trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Ovadia Yosef

[[File:Ovadya_Yosef.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Not everyone who wears shades is a cool dude.]]{{Judaism}}
'''Ovadia Yosef''' {{lived|September 24, 1920|October 7, 2013}} was an orthodox [[rabbi]] and the spiritual leader of [[Israel]]'s Shas party. He was at one point the most politically powerful rabbi in the country, despite holding a range of extremely bigoted views.<ref name=slur>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/869553.stm</ref> He was [[xenophobia|anti-Gentile]], [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]], [[racist]], and [[misogyny|misogynistic]].

Yosef believed that non-Jews (or "[[Goyim]]" as he calls them) "were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world&nbsp;– only to serve the People of Israel." Statements such as these have been condemned by many commentators, including the chief of the [[Anti-Defamation League]].<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/adl-slams-shas-spiritual-leader-for-saying-non-jews-were-born-to-serve-jews-1.320235</ref> Yosef held Arabs in particular disdain, and has called for their [[genocide|annihilation]].<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1270038.stm</ref>

In 2007, Yosef said that Jewish women should "find other jobs and make ''hamin'' [a type of stew] but not deal with matters of [[Torah]]. A woman's knowledge is only in sewing".<ref>http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Rabbi-Ovadia-Women-should-stick-to-cooking-sewing</ref>

In 2000, Yosef made the bizarre claim that the victims of the [[Holocaust]] "were [[reincarnation]]s of the [[soul]]s of [[sin]]ners, people who transgressed and did all sorts of things that should not be done. They had been reincarnated in order to atone."<ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=20000807&id=FuhPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mwgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6565,3811221</ref> After this remark was criticised, Yosef clarified that he considered the victims to be entirely innocent and was merely providing a [[theological]] explanation for the atrocity.<ref name=slur/> Following [[Hurricane Katrina]], he argued that the disaster was [[God]]'s punishment on [[George W. Bush]] and local [[African American|black people]] who didn't spend enough time studying the [[Torah]].<ref>http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3138779,00.html</ref>

He was harshly critical of the Israeli justice system on the grounds that their decisions are not based on Jewish religious law.<ref>http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/rabbi-ovadia-yosef-bashes-israeli-legal-system-calling-it-court-of-gentiles-1.459202</ref> How tragic.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT: Yosef, Ovadia}}
[[Category:Anti-Christian bigots]]
[[Category:Islamophobes]]
[[Category:Jewish extremism]]
[[Category:Jews]]
[[Category:Middle-Eastern politicians]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Theocracy]]

Categories: Anti-Christian bigots, Islamophobes, Jewish extremism, Jews, Middle-Eastern politicians, Racists, Sexism, Theocracy
Ovilus

[[image:Ovilus1.jpg|thumb|right|165 px|The amazing device in question.]]
{{paranormal}}
An '''Ovilus''' is a mechanical device that allows the user to communicate with the dead for ''only'' $599.00.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20130127220752/http://www.ghostshop.com/gear.html</ref> It was designed and created by Bill Chappel and distributed through his website digitaldowsing.com. It works by using sensing equipment which measures temperature and electromagnetic fields. These readings are combined and each combination of readings corresponds with a database of words. The Ovilus then 
"speaks" that word
 allows the [[dead]] [[spirit]] to speak the words.

The Ovilus is used by paranormal research groups to test areas for the existence of dead spirits. It was even used "successfully" in two paranormal "reality" television series: ''[[Ghost Adventures]]'' and ''Paranormal State''.

But wait! There's more! There is also an iOvilus app available for iOS which allows your iPhone to "communicate with the dead." It is likely that this app would be even less useful than the handheld version due to accuracy issues with the iPhone's sensors, which have limited resolution. It is also true that the handheld version is little more than a {{wpl|Speak & Spell (toy)|Speak & Spell toy}} in an ugly remote control looking thing.

