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February 27

governmental question

Who is the head of local (CA) government?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is Governor of California. --Halcatalyst 03:55, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Or did you perhaps mean Canada? Dismas|^(talk) 06:02, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Stephen Harper is Prime Minister of Canada. Or did you perhaps mean Central America? Or perhaps Carlisle? Grutness...wha? 06:33, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Maybe he meant Cagliari, which would be Renato Soru. Or, it could be Catamarca Province, which would be Eduardo Brizuela del Moral. (Abbreviations are fun.) --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:38, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

François Bozizé is the President and Elie Doté is the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic. The previous answers are obvious examples of inherent bias. User:Zoe|^(talk) 03:13, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

The moral: Caca questions produce caca answers. JackofOz 11:08, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

World War I battle

Are their any good websites or organizations that have a good detailed history and photos of the battle of lemberg in what is now Russia.

There were three Battles of Lemberg in WWI: we have a decent article on the third one. Mark^{your words} 02:13, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Pre-industrial apprenticeship system

In the pre-industrial apprenticeship system, how frequently was an apprentice's master his own father, as opposed to someone else with whom a contract was signed? Were there particular crafts in which this was more common?

• You can learn a lot from our Apprenticeship article and its links and references. My guess would be that no contract was required if the son was learning his father's trade. --Halcatalyst 14:43, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

• Exactly: A son was not an apprentice. An apprentice was contracted. A son was duty-bound. Children would be farmed out as apprentices when the parent either had no trade to teach or had no room for another worker. It was not something parents did happily nor children accepted joyfully. Geogre 15:03, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Well, OK. But since an apprenticeship contract was ordinarily overseen by the guild, did the guild oversee a father-son relationship in any way? Or, in other words, to the extent that the years of apprenticeship led to someone who had a real skill--a skill that was "certified" by the guild--what was the actual procedure for certification in cases where there was not a contract? Did the father simply present his son to the guild at some point, as someone who he said had completed training in the craft?

There were cases of people becoming apprentices to relatives. I believe Benjamin Franklin was apprenticed to his older brother (at his father's insistence), for example. StuRat 10:46, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

That would have been unusual and one of those, "Son, I'll lend you money, but you need to sign a loan agreement" things. Done, but done to make a point. Guilds.... In the UK, the guilds weren't very involved by, say, 1700. They existed, and there were very small scale guilds that exerted some control, but the lack of regulation of apprenticeships is one of the most common working class complaints. You run across many complaints of masters abusing apprentices and many complaints of apprentices running amock. The apprentice was in a very strange position -- somewhere being a member of the master's family and being the master's slave. Youngsters always hoped for the former, and generally that's what they got, but the master acted in loco parentis for many legal matters (in Jacobean drama, for example, you see that the master was responsible for managing the apprentice's marriage and burying a dead apprentice, etc.). The guilds in the UK and US were largely out of the picture by then. Geogre 13:45, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Connection with someone who is dying

Wikipedia:Clueless newbies is a veritable fount of fun questions... such as this one...

Is it true that some people have a connection with people and they can feel what they are going through and can see them dying and seeing visions of love ones .

CHEERS Ćð

— QuantumEleven | (talk) 09:56, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Assuming the questioner is referring to some kind of connection beyond normal empathy, their question is about telepathy. The short answer is "no, it doesn't exist". --Robert Merkel 21:40, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Marriage License

I hear you don't actually need a marriage license to get married (in the United States). But is that just refering to the fact that you don't need legal recognition in order for your religion to recognize your marriage? Or can you actually get the legal benefits/recognition of marriage (income tax stuff, social security, etc) without the license? Cyllya 10:54, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

In the US, each state regulates marriage. You do need a marriage license. The ceremony can be performed by a civil or religious authority; the state doesn't care much about who does this or what form the ceremony takes. After the parties and their witnesses sign state forms, that's it, as far as the state is concerned. The legal benefits then follow. If you need proof that you're married, you go to the state, usually the county recorder. Religious recognition is up to the religious bodies themselves. They may or may not see a civil marriage as valid.

Currently there is religious and political controversy about the meaning of marriage, including gay marriage. --Halcatalyst 14:37, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

You can be married in some states without a license--see Common-law marriage. But the requirements can be rather vague, and if you're trying to get the legal benefits of marriage, you're much better off getting a license. If you try to claim a common-law marriage, you're subject to the whims of the local bureaucracy and/or courts, who may or may not decide that you're actually married. Chuck 21:30, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

It also costs more to get a divorce with common law marriage in South Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa. I haven't checked all 50 states, but I assume it is the same most everywhere. The reason it costs more is because there is no marriage to dissolve, so it requires more work on the lawyer's part. At least, that is the reason I was given when I called around to ask, primarily because I didn't believe it would cost more. --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:31, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

So what's happening: they agree to marry (non-public); they make it public somehow (how?); then they want to divorce? And the problem is, they can't get unmarried because there's not good evidence that they're married? I can sort of understand that from a legal point of view, though it's certainly unintuitive. --Halcatalyst 03:44, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I assume it isn't the divorce that is important in common-law marriage dissolution - it is the "I want half" issue. Suppose you have a roommate for five or six years and you decide to move out and take all your stuff. That roommate can try to argue that you are a common-law spouse and try to take half your stuff. So, I guess there is more work than a regular divorce. --Kainaw ^(talk) 14:13, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I think that what commonlaw marriage is about is that after a couple has been living like they've been married for a while, the state decides it's time for them to participate in the tax structure like they're married. From their financial point of view, in most U.S. states anyway, it would make more sense for them to marry to begin with. As for the divorce, I agree with what Kainaw said. -LambaJan 05:40, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

See Banns of marriage as an alternative to a marriage license in some jurisdictions. Samw 23:42, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Industrial Relations

Generally, i have found the Wikipedia page emmensely helpful in my studies, however, i struggled to find information on the following topic:

In looking at Industrial Relations in Britain since 1945, how has the public expenditure spent on these policies changed over this time period. Obviously, the Thatcher effect changed matters, but did other governments make any difference?

Many thanks guys, hope you can help!

• You might want to start at List of topics related to the United Kingdom. Drill down to Commerce and Industry, and have fun! --Halcatalyst 16:32, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

You can also try UK miners' strike (1984-1985), Trade unions in the United Kingdom, etc. AllanHainey 15:34, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

J.B. Bury

I have the book, "The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians" by J.B. Bury, and i know that it is pretty old, i think it was written around 1930 or so, so i was wondering if it is still considered pretty accurate in the field of archaeology and history. ~katie

Pretty accurate, yes, as far as it goes. It doesn't reflect more recent archaeological discoveries and research, and there have been new interpretations of the available facts since it was written, but it's still reasonably useful. I wouldn't rely on it exclusively, though. —Charles P._(Mirv) 03:49, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

February 28

2 Dollar Bill

To Whom It May Concern,

I need some major help.

On the back of the 2 dollar bill there are 42 men who signed the declaration of Independence. What are their names?

In the original John Trumball portrait there were 47 men. What five were left off the 2 dollar bill?

There were originally 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Two were left off of the 2 dollar bill due to their objections about the constitution. Who were they?

Thank you,

Charly

First, the painting is not the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is the presentation of the Declaration of Independence by the drafters. As for the 5 left off, they are the ones on the edges. Compare [the painting] to [the bill]. None were left off the bill for objections to anything. They were left off because it looked better to leave off the extra guys at the edge.

Note: This is an encyclopedia. You would have received an answer much quicker if you checked U.S. two-dollar bill before asking a question. --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:28, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I did look there first. This is a trivia question that my political science professor asked. I am still looking for the answer. Sorry if I annoyed you, by you thinking that I did not look it up first, however, I did and would still like to know the answer. In addition, their opposition to the constitution was due to the fact that it originally did not include the Bill of Rights.

Thanks again, Charly

It is not annoying. Question like "Pepsi Cola?" are annoying. The problem with your question is that it is based on a false premise. The painting is not the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence. The people in the painting are not the signers of the Declaration of Independence. While most of the men in the paintind did sign it, some signers are not in the painting and some men in the painting did not sign it. You are left with two choices: Give your teacher the answer he wants even though it is wrong -or- research the painting and explain (with references) why his questions are not valid. --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:52, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

This site will help get you started. Wikipedia has articles on all the men. You can prove to your teacher which ones signed the Declaration of Independence and which ones didn't. --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:58, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

OTOH, they're not very common these days. I suppose you could go to a bank, but they might be scarce even there. And, just possibly, the inquirer might be outside the US. --Halcatalyst 03:34, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

They're not that uncommon. I have two or three in my wallet right now. Dismas|^(talk) 11:33, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm amazed -- haven't seen one in many years. --Halcatalyst 00:03, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Comparing them, it looks to me like there are 48 guys in the picture and 6 guys are left off, two on the right, four on the left. --BluePlatypus 04:16, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Obviously, another example of the right wing conspiracy to cut out the lefties! Geogre 13:47, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Naw, it's the middle finally getting a backbone. --Halcatalyst 00:05, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

They are 42 on the 2 doll bill because 42 is a happy number. --DLL 15:50, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• That's right: 42 is the inverse of 24 (four omitted on the right and two on the left). Which proves that the Mint is run by a shadowy group of numerologists who aim to take over the world by buying out all the companies and governments using $2 bills. --Halcatalyst 15:58, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

British Petroleum and trade with India

Hello, I have been trying to find information on companies in India that the UK company 'British Petroleum' trades with. I read the BP article on Wikipedia and while it was helpful, I could not find links to such companies. Any Indian business journals, newspapers or articles would be very helpful as well. Thank you---DrtyHOBO

• This Google cache link has some mention of BP's operations in India. Castrol India is owned by BP, and is in fact their largest operation in that country. You can download their Annual Reports here. Your question is a bit vague as to what kind of "trade" you are interested in finding out about: as a fuel resource provider, BP would deal with hundreds, if not thousands, of Indian companies, so you may have to narrow down what sort of companies you want in your list. --Canley 02:24, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm just having trouble locating the names of any companies in India that BP trades petroleum or petrochemical products to. I just want to find out a few names of companies in India so I can research their trade agreements and relationships, but not subsidiary companies like castrol. Anything will help-thanks

Apostolic Succession from Old Catholic or Independent Catholic Church

I have several questions relating to Apostolic succession from the Old Catholic Church or Independent Catholic Churches, particularly with reference to the United States (although the answers may be true worldwide, I don't know):

• (1) When someone is consecrated as a Bishop why are they sometimes later reconsecrated one or more times?
• (2) Suppose Adam has been consecrated as a Bishop by Carl; why then does it sometimes happen that Adam will later consecrate Carl as a Bishop?
• (3) Why do people consecrated as Bishops often start new churches, rather than continuing the church of the person(s) who consecrated them?
• (4) How significant is it to be consecrated as a Bishop? Are there a lot of Catholic Bishops in the United States who are independent of Rome?

As an example of (1) see http://www.united-catholic-church.org/Who%20We%20Are/apostoli.htm where Bowman is consecrated twice in 1996, and again in 1998. For (2), see http://www.tboyle.net/Catholicism/The_Costa_lines-_P-T/The_Reeves_lineage.html where Reeves is consecrated by Strong, and then Reeves later consecrates Strong. As an example of (3), Bowman begins the United Catholic Church despite one of his consecrators being with American Catholic Church and another from the Catholic Church of The Americas. I don't think this refers to the physical church; people Bowman has consecrated (many, anyway) identify with his UCC, apparently. I may not have phrased all this well, but that's because I really don't have much of a grasp on it. Thanks! Schizombie 01:55, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

One would guess that the church is not sure of the apostolic lineage of some of their bishops, that they feel pretty sure, but not absolutely sure. Each bishop can trace a different route of consecration, so it would be possible that they assess some lines as stronger than others. Then again, there are reconsecrations at anniversaries and with changes of office, and these differ by church. (E.g. a dean of a cathedral may be reconsecrated, even if he is a bishop, and not just invested.) Not much of an answer, but since these churches have been denounced, they may have disruptions in their episcopal lines. Geogre 03:15, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I have no idea about any of the specific individuals or groups you mentioned, but one thing which is fairly obvious is that a number of the micro-splinters and fragments of factions of so-called "Old Catholics" have only a somewhat tenuous connection with traditional mainstream Christianity, and that some in fact are basically just new age groups with very remote claims to "Utrecht" connections. AnonMoos 03:21, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for these responses. They're of some help, though I still don't understand it entirely. Schizombie 10:59, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't know that there's much to understand, other than that this is behavior many or most people would consider strange. --Halcatalyst 04:59, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

That does seem to be the case, though there would seem to be a sizeable number of people who engage in it anyway, though how many I don't know. Schizombie 07:09, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• The recent (Roman) Catholic schismatics? Speaking ignorantly, I would say their numbers related to the number of separate "churches" is arithmetic rather than geometric. But I just thought of this article: Sedevacantism. Hope it helps. --Halcatalyst 15:51, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Idea of "Purity" being the color white

What social/environmental/psychological factors are involved in the idea of "purity" being represented by a solid color, namely white?

Is this a homework question by any chance? - Akamad 03:15, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Also, isn't it sort of obvious? Have a spaghetti dinner wearing a white shirt and then with a red shirt. You'll be able to spot the impurity right off with the former. Although white is the presence of all colors, it is that presence in exact saturation and balance; anything imbalances it and shows as a stain. Geogre 03:16, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

I think it's obvious only because were acculturated into thinking that way. Brides nowadays generally wear white to symbolise their purity (= virginity), but in some European cultures a bride wore black or some dark colour. White is considered the colour of death in some places, and also a white flag denotes surrender. Colours mean whatever convention says they mean. JackofOz 04:13, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

If you think it's all relative, you eat the yellow snow. Myself, I will stay with the pure white snow. StuRat 10:40, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Ooh no, that's too cold on my fillings. I prefer pizza. JackofOz 11:02, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

It's obvious because white shows stains. It's not obvious because of linguistic determinism. Against a bright background, all dark things show. In the natural world, "stains" are darker than the artificial brightness of colors. The brightest is white. It's not obvious that white means virginity, only "unstained." The idea that sexual intercourse is a stain is cultural. The observation that something on white shows up better than something on burnt umber isn't. Geogre 13:49, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

The pure aspect from an artistic standpoint isn't just that stains show on white. It is that with paints you can mix colors to get any color you want, except white. White is pure. Black is inundated with every color. With light, it is the exact opposite, but when the concept of pure white was formed, nobody had color lights (even white ones).

The debate about the pureness of white is just as cultural as the pureness of white. For some, it is an attempt to prove that people with dark skin colors are automatically assumed to be guilty of some crime because they aren't pure white. This assumes that a jury looks at someone and judges them based purely on how easy it would be to mix paints and get their skin color. It is very stupid, but humans are great at rationalizing stupid concepts and getting excited about them. How about a million man march to make painters stop using white canvases? --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:22, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

New question (wiki disappearing)

Is there a risk that Wikipedia could disappear? LG

Conceivably, the Wikimedia Foundation could go defunct. However, becasue the content is under the GNU Free Documentation License, the encyclopedia can always be restarted elsewhere and should be permanent. Superm401 - Talk 03:59, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

In the long run of things, nothing lasts forever. - Akamad 04:37, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

• But, if the foudation goes defunct, where is the Wikipedia stored? on their servers? can they be relocated, or at least the information? LG

Yes, the Wikipedia's primary storage is on Wikimedia foundation servers in a colo in Florida. However, dumps of the entire database are downloadable, and as well as backups made by the administrators indeed a number of organizations do so on a regular basis. You can see the instructions on how to do so at Wikipedia:Database download. It is highly unlikely that all of these independently-kept copies would be destroyed short of a major global catastrophe. --Robert Merkel 04:59, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

It's worth noting that - due to the gfdl licence - a considerable amount of wikipedia is available from other sites as well. So even if the worst happened and Wikipedia disappeared entirely, a significant poportion of it would still be online (unless the web went down too, of course). Grutness...wha? 07:07, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

But even then there would still be loads of people with the encyclopedia on a few dvd's and if somehow the Internet would fail (although it's specifically designed never to do that) and continue to fail, sneaker net would take over. Unless some electromagnetic disaster (whatever) causes all computers to cease functioning. In that case we'd be screwed (although the collapse of Wikipedia would probably not be the biggest problem we're facing then). Has anyone thought of printing Wikipedia? How big a book would that be? To make this a bit more general, are we relying too much on the continued functioning of our information technology? DirkvdM 09:48, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

The English Wikipedia is 8GB of text for the latest version of each article. Assuming about 3KB per full size standard page (depends on spacing, font, etc), that would be almost 3 million pages, or over 5,000 volumes 500 pages each. In other words, you'd have to be choosy and filter it down somehow. - Taxman ^Talk 19:28, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Quite separately there is the risk that Wikipedia could peak, then decline eventually beyond the point of recovery. This could happen if (to oversimplify) the ratio of bad guys to good guys gets too high. It may be that as Wikipedia gets close to being finished the good guys will drift away, leaving it to destruction by the bad guys. Notinasnaid 18:38, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Then we'd just employ different methods using some implementation of stable versions. That could be where editing is by invite only once merit and/or qualifications are shown on the wide open Wiki. There's already plenty of discussions on implementing the stable versions part at least. - Taxman ^Talk 19:28, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

There is the chance that when we run out of cheap oil we won't have enough energy to run all the computers - and most other things. AllanHainey 12:21, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Or, alternatively, run out of oil to make the plastics to make the computers in the first place! Hopefully, by that point, we will either have found a way to make plastics from something else than oil, or invented an even better material. — QuantumEleven | (talk) 08:45, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Or, that the sun might emit a pulse so powerful that all the electronic gear on one side of the planet would be completely fried, an event that would bring our civilation to a stunning halt. I've read that this is to be expected once in 300 years. If it does, WP won't matter. --Halcatalyst 04:57, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

After the Internet got rebuilt, Wikipedia could be reinstalled from data dumps on CDs and DVDs. Superm401 - Talk 03:31, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Claus Sluter birth date

Could you help me find where and when 14th century sculptor, Claus Sluter, was born?

Thank you

--69.180.135.226 04:02, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, in the words of Myers & Copplestone (editors)'s massive tome The History of Art - "Little is known about Sluter's origins." It is known he was active in the early 1380s and died circa 1405-1406, and that he was Dutch, having probably done much of his early work in Brussels before coming to Dijon, but that's about all. Grutness...wha? 07:13, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Ugly Laws

Hello,

I'm looking for examples or information on "ugly laws" such as the one below

"No person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this city, shall therein or thereon expose himself to public view, under a penalty of not less than one dollar or more than fifty cents for each offense. [Chicago, Ill., _Mun. Code_, Sections 36-34 (1966) (repealed 1974)]"

Not exactly what you requested, but interesting enough, according to [1] "China’s Nanjing are banning taxi drivers who are bald, wear their hair too long, have mustaches or wear too much makeup" --Vsion 22:57, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like the way hippies were treated in the west in the 60's and backpackers around the world in the 70's and 80's. But that was never law as far as I know. Is this? DirkvdM 07:30, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

• Saparmurat Niyazov, A.K.A. Turkmenbashi has created a bunch of laws in that vein (and other equally bizarre ones) in Turkmenistan. Banning beards, gold teeth, etc. --BluePlatypus 08:05, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Anti- Communism

What was the effect of the Anti-Communist movement in America on the countires Internal politics, generally between 1947-1956? The significance of Joe McCarthy?

• Look through your text book and class notes. If you missed too many classes and don't have the text book, look at Red Scare or Cold War. Geogre 13:52, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

The history of jackson, new jersey, named after and where do the cottrell family com in to this?

I am writing to find out when jackson, new jersey was named adn after who it was named.also i would like to know which john cottrell was granted land after the civil war, the land was in both ocean and monmouth county. my husband is a decendent of the cottrell family and i am trying to get information on this issue. also could you find for me any other cottrell's of jackson, newjersey or surrounding areas?

If you don't get an answer that suits you here, you might want to try contacting someone from the township. Their web page is linked to at the bottom of the article for Jackson. Dismas|^(talk) 14:16, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Who composed the Benny Hill song?

I need to find out who wrote the infamous Benny Hill song, the instrumental one that sounds all zany. I do not know if it was created for the show, or for some other reason, but the song is heavily associated with Benny Hill.

Boots Randolph. The song is called Yakety Sax. This information can be found in the Benny Hill article. --LarryMac 15:14, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Robotron? Anybody?

When I was growing up, I seem to remember a television show about transforming robots battling for the safety of earth. If I'm not mistaken, this well-loved show from my childhood was called Robotron. Can anybody help resurrect a lost memory?

Try Transformers (toyline) or Transformers series. AllanHainey 15:40, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Robotron was a cartoon in the late 80's. I think it was done by the same people who did Voltron. There isn't a Wikipedia article on it, so I have to by 25-year old memory here. What I remember is that two channels picked up the same Japanese cartoon. It was about some robots that protected the Earth. The plot was always the same: Bad guys come. Commercial. The good guys get called in to stop them. Commercial. The good guys get into a minor battle. Commercial. The bad guys look like they will win. Commercial. The good guys for Robotron/Voltron mega-robot and kill the bad guys with a single whack from the big mega-sword. Commercial. The really weird thing is that the exact same video was on both channels, but the dialog was dubbed differently to the point that the little plot in the show was changed. Robotron: "The Grigloc warriors are here to kill all the cute bunny rabbits. We must stop them!" Voltron: "The Marknur overlords are coming to mine away all our platinum. We just stop them!" --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:33, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Are you thinking of Robotech? --Robert Merkel 22:13, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

WHY? (Activist Judges)

why is it that most of the more activist judges seem compelty unconcerned with states rights?--Ask a question11 16:18, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

This is pushing way into the realm of a loaded question, but here's my take on it: restricting states' rights is currently viewed as a form of activism. It's worth noting, however, that our article on states' rights fairly points out that recent references "have generally been opportunistic" on the part of both pro and con viewpoints. Consequently, nearly all action regarding states' rights can be viewed as activistic, but views both favorable and opposed are easy to find. — Lomn Talk 18:01, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Are you talking about judges in general or in a specific country? DirkvdM 07:32, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

When in doubt, assume Merka. That policy hasn't failed us yet... *grin* — QuantumEleven | (talk) 08:12, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Winston Churchill

A simple question as to whether Sir Winston Churchill's name actually contained another "h" making it "Churchhill?" I have seen both and am researching his genealogy but that difference makes a difference. Thank you!

Our article says his legal name was Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. David Sneek 21:21, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

When researching genealogy you must be aware that family names often vary in spelling. It is entirely possible that some people with that name have spelled it Churchhill (or Church Hill or any other variation you can imagine), while others spelled it Churchill, whether they were related or not. This sort of variation has become much less common in the last couple of centuries (six signatures of William Shakespeare survive and no two of them are spelled the same way!), but it died out gradually and you can't just assume it hasn't happened. --Anonymous, 22:27 UTC, February 28, 2006.

Also note that he is a Spencer - they just picked up the added Churchill in the mid-1800's (his father's generation.) Rmhermen 23:25, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

He's not descended from John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough? Marlborough was an enormously controversial person in my own area of special knowledge, and I had always thought that the marriage into the Spencers was matrilineal and not patrilineal. Geogre 00:47, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

He was descended from Spencers and Churchills. John Churchill was the 1st Duke of Marlborough. His title passed to his daughter Henrietta Churchill, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough. It then passed to her nephew Charles Spencer, 4th Earl of Sunderland, who became 3rd Duke of Marlborough. His son and grandson, both named George Spencer, were 4th and 5th Dukes of Marlborough. The 5th Duke (Winston's great-great-great-grandfather) changed his name legally from Spencer to Spencer-Churchill in 1817, and this is the legal surname that all future Dukes of Marlborough have borne. Had the 5th Duke not done that, Winston would have been Sir Winston Spencer. What Winston's father Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill did was to drop the Spencer part of the name in public life. Although the legal surname remained Spencer-Churchill, Randolph started to refer to the family as "Churchill", and Winston followed suit. JackofOz 01:43, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

REGIONAL INTERGRATION

What are five different forms of regional integration? What are some examples?

When is your homework due? Mark^{your words} 23:28, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Subnational entity will give you more than enough ideas. --Halcatalyst 00:10, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

John F. Kennedy speech at 1956 Democratic National Convention

I asked this before but I'll ask it again. Where can I find an ONLINE transcript of John F. Kennedy's speech at the 1956 Democratic National Convention. I tried Google and got nowhere. --Blue387 23:09, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

It depends on what you look for when you try Google. "Democratic national convention 1956" kennedy speech garnered 49 hits, including the John F. Kennedy Library index to its document holdings. That might help. --Halcatalyst 14:59, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Why was suffrage limited to property?

One thing I didn't understand about the framers of the U.S. Constitution was that suffrage was initially limited to white, property owning males. What was the motivation for this? --Blue387 23:22, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

• I don't see where the Constitution says anything of the sort; until the Fifteenth Amendment, I don't think the Constitution controlled suffrage in any way, leaving it instead to the states. Am I having a lapse in my historical memory? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 00:31, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

You are correct. Voting is a state issue. It is not part of the Constitution. Each state had a constitution and, to my knowledge, all but two of them required voters to be white property-owning males in 1789. Also, to my knowledge, the state constitutions were written by the "founding fathers" - the original Continental Congress. --Kainaw ^(talk)

Anyone who claims to know what the "founding fathers" were thinking is, by rule, deluded. With that in mind, consider who this left out: The British, French, and Spanish people who did not own land in the U.S., but were doing trade there could not vote. This was the basis of a government "by the people". Of course, women were left out because nobody considered them smart enough to vote at that time (even though there had been many women in politics by then). In all reality, it wasn't as much an intelligence issue as a family one. An average woman had 10-15 kids. When could she have time for education or political banter? As for the "white" clarification - even Lincoln considered non-whites a lesser race and he wasn't even born yet. So, you can make your own guess at the motivation. Then, you can back up your ideas by saying that the founding fathers agree with you! --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:35, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Right, it was a matter of education. Only rich white men got an education in the western world. Which makes some sense. In a democracy the voters need to know what they vote about, so if large groups of people aren't educated it makes little sense to let them vote. Which is why even fullfledged democracies have a voting age. But this meant that these people voted for their own interrests. Workers may not have been educated, but they weren't stupid, so they fought for equal rights. Which they got. It turned out the prerequisite of education among the voters wasn't all that important as long as they voted for educated people. But that is getting to be less the case it seems, so maybe either voters need to get a better education or only educated people should be allowed in politics. Not sure, just a thought. DirkvdM 07:45, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Logic

Is it true that Logic can only hope to be consistent 'within' itself? or has anyone come up with an argument that says logic has the possibility to justify itself beyond itself?. I know this is a question that seems silly at first glance...but here is an exapmple... I know it's ficticious but let's assume it's the case. let's say I make a computer program that can 'square the cirlce', confuse up with down, blah blah blah...all those 'illogical' things and maybe even resemble quantum mechanics...let's say I put an AI inside my program...then the logic of that AI will be illogical to us...but it may seem completely logical to the AI...so now picture the case that our logic is 'fake'...I know that to think about this is completely useless, but I'm just curious if OUR logic can justify itself beyond itself somehow...I doubt it...but I bet logicians know better.--Cosmic girl 23:39, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Logic is a framework that is true to itself - all the pieces in the framework hang together in order for the laws of logic to work - this is occasionally called an organon, though technically that relates specifically to the teachings of Aristotle. But whether there is any firm foundation to the structure is a question which has haunted phoilosophers for centuries - this is the field of metaphysics. It is possible to build logical structures that are "false" according to our understanding - they can be consistent without being valid. In fact, many of the exercises used in intermediate level logic texts show this: "If all fish are Italian, and the banana is a fish, then the banana must be Italian." There is no guarantee that any particular organon is correct o=r has any firm foundation. At various points in the history of philosophy, people have come up with what they believe is a firm grounding of a logical structure in incontrovertible facts - the most famous being Descartes's "I think, therefore I am", but ebven this has the logical fallacy that there's no way of knowing you think unless you assume you are to start with (so it's really the recursive "If I am and I am thinking, then I am"). But I digress... no logic has yet been proved to represent true reality - or even that a true reality exists. But our logic works very well and seems to be hard-wired into us as a way to cope with the world, and shows no apparent major contradictions with it. As such, it is the best tool we have or are likely to have in understanding the universe. Our view of things may not be perfect, but it's a pretty sensible and consistent view. Grutness...wha? 00:16, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

If nothing else, logic must be only consistent within itself, as all systems require comparison to external systems for verification. Logic cannot be compared to any system outside of logic. This can be a cheering or depressing insight. It can make logic look bigger or smaller. It depends upon what you want to do with this insight. You can argue that logic is no more than a syntax of the subjective state in good operation. You can argue that logic may be the single system prior to the chaos of existence. <shrug> At the very least, we could wish that presidents of the United States appealed to it more often. Geogre 00:51, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the rules of logic can only be asked to be consistant within their own framework, but they were developed by people who lived on this earth and were consistantly immersed in the physical laws that govern its existance. The rules of logic are each expressions that can be found to be logical within the rules of this existance. Our computer languages are built from this logic also. If you wanted to create a universe inside a computer where an AI creature thinks it's perfectly reasonable for a circle to be a square you would need to flesh out that universe. 'What logical rule would allow a circle to be the same as a square?' 'What else would that rule govern?' Perhaps you could simply start with a set of rules and have the AI tell you what it sees. That's a bit of a mind b(l)ender. -LambaJan 05:21, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Of course then you couldn't communicate with the AI because you couldn't trust that it's words for it's perceptions line up with your definitions of those words. It could say 'circle' when you know you put a square there. Or 'circle' and you did put a circle there, but is it really seeing what you would call a circle? sorry, I couldn't help it. -LambaJan 07:33, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I would make the AI much less smarter than me..like in less dimensions...so that I could have a superior understanding...(I'd really never do it, I'm not that mean...just as a mind experiment...I'd never make the AI a sentient being...).--Cosmic girl 20:48, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Logic and mathematics are formalisations of the way we think (our apriori knowledge). If something does not fit our logic we cannot think nor speak of it. Let me be mean and throw Wittgenstein at you: "Wovon man nichts sagen kann, darüber muss mann schweigen." Then again, if we designed that computer program and run it in a computer we built then it falls within the realm of our logic because our computers are designed according to the rules of our logic (quite literally - they're physical manifestations of our rules of logic). Then again, we may design the genotype of the AI, but that does not mean we can understand its phenotype. We have limited brains and lifespans. The same rules we use, implemented in an almost infinitely larger entity could come up with conclusions we could never have reached (but would we accept those conclusions from a 'machine'?). But then this is still based on our logic and I get back to Wittgenstein. Still not much of an answer, sorry. DirkvdM 08:23, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't know german :( .--Cosmic girl 20:49, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Wittgenstein is not mean! He's weird, but he's not mean. :-) (I have yet a Different interpretation of logic, myself. I see it, as a formalized study as opposed to the mere syntax of the mind, as arising particularly and peculiarly in a specific set of historical moments. When Aristotle's Prior Analytics came along, it was in the context of a mature democracy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were reacting to a world where an impressive speech got power, and therefore they needed a system by which good from bad speech could be distinguished (Rhetoric) and by which good from bad proposals could be discerned (logic). As the medieval historical need and frisson (dang! sorry!) was different, it changed the nature of logic as a study. As the 20th century's doubt and angst changed its comfort with knowledge and certainty, we get the questions about logic that were dormant and inherent from the start.) (I take this view because I hold out no hopes for transcendence through the mind and hold my metaphysics to be mystical.) Geogre 11:08, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Even mysticism has a logic to it ...and it might be wrong...there's no way a mystic can assure what he's seeing is 'true' it's only true to himself...I guess...--Cosmic girl 02:24, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Re logic and reality: Albert Einstein knew a thing or two about logic and he said: "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one". JackofOz 12:53, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I knew that quote...but it says reality is an illusion not logic is an illusion.--Cosmic girl 20:51, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I think the point is that logic cannot be used to prove that something objectively exists in reality. As Grutness said above, "No logic has yet been proved to represent true reality - or even that a true reality exists." JackofOz 21:52, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Awesome! I asked the question with exactly that same idea in mind...I just wanted to listen to the experts.lol.--Cosmic girl 02:25, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

What I mean by this question is that I think logic is trapped within itself...I mean, it can be consistent, but it can never have any claim as to what is 'true reality' or if there is any at all...but like the first wikipedian that answered this question said...it's the best thing we have. what I was asking was if there was any attempt to 'prove' logic beyond itself that was valid...I guess there's none.--Cosmic girl 20:54, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Gödel's incompleteness theorems

Gödel's incompleteness theorems support this thought. The basic idea is that a mathematical (i.e., logical) system can't be both complete and consistent. --Halcatalyst 21:32, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Take a look at the question I asked about that at the math section...I got missunderstood I guess... I mean,it seems they didn't see this conection that I saw and you just pointed out. but I have a doubt about that...what does it mean to be or complete or consistent but not both? I mean, let's say a logical system is consistent...then it's not complete, why is it not complete? and also...if it is 'complete' ...how can it be since it 'lacks' consistency? and so, is this saying that this logical system can only be complete if it is 'irrational' (inconsistent)? wow! why? I need to understant Gödel's theorems!.--Cosmic girl 02:29, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

My understanding is that the theorems that are actually specific enough to prove something can't prove that that thing is true. So, a logical proof for equation 'x' can proove x within its own internal logic, but it cannot say that 'x' is true by any measure outside of the proof itself. Does that sound right to the rest of you? -LambaJan 19:18, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I still don't get it ...is there any easy explanation of the Gödel theorems?.--Cosmic girl 23:35, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, no. You need to know a lot of math to even know what they mean. We laypeople can skim off a little of the top layer of meaning and perhaps believe we understand, but it ain't necessarily so. Gödel's theory is pretty safe from