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International Criminal Court

2003-09-10T13:53:45Z

137.111.13.33:

[[es:Tribunal Penal Internacional]]
[[de:Internationaler Strafgerichtshof]]

The '''International Criminal Court''' (ICC) was established in 2003 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute and try individuals for the crime of [[genocide]], [[crimes against humanity]], and [[war crime]]s, as defined by several international agreements. The creation and existence of the court has been somewhat controversial, with the largest disagreement surrounding the source and nature of the court's jurisdiction.

The court was created in part through cooperation with the [[United Nations]] [[UN General Assembly|General Assembly]] and gives the [[UN Security Council|Security Council]] certain rights.

It opened on 11 March 2003 with the swearing in of its bench of 18 judges.

As of 5 September 2003, 92 countries are members of the treaty. Notable non-members include the [[People's Republic of China]], [[Russia]], and the [[United States]], three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

In April of 2003, Belgian attorney Jan Fermon filed suit to bring US General [[Tommy Franks]] to trial in front of the ICC for "war crimes" which he alleges the general committed during the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].

== How to bring a case to the ICC ==

Cases will be referred to the ICC by one of four methods:

#A country member of the Assembly of States Parties sends the case;
#A country that has chosen to accept the ICC's jurisdiction sends the case;
#The Security Council sends the case (subject to veto from the permanent five members); or
#The three-judge panel authorizes a case initiated by the International Prosecutor.

Even though the Court has jurisdiction over the [[crime against peace|crime of international aggression]], it will not exercise such jurisdiction until the crime has been further defined.

== Historical Background ==

The first [[international court]] to try [[war crime]]s was the International Military Tribunal (IMT) which held the [[Nuremberg Trials]], the trial of major [[Nazi]] war criminals after [[World War II]]. The [[United Nations]] [[UN General Assembly|General Assembly]] instructed the [[International Law Commission]] (ILC) to develop a code setting out the legal principles behind the IMT, which it did; the ILC also developed in the 1950s a proposal for the creation of a permanent international tribunal to try war [[crime]]s in the future, but the [[General Assembly of UN]] did not take up the proposal at the time due to the onset of the [[Cold War]].

The world did not see another international court for trying these crimes until after the Cold War ended. In response to the wars in the Former [[Yugoslavia]], and the genocide in [[Rwanda]], the [[United Nations Security Council]] established the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia]] and the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]].

== Development of the ICC ==

Subsequently, it was desired to create a permanent tribunal, so that an ''ad hoc'' tribunal would not have to be created after each occurrence of these crimes. Therefore the General Assembly requested the ILC to update its earlier proposal, which it then presented to the General Assembly.

The General Assembly called the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, in [[Rome]], Italy, where the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted, [[July 17]] [[1998]]. Almost all states participating voted in favor of the Statute; the [[United States]], [[Israel]], [[People's Republic of China]], [[Cuba]], [[Iran]], [[Libya]] and [[North Korea]] voted against. The [[United States]] and [[Israel]] went on to sign the Statute just before the deadline to do so; neither seems likely to ratify it in the near future.

The Statute became a binding treaty after it received its 60th ratification, which was deposited at a ceremony at United Nations Headquarters on 11 April 2002. In fact, ten countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ireland, Jordan, Mongolia, Niger, Romania and Slovakia) submitted their ratifications at this time, bringing the total to 66, so that no one nation would hold the honor of depositing the 60th ratification. The ICC legally came into existence on 1 July 2002. When fully constituted, the ICC will have its headquarters in [[The Hague]], [[Netherlands]]; but its Statute permits it to hold its proceedings anywhere.

The court has become operational once the signatory nations have met in the Assembly of State Parties to appoint a [[prosecutor]] and 18 [[judge]]s. The Judge-President is the [[Canadian]] [[Philippe Kirsch]] and the Vice-Presidents are Akua Kuenyenia and Elizabeth Odio Benito.

== Structure and powers ==

Countries ratifying the treaty that created the ICC grant it authority to try their citizens for [[war crime]]s, [[crimes against humanity]] and [[genocide]]. It provides for ICC jurisdiction over offences committed on the territory of a state (including crimes committed on that territory by a national of a non-state party), by a national of a state, over crimes committed by any person when granted jurisdiction by the UN Security Council, and over crimes committed by nationals of a non-state party or on the territory of a non-state party where that non-state party has entered into an agreement with the court providing for it to have such jurisdiction in a particular case.

The International Criminal Court is composed of the Court itself, divided into a number of chambers (Pre-Trial, Trial and Appellate), the Registry, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Assembly of State Parties.

Many states wanted to add "aggression", "[[terrorism]]" and drug trafficking to the list of crimes covered by the Rome Statute; however other states opposed this, on the grounds that these crimes were difficult to define, and that dealing with less serious crimes such as terrorism and drug trafficking would distract from the seriousness of the crimes the ICC was established to deal with.
As a compromise, the treaty merely brands "aggression" a crime without defining it all, pending adoption of an amendment to the Statute is defining it; it may also be amended to include other crimes. But no amendments can be made until seven years after the Statute's entry into force.

== Role of United Nations ==

The initial impetus for its establishment came from within the United Nations, and although is legally a separate entity, and not a United Nations institution, the UN has a clearly defined role towards the court even though it was established by a separate treaty between states, and not the Security Council acting under the United Nations Charter. Its relationship with the United Nations will be governed by an agreement to be entered into between the Court and the United Nations, which will likely provide mainly for Security Council referrals under the Rome Statute, and for the United Nations to pay for any prosecutions made under such a referral.

== List of States parties ==

[[As of 2003|As of 5 September 2003]], the following 92 countries have ratified or acceded to the ICC Statute: [[Afghanistan]], [[Albania]], [[Andorra]], [[Antigua and Barbuda]], [[Argentina]], [[Australia]], [[Austria]], [[Barbados]], [[Belgium]], [[Belize]], [[Benin]], [[Bolivia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Botswana]], [[Brazil]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Cambodia]], [[Canada]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Colombia]], [[Costa Rica]], [[Croatia]], [[Cyprus]], [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], [[Denmark]], [[Djibouti]], [[Dominica]], [[East Timor]], [[Ecuador]], [[Estonia]], [[Fiji]], [[Finland]], [[France]], [[Gabon]], [[Gambia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Germany]], [[Ghana]], [[Greece]], [[Guinea]], [[Honduras]], [[Hungary]], [[Iceland]], [[Ireland]], [[Italy]], [[Jordan]], [[Latvia]], [[Lesotho]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Lithuania]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Macedonia]], [[Malawi]], [[Mali]], [[Malta]], [[Marshall Islands]], [[Mauritius]], [[Mongolia (country)|Mongolia]], [[Namibia]], [[Nauru]], [[Netherlands]], [[New Zealand]], [[Niger]], [[Nigeria]], [[Norway]], [[Panama]], [[Paraguay]], [[Peru]], [[Poland]], [[Portugal]], [[Romania]], [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]], [[Samoa]], [[San Marino]], [[Senegal]], [[Serbia and Montenegro]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Slovakia]], [[Slovenia]], [[South Africa]], [[South Korea]], [[Spain]], [[Sweden]], [[Switzerland]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Tanzania]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Uganda]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Uruguay]], [[Venezuela]], [[Zambia]].

In addition to the above, there are 47 states which have signed but not ratified the treaty. Two states (the United States and Israel) initially signed the treaty, but later announced that they were withdrawing their signature. However, supporters and opponents of the treaty dispute as to whether it is legally possible for a state to withdraw its signature from a treaty. The United Nations (the treaty depositary) continues to include their names in the official list of signatories, while including their official statements of withdrawal in footnotes without comment.

== Opposition to the ICC ==

Some countries object to the court, saying that there is very little legal supervision of the court's apparatus, and that the court's verdicts may become subject to political motives. They argue that the court's mandate is already excessively wide (and will be even more so if the crime of aggression is defined in its Statue), meaning the court could (perhaps unwillingly) become a tool for [[barratry]] and pointless legal hassle. Although supporters say that the checks and balances in the ICC make this an unlikely possibility, opponents argue that giving even a temporary member of the Security Council the power to veto any objections of prosecutorial bias gives the ICC no accountability whatsoever.

Supporters would counter that the ICC's definitions are very similar to those of the [[Nuremberg trials]]. They also argue that the [[state]]s which object to the ICC are those which regularly carry out [[genocide]], [[war crime]]s and [[crimes against humanity]] in order to protect or promote their political or economic interests. It is unsurprising that [[state]]s which carry out these crimes wish to avoid being prosecuted for them.

=== US objections ===

The [[United States]], which signed but did not ratify the statute during the [[Bill Clinton]] administration, withdrew its support soon after [[George W. Bush]] assumed the presidency. It signed the ICC Statute at the last minute, primarily so that it could continue to take part in negotiations on the rules of procedure for the new court, in an attempt to obtain an exemption for US nationals taking part in UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions -- as several other countries were able to do. The US fears that American soldiers and political leaders may be subject to "frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions".

On the 6 May 2002, the United States informed the United Nations Secretary-General that "the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty. Accordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on December 31, 2000." This was widely described as "unsigning" the treaty or "withdrawing" the United States' signature, although the United States in its letter did not use that terminology, and the United Nations has not removed the name of the United States from the official list of signatories. It is important to note that signing a treaty and ratifying a treaty are not the same thing.

Many in the U.S. believe that, as the world's sole remaining superpower, the United States can move against war criminals more effectively in a unilateral fashion. They cite the following examples to support their case:

* The [[Nuremberg trials]] were convened under unilateral pressure from the [[United States]] and were presided over by [[Robert H. Jackson]], a Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]].
* The U.S.-led military actions in former [[Yugoslavia]] were responsible for the downfall and eventual arrest and indictment of [[Slobodan Milosevic]].
* The U.S.-led military actions in [[Iraq]] in [[2003]] have led to the killing, capture, or removal from power of Iraqi war criminals like "[[Chemical Ali]]" and [[Saddam Hussein]].

U.S. opponents of the ICC maintain that in cases where the U.S. failed to act quickly enough to prevent disaster (e.g. [[Rwanda]]), the U.S. has been criticized for allowing genocide to occur; in cases where the U.S. ''has'' acted quickly (e.g. [[Yugoslavia]], [[Somalia]]) they have been criticized and even accused of war crimes.

Furthermore, opponents contend that the neither the ICC nor the [[United Nations]] has any real power to enforce the extradition of war criminals from signatory states. Therefore, any kind of military action to force compliance would have to be undertaken (in large part) by the U.S., action which would expose U.S. officials to spurious charges of war crimes.

=== Israeli and Chinese objections ===

[[Israel]] initially objected to the Rome Statute because of the clause defining "the war crime of the transfer of parts of the civilian population of an occupying power into occupied territory", which it feared implied that settlement activity in the disputed territories is a "war crime" and "grave offense." [http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/ForTheRecord/un.html] Israel fears prosecution of [[Israeli settlements|Israeli settlers]], or Israeli government officials who support the policy of settlements, as "war crimes". But it did eventually sign the treaty establishing the court despite its misgivings.

The [[PRC]] has expressed opposition to even the other states involved going ahead with it, claiming that the Statute is an attempt to interfere with the domestic affairs of sovereign states.

=== Other Objections to the [[Statute]] ===

The United States' objection is that the Statute provides the court with jurisdiction over nationals of non-State parties for crimes committed on the territory of a State Party. The United States claims this amounts to the treaty binding non-State parties, and under international law only parties to a treaty can be bound by it. Supporters of the Court counter that under international law that states have the right to try foreign nationals for crimes committed on their territory; and if a state has the right to exercise jurisdiction in this case, that state can request an international organization to exercise that jurisdiction on its behalf by means of the treaty establishing that organization - traditionally in international law, international organizations are considered to be instruments through which their member states act. Providing the ICC with jurisdiction over US nationals in this case would not interfere with US sovereignty, say ICC proponents. Some have, however, argued that their territorial jurisdiction is non-delegable (see Madeline Morris, High crimes and misconceptions: the ICC and non-party states, Law and Contemporary Problems, Winter 2001 vol. 64 no. 1 p. 13ff).

Additionally, some have argued that the crimes the ICC has jurisdiction over are recognized under international law as crimes of [[universal jurisdiction]], meaning that any state may try individuals who commit these crimes, even if they are committed by foreign nationals on foreign territory. From this perspective, the State parties could therefore have authorized the ICC to exercise this universal jurisdiction on their behalf. However, not all the crimes for which the Rome Statute provides the court with jurisdiction are generally accepted as being subject to universal jurisdiction at the present time under customary international law, and some have argued that even where universal jurisdiction exists it is non-delegable (see Morris, ibid.)

=== US measures against the ICC ===

When it became clear in 2002 that the treaty creating the ICC would receive the requisite number of ratifications to enter into force, the United States began to undertake a number of measures to exempt US nationals from the Court's jurisdiction. Several supporters of the Court have described this as an attempt to "strangle it at birth".