Amazingly, the Ovilus is not the craziest item for sale on its website. Besides different versions of the Ovilus and EMF generators, there are a variety of apps that allow you to "recharge your [[crystal]]s" (whatever that means) and even ''talk to the Earth''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091013213007/http://www.ghostshop.com/gaia-speaks Digital Dowsing: Gaia Speaks]</ref>

==See also==
*[[E-Meter]]
*[[Medium|Mediums]]
*[[Spiritualism]]

==External links==
*[http://www.ghostshop.com/ The site that sells them]

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[category:paranormal]]

Categories: paranormal
Oxymoron

{{langnav}}
An '''oxymoron''' ("'''oxim'''-oron", not "oxy-'''moron'''") is a phrase in which the meaning of one part is in diametric opposition to the meaning of another part.  The political ideology of modern [[American]] [[conservative|conservatism]] is replete with oxymorons. Oxymorons can be nonsense such as "cold heat", "dry water", "optimistic pessimist", but they are often used in figures of speech including "found missing", "same difference", "terribly good", "genuine fake", "passive aggressive" and so on.

==Usage==
Despite, or perhaps because of the obvious contradictions, oxymorons can be used deliberately in both comedy and politics to elicit a desired response in the audience. [[George Carlin]] has indeed popularized some oxymorons for comedic effect such as "military intelligence" and "business ethics".<ref>[https://www.angelfire.com/ex/littlekisses/id33.htm George Carlin's Oxymorons] ''Angelfire''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Christian Science]]
*[[Civil war]]
*[[Clean coal]]
*[[Compassionate conservatism]]
*[[Ethical oil]]
*[[Tautology]]
*[[Virgin birth]] (unless you happen to be a snail, snake, or a Komodo Dragon, in which case well done for somehow being able to read this)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|language}}
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Oxymorons| ]]

Categories: Language, Oxymorons
PH

{{DISPLAYTITLE:pH}}[[File:216 pH Scale-01.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Examples of the pH of some substances by OpenStax College. ]]{{science}}
{{Sources needed}}
'''pH''' is a measure for the acidity or basicity of a substance dissolved in [[water]].

==History==
The idea of pH was first introduced by the [[Danish]] [[chemist]] Søren Peder Lauritz Sørensen at the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1909. It was later revised to the modern concept of pH in 1924 to accommodate definitions and measurements in terms of electrochemical cells.

==How it works==
The scale assigns a number from 0-14.<ref group=note>The pH of a solution can be negative or greater than 14.</ref> to a water solution, depending on its acidity/basicity. Acidity/basicity is based on the concentration of [[hydrogen]] ions. 0 is the most acidic and 14 is the most basic. Pure water is considered neutral, with a pH of 7. Water exposed to air becomes mildly acidic, due to absorbing CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere. The pH scale is a logarithmic scale.<ref group=note>In a pH 1 solution 1 molecule of solute in 10<sup>1</sup> (ie 1 in 10) have dissociated into a hydrogen ion and anion (carbonate in the CO<sub>2</sub> example). In a pH 14 solution 1 in 10<sup>14</sup> have dissociated (1 in 100 million million), and in pure water at pH 7 one molecule in 10<sup>7</sup> have dissociated (1 in 10 million).</ref> Therefore, a decrease in pH from 5.0 to 4.0 is equal to a ten-fold increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions (more precisely protons).

==Examples==
0-1 — hydrochloric acid (HCl), battery acid

2-3 — soda, lemon juice, vinegar

4-5 — lysosomes, black [[coffee]]

6-7 — [[milk]], saliva, pure water

8-9 — sea water, baking soda

10-11 — ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>)

11-13 — bleach (NaOCl)

14 — liquid drain cleaner (NaOH)

==Woo==
{{hatnote|See also: [[pH woo]]}}
pH woo has to do with claiming that changing the pH balance of your body will ''miraculously'' and suddenly cause your health to improve. It is ''totally'' correct. {{fact|joke}}

==Works cited==
*Sorensen, S. P. L. (1909). "Über die Messung und die Bedeutung der Wasserstoffionenkonzentration bei enzymatischen Prozessen". Biochem. Zeitschr. 21: 131–304. Two other publications appeared in 1909, one in French, and one in Danish.
*[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH Wikipedia's article on pH]
*http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/184ph.html

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
Pacific Justice Institute

The '''Pacific Justice Institute''' is an [[American]] right-wing organisation which claims to be "defending religious freedom, parental rights and other religious liberties". Amongst its claims to fame is its effective job of smearing a [[transgender]] teenager, who was later revealed to be on suicide watch.

