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2012 Summer Olympics

2012-08-04T19:04:17Z

TMarlow:

The '''2012 Summer Olympic Games''', officially known as the '''Games of the XXX Olympiad''' and informally as '''London 2012''', is occurring in [[London]] from July 27 through August 12.<ref>This makes London the first city to host the Games three times - the previous occasions being in 1908 and 1948.</ref> During the Modern Olympic Games, the pagan origins of the Olympics have been replaced by [[faith]]-based achievement by the participating athletes.

Athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees are participating.<ref>Independent Olympic Athletes from [[South Sudan]], who does not yet have a National Olympic Committee, and the former Netherlands Antilles, who no longer has a National Olympic Committee due to their dissolution, will also compete under the Olympic Flag.</ref> Sports contests having the greatest political interest are (note especially the growing list of lack of [[public schools]] for the gold medalists below):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Sport
!Political issue
!Answer
|-
|Multiple
|How many athletes will do the equivalent of [[Tebowing]] after a victory? American Meb Keflezighi, who won the silver medal in the marathon in 2004, typically gives glory to [[God]] with the sign of the [[Cross]] after finishing a race.<ref>http://www.letsrun.com/2009/nycmen1101.php</ref>
|Missy Franklin, who has won the most gold medals of anyone in 2012 (tied with Michael Phelps), thanked [[God]] as one of her first comments after winning.

Gabby Douglas gave glory to God when she qualified to represent [[Team USA]], and subsequently won two gold medals.

Soccer players in the United Arab Emirates team bowed toward Mecca when they scored a goal. They did not advance to the quarterfinals.
|-
|Multiple
|Will almost no athletes from [[public school]] sports programs win any gold medals, despite how public schools spend more than $500 billion annually to teach and train [[American]]s?
|The [[lamestream media]] state that Missy Franklin, the star swimmer, is a high school student, but fail to mention that she attends ''[[Catholic]]'' school rather than [[public school]].

'''American 2012 Olympic gold medal winners (as of 8/1/2012)'''
*Private: Missy Franklin ([[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] high school), Katie Ledecky (Catholic high school)
*[[Homeschooled]]: Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Serena Williams
*College or adult: Michael Phelps,<ref>Phelps' swimming has been with a private swim club.</ref> Dana Vollmer, Vincent Hancock, Conor Dwyer, Kristin Armstrong, Nathan Adrian, Allison Schmitt, Shannon Vreeland, Kim Rhode, Ryan Lochte, Matt Grevers, Aly Raisman, Ricky Berens, Jamie Lynn Gray, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan
*[[Public school]]: Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber
*Still to categorize:
|-
|Multiple
|How many athletes will be unfairly expelled based on [[liberal]] [[censorship]] of their [[free speech]]?
|One athlete -- Greek triple-jumper Voula Papachristou -- was expelled from the Greek National team by her own country's Olympic committee '''''before it officially opened''''' based on a one-sentence joke about immigration, even though she apologized. The joke in question was this from her Twitter: "With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!" It should be noted that Papachristou apologized for the tweet.

In addition to the Greek Olympic Committee's decision on Papachristou, the IOC's own twitter-use policy has been criticized for hindering free speech. The policy, which is claimed to protect the IOC's commercial rights, goes as far as to prevent athletes from "reporting on events". According to The Globe and Mail, even a tweet such as "Won our games against China, USA. Next up, the Brazilians," could get an athlete expelled from the Games without notice. As of yet, no athletes have been expelled by the IOC for this [[social media]] [[censorship]] policy.

Lolo Jones, a pro-[[abstinence]] [[American]] hurdler, is being criticized by the [[lamestream media]] for sending out a pro-[[Second Amendment]] tweet.

The [[liberal]] thought police expelled a Swiss soccer player for tweeting that South Koreans are "retards."<ref>[[http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/07/another-racist-twitter-scandal-gets-another-olympic-athlete-boot/55197/] </ref>
|-
|Opening Ceremonies
|Will [[Overrated Sports Stars|Overrated Sports Star]] David Beckham be selected to light the Olympic cauldron?
|Beckham was not selected as the final torchbearer. He was, however, a passenger on the speedboat that carried the torch up the River Thames. He assisted in the hand-off of the torch to Sir Steve Redgrave, one of Britain's greatest Olympians. Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, stated, "He [Beckham] will be more than an ambassador given what he has done, the commitment he has given and the amount of time he has spent with us in London on this project. He was not only alongside us when we won [the right to host the Olympics], he was alongside us when we threw our hats in the ring."<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/football/9388462/London-2012-Olympics-David-Beckham-will-be-more-than-an-ambassador-at-the-Games.html London 2012 Olympics: David Beckham will be 'more than an ambassador' at the Games] telegraph.co.uk, July 10, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref>
|-
|Multiple
|will [[atheist]] nations underachieve in team sports?
|In women's soccer, France defeated Sweden in the quarterfinals and will face Japan in the semifinals. Great Britain lost to Canada in the quarterfinals.

