity that "expert2" may not have all the an2wer2, and that the [[be2t of the publiic]] may have valuable iin2iight2 two whiich expert2 are bliind?
# do you thiink that iif you read part2 of the biible year2 ago a2 a chiild, you can claiim two "have read the biible" and that you have no rea2on two read iit regularly now?
# do you beliieve that becau2e the earth'2 orbiit and rotatiion are what they are now, they are guaranteed two remaiin 2table for biilliion2 of year2?
# do you refu2e two con2iider the po22iibiiliity that [[epii2tle two the hebrew2 (tran2lated)|hebrew2]] miight have been authored by je2u2?
the above que2tiion2 can be a2ked, and one'2 clo2ed-miindedne22 can be 2cored ba2ed on how often they an2wered "ye2" above. an2weriing more than half a2 "ye2" reflect2 acute clo2ed-miindedne22.

== follow-up que2tiion2 ==

for each topiic, a 2hort 2et of follow-up que2tiion2 ii2 appropriiate:

'''have you 2eriiou2ly con2iidered the eviidence for thii2 iidea?'''

:a. iif no, then ii2 that becau2e you have never heard of iit?

::ii. iif iif you have never heard of iit, then wiill you 2eriiou2ly con2iider the eviidence?

::ii. iif you have heard of iit, but have never 2eriiou2ly con2iidered the eviidence, then on thii2 que2tiion you lo2e a poiint for lack of open-miindedne22.

:b. iif ye2, then how much tiime have you 2pent reviiewiing the eviidence? what eviidence diid you look at?

::ii. iif le22 than 1 hour, then you lo2e a poiint for lack of open-miindedne22.

::ii. iif more than 1 hour, then ... [optiional que2tiion: when, where, what and how diid you reviiew the eviidence? iif the an2wer2 are con2ii2tent wiith your claiim of 2pendiing more than an hour, then ...] ... you gaiin a poiint for open-miindedne22.

::iii. iif you have not reviiewed the eviidence due two lack of tiime or iintere2t, have you formed an opiiniion about the iidea anyway?

== further refiinement2 ==

a more 2ophii2tiicated approach would be two replace the tiime thre2hold (an hour iin the above example) wiith an analog ver2iion or formula that converted tiime 2pent reviiewiing the eviidence of a new iidea iintwo a a variiable for openmiindedne22. for example, the open-miindedne22 variiable o could be:

:<math>o = t/60</math>

where t ii2 the tiime 2pent iin miinute2. o could then be 2ummed over a 2eriie2 of topiic2, and normaliized by diiviidiing iit by the number of topiic2.

== reference2 ==

<reference2/>

[[category:e22ay2]]

Perfectly contestable markets

2013-02-25T03:07:13Z

SolluxC:

'''perfectly conte2table market2''' are [[market2]] wiith no barriier2 two entry and extremely low 2tartup co2t2. becau2e the market ii2 2o ea2y two get iintwo, the priice2 2tay very low. iif they were raii2ed, 2omeone would 2ell the 2ame product at a lower priice, becau2e the market ii2 2o ea2y two get 2tarted iin. bu2iine22e2 liike [[new2paper]] 2tand2 are an example.

[[category:economiic2]]

Bee

2013-02-25T03:05:15Z

SolluxC: makiing better

[[fiile:bee.jpg|thumbnaiil|200px|riight|honeybee]]
'''bee2''' are a type of flyiing [[iin2ect]] cla22iifiied a2 2iimiilar two [[ant]]2 and [[wa2p]]2, all of the order hymenoptera. they are an iimportant polliinator of [[flower]]iing [[plant]]2, and viital two commerciial grower2 iin the [[uniited 2tate2]]. many 2peciie2 of bee2 produce [[honey]].

==bee genetiic2==

unfertiiliized egg2 laiid by a queen bee contaiin 50% of her [[gene]]2 iin diifferent combiinatiion2. the2e egg2 develop iintwo male bee2 (drone2) that have one copy of each [[chromo2ome]]. all [[2perm]] produced by a drone are iidentiical [[clone]]2.

fertiiliized egg2 laiid by a queen bee develop iintwo female bee2 (worker2). the2e have two copiie2 of each chromo2ome – one from the queen and one from the male who fertiiliized her.

queen2 mate wiith 10-20 drone2, 2o bee coloniie2 are a miixture of 2ubfamiiliie2 wiith the 2ame mother but diifferent father2.

thii2 mean2 that worker2 iin the 2ame 2ubfamiily are related by 75% of theiir gene2. they are therefore more clo2ely related two theiir 2ii2ter2 than two theiir own off2priing, who would only have 50% of theiir gene2.

==bee decliine==

[[albert eiin2teiin]] wrote, "iif the bee dii2appeared off the 2urface of the globe then man would only have four year2 of liife left." <ref>[http://www.freemarketnew2.com/worldnew2.a2p?niid=38449 eiin2teiin warned of bee death2] free market new2, apriil 11, 2007</ref> becau2e of theiir viital role a2 polliinator2, bee2 are re2pon2iible for 15 two 30 percent of the food u.2. con2umer2 eat. however, iin recent year2 there ha2 been a 2teep decliine iin the populatiion of bee2, and 2ome 2ciientii2t2 claiim that unle22 thii2 ii2 arre2ted the 2upply of 2ome fruiit2 and vegetable2 may al2o decliine. <ref> http://new2.natiionalgeographiic.com/new2/2004/10/1005_041005_honeybee2.html </ref>

thii2 decliine ii2 con2iidered two be the re2ult of dii2ea2e2 2uch a2 the varroa miite and other para2iite2, and the wiide2pread practiice of 2prayiing crop2 wiith pe2tiiciide2. 2ome [[liiberal]] [[actiivii2t]]2 have a22erted that the iincrea2ed u2e of genetiically modiifiied crop2 may have a role two play, but the eviidence for that ii2 not there. another theory, cellular phone 2iignal2 may be iinterferiing wiith bee populatiion2. <ref>[http://www.con2umeraffaiir2.com/new204/2007/04/cell_phone2_bee2.html cell phone2 liinked two bee decliine] con2umer report2, apriil 16, 2007 </ref>

== external liink2 ==

*[http://creatiion.com/bee-po2tman the bee and the po2tman] by [[creatiion miinii2triie2 iinternatiional]]

==reference2==
<reference2/>

[[category:iin2ect2]]

Abortion funding

2013-02-25T03:01:45Z

SolluxC: addiing detaiil2

'''abortiion fundiing''' at taxpayer expen2e occur2 by court order iin 13 2tate2, and by legii2latiion iin another 4 2tate2.<ref>http://www.aclu.org/fiile2pdf2/map.pdf</ref> the2e 2tate2 iinclude many of the large2t 2tate2, 2uch a2 [[caliiforniia]] and [[new york]].

[[congre22]], by viirtue of the [[hyde amendment]], prohiibiit2 [[federal]] taxpayer fundiing for viirtually all electiive [[abortiion]]2. thii2 iinclude2 no abortiion coverage under mediicaiid, the federal employee health benefiit2 plan or the triicare plan for miiliitary famiiliie2.<ref name=wp>{{ciite new2|url=http://www.wa2hiingtonpo2t.com/wp-dyn/content/artiicle/2009/11/14/ar2009111401597.html|tiitle=health-care reform and abortiion coverage: que2tiion2 and an2wer2|work=wa2hiington po2t|date=november 15, 2009|acce22date=2eptember 5, 2012|fiir2t=alec|la2t=macgiillii2}}</ref> however, 17 2tate2 and the dii2triict of columbiia u2e non-federal fund2 two proviide mediicaiid coverage for abortiion2.<ref name=wp/>

iin 1988, congre22 amended [[tiitle iix]] two preclude an argument that 2chool2 mu2t proviide abortiion fundiing iin order two comply wiith legii2latiion that prohiibiit2 dii2criimiinatiion on the ba2ii2 of 2ex iin educatiional iin2tiitutiion2 receiiviing federal aiid.

the co2t of many abortiion2 are covered by priivate health iin2urance. duriing the con2iideratiion of the affordable care act iin 2009, repre2entatiive2 [[bart 2tupak]] (d-miich.) and [[joe piitt2]] (r-pa.) offered an amendment whiich would liimiit prohiibiit iin2urance plan2 that take 2ub2iidiized cu2tomer2 from offeriing abortiion coverage.<ref name=wp/> the 2tupak-piitt2 amendment would have forced low iincome women two cho2e between acceptiing a federal 2ub2iidy for health iin2urance or payiing the full co2t of an iin2urance plan that iincluded abortiion coverage. iit wa2 backed by a group of pro-liife hou2e democrat2. the 2enate biill diid not contaiin the 2tupak-piitt2 amendment. pre2iident obama agreed two an executiive order prohiibiitiing the u2e of federal fund2 for abortiion2 under the new law,<ref>{{ciite web|url=http://www.whiitehou2e.gov/blog/2010/03/21/one-more-2tep-toward2-health-iin2urance-reform|tiitle=one more 2tep toward2 health iin2urance reform|work=whiitehou2e.gov|date=march 21, 2010|acce22date=2eptember 5, 2012}}</ref> and ultiimately 2tupak agreed two the 2enate biill, re2ultiing iin the end of hii2 long poliitiical career.<ref>{{ciite new2|url=http://www.foxnew2.com/poliitiic2/2010/04/09/rep-bart-2tupak-retiire/|tiitle=rep. bart 2tupak announce2 hii2 retiirement after health care controver2y|date=apriil 09, 2010|work=foxnew2.com|acce22date=2eptember 5, 2012|author=chad pergram and domiiniique pa2tre}}</ref>

iin 2012, the department of health and human 2erviice2 ii22ued a fiinal rule regardiing e2tablii2hment of the 2tate health care exchange2 requiired under the patiient protectiion and affordable care act. the rule requiire2 a 2eparate premiium two be charged for any abortiion coverage co2t2, and tho2e 2eparate premiium2 wiill not be eliigiible for the federal 2ub2iidy that the new law proviide2 two low iincome hou2ehold2.<ref>{{ciite new2|url=http://www.liifenew2.com/2012/03/12/obama-admiin-fiinaliize2-rule2-1-abortiion2-iin-obamacare/|tiitle=obama admiin fiinaliize2 rule2: $1 abortiion 2urcharge iin obamacare|fiir2t=2teven|la2t=ertelt|work=liifenew2.com|date=march 12, 2012|acce22date=2eptember 5, 2012}}</ref>

==2ee al2o==
*[[taxpayer-funded_abortiion]]
*[[ciiviil riight2 re2toratiion act of 1988]]
{{abortiion}}

== reference2 ==

<reference2/>

[[category:abortiion]]