In October 2013 the organisation sent a complaint to a Colorado high school claiming that the transgender student was [[Transphobia and public restrooms|"harassing" girls in the bathrooms]]. The story was picked up by the Christian Broadcasting Network, which stated that "A male student at Florence High School who claims to be a transgender has been harassing girls in the bathroom. When parents complained, school officials said the boy's rights as a transgender trumped their daughters' privacy rights."<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131012204235/http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2013/October/No-Recourse-for-Girls-Harassed-by-Transgender-Student/</ref> The ''[[Daily Mail]]'' subsequently ran an article based entirely around CBN's version of events, which likewise referred to the transgender student as "male" and "the boy".<ref>http://genderidentitywatch.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/girls-harassed-in-school-bathroom-by-transgender-student-told-his-rights-trump-their-privacy-_-mail-online.pdf</ref>

However, the school's superintendent Rhonda Vendetti later clarified matters: the case is the result of a single parent objecting to a male-to-female transgender student using female restrooms, and no harassment has been reported. The ''Daily Mail'' removed the article from its site, but by then the story had reached ''[[Fox News|Fox Nation]]''.<ref>http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/10/15/fox-nation-touts-fake-story-about-transgender-s/196436</ref> A good number of commentators on the Fox article concluded that the transgender girl (referred to as "him/her", a "freak" and "it") deserved to be brutally assaulted.<ref>http://www.cristanwilliams.com/b/2013/10/16/fox-news-readers-agree-based-on-lie-trans-kid-should-die/</ref>

The website Transadvocate subsequently revealed that the transgender student (whom it refers to as Jane Doe, for reasons of privacy) had been placed on suicide watch, and made a call for letters and e-mails of support to be sent to her.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131026135554/http://www.transadvocate.com/what-happens-when-pji-is-confronted-by-parents.htm</ref> 

In November the PJI, in a futile attempt to make itself look sensitive, released a fundraising video in which one of its supporters claims to "feel sorry for this little boy", while concluding that she needs to be taught to "respect others".<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131108022019/http://www.transadvocate.com/pji-fundraising-video-targeting-suicidal-trans-kid-goes-viral.htm</ref>

==External link==
*[http://www.pacificjustice.org/ PJI website]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Anti-LGBT bigots]]
[[Category:Hate groups]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Organizations]]

Categories: Anti-LGBT bigots, Hate groups, Homophobia, Transphobia, Organizations
Pacte de famine

{{conspiracynav}}
The '''Pacte de famine''' was a [[France|French]] ''ancien régime'' predecessor to the more recent [[useless eaters]] conspiracy theory. The theory was popular from about 1715 until 1789 and a major contributing factor in the [[French Revolution]]. This period was one of severe droughts and food shortages; instead of blaming poor farming practices or bad weather, it was easier just to claim that, for inscrutable reasons of their own, the omnipresent, malevolent "[[They]]" were intentionally withholding food from the masses. This resulted in bread riots and what became known as the ''Guerre des farines'' or "flour war".

==Background==
The basis for the conspiracy theory was a contract signed in 1765 between Louis XV and the head of the guild responsible for the grain trade. In 1767, Jean Charles Le Prévost de Beaumont published a number of pamphlets claiming that this contract was an explicit attempt to cause a famine.<ref>From [http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/divers/Famine/119018 Larousse] (in French)</ref> The situation only got worse from there.

Why the king would want to starve the portion of the populace most responsible for producing everything was never really explained. Historical scholarship suggests that far from an attempt to restrict access to food, the contract was an attempt to stabilize food supply and prices.<ref>Cahen (1926) Le Pacte de famine. In Revue historique. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/40942446 JSTOR link]</ref>

==Attempts to alleviate the issue==
Attempts to lessen the food shortage by means of tax reform<ref>Younkins (2006). [http://www.quebecoislibre.org/06/060730-3.htm Turgot on political economy]</ref> and the introduction of [[capitalism|free trade]]<ref group=note>This was headed by then minister of finance Turgot - see [http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/TurgotBio.html here].</ref> largely proved counterproductive, as corrupt officials took advantage of increased [[deregulation]] to line their own pockets.