On the men's side, Great Britain won their group with 2 wins and a draw. They will face South Korea in the quarterfinals.

Australia failed to qualify for either soccer event. This was their first time attempting to qualify out of the Asian Zone instead of the significantly weaker Oceanic Zone, so this may have been a factor. They will, however, send teams in most other team sports, since they qualify from the Oceanic Zone in those.

In women's basketball, France is 4-0, Australia is 3-1, and Great Britain is 0-4. All three are in the same six-team group, from which the top 4 advance to the quarterfinals. The French and Australians are guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals, while Britain is eliminated but will play one more group stage game.

In women's handball, Great Britain is 0-4-0 and France is 3-0-1 (W-L-D). France is guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals while Britain is eliminated, but each will play one more group stage game.

In men's basketball, Great Britain is 0-3 while Australia is 1-2. They are both in Group B. France, in Group A, is 3-1. The French will advance to the quarterfinals, as will either the Australians or Brits (but not both).

In men's volleyball, Great Britain is 0-4 while Australia is 1-3. The British are eliminated from quarterfinal contention, but will play one more group stage game.
|-
|Multiple
|Similarly, will atheist nations underachieve in general?
|Increasingly atheistic Great Britain did not win its first gold medal until Day 5 (August 1), because few of the medal competitions in which GB is strong (rowing, cycling, canoeing especially) were competed for until Day 5. China, an officially atheist and communist country, leads the standings with 13 gold medals. Despite having more than three times the population of the United States and despite having a national program designed to produce champion athletes, China is trailing the USA in total medals (24-23) part of the way into Day 5, and has 13 gold medals to the United States's 9. Somewhat atheistic France is a distant third in total golds with 4. Australia has 1 gold and 6 total medals.

Update: China and USA both have 24 golds but China has more medals overall and more silvers. Britain is third with 11 golds, and 26 overall.
|-
|wrestling
|have [[feminist]] [[Title IX quotas]] destroyed the [[U.S.]] team?
|TBA
|-
|men's basketball
|will selfless play by outspoken [[Christian]] [[Kevin Durant]] overcome ball-hogging by [[Overrated Sports Stars|Overrated Sports Star]]s [[Kobe Bryant]] and [[LeBron James]] on [[USA Basketball]]?
|After a slow start, the United States beat France 98-71 in their first game. LeBron James had 9 points in 25 minutes, while Kobe Bryant was limited to 12 minutes but scored 10 points. Kevin Durant led all players from both teams with 22 points. In their third game, the United States blew out Nigeria, 156-83, setting records for points scored and margin of victory. Durant, Bryant, and LeBron all received limited minutes due to the blowout. Durant scored 14 points in 17 minutes, James scored 6 points in 11 minutes, and Bryant scored 16 points in 11 minutes.
|-
|men's tennis
|will one of the [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars|Greatest Conservative Sports Stars]] -- such as Novak Djokovic -- win the gold medal? Will [[Andy Murray]] of atheistic Britain underperform?
|Both players advanced to the semifinals, where Murray defeated Djokovic in straight sets. Murray will face Roger Federer of Switzerland for the gold, while Djokovic will face Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina for the bronze.
|-
|8-month pregnant athlete
|Will the [[lamestream media]] report on Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi of Malaysia, who is competing while being 8 months pregnant, or does that send too [[pro-life]] of a message?
|Taibi was eliminated from the Olympics on the first day of official competition after finishing in 34th place. Few articles mentioned her prior to her elimination; there was more publicity about her after her defeat.<ref>[http://blog.sfgate.com/olympics/2012/07/28/pregnant-shooter%E2%80%99s-olympics-end-after-34th-place-finish-in-qualifying/ Pregnant shooter’s Olympics end after 34th-place finish in qualifying] sfgate.com, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref><ref>[http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/shooting/story/Pregnant-Malaysian-shooter-does-baby-proud-at-London-Olympics-072812 Pregnant shooter does baby proud] foxsports.com, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/shooting/story/2012-07-28/pregnant-shooter-nur-suryani-mohd-taibi-malaysia-misses-final/56551354/1 Pregnant shooter misses final, treasures experience] usatoday.com, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/28/london-2012-pregnant-shooting London 2012: 'Be quiet, mummy's shooting,' says pregnant competitor] guardian.co.uk, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref> The New York Times ran an article on the athlete on 16 July 2012,<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/sports/olympics/17iht-oly17.html?_r=1] </ref> The Guardian <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/28/london-2012-pregnant-shooting]</ref> and ESPN <ref>[http://www.espnstar.com/olympics/shooting/news/detail/item832224/Nur-Suryani-off-target-in-London/]</ref> both reported on her results in the competition.
|-
|women's soccer
|ranked #1 and won the gold in the last two Olympics, most recently with a foreign coach. Now that this [[U.S.]] team is [[politically correct]], will it underachieve?<ref>A foreigner, reportedly a lesbian, was selected as the head coach of the already champion American Olympic women's soccer team in 2007, and in the following year that team repeated its gold medal-winning performance of 2004. Aren't there American, although perhaps not politically correct, soccer coaches good enough to run the Olympic team?</ref> Major rivals will be Japan, Brazil and France.
|Went 3-0 in their group to advance to the quarterfinals, where they beat New Zealand 2-0. They will face Canada in the semifinals.
|-
|Gun events
|Will the [[lamestream media]] downplay the gun events because they want to continue to push [[gun control]]?
|Great Britain shooter Peter Wilson's gold medal success in the double-trap clay pigeon event was widely reported and celebrated in the British media, despite Britain being strong in favor of gun control. The victory of South Korean air pistol shooter Jin in winning the first gold medal of the games was reported in most GB media. Coverage is similar to other sports with modest national following. See the entry above on the Malaysian shooter for an exception to this lack of coverage.
|-
|Openly [[homosexual]] athletes
|Will the [[liberal media]] overpromote [[homosexual]] athletes, far beyond their achievements?
|Several months before the games, ''Sports Illustrated'' ran a feature article entitled "The Transgender Athlete", which included significant overage of a transgender female-to-male shotputter attempting to qualify for the United States women's Olympic team. However, she failed to qualify at the US Olympic Trials, and as such has not received coverage during the actual Olympics.
|-
|Multiple
|Will countries that have implemented same-sex marriage underperform? (See below for a more lengthy explanation)
|Too early to tell. All countries are below their expected total (see chart below) so far, but this would be expected since so few events have been completed. Here is how much each nation should be expected to win, based on the chart below, and their actual totals so far. All expected totals are rounded to the nearest whole number. The overall total may not be equal to the sum of the individual expected totals due to this rounding. Also, the actual totals will not be meaningful one way or the other until more events have been completed.
: Argentina - 5 expected, 0 actual
: Belgium - 7 expected, 2 actual
: Canada - 23 expected, 9 actual
: Denmark - 4 expected, 5 actual
: Iceland - 0 expected, 0 actual
: Netherlands - 11 expected, 6 actual
: Norway - 6 expected, 2 actual
: Portugal - 3 expected, 0 actual
: South Africa - 5 expected, 4 actual
: Spain - 20 expected, 3 actual
: Sweden - 7 expected, 3 actual
: Total - 92 expected, 32 actual
|-
|Men's Handball
|Will heavy underdogs [[Tunisia]] overperform in Group A? Group A should perhaps be dubbed the "Group of Left", since the other five teams are Sweden, Iceland, and Argentina, where same-sex marriage is legal, and increasingly atheistic Great Britain and France.
|Tunisia is currently 1-3, their one win coming against Great Britain. They will face Argentina in their final game. They will not finish last in their group because they will probably beat GB, where handball is almost non-existent as a sport.
|-
|}

(add more)

== Nations that have implemented [[same-sex marriage]] ==

===[[Argentina]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Argentina's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 1 || 3 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 3 || 3 || 1 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 3 || 1 || 0 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 3 || 3 || 1 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 1 || 2 || 2 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1956 Melbourne/Stockholm || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 0 || 2 || 1 || 3
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 0 || 2 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 2 || 0 || 4 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 2 || 0 || 4 || 6
|-
|align=left| July 22, 2010 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total || 17 || 23 || 26 || 66
|}

===[[Belgium]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Belgium's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 5 || 5 || 5 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 1 || 5 || 2 || 8
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp (host) || 14 || 11 || 11 || 36
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 3 || 7 || 3 || 13
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 2 || 2 || 0 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1956 Stockholm/Melbourne || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 2 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 2 || 0 || 1 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 1 || 1 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 2 || 2 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| January 30, 2003 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 1 || 0 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 1 || 1 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 37 !! 51 !! 51 !! 139
|}

===[[Canada]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Canada's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| ''1896 Athens'' || colspan=4|''did not compete''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 1 || 0 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || 4 || 1 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 3 || 3 || 10 || 16
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 3 || 2 || 3 || 8
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 3 || 3 || 3 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 0 || 3 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 4 || 4 || 7 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 2 || 5 || 8 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 1 || 3 || 5 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 1 || 2 || 0 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1956 Stockholm/Melbourne || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 1 || 2 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal (host) || 0 || 5 || 6 || 11
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || colspan=4|''did not compete''
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 10 || 18 || 16 || 44
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 3 || 2 || 5 || 10
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 7 || 4 || 7 || 18
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 3 || 11 || 8 || 22
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 3 || 3 || 8 || 14
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 3 || 6 || 3 || 12
|-
|align=left| July 20, 2005 || colspan=4|''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 3 || 9 || 6 || 18
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
!| Total || 58 || 94 || 108 || 260
|}

===[[Denmark]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Denmark's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || 1 || 2 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 1 || 3 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 1 || 6 || 5 || 12
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 3 || 9 || 1 || 13
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 2 || 5 || 2 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 3 || 1 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 5 || 7 || 8 || 20
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1956 Melbourne/Stockholm || 1 || 2 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 2 || 3 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 1 || 4 || 3 || 8
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 1 || 0 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 2 || 1 || 2 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 2 || 1 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 1 || 1 || 4 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 4 || 1 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 2 || 3 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 2 || 0 || 6 || 8
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7
|-
|align=left| June 15, 2012 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 41 !! 63 !! 66 !! 170
|}

===[[Iceland]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Iceland's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1956 Melbourne/Stockholm || 0 ||1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| June 27, 2010 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 0 !! 2 !! 2 !! 4
|}

===[[Netherlands]]<ref>Although part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, [[Aruba]] competes separately at the Olympic Games. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Aruba, although marriages performed in the European mainland Netherlands are recognized per the Kingdom's requirements. Additionally, the territories of Curacao and Sint Maarten, who will compete as "Independent Olympic Athletes" under the Olympic Flag following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and the loss of recognition of their Olympic Committee, have the same regulations as Aruba with regards to same-sex marriage. Since citizens of these territories are also Dutch citizens, they are also eligible to compete for Team Netherlands. Therefore, they may have won some of the Dutch medals. In all three territories, the population is heavily Catholic and there is large opposition to same-sex marriage in spite of the Kingdom's requirements. When Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba opted to integrate fully with the Netherlands as part of the dissolution, the Dutch House of Representatives passed a law that will make same sex-marriage legal in those territories effective in October 2012. However, this law was strongly opposed by locals. Athletes from those three territories were permitted to compete as Independent Olympic Athletes as well. However, of the four IOAs at the Olympics, three are from Curacao and one is a marathoner from South Sudan, which does not yet have a national Olympic Committee.</ref>===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+The Netherland's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 0 || 1 || 3 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 0 || 0 || 3 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 4 || 2 || 5 || 11
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 4 || 1 || 5 || 10
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam (host) || 6 || 9 || 4 || 19
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 2 || 5 || 0 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 6 || 4 || 7 || 17
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 5 || 2 || 9 || 16
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 0 || 5 || 0 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1956 Stockholm/Melbourne || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 2 || 4 || 4 || 10
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 3 || 3 || 1 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 3 || 1 || 1 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 5 || 2 || 6 || 13
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 2 || 2 || 5 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 2 || 6 || 7 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 4 || 5 || 10 || 19
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 12 || 9 || 4 || 25
|-
|align=left| April 1, 2001 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 4 || 9 || 9 || 22
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 7 || 5 || 4 || 16
|-
|align=left| 2012 Summer Olympics|2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 71 !! 79 !! 96 !! 246
|}

===[[Norway]]===
===[[Portugal]]===
===[[South Africa]]===
===[[Spain]]===
===[[Sweden]]===

Underachievement by nations allowing same sex marriage will be particularly evident.<ref>In the [[United States]], 6 out of 50 states permit same-sex marriage (Washington, D.C. also permits same-sex marriage), and 8 additional states permit civil unions. Two states (including Washington, which had previously recognized civil unions) have declared same-sex marriage legal, but implementation is postponed until after voter referendums on the laws in November 2012. Additionally, in [[Mexico]], same-sex marriage is legal in Mexico City, a federal district roughly equivalent to Washington, DC, as well as in the state of Quintana Roo. </ref>

== Nations that are increasingly [[atheist]]ic ==

*[[Britain]]
*[[France]]
*[[Australia]]<ref> Since the 2001 Australians have increasingly answered "no religion" in the official census. The growing numbers of those answering "no religion" has coincided with fewer people self-identifying as Christian: [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/636F496B2B943F12CA2573D200109DA9?opendocument Year Book Australia, 2008]</ref>

Underachievement by atheistic nations will be particularly evident in the '''''team''''' sports, where spiritual motivation is usually non-existent. Expect the atheistic nations to underachieve most notably in soccer, where teamwork is paramount.

Also, since Great Britain is the host nation, it may receive a boost in performance in spite of its increasingly atheistic nature. One should be careful to account for this when comparing Britain's performance this year to that in previous Olympic Games.

== Winners ==

=== Individual Events ===

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Athlete
!Achievement
!Religion, or Atheist?
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|}

=== Team Events ===

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Event
!Country
!Religious Category
|-
|Women's 4x100m Freestyle (Swimming)
|Australia
|Increasingly Atheistic
|-
|Men's Team Archery
|Italy
|Christian
|-
|Women's Team Archery
|South Korea
|Atheistic
|-
|Men's 4x100m Freestyle (Swimming)
|France
|Increasingly Atheistic
|-
|Women's Synchronized 3m Springboard (Diving)
|China
|Buddhist
|-
|Men's Synchronized 10m Platform (Diving)
|China
|Buddhist
|-
|Men's Artistic Team All-round (Gymnastics)
|China
|Buddhist
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|}

==Expected Medals==

There are many factors that contribute to a countries success in the Olympics (population, proximity host country, culture) and [[Gross Domestic Product]] cannot be used as a fair proxy, due to low-GDP China comfortably coming first in the 2008 Olympics and Russia ranking third. Below is how the Olympic medals would be awarded if each country earned medals in proportion to their GDP, which vastly overestimates the United States' performance.

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Country
!Expected Medals
|-
|Afghanistan
|0.2
|-
|Albania
|0.2
|-
|Andorra
|0.1
|-
|Antigua and Barbuda
|0
|-
|Angola
|1.2
|-
|Algeria
|2.3
|-
|Argentina
|5.3
|-
|Armenia
|0.1
|-
|Aruba
|0
|-
|Australia
|16.2
|-
|Austria
|5.4
|-
|Azerbaijan
|0.7
|-
|Bahamas
|0.1
|-
|Bangladesh
|1.4
|-
|Barbados
|0
|-
|Burundi
|0
|-
|Belgium
|6.7
|-
|Belize
|0
|-
|Benin
|0.1
|-
|Bermuda
|0.1
|-
|Bhutan
|0
|-
|Bolivia
|0.3
|-
|Bosnia-Herzegovina
|0.2
|-
|Bahrain
|0.3
|-
|Botswana
|0.2
|-
|Belarus
|0.8
|-
|Brazil
|29.9
|-
|Virgin Islands
|0
|-
|Bulgaria
|0.7
|-
|Burkina Faso
|0.1
|-
|Cameroon
|0.3
|-
|Cambodia
|0.2
|-
|Canada
|22.6
|-
|Cayman Islands
|0
|-
|Central African Republic
|0
|-
|Chad
|0.1
|-
|Chile
|3
|-
|China
|98.8
|-
|Taiwan
|7.2
|-
|Colombia
|4.1
|-
|Comoros
|0
|-
|Cape Verde
|0
|-
|Congo
|0.2
|-
|Cook Islands
|0
|-
|Costa Rica
|0.5
|-
|Cote-d´lvoire
|0.3
|-
|Croatia
|0.9
|-
|Cuba
|0.9
|-
|Cyprus
|0.4
|-
|Czech Republic
|2.8
|-
|Denmark
|4.4
|-
|Djibouti
|0
|-
|Dominica
|0
|-
|Dominican Republic
|0.7
|-
|Ecuador
|0.8
|-
|Egypt
|3.1
|-
|El Salvador
|0.3
|-
|Equatorial Guinea
|0.2
|-
|Eritrea
|0
|-
|Estonia
|0.3
|-
|Ethiopia
|0.4
|-
|Fiji
|0
|-
|Finland
|3.4
|-
|France
|39.8
|-
|Gabon
|0.2
|-
|Gambia
|0
|-
|Germany
|47
|-
|Ghana
|0.4
|-
|United Kingdom
|32.4
|-
|Guinea-Bissau
|0
|-
|Georgia
|0.2
|-
|Greece
|4.3
|-
|Grenada
|0
|-
|Guam
|0
|-
|Guatemala
|0.6
|-
|Guinea
|0.1
|-
|Guyana
|0
|-
|Haiti
|0.1
|-
|Honduras
|0.2
|-
|Hong Kong
|3.2
|-
|Hungary
|1.8
|-
|Iceland
|0.2
|-
|India
|24.7
|-
|Indonesia
|10.1
|-
|Iran
|4.7
|-
|Iraq
|1.2
|-
|Ireland
|3
|-
|Italy
|29.5
|-
|Israel
|3.1
|-
|Jamaica
|0.2
|-
|Japan
|78.2
|-
|Jordan
|0.4
|-
|Kazakhstan
|2.3
|-
|Kyrgyzstan
|0.1
|-
|Kenya
|0.4
|-
|South Korea
|14.8
|-
|North Korea
|0.4
|-
|Kuwait
|2
|-
|Laos
|0.1
|-
|Latvia
|0.4
|-
|Saint Lucia
|0
|-
|Lebanon
|0.5
|-
|Lesotho
|0
|-
|Libya
|0.9
|-
|Lichtenstein
|0.1
|-
|Luxembourg
|0.8
|-
|Macedonia
|0.1
|-
|Madagascar
|0.1
|-
|Malawi
|0.1
|-
|Malaysia
|3.3
|-
|Moldova
|0.1
|-
|Marshall Islands
|0
|-
|Maldives
|0
|-
|Malta
|0.1
|-
|Mali
|0.1
|-
|Mauritania
|0.2
|-
|Mauritius
|0.1
|-
|Mexico
|16.2
|-
|Micronesia
|0
|-
|Monaco
|0.1
|-
|Montenegro
|0.1
|-
|Mongolia
|0.1
|-
|Morocco
|1.3
|-
|Mozambique
|0.1
|-
|Myanmar
|0.7
|-
|Namibia
|0.2
|-
|Nepal
|0.2
|-
|Netherlands
|11.2
|-
|New Zealand
|1.8
|-
|Nicaragua
|0.1
|-
|Niger
|0.1
|-
|Niger
|0.1
|-
|Norway
|5.9
|-
|Oman
|0.7
|-
|Pakistan
|2.4
|-
|Palau
|0
|-
|Panama
|0.4
|-
|Papua New Guinea
|0.1
|-
|Paraguay
|0.3
|-
|Peru
|2.3
|-
|Philippines
|2.9
|-
|Poland
|6.7
|-
|Portugal
|3.3
|-
|Puerto Rico
|1.4
|-
|Qatar
|1.4
|-
|Romania
|2.3
|-
|Rwanda
|0.1
|-
|Saint Lucia
|0
|-
|Saint Kitts and Nevis
|0
|-
|Samoa
|0
|-
|San Marino
|0
|-
|Saudi Arabia
|6.2
|-
|Seychelles
|0
|-
|Sierra Leone
|0
|-
|Senegal
|0.2
|-
|Slovenia
|0.7
|-
|Solomon Islands
|0
|-
|South Africa
|5.2
|-
|Sri Lanka
|0.7
|-
|Slovakia
|1.3
|-
|Swaziland
|0.1
|-
|Serbia
|0.6
|-
|Singapore
|3
|-
|Spain
|20.2
|-
|Sudan
|0.9
|-
|Suriname
|0
|-
|Syria
|0.8
|-
|Sweden
|6.6
|-
|Switzerland
|7.6
|-
|Tanzania
|0.3
|-
|Tonga
|0
|-
|Thailand
|4.6
|-
|Togo
|0
|-
|Trinidad and Tobago
|0.3
|-
|Tajikistan
|0.1
|-
|Timor-Leste
|0
|-
|Turkmenistan
|0.3
|-
|Tunisia
|0.6
|-
|Turkey
|10.5
|-
|Tuvalu
|0
|-
|Uganda
|0.2
|-
|Ukraine
|2
|-
|United Arab Emirates
|4.3
|-
|United States
|209
|-
|Uruguay
|0.6
|-
|Uzbekistan
|0.6
|-
|Vanuatu
|0
|-
|Venezuela
|5.6
|-
|Vietnam
|1.5
|-
|Yemen
|0.4
|-
|Zambia
|0.2
|-
|Zimbabwe
|0.1
|-
|}

== Commemoration ==

The 2012 games mark the 40th anniversary of 11 [[Israeli]] Olympic team members taken hostage and killed by [[Palestinian]] [[terrorist]] group Black September. The Internal Olympic Committee has been urged to offer a commemorative moment of silence for the athletes at the opening ceremony. The IOC has rejected the moment of silence or any mention of the tragic event so as not to upset [[Muslim]] countries. <ref>[http://www.eju.org/news/world/ioc-refuses-request-memorial-munich-victims IOC refuses request for a memorial to Munich victims, EJU News, may 22, 2012]</ref> Sportscaster Bob Costas says NBC will honor the Munich 11 despite IOC’s refusal to allow it. <ref>[http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/21/bob-costas-says-he-will-observe-moment-of-silence-for-victims-of-1972-munich-massacre-during-live-broadcast-of-london-olympics-opening-ceremony-despite-iocs-refusal-to-allow-it/ Bob Costas Says He Will Observe Moment of Silence For Victims of 1972 Munich Massacre, WeaselZippers, July 21, 2012]</ref>

== NBC Coverage ==

Scorn for Comcast's [[NBC]] coverage of the Olympic games hit America coast to coast. Viewers have taken to the internet with the trend #NBCfail for days now. The groans began at the opening ceremony when [[American]] viewers were denied the tribute to British victims of [[Islamic]] terrorism. As the games moved forward, live events were interrupted or had already finished, replaced with commercials and NBC commentators talking about the athletes. It has been reported the Comcast spent $1 billion for the rights to televise the 2012 Olympics.

== See also ==

*[http://www.london2012.com/schedule-and-results/ Schedule and Results]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Olympics]]

AFL-CIO

2012-06-15T21:27:00Z

TMarlow:

The '''AFL-CIO''' (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) is a [[liberal]] organization of 55 national and international [[labor union]]s. The AFL-CIO is a coalition partner of the liberal coalition [[America Votes]]. <ref>[http://www.americavotes.org/site/partner_summaries/ America Votes - Partners]</ref>

The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to the United States. <ref>[http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/mission/ What We Stand for: Mission and Goals of the AFL-CIO]</ref>

==Support for Democrats==
The AFL-CIO gives money directly to the Democrats and 527 liberal organizations.
<ref>[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YWZmNTg4NzAyYjQ2NzI3MmNmZWUxNzdhZjJkMDRmZWU= The Democrats’ Financiers]</ref>

==see also==
* [[American labor unions]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External Links==
*http://www.aflcio.org/ Official Website
*http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/unions/ Unions Affiliated with the AFL-CIO

[[Category:Labor Unions]]

University of Cambridge

2012-05-27T18:59:27Z

TMarlow: it isn't called 'Peterhouse College', it's just called 'Peterhouse'

The '''[[University]] of Cambridge''' commonly referred to as '''Cambridge University''' or simply '''Cambridge''' is an institution of higher learning based in [[Cambridge]], [[England]], and the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. It is particularly renowned for its engineers. Cambridge was established in 1209 [http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/pubs/history/records.html] by scholars fleeing the hostility of the townsmen in [[Oxford]], the historical reason for the rivalry between the two Universities.

