1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
Thomas Viaduct
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The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay and Elkridge, Maryland, USA. It was commissioned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, built between July 4,1833, and July 4,1835, and named for Philip E. Thomas, the companys first president. At its completion, the Thomas Viaduct was the largest bridge in the United States and it remains the worlds oldest multiple arched stone railroad bridge. In 1964, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark, the viaduct is now owned and operated by CSX Transportation and still in use today, making it one of the oldest railroad bridges still in service. This Roman-arch stone bridge is divided into eight spans and it was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II, then B&Os assistant engineer and later its chief engineer. The main design problem to overcome was that of constructing such a bridge on a curve. The design called for several variations in span and pier widths between the sides of the structure. This problem was solved by having the lateral pier faces laid out on radial lines, the viaduct was built by John McCartney of Ohio, who received the contract after completing the Patterson Viaduct. Caspar Wever, the chief of construction, supervised the work. The span of the viaduct is 612 feet long, the arches are roughly 58 feet in span. The width at the top of the spandrel wall copings is 26 feet 4 inches, the bridge is constructed using a rough-dressed Maryland granite ashlar from Patapsco River quarries, known as Woodstock granite. A wooden-floored walkway built for pedestrian and railway use is four feet wide and supported by cast iron brackets. The viaduct contains 24,476 cubic yards of masonry and cost $142,236.51, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States. Construction began on July 4,1828, with the route following the Patapsco River to Ellicotts Mills In 1835 the Washington Branch was constructed. This new line branched at Relay, the site of a former post road hotel, the 1830s Relay House served as a hotel until it was replaced by the $50,078.41 Viaduct Hotel in 1872. The Gothic combination railroad station and hotel operated until 1938 and was torn down in 1950, on one side the monument reads, The Thomas Viaduct, Commenced July 4,1833 Finished, July 4,1835. He also celebrated the work by having his men kneel on the deck of the viaduct while mock baptizing them with a pint of whiskey. Until after the American Civil War, the B&O was the railroad into Washington
3.
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
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Anne Arundel County /ˌænəˈrʌndəl/ is a county located in the U. S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, its population was 537,656 and its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state. The County was named for Lady Ann Arundell, the daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, members of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England. She married Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, and the first Lord Proprietor of the colony, Province of Maryland, in an arranged marriage contract in 1627 or 1628. Anne Arundel County was originally part of St. Marys County in the portion of the Province of Maryland which had first been settled by the arriving settlers in 1634. In 1650, the year after Lady Ann Arundells death, the County separated from St. Marys and erected into its own jurisdiction, between 1654 and 1658, the County was known as Providence by many of its early settlers. The Commonwealth forces under William Fuller were victorious, prior to the move, Annapolis was known as Providence. During the American Revolutionary War, citizens of Anne Arundel County supported the Continental Army by providing troops for three regiments, the 3rd Maryland Regiment, the 4th Maryland Regiment, and the 6th Maryland Regiment were recruited in the county. During the War of 1812, the one of the six heavy frigates of the recently reestablished United States Navy. Constitution sailed from Annapolis prior to its victorious engagement with the H. M. S, guerriere of the British Royal Navy. This was the first regular passenger service in the United States. In 1831, land west of the railroad was considered the Howard District of Anne Arundel County, in 1851, The Howard District was broken off to form Howard County, now the 21st county in Maryland. The County has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 588 square miles, of which 415 square miles is land and 173 square miles is water. Anne Arundel County is located to the south of the city of Baltimore, most of the Countys borders are defined by water. The largest of these include, the Magothy River, Severn River, South River. Further south, the upper Patuxent River forms the border of Anne Arundel with Prince Georges County to the west, deep Run forms part of the northwestern border with Howard County, and Lyons Creek forms part of the southern border with Calvert County. Anne Arundel County originally included all of the land between the Patuxent River and the Patapsco River upstream to their headwaters on Parrs Ridge. The northwestern section of this long tract later became Howard County, as a result, Anne Arundel County lies almost entirely within the Atlantic Coastal Plain while Howard County is almost entirely within the Piedmont province
4.