==Impact==
The hysteria over the rising cost and scarcity of food fueled resentment towards the [[aristocracy]] and helped to spark the [[French Revolution]]. Additionally, much like [[The Da Vinci Code|other conspiracy theories]], the idea of a conspiracy to starve the French populace became the subject of much popular fiction,<ref group=note>For example, [http://www.bmlisieux.com/archives/berthe01.htm this 1847 novel].</ref> and, to a lesser extent, the [[Russian Revolution]].
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:European history]]
[[Category:Moral panics]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, European history, Moral panics
Paganism

{{paganism}}
'''Paganism''' is, broadly, a term used to describe religious beliefs that differs from main world religions. They are not a unified religion; "pagan" comes from the [[Latin]] ''pāgānus'' ("rural, rustic"), used by Christians during the fourth century to describe the opposing ethnic and local religions to the "universal" one of Christianity.

The term "Pagan" was also a pejorative term used by Christian missionaries to describe the peoples and beliefs of almost any person not "of the [[Bible|book]]".

The term is often used to describe the former religions of the later [[Roman Empire]] that [[Christianity]] replaced — although the followers of those beliefs never called themselves Pagans. Christians during the [[Crusades]] also often called [[Islam|Muslims]] pagans, even though they worshipped the [[YHWH|same deity]] and Islam was technically the newer religion. The term is also used for the present day [[Neo-Paganism]], which partly draws on various historical mythologies for inspiration, though the Neo-Pagans typically embrace the term.

==Major examples of pagan faiths==
*[[Asatru]]
*[[Greek mythology|Hellenism]]
*[[Wicca]]
*[[Druid|Druidry]]
*[[Animism]]

==See also==
*[[Heathen]]
*[[Neopaganism]]
*[[Woden's Folk]]

{{stub|religion}}

[[Category:Paganism| ]]

Categories: Paganism
Pakicetus

[[Image:Pakicetus_BW.jpg|thumb|right|thumb|300px|''Pakicetus inachus'', drawing by Nobu Tamura]]{{evolution}}'''''Pakicetus''''' is the genus name of a proto-whale fossil, the first discovered ancestor of modern whales that is distinctly a [[transitional fossil|transition]] from early artiodactyls to today's whales. Palaeontologists basically just call it a "whale". It is one of several recent finds of transitional fossils that clearly show an [[evolution]] of land mammals returning to life in the water.

==History==
''Pakicetus'' lived more than 50 million years ago, during the [[Eocene]], in what is today [[Pakistan]]. Locations of fossil finds suggest that Pakicetus may have hunted or lived partially in the ocean.

==Discovery==
Four species of ''Pakicetus'' fossils have been identified and named. Though partial fossils were found in the early 1980s, a complete fossil was not found until 2001. ''Pakicetus inachus'' was the first ''Pakicetus'' fossil taxonomically identified, in 1981, by P. D. Gingerich and D. E. Russell.<ref>http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayReference&reference_no=8326</ref>

==In creationism==

Creationists really hate whale ancestor fossils. [[Answers in Genesis]] noted in 1996 that "''Pakicetus'' consists of only a few skull fragments.(!)"<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v19/n1/world-of-whales</ref> When much more complete skeletal remains were found in 2001<ref>http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v413/n6853/full/413277a0.html</ref>, AiG had nothing to say about the development. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote for the [[Institute for Creation Research]] that [[Evolutionism|"evolutionists"]] believed it was not at all like a whale,<ref>http://creation.com/not-at-all-like-a-whale</ref> which is the [[Deceit|opposite of the truth]] (though pakicetus was not like modern whales in that regard, but of course, creationists leave '''everything''' ambiguous).

==See also==

*[[Indohyus]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakicetus}}

[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Transitional fossils]]

Categories: Evolution, Transitional fossils
Pan-Arabism

{{Sources needed}}{{hatnote|Not to be confused with [[Arab nationalism]]}}{{politics}}'''Pan-Arabism''' is a cultural [[nationalism]] which seeks to establish a single Arab state by unifying the countries in the Arab world. It is different from [[Arab nationalism]], which is the belief that the people of the entire Arab world are bound together by common cultural heritage. Pan-Arabism also believes in Arab nationalism, but goes further to advocate an Arab nation-[[state]].

Common characteristics of Pan-Arabism are:

*Opposition to Western imperialism and Western involvement in the Arab world
*[[Secularism]]
*Pan-Arabism has sometimes embraced [[socialist]] economics, as in the case of [[Gamal Abdel Nasser‎]]. [[Ba'athism|Ba'ath]]ist regimes are commonly left-wing economically while pursuing a strong nationalist (and often Pan-Arabist) agenda.

Modern pan-Arabism dates back at least to the [[First World War]], when the British encouraged rebellion by Arab tribes against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Various Arab nationalists, including Sherif Hussein of Mecca, patriarch of the Hashemite Dynasty, and Ibn Saud, future founder of [[Saudi Arabia]], attempted to take up the mantle of Arab leadership and create a single Arab state across the Middle East. After the war, Allied designs in the region, codified by the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Treaty of Sevres, and fighting amongst Arab leaders, caused its collapse. 

Later, Nasser‎ was a prominent proponent of Pan-Arabism. Under Nasser's aegis, Egypt and Syria merged into the United Arab Republic, which lasted from 1958 to 1961. Pan-Arabism declined in popularity after the defeat of the Arab states in the {{wpl|Six-Day War}}. Nasser's death in 1970 dealt the movement another blow.

[[Muammar Gaddafi]] attempted to revive the concept in 1971, proposing a Federation of Arab Republics to include Libya, Egypt, Syria and the Sudan. Though approved by referendum, none of these countries formally attempted to join together, and the movement died in 1977. 

More recently, [[Saddam Hussein]] adopted pan-Arab rhetoric during his efforts to invade Iran and Kuwait in the '80s and '90s. Ironically, Hussein succeeded instead at uniting most Arab countries (including his fellow Ba'athists in Syria) against him during the [[Gulf War]].

Pan-Arabism has sometimes been associated with racism due to the persecution of  non-Arab minorities in the Middle East (including the Kurdish, Jewish, and Persian people), and the Amazigh people, the original inhabitants of North Africa.

[[category:culture]]
[[Category:Political movements]]
[[Category:Imperialism]]
[[Category:Nationalist pseudohistory]]
{{stub|culture}}

Categories: culture, Political movements, Imperialism, Nationalist pseudohistory
Paraconsistent logic

{{Expand}}{{logicnav}}
'''Paraconsistent logic''' refers to alternative (non-classical) systems of [[logic]] which reject the [[principle of explosion|principle of explosion]], which states that once a contradiction has been asserted, any proposition can be inferred from it.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-paraconsistent/></ref><ref>http://www.iep.utm.edu/para-log/</ref> Some (but not all) paraconsistent logics are also dialetheic, meaning they hold to a view known as {{wpl|Dialetheism|dialetheism|,}} the view that some contradictions are simultaneously true and false.

Does this mental voodoo perhaps destroy the entire point of logic? Not necessarily; some [[philosopher]]s and [[scientists]] assert that true contradictions (dialetheia) exist and therefore should be represented by formal logic. Others, however, hold that these true contradictions are purely semantic or linguistic in nature & believe that dialetheism can make sense of certain [[Liar paradox|paradoxes]]. The most notable defender of dialetheism in the contemporary philosophical scene is the British-Australian philosopher Graham Priest. Priest implements the concept of dialetheism in his own system of [[relevance logic]], a particular type of paraconsistent logic.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dialetheism/</ref>

'''Paraconsistent mathematics''' refers to attempts to develop [[mathematics]] on top of a foundation of paraconsistent logic and paraconsistent set theory.

Historically speaking, paraconsistency and dialetheism have been common themes in Indian logic, especially [[Jainist]] and [[Buddhist]] logic.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contradiction/#LNCBudTet</ref><ref>https://aeon.co/essays/the-logic-of-buddhist-philosophy-goes-beyond-simple-truth</ref> Whereas in classical logic a statement is either true or false, but not both nor neither, Indian logics have traditionally been accepting of statements being both true and false simultaneously, or neither true nor false. Paraconsistency applies in particular to the both case — although it often allows the neither case as well. Paracomplete logic allows the "neither" case by denying the law of the [[excluded middle]].

==See also==
*[[Fuzzy logic]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Categories: Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy