It was built in to stop one branch of government from gaining too much power
Sunlight interacting with the Earth's atmosphere makes the sky blue. In outer space the astronauts see blackness because outer space has no atmosphere.
<span>Sunlight consists of light waves of varying wavelengths, each of which is seen as a different color. The minute particles of matter and molecules of air in the atmosphere intercept and scatter the white light of the sun. A larger portion of the blue color in white light is scattered, more so than any other color because the blue wavelengths are the shortest. </span><span>When the size of atmospheric particles are smaller than the wavelengths of the colors, selective scattering occurs-the particles only scatter one color and the atmosphere will appear to be that color. Blue wavelengths especially are affected, bouncing off the air particles to become visible.</span><span>This is why the sun looks yellow from Earth (yellow equals white minus blue). In space, the sun appears white because there is nothing in between to scatter its white light. </span><span>At sunset, the sky changes color because as the sun drops to the horizon, sunlight has more atmosphere to pass through and loses more of its blue wavelengths. The orange and red, having the longer wavelengths and making up more of sunlight at this distance, are most likely to be scattered by the air particles. </span><span>The scattering of visible light by atmospheric gases is most correctly called the </span>Tyndall effect<span>, but it is more commonly known to physicists as </span>Rayleigh scattering<span> after Lord Rayleigh, who studied it in more detail a few years later. Rayleigh Scattering is where red, orange, yellow, and green are passed through and blue, indigo, and violet are "scattered" out creating the color.</span><span>Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue. </span>
<span>Alexis de Tocqueville observed American democracy and compared it to the failure of the French revolution observing that centralized government prevented the protection of individual rights especially when the question of inheritance split estates among individuals rather than preserving estates as the French system dictated.</span>
Split<span> in Islam is that between the majority Sunnis and the minority Shiites. The split goes back to events in the 7th century:</span>
After Mohammed’s death in 632, leadership of the Islamic community passed to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, one of Mohammed’s closest companions. Some in the community felt that this succession was not legitimate, and that the title of caliph really belonged to Ali ibn Abi Talib. Ali’s claim was supported by the fact that he was Mohammed’s cousin, his adopted son, his first convert (at the age of nine), and husband of his daughter Fatima. Both sides believe that Mohammed specifically designated their man: Supporters of Abu became the Sunnis, those of ibn Ali the Shiites.
<span>The Caliphate passed from Abu Bakr to Umar, and from Umar to Ulthman. Ulthman at last passed the torch to Ali. When Ali was murdered in 661, the Caliphate passed to Muawiya, who would found the famous Umayyid Caliphate. Ali was buried in Najaf in what is now Iraq, and the site remains a major Shiite holy site. </span>
<span>Sunni refers to the sunnas, or oral traditions and interpretations of the Koran -- a body of work similar to the Jewish Talmud. Sunnis believe that the position of Caliph should be a position to which one is elected by the </span>religious leaders<span> of the Islamic community, and not dependent on direct lineage from Mohammed.</span>
<span>Shiite comes from the word shia, which means "the party (of Ali)." They are mostly found in Iran and Iraq, and among the Palestinians. They consider certain direct descendants of Ali - the Imams - infallible and the true inheritors of Mohammed. Ali was the first Imam, his son Hassan the second, his second son Hussein the third. Ali’s sons were killed in the conflict with Caliph Muawiya. However, their succession ended with the 12th Imam, who went into hiding in 940. Most Shiites believe that the 12th Imam will reemerge someday as the Mahdi or Messiah, and reassert his leadership of the Islamic world. In the meantime, ayatollahs are elected to serve as </span>caretakers<span> of the faith.</span>
<span>Most Sunnis and Shiites are liberal, although not by western standards. In peaceful and prosperous times, there is little conflict between them. But both have more extreme factions as well. Some Shiites, for example, have a tradition of valuing martyrdom that came out of their early experiences of conflict with the Sunnis. The most famous Sunni extremist faction is the Wahhabi sect, of which Osama bin Laden is possibly a member. It is characterized by radical fundamentalism: The Koran is not to be interpreted but rather taken literally. There are to be no prayers or other appeals to </span>prophets, saints, or any entity other than God. There are to be no images of or monuments to any supposed Islamic leaders, not even elaborate tombs for famous Moslems. And the Koran is to be the sole source of secular as well as religious law.
<span>Another famous group is the Sufi movement, which can be Sunni or Shiite. Sufis are mystics who believe that God’s love shines through everything, even ugliness and evil, and that by attaining a certain state of mind, one can directly experience this. In this sense, they resemble Zen Buddhism. Sufism is also noted for its use of stories that have layered </span><span>meanin</span>