The US tries to force other states to sign bilateral agreements with them (see below) by applying sanctions against states that are not signing these agreements. In 2003 the US stopped military aid for 35 countries (among them nine European countries). These sanctions have to be applied by a US law if a state is unwilling to sign the bilateral agreement (there are exceptions for [[NATO]]-members and allies such as Israel, Egypt, Australia and South Korea).

==== American Servicemembers Protection Act ====

In 2002, the U.S. Congress passed the [[American Servicemembers' Protection Act]] (ASPA), which contained a number of provisions, including prohibitions on the US providing military aid to countries which had ratified the treaty establishing the court; however, there were a number of exceptions to this, including NATO members, "major non-NATO allies" (such as Australia, Israel, the [[Republic of China]] on [[Taiwan]] and a number of other countries), countries which made into an agreement with the United States not to hand over US nationals to the Court (see "Article 98" agreements below). ASPA also excluded any military aid that the U.S. President certified to be in the U.S. national interest.

In addition, ASPA contained provisions prohibiting U.S. co-operation with the Court, and permitting the President to authorize military force to free any US military personnel held by the court, leading opponents to dub it "[[The Hague]] Invasion Act." The act was later modified to permit US cooperation with the ICC when dealing with US enemies.

==== United Nations Security Council Resolution 1422 ====

In July 2002, the United States threatened to use its Security Council veto to block renewal of the mandates of several United Nations peacekeeping operations, unless the Security Council agreed to permanently exempt US nationals from the Court's jurisdiction.

Initially, the US had sought to prevent personnel on UN missions being tried by any country except that of their nationality. When the other members of the Security Council rejected that approach, the United States then sought to make use of a provision of the Rome Statute, which permits the Security Council to request the ICC not to exercise its jurisdiction over a certain matter for up to one year at a time. The United States sought the Security Council to convey such a request to the ICC concerning personnel on United Nations peacekeeping and enforcement operations, and to have that request renewed automatically each year. (If it was renewed automatically each year, then another Security Council resolution would be required to cease the request, which the US could then veto--which would effectively make the request permanent.) Court supporters argued that the Rome Statute requires the request to be valid to be voted upon anew each year in the Security Council, and hence that an automatically renewing request would violate the Statute.

Other members of the Security Council opposed this United States request also. However, they were increasingly concerned about the future of peacekeeping operations. The United Kingdom eventually negotiated a compromise, whereby the US would be granted its request, but only for a period of one year, and a new Security Council vote would be required in July each year for the exclusion of peacekeepers from ICC jurisdiction to be continued. All members of the Security Council endorsed this resolution, although many did so reluctantly. The result was Security Council Resolution 1422.

NGO supporters of the Court, along with several countries not on the Security Council (including Canada and New Zealand), protested the legality of the resolution. The resolution was made under Chapter (which?) of the UN Charter, which requires a "threat to international peace or security" for the Security Council to act; ICC supporters have argued that a US threat to veto peacekeeping operations does not constitute a threat to international peace or security.

==== "Article 98" agreements ====

Article 98 of the Rome Statute provides that a country need not hand over a foreign national to the Court if it is prohibited from doing so by an agreement with that national's country. The US has attempted to use this measure to exempt its nationals from the Court's jurisdiction, by negotiating agreements with State Parties making use of Article 98.

Amnesty International and the European Commission Legal Service, along with several other groups supporting the ICC, have claimed that these agreements the US is attempting to negotiate are not valid under Article 98. They argue that the language in Article 98 is normally used in international law to refer to Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA), mission agreements and extradition treaties; hence they claim that Article 98 can only be used for these purposes, and not to create a general exclusion of another states nationals from being handed over to the ICC.

Romania and Israel (even though the later is not a party to the Statute) were the first to sign Article 98 agreements with the US. In response to Romania's action, the European Union requested that candidate countries not sign Article 98 agreements with the United States until the EU ministers had met to agree upon a common position. The US State Department called this action "inappropriate". ICC supporters countered that the United States was attempting to use issues of military aid and NATO membership to bully other countries into signing.

Finally, in October 2002, the Council of the European Union adopted a common position, permitting member states to enter into Article 98 agreements with the United States, but only concerning US military personnel, US diplomatic or consular officials, and persons extradited, sent to their territories by the United States with their permission; not the general protection of US nationals that the US sought; furthermore the common position provided that any person protected from ICC prosecution by such agreements would have to be prosecuted by the United States.

On [[December 26]], [[2002]], [[India]] became the 15th country to sign a bilateral agreement with the US under Article 98. The agreement aims to prevent the "extradition of nationals of either country to any international tribunal without the other country's express consent". In total around 50 states have [[As of 2003|up to now]] ([[July 3]], [[2003]]) signed a bilateral agreement with the US, at least seven of them signed the agreement secretly.

----

== External Links ==
* [http://www.icc.int/ Official ICC website]
* [http://www.un.org/law/icc/Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court] - United Nations website
* [http://www.iccnow.org The Coalition for the International Criminal Court]
* [http://web.amnesty.org/web/web.nsf/pages/signatures_ratifications List of signatures and ratifications of the Rome Statute]
* [http://web.amnesty.org/web/icc_petition.nsf/action_english debate - Is genocide justified in some circumstances? Can the ends justify the means?]
* [http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/general/2001/07kiss.htm The Pitfalls of Universal Jurisdiction: Risking Judicial Tryanny] By Henry Kissinger
* [http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/icc/ferencz4.html A reply to Henry Kissinger's paper] By a Nuremberg Prosecutor
* [http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/icc/ciccart98.html Why Bilateral Agreements with the U.S. are not valid under Art.98 of ICC Statute] By Derechos.org

Creationism

2003-08-09T08:45:33Z

137.111.13.33: spelling

[[de:Kreationismus]][[nl:Creationisme]][[pl:Kreacjonizm]]

In modern usage, '''creationism''' is the belief that [[God]] created the universe, and all life within it, especially with regards to mankind. Advocates of creationism call themselves ''creationists'' [http://www.bartleby.com/61/41/C0734100.html] and often call their opponents ''evolutionists''. [http://www.bartleby.com/61/65/E0256500.html]

In Christian  theology, the term ''creationism'' refers to the doctrine that each [[soul]] is created individually by [[God]]; this is as opposed to [[traducianism]], which holds that the souls of infants are derived from those of their parents (see also [[pre-existence]]). This article deals with the former, more common usage of the term.

This difference in usage can be explained by the increasing contrast with alternative views which previously did not exist. Europe specifically was dominated by religious views after the decline of the [[Roman empire]], and it was the watershed of scientific discovery and progressive thinking unleashed by the [[renaissance]] which made other explanations than purely theological ones conceivable again. The term "creationism" thus developed into an umbrella term for various '''[[creation beliefs]]''', and for non-theological justifications thereof.

There is no single set of beliefs or arguments which identifies creationism: in consequence, some of the arguments presented in support of creationist beliefs will inevitably contradict each other. Most importantly, however, most types of creationism are in direct conflict with the findings of empirical sciences like [[astronomy]], [[geology]], and [[biology]]. The view that [[life]] gradually, over millions of years, evolved from simple to ever more complex forms by means of [[mutation]] and [[natural selection]], commonly referred to as biological [[evolution]], is claimed by these creationists to have no empirical support.

== Creationism vs. evolution ==

Historically, the "creationism vs. evolution" debate began when [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] published their independent observations on evolutionary mechanisms in 1858 and 1859. Darwin's ''[[The Origin of Species]]'' would soon become the focal point of creationist debate, at a time when universities were still dominated by religious thought. Darwin was well aware of the likely implications of his work for people with strong religious beliefs and withheld its publication until it became inevitable because Wallace held similar views. The debate had fully arrived in the [[United States]] in 1925, when the famous [[Scopes Trial]] tested a law that forbade the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools.

By now, the modern theory of evolution is almost universally accepted among scientists, who hold that it accurately explains how complex life can emerge over billions of years from simple self-replicating molecules. Creationism nevertheless remains a particularly controversial topic in the [[United States]], where Christian creationist groups are lobbying for changes to regional school board rules and textbooks in order to give equal time to creationist views in the classroom, or to ban the teaching of evolution altogether.

In recent times, Christian creationist views have been appearing in the form of a quasi-academic movement called [[intelligent design]]. Advocates of ID take care to never explicitly name God as their intelligent designer. Scientific advocates of the theory of evolution not only find the ID claims pseudoscientific, they often charge that these are merely creationism in disguise, and a dishonest attempt to bring religion into the classroom.

== Distribution of creationist views ==

In the [[United States]], creationism remains popular among non-scientists. According to several [[evolution poll]]s over the last decade, 45-50%
of Americans believe that "God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years." Only about 10% believe that the evolution of species occurred without any [[divine intervention]]. These numbers are higher among the upper class, among Internet users and among college graduates, and much higher among scientists (about 55% believe that evolution occurred without God over millions of years according to a 1997 Gallup poll [http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm]), and higher still among [[biology|biologist]]s and [[geology|geologist]]s. This data has remained relatively stable over time.

In [[1987]], [[Newsweek]] said: "By one count there are some 700 scientists with respectable academic credentials (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence to creation science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve but appeared 'abruptly.'". This suggests that support for this form of creationism as a fraction of scientists working in the area is negligible. A 2000 poll by ''People for the American Way'' examined the question of popular support for evolution and creationism in schools, and showed that a large majority of 83% supported the teaching of the theory of evolution [http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=1903].

The United States fundamentalist Christian community has no real parallels (in terms of numbers, prominence, and political influence) elsewhere in the Western world, and because most vocal creationists are from the United States, it is generally assumed that creationist views are not as common elsewhere. Statistics in the area are however patchy. According to a [[PBS]] documentary on evolution, Australian creationists claimed that "five percent of the Australian population now believe that Earth is thousands, rather than billions, of years old". The documentary further states that "Australia is a particular stronghold of the creationist movement". Taking these claims at face value, "young-earth" creationism is very much a minority position in Western countries other than the USA.

In [[Europe]] specifically, creationism is a less well defined phenomenon, and regular polls are not taken; however, the option of teaching creationism in school has not yet been seriously considered in any Western European country. Even in [[Catholic]]-majority countries, [[pope|papal]] acceptance of evolution as worthy of study has essentially ended debate on the matter for many people. Nevertheless, creationist groups such as the German ''Studiengemeinschaft Wort und Wissen'' [http://www.wort-und-wissen.de/] are actively lobbying there as well. There is a Turkish creationist organization BAV, whose pseudonymous spokesman Harun Yahya puts an Islamic face on familiar American creationism. There apparently are a number of Hindu creationists as well.

== Types of creationism ==

The following types of creationist views exist and are distributed unevenly among various religious groups:

* The universe exists by a specific kind of fashioning into existence, a creating work by God, beginning with nothing.
* Man was fashioned distinctly by God, unique in the creation.
* Progress and differentiation of some kind under the guidance of God has not ceased.
* The creating work reached its culmination in the creation of mammals and Man, and has since ceased.
* Man was fashioned out of non-living material, and given life by God.
* The creation of new and higher types of life out of lower types of life, never happened.
* Man was fashioned in a relatively very short time after the initial creation of all things
* Creation and man began to exist at approximately the same time.
* All created existence began within a single terrestrial week, six to ten thousand years ago.

There is a sharp distinction in particular between "Young Earth" creationists and "Old Earth" creationists who hold contradictory views regarding the [[age of the Earth]], where Young Earth creationism is typically based on Jewish and Christian [[religious fundamentalism]] and holds that scientific findings simply conflict with the account of creation given in [[Genesis]], where it is recorded that the [[Earth]] was created by God in six days. This adherence to six actual days comes from a strict belief in biblical inspiration. Young Earth creationists who interpret the Bible literally believe that the Earth is somewhere around 6,000 years old (according to Bishop [[James Ussher]]'s dating) and usually reject the [[Big Bang]] theory of creation.

Old Earth creationism is typically more compatible with evolutionary thought, but may also refer to the view that life was immediately created on a pre-existing old Earth. Some, in an attempt to harmonize mainstream science with biblical literalism, hold that the six days referred to are not ordinary 24-hour days, but rather much longer periods (of thousands or millions of years); the Genesis account is then interpreted as an account of the process of evolution. There are even some Christians who believe the six day period refers to the time spent by light traveling from the center of the [[universe]] at the time and point of creation.

Liberal Christians typically hold that the passages in Genesis are not to be interpreted literally, but are rather a symbolic or poetic account of the creation of the universe. Some believe that they are based on the prevailing scientific ideas of the time they were written, and that only the moral and religious, as opposed to the scientific, content of the Bible is inspired.

While some creationists insist that the formation of Man from non-living material was not a process which included mediate steps by way of animal life, others are less dogmatic with regard to the animal ancestry of Man. Some Creationists do not believe that the two accounts of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are compatible, and yet hold that the creation of Man is in some important sense the culmination of God's creating work, although neither account is taken as "history". Other Creationists harmonize the two accounts, as one version with two distinct emphases, historical but with some events arranged in non-chronological order.

See '''[[creation beliefs]]''' for a more detailed discussion of theological views on creationism within different religious belief systems.

== Creationism and naturalism ==

The following tenets of creationism inherently contradict [[philosophical naturalism]] and [[materialism]]:

# There was an origin of the universe for which the direct intervention of God was required.
# The origin of life required the direct intervention of God.
# [[Sentience]], [[perception]], [[self-awareness]], and the capacities for [[knowledge]] and [[understanding]], are not reducible to physical processes alone, but were granted to living and intelligent creatures by the direct intervention of God.
# These capacities, and more basically life itself, are not possible to describe in terms of [[physics]] alone.

A general response to the modern creationism controversy has been articulated by creationist [[Phillip E. Johnson]], Professor of Law at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], who argues that the entire issue of biological origins has been framed in terms of [[naturalism]], and that natural science per se is not identical with naturalism. According to him, the statement, "Science has nothing to say about whether or not there exists a supernatural realm" is true and based on the fact that rigorous physical science is naturalistic, but the statement, "Science holds that there is no supernatural realm" is false because it is beyond the scope of natural science to make such an assertion, but is instead a philosophical position. According to Johnson, this distinction opens the possibility of natural science and creationism being non-contradictory. However, such an assertion becomes problematic in light of very specific creationist claims that pertain to the natural realm, and also does not answer the question whether creationism in the form of [[creation science]] has a place in public schools.

== Arguments against evolution ==

Many creationists posit what they claim are scientific arguments against the theory of evolution. Evolutionists often respond that these are merely attempts to "mask" creationism as a science, and that so-called creation science is, per definition, a [[pseudoscience]]. Nevertheless, biologists have invested considerable time responding to claims by creationists, and have frequently expressed frustration that claims that they consider debunked are tirelessly repeated, which they interpret as evidence that creationists have no interest to engage in a scientific debate (cf. Arthur 1996).

=== Macroevolution vs. Microevolution ===

While they hold that so-called [[microevolution]] can occur, some Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, such as [[Henry Morris]] (Christian) of the [[Creation Research Institute]], have offered what they believe to be proof of the impossibility of macroevolution in larger organisms. They charge that none of the examples of evolution provided by scientists illustrate [[macroevolution]].

==== Fossils and macroevolution ====

Creationists claim that though many varieties of reptiles and mammals exist, there is no record of an animal capable of bridging the gap between them, and that so-called "gaps in the fossil record" reveal "missing links" between different species which refute the idea of gradual transitions.

Scientists respond that missing links are constantly being found and that we have thousands of fossil examples for many species showing transition states from one form to another. Fossil finds are generally restricted only to the extremely small amount of sedimentary rock that is exposed on the surface of the Earth at any one time. The vast majority of actual fossils remain concealed within the rock strata.

One theory about why transitional forms are sometimes missing (although they are also sometimes found) is called [[punctuated equilibrium]]. Punctuated equilibrium is the theory that [[speciation]] happens in small populations which are cut off, possibly geographically, from others of their species, and which develop independently. Evolution in these small groups is believed to occur relatively quickly, perhaps in only a few thousands of years. Later the isolated population reenters the wider geographical area and supplants its closest relatives. Many scientists support this view, but it is still somewhat controversial.

Scientists also state that each time a missing link is found, creationists then point to this fossil and one that it links to, and ask "But where is the transition step between these two?" Scientists have uncovered millions of fossils that fit together in a coherent evolutionary tree, with a few exceptions that are as yet ''incertae sedis''. They hold that no amount of evidence will convince someone who has a religious belief that biological evolution simply does not occur.

Scientists also point out that transitions between any two forms of a lifeform are inherently more difficult to find than other fossils. Any missing stages are due to the fast rate of evolutionary leaps when they actually occur, in contrast to the time in between where there is very little change. Indeed, there ''must'' always be gaps in the fossil record, no matter how many separate species are discovered, as it is unreasonable to demand that one can dig up a continuous chain of millions of fossils for each and every lifeform. Many transitional forms are missing only because, for whatever geographic reason, they failed to be fossilized.

Considering that fossilization of organisms is actually an incredibly rare and exceptional event rather than the norm, this is a likely explanation. For one thing, the vast majority of fossils involved deposition in an aqueous environment where they are then covered by sediment in a progressive way so that they are not re-exposed to the elements. It is known from direct observation that this is a rare process, especially considering that most organisms become food for other organisms.

==== Differences in scale ====

Most biologists consider the difference between microevolution and macroevolution to be relative. Creationists who reject [[Charles Darwin|Darwin's]] theory of [[evolution]] through [[natural selection]] argue that the difference is absolute. They have proposed that microevolution always takes the form of destructive genetic mutations, which happen to confer an advantage to individuals in a specific environment. Because macroevolution requires many constructive genetic changes, they argue that microevolution cannot lead to macroevolution. One example of a destructive mutation that conferred a competitive advantage under a specific situation occurred in ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'', some strains of which are resistant to [[penicillin]]. But this resistance requires the bacterium to expend extra resources that the nonresistant bacteria do not, and so it does not compete well with them in the absence of penicillin.

More specifically, the contention of creationists is that the observed and verified process of microevolution does not lead to increasingly complex species. When the processes of natural selection and survival of the fittest take place, they lead to the elimination of certain unuseful genetic traits, decreasing the genetic complexity and diversity of the affected species, creationists say. The creationists claim that if this this claim is valid, proponents of [[macroevolution]] accept that increases in genetic complexity are brought about solely through mutation, which would, they claim, require this type of mutation to be relatively common.
Creationists claim that although helpful mutations have been observed, mutations that increase genetic complexity have not. This claim does not, however, appear to be bourne out by recent evidence from comparative [[genomics]], since larger-scale genetic rearrangements other than mutation, such as [[gene duplication]] and [[chromosome duplication]] can lead to increased genetic complexity.

=== Intelligent design ===

The above-mentioned [[intelligent design]] movement allows for macroevolution but denies the theory of natural selection as a probable mechanism, arguing that God has guided the evolution. One argument against this view is that the possibility of an intelligent designer is real, but substantially more complex than alternative possibilities, such as a modified theory of evolution, or even the possibility of extraterrestrial origin. As such, it should be rejected as flawed because of the tested scientific principle of [[Ockham's Razor]]. If God, or an unspecified "designer", guided the process, this raises further questions, such as:
* What designed the Designer(s)?
* What is the Designers' motivation for guiding an evolutionary process?
* Who or what is the Designer(s)?
* What is the evidence for the existence of the Designer(s)?
* Which methods did the Designer(s) use to "guide" the process?
* What is the evidence for the use of such methods?
* Did or does the Designer also do this on other planets, or only on Earth?
* Why did the Designer(s)not choose to create a process that does not require further intervention, e.g. did God lack the competency to create a system in which natural selection can operate?

=== Further arguments ===

Other arguments proposed by creationists include:
# That there are structures in species, such as the [[woodpecker]]'s hyoid and the eyes of [[Strepsiptera]], that could not have developed gradually. (Luther D. Sunderland. "Miraculous Design in Woodpeckers", ''Creation Research Society Quarterly'', March 1976.)
# That rock strata have in some places apparently been laid down out of order.
# That the existence of strata and fossils suggest that they were laid down catastrophically.
# That the [[speed of light]] has changed over time, thus changing the speed of radioactive decay.
# That radioactive dates may be thought unreliable if they assume that certain isotopes were not present in the rock when formed.
# That while a few thousands of years elapsed on earth, millions of years may have elapsed in the wider universe. The passage of time, according to [[special relativity]], varies with gravitational potential as well as motion.
# Scientists claim mammals are an evolution of reptiles, but the differences between them are so significant and numerous that an entire class of animals would be needed to fill the gap.
# Dating techniques of all types are based on assumptions about the conditions present in and around an object throughout history.
# Genetic research, through forced mutation, has found no evidence that DNA is capable of creating a 'sliding scale' of creatures. On the contrary, mutations always fit into recognizable forms.

Biologists counter the first argument, for example, by pointing out that many other structures that were once thought unexplainable have since been explained, and that the lack of explanations for some others simply reflects the fact that they haven't been studied as much. There is some recent (and still controversial) evidence that the speed of light might in fact have changed in the very early universe. However, the upper bound on how much the speed of light may have changed is insufficient to have created the effects necessary for the creation science argument.

== Creationism in public education ==

Some modern advocates interpret the [[First Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]] as prohibiting public schools from teaching religious beliefs as facts and argue that a goverment-funded science curriculum should not support the teaching of religious beliefs in science classes. Creationists claim that this position does not consider the possibility that humankind and other living creatures were created by God. They also claim that this viewpoint has been used to squelch classroom discussion by students who insist that their faith in creationism is relevant to the origins controversy. Supporters of evolution claim that the teaching of evolution is not necessarily incompatible with a belief that God is the ultimate creator of the universe, and therefore of all life. This is a position that is widely adopted by many, if not, most mainstream Christian denominations.

In 1987, the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] confirmed the ruling that creationism, even when referred to as a science, is a religious doctrine. The relevant cases are ''[[Epperson v. Arkansas]]'' and ''[[Edwards v Aguillard]]''.

Despite the ruling, Boards of Education and local communities continue to struggle with controversy when scientific creationism is raised as an argument in opposition to the teaching of evolution. For example, supporters of [[intelligent design]], who typically seek to differentiate ID from faith-based creationism, argued in December 2002 for the inclusion of the hypothesis that life had an intelligent designer in the Ohio Board of Education standards for science education.

In the [[UK]], one of the few countries in which teaching religion in public schools is a legal requirement, there is an agreed syllabus for religious education with the right of parents to withdraw their children from these lessons. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/13989.htm]

The prescribed UK national curriculum for science includes the theory of evolution; a creationist teacher who insisted on teaching creationism instead of evolution was disciplined and eventually dismissed.

==See also==

*[[Evolution]]
*[[Creation]] and [[creation myth]]s for details on how creation is depicted.
*[[Intelligent design]]
*[[creator god]] for more information on the role of creator in creationism.
*[[Scopes Trial]]
*[[National Center for Science Education]]
*[[Theory of evolution]]

==Creationists==

* [[Ken Ham]]
* [[Kent Hovind]]
* [[Gerard Keane]]
* [[Duane Gish]]

==External links and references==

=== Neutral ===
*[http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/creation/sides.html The Belief Spectrum: Who Believes What?]

=== Creationism ===
*[http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/faqs.shtml?main Reasons.org Creation vs. Evolution FAQ]
*[http://www.creationism.org Research on issues surrounding creationism]
*[http://www.answersingenesis.org Answers in Genesis - Creation research]
*[http://www.creationscience.com The Center for Scientific Creation]
*Keane, Gerard: "Creation Rediscovered: Evolution & the Importance of the Origins Debate"
*[http://www.creationsafaris.com/crevnews.htm Creationnews daily]
=== Evolution ===
*[http://www.talkorigins.org The Talk.Origins Archive - Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy]
*[http://www.ncseweb.org National Center for Science Education -- defending the teaching of evolution in the public schools]
*[http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/gish.html Arthur, Joyce: Creationism: Bad Science or Immoral Pseudoscience?] About creationist [[Duane Gish]]. Published in the ''Skeptic'', magazine of the Skeptic Society, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1996, pp. 88-93.

Legislative consent motion

2003-07-05T03:13:03Z

137.111.13.33: a type of motion that may be passed by the Scottish Parliament

A Sewel motion is a motion passed by the Scottish Parliament, in which it requests Westminster to pass legislation on a topic extending to Scotland. It is generally used when Westminister is considering legislation extending only (or having provisions extending only) to England and Wales, and the Scottish Parliament, being in agreement with those provisions, wishes for Westminister to extend them to Scotland also, rather than requiring separate, identical legislation to be passed by the Scottish parliament.

This generally may be used, for non-controversial matters, for the purposes of legislative economy; it also may be used for more controversial matters, where the Executive does not wish to have the Scottish Parliament to consider the issue in detail, to avoid the political consequences, and to keep the legislative bickering to Westminister only.

Talk:Caesar cipher

2003-04-29T06:48:36Z

137.111.13.33:

what is key space in caesar cipher?

Peter Lamborn Wilson

2003-04-21T04:32:13Z

137.111.13.33:

'''Hakim Bey''' is a poet and [[anarchism|anarchist]] [[ontology|ontologist]]. Though there may be no easily defined difference between a 'poet' and an 'anarchist ontologist', Bey claims to be both.

Among many essays on [[Tong]] traditions and [[Temporary Autonomous Zone]]s, Bey wrote about such figures as the utopian [[Charles Fourier]] and the connections between [[Sufism]] and ancient [[Celtic]] culture.

(this is a stub - include Bey's other works here)

'Hakim Bey' is a pen-name of Peter Lamborn Wilson.

United Nations

2003-03-09T02:18:08Z

137.111.13.33: During World War II, the Allies used the term "United Nations" to refer to their alliance.

[[eo:Unuigxintaj Nacioj]][[fr:Organisation Des Nations Unies]][[pl:Organizacja Narod%F3w Zjednoczonych]][[de:UNO]] [[sv:Förenta nationerna]] [[es:Naciones Unidas]]
<table align="right"><tr><td align="center">[[image:unbuilding.jpg]] 
'''United Nations headquarters in [[New York City]]''' 
''([[User:Brion VIBBER/Maps and images for Wikipedia|Public domain image]])''</td></tr></table>
The '''United Nations (UN)''' is an [[international organization]] made up of [[Countries of the World|countries]]; most but not all countries are [[United Nations member states|members]]. It was founded on [[October 24]], [[1945]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]], following the [[Dumbarton Oaks Conference]] in [[Washington, DC]], but the first General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, was not held until [[January 10]], [[1946]] (held in [[Central Hall Westminster]], [[London]]). Before [[World War II]], there existed a somewhat similar organization under the name of [[League of Nations]], which can thus be considered the UN's precursor. UN membership is open to all "peace-loving states" that accept the obligations of the UN Charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to fulfill these obligations. The General Assembly determines admission upon recommendation of the Security Council. As of September 2002 there were 191 members.

The idea for the United Nations was elaborated in declarations signed at the wartime Allied conferences in [[Moscow]] and [[Tehran]] in [[1943]]. [[United States]] president [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] suggested the name "United Nations" and the first offical use of the term occurred on [[January 1]], [[1942]] with the [[Declaration by the United Nations]]. During World War II, the Allies used the term "United Nations" to refer to their alliance. From August to October [[1944]], representatives of the U.S., [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[USSR]], and [[China]] met to elaborate the plans at the Dumbarton Oaks Estate in [[Washington, D.C.]] Those and later talks produced proposals outlining the purposes of the organization, its membership and organs, as well as arrangements to maintain international peace and security and international economic and social cooperation. These proposals were discussed and debated by governments and private citizens worldwide.

On April 25, 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organizations began in [[San Francisco]]. In addition to the Governments, a number of non-government organisations, including [[Lions Clubs International]] were invited to assist in the drafting of the charter. The 50 nations represented at the conference signed the Charter of the United Nations two months later on June 26. [[Poland]], which was not represented at the conference, but for which a place among the original signatories had been reserved, added its name later, bringing the total of original signatories to 51. The UN came into existence on [[October 24]], 1945, after the Charter had been ratified by the five permanent members of the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] - [[China]], [[France]], [[USSR]], [[UK]], and the [[United States]] - and by a majority of the other 46 signatories.

The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 89 to 2, gave its consent to the ratification of the UN Charter on July 28, 1945. In December 1945, the Senate and the House of Representatives, by unanimous votes, requested that the UN make its headquarters in the U.S. The offer was accepted and the UN headquarters building was constructed in [[New York City]] in 1949 and 1950 beside the East River on land purchased by an 8.5 million dollar donation from [[John D. Rockefeller, Jr.]] UN headquarters officially opened on [[January 9]], [[1951]]. The land is now considered international territory. Under special agreement with the U.S., certain diplomatic privileges and immunities have been granted, but generally the laws of New York City, New York State, and the U.S. apply.

In the 1960s new General Assembly and Secretariat buildings were built in [[New York]], but there are major agencies loacated in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] and elsewhere.

'''Arms Control and Disarmament''' 
The 1945 UN Charter envisaged a system of regulation that would ensure "the least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources." The advent of [[nuclear weapon]]s came only weeks after the signing of the Charter and provided immediate impetus to concepts of arms limitation and [[disarmament]]. In fact, the first resolution of the first meeting of the General Assembly (January 24, 1946) was entitled "The Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy" and called upon the commission to make specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction."

The UN has established several forums to address multilateral disarmament issues. The principal ones are the First Committee of the UN General Assembly and the [[UN Disarmament Commission]]. Items on the agenda include consideration of the possible merits of a nuclear test ban, outer-space arms control, efforts to ban chemical weapons, nuclear and conventional disarmament, nuclear-weapon-free zones, reduction of military budgets, and measures to strengthen international security.

The [[Conference on Disarmament]] is the sole forum established by the international community for the negotiation of multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. It has 66 members representing all areas of the world, including the five major nuclear-weapon states (China, France, the Russian Federation, the U.K., and the U.S.). While the conference is not formally a UN organization, it is linked to the UN through a personal representative of the [[UN Secretary-General|Secretary-General]]; this representative serves as the secretary general of the conference. Resolutions adopted by the [[UN General Assembly|General Assembly]] often request the conference to consider specific disarmament matters. In turn, the conference annually reports on its activities to the General Assembly.

<table align="right"><tr><td align="center">[[image:Unflag.gif]] 
'''United Nations flag'''</td></tr></table>

'''Human Rights''' 
The pursuit of [[human rights]] was one of the central reasons for creating the United Nations. World War II atrocities and [[genocide]] led to a ready consensus that the new organization must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. An early objective was creating a legal framework for considering and acting on complaints about human rights violations.

The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take "joint and separate action" to that end. The [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], though not legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all. The General Assembly regularly takes up human rights issues. The UN Human Rights Commission ([[UNHRC]]), under [[ECOSOC]], is the primary UN body charged with promoting human rights, primarily through investigations and offers of technical assistance. As discussed, the [[High Commissioner for Human Rights]] is the official principally responsible for all UN human rights activities (see, under "The UN Family," the section on "Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights").

The U.S. considers the United Nations to be a first line of defense of the principles enshrined in the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]. It is also a means by which those principles can be applied more broadly around the world. A case in point is support by the United Nations for countries in transition to [[democracy]]. Technical assistance in providing free and fair elections, improving judicial structures, drafting constitutions, training human rights officials, and transforming armed movements into [[political party|political parties]] have contributed significantly to democratization worldwide.

The United Nations is also a forum in which to support the right of women to participate fully in the political, economic, and social life of their countries.

:''Related entry:'' [[United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery]]

''' Democracy in UN ''' 
Now, there is a claim for UN reform to obtain more democracy. I.e. Inocencia Arias, spanish ambassador in UN, indicates that UN has democracy deficit, like the [[veto]] in the [[UN Security Council]].

Examples are the attack to Kosovo outside the Security Council because of the suspicion to the Russian veto, the u.s. veto to reelection of Butros Gali, and a large so on.

Another democracy deficit it´s the lack of election of the members of the [[UN General Assembly]] by the citizens of democratic countries, like happens in the European Parliament and the national parliaments.

'''International Conferences''' 
The member countries of the UN and its specialized agencies--the "shareholders" of the system--give guidance and make decisions on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. Governing bodies made up of member states include not only the General Assembly, ECOSOC, and the [[Security Council]], but also counterpart bodies dealing with the governance of all other UN system agencies. For example, the [[World Health Assembly]] and the Executive Board oversee the work of [[WHO]]. Each year, the U.S. Department of State accredits U.S. delegations to more than 600 meetings of governing bodies.

When an issue is considered particularly important, the General Assembly may convene an international conference to focus global attention and build a consensus for consolidated action. High-level U.S. delegations use these opportunities to promote U.S. policy viewpoints and develop international agreements on future activities. Recent examples include:

*The UN Conference on Environment and Development ([[UNCED]]) in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil, in June 1992, led to the creation of the [[UN Commission on Sustainable Development]] to advance the conclusions reached in [[Agenda 21]], the final text of agreements negotiated by governments at UNCED;
*The [[World Conference on Population and Development]], held in [[Cairo]], Egypt, in September 1994, approved a program of action to address the critical challenges and interrelationships between population and sustainable development over the next 20 years;
*The [[World Summit on Trade Efficiency]], held in October 1994 in [[Columbus, Ohio]], cosponsored by UN Conference on Trade and Development ([[UNCTAD]]), the city of Columbus, and private-sector business, focused on the use of modern information technology to expand international trade;
*The [[World Summit for Social Development]], held in March 1995 in [[Copenhagen]], Denmark, underscored national responsibility for sustainable development and secured high-level commitment to plans that invest in basic education, health care, and economic opportunity for all, including women and girls;
*The [[Fourth World Conference on Women]], held in [[Beijing]], China, in September 1995, sought to accelerate implementation of the historic agreements reached at the [[Third World Conference|Third World Conference on Women]] held in [[Nairobi]], Kenya, in 1985; and
*The Second UN Conference on Human Settlements ([[Habitat II]]), convened in June 1996 in [[Istanbul]], Turkey, considered the challenges of human settlement development and management in the 21st century.

'''Financing ''' 
The UN system is financed in two ways: assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The regular two-year budgets of the UN and its specialized agencies are funded by assessments. In the case of the UN, the General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member. This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by national income statistics, along with other factors.

The Assembly has established the principle that the UN should not be overly dependent on any one member to finance its operations. Thus, there is a 'ceiling' rate, setting the maximum amount any member is assessed for the regular budget. In December 2000, the Assembly agreed to revise the scale of assessments to make them better reflect current global circumstances.

As part of that agreement, the regular budget ceiling was reduced from 25 to 22 percent; this is the rate at which the U.S. is assessed. The U.S. is the only member that pays this rate; all other members' assessment rates are lower. Under the scale of assessments adopted in 2000, other major contributors to the regular UN budget for 2001 are [[Japan]] (19.63%), [[Germany]] (9.82%), [[France]] (6.50%), the [[United Kingdom|U.K.]] (5.57%), [[Italy]] (5.09%), [[Canada]] (2.57%) and [[Spain]] (2.53%).

Special UN programs not included in the regular budget (such as [[UNICEF]], [[UNDP]], [[UNHCR]], and [[WFP]]) are financed by voluntary contributions from member governments. In 2001, it is estimated that such contributions from the US will total approximately $1.5 billion. Much of this is in the form of agricultural commodities donated for afflicted populations, but the majority is financial contributions.

'''U.S. Arrears''' 
For many years the United Nations has had problems with members refusing to pay the assessment levied upon them under the United Nations charter. Many states have at times refused to pay their dues for various reasons, but the most significant refusal in recent times has that of the [[United States]]. For a number of years the United States Congress has refused to authorise payment of the United States' UN dues, in order to try to extract reforms from the organization and a reduction in the US assessment.

The United States and the United Nations after much dispute negotiated an agreement whereby the United States would pay a large part of the money it owes, and in exchange the United Nations would reduce the assessment rate ceiling from 25% to 22%.

The reduction in the assessment rate ceiling was among the reforms contained in the 1999 [[Helms-Biden legislation]], which links payment of $926 million in U.S. arrears to the UN and other international organizations to a series of reform benchmarks.

U.S. arrears to the UN currently total over $1.3 billion. Of this, $612 million is payable under Helms-Biden. The remaining $700 million result from various legislative and policy withholdings; there are no current plans to pay these amounts.

Under Helms-Biden, the U.S. paid $100 million in arrears to the UN in December 1999; release of the next $582 million awaits a legislative revision to Helms-Biden, necessary because the benchmark requiring a 25 percent peacekeeping assessment rate ceiling was not quite achieved. The U.S. also seek elimination of the legislated 25 percent cap on U.S. peacekeeping payments in effect since 1995, which continues to generate additional UN arrears. Of the final $244 million under Helms-Biden, $30 million is payable to the UN and $214 million to other international organizations.

UN peace operations are funded by assessments, using a formula derived from the regular scale, but including a surcharge for the five permanent members of the Security Council (who must approve all peacekeeping operations); this surcharge serves to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates for less developed countries. In December 2000, the UN revised the assessment rate scale for the regular budget and for peacekeeping. The peacekeeping scale is designed to be revised every six months and is projected to be near 27% in 2003. The U.S. Administration intends to pay peacekeeping assessments at these lower rates and has sought legislation from the U.S. Congress to allow payment at these rates and to make payments towards arrears.

Total UN peacekeeping expenses peaked between 1994 and 1995; at the end of 1995 the total cost was just over $3.5 billion. Total UN peacekeeping costs for 2000, including operations funded from the UN regular budget as well as the peacekeeping budget, were on the order of $2.2 billion.

The UN has six major organs:

*[[UN General Assembly]]
*[[UN Security Council]]
*[[UN Economic and Social Council]]
*[[UN Trusteeship Council]]
*[[UN Secretariat]]
*[[International Court of Justice]]

The current Secretary-General of the United Nations is [[Kofi Annan]] of Ghana.
*[[UN Secretary-General|List of UN Secretaries-General]]

[[Preamble to Charter of the United Nations]]
*[http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html] Text of UN Charter

Related information:
*[[United Nations Member States]]
*[http://www.un.org/aboutun/chart.html] Chart of the UN system

Specialized Agencies of the United Nations:
*[[FAO]] - [[Food and Agriculture Organization]]
*[[ILO]] - [[International Labour Organization]]
*IMO - [[International Maritime Organization]]
*[[IRO]] - [[International Refugee Organization]] (ceased to exist in 1952)
*[[ITU]] - [[International Telecommunication Union]]
*[[ICAO]] - [[International Civil Aviation Organization]]
*[[UNESCO]] - [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]]
*[[UNIDO]] - [[United Nations Industrial Development Organization]]
*[[UPU]] - [[Universal Postal Union]]
*[[WHO]] - [[World Health Organization]]
*[[WIPO]] - [[World Intellectual Property Organization]]
*[[WMO]] - [[World Meteorological Organization]]
*[[World Bank]] group

Programs and Funds of United Nations:
*[[UNDP]] - [[United Nations Development Program]]
*[[UNEP]] - [[United Nations Environmental Program]]
*[[UNFPA]] - [[United Nations Fund for Population Activities]]
*[[UNICEF]] - [[United Nations Children's Fund]]
*[[UNIFEM]] - [[United Nations Fund for Women]]
*[[UNU]] - [[United Nations University]]
*[[UNHCR]] -- [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]]
*[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]
*[[INSTRAW]] - [[International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women]]
*[[ILC]] - the [[International Law Commission]]
*[[WFP]] - [[World Food Program]]
*[[UNRRA]] - [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration]] (ceased to exist in 1949)
*[[UNRWA]] - [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East]]
*[[UNMIBH]] - [[United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*[[UNMIK]] - [[United Nations Mission in Kosovo]]
*[[Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS|UNAIDS]] - [[Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS]]

UN Regional Commissions:
*[[United Nations Economic Commission for Europe]] (ECE)
*United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
*United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
*United Nations Economic Commission for South-West Asia

Organizations established under the Security Council:
*[[ICTR]] - [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]]
*[[ICTY]] - [[International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia]]
*several UN sanctions committees

Other organizations associated with the United Nations:
*[[IAEA]] - [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]
*[[ICC]] - [[International Criminal Court]]
*[[International Seabed Authority| ISA]] - [[International Seabed Authority]]
*[[ITLOS]] - [[International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea]]
*WTO - [[World Trade Organization]]
*[[Standby High-Readiness Brigade]] - The UN's standing military force.

----

See also:
* [[United Nations Member States]], [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]], [[International community]]

Australasian Union of Jewish Students

2003-03-09T01:13:12Z

137.111.13.33:

The [[Australasian Union of Jewish Students]] (AUJS) is a federation of Jewish Student societies at Australian and New Zealand universities and other higher education institutions. It was founded in 1948 at the [[University of Sydney]] and is affiliated with the [[World Union of Jewish Students]]. It organises social gatherings and does politicial lobbying for Jewish causes.

Many of its female members are quite hot, and they wear cool t-shirts.

Physician

2002-09-13T10:51:52Z

137.111.13.33:

A person licensed to practice [[medicine]]. Often also called a ''medical doctor''. Related titles are [[veterinarian]], one who cures diseases in [[animal]]s, and [[biologist]], one who studies the [[life science]]s, in general.

Titles for specialized physicians include:
*[[neurologist]]
*[[surgeon]]
*[[internist]]
*[[general practictioner]]

Talk:Fruit tree forms

2002-09-13T07:03:43Z

137.111.13.33: someone metricate that table, quickly now...

Whoever put this table up here, can we have a metric equivalent please? -- [[user:SJK|SJK]]

Talk:Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit/Archive 1

2002-09-13T06:52:43Z

137.111.13.33: what countries other than US still use Fahrenheit?

Article reads:
:It is still used by the general population for everyday temperature measurement in the United States and a few other English-speaking countries.
Which other English countries? I thought in UK, Canada, Ireland weather reports and medical body temperature measurements were metricated; they certaintly are in Australia and NZ, which is close to the whole English-speaking world, bar the US. -- [[user:SJK|SJK]]

Berry, France

2002-09-06T07:05:47Z

137.111.13.33: forgot to delete french

Berry was a [[Provinces of France|province of France]] until the provinces were replaced by [[departement]]s in [[1790]]. Berry became part of the departements of [[Vienne (departement)|Vienne]], [[Cher (departement)|Cher]] and [[Indre]]. The capital of Berry was [[Bourges]].

=== External Links ===
*[http://www.fotw.ca/flags/fr-berry.html Flag of Berry (FOTW)]
*[http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0807264.html Columbia Encyclopedia article on Berry]
*[http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/f_sauzet/ Page discussing genealogy of a family in Berry (in French)]]

Berry, France

2002-09-06T07:05:27Z

137.111.13.33:

Berry was a [[Provinces of France|province of France]] until the provinces were replaced by [[departement]]s in [[1790]]. Berry became part of the departements of [[Vienne (departement)|Vienne]], [[Cher (departement)|Cher]] and [[Indre]]. The capital of Berry was [[Bourges]].

actuels départements du Cher (Haut-Berry) et de l'Indre (Bas-Berry)

=== External Links ===
*[http://www.fotw.ca/flags/fr-berry.html Flag of Berry (FOTW)]
*[http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0807264.html Columbia Encyclopedia article on Berry]
*[http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/f_sauzet/ Page discussing genealogy of a family in Berry (in French)]]

Provinces of France

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Prior to [[1790]], [[France]] was organised into [[province]]s; in that year they were replaced with [[departement]]s, which continue to exist until the present day.

Provinces of France included (incomplete list)
*[[Berry (province of France)|Berry]]
*[[Poitou]]
*[[Touraine]]

Berry, France

2002-09-06T07:01:06Z

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Berry was a [[Provinces of France|province of France]] until the provinces were replaced by [[departement]]s in [[1790]]. Part (or all?) of Berry became part of the departement of [[Vienne (departement)|Vienne]]. The capital of Berry was [[Bourges]].

=== External Links ===
*[http://www.fotw.ca/flags/fr-berry.html Flag of Berry (FOTW)]
*[http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0807264.html Columbia Encyclopedia article on Berry]

Vienne (departement)

2002-09-06T07:00:38Z

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'''Vienne''' is a [[département]] of [[France]], located in the centre of the country. It is bounded by the départements of [[Indre-et-Loire]] on the north and northeast, [[Indre]] on the east, [[Haute-Vienne]] on the southeast, [[Charente]] on the south, [[Deux-Sèvres]] on the west, and [[Maine-et-Loire]] on the northwest. [[Poitiers]] is the [[prefecture]] (capital) of Vienne.

The number of the Vienne département is 86, which appears in [[postal code]]s and on motor vehicle [[license plate]]s.

The principal rivers are the [[Vienne River|Vienne]] and the [[Charente River|Charente]]. [[Cheese]] making is an important industry. The département of Vienne was formed in [[1790]] from parts of the provinces of [[Poitou]], [[Touraine]], and [[Berry (province of France)|Berry]].

Berry, France

2002-09-06T07:00:05Z

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Berry was a [[province of France|Provinces of France]] until the provinces were replaced by [[departement]]s in [[1790]]. Part (or all?) of Berry became part of the departement of [[Vienne (departement)|Vienne]]. The capital of Berry was [[Bourges]].

=== External Links ===
*[http://www.fotw.ca/flags/fr-berry.html Flag of Berry (FOTW)]
*[http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0807264.html Columbia Encyclopedia article on Berry]

Berry, France

2002-09-06T06:58:48Z

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Touraine

2002-09-06T06:32:00Z

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Formerely a province of France.

French region around the City of [[Tours]].

''This is a stub: want to [[Wikipedia:Find or fix a stub|fix it]]?''

Agnes of Poitou

2002-09-06T06:31:32Z

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'''Agnes de Poitou''' was from the noble house of the de Poitou. She was born in 1020 to Comte, Duc Guillaume III de Poitou de Aquitaine and his wife Agnes de Bourgogne.

Agnes de Poitou was the second wife of [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor]]. Among their children were [[Judith of Swabia]] and [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor]].

Poitou

2002-09-06T06:31:25Z

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See
*[[Agnes de Poitou]]
*[[Poitou (province of France)]]

Berry (fruit)

2002-09-06T06:30:29Z

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A berry is a type of [[fruit]]. Berries are usually small, juicy, and of a bright color contrasting with their background to make them more noticeable to the animals that disperse them and thus scatter the [seed]]s of the plant.
They have one or more [[carpel]]s within a thin covering and very fleshy interiors, with the seeds embedded in the common flesh of a single ovary. Examples of berries include [[guava]]s, [[tomato]]es, and [[blueberry|blueberries]].

[[Image:Berries thumbnail.jpg|Berries thumbnail]] 
[[:Image:Berries.jpg|Larger berries]]

In everyday speech and [[cook]]ery (as distinct from botany), the term "berry" refers to small, sweet fruits: in this sense, the [[strawberry]] is a berry and the tomato is not.

Berry

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See:
*[[Berry (fruit)]]
*[[Berry (province of France)]]

Vienne (departement)

2002-09-06T06:29:23Z

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Vienne (department)

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See:
*[[Vienne (river)]]
*[[Vienne (departement)]]

Gironde estuary

2002-09-06T06:28:31Z

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The Gironde is a river in southwest France, formed from the joining of the rivers [[Dordogne (river)|Dordogne]] and [[Garonne]]

Gironde estuary

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The Gironde is a river in southwest France, formed from the joining of the rivers [[Dordogne (river)|Dordogne]] and the [[Garonne]]

Dordogne

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*See [[Dordogne (river)]]
*See [[Dordogne (departement)]]

Dordogne (river)

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The '''Dordogne''' is a river in south-central [[France]]. Its valley is popular among tourists.

The river rises in the [[Auvergne]] mountains, flowing about 500 km before joining the [[Garonne]] river, north of [[Bordeaux]].

Dordogne

2002-09-06T06:26:46Z

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*See [[Dordogne (river)]]

----

'''Dordogne''' is a department of [[France]], named after the river Dordogne. Capital of the department is [[Perigueux|Périgueux]].

Gironde estuary

2002-09-06T06:26:21Z

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The Gironde is a river in southwest France, formed from the joining of the rivers [[Dordogne (river)|Dordogne]] and the [[Garonne (river)|Garonne]]

Gironde estuary

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The Gironde is also the name given to the join of two important south-west rivers the [[Dordogne]] and the [[Garonne]]

Gironde

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See:
*[[Gironde (departement)]]
*[[Gironde (river)]]

Gironde

2002-09-06T06:24:16Z

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See:
*[[Gironde (departement)]]

Gironde is also the name given to the join of two important south-west rivers the [[Dordogne]] and the [[Garonne]]

Meuse (department)

2002-09-06T06:21:26Z

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See
* [[Meuse (departement)]]
* [[Meuse (river)]]

''This is a disambiguation page.''

Meuse

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#REDIRECT [[Meuse (river)]]

Loire (department)

2002-09-06T06:19:36Z

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See:
* [[Loire (river)]]
* [[Loire (departement)]]

'''This is a disambiguation page.'''

Loire

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The Loire river, with a length of just over 1000 [[km]], drains an area of 117,000 sq. km, more than a fifth of France. Originating in the north-eastern part of the southern Cevennes highlands, it flows roughly northward through Roanne and Nevers to [[Orléans]] and thereafter westward through [[Tours]] to the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] at [[Nantes]]. The river's irregularity has sometimes resulted in serious flooding, notably in 1856, 1866 and 1910.

Loire (department)

2002-09-06T06:18:58Z

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The '''Loire''' is an important [[river]] and also an administrative [[département]] of [[France]].

* See [[Loire (river)]]
* See [[Loire (departement)]]

Loire (departement)

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'''Loire''' is [[département]] number 42, with an area of [[1000km2|4781 sq km]], occupying the river's upper reaches. The industrial city of [[Saint-Etienne]] with its suburbs contains some 290,000 of the area's 725,000 inhabitants.

An hour and a half from Paris, the Loire region is often referred to as "The Valley of the Kings". From [[Orléans]] to [[Tours]] is 200 miles of breathtakingly beautiful scenery containing 300 [[château]]x including the colossal castles of the French kings at [[Amboise]], [[Blois]], and [[Chambord]] and the most popular tourist attraction, the [[Chenonceau|Château Chenonceaux]].

Loire (department)

2002-09-06T06:18:28Z

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The '''Loire''' is an important [[river]] and also an administrative [[département]] of [[France]].

=== River ===
The Loire river, with a length of just over 1000 [[km]], drains an area of 117,000 sq. km, more than a fifth of France. Originating in the north-eastern part of the southern Cevennes highlands, it flows roughly northward through Roanne and Nevers to [[Orléans]] and thereafter westward through [[Tours]] to the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] at [[Nantes]]. The river's irregularity has sometimes resulted in serious flooding, notably in 1856, 1866 and 1910.

* See [[Loire (departement)]]

Talk:Antisemitism/Archive 20

2002-09-06T05:25:29Z

137.111.13.33: corrections, expand on what i said

Earlier discussions have been archived to
*[[Talk:Anti-Semitism/archive]]
*[[Talk:Anti-Semitism/archive2]]
----
Just wanted to open the page by saying: Nicely put, April. I for one appreciated what you said. [[User:Danny|Danny]] (who also happens to be Jewish).

How can you say this? GrahamN posted attacks against all Zionists, in which derides every one of them as racists, and that he literally hates them. How is that you don't disagree? (I haven't seen on word of disagreement from anyone here yet, and in the real world silence is tacit consent. That may be unfortunate, but its a fact.) April then says that I should not slander others as racist. I agree, but huh? It was GrahamN who denounced every Jewish and Christian Zionist in the world as a racist, who denounced them all as evil, and then bluntly stated that he hates them. It is this explicit hatespeech I object to. I assume you don't approve of it either. [[User:RK|RK]]

However, since you insist, and since I cynically believe you can find examples of almost anyone doing almost anything to anyone else... I did a web search. For a beginning, see this link: http://www.io.com/~jewishwb/iris/archives/551.html ... "With my own eyes, I wept. I wept that a Jewish policeman would attack a Jewish child. I wept that a Jewish government would use violence against Jewish citizens." ... This was not chosen because it's the best source, but because it was the first allegation I found. Thirty-second search. Please don't make me search for more and better sources - I will almost certainly find 'em, people being people the world over, and this sort of thing depresses me.) Note that I do not have the slightest idea whether this is a true or a false allegation. It is an allegation, ergo such allegations exist, ergo I deplore the actions cited in the allegation if in fact those actions happened as described. So am I anti-Semetic for condemning the hypotheitical actions of a hypothetical Jewish policeman against a hypothetical Jewish child? I think not.

:First off, I udnerstand that what you are proposing is an example. But my response is this - of course a person would be an anti-Semite if they did such a heinous thing. Only a person filled with hatred towards Jews would dig for unsubstantiated rumors slander about Jews, and then justify condemning Jews (qua Jews) in public for said totally unfounded rumor. [[User:RK|RK]]

:Further, let us for the sake of argument say that the story was true. Only an anti-Semite would use the religion of a criminal to attack Jews as a people. When a (Catholic Christian) policeman was recently arrested in my own state for unnecessary violence against a (presumable Christian) citizen, did I go to the Wikipedia entry on Christianity and use this as an example of a legitimate NPOV opinion against Christians? Of course not. Did anyone else? No. Only a bigoted Christian-hater would do such a thing. So what worries me is that you propose that such actions are acceptable towards Jews, yet it is obvious that no one here would allow such an unfair action to be used on Wikipedia to slander Christians, Muslims, atheists or Hindus. This in of itself is the problem. What about this is so confusing? [[User:RK|RK]]

While I want to speak up in self-defense, I also don't want to clutter Wikipedia with more of this. I have therefore created a meta link: [[m:Anti-Semitism vs Anti-Zionism]]. I politely request that this dispute be taken there, where it is more apt. I shall respond to the above points on the meta page, and to any future points in this debate there also, in order to encourage this. [[User:-- April|-- April]]

----

Guys, Wikipedia is not the place to argue about your personal politics, religion, or character. It's a place to ''rationally'' discuss what belongs in encyclopedia articles. Go shout at each other in the meta link above and leave the rest of us alone to get some useful work done. --LDC
:Yes, that would be nice. [[User:Koyaanis Qatsi|--KQ]]

----
I've unlocked this page by request (I don't know who locked it). But please, do take your dispute to the meta link. If you manage to hash out something useful, bring it into the article. --[[User:Stephen Gilbert|Stephen Gilbert]]
----
I wasn't a party to the dispute -- I just wanted to explain my modifications to the page. I removed the quotes -- in the MLK case my reason can be seen at [[Talk:Martin Luther King Jr.]]. In respect to the other two -- I don't think articles should include extended quotes from people, unless they are a generally recognized authority (e.g. academic researchers--and on a topic as controversial as this, I wouldn't even quote academics, because there is no academic consensus on what they'd be saying), or the topic of the article is the quote (e.g. discussion of meaning of a bible verse), or the quote is short and famous (quoting from speeches by MLK or JFK or Churchill or someone like that would be okay on an article about them, or about World War II/Civil Rights movement/West Berlin). And above all quotes should be short, and should not be a substitute for actual article text.

I hope the content of the quotes is still reflected in my summaries of the arguments; if I have missed something significant, please add it.

I have also change the section on anti-Zionism a lot, because it was strongly biased against anti-Zionism. Basically:
# whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic or not is controversial (I think we can all agree that some incarnations of anti-Zionism are antisemitic -- but some people here appear to believe anti-Zionism is antisemitic in and of itself, or at least in all its significant current incarnations)
# hence, with regard to the controversial forms of anti-Zionism, the article should not come to an opinion as to whether they are antisemitic or not
# rather, it should just describe each sides arguments, as fairly as possible
The original section did not do this; I have tried, although I may have missed some things, and I may have unbalanced it too far the other way. I also tried to elaborate on exactly what people opposed to Zionism mean when they call it racist, or they say they oppose Israel's existence. The article took the worst possible bunch of anti-Zionists (e.g. people who might say "Zionists, like all Jews, are racist pigs who think they are better than everyone else, and they should all be drowned in the Mediterranean sea")--which admittedly do exist--but it ignored people like me, who oppose Zionism, but do NOT endorse those kind of things.

Finally, I want to try as much as possible to avoid argue about whether anti-Zionism is or is not antisemitic (my view is that many anti-Zionists are antisemitic, but not all are, e.g. me). But I'd be happy to hear how I've got one side or the other of the argument wrong, or left important things out, or given more space to one side than the other, or something like that. - [[User:SJK|SJK]] 6 Sep 2002

Antisemitism

2002-09-05T19:41:26Z

137.111.13.33: trying to make discussion of anti-zionism more even.

'''Anti-Semitism''' is hostility or violence toward people because of their [[Jew|Jewish ancestry]]. Although sometimes used literally for hatred of all [[Semitic people]]s, the word "anti-Semitism" was coined specifically to refer to hatred of Jews. There are numerous forms of anti-Semitism, originating in different trends in human society, but usually having the common ground of [[xenophobia]].

== Etymology of the word ==
The word was coined in Germany in 1873 by [[Wilhelm Marr]] as a more [[euphemism|euphonious]] way of saying "Judenhass" (Jew-hatred). This name was chosen because Marr and others believed in a now discredited theory that held that certain racial groups and linguistic groups coincide. Semites, at the time, were defined as natives of a group of Middle Eastern nations related in ethnicity, culture and language. Under this theory Semites would include: Jews, the various Arab groups, and ancient nationalities such as the Assyrians, Canaanites, Carthaginians, Aramaeans and Akkadians (one of the ancestors of the ancient Babylonians). The theory of Semitic races has long since been discredited.

The only Semitic people found in significant numbers in Germany at the time the word was coined were Jews, and because of that, anti-Semitism was considered a convenient way to name the hatred of Jews without reminding of either hatred or Jews.

Since the late twentieth century, some advocates have argued that since Arabs speak a Semitic language, they by definition cannot be "anti-Semitic". Jewish, Christian and moderate Muslim groups (as well as English usage dictionaries) generally consider this just a word game (see [[semantic dispute]]). Anti-Semitism, in its generally accepted meaning, means solely hatred of Jews. See also [[Anti-Arab]].

Similarly, some writers and speakers have used "anti-Semitism" to mean hatred of either Jews or Arabs, considering both groups as "Semites". This is highly controversial, and they have been accused of distorting the meaning of the word for propaganda purposes.

== Theological anti-Semitism ==
Theological anti-Semitism blames the entire Jewish people for the death of [[Jesus Christ]], and for wilfully and deliberately refusing to believe in the New Testament, despite the fact that all Jews "know" that Christianity is the one true faith. Theological anti-Semitism was created by the New Testament's replacement theology, which taught that with the coming of Jesus a new covenant has rendered obsolete and has superseded the religion of [[Judaism]].

Mere disagreement with the religion of Judaism, as such, does not constitute anti-Semitism in any way. However, teaching that Jews murdered God, or that that they literally ''choose to follow a faith that they actually know is false'' (as many Christian preachers have claimed) constitutes the oldest and perhaps most widely spread form of anti-Semitism. Theological anti-Semitism is referred to by some historians and scholars as anti-Judaism to emphasize its relationship to the Jewish religion.

== Mystical, or Demonic, anti-Semitism ==
From the medieval era to the 1900s many Christians believed that some (or all) Jews possessed magical powers; depending on the culture, people believed that the Jews gained these magical powers from making a deal with the devil.

* "The Satanizing of the Jews: Origin and Development of Mystical Anti-Semitism" Joel Carmichael, from, 1992

== Economic Anti-Semitism ==
From the medieval era to today, many people believed that Jewish people unfairly took away jobs and money from Christians.

One historical theory for the growth of this sentiment points to the medieval Christian prohibition of [[usury]], then defined as the practice of loaning money at interest. Because there remained a demand for the receipt of loans, non-Christians were much more likely to practice moneylending. Furthermore, Christian restrictions on what positions could be held by Jews closed off many alternatives, leaving banking as one of the few areas open to them. This connection became established as a [[social stereotype]] in many medieval minds, leading to unjustified resentment of "usurious" Jews. These feelings may well have been fanned by the cynical efforts of debtors to escape their debts. The play ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]] contains a character that is an example of such a stereotype, and attitudes toward that character reflected by the play suggest the prevalence of this economic anti-Semitism in medieval and Renaissance Europe.

More commonly, there is prejudice against Jews largely on account of the fact that Jews are often, in spite of what ethnic and religious differences they have with the population at large, in positions of power and prestige. Hence, anti-Jewish prejudice is very often, by the defenders of Jews and Jewishness, ascribed to envy more than to any sort of religious concern.

== Racial Anti-Semitism ==
Racial anti-Semitism, the most modern form of anti-Semitism, is a type of [[racism]] mixed with [[religious persecution]]. Racial anti-Semites believe erroneously that the Jewish people are a distinct race, and that Jews are inherently inferior to people of other races.

In fact the Jews are an evolving religious civilization that started out as a nationality in exile. Most historians, as well as most Jewish people, consider Jews to be an ethnic group with the religion of [[Judaism]] at its core.

== Anti-Semitism in the 20th and 21st century Middle East ==
There are two major causes of anti-Semitism in the modern Middle East: the religious and the nationalistic.

Some [[Muslim]]s resent Jews and Israel for religious reasons. Examples include followers of the [[Shi'ite]] movement of Iran and Lebanon, and followers of the [[Wahabi]] School of Saudi Arabia. According to their tractation of the Islamic law, all lands fall into one of only two possible legal categories (A) Land currently under Islamic control, and (B) Land once controlled by Muslims, that all Muslims worldwide are bound to re-conquer; such lands, including the State of Israel and Spain, are termed "lands under the sword".

The second cause of anti-Semitism is nationalistic: as in many other countries (for instance the 19th century Russia), a rise in nationalism is accompanied by increased xenophobia. The grievances caused to Arabs during the Arab-Israeli conflict give these feelings a powerful boost; Israel and Jews are often demonized - up to the extent that [[blood libel]] theories are routinely revived by Arab television networks. Some advocates explain the bitterness of Palestinian Arabs as a natural response to what they call unfair expulsion from "their country", an argument which presumes that the land from which they were expelled was rightfully "theirs" (see [[Palestinian homeland]]).

From a sociological point of view, the origin of much modern day anti-Semitism in these nations is due to indoctrination of young children to hate Jewish people from an early age.

* Palestinian television programs for kindergarten age children feature songs about becoming suicide-bombers, and drenching shopping malls with Jewish blood
* Syrian and Palestinian school textbooks deny the existence of the State of Israel.
* Sponsoring of [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust-denying]] material by official Palestinian structures.

Children who have grown up in this atmosphere don't see themselves as anti-Semitic. In the last few years American and European politicians and human rights groups have begun criticising the Palestinian Authority and other middle-eastern Arab nations for such television shows and textbooks; they are held to be violations of the Oslo accords. The Palestinians claim a new batch of PA textbooks, printed in 2000, is more tolerant towards Jews and Israel; however both television broadcasts and anti-Semitic books and meetings are allowed to persist.

== Anti-Zionism ==
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Anti-Zionists believe that the creation of the State of Israel as a Jewish state was wrong. Some anti-Zionists call for the "destruction" of Israel, by which they mean the murder or deportation of its population. Other anti-Zionists find that idea abhorrent, and argue that, although the initial creation of Israel was wrong, its present population should be allowed to remain there unmolested--although some of these anti-Zionists would support the abolition of the present State of Israel, and its replacement with a new state, not bearing the name of "Israel", that would be equally a "Jewish state" and an "Arab state" (the one state solution).

Supporters of the State of Israel hold that in the vast majority of cases ideological anti-Zionists are also anti-Semites, combining the two concepts in a way that cancels the distinction between them. They hold that while it is legitimate to criticize the state of Israel because of its particular acts or policies, the conceptual denial of the right of Jews for a state is indicative of considering Jews inferior - which is exactly anti-Semitism. In addition, they define the failure to distinguish between Israel the state, and Israelis and Jews as individuals as anti-Semitic demonization and hatred.

Most Jews feel that there is a distinction between anti-Zionism (which Zionists typically hold to be based on anti-Semitism in most instances) and a specific criticism of the Israeli government or of a facet of Israeli society. The latter by all reasonable definitions of the term cannot be considered anti-Semitic. For instance, one can oppose the occupation of the [[West Bank]] without being an anti-Zionist. Thus, although anti-Zionism often is the same as anti-Semitism, a specific criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism.

To understand why this issue is so complicated, one must consider how Zionists define "[[Zionism]]", and the public perception of this word. The perception is often far from the definition. Zionism is the belief that Jewish people have a right to a nation state of their own.

Many people outside the state of [[Israel]] are Zionist, as being a Zionist only means that one supports the right of Jews to have a state; it does not necessarily mean that one must emigrate to that state (''aliyah'') in order to live there.

Some anti-Zionists have argued that Zionism is a form of racism. Some have meant by this that Zionism is the actual belief that Jews are superior--this is likely the view of many Arab anti-Zionists. Zionists argue that the vast majority of Jewish people believe no such thing, and that to claim that Jews believe themselves to be superior to others is an anti-Semitic attack.

Others anti-Zionists do not believe that Zionism is a form of racism (in the sense of the belief that one racial group is superior to another), but believe rather that any attempt to bring into existence a Jewish state must (given the realities of the world) involve discrimination against non-Jews and in favour of Jews. Some also argue that the notion of a Jewish state must inevitably exclude to some extent non-Jews, even if they are not actively discriminated against, and that it is wrong to create a state on territory occupied by a people (Palestinian Arabs), that is defined to exclude those people.

Zionist leaders in the past and present have written that one's racial group had no relevance at all in the issue. They claim that has been carried out in practice, as the State of Israel has allowed millions of people of all races and skin colors to become Israeli citizens including Hispanics, Vietnamese, Yemenites, Druze, Bedouins, black Africans, etc. Opponents of Zionism argue that although Israel allows people of many different races to become Israeli citizens, it still nonetheless discriminates against non-Jews (in immigration and nationality laws, and access to government benefits), and that by defining itself as a "Jewish" state, it inevitably excludes other non-Jews, even if only on a psychological level.

Zionists argue that anti-Zionism is inevitably antisemitic, since to deny the right of Jews, yet grant that right to others, is to discriminate against them. Anti-Zionist argue that not all ethnic groups are entitled to their own state (and that since there are thousands of ethnic groups in the world, giving them all their own states would be impossible), and that so long as denial of Jews the right to a state is based on objective criteria (such as the existence of the Palestinian Arab people on that land for many centuries), it is not antisemitic. Some anti-Zionists go further and deny the right of all ethnic groups to their own state, believing that states should be defined on a ethnically neutral basis.

Many anti-Zionists are undoubtedly antisemitic, in the classical sense of the term; but many others are not.

Anti-Zionism has been used to promote [[anti-Semitism]] include events in [[Poland]], [[Czechoslovakia]], and the former [[Soviet Union]].

Some Anti-Semitism existed in [[Poland]] in 1956 when Gomulka rose to power, but only at minor levels. His government was opposed to anti-Semitism. During this time period many Jewish Poles were repatriated from the U.S.S.R., and many of them immigrated to the State of [[Israel]] or other nations. However, in line with the official policy of the Soviet Union, after the Six Day War in 1967 the government of Poland turned against its Jewish citizens. Gomulka publicly warned Jews against becoming a "fifth column" against Poland, and merely expressing sympathy for Israel was stated as reason to believe that someone was a traitor. Thus, most Jews instantly became suspected of treason if they had expressed any support for Israel. Immediately following this was an explosion of anti-Semitic books and articles filled with anti-Zionism, all carrying traditional anti-Semitic overtones. Immediately following this was a nation-wide anti-Jewish purge, removing Jews from their jobs in the government, universities, and many other fields. This purge was directed by the minister of the interior, and head of the security police, MieczysGaw Moczar.

Some Anti-Semitism existed in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, but not much. Tolerance towards Jews in this nation was traditional. The situation began to change when strong differences emerged between the liberal regime in Prague and the more conservative Soviet Union. By August 1968 the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia to destroy the liberal regime, and the Soviet's instituted an anti-Zionist campaign against the nation's Jews. Soviet propaganda claimed that Zionist attempted a "counter-revolution", which the Soviet Union had to save the nation from. Immediately following this invasion Jews were purged from many government and university positions.

== Occurrence of anti-Semitism ==
Anti-Semitic beliefs are often held by people of many different ethnicities. Anti-Semitism has a long history, including persecution of Jews in Europe, the Middle East and the Western world at large. (Can someone expand on this?) Relations between Christians and Jews have at times been horrible, other times bad, yet at other times peaceful. In recent years there has been much reconciliation between Jews and Christians. In many nations there has been a remarkable decline in anti-Semitism.

One of the most damaging anti-Semitic tractates published is the infamous Russian hoax, [[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]].

Common occurrences of anti-Semitism:
* [[Arab anti-semitism]]
* [[Christian anti-semitism]]
* [[KKK anti-semitism]] (see [[KKK]])
* [[Nazi anti-semitism]] (see [[Nazism]])
* [[Nation of Islam anti-semitism]]

See also:
*[[Unification Church and anti-semitism]]
*[[Middle East]], [[Israel]], [[Zionism]], [[holocaust]], [[nazi|nazism]], [[Anti-Arab]]
*[[White supremacy]], [[conspiracy theory]]
*[[Semitic]], [[Semitic languages]], [[Shem]]

External links:
* [http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Christian.html Christian-Jewish relations]

Talk:West Flemish

2002-09-05T03:04:05Z

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Question: Is West Flemish just another Dutch dialect, distinct from Flemish, or is it a separate language? -- [[user:SJK|SJK]]

Wikipedia:Links to disambiguating pages

2002-09-05T03:01:34Z

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The following pages are disambiguation pages linked here in order to avoid being shown in the list of orphaned articles, as discribed in [[wikipedia:disambiguation]].

'''A''': [[Aa]] - [[Abduction]] - [[Abendana]] - [[ABM]] - [[Abort]] - [[Abstraction]] - [[Abydos]] - [[Action]] - [[Acton]] - [[Ada]] - [[Adams County]] - [[Adrian]] - [[Aelian]] - [[AIM]] - [[Albany]] - [[Albemarle]] - [[Albert]] - [[Albert I]] - [[Albert III]] - [[Alexander]] - [[Alexander I]] - [[Alexander II]] - [[Alexius]] - [[Alfred]] - [[Alice in Wonderland]] - [[Allegany County]] - [[Alleghany County]] - [[Allentown]] - [[Alphonso I]] - [[Alphonso II]] - [[Alphonso III]] - [[Alphonso IV]] - [[Alphonso V]] - [[Alphonso VI]] - [[Alpine]] - [[Amalric]] - [[Amalthea]] - [[Amazon]] - [[American Pie]] - [[Amherst]] - [[Amp]] - [[Analysis]] - [[Anastasius I]] - [[Anastasius II]] - [[Anaximenes]] - [[Anderson]] - [[Andover]] - [[Annandale]] - [[Antwerp]] - [[Aotus]] - [[Apollo]] - [[Ardmore]] - [[Arlington]] - [[Arms]] - [[Arsinoe]] - [[Ashburn]] - [[Ashland]] - [[Ass]] - [[AT]] - [[ATF]] - [[Atlas]] - [[ATM]] - [[Atomic]] - [[ATP]] - [[Attica]] - [[Auburn]] - [[Augusta]] - [[Aurora]] - [[Austin]] - [[Avon]]

'''B''': [[Balfour Declaration]] - [[Basic]] - [[Battle of Nineveh]] - [[Battle of Tannenberg]] - [[Battle of the Atlantic]] - [[Battle of the Somme]] - [[Batavia]] - [[Be]] - [[Bedford]] - [[Belleville]] - [[Belmont]] - [[Beloit]] - [[Benton]] - [[Benz]] - [[Bergen]] - [[Berne]] - [[Bethel]] - [[Bill]] - [[Birmingham]] - [[Bloomfield]] - [[Bloomington]] - [[BNF]] - [[Boojum]] - [[Bottom]] - [[Bourbon]] - [[Bowling Green]] - [[Bra]] - [[Bradford]] - [[Brandon]] - [[Branford]] - [[Bridgewater]] - [[Brookfield]] - [[Brunswick]] - [[Buffalo]] - [[Bulgarian]] - [[Burbank]] - [[Burlington]] - [[Butler]] - [[Butte County]]

'''C''': [[C-135]] - [[Cabinet]] - [[Cadillac]] - [[Calhoun County]] - [[Callisto]] - [[Camden]] - [[Canterbury]] - [[Canton]] - [[Carbondale]] - [[Carlisle]] - [[Carloman]] -[[Carroll County]] - [[Carrollton]] - [[Carrying capacity]] - [[Cary]] - [[Castiglione]] - [[Catacombs]] - [[CD]] - [[Centerville]] - [[Centreville]] - [[Ceres]] - [[CFG]] - [[CGI]] - [[Champagne]] - [[Charles]] - [[Charles City]] - [[Charles I]] - [[Charles VIII]] - [[Charleston]] - [[Charlotte]] - [[Charon]]- [[Chatham]] - [[Cher]] -[[Chester]] - [[Christchurch]] - [[CIS]] - [[Cistercian]] - [[Clark County]] - [[Clarke County]] - [[Clarksville]] - [[Clay County]] - [[Clayton]] - [[Cletus]] - [[Cleveland]] - [[Clifton]] - [[Clinton]] - [[Clinton County]] - [[Clue]] - [[Cluster]] - [[The Coen Brothers]] - [[Coil]] - [[Coke]] - [[College Park]] - [[Colon]] - [[Columbia]] - [[Columbia County]] - [[Columbus]] - [[Comic]] - [[Commerce]] - [[Complexity theory]] - [[Compression]] - [[Concord]] - [[Congo]] - [[Conservatory]] - [[Constantine I]] - [[Constantine II]] - [[Coptic]] - [[Cordoba]] - [[Cork]] - [[Corn]] - [[Corning]] - [[Cornish]] - [[Cortland]] - [[Court]] - [[Covington]] - [[CPM]] - [[CPR]] - [[Crack]] - [[Crap]] - [[Cricket]] - [[CRM]] - [[Crown of Glory]] - [[Crusader]] - [[CSS]] - [[Cumberland]] - [[Cuthbert]] - [[Cyclops]] - [[Cyrus]]

'''D''': [[Danville]] - [[Darien]] - [[Darius]] - [[Dartmouth]] - [[Darwin]] - [[DASD]] - [[Date]] - [[David Copperfield]] - [[Davis]] - [[Dayton]] - [[DDR]] - [[Decatur]] - [[Decatur County]] - [[Defense]] - [[Deimos]] - [[Delaware County]] - [[Denomination]] - [[Descent]] - [[DeWitt]] - [[Didymus]] - [[Diesel]] - [[Director]] - [[Domain]] - [[Doric]] - [[Dover]] - [[Dreamland]] - [[Duluth]] - [[Dunedin]] - [[Dunkirk]] - [[Durham]] - [[Dutch]] - [[Dvorak]] - [[Dylan]]

'''E''': [[Earl of Aberdeen]] - [[Easton]] - [[Echidna]] - [[Edgewater]] - [[Edgewood]] - [[Eiffel]] - [[ELF]] - [[Elgin]] - [[Elkton]] -[[Embedded]] - [[Englewood]] - [[English]] - [[Enterprise]] - [[EPC]] - [[Erlang]] - [[Eros]] - [[Escambia County]] - [[ESR]] - [[Eudoxus]] - [[Eureka]] - [[Europa]] - [[EV]] - [[Ewe]] - [[Extension]]

'''F''': [[Fairfield]] - [[Fair Haven]] - [[Fairmont]] - [[Falmouth]] - [[Farmington]] - [[Fayetteville]] - [[Ferdinand Habsburg]] - [[Figure eight]] - [[Flash]] - [[Foucault]] - [[Francis II]] - [[Frankfort]] - [[Franklin]] - [[Franklin County]] - [[Frederick County]] - [[Fredonia]] - [[Freeport]] - [[Free]] - [[Fremont]] - [[Fugue]] - [[Fulton County]]

'''G''': [[Ga]] - [[Gainesville]] - [[Galena]] - [[Gambia]] - [[Game of Life]] - [[Ganymede]] - [[GAO]] - [[Garbage collection]]- [[Garden City]] - [[Gary]] - [[Genesee]] - [[Georgetown]] - [[Georgia]] - [[Georgian]] - [[German]] - [[Germanic]] - [[Germantown]] - [[Gettysburg]] - [[Gimli]] - [[Ginger]] - [[Giotto]] - [[Gladstone]] - [[Glendale]] - [[Glendower]] - [[Go]] - [[Goshen]] - [[Goya]] - [[Graeco-Roman mythology]] - [[Grafton]] - [[Granby]] - [[Grand Rapids]] - [[Graph]] - [[Greene County]] - [[Greenfield]] - [[Green money]] - [[Greensboro]] - [[Greenville]] - [[Groningen]] - [[Groton]] - [[Guilford]]

'''H''': [[Hackers]] - [[Halifax]] - [[Hamilton]] - [[Hamilton County]] - [[Hammond]] - [[Hampton]] - [[Hans Holbein]] - [[Harlingen]] - [[Harpers Ferry]] - [[Harrier]] - [[Harrisburg]] - [[Harrison]] - [[Hartford]] - [[Harvey]] - [[Hash]] - [[Haverhill]] - [[Hawthorne]] - [[Heavy metal]] - [[Hebrews]] - [[Helene]] - [[Henderson]] - [[Hendersonville]] - [[Henry County]] - [[Henry II]] - [[Henry IV]] - [[Henry V]] - [[Henry VII]] - [[Hieroglyph]] - [[Highland Park]] - [[Highway 1]] - [[Hiram]] - [[History of East Asia]] - [[Hockey]] - [[Hop]] - [[Hopewell]] - [[Horror]] - [[Howard]] - [[Howard County]] - [[HPV]] - [[Hudson]] - [[Huey]] - [[Humbert]] - [[Hume]] - [[Huntington]] - [[Hyde Park]]

'''I''': [[IADB]] - [[IAI]] - [[IAL]] - [[IBF]] - [[Icarus]] - [[IDB]] - [[IDE]] - [[IEA]] - [[INADS]] - [[Independence]] - [[Injective, surjective and bijective functions]] - [[Interpreter]] - [[Io]] - [[IPA]] - [[IP]] - [[IRA]] - [[Irene]] - [[Irish]] - [[ISA]] - [[IT]] - [[Ithaca]]

'''J''': [[Jackie]] - [[Jackson]] - [[Jacksonville]] - [[James I]] - [[Jamestown]] - [[Java]] - [[Jebus]] - [[Jefferson]] - [[Jefferson County]] - [[Jeremiah]] - [[Jessup]] - [[Jin Dynasty]] - [[JMS]] - [[John]] - [[John Brown]] - [[Johnson City]] - [[Johnstown]] - [[Joliet]] - [[Jonathan Edwards]] - [[Judiciary Act]] - [[Juneau]] - [[Jungle]] - [[Jupiter]]

'''K''': [[K-9]] - [[Kansas City]] - [[Kernel]] - [[Ket]] - [[Key]] - [[Kingdom]] - [[Kings Cross]] - [[Kiwi]]

'''L''': [[Lafayette]] - [[LaGrange]] - [[Lake County]] - [[Lake Placid]] - [[Lakewood]] - [[Lambertville]] - [[Lancaster]] - [[Lansing]] - [[Largo]] - [[LART]] - [[La Salle County]] - [[Latvian]] - [[Laurel]] - [[Lawrenceville]] - [[Lawrence]] - [[Leavenworth]] - [[Leesburg]] - [[Lenox]] - [[Lewisburg]] - [[Lexington]] - [[Liberty]] - [[Lima]] - [[Limburg]] - [[Limerick]] - [[Lincoln]] - [[Linden]] - [[Lindenhurst]] - [[List of dukes of Norfolk]] - [[Litchfield]] - [[Littleton]] - [[Livermore]] - [[Livingston]] - [[LMS]] - [[Lock]] - [[Lockport]] - [[Lodi]] - [[Loop]] - [[Lowell]] - [[Lucas Cranach]] - [[Luke]] - [[Luton]] - [[Lyme]]

'''M''': [[M. A.]] - [[MAC]] - [[Mach]] - [[Macintosh]] - [[Macon]] - [[MAD]] - [[Madison]] - [[Madison County]] - [[Madness]] - [[Magic]] - [[Magic Lantern]] - [[Management]] - [[Manilius]] - [[Manowar]] - [[Mansfield]] - [[Manville]] - [[Maquis]] - [[Marathon]] - [[Marblehead]] - [[Marietta]] - [[Marion]] - [[Marion County]] - [[Mars]] - [[Martinsville]] - [[Mary]] - [[Marydel]] - [[Mary I]] - [[Mast]] - [[Matthew]] - [[Maya]] - [[Mechanicsburg]] - [[Medford]] - [[Memphis]] - [[Menlo Park]] - [[Mercer]] - [[Mercury]] - [[Messina]] - [[Metis]] - [[Metropolis]] -[[Middleburg]] - [[Middletown]] - [[Midland]] - [[Milford]] - [[Millerton]] - [[Milton]] - [[Minneapolis]] - [[MM]] - [[Mole]] - [[Monastir]] - [[Monroe]] - [[Monroe County]] - [[Monrovia]] - [[Montgomery]] - [[Montgomery County]] - [[Monticello]] - [[Montpelier]] - [[Moon]] - [[Moria]] - [[Morrisville]] - [[Morristown]] - [[Mount Vernon]] - [[Mozart]]

'''N''': [[Nashville]] - [[Nassau County]] - [[NEA]] - [[Neptune]] - [[Netscape]] - [[Newark]] - [[New Castle]] - [[New Haven]] - [[New Hope]] - [[Newington]] - [[New London]] - [[New Milford]] - [[Newport]] - [[Newtown]] - [[NF]] - [[Nicephorus]] - [[Nicholas I]] - [[Nike]] - [[NLA]] - [[NLP]] - [[Norfolk]] - [[North East]] - [[Norwalk]] - [[Nucleus]] - [[NUTS]]

'''O''': [[Oakland]] - [[Oak Park]] - [[Oak Ridge]] - [[OAS]] - [[Objectivism]] - [[Occam]] - [[Oceanside]] - [[Odessa]] - [[Olympian]] - [[OMG]] - [[Oneonta]] - [[Orange]] - [[Orange County]] - [[OSI]]

'''P''': [[Palestrina]] - [[Palm]] - [[Palmyra]] - [[Pan]] - [[Pasadena]] - [[Pascal]] - [[Patriot]] - [[Pepin]] - [[PC]] - [[PCP]] - [[Pdf]] - [[Pekin]] - [[Pelham]] - [[Peoria]] - [[Perryville]] - [[Petersburg]] - [[Petersburgh]] - [[Phases]] - [[Phobos]] - [[Phoenix]] - [[Phonetic alphabet]] - [[Pica]] - [[Pico]] - [[Piet Hein]] - [[Pine]] - [[Pitch]] - [[PKD]] - [[Plainfield]] - [[Plains]] - [[Pluto]] - [[Plymouth]] - [[Poe]] - [[Poop]] - [[Port Arthur]] - [[Portland]] - [[Portuguese]] - [[Pot]] - [[Potomac]] - [[Progressive]] - [[Prince]] - [[Princeton]] - [[Program]] - [[Puck]] - [[Putnam ]] - [[Putnam County]] - [[PVC]]

'''Q''': [[Quake]] - [[Queen]] - [[Quincy]] - [[Quo vadis]]

'''R''': [[Ramsay]] - [[RC]] - [[Reading]] - [[Redding]] - [[Red Planet]] - [[Red River]] - [[Redwood]] - [[Region]] - [[Relationship]] - [[Reproduction]] - [[Rhea]] - [[Richard Plantagenet]] - [[Richmond]] - [[Richmond County]] - [[Richton]] - [[Ridgefield]] - [[Ring]] - [[RIP]] - [[Ripe]] - [[Riverdale]] - [[Riverside]] - [[RN]] - [[Roanoke]] - [[Rochester]] - [[Rockford]] - [[Rockland]] - [[Rockport]] - [[Rolla]] - [[Rom]] - [[Rook]] - [[Roscoe]] - [[Roselle]] - [[Roswell]] - [[RPG]] - [[Ruby]] - [[Rugby World Cup]] - [[RUC]]

'''S''': [[SA]] - [[Saint Albans]] - [[Saint Charles]] - [[Saint Cloud]] - [[Saint Johns]] - [[Saint Marys]] - [[Saint Petersburg]] - [[Salamis]] - [[Salem]] - [[Salisbury]] - [[Salzburg]] - [[Sandman]] - [[Sandusky]] - [[Sandwich]] - [[Sanford]] - [[San Jose]] - [[Santa Fe]] - [[Santiago]] - [[Saratoga]] - [[SAS]] - [[SAT]] - [[Saturn]] - [[Savannah]] - [[Scale]] - [[Schumann]] - [[SDL]] - [[SDS]] - [[Seabrook]] - [[Seal]] - [[Sealion]] - [[Selma]] - [[Sequoia]] - [[Sex changer]] - [[Sharon]] - [[Shell]] - [[Shelton]] - [[Sheridan]] - [[Sherman]] - [[Shrewsbury]] - [[Siena]] - [[Shiraz]] - [[Singularity]] - [[Slave]] - [[Smack]] - [[Smithfield]] - [[Smyrna]] - [[Snare]] - [[Snuff]] - [[Solaris]] - [[Somers]] - [[Somerset County]] - [[Somerville]] - [[Song Dynasty]] - [[SOV]] - [[Spam]] - [[Sparks]] - [[Springfield]] - [[Sprouts]] - [[Squash]] - [[SSRI]] - [[St Albans]] - [[Stanford]] - [[Station]] - [[STD]] - [[Steuben County]] - [[James Stewart]] - [[Sting]] - [[St John's]] - [[Stockbridge]] - [[Stratford]] - [[Subjectivism]] - [[Subspace]] - [[Sucker]] - [[Sucre]] - [[Suffolk County]] - [[Sullivan County]] - [[Summer time]] - [[Sunfish]] - [[Superior]] - [[SVC]] - [[SVO]]

'''T''': [[T1]] - [[Taos]] - [[Tatra]] - [[Temple]] - [[THC]] - [[Thread]] - [[Thresher]] - [[Thrush]] - [[Tioga County]] - [[Tissue]] - [[Titan]] - [[Titus]] - [[Tocantins]] - [[Tom Jones]] - [[Tone]] - [[Topeka]] - [[Trenton]] - [[Triton]] - [[TSR]] - [[TTL]]

'''U''': [[U-238]] - [[U-571]] - [[U2]] - [[UAE]] - [[UCK]] - [[Underground railway]] - [[Union City]] - [[UPS]] - [[Uranus]] - [[Urbana]] - [[USC]] - [[UT]] - [[Utica]] - [[Utrecht]] - [[UU]]

'''V''': [[Valerian]] - [[Var]] - [[Vellum]] - [[Venus]] - [[Vernon]] - [[Vesta]] - [[Vicksburg]] - [[Victor Emmanuel]] - [[Victoria]] - [[Victoria University]] - [[Vienna Convention]] - [[VSO]] - [[Vulcan]]

'''W''': [[War of Independence]] - [[Warren]] - [[Warren County]] - [[Warwick]] - [[Washington County]] - [[Watertown]] - [[Wausau]] - [[Waverly]] - [[Wayne]] - [[Wayne County]] - [[Webster]] - [[Wellington]] - [[Welch]] - [[Welsh]] - [[Weston]] - [[Wheaton]] - [[Wheeling]] - [[Wikipedia:Unsuccessful searches]] - [[Wildwood]] - [[Will]] - [[William I]] - [[William of Orange]] - [[Williamsburg]] - [[Williamsport]] - [[Wilmington]] - [[Windham]] - [[Winona]] - [[Winthrop]] - [[Woodbury]] - [[Worcester]] - [[Worcester County]] - [[Work]] - [[World]] - [[WTO]] - [[WWF]]

'''X''': [[XP]]

'''Y''': [[Yarn]] - [[Yosemite]]

'''Z''': [[Zhou Dynasty]] - [[Zumpt]]

Var (departement)

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'''Var''' is a French département, #83 for postal and other administrative purposes. Located in the south of [[France]].

Part of the administrative region of [[Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur]] (PACA).

Main cities:

[[Toulon]],
[[Hieres]],
[[La Valette]]

Vár

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In [[Norse Mythology]] '''Var''' is an [[Asynjur|Asynja]], a goddess of the [[Aesir]].

She is the one who listens to oaths and agreements between men and women, and she takes vengeance on those who break them.

Var (department)

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137.111.13.33: disambiguating

See:

* [[Var (Norse goddess)]]
* [[Var (French departement)]]

Cher (river)

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Cher is a river, located in the [[departement]] of [[Cher (French departement)|Cher]], [[France]].

Cher (department)

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Cher is a [[departement|department]] in the centre of [[France]]. The department has an area of [[1000km2|7228 km2]] and its [[préfecture]] is [[Bourges]].

Cher (department)

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137.111.13.33:

Cher a [[departement|department]] in the centre of [[France]]. The department has an area of [[1000km2|7228 km2]] and its [[préfecture]] is [[Bourges]].