Howard County, Maryland
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Howard County is a county located in the central part of the U. S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085 and its county seat is Ellicott City. Howard County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, however, recent development in the south of the county has led to some realignment towards the Washington, D. C. media and employment markets. The county is home to Columbia, a planned community of approximately 100,000 founded by developer James Rouse in 1967. Howard County is frequently cited for its affluence, quality of life, with an estimated median household income of $108,844 in 2012, Howard County had the third-highest median household income of any U. S. county in 2013. The main population center of Columbia/Ellicott City was named second among Money magazines 2010 survey of Americas Best Places to Live, Howard Countys schools frequently rank first in Maryland as measured by standardized test scores and graduation rates. In 2010, the center of population of Maryland was located in the Howard County town of Jessup and he was the fifth governor of Maryland from 1788 to 1791. The lands of prehistoric Howard County were populated by Native Americans, the Maryland Historical Trust has documented sites along the Patapsco, Patuxent, Middle and Little Patuxent River valleys. In 1652, the Susquehannock tribes signed a treaty with Maryland. In 1800, the center of U. S. population as calculated by the US Census Bureau was found in what is now Howard County. In 1838, Dr. William Watkins of Richland Manor proposed the Howard District of Anne Arundel County, after several adjournments, the area of western Anne Arundel County was designated the Howard District in 1839. The district had the status as a county except that it was not separately represented in the Maryland General Assembly. In 1841, the county built its first courthouse in Ellicott City, at the January 1851 constitutional convention, Thomas Beale Dorsey submitted a petition led by James Sykes. A committee was formed with Dorsey, Bowie, Smith, Harbine, after several postponements, the district was erected officially as Howard County on March 7,1851. The plantations of modern Howard County used slave labor as early as 1690, at the time of the Underground Railroad, some Howard County residents assisted slaves who were escaping to freedom. This was particularly risky, as many prominent plantation families were Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War, Maryland was exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, later abolishing slavery in the update of the Maryland Constitution in November 1864. On May 1,1883 Howard County joined Anne Arundel and Hardford County in liquor prohibition, by 1899, Howard County contained 400 miles of dirt and 48 miles of stone roads, including three paid turnpikes maintained by 118 men. Most traffic consisted of loads delivered to rail crossings, in 1909, County Commissioners Hess, Werner and ONeil were charged with malfeasance regarding contract bids
5.
Maryland
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The states largest city is Baltimore, and its capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, the state is named after Henrietta Maria of France, the wife of Charles I of England. George Calvert was the first Lord of Baltimore and the first English proprietor of the colonial grant. Maryland was the state to ratify the United States Constitution. Maryland is one of the smallest U. S. states in terms of area, as well as one of the most densely populated, Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles and is comparable in overall area with Belgium. It is the 42nd largest and 9th smallest state and is closest in size to the state of Hawaii, the next largest state, its neighbor West Virginia, is almost twice the size of Maryland. Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders, contributing to its nickname America in Miniature. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted by Washington, D. C. which sits on land that was part of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties and including the town of Georgetown. This land was ceded to the United States Federal Government in 1790 to form the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. Close to the town of Hancock, in western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state. This geographical curiosity makes Maryland the narrowest state, bordered by the Mason–Dixon line to the north, portions of Maryland are included in various official and unofficial geographic regions. Much of the Baltimore–Washington corridor lies just south of the Piedmont in the Coastal Plain, earthquakes in Maryland are infrequent and small due to the states distance from seismic/earthquake zones. The M5.8 Virginia earthquake in 2011 was felt moderately throughout Maryland, buildings in the state are not well-designed for earthquakes and can suffer damage easily. The lack of any glacial history accounts for the scarcity of Marylands natural lakes, laurel Oxbow Lake is an over one-hundred-year-old 55-acre natural lake two miles north of Maryland City and adjacent to Russett. Chews Lake is a natural lake two miles south-southeast of Upper Marlboro. There are numerous lakes, the largest of them being the Deep Creek Lake. Maryland has shale formations containing natural gas, where fracking is theoretically possible, as is typical of states on the East Coast, Marylands plant life is abundant and healthy. Middle Atlantic coastal forests, typical of the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain, grow around Chesapeake Bay, moving west, a mixture of Northeastern coastal forests and Southeastern mixed forests cover the central part of the state
6.
State park
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State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
7.
Russell Sage Foundation
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The Russell Sage Foundation is an American philanthropic foundation that primarily funds research relating to income inequality. Located in New York City, it is a research center, the foundation also publishes, under its own imprint, the books that derive from the work of its grantees and visiting scholars. The foundation focuses on labor markets, immigration and ethnicity, and social inequality in the United States and her will added a $5 million bequest in 1917. The Foundation was also responsible for reforms in health care, city planning, consumer credit, labor law, the training of nurses. In 1907, the foundation funded the Pittsburgh Survey, the first systematic effort to survey working class conditions in a large U. S. city, considered a major Progressive Era achievement, the findings inspired labor reforms and helped end twelve-hour days and seven-day weeks for steel workers. Between 1909 and 1922, the Foundation spent nearly a sixth of its capital to build Forest Hills Gardens, the aim was to demonstrate the economic and social viability of an intelligently planned suburban community. The first lots sold for $800, and a new suburb began thriving by 1917, in 1922, the Foundation helped launch the Regional Plan Association to research, write and publish a plan to guide the future development of the New York metropolitan region. In its first 40 years, the Foundation spent more than $1 million on the Regional Survey, researchers completed 12 massive volumes as part of the effort, with the first being published in 1928-29. The Foundation also provided support for social feminists such as Mary van Kleeck, since World War II, the Foundation has devoted its efforts to strengthening the social sciences as a means of achieving more informed and rational social policy. It launched a variety of programs to draw the social sciences closer to decision-makers in other professions and this initiative included funds for research on social indicators, a collection of data that measure the quality of life. In the 1950s, the Foundation supported research on the practice and it established the Foundation Center, a non-profit that maintains data on organized philanthropy. It was also the first to publish The Foundation Directory, a listing of the nation’s several thousand largest foundations. During this decade, the foundation also received money from the Ford Foundation for the utilization of the behavioral sciences. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Foundation turned to ethics, including patients rights, extreme measures to sustain life. Foundation-supported books from this period include Bernard Barber’s Drugs and Society, the Foundation was an early force in the development of behavioral economics, launching the Behavioral Economics program in 1986 with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Books on behavioral economics published by Russell Sage include Quasi Rational Economics, three charter members of the Roundtable subsequently received the Noble Prize in economics, George Akerlof, Daniel Kahneman, and Thomas Schelling. The Foundation launched new programs to study immigration, the rise of economic inequality, between 1992 and 2000, the Foundation worked with the Ford Foundation to conduct a Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality. In 2000, the Foundation partnered with the Population Reference Bureau to produce The American People, Census 2000, edited by Reynolds Farley of the University of Michigan and John Haaga of PRB
8.
Civilian Conservation Corps
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The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. Originally for young men ages 18–25, it was expanded to young men ages 17–28. Robert Fechner was the head of the agency, the CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men, and to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States. At the same time, it implemented a general natural resource conservation program in every state, maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000. Over the course of its nine years in operation,3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them shelter, clothing. The American public made the CCC the most popular of all the New Deal programs, principal benefits of an individuals enrollment in the CCC included improved physical condition, heightened morale, and increased employability. The CCC operated separate programs for veterans and Native Americans, approximately 15,000 Native Americans participated in the program, helping them weather the Great Depression. Despite its popular support, the CCC was never a permanent agency and it depended on emergency and temporary Congressional legislation and funding to operate. By 1942, with World War II and the draft in operation, the need for work relief declined, as governor of New York, Roosevelt had run a similar program on a much smaller scale. He promised this law would provide 250,000 young men with meals, housing, uniforms, the Emergency Conservation Work Act was introduced to Congress the same day and enacted by voice vote on March 31. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6101 on April 5,1933 which established the CCC organization and appointed a director, Robert Fechner, the organization and administration of the CCC was a new experiment in operations for a federal government agency. A CCC Advisory Council was composed of a representative each of the supervising departments. In addition, the Office of Education and Veterans Administration participated in the program, to end the opposition from labor unions Roosevelt chose Robert Fechner, vice president of the American Machinists Union, as director of the corps. William Green, head of the American Federation of Labor, was taken to the first camp to demonstrate that there would be no job training involved beyond simple manual labor. Reserve officers from the U. S. Army were in charge of the camps, General Douglas MacArthur was placed in charge of the program but said that the number of Army officers and soldiers assigned to the camps was affecting the readiness of the Regular Army. But the Army also found benefits in the program. When the draft began in 1940, the policy was to make CCC alumni corporals, CCC also provided command experience to Organized Reserve Corps officers. Through the CCC, the Regular Army could assess the performance of both Regular and Reserve Officers
9.
Erosion
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In earth science, erosion is the action of surface processes that remove soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earths crust, then transport it away to another location. Eroded sediment or solutes may be transported just a few millimetres, the rates at which such processes act control how fast a surface is eroded. Feedbacks are also possible between rates of erosion and the amount of eroded material that is carried by, for example. Processes of erosion that produce sediment or solutes from a place contrast with those of deposition, while erosion is a natural process, human activities have increased by 10-40 times the rate at which erosion is occurring globally. At well-known agriculture sites such as the Appalachian Mountains, intensive farming practices have caused erosion up to 100x the speed of the rate of erosion in the region. Excessive erosion causes both on-site and off-site problems, on-site impacts include decreases in agricultural productivity and ecological collapse, both because of loss of the nutrient-rich upper soil layers. In some cases, the end result is desertification. Off-site effects include sedimentation of waterways and eutrophication of bodies, as well as sediment-related damage to roads. Intensive agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are amongst the most significant human activities in regard to their effect on stimulating erosion, however, there are many prevention and remediation practices that can curtail or limit erosion of vulnerable soils. Rainfall, and the surface runoff which may result from rainfall, produces four types of soil erosion, splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion. Splash erosion is generally seen as the first and least severe stage in the erosion process. In splash erosion, the impact of a falling raindrop creates a crater in the soil. The distance these soil particles travel can be as much as 0.6 m vertically and 1.5 m horizontally on level ground. If the soil is saturated, or if the rate is greater than the rate at which water can infiltrate into the soil. If the runoff has sufficient flow energy, it will transport loosened soil particles down the slope, sheet erosion is the transport of loosened soil particles by overland flow. Rill erosion refers to the development of small, ephemeral concentrated flow paths which function as both sediment source and sediment delivery systems for erosion on hillslopes, generally, where water erosion rates on disturbed upland areas are greatest, rills are active. Flow depths in rills are typically of the order of a few centimetres or less and this means that rills exhibit hydraulic physics very different from water flowing through the deeper, wider channels of streams and rivers. Gully erosion occurs when water accumulates and rapidly flows in narrow channels during or immediately after heavy rains or melting snow
10.
Civilian Public Service
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The Civilian Public Service was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative to military service during World War II. Others helped provide social services and mental health services, the CPS men served without wages and minimal support from the federal government. The cost of maintaining the CPS camps and providing for the needs of the men was the responsibility of their congregations, CPS men served longer than regular draftees and were not released until well after the end of the war. Initially skeptical of the program, government agencies learned to appreciate the mens service, CPS made significant contributions to forest fire prevention, erosion and flood control, medical science and reform of the mental health system. Conscientious objectors refuse to participate in service because of belief or religious training. During wartime, this conflicts with conscription efforts. Those willing to accept non-combatant roles, such as personnel, are accommodated. There are few options for draftees who cannot cooperate with the military in any way. The conscription law of World War I provided for noncombatant service for members of an organization whose members were forbidden from participating in war of any form. This exemption effectively limited conscientious objector status to members of the peace churches, Mennonites, Religious Society of Friends. The law gave the President authority to assign such draftees to any noncombatant military role, Conscientious objectors who refused noncombatant service during World War I were imprisoned in military facilities such as Fort Lewis, Alcatraz Island and Fort Leavenworth. The government assumed that COs could be converted into soldiers once they were exposed to life in their military camps. Simultaneously the Justice Department was preparing to indict 181 Mennonite leaders for violating the act because of a statement they adopted against performing military service. The draftees refusal to put on a uniform or cooperate in any way caused difficulties for both the government and the COs. The treatment received by nearly 2000 of these absolute COs included short rations, solitary confinement, on June 20,1940, the Burke-Wadsworth Bill came before Congress. The arrangements for conscientious objectors were almost identical to the World War I provisions, the Friends representatives continued attempting to make the bill more favorable to the historic peace churches. The Burke-Wadsworth Bill passed on September 14,1940, becoming the Selective Training, the influence of the churches was evident in section 5, which says in part, Any such person claiming such exemption from combatant training and service. In lieu of such induction, be assigned to work of importance under civilian direction
11.
Conscientious objector
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A conscientious objector is an individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. In general, conscientious objector status is considered only in the context of military conscription and is not applicable to military forces. In some countries, conscientious objectors are assigned to a civilian service as a substitute for conscription or military service. Some conscientious objectors consider themselves pacifist, non-interventionist, non-resistant, non-aggressionist and this was re-affirmed in 1998, when resolution 1998/77 recognized that persons performing military service may develop conscientious objections. A number of organizations around the world celebrate the principle on May 15 as International Conscientious Objectors Day, the term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–industrial complex due to a crisis of conscience. Historically, many conscientious objectors have been executed, imprisoned, or otherwise penalized when their beliefs led to conflicting with their societys legal system or government. The legal definition and status of conscientious objection has varied over the years, Religious beliefs were a starting point in many nations for legally granting conscientious objector status. An early recognition of conscientious objection was granted by William the Silent to the Dutch Mennonites in 1575 and they could refuse military service in exchange for a monetary payment. Formal legislation to exempt objectors from fighting was first granted in mid-18th century Great Britain following problems with attempting to force Quakers into military service. In the United States, conscientious objection was permitted from the countrys founding, in 1948, the issue of the right to conscience was dealt with by the United Nations General Assembly in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The proclamation was ratified during the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 by a vote of 48 in favour,0 against and it is The Right to Refuse to Kill. In 1976, the United Nations treaty the International Covenant on Civil and it was based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was originally created in 1966. Nations that have signed this treaty are bound by it and its Article 18 begins, Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Some states argue that such limitations would permit them to make conscientious objection during time of war a threat to public safety, even that it is a moral duty to serve the state in its military. In 2006, the Committee has found for the first time a right to conscientious objection under article 18, in 1998, the Human Rights Commission reiterated previous statements and added states should. Refrain from subjecting conscientious objectors. to repeated punishment for failure to perform military service, the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees states,171. Not every conviction, genuine though it may be, will constitute a sufficient reason for claiming refugee status after desertion or draft-evasion and it is not enough for a person to be in disagreement with his government regarding the political justification for a particular military action. Air Commodore Lionel Charlton, of the British Royal Air Force, in 1923 he selectively refused to serve in the RAF Iraq Command
12.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
Geographic data related to Patapsco Valley State Park at OpenStreetMap
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