Cambridge operates under a collegiate system, and is a confederation of colleges, faculties, and institutions[http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/pubs/works/]. The University administration is relatively small compared to the size of the University. Many functions that are normally carried out by the central university bureaucracy in other universities are carried out by the colleges as at Oxford University. The functions of the colleges include teaching and research. Some colleges are for specific groups; for example, Lucy Cavendish and Newnham college are for women only, while St Edmund's and Wolfson college are for mature students. Degrees are however conferred by the University. A person with a degree from Cambridge can put ''Cantab.'' after their name and degree, ''Cantab.'' being short for ''Cantabrigian'' (from the Latin name for the city, which is ''Cantabrigia''.)

The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge collectively are often known as "Oxbridge". Historically, these two universities are regarded as the top English universities. They are therefore notoriously hard to get into, with an average application:place ratio of 5:1. Oxbridge are also amongst the few in the UK that require candidates for all subjects to be interviewed before an offer is made. There are many myths about tutors asking candidates highly unusual questions.

==List of colleges==
The following is a list of Cambridge colleges as of 2008.[http://www.cam.ac.uk/colleges/]

*Christ's College
*Churchill College
*Clare College
*Clare Hall
*Corpus Christi College
*Darwin College
*Downing College
*Emmanuel College
*Fitzwilliam College
*Girton College
*Gonville and Caius College
*Homerton College
*Hughes Hall
*Jesus College
*Lucy Cavendish College
*King's College
*Magdalene College
*Murray Edwards College (formerly New Hall)
*Newnham College
*Pembroke College
*Peterhouse
*Queen's College
*Robinson College
*St. Catharine's College
*St. Edmund's College
*St. John's College
*Selwyn College
*Sidney Sussex College
*Trinity College
*Trinity Hall
*Wolfson College

==External links==
*[http://www.cam.ac.uk University of Cambridge]

[[Category:British Universities]]
[[Category:British History]]

William Shakespeare

2012-05-26T17:35:12Z

TMarlow:

[[Image:Foliou.jpg|right|thumb|[[portraits|Engraving]] of William Shakespeare on the cover of the First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of his plays]]
'''William Shakespeare''' (1564-1616) is generally regarded as the greatest English language playwright--indeed, the greatest English language writer''--of all time. Many of his plays are required reading in school curricula throughout the English-speaking world and beyond; those taught in schools often include ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', ''[[Macbeth]]'', ''[[A Midsummer-Night's Dream]]'' and ''[[Hamlet]]''.

* "Shakespeare is the secular [[canon]], or even the secular [[scripture]]."<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981571-2,00.html#ixzz13lnUzy40 Hurrah for Dead White Males! - TIME]</ref>

Shakespeare wrote 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 10 historical plays, 154 love [[sonnet]]s, and several other works of non-dramatic poetry. All his plays are freely available on the internet.<ref>[http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/ Shakespeare]</ref>

Shakespeare spent his early years in Stratford-upon-Avon, [[Warwickshire]] and is also known as "the Bard of Avon." Because of sharing the name "Stratford," the towns of Stratford, Ontario, in Canada and Stratford, Connecticut, have become the homes of Shakespeare festivals where his plays are performed on a regular basis.

Shakespeare did not become famous until late in his life and few details are known about his early life. Although no attendance records remain, it is believed that he attended Stratford-Upon-Avon Grammar School, where he would have received a sound education in the Latin and Greek classics, reflected in many of his plays. The social class from which he came could be described as wealthy tradesmen. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove-maker who became mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon despite almost certainly being a Roman Catholic (in the early part of the reign of Elizabeth I, penalties against Catholics were light and often not imposed). His mother, Mary Arden, the daughter of a farmer, was certainly Catholic. William Shakepeare himself knew many of the Warwickshire Catholic gentry who later led the Gunpowder Plot to overthrow King James VI. Shakespeare himself did not adhere publicly to the Roman religion and it is not known if, like many Catholics, he practised it in private.<ref> ''In Search of Shakespeare'', by Michael Wood. BBC Books, 2003.</ref> There are few pictures of him but his near-contemporary as a playwright, Ben Jonson, stated that the famous engraving by Martin Droeshout, shown on this page, was a good likeness.

The idea of an ill-educated (to his contemporaries) person coming among them and making a success was upsetting to the University-educated playwrights of the time. It is believed that the poet, Philip Green, was referring to Shakespeare when he wrote
{{cquote|There is an upstart crow beautified with our feathers
that, with his '''tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide'','
supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse
as the best of you; being an absolute Johannes Factotum,
in his conceit the only ''shake-scene'' in a country.}}
The 'tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide' is a reference to one of Shakespeare's plays, ''[[The Third Part of King Henry VI]]'',<ref>''Great Books, Shakespeare: I'', Edited by Mortimer J. Adler, 1952.</ref> while 'shake-scene' is a pun or play on words on Shakespeare's name.

His plays seem to show so much education and erudition that many theories have arisen that those works were written by someone else. Famous candidates include [[Christopher Marlowe]], the [[Oxfordian|Earl of Oxford]] and Sir [[Francis Bacon]]. Most scholars reject these theories, but there are enough questions that new theories of Shakespearean authorship continue to arise.

A long-standing theatrical [[superstition]] holds that it is bad luck to refer to ''Macbeth'' directly by its name while inside a theatre, and accordingly, actors traditionally refer to it obliquely as "the Scottish play." It is considered acceptable to voice the play's name only while rehearsing or performing the production itself.

Because Shakespeare's plays are so familiar, there are innumerable references to them in English literature. Sometimes his stories are recast into a different form. The musical ''West Side Story'' is a retelling of ''Romeo and Juliet,'' and the classic science-fiction movie ''Forbidden Planet'' is a transformed version of ''The Tempest.''

The reverence in which Shakespeare is held, and the archaic language of his plays (from the same era as the King James translation of the Bible) should not obscure the fact that his plays were (and still are) fabulously successful.

He is also famous for his 154 [[sonnet]]s, short poems written in a very strict [[rhyme scheme]]. The sonnets fall into series or sequences. Most of them are usually read as expressions of romantic or platonic love; some appear to be written to a married woman known in the sonnets as the "Dark Lady," some to a young man known as the "Fair Lord."

Considering his major themes, Shakespeare is undoubtedly a conservative figure by today's standards. Major conservative themes in his works include the sacred nature of the familial structure in [[King Lear]], the recognition of God in his plays and personal life, the existence of necessary war in ''[[The Famous Life of King Henry V]]'', and the exposed injustice of taxation in [[Coriolanus]]. Not surprisingly, modern [[liberal]] literary critics often ignore these themes because of their place on the modern political spectrum.

Shakespeare wrote in his will, "I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting."<ref>[http://www.bardweb.net/will.html Shakespeare's Last and Testament]</ref>

His tomb in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England, reads as follows:<ref>[http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-04-23&view=View American minute for April 23]</ref>
{{cquote|Good Friend For Jesus Sake Forbeare, To Digg The Dust Enclosed Heare. Blese Be Ye Man Spares Thes Stones, And Curst Be He Moves My Bones.}}

== List of Plays by Shakespeare<ref>[http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/bibliography/bibliography.htm Bibliography]</ref> ==

=== Comedies ===
[[File:Shakespeare f. Reuters.jpg|right]]
*''[[Two Gentlemen of Verona]]'' (1589)
*''[[The Comedy of Errors]]'' (1589)
*''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' (1593)
*''[[Love's Labour's Lost]]'' (1594)
*''[[A Midsummer-Night's Dream]]'' (1595)
*''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' (1596)
*''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]'' (1597)
*''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' (1598)
*''[[As You Like It]]'' (1599)
*''[[Twelfth Night]]'' (1601)
*''[[All's Well That Ends Well]]'' (1602)
*''[[Measure for Measure]]'' (1603)
*''[[Pericles, Prince of Tyre]]'' (1607)
*''[[Cymbeline]]'' (1609)
*''[[The Winter's Tale]]'' (1609)
*''[[The Tempest]]'' (1610)
*''[[The Two Noble Kinsmen]]'' (1613)

=== Histories ===
*''[[The Life and Death of King John]]'' (1590)
*''[[The First Part of King Henry VI]]'' (1590)
*''[[The Second Part of King Henry VI]]'' (1592)
*''[[The Third Part of King Henry VI]]'' (1593)
*''[[The Tragedy of King Richard III]]'' (1593)
*''[[The Tragedy of King Richard II]]'' (1595)
*''[[The First Part of King Henry IV]]'' (1596)
*''[[The Second Part of King Henry IV]]'' (1597)
*''[[The Famous Life of King Henry V]]'' (1599)
*''[[The Famous Life of King Henry VIII]]'' (1613)

=== Tragedies ===
*''[[Titus Andronicus]]'' (1591)
*''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' (1594)
*''[[Julius Caesar (Play)|Julius Caesar]]'' (1599)
*''[[Troilus and Cressida]]'' (1600)
*''[[Hamlet]]'' (1600)
*''[[Othello]]'' (1603)
*''[[Timon of Athens]]'' (1604)
*''[[King Lear]]'' (1605)
*''[[Macbeth]]'' (1606)
*''[[Coriolanus]]'' (1608)
*''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'' (1608)

== Trivia ==
* "Shakespeare" was spelled many ways before English spelling was standardized. Some of the more unexpected forms are "Shaxper," "Shaxberd," "Shaksper," and "Shake-Speare". The hyphenated version adding fuel to the ongoing Shakespeare authorship question.<ref>[http://shakespeare-authorship.com Shakespeare authorship]</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Leo Tolstoy]]
*[[Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra]]

== External links ==

*[http://books.mirror.org/gb.shakespeare.html An Index to Online Great Books]

==References==
<references/>

-----

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare, William}}

[[Category:Playwrights|Shakespeare, William]]
[[category:poets|Shakespeare, William]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Renaissance]]
[[Category:Theater]]