title: Reincarnation

paragraphs: Reincarnation is the name of the idea that people are born again in another body after they die and this cycle continues over many lifetimes. Rebirth or "transmigration" is the preferred term for those believers who do not believe in eternal souls. Many Hindus, Jainists, Celtic pagans, Buddhists, and people who follow some African religions believe in reincarnation or rebirth/ transmigration. Carnate means “of flesh”, and reincarnate means to “reenter the flesh".

paragraphs: The belief is held in many religions except Islam and Christianity, although 20 to 30 percent of Christians in western countries also believe in reincarnation.

paragraphs: Ethnologists have documented the belief among nearly all the traditional religions of ethnic groups in Africa, North and South America, and Australia/Oceania. The tribes of north-west North America continue to believe in reincarnation despite negative attitudes towards it on the part of Christian missionaries and churches.

paragraphs: Hindus believe in reincarnation, the process where the soul repeatedly takes on a physical body through being born on Earth. Ancient scriptures of Hinduism starting around 700 BC teach that the soul, or immortal “self”, takes birth time and time again. The soul survives and continues its long journey until it is one with God. Hindus believe that the soul never dies, but inhabits one body after another during its evolutionary journey guided by karma. Karma (literally: action) is the sum of one's actions, and the force that determines one's next reincarnation.

paragraphs: The soul evolves from immaturity to spiritual illumination. Therefore, each reincarnating soul chooses a home and a family which can best fulfill its next step of learning and maturation. Each life on Earth is similar to a class in school. Maturation of the soul on Earth means fulfilling its worldly desires, which can only be experienced through a body.

paragraphs: At death the soul leaves the physical body. But the soul does not die. It lives on in a subtle body called the astral body. The astral body exists in a nonphysical dimension called the astral plane. Here the soul continues to have experiences until it is born again in another physical body as a baby.

paragraphs: After many lifetimes of following dharma (right way of living), the soul is fully matured in love, wisdom and knowledge of God. There is no longer a need for physical birth, for all lessons have been learned, all karmas fulfilled. When all desire has vanished, the person will not be born again anymore.

paragraphs: Ian Stevenson found that the best research evidence supporting the belief in reincarnation comes from the cases of young children who, typically between the ages of 2 and 5, make statements about a previous life they claim to have had before being born. Some 35 per cent of the children also have birthmarks or birth defects which often correspond to injuries or illness experienced by the deceased person who the subject remembers. Medical documents have confirmed this correspondence in more than forty cases.


title: Philosopher

paragraphs: A philosopher is a person who works, studies, or is an expert in philosophy. The word, "philosopher", comes from the Greek language and literally means "friend of wisdom". Some famous philosophers include: Socrates, who was a Greek philosopher, Immanuel Kant, who was a German philosopher, and David Hume, who was a Scottish philosopher. One of the most famous philosophical questions is "Is there anything about which we can be absolutely certain"? A quite different question is "Do we have free will"? These, and many other questions, have a long history, and are answered differently by different philosophers.


title: EBay

paragraphs: eBay is a website. It is a place for online auctions. Anybody can sell almost anything they want there. People can buy many things there as well.

paragraphs: People have to send what they sell themselves, usually using mail. Some items may be collected by the buyer such as items to large or heavy to post. Buyers can transfer the money in any way they want as long as the sellers accept payments made that way. A lot of people use PayPal to transfer the money. PayPal is owned by the same people as eBay. Margaret Whitman was the CEO of eBay from 1998 to 2008.

paragraphs: eBay was started in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. It was first called "Auctionweb". The name 'eBay' came later when he tried to register a domain name for his planned name "EchoBay". It was already taken so he shortened the name to 'eBay'.

paragraphs: Millions of items are bought on eBay every day. It is often very cheap to list an item on eBay. Total costs are usually below ordinary auction house costs. Many people look at others' items because they are interested in them.


title: Gerhard Schröder

paragraphs: "For the older CDU politician and former Minister of Defence, see Gerhard Schröder (CDU)"

paragraphs: Gerhard Schröder was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005.

paragraphs: He was born on 7 April 1944 in Mossenberg, North Rhine-Westphalia.

paragraphs: After school he learned retail sales in a Lemgo from 1958 to 1961.

paragraphs: After that he made his abitur (highest school exam in Germany) in Bielefeld. Then he studied law in Göttingen. After that he worked as a lawyer.

paragraphs: He joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1963 and became chairman of its youth organisation in 1978.

paragraphs: In 1986 he became a member of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony.

paragraphs: In 1990 he was elected as Prime-Minister of Lower Saxony.

paragraphs: He became the chancellor of Germany in 1998. After elections in 2005, he was replaced by Angela Merkel. He is a member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany).


title: Melbourne

paragraphs: Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia. It is the capital of Victoria, which is a state in the south-east of Australia. The population of Melbourne is 4.9 million.

paragraphs: Melbourne is a multicultural city (it welcomes people and cultures from all over the world). It is famous for its trams (small short trains). The centre of Melbourne is around a river called the Yarra River. Melbourne also has many big parks and gardens and some beaches.

paragraphs: There are many things to do in Melbourne. Visitors in Melbourne can go to museums, look at art, eat food at restaurants, go to shops and visitors can enjoy of international events like Australian Open and Formula One both in the early year.

paragraphs: Melbourne has been the winner of the Economist's 'World's most liveable city' award for the 7th time in a row (Winner from 2010 - 2017).

paragraphs: There is a lot of industry (factories) and commerce (buying and selling) in Melbourne. Many of Australia's largest companies and many large companies from other countries work there. It is home to Australia's largest seaport. There are a number of universities (the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University, Victoria University, La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the Australian Catholic University). Much of Australia's automotive (car) industry is there, for example the engine maker "Holden", and "Ford" and "Toyota" car builders, Although all three of these companies have announced plans to move their manufacturing plants overseas with Ford already shutting down its manufacturing plant in Broadmeadows.

paragraphs: Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner. In 1851, some people found gold near Melbourne. Melbourne grew very quickly because people came from all over the world to look for gold. At the end of the 19th century, Melbourne was called "Marvellous Melbourne" ("marvellous" means "wonderful"). Melbourne was the biggest and most important city in Australia for many years, but now Sydney is bigger (but not more important). The first Australian government was in Melbourne from 1901 until 1927 when it moved to Canberra.

paragraphs: Many people from different countries live in Melbourne. In fact 43% of the people living in Melbourne were born outside Australia or have parents from another country. All together people from 233 countries live in Melbourne and people with 116 different religions.

paragraphs: Melbourne has six sister cities. They are:


title: Canberra

paragraphs: Canberra is the capital city of Australia. There are 403,468 people who live there. It doesn’t belong to a state but it is in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

paragraphs: Canberra was started in 1913 and in the middle of the city is Lake Burley-Griffin . This lake was created especially for the city. There was a competition to design the new capital city of Australia. The competition was won by an architect from Chicago in the United States of America. His name was Walter Burley Griffin. Griffin designed his triangular town as a garden town, so its size expanded over a big area. But as Canberra grew larger and larger, the lake was no longer in the middle of the town, but the people who are in charge of planning the city make sure Canberra is as close to Griffin's original plan as possible. Canberra has a size in area nearly as big as Berlin, but the number of people who live there is much smaller.

paragraphs: Before Canberra was founded, Australia’s two most important cities, Sydney and Melbourne, were arguing which city should be the capital of the continent. First Melbourne was elected the capital, but in 1908 there was a vote. The result: an area of 2400 square kilometers was given to the country by New South Wales to build Canberra in. This was the place, 300 kilometers away from Sydney and with a distance of 650 kilometers to Melbourne, where a few years later Canberra was built.

paragraphs: The name Canberra is pronounced in various ways and most commonly now as "CAN-brugh" making it sound almost an English name - Canborough ! Some say "CAN-buh-ruh" ; a small number of people may pronounce it "can-BEAR-ruh" ; at an earlier time "can-BERR-a" was very common and that form is still heard although often looked down upon as ignorant and incorrect. But while now an uncommon pronunciation it may be closest to the original name and pronunciation. In the 19th century a farming property on the Limestone Plains was named "Canberry" (or "Camberry") and some think this name is derived in turn from the name of the local tribe - the Ngambri or Kamberra or Camberri people. (Others have suggested the name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place").

paragraphs: Canberra has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Köppen climate classification). Due to Canberra's inland location and fairly high altitude, summers are warm to hot with frequent heat waves and droughts and winters are fairly cold with frequent frosts during the nights. Snow is only common on the mountains.

paragraphs: Tourists who visit Canberra come to see the many national monuments and other famous sights. Some places to visit are the Government House, Parliament House, the High Court of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, the Royal Australian Mint, Telstra Tower, the National Library of Australia, and the National Museum of Australia.


title: Sydney

paragraphs: Sydney is a city on the east coast of Australia which is the capital city of New South Wales. About five million people live in Sydney which makes it the biggest city in Oceania. Sydney started in 1788, when the Captain Arthur Phillip brought the First Fleet to settle in Australia. The settlers were mostly convicts from crowded prisons in England and Ireland, with a group of soldiers to guard them. The country is home to more than 200 spoken languages with a large population of overseas-born residents.

paragraphs: In Sydney, there are many famous buildings: the Sydney Opera House, the Queen Victoria Building and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney has a large harbour and many beaches. The most famous beach is Bondi Beach, some other famous beaches are Coogee Beach and Manly Beach. A popular coastal walk to do is the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk. Famous parts of the harbour are Darling Harbour and Circular Quay.

paragraphs: The most famous sports ground in Sydney is ANZ Stadium (which used to be called "Stadium Australia") because it was built for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Another stadium in Sydney is the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Other high-profile global events held in Sydney were: 2007 APEC Leaders Conference, 2008 World Youth Day and the 2014 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting.

paragraphs: Sydney has many things to see and do. These include visiting Taronga Zoo (a park for animals) on the northern side of the harbour, eating food, looking at art or watching sports (like cricket or rugby) or walking down George Street which has many nice shops. Sydney has some of Australia's best shopping, and the Blue Mountains are about two hours' drive away to the west. Many people go to Sydney City to watch the great fireworks display over the harbour on New Year's Eve. Sydney holds events throughout the year that attract tourists from around the world, some namely events are Vivid Sydney, Royal Easter Show, and more. The first people to occupy the area were Australian Aboriginals.

paragraphs: Sydney city and its surrounding suburbs include the Central Business District, Inner City, Sydney East, Sydney North, Sydney South and Sydney West.

paragraphs: Sydney is home to a range of events that happen throughout the year, drawing many tourists and visitors to the city. One of Sydney's biggest event holding convention centre is the newly rebuilt International Convention Centre located by Darling Harbour, Sydney.

paragraphs: Vivid Sydney is held every year in June in the winter and is a display of light shows, art installations and music from local and international artists. In 2016, Vivid Sydney will run for 23 spectacular nights from May 27 to June 18.

paragraphs: The Royal Easter Show is held in Sydney Olympic Park throughout the Easter public holiday period in April. It is a family attraction with rides, carnival games, showbags and food tents. There are also agriculture shows where children can learn more about farm animals as well as animal feeding areas. Shows such as woodcutting and animal competitions are popular every year.

paragraphs: Mercedes Benz Fashion weekend runs for two days every year and features runway shows by leading Australian designers. The event is attended by fashion journalists, magazine editors, bloggers and fashion buyers. There are also Styling Sessions and VIP parties at the home of fashion week in Carriageworks in the inner city suburb of Redfern.


title: Greenhouse effect

paragraphs: The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases in the Earth's atmosphere (the air around the Earth) infrared radiation. This makes the planet become warmer, similar to the way it makes a greenhouse become warmer.

paragraphs: The greenhouse effect is caused by greenhouse gases; the most important greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are: water vapor, carbon dioxide(CO), and methane. When there is more greenhouse gas in the air, the air holds more heat. This is why more greenhouse gases cause climate change and global warming.

paragraphs: The greenhouse effect is natural. It is important for life on Earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be around -18 or -19 degrees Celsius (0 or 1 degree Fahrenheit). Earth would be locked in an ice age. Because of the greenhouse effect, the Earth's actual average temperature is 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit).

paragraphs: The problem is that recently, the greenhouse effect has become stronger. This is because humans have been using large amounts of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide when they are burned. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it has caused the planet to warm over the past 150 years.

paragraphs: About 10,000 years ago, before people started burning large amounts of fossil fuels, there was 260 to 280 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, but now there is over 400 ppm. Most scientists say that having 350 ppm or less is safe for the environment and that species on the planet can adapt to this level. Higher levels can make severe problems for animal and marine life that are already being seen today, such as ocean acidification.

paragraphs: The greenhouse effect was first proposed by Joseph Fourier in 1824. Mars, Venus and other planets with atmospheres also have greenhouse effects. The effect on Venus is especially strong because Venus has so much CO. This is why Venus is hotter than Mercury, even though Mercury is closer to the sun. The first person to predict that carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels (and other combustion processes) could cause global warming was Svante Arrhenius.


title: World War

paragraphs: A World War is a war in which most of the countries in the world fight or help.

paragraphs: There have been two World Wars so far, World War I and World War II. Several wars such as the Seven Years' War were fought in many places around the world, but they were wars among European countries.

paragraphs: After World War II, many people were scared that a World War III might start, probably between the United States and the countries of Europe, on one side, and the Soviet Union, and maybe China, on the other side. After World War II, countries had many powerful weapons, including jet bomber airplanes that could carry many powerful bombs fast and far, nuclear weapons (or atomic bombs) which could destroy many buildings and kill many people instantly, and missiles which could carry nuclear weapons to other countries very fast.

paragraphs: This time when many people were afraid that World War III might start was called the Cold War. After the dawn of the Soviet Union, people were not as afraid that World War III might begin. However, many countries still have powerful weapons, and still could use them.

paragraphs: Albert Einstein said, "I don't know what weapons countries might use to fight World War III, but wars after that will be fought with sticks and stones" -- because a third world war would probably be so big that it would destroy civilization.


title: Ionizing radiation

paragraphs: Ionizing radiation is a process in physics where something sends out particles or waves that can ionize an atom or molecule through atomic interactions.

paragraphs: The strength of ionizing radiation depends on the energy of the individual particles or waves, and not a function of the number of particles or waves present.

paragraphs: Ionizing radiation can be electromagnetic radiation or subatomic particles.

paragraphs: Some radiation can go through the human body and other objects. Usually when people use the term radiation, they are talking specifically about potentially harmful types of ionizing radiation. If something produces this sort of radiation, we can say it is radioactive.

paragraphs: There is a little radiation all around us all the time, which people's bodies are used to, but larger amounts of radiation can make people sick or kill them. Natural ionizing radiation is produced by radioactive decay of some chemical elements, such as uranium. Stars and other things in outer space also make radiation. "See cosmic ray". Some isotopes that are radioactive only stay radioactive for much less than a second. Other things can stay radioactive for thousands of years.

paragraphs: People and anything that lives gives off radiation naturally, because of the potassium and Carbon-14 inside.

paragraphs: Some of the machines that make radiation are called particle accelerators. Scientists use these machines to make radiation so they can study it.

paragraphs: X-ray machines also make radiation, so doctors can see the inside of the human body and help people. Nuclear weapons (atomic weapons) use a nuclear reaction to produce massive amounts of energy, in the form of heat, light, and radiation. This radiation is spread by the dust, ash, and smoke produced by the blast.

paragraphs: Nuclear reactors are used to make electricity. They make a lot of radiation, but the reactors are built carefully to keep the radiation inside the reactor. But many people are afraid that if there were a problem with the reactor, radioactive material could escape into the environment, harming or killing many animals and people. Also, the parts of the reactor stay radioactive, and can kill people, for hundreds or thousands of years, so people are not sure where they can keep parts of old reactors safely away from people.

paragraphs: Alpha radiation is used in static eliminators and smoke detectors. Ionizing radiation are used to sterilize medical instruments. It is also used in food irradiation and the sterile insect technique.


title: Click

paragraphs: Click is an onomatopoeia. It is sometimes used to indicate pressing the button on a computer mouse.


title: Buzz Aldrin

paragraphs: Dr. Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., retired Colonel (born January 20, 1930) is an American pilot and astronaut. He was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He was the second person in history to set foot on the Moon (after Neil Armstrong, during the Apollo 11 mission).

paragraphs: The Lunar Lander Module landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

paragraphs: He was 39 when he set foot on the moon. He earned a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the military academy West Point in 1951. After graduate and postgraduate studies, he received a ScD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1963. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. From his earlier activity as a fighter pilot in the Korean War he won several medals, including the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.

paragraphs: Aldrin left NASA in March 1972. He has been married three times: to Joan Archer, to Beverly Zile, and to his current wife, Lois Driggs Cannon. He had three children with Joan, named James, Janice and Andrew. He married Cannon on Valentine's Day, 1988. He is the oldest contestant on the television series "Dancing with the Stars". He competed in 2010.


title: Tuberculosis

paragraphs: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria. In the past, people called it consumption.

paragraphs: TB is caused by several types of mycobacteria, usually "Mycobacterium tuberculosis". The disease usually attacks the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body.

paragraphs: The bacteria can travel through the air and spread from one person to the next. This happens when infected people cough, sneeze, or spit.

paragraphs: Of every 100 people with TB, between five and ten people show symptoms. In these people, the disease is called "active". Tuberculosis kills more than half of the people who are infected if they do not get treatment.

paragraphs: Diagnosis of active TB relies on radiology. Doctors often look at an X-ray of the chest. In addition, they check body fluids. These fluids have microbes in them, which are grown in cell cultures. The cell cultures are then analysed to see if the person is infected with TB.

paragraphs: If the patient has TB, but does not show symptoms, the disease is 'latent'. Doctors use a skin test, called the Mantoux test, to detect latent TB. They often do blood tests too.

paragraphs: There is a vaccine against some forms of tuberculosis. It is called bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine.

paragraphs: TB used to be easily treated and cured with antibiotics. However, the bacterium is now highly resistant to most antibiotics. This resistance makes treatment difficult. Many different kinds of antibiotics need to be given over a long period of time. There is a form of tuberculosis that is resistant to "all" drugs.

paragraphs: Tuberculosis can have many symptoms. The most common include:

paragraphs: People are also more likely to get tuberculosis if they live close to other people who have TB. For example, TB can spread easily in homeless shelters, prisons, and immigrant communities.

paragraphs: Experts believe that one third of the world population is infected with "M. tuberculosis". New infections occur at a rate of one per second. In 2007, about 13.7 million chronic cases were active globally. In 2010, about 8.8 million new cases developed and nearly 1.5 million people died from the disease, most of them in developing countries. The number of tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006, and new cases have decreased since 2002.

paragraphs: Tuberculosis does not happen at the same rate around the world. About eighty percent of the population in many Asian and African countries test positive for TB, but only five to ten percent of people in the United States do.

paragraphs: People usually get tuberculosis because of a weakened immune system. Many people with HIV and AIDS can also get tuberculosis.


title: American (word)

paragraphs: The word American is used to mean a person or a thing from the United States or any country in the Americas - North America, Central America, or South America. In English, the most common use of this word is to mean a person or a thing from the United States.

paragraphs: Even though the islands in the Caribbean Sea are close to the Americas, people who speak English do not usually use the word "American" for people or things from these islands.

paragraphs: A Native American is someone who is mostly descended from the people who lived in the Americas before the Europeans arrived. Native Americans are also called First Nations and "Indians".

paragraphs: There is no language "American." Some important languages used in the Americas are English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Some people still use Native American languages. Quechua is the largest.


title: Grain

paragraphs: Grain is the seeds of some special kinds of grass. The main types of commercial grain crops are cereals. People grow different kinds of grain as food. The different kinds of grain are perhaps one of the most important foods in the world.

paragraphs: 87% of all grain grown by farmers around the world is maize. Grains contain carbohydrates that people can eat. In poorer countries, grains are a large part of the food supply. In richer countries, they are still important as food, but not as important as in poorer countries. Growing grain uses a lot of water. About 1,000 tons of water is needed to grow one ton of grain.

paragraphs: Many different foods are made from different types of grain. Grain is often ground into a powder called flour. Flour can be made into breads, cakes, or noodles.

paragraphs: Different kinds of beer are made from barley malt, wheat, and other grains.

paragraphs: Tortillas are made from a special flour of maize (corn) called "masa".


title: Clause

paragraphs: A clause is a part of a sentence. Each clause is made up of a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what happens in a sentence). Each predicate has only one main verb. "I love you" is a sentence which has only one clause. "I love you and I will always love you" is a sentence which has two clauses. The two clauses are "I love you" and "I will always love you". These clauses are joined together by the word "and", which is a conjunction). Clauses may be independent or dependent.

paragraphs: Two clauses can be joined with a pronoun. For example: "I live in London, which is in England". Here, "I live in London" is the first clause, and "which is in England" is the second clause. The word "which" is a pronoun which takes the place of "London". It joins the two clauses. A sentence can contain many clauses. But sentences with fewer clauses are easier to understand.

paragraphs: A simple sentence may also be called an independent clause. It may be a part of a compound or complex sentence, but it can also stand on its own as a simple sentence (or independent clause).

paragraphs: A subordinate clause also called a dependent clause is one which cannot stand by itself. This is because it does not express a complete thought. It contains both a subject and a verb. A subordinate clause always depends on a main clause. The main clause is almost always an independent clause, therefore the main clause by itself makes sense and can stand on its own. However, the subordinating clause does not. For example, "I love you" makes perfect sense left on its own. However, "and always will", does not. The only time a sentence can be made up of only dependent clauses is when they are joined by correlative conjunctions: conjunction pairs like "either/or", "neither/nor", and "not only/but also".


title: Marxism

paragraphs: Marxism is the name for a set of political and economic ideas. The core ideas are that the world is divided into classes, the workers and the richer capitalists who exploit the workers, there is a class conflict that should ultimately result in socialism (workers own means of production), and then communism (stateless, classless society).

paragraphs: These ideas come from the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They have had a lot of influence in many countries. Marxism influenced other political views, such as social democracy and reformist socialism. Both believe that the ideas of Marx and Engels can be achieved through what Marx called 'bourgeois democracy'.

paragraphs: People disagree a lot on how a Marxist society should be organized: "Marxist political economists differ over their definitions of capitalism, socialism and communism. These differences are so fundamental, the arguments among... Marxist political economists have sometimes been as intense as their oppositions to... capitalism".

paragraphs: Marxism says that people in the world are organized into different groups, or classes, based on what they do for work.

paragraphs: Most people are called "workers" because they work in factories, offices, or farms for money. They belong to the "working class" (or "proletariat").

paragraphs: Another group, who are not as big as the working class, are "capitalists" (or "bourgeoisie"). They own the factories, land, and buildings that the workers work in. They also own some of the tools the workers have to use. Marx calls capitalists the "Ruling Class" because they live off of the work of all the workers. He also says that the capitalists own the government, army, and courts.

paragraphs: In Marxist views, capital is the "means of production" and money which the capitalist can invest in different places of business, so that they can "profit" or gain more Capital.

paragraphs: Most workers work for companies owned by capitalists or "petit-bourgeois" (small business owners). The capitalist pays the worker in exchange for the worker's time. The capitalist has bought a period of time from the worker, which the worker must then use to labor for the capitalist. According to Marxist thinking, this is the only way that a capitalist can create extra money from a commodity (a piece of merchandise). The capitalist exploits the worker's time as much as they can. The capitalist receives a certain price for the commodity the worker made. The capitalist builds up capital by paying the worker less than that price. In this way, the capitalist exploits the worker's labor by:

paragraphs: Here is an example of exploitation of labor. Jane is a shoemaker. She works for Michael, who owns a shoe factory that can make 60 pairs of shoes in a day. Jane makes 60 pairs of shoes every day. Michael pays Jane $20 a day. However, Michael sells each pair of shoes for $2 each. This means he makes $120 in a day. After he pays Jane her $20 wage, Michael has $100 left over. However he then has to pay for materials which cost $1 for each pair, so that's $60 each day. Then running expenses of the factory cost him $10 a day. So he only gets $30 at the end of the day for managing the business. This remaining wealth is called "Profit" or "Surplus [extra] Value." In other words, even though Jane makes 60 shoes every day, she only gets paid the value of 10 pairs of shoes. The rest of the day, while she is making the other 50 shoes, she is creating money for her boss. Her labor is making him richer and helping him earn money.

paragraphs: It is this Surplus Value, or Profit, which Marxism thinks as an exploitation of labor. This exploitation allows the smaller class (capitalists) to live without working while making a profit, while the bigger class (the workers) have to work for the capitalists to survive under usually poor working conditions.

paragraphs: Marxism says that factories, tools, and work places cannot create new value on their own. They are like a blueberry bush: it has no value on its own. People have to create that value by laboring. For example, someone spends a day picking blueberries. Those blueberries can now be traded or eaten because of the labor that was put in to pick them.

paragraphs: Marxist thinking claims that capitalists and workers are constantly struggling. They call this "Dialectical Materialism." This is the idea that the history of humans is the history of conflict between classes. Different classes with different interests argue or fight each other. Social change (or in its absence, social stagnation) is the result.

paragraphs: Marxism says that capitalists want to exploit the workers as much as possible and make their pay as low as they can. The capitalists do this to create as much profit for themselves as possible, as quickly as possible. Workers, on the other hand, have to struggle to keep their wages up and to keep the "rate of exploitation" low, so that they can live more peaceful lives. This is what Marxism calls "class struggle": where workers and their bosses fight against each other to gain for themselves.

paragraphs: Marxists think that all of written human history has been divided by economic classes. One example is feudal society (a medieval society controlled by feudal lords and nobles). The ruling class got their power and wealth from the labor of peasants (farmers). But as peasants demanded more and more for themselves, small shopkeepers and tradespeople began to appear. Many of these people formed guilds and eventually began to employ workers. These workers were able to gain wealth for themselves at these jobs. These historical events created capitalism.

paragraphs: In this way, Marxists think that history has been pushed forward by class struggle. They think that change will be born from this struggle, just like capitalism was. However, they also think that capitalism will give way to communism; as the exploitation of workers becomes worse it will lead workers to revolt against their capitalist rulers.

paragraphs: The core of Marxist thinking is called Materialism. Materialism is a philosophical view that says that communities develop from the "ground up". It says that the "higher" qualities of culture (like art, manners, customs, and religions) are actually founded on the "lower" or simpler qualities of life. These qualities include having enough of what people need to survive, like food and shelter; who has money and what they have to do to get it; who is allowed to work, and who is forced to work.

paragraphs: Changes in the higher qualities of culture (sometimes called the "Superstructure") are often linked to changes in the lower qualities of life (sometimes called the "Base"). One example is that in medieval times, people thought "honor" or duty to people with more power than them was very important. Today, in Western countries, many people see ambition (being someone who works hard for their own goals) as more important. This is because in medieval times, people worked their entire lives under lords who depended on them not only for work but for war. Today, people work for themselves more, and our society lets some people move up from being poor to being rich. In this case, what people see as good and important depends on how the rulers get value out of their workers.

paragraphs: Marxism recognizes that in earlier time periods, we lived first under rulers who owned everything. Then we lived under lords who owned land with workers who lived and worked on that land. In Marx's time, people lived under governments that allowed many people to own property. Eventually, Marxists believe that we will move to a society where everyone owns everything in common. This will be called communism.

paragraphs: In other words, human society has always been based on the economic forces that human beings can control. For Marxism, this means that each society would take its form based on its "mode of production."

paragraphs: Marxists believe that humans' ability to produce goods and services today means people can move beyond the conflicts of a society that is divided into classes. Many Marxists believe that there will always be revolts and with the right conditions revolutions. In these revolutions, the workers will fight the capitalists. If they win, they will set up a socialist "workers' state" (a form of government where the workers are the rulers of society). This workers' state will only be temporary. Its job will be to take power away from the capitalists, until all the capitalist countries in the world are defeated, and social classes no longer exist.

paragraphs: Marxists believe that if the working class makes itself the ruling class, and destroys the basis for class society (private property, or what Marx called "Bourgeois Property"), there will be a "classless society." In a Marxist society, no social classes are in conflict, and there is no government anymore. The state will no longer be needed. There would be no countries. The world will have no borders. There will be communes around the world. Workers will organize production of goods and services based on what people need, not based on profits.

paragraphs: Some Marxists say that modern "communism" is not communism at all. They say that "communist" countries like the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and Vietnam are really using different forms of capitalism, often with heavily "nationalized" industries. A thinker named Tony Cliff was one of the biggest supporters of these ideas. He wrote that states like the Soviet Union and Communist China (before 1980) were "State-Capitalist."

paragraphs: Not all communists, socialists, or Marxists agree on this question. However, many strong supporters of Marxism agree that:

paragraphs: People use these terms interchangeably but this is incorrect. These concepts have different meanings:


title: Sacred

paragraphs: People use the word sacred or the word holy for something that is special or important.

paragraphs: Most religions have sacred books that tell about their religion. For Christians this book is called the Bible. Muslim peoples have another book, they call the Qur'an. Jews call their book the Torah. Similarly, the Book of Mormon is also considered as a sacred book in Mormonism.

paragraphs: Most religions have sacred places that are important to their religion. Jerusalem is seen as sacred by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Mecca is sacred in Islam, and Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture is sacred in Japanese Shinto. In Hinduism the river Ganges is seen as holy.


title: Zürich

paragraphs: Zürich or Zurich ( ; Swiss German: "Züri" ) is a city in Switzerland. Zürich is also a canton in Switzerland.

paragraphs: Zürich is the biggest city in Switzerland. The city has about 366,000 people living in it. It is at the north end of the Lake of Zürich. The city of Zürich is placed in the "canton Zürich". The canton of Zürich is the biggest canton of Switzerland, by the number of people living in it. Over 1,220,000 people live there. (About 1 million people live in the agglomeration of the city). The city was founded (first built) by the Romans. The Canton joined Switzerland in 1351.

paragraphs: In the city of Zürich, most of the people work in the commerce part of the economy. There are many banks in Zürich. The headquarters of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is also in Zürich.

paragraphs: The airport of Zürich is located about to the north, in a town called Kloten. Zürich Airport ("Flughafen Zürich", IATA:ZRH) is the biggest airport in Switzerland.


title: Translation

paragraphs: Translation means to copy writing or speech from one language into a different language.

paragraphs: The people who do translation are called translators. A translator who is copying a book into another language may use a language dictionary to find out how a word is written in another language. A translator who works with the spoken word is also called an interpreter. Translators can work independently as freelancers or by being hired by translation agencies. People translate poetry, novels, drama, or short stories are called literary translators.

paragraphs: In computer technology, translation from a programming language to a machine language is called compiling. There are free translators on the internet.

paragraphs: Useful resources related to the subject:


title: Astronaut

paragraphs: An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person who goes into outer space. The Soviet Union and countries that it was friends with used the word cosmonaut. Western countries including the United States said astronaut. Astronauts are also called "taikonauts" in China or "spationaute" in France.

paragraphs: The first person to go into space was a Russian from the Soviet Union. His name was Yuri Gagarin. This happened on April 12, 1961. The first and second people to walk on the Moon were the Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This happened on July 20, 1969. No astronauts have gone to the moon since 1972. No people have visited any other planets yet.

paragraphs: Astronauts used to go into space using many different ways, but now they only go on the Soyuz and Shenzhou. Several countries have worked together to build an International Space Station where people stay and work in space for long periods of time.

paragraphs: A few countries and companies are trying to make more ways to get people into space. The United States is building a very big rocket called the Space Launch System. Some American companies, for example Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and SpaceX, are being paid by the United States to make ways for people to go to space.


title: Hacker

paragraphs: A hacker originally meant someone who likes to do new things with computers. Now "hacker" is used to mean "someone who tries to get into another person's computer using computer software such as Trojan horse programs, computer viruses, and worms that can hurt other people computers". The correct name for a person doing these illegal things was "cracker", but many news stories used the word "hacker" even though it was in error. Another meaning of "hacker" is someone who can change or program something, like how people can change or program a Furby to say something insulting or humorous.

paragraphs: A person doing something illegal with a computer belonging to someone else without asking for permission from the owner is also called a hacker.

paragraphs: In the recent years computers were becoming increasingly more complex. This also means that people with bad intentions have more opportunities to use them for criminal purposes. Computer engineers aren't always able to find vulnerable places in the computer code. Hackers find such places, and use them.

paragraphs: There are also hackers who use the same skills for good purposes. Such hackers are called "white hat" hackers. They help computer engineers to find vulnerable places and correct problems.

paragraphs: A lot of skills are often required to be a hacker. A hacker should be able to find problems or solutions that most other people cannot find.


title: Broadcasting

paragraphs: In communications, such as radio and television, broadcasting means sending information such as television shows or music electronically to a large audience. The information is sent through the air in radio waves, through a wire, or by a communications satellite, and then the television viewers or radio listeners pick up the signal using their television sets and radio receivers. Gugliemo Marconi invented wireless telegraphy, in December 1901 he transmitted first radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. This was point to point. Experiments with voice broadcasting began a few years later, and it grew rapidly in the 1920s.

paragraphs: Different broadcasters use different radio waves and different modulating methods. amplitude modulation on medium waves was the first to be much used.

paragraphs: Some television networks are said to be broadcasting, even if they are only or mainly on cable TV rather than by radio waves.

paragraphs: Many countries have Public broadcasting, using money from the government to broadcast television shows and radio programs. Examples include the BBC in Britain, NHK in Japan, and the CBC in Canada.

paragraphs: In the United States, most public broadcast radio and television stations are run by educational groups (such as colleges or universities) or by a state's educational department. Public broadcasters, by law, cannot accept or display commercial advertising. However, businesses can make donations to a public broadcaster. Most are part of the Public Broadcasting System.

paragraphs: PBS is different than the other public broadcasters such as BBC, NHK and CBC, because the PBS gets a lot of its funding (money) from donations by viewers and listeners. Public broadcasters make programs that the private companies are not interested in making, such as educational children's shows, documentaries, and public affairs shows about current issues.

paragraphs: As well, there are private broadcasting companies. These are companies that broadcast television and radio programs. To make money, private broadcasting companies sell advertisements called commercials.

paragraphs: A third type of broadcaster is community broadcasters. There are community television stations and community radio stations.

paragraphs: Community television stations are often provided on cable networks. Community television stations usually have shows about local issues and community events. Some community television stations film and broadcast community cultural activities, such as musical performances or town hall meetings.

paragraphs: Community radio stations play music and have public affairs shows about community issues. Community radio stations are usually small organizations that are run by volunteers. Community radio stations often get their funding (money) from local governments, local universities, and from donations by listeners. Some community radio stations also have poetry readings by local poets, or performances by local musicians or singers.

paragraphs: Broadcasting can also mean sending a message to many users on a computer network at exactly the same time, or sending a message from one computer to many other computers, giving information about itself, such as its name and location.

paragraphs: Sending information to a small selected group is called "narrowcasting".


title: Socialism

paragraphs: Socialism is an economic and political system. It is an economic theory of social organization. It believes that the means of making, moving, and trading wealth should be owned or controlled by the workers. This means the money made belongs to the people who make the things, instead of a group of private owners. People who agree with this type of system are called socialists.

paragraphs: Socialists believe that everything in society is made by the cooperative efforts of the people and citizens.

paragraphs: There are many kinds of socialism. In all types, at least in principle, "the workers own the means of production". The major differences between the different varieties are the role of the free market (market planning), how the means of production are controlled, the role of management of workers, and the government's role in the economy.

paragraphs: Another kind of socialism is "collectivization." In this system, money and goods are shared more equally among the people, with the government in control. In theory, this system results in the gap between classes getting smaller, with the state helping the nation's poorest people, while the richest agree to higher taxes and economic restrictions.

paragraphs: Some socialists believe that socialism will evolve into what they see as a more advanced system: communism, with no state, money, or social classes. In Marxist theory, socialism is a temporary social state between capitalism and communism, although some socialists have no intention of transitioning to communism.

paragraphs: Many label these economic theories into one as "communism" when they mean the Marxist and Leninist ideas and beliefs of Russia's Bolshevik party. Marx believed that capitalism followed the economic and political system of feudalism. He also believed that capitalism would unfairly treat many people and that those people would eventually revolt and switch to socialism. He also thought that socialism could be another bridge on a path to communism. However, many people incorrectly use the term "Communist" to refer to a socialist state as a pejorative insult. Others call this 'State Socialism,' to distinguish it from the communist goal that does not need a state or any form of government. To non-communists, the word 'socialism' is now used mostly for attempts to come close to this goal in a democratic state.

paragraphs: Democratic socialism is a belief that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary people can participate in the many decisions that affect their lives.

paragraphs: Social democracy is a kind of capitalism that tries to mix parts of socialism with capitalism. It is not a form of socialism, but shares some ideas with it. In this system, despite there still being private property, the government takes money from the rich and gives it to the poor to reduce inequality, usually in the form of social programs. While the intentions of social democracy and socialism can be similar or shared, social democracy keeps the capitalist system intact, and slightly reforms it. Socialism would mean completely getting rid of the capitalist system. Social democracy is often confused with democratic socialism due to the similar names and having the same short term goals. The biggest difference is social democrats want to stop reforming capitalism when they think their reforms are good enough, but democratic socialists will not stop until capitalism is gone. Some examples of social democracies are the Scandinavian countries.

paragraphs: In social democracies, some services and industries are subsidized (given money to help them run), or partly controlled by the government, or both. For example, education, health care, housing, utility companies and public transportation are some industries that might be owned/supported by the government in a social democracy. For the most part, people working in these industries are paid by the government, with money paid by the people as taxes. A strong Welfare system is key to social democracy.

paragraphs: Many countries see socialism differently. The Socialist International is an organization dedicated to the cause of promoting socialist ideals, and has ties with many socialist parties, especially Social Democratic parties.

paragraphs: A Welshman, Robert Owen, was the first socialist. His followers began calling themselves socialists in 1841. He is still regarded as a pioneer of the Co-operative Movement in Britain. He said that workers should own the companies they worked for. The workers would then share the profits among themselves. He set up a new model factory in New Lanark, Scotland.

paragraphs: Karl Marx is the most well-known creator of the theory of socialism, and of communism. He wrote a book about capitalism, socialism, and communism, called "A critique of the social economy". Friedrich Engels co-wrote the book, and paid for much of Marx's work and research.

paragraphs: Many socialist political parties were formed during the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. Left-wing political parties are mostly newer than right-wing ones.


title: Leninism

paragraphs: Leninism is a political theory about how the revolutionary communist party should be organized. It says it should be a dictatorship of the proletariat (the working class holds the power). It is considered one of the first steps towards socialism (where the workers own the factories, etc.). It is one part of Marxism–Leninism, which emphasizes the transition from capitalism to socialism.

paragraphs: Vladimir Lenin was a Russian Marxist. He had a set of political ideas based on Marxism. Lenin's development of Marxism has become known as Leninism. These ideas include:


title: Bolshevik

paragraphs: A Bolshevik was a Russian Communist. They are also called the Bolshevik Communists. The majority of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was a Marxist political party.

paragraphs: In 1903 at the Party Congress members disagreed with each other. The Party ended up dividing into two groups, the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. They were called Bolsheviks because it means "those who are more." Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik group. The more moderate group, the Mensheviks (meaning "those of the minority") were led by Julius Martov. Although the Bolsheviks were called "those who are more", before 1917 there were more Mensheviks. Many of Lenin's opponents were afraid that he liked to control things too much.

paragraphs: In 1905 the Bolshevik group became a separate political party, the RSDLP(B) the 'b' in brackets standing for 'Bolshevik'.

paragraphs: After the February Revolution, some of the Mensheviks took positions in the Russian Provisional Government. Lenin said socialists must oppose the Provisional Government. The government began to falter and Lenin started to have more authority. Because of this, many Mensheviks joined the Bolsheviks.

paragraphs: The Bolsheviks led the October Revolution in Russia in 1917. They said they created the world's first Workers' State. The Mensheviks opposed the government led by the Bolsheviks. Many ended up in prison or were killed. After that, they opposed the Bolsheviks from outside Russia, in exile.

paragraphs: After the Revolution, the Bolshevik Party was called the Russian Communist Party.


title: Saddam Hussein

paragraphs: Saddam Hussein Revinathan (28 April 1937 - 30 December 2006) was the President of Iraq, from July 16, 1979 to April 9, 2003, when he was removed from his position during the War in Iraq led by the United States. During his time as President, he might have killed more than a million people through war and genocide. which he denied.

paragraphs: Saddam Hussein was born in the village of Al-Awja, in the Tikrit in Iraq. He never knew his father, Hussein 'Abd al-Majid, who disappeared five months before Saddam was born. Shortly before Saddam was born, Saddam's twelve-year-old brother died of cancer, leaving his mother very depressed in the final months of the pregnancy. She tried to kill herself near the end of the pregnancy and did not want to care for Saddam when he was born. Saddam was sent to the family of an uncle, Khairallah Tulfah, until he was three.

paragraphs: At 10, Saddam ran away from the family to return to live with his uncle, who was a devout Sunni Muslim, in Baghdad. According to Saddam, in 1957, at the age of 20, Saddam became part of the Ba'ath Party. The Ba'ath party is an Arab political party that supports socialism.

paragraphs: In 1958, Hussein was arrested for killing his brother-in-law because he was a communist activist. He spent six months in prison.

paragraphs: A year after Saddam had joined the Ba'ath party, army officers led by General Abdul Karim Qassim got rid of Faisal II of Iraq. The Baathists were against the new regime, and in 1959, Saddam was involved in the attempted murder of Prime Minister Qassim. Saddam was shot in the leg, but managed to get away to Syria. Later, he moved to Egypt. He was sentenced to death. In exile, he attended the University of Cairo law school.

paragraphs: Army officers, including some with the Ba'ath party, came to power in Iraq in a military coup in 1963. However, the new regime was kicked out quickly. Saddam returned to Iraq, but was imprisoned in 1964 when an anti-Ba'ath group led by Abdul Rahman Arif took power. He escaped from jail in 1967 and became one of the leading members of the party.

paragraphs: In 1976, Saddam was made a general in the Iraqi army. He quickly became the most important person of the regime. He slowly began to gain more power over Iraq's government and the Ba'ath party. As Iraq's weak, old President, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, became more unable to do the duties of his office, Saddam began to take on an more important role as the head of the Iraqi government. He soon became the creator of Iraq's foreign policy and represented the nation in all diplomatic situations.

paragraphs: In 1979, Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution, giving way to an Islamic republic led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The influence of revolutionary Shi'ite Islam grew in the region, particularly in countries with large Shi'ite populations, especially Iraq. Saddam was afraid that radical Islamic ideas were quickly spreading inside his country among most of the Shi'ite people. He worried that these ideas would go against his leadership.

paragraphs: There had also been a rivalry between Saddam and Khomeini since the 1970s. Khomeini was exiled from Iran in 1964. He began living in Iraq, at the Shi'ite holy city of An Najaf. There, he became involved with Iraqi Shi'ites and gained many religious and political followers throughout the world. Under pressure from the Shah, who had agreed to a rapprochement between Iraq and Iran in 1975, Saddam agreed to kick Khomeini out in 1978. After the Islamic Revolution, Khomeini thought defeating Saddam's government may have been the second most important thing to do, only behind keeping his power in Iran.

paragraphs: After Khomeini gained power, small battles between Iraq and revolutionary Iran happened for ten months. The two countries were fighting over who controlled the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which divides Iran and Iraq.

paragraphs: Iraq and Iran officially went to war with each other on September 22, 1980. Saddam used the disagreement over the waterway as an excuse to go to war with Iran. However, the war was more likely an attempt by Saddam - supported by both the United States and the Soviet Union - to have Iraq stop radical revolutions like the one in Iran from spreading any further.

paragraphs: In the first days of the war, there was heavy ground fighting around major ports as Iraq launched an attack on Iran's oil-rich, Arab-populated province of Khuzestan. After making some gains, Iraq's troops began to suffer losses from human-wave attacks by Iran. By 1982, Iraq was looking to end the war.

paragraphs: During the war, Iraq used chemical warfare against Iranian forces and Kurdish separatists. On March 16, 1988, Saddam ordered Iraqi troops to stop a Kurdish uprising. Iraq attacked the Kurdish town of Halabjah with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing 5000 people, mostly women and children.

paragraphs: Saddam reached out to other Arab governments for cash and political help. The Iranians, hoping to bring down Saddam's non-religious government and start a Shi'ite rebellion in Iraq, refused a cease-fire until 1988.

paragraphs: The eight-year war ended in a tie. There were hundreds of thousands of casualties. Perhaps 1.7 million died on both sides. Both economies, previously healthy and growing, were left in ruins.

paragraphs: Saddam was also stuck with a debt of roughly $75 billion. Borrowing money from the U.S. was making Iraq into its client state, embarrassing a strongman who had sought to define and dominate Arab nationalism. Saddam also borrowed a large amount of money from other Arab states during the 1980s to fight Iran. Faced with rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, Saddam desperately sought out cash once again, this time for postwar reconstruction.

paragraphs: Saddam was pressuring Kuwait to forgive its share of his debt, some $30 billion. (This would mean Iraq would not have to pay back Kuwait's $30 million.) Saddam argued that the struggle with Iran had been fought for the benefit of the other Persian Gulf Arab states as much as for Iraq. Because of this, he said, a share of Iraqi debt should be forgiven.

paragraphs: Saddam had pushed oil-exporting countries to raise oil prices and cut back production. Not only did Kuwait refuse to do this; they also helped support OPEC's opposition to the production cuts that Saddam had requested. Kuwait was pumping large amounts of oil, and keeping prices low, when Iraq needed to sell high-priced oil from its wells to pay off a huge debt.

paragraphs: The fact that Kuwait had so much oil made the region even more tense. Even though Kuwait had fewer people, it had about as much oil in reserve as Iraq. Together, Iraq and Kuwait had 20 percent of the world's known oil reserves.

paragraphs: The Kuwaiti monarchy made Saddam even angrier by drilling oil out of Iraqi wells. At the time, Saddam's regime was not disliked by most of the world. Saddam complained about the drilling to the United States State Department. Although this had gone on for years, Saddam now needed oil money to get rid of a looming economic crisis. Saddam still had an experienced and well-equipped army, which he used to influence regional affairs. He later ordered troops to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border.

paragraphs: As Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations rapidly grew worse, Saddam was getting different information about how the United States would respond to an invasion. The United States had been working on starting a good relationship with Iraq for roughly a decade. The Reagan administration gave Saddam roughly $40 billion worth of arms in the 1980s to fight Iran, nearly all of it on credit. The U.S. also sent billions of dollars of food and arms to Saddam to keep him from forming a strong alliance with the Soviets.

paragraphs: The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, met with Saddam in a meeting on July 25. Saddam said he wanted to keep talks going. U.S. officials tried to take a calm, relaxing tone with Iraq. They explained that neither President George H.W. Bush or Secretary of State James Baker wanted military force to be used. However, they also said that they would not take any position on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti dispute and did not want to become involved.

paragraphs: Later, Iraq and Kuwait met for a final negotiation session, which failed. Saddam then sent his troops into Kuwait.

paragraphs: In August 2, 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait, causing an international crisis. The invasion of Kuwait gave Iraq, with its own substantial oil fields, control of 20 percent of the Persian Gulf oil. The U.S. helped Saddam Hussein in the war with Iran, but with Iraq's take over of the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait in August of 1990, the United States led a United Nations force that drove Saddam from Kuwait in February 1991.

paragraphs: Because the United States and the Soviet Union were cooperating in the United Nations Security Council, the Security Council was able to pass resolutions. These resolutions gave Iraq a deadline to leave Kuwait.

paragraphs: Saddam ignored the Security Council deadline. On January 16, 1991, coalition of U.S. and Security Council troops launched missile attacks on Iraq. The United States and a group of allies it had quickly gathered, including Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, made Saddam's army move from Kuwait in January 1991.

paragraphs: Israel, though Saddam attacked it with Iraqi missiles, did not fight back. It did not want to anger Arab states into leaving the coalition. But Saddam had focused attention on the Palestinian problem by promising to make his forces leave from Kuwait if Israel would leave the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. Saddam's proposal further split the Arab world, pitting U.S.- and Western-supported Arab states against the Palestinians.

paragraphs: 175,000 Iraqis were taken prisoner and about 85,000 died. As part of the cease-fire agreement, Iraq agreed to get rid of all poison gas and germ weapons, and to allow UN observers to inspect the sites.

paragraphs: All of the different religions and the violence the war had created caused after-war rebellions. After the war, fighting between Shi'ite Muslims, Kurds, and dissident military units was bad. This was a problem to Saddam's rule. Saddam acted by stopping all rebellions in their tracks, especially in the North.

paragraphs: Before the war ended, the United States had encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam. However, when the Shi'ites, Kurds, and dissidents did rise up against Saddam, the United States did not support them.

paragraphs: Without United States support for these rebellions, Saddam survived them. He was then left completely in control of Iraq. The country's economy and army never recovered from the Gulf War. However, Saddam often claimed that Iraq had won the Gulf War, and the United States had lost. This made Saddam popular in many parts of the Arab world.

paragraphs: Saddam liked to show himself as a strict Muslim. This was to calm down the religious parts of the society. He brought back some parts of Sharia law. This included the 2001 law that said homosexuality could be punished by the death penalty. The phrase "Allahu Akbar" (""God is great""), in Saddam's handwriting, was added to the Iraq national flag.

paragraphs: Relations between the United States and Iraq remained tense after the Gulf War. In 1993, the United States decided to attack Iraq, because it thought evidence showed Iraq had sponsored a plan to kill former President George H.W. Bush. On June 26, 1993, the United States launched a missile attack aimed at Iraq's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad.

paragraphs: The United Nations placed a trade embargo on Iraq, blocking Iraqi oil exports. This caused hardship in Iraq and almost destroyed the Iraqi economy and state infrastructure. Only smuggling across the Syrian border, and humanitarian aid kept Iraq from crisis. Later, limited amounts of income from the United Nations oil-for-food program started flowing into Iraq. On December 9, 1996, the United Nations allowed Baghdad to begin selling limited amounts of oil for food and medicine.

paragraphs: U.S. officials continued to accuse Saddam of violating the Gulf War's cease-fire agreement, by developing weapons of mass destruction and other banned weapons, and by violating the UN-imposed sanctions and "no-fly zones." Isolated military strikes by U.S. and British forces continued on Iraq, the largest being Operation Desert Fox in 1998.

paragraphs: After two years of intermittent activity, U.S. and British warplanes struck harder at sites near Baghdad in February 2001.

paragraphs: Saddam's base of Tikriti tribesmen, family members, and other supporters was divided after the war and in the following years. This added to the regime's increasingly repressive and arbitrary nature. Domestic repression inside Iraq grew worse, and Saddam's sons, Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein, became increasingly powerful and carried out a private reign of terror. They likely had a leading hand when, in August 1995, two of Saddam Hussein's sons-in-law, who held high positions in the Iraqi military, defected to Jordan. Both were killed after returning to Iraq the following February.

paragraphs: In 2003, the United States led an invasion of Iraq. The main reason for the invasion was President George W. Bush's claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Bush argued that this made Saddam a major threat to Western allies, such as oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Israel; to Western oil supplies from the Persian Gulf states; and to Middle East stability in general. The President before Bush, Bill Clinton (1993-2001), maintained sanctions and made occasional air strikes in the "Iraqi no-fly zones" or other restrictions, in the hope that Saddam would be overthrown by his many political enemies. However, this never happened.

paragraphs: Things changed in the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In his January 2002 State of the Union Address to the United States Congress, President Bush said that Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were an "axis of evil." Bush also argued that Iraq had supported Al-Qaeda, the terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11.

paragraphs: As the war was looming on February 24, 2003, Saddam Hussein talked with CBS News anchor Dan Rather for more than three hours—his first interview with a U.S. reporter in over ten years. CBS aired the taped interview later that week.

paragraphs: The Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks after the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion on March 20. The United States tried at least twice to kill Saddam with targeted air strikes, but both failed to hit their target. By the beginning of April, Coalition forces controlled much of Iraq. The resistance of the much-weakened Iraqi Army either crumbled or shifted to guerrilla tactics, and it appeared that Saddam had lost control of Iraq. He was last seen in a video which showed him in the Baghdad suburbs surrounded by supporters. When Baghdad fell to the Coalition on April 9, Saddam was nowhere to be found.

paragraphs: Even when Baghdad was taken over, and most of the fighting had stopped, people still did not know where Saddam was. For a few weeks, some people said they saw Saddam, and some videotapes of Saddam talking came out, but still nobody knows if they were true or not.

paragraphs: Although Saddam was placed at the top of the "most-wanted list," he could not be found, even when the other leaders of the Iraqi regime were arrested. His sons and political heirs, Uday and Qusay, were killed in July 2003 in a clash with U.S. forces after a tip from an Iraqi.

paragraphs: On 14 December 2003, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) of Iran first reported that Saddam Hussein had been arrested. These reports were soon confirmed by other members of the Governing Council, by U.S. military sources, and by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

paragraphs: Shortly afterwards, the U.S. Civil Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, held a press conference in Baghdad. He officially announced Saddam's capture by saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!" United States soldiers found Saddam around 8:30 PM Iraqi time on 13 December, in what was called Operation Red Dawn. Saddam was hiding in an underground "spider hole" at a farmhouse in ad-Dawr, near his hometown of Tikrit.

paragraphs: The first photos taken of Saddam after the soldiers found him did not look like the photos taken when he was President of Iraq. He had grown long hair and a long beard. Later on, he shaved his beard to confirm his identity. DNA tests proved that he really was Saddam Hussein. People who talked with him after the soldiers found him said he was healthy, and wanted to talk to people and do what they told him to do. Paul Bremer said that Saddam would have a trial, but that he did not know yet what kind of trial.

paragraphs: The Iraqi Special Tribunal was in charge of Saddam Hussein's trial, and the trials of some people that helped him to be President of Iraq.

paragraphs: In November 2006, Saddam Hussein was found guilty of 148 murders. On December 30, 2006, he was put to death. The hanging was recorded by officials of the government. A witness also secretly recorded the hanging with a cell phone camera, which included sound. The recording showed Saddam being calm as he was prepared for his final moments. Witnesses and executioners could be heard teasing Saddam as the rope was placed on his head, and he was put on the trap door. He was in the middle of a prayer when the trap door beneath him opened, and he was killed. Later, pictures and live video of Saddam's taunting and execution, and of his dead corpse were shown on many Internet sites.

paragraphs: Saddam was buried in his hometown, Al-Awja, Iraq, the next day.

paragraphs: Saddam had been married three times. His first marriage was to his first cousin, Sajida Talfah. She was the oldest daughter of Saddam's uncle, Khairallah Talfah. Together, Saddam and Sajida had two sons, Uday Saddam Hussein and Qusay Hussein, and three daughters, Rana, Raghad and Hala.

paragraphs: In early 1997, Sajida was put under house arrest, along with her daughters Raghad and Rana, because they were suspected of being involved in an attempted assassination on Uday on 12 December 1996. General Adnan Khairallah Tuffah, who was Sajida's brother and Saddam Hussein's boyhood friend, was allegedly executed because of his growing popularity.

paragraphs: Saddam Hussein also married two other women. The second was Samira Shahbandar, whom he married in 1986 after forcing her husband to divorce her. She was said to have been his favorite wife. His third wife was Nidal al-Hamdani, the general manager of the Solar Energy Research Center in the Council of Scientific Research, whose husband apparently was also persuaded to divorce his wife.

paragraphs: In August 1995, Rana; her husband, Hussein Kamel al Majid; Raghad; her husband, Saddam Kamel Majid; and their children defected to Jordan. They returned to Iraq when they were promised that Saddam Hussein would pardon them. Within three days of their return in February 1996, both of the Majid brothers were executed.

paragraphs: Saddam's daughter Hala is married to Jamal Mustafa, the deputy head of Iraq's Tribal Affairs Office. Neither has been known to be involved in politics. Another cousin was Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known in the United States as "Chemical Ali," who was accused of ordering the use of poison gas in 1988.

paragraphs: Saddam was scheduled to die on Thursday night, 28 December 2006. Because of last-minute legal appeals in Iraq's Supreme Court of Appeals, Saddam's execution came about 40 hours later. Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006 at 6:05 AM, Iraqi time. Saddam refused to wear a hood. He was pronounced dead at 6:10 AM Baghdad time. Baghdad had curfews on those days, which required people to be off the streets by evening.


title: Anarchism

paragraphs: Anarchism is a political belief that there should be no hierarchies like the government. Anarchists also believe that people's actions should never be forced by other people. A major question in Anarchism is, "What is consent?" Anarchists do not believe that people consent to be ruled by their government.

paragraphs: Anarchism is "a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centered on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary." The word "anarchism" is from the Greek αναρχία, which means "without rulers", not "without rule"; it is also sometimes translated as "without government".

paragraphs: In the common language, the word "anarchy" is often used to describe chaos or anomie. However, anarchists usually do not want this. Rather, they define "anarchy" as a way of relations between people. They believe that, once put into place, these relations work on their own. Anarchists are usually opposed by the systems they wish to topple.

paragraphs: Individual freedom, voluntary association, and being against the state are important beliefs of anarchism. There are also big differences between anarchist philosophies on things like whether violence can be used to bring about anarchy; the best type of economy; the relationship between technology and hierarchy; the idea of equality; and the usefulness of some organization. The word "authority" is not clear, but anarchists are not against some types of authority (e.g. the authority of someone skilled in self-defence over someone that wants to learn self-defence), they are only against control by force.

paragraphs: There are many anarchists who reject capitalism and support socialism or communism (but in another sense, without a totalitarian state or power), they are called anarcho-socialists and anarcho-communists. Also, there are some people called anarcho-capitalists who oppose government, but support capitalism (but in another sense, neither corporatist government nor state capitalism), although many of them are okay with socialism between consenting participants, as long as they don't force them into the socialist system. Other anarchists say that they are not really anarchists, because anarchism is traditionally a socialist philosophy. Finally, there are "anarchists without adjectives" who hold that because people will be free in an anarchy to pursue voluntarily any economic structures they want (including communes, worker co-ops, and capitalist-owned firms). Anarcho-socialists and anarcho-communists believe that people can voluntarily participate in socialist/communist systems without having to be forced to, unlike their authoritarian counterparts that believe everyone should be forced into their system whether they like it or not.


title: Forests in the United Kingdom

paragraphs: This is a list of forests in the United Kingdom.


title: ΜCLinux

paragraphs: µCLinux is an operating system for small computers inside integrated circuits (chips). The system is based on the Linux operating system in many ways. Apart from the rather big size of Linux, µCLinux is much smaller and not as packed with features as Linux. It finds uses in many places, mostly dealing with sensor and data-gathering of different sorts.

paragraphs: Thanks to its compact nature, it can easily be transferred over slow connections. Yet it is a stable and robust system distributed as an open source program.


title: UNIX

paragraphs: UNIX is a computer operating system. It was first developed in 1969 at Bell Labs. Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and others created it. They used assembly language to write it. In 1972, the Unix code was rewritten with the new C programming language. The Unix operating system is a multiuser and multiprocessing system. This means it can run several application programs at the same time, for more than one user at the same time. It also is able to operate well in a network of computers. Computer security is also important in Unix, because many people can have access to it, both by using a computer directly or over a network.

paragraphs: Many ideas in Unix were new. Other operating systems copied them. Today, there are many operating systems that have some of the ideas of Unix in them. For this reason, some people talk about a "Unix philosophy" of doing things. Linux is one of these systems with many of the Unix ideas in it. Linux does not use code from UNIX. Linux only shares some of the ideas and the names of commands. So, Linux is not a UNIX operating system. Instead it is called "Unix-like".

paragraphs: There can be many different users in a Unix and Unix-like operating system. Most of them have a personal area where they can put things. This is called a user account.

paragraphs: One way of using a Unix system is with the command line interface. Users run commands and programs by typing text characters. This takes time to learn, but it is a very powerful and flexible way of working. It is still used by most Unix administrators. These commands are run in a shell, which can change slightly between one system and another.

paragraphs: A graphical user interface (GUI) is the other method. The X Window System is a very common GUI for Unix systems. The X Window System is only a shell of a graphical interface. It has many protocols. The X Window System itself does not let the user to move and resize windows. Users need a window manager or desktop manager to do that.

paragraphs: Some of the popular desktop and window managers are:

paragraphs: Like most other graphical user interfaces, they use windows, dialog boxes, support the use of a computer mouse, and are designed to be easy to use.

paragraphs: There are many thousands of programs available for the X Window System. Programs like word processors and spreadsheets are available including free and open-source software.

paragraphs: Today, there are two kinds of operating systems that are like UNIX.

paragraphs: The first group is all those that share some kernel code with the original from Bell Labs at AT&T. This includes the commercial UNIX types: Solaris or AIX.

paragraphs: The second group includes free operating systems that usually have BSD in their name, like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD. These are based on free BSD. Mac OS X is also based on BSD.

paragraphs: There are also free systems based on the Linux kernel. These do not share any code with the original UNIX. BSD systems share very little code with the original Unix because much of the code has been rewritten over many years. Many people use the terms "Unix and Unix-like systems" to be clear.

paragraphs: Most applications can run on any modern Unix or Unix-like system. KDE and GNOME were developed for Linux and later changed to run on commercial types of Unix.


title: Signature

paragraphs: A signature is a special way that write their name to imply that they agree to something which is written.

paragraphs: People use a signature to sign letters they have written, cheques to show that they agree to the payment of some money, petitions to show their support for views, and contracts. The way people sign things are different in different countries. In the United States most people have a signature which is just made from writing their name in their own handwriting. It may be difficult to read read. Some people practice autographs, or fancy signatures that are hard to copy

paragraphs: People who cannot write often mark a signature of a cross.

paragraphs: Hundreds of years ago rich people used sealing wax to make an impression of their signet rings next to or instead of a signature. This was called their "seal", which is where the term "seal of approval" comes from. Some formal documents still carry an official wax seal. For example, if a coat of arms is registered with the College of Heralds the registration document carries a wax seal.

paragraphs: Sometimes one finds a form where the person is asked to both


title: Cocoa

paragraphs: Cocoa is the seed of the cacao tree. The seed contains a lot of fat and is used to produce cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is then used to produce chocolate. Most people will know "Cocoa" as a ground powder they use to produce chocolate.

paragraphs: Chocolate and cocoa are made from the beans of the cacao tree. The tree might have first come from the foothills of the Andes Mountains near the Amazon River and the Orinoco River in South America. The tree was brought to Central America by the ancient Mayas, and was grown in Mexico by the Toltecs and later by the Aztecs.

paragraphs: Cocoa was an important product in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. People who told the story of the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés said that when Moctezuma II, emperor of the Aztecs, ate dinner he took no other drink than chocolate, served in a golden goblet and eaten with a golden spoon. Flavored with vanilla and spices, his chocolate was whipped into a froth that dissolved in the mouth. No less than 50 pitchers of the drink were prepared for the emperor each day, and 2000 more for nobles of his court.

paragraphs: Chocolate was brought to Europe by the Spaniards and became a popular drink by 1700. They also brought the cacao tree to the West Indies and the Philippines. It was used in alchemical processes, where it was known as Black Bean.

paragraphs: The cacao plant was first given its name by Swedish natural scientist Carl von Linné (1707-1778), who called it "theobroma cacao" or "food of the gods".

paragraphs: A pod has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm (1¼ inch) thick. It is filled with slimy pinkish pulp, sweet but inedible, enclosing from 30 to 50 large almond-like seeds or "beans" that are fairly soft and pinkish or purplish in color. As soon as they ripen, the pods are removed with a curved knife on a long pole, opened with a machete, and left to dry until taken to fermentation.

paragraphs: Then the beans are removed and piled in heaps, bins, or on grates where, during several days of "sweating", the thick pulp ferments until it thins and trickles off. The quality of the beans, which originally have a strong bitter taste, depends upon this sweating. If it is overdone they may be ruined; if underdone they have a flavor like raw potatoes and are susceptible to mildew.

paragraphs: Then the beans are spread out, constantly raked over, and dried. On large plantations this is done on huge trays, either outdoors by sunshine or in sheds by artificial heat. However, thousands of tons from smaller producers are dried on small trays or on cowhides. Finally, the beans are trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in the United States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and other countries. About 3,000,000 tonnes of cocoa are grown each year. The Netherlands is the leading cocoa processing country, followed by the U.S.

paragraphs: Uses of cocoa are numerous. It may be used in cakes, creams, drinks, toppings and cookies.

paragraphs: Besides its use as a food, by use of the scientific process it has been determined that cocoa is beneficial for health. Cocoa has nearly twice the anti-cancer antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times those found in green tea.


title: Ivory Coast

paragraphs: Ivory Coast or Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country in West Africa.

paragraphs: The capital of Côte d'Ivoire is Yamoussoukro but its biggest city is Abidjan. Other cities can be found at List of cities in Côte d'Ivoire.

paragraphs: It borders the Gulf of Guinea to the south and five other African nations. Liberia is to the southwest, Guinea to the northwest, Mali to the north-northwest, Burkina Faso to the north-northeast, and Ghana to the east.

paragraphs: Côte d'Ivoire is divided into nineteen regions. The regions are further divided into 81 departments.


title: Luke McCormick

paragraphs: Luke McCormick (b. 15 August 1983) is an English football player. He was born August 15, 1983 in Coventry, England. He is a goalkeeper. He plays for the English football team Swindon Town.

paragraphs: In the 2003/04 season, McCormick played when Romain Larrieu could not. Larrieu injured his knee. McCormick played instead. Plymouth Argyle beat Stockport County on 24 January 2004. The score was 2-0. In this match McCormick set a new club record of seven "clean sheets" in a row. A clean sheet is a game where the other side gets no goals.

paragraphs: McCormick was voted the most promising player of the 2003/04 season by Plymouth Argyle fans.

paragraphs: On 7 June 2008. McCormick was arrested on suspicion for killing two people by dangerous driving. Subsequently he was released by Plymouth Arygle and was jailed for seven years on 6 October 2008 but could be out in three and a half years.


title: God paradox

paragraphs: The God paradox is an idea in philosophy. This idea is explained here:

paragraphs: If either outcome were considered true, then it is argued that God Almighty is actually not almighty.

paragraphs: The God paradox is a good example of a philosophical problem. This section has some answers to this paradox.

paragraphs: One answer is that God could make it so he can't lift the mountain by his own choice. In other words, God can lift the unliftable mountain because he is all powerful, but he chooses not to be able to, and so he chooses to cut his own power, because he is able. God can also choose to not be able to create such a mountain. God is all powerful, so he can choose not to have the power to make an unliftable mountain. Simply said, God can cut his own power, but in so doing, he can still regain that power. It is a limbo, a state between not powerful and powerful, something that is not definable by our knowledge of what is possible or impossible. Because God is almighty, he surpasses our definitions of what he can and cannot do.

paragraphs: This answer says God is able to do only things less than God. If you say there exists a mountain that is "heavier than anybody is able to lift," then what you say is funny: it means nothing, because God is able to lift any mountain. This is because saying a mountain is "too heavy to lift" means this mountain cannot be lifted by anybody. This does not mean that God is too weak to lift very heavy mountains. God cannot lift an "unliftable" mountain because that would not make sense. He also cannot create an "unliftable" mountain because that also would not make sense, if God can lift everything. God could still lift any mountain that is not defined as "cannot be lifted." For example, God can make a mountain as heavy as he wants, but he cannot make a round square.

paragraphs: In logic, problems can often be solved by breaking them into smaller pieces. One solves each of the small problems.

paragraphs: Let us see how one can use this for the God Paradox. The paradox is:

paragraphs: If one changes this question to a sentence, it becomes:

paragraphs: We can make this even simpler. First we must see that because God can do anything:

paragraphs: Now we can write the sentence as these facts:

paragraphs: Facts 1, 2 and 3 must always be true. Now we must see if fact 4 is true or false:

paragraphs: The conclusion is that the statement "God can do anything" needs to be qualified. By this logic God cannot do both of two things that are mutually contradictory. C. S. Lewis says that logical contradictions are not a "thing". Rather they are nonsense. The question (and therefore the perceived paradox) is meaningless. Nonsense does not suddenly acquire sense and meaning with the addition of the two words, "God can" before it.

paragraphs: Some people think, "Yes, God is able to do things that make Him not able." They think God is able to do things that are funny to think, "Because", they say, "there is nothing God is not able to do." (See Gospel of Matthew 19:26) However other Bible verses mention things that God cannot do. Hebrews 6:16 says that God cannot lie. Malachi 3:6 says that God cannot change. James 1:3 says that God cannot be tempted by sin.

paragraphs: Some have suggested that God can do things that defy conventional logic. If He lives in other dimensions a different logic may apply. Some say that God cannot make a square circle. This is true in a two dimensional world. However, a cylinder can be a square viewed from the side and a circle viewed from the top. Likewise, a triangle can have three angles that add to more that 180 degrees. This is possible only on a three dimensional surface like a sphere. It can't be done on a two dimensional plane. (Plane geometry). Addition of an additional dimension changes the logic.

paragraphs: God is beyond limitation. His strength is infinite. If He chooses to create a mountain that is too heavy for Him to lift he would simultaneously become strong enough to lift it (which actually means he's not omnipotent, because if he can gradually become stronger, then he can't be all powerful). To ask if the creation of such a mountain is possible is to attempt putting a limitation on the limitless.

paragraphs: At the end of the Book of Job, God 'answered Job out of the whirlwind' and asks him:

paragraphs: 'Who is this that darkens council by words without knowledge?..where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?' (Job chapter 38, 1-4)

paragraphs: In other words, God's powers are beyond human understanding, as human reason itself is part of God's creation in the Book of Genesis.

paragraphs: These references may not be simple to understand.