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Help:Tutorials

2017-01-12T03:09:05Z

Tharrisn:

__NOTOC__
=Introduction=
Tutorials for doing some of the more common tasks for writing and editing articles in Civicwiki are available by clicking on the tabs across the to of this page.

In addition there is a tutorial to
:guide you through the process for registering (creating a CW account)
:describe how to use discussion pages
:and one that lists a few things to keep in mind when editing and creation of content.

=Create an article=
{{Help:Tutorial/Create an article}}
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{{Help:Tutorial/Links|Links}}
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<headertabs />

MediaWiki:Requestaccount-text

2015-08-10T00:13:50Z

Tharrisn: Created page with "'''Complete and submit the following form to request a user account'''. '''''If you have not already done so, we recommend that you read about Civicwiki b..."

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2015-08-07T15:58:43Z

Tharrisn: Created page with "Log in /"

Civicwiki:Register

2015-07-01T23:35:17Z

Tharrisn:

<div align="center" style="background-color:#cee0f2; color: #000; padding: .2em .6em; font-size:larger; border: 1px solid #a3b1bf; margin-bottom:3px;">'''[[Special:Userlogin|Create an account now]]'''</div>

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2015-07-01T23:31:09Z

Tharrisn:

* Common delete reasons
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2015-07-01T23:28:15Z

Tharrisn: Created page with "Author request Testing email notification"

Author request

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User talk:Testtim

2015-07-01T23:20:44Z

Tharrisn: Welcome!

'''Welcome to ''Civicwiki''!'''
We hope you will contribute much and well.
You will probably want to read the [[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents|help pages]].
Again, welcome and have fun! [[User:Tharrisn|Tharrisn]] ([[User talk:Tharrisn|talk]]) 19:20, 1 July 2015 (EDT)

2014-08-22T15:55:08Z

Tharrisn: Created page with "{{Article |HasSummary=We have two major political parties – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and their mission is to get their candidates elected. In doing this..."

{{Article
|HasSummary=We have two major political parties – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and their mission is to get their candidates elected. In doing this they select principles, information and misinformation to maximize their chance for victory.
|HasAuthor=Tharrisn
|HasArticleDate=2014/08/22
}}
{{SectionDefault
|HasArticleText=We have two major political parties – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and their mission is to get their candidates elected. In doing this they select principles, information and misinformation to maximize their chance for victory. Once elected, governing is a different matter, and the opposing sides are Liberals (also called Progressives) versus Conservatives. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Era progressive movement] began in the late 1800s, and its founding is attributed to three presidents of that era – two Republican and one Democrat. Today, Democrat officials tend to be liberal and Republican officials tend to be conservative, but there are exceptions. Here is a concise insight into the principles involved:

:“Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems.

:“Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems.”

For a good, concise understanding of liberal and conservative positions on today’s issues. [http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/ Read more…]

Conservatism Versus Liberalism: Does Philosophy Really Matter?

:“The foundational belief system you hold determines your views on specific issues. You then have strong opinions you feel are right. If you look at the core beliefs of Conservatism and Liberalism, you can understand and explain the different stands taken on specific issues and the vision each has for our country. These beliefs are opposites in every area and diametrically opposed.” For a good, concise understanding: [http://www.conservatismvsliberalism.net/ Read more…]

Kevin Williamson has a very insightful article in ''National Review'', in which he points out that cities “are the places in which the progressive vision of government has reached its fullest expressions. They are the hopeless reality that results from wishful thinking.” He begins with the “headline-city-of-the-month”, Ferguson, Missouri:

:“Ferguson was hardly a happy suburban garden spot until the shooting of Michael Brown. Ferguson is about two-thirds black, and 28 percent of those black residents live below the poverty line. The median income is well below the Missouri average, and Missouri is hardly the nation’s runaway leader in economic matters. More than 60 percent of the births in the city of St. Louis (and about 40 percent in St. Louis County) are out of wedlock.

:“My reporting over the past few years has taken me to Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, St. Louis and the nearby community of East St. Louis, Ill., Philadelphia, Detroit, Stockton, San Francisco, and a great many other cities, and the Reverend Jackson is undoubtedly correct in identifying “a national crisis of urban abandonment and repression.” He neglects to point out that he is an important enabler of it…

:“For years, our major cities were undermined by a confluence of four unhappy factors: 1. higher taxes; 2. defective schools; 3. crime; 4. declining economic opportunity…

:“Progressives spent a generation imposing taxes and other expenses on urban populations as though the taxpaying middle class would not relocate. They protected the defective cartel system of public education, and the union money and votes associated with it, as though middle-class parents would not move to places that had better schools. They imposed burdens on businesses, in exchange for more union money and votes, as though businesses would not shift production elsewhere. They imposed policies that disincentivized stable family arrangements as though doing so would have no social cost.

:“And they did so while adhering to a political philosophy that holds that the state, not the family or the market, is the central actor in our lives, that the interests of private parties — be they taxpayers or businesses — can and indeed must be subordinated to the state’s interests, as though individuals and families were nothing more than gears in the great machine of politics…

:“The more progressive the city, the worse a place it is to be poor and/or black. The most pronounced economic inequality in the United States is not in some Republican redoubt in Texas but in San Francisco, an extraordinarily expensive city in which half of all black households make do with less than $25,000 a year. Blacks in San Francisco are arrested on drug felonies at ten times their share of the general population. At 6 percent of the population, they represent 40 percent of those arrested for homicides. Whether you believe that that is the result of a racially biased criminal-justice system or the result of higher crime incidence related to socioeconomic conditions within black communities (or some combination of those factors) what is undeniable is that results for black Americans are far worse in our most progressive, Democrat-dominated cities than they are elsewhere. The progressives have had the run of things for a generation in these cities, and the results are precisely what you see…”

Read the [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/385518/who-lost-cities-kevin-d-williamson entire article].

You can check on the voting record for your Sen. or Congressman at [http://heritageactionscorecard.com/ Heritage Action For America].
}}
{{Citations}}

2014-07-24T00:54:22Z

Tharrisn:

{{Article
|HasSummary=Ben Carson has said he is not a member of any political party. “If I were part of one, it would be called the Logic party, and it would be dedicated to commonsense approaches we all should be able to see.”
|HasAuthor=Tharrisn
|HasArticleDate=2014/06/02
}}
{{SectionDefault
|HasArticleText===About Dr Carson==

'''Ben Carson''' (born September 18, 1951) is a columnist and retired neurosurgeon.

He grew up in Detroit and, at 8, his parents divorced and he and his 10-year-old brother were raised by their mother. He attended high school in Detroit, and graduated from Yale University, where he majored in psychology. He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School

Carson was a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics, and he was the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. At age 33, he became the youngest major division director in Johns Hopkins history.

He is credited with being the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the head. The 70-member surgical team, led by Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently.

In March 2013, when asked, he said he would retire as a surgeon and he would leave the decision of whether to go into politics “in the hands of God, but much can be done outside the political arena.”

He has written six bestselling books, the latest of which is ''One Nation'' and his book, ''Gifted Hands'', was made into a movie. DVDs are readily available, including on [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dmovies-tv&field-keywords=ben%20carson&sprefix=ben+carson%2Cmovies-tv%2C396&rh=i%3Amovies-tv%2Ck%3Aben%20carson Amazon]

He has said he is not a member of any political party. “If I were part of one, it would be called the Logic party, and it would be dedicated to commonsense approaches we all should be able to see.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson Read More…]

He was the keynote speaker at the 2013, National Prayer Breakfast. During his speech, he commented on several social and fiscal issues including political correctness, education, the national debt, health care, and taxation. The speech was magnified because Carson’s views were generally interpreted to be politically conservative, and President Barack Obama was sitting 10 feet away. When asked about a possible run for the White House, he responded: “If the Lord grabbed me by the collar and made me do it, I would.” You can listen to, or read’ the speech [http://www.realverse.com/dr-ben-carsons-speech-at-the-2013-national-prayer-breakfast/ here].

After the National Prayer Breakfast speech, in an ABC News interview, he said: “What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation, not people just casting aspersions at each other.”

Independent conservatives have organized to encourage him to run for president, and by May 2014 had raised $4 million in campaign contributions for a potential presidential campaign. But, when asked about it on ABC’s “The View” (May 20/2014) he responded:

::“My hope is that someone will come along who excites the people, who really understands what America is about and really doesn’t want to change it into something else. And if that happens, then I won’t do it. But, I have so many people asking me, and as a patriotic American, I certainly have to think about it. But it wasn’t what I was thinking about when I retired.” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIdE0gLUMcw&feature=youtu.be YouTube Video]

==Some Carson Insights==

===Civil political discourse – The basic problem that must be solved===

“In his famous book, ''Rules for Radicals'', Saul Alinsky, an activist organizer of the far left, makes it clear that leftist trying to affect change are to have no conversations with their opponents, because open discussion could lend credence to their opponents arguments and humanize them in the sight of the public. He argued that activist must demonize their opponents and get the larger society to recognize the activist as the ones who will deliver society from the demons. As a Alinsky suggests, cultivating hypersensitivity to perceived slights by conservatives is a convenient way to halt important conversations and to demonize opponents.” ''One Nation ''p.14

“Self-appointed political correctness police set up speech guidelines that go far beyond the requirements of kindness, good manners, education and tact.”'' One Nation'' p.12

“To stop this, Americans need to recognize what is happening, speak up courageously, avoid fearful or angry responses, and ignore the barking and snarling as we put political correctness to bed forever.”….. It is also the reason why I continue to encourage Americans to stand up for the freedoms that were hard-won and must be preserved. If we are to remain a free society.'' One Nation ''p.13

“PC is dangerous, because you see, this country, one of the founding principles was freedom of thought and freedom of expression. And it muffles people. It puts a muzzle on them.”

::“We need doctors, we needs scientists, engineers. We need all those people involved in government, not just lawyers…I don’t have anything against lawyers, but you know, here’s the thing about lawyers…I’m sorry, but I got to be truthful…got to be truthful – what do lawyers learn in law school? To win, by hook or by crook. You gotta win, so you got all these Democrat lawyers, and you got all these Republican lawyers and their sides want to win. We need to get rid of that. What we need to start thinking about is, how do we solve problems?.......Why can we fix it because we’re smart. We have some of the most intellectually gifted people leading our Nation. All we need to do is remember what our real responsibilities are so that we can solve the problems.” [http://www.realverse.com/dr-ben-carsons-speech-at-the-2013-national-prayer-breakfast/ Read More…]

===Education===

On education, he compared current graduation rates with those 200 years ago: “In 1831, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville Alexis de Tocqueville] came to our country…anybody finishing the second grade was completely literate. And based on questions extracted from a sixth grade exit exam from the 1800′s – a test you had to pass to get your sixth grade certificate – I doubt most college graduates today could pass that test. We have dumbed things down to that level and the reason that is so dangerous is because the people who founded this Nation said that our system of government was designed for a well-informed and educated populace, and when they become less informed, they become vulnerable. Think about that. That is why education is so vitally important” [http://www.realverse.com/dr-ben-carsons-speech-at-the-2013-national-prayer-breakfast/ Read More…]

“The founders of our nation understood that such a society could not long exist without a well-informed and well educated populace who used the amazing brains God gave them. Even people with only a grade school education in America’s 1800s were extremely well educated. That education in turn allowed them to make informed decisions in the voting booth, protecting them against tyranny.” ''One Nation ''p. 126

“Congress today has less than a 10% approval rating, yet its members are reelected, 90% of the time across the nation. This means they have been successful in fooling the voters, but it does not mean that it should or will continue. Until the laws of this country are changed, we the people still have the ability to select our representatives. This is not only a right, but a responsibility, and we can only exercise that right responsibly when we are well-informed.” ''One Nation'' p. 127

“Time and space won’t allow me to provide an exhaustive outline of the things informed citizens should know, but here are a few basics:

* Basic world and American history
* Basic world and American geography
* Basic household economics
* Basic understanding of how credit works and how debt accumulates
* Names of state and national representatives
* Basic nutrition and disease management
* Traffic rules for pedestrians and vehicle operators
* Basic math, including the calculation of percentages
* The ability to read at an eighth-grade level

“You may be surprised at the elementary nature of some items on this list, but a surprising number of adult Americans are lacking in these areas.” ''One Nation'' p. 131

===Taxation===

“Considering the views of both the rich and the poor, I would argue that fair taxation means that everyone contributes according to their ability, or in other words, proportionately. I like that idea of proportionality because that was put forth in the Bible. The concept of tithing. All taxpayers are required to give 10% of their increase. If they had no increase they had to give nothing, and if they had an extra-large increase, they still only had to provide 10% of their increase. This system recognized that the wealthy were not above the law – no tax breaks and no political clout for having given a larger amount. It also recognized that the poor were not “below” the law – as dignified human beings, they had responsibilities to give, even if just a little.” ''One Nation'' p. 104

“First of all, we need to recognize that the United States has the highest corporate tax rates in the world. Our rates even exceed those of openly socialist countries. A few years ago Canada and several other countries significantly slashed their corporate rates, which had the desired effect of attracting American business. Our American leadership has talked about cutting corporate tax rates, but nothing has been done.” ''One Nation'' p. 119

“More controversial, however, is the issue of cutting tax rates for individuals and small businesses. The Democrats feel that those with high income should pay most of the taxes since they can afford to do so. Republicans feel that enabling people to keep the vast majority of what they earn is more conducive to growth and encourages people to work hard. Again, a little common sense goes a long way. Taxation needs to be fair for everyone and not just for a favorite group. This is the reason I like the tithing model set forth in the Bible….. As soon as you depart from a proportional taxation system, you introduce ideological bias, making arguments endless. Also, everyone must have skin in the game when it comes to taxation. People with a lot of money have a large amount of skin in the game, and people with very little money only have a small amount, but everyone is taxed proportionately, which makes it fair.”

“Unfairness is introduced when the tax code is riddled with loopholes that are accessible to some but irrelevant for others. Those with good tax lawyers and accountants can substantially reduce the tax they pay, which is grossly unfair to those unable to take advantage of such things. Lowering tax rates and eliminating loopholes at the same time is a no-brainer that has been advanced by both Republicans and Democrats, but once again, nothing is done.” ''One Nation ''p. 120

===Healthcare===

“We’ve already started down the path to solving one of the other big problems, health care. We need to have good health care for everybody. It’s the most important thing that a person can have. Money means nothing, titles mean nothing when you don’t have your health, but we’ve got to figure out efficient ways to do it. We spend a lot of money on health care, twice as much per capita as anybody else in the world, and yet not very efficient. What can we do?

<nowiki>Here’s my solution. When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record and a health savings account [HSA], to which money can be contributed, pre-tax from the time you are born, to the time you die. When you die, you can pass it on to your family members so that when you’re 85 years old and you’ve got 6 diseases, you’re not trying to spend up everything. You’re happy to pass it on and nobody is talking about death panels. That’s number on</nowiki>e.

Also, for the people who are indigent, who don’t have any money, we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money and instead of sending it to bureaucracy, let’s put it into HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care and what do you think they’re going to do? They’re going to learn very quickly how to be responsible. That’s how we begin to solve these kinds of problems. It’s much more complex than that, and I don’t have time to go into it all, but we can do all these things because we are smart people.” [http://www.realverse.com/dr-ben-carsons-speech-at-the-2013-national-prayer-breakfast/ Read More…]

===A final insight===

At the end of his prayer breakfast address, Dr. Carson gave this insight into the state of our government today:

::“And let me begin to close here – another parable: There is a Sea Captain, and he’s out on the sea near the area where the Titanic went down. And they look ahead and there’s a bright light right there – another ship he figures. He tells his signaler to signal that ship: deviate 10 degrees to the South. Back comes the message, no you deviate 10 degrees to the North. Well, he’s a little bit incensed you know. He says, send a message, this is Captain Johnson, deviate 10 degrees to the South. Back comes the message, this is Ensign 4th Class Reilly. Deviate 10 degrees to the North. Now Captain Johnson is really upset. He says send him a message, this is a Naval Destroyer. Back comes the message, this is a Lighthouse. Enough said.” [http://www.realverse.com/dr-ben-carsons-speech-at-the-2013-national-prayer-breakfast/ Read More…]
}}
{{Citations}}

Bill of Rights 101

2014-07-23T17:21:36Z

Tharrisn:

2014-05-24T19:54:23Z

Tharrisn:

{{Article
|HasArticleText=If it bothers you that the government stores information that will allow them to know where you go and who you have talked to on your cell phone and that you may not be able choose your own physician. You might want to learn more – and do something. There are three general areas of understanding that could be helpful:

:'''Understanding decisions that you can make on your own.'''
:
:'''Understanding the governance process that results in infringement of your freedom.'''
:
:'''Understanding how you can help change what the government does.'''

These are discussed in order below:

''''Understanding decisions that you can make on your own'.''' (Personal freedom 101 TBD)

''''Understanding the governance process that results in infringement on your freedom.'''

Our Constitution is basically the policy manual for our governance. Its preamble, shown below, is basically what we now call a mission statement:
:We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America
:. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

1. '''Freedom of religion''' (link to freedom of religion, 101 TBD)

In some Muslim sects, the penalty for adultery is stoning. Clearly, this religious practice should not be allowed. But, should Mormons be allowed to have more than one wife? Or, should Catholic Little Sisters be required to provide birth control for their employees who are providing free care to elderly people? Obama Care requires it. But the Supreme Court has ruled that the Little Sisters are not required to comply until the lawsuit has made it through the courts.

2. '''Freedom of Speech''' (link to freedom of speech 101 TBD)

Understandably, it’s illegal to yell fire in a crowded theater, but should it be illegal for a student to express views against homosexuality. http://www.worldmag.com/2013/06/catholic_student_wins_free_speech_case_in_michigan

3. '''No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house

There are no major issues in this area.

4. '''Freedom of press''' (link to freedom of the press, 101 TBD)

The primary issue is government demanding that journalists reveal their sources of information – it’s a continuing battle in the courts. http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/united-states#.Uvvp5Uax4_M

5. '''Freedom of assembly'''

There have been no recent major issues in this regard. The most notable controversy involved the Occupy Wall Street movement. You can get a quick understanding of this issue at: http://harvardcrcl.org/2011/11/05/what-does-freedom-of-assembly-mean-for-occupy-wall-street/

6. '''Petition the government''' (Link to petition the Government 101 TBD)

There have been no recent major issues in right to petition, per se. However, there is an ongoing controversy having to do with lobbying. You can get a quick understanding of this issue at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_petition

7. '''Keep and bear arms''' (link to keep and bear arms, 101 TBD)

This has been a major ongoing issue for many years. The two sides in the controversy are those who want to keep their weapons to defend life and liberty versus those who believe that the government can defend us and that we should get the weapons out of the hands of those who would use them to take our life or liberty.

8. '''Privacy''' (link to privacy 101 TBD)

This is currently an issue in many areas of our lives. You can get a quick understanding of the breadth of this issue at: https://www.privacyrights.org/ar/Privacy-IssuesList.htm Here are a recent example: The Justice Department and most local police forces are currently tracking Americans' cell phones without getting warrants. There may be tens of thousands of cases. For example, in 2010 Michigan police officers sought information about every cell phone near the site of a planned labor protest. State and federal courts around the country have made conflicting rulings in this regard. https://www.aclu.org/government-location-tracking-cell-phones-gps-devices-and-license-plate-readers

9. '''[Liberty 101]'''

The difficulty of the balance between providing us services versus infringing upon our liberties is illustrated by the fact that you may or may not be free to choose the doctor of your choice when Obamacare is implemented. http://centerforhealthreporting.org/blog/can-i-keep-my-doctor-under-obamacare1143

10. '''The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. This is for both rights that have been reserved for the states and those reserved for the people themselves.'''

The battleground is more on federal government infringing upon the rights of the people in the states than on infringing upon the rights of the states themselves.
This is for both rights that have been reserved for the states and those reserved for the people themselves. The battleground is more on federal government infringing upon the rights of the people in the states than on infringing upon the rights of the states themselves.
(Link to separation of powers, 101 TBD)

'''Understanding how you can help change what the government does.'''

A concise overview of the overall constitutional balancing problem can be seen at:
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/politics-constitutional-decline-government-overreach

Even though the growth of the federal government in recent decades seems to have made the 10th Amendment (“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”) a dead letter, in reality it isn’t. When government programs violate the Constitution, reformers can turn to the actual written words for guidance and return important powers to the states and to the people – if we can build the political momentum.” So, the question is, how can you become a reformer and help build the political momentum.
(Link to becoming a reformer 101 TBD)

|HasAuthor=Glenn
|HasArticleDate=2014/03/25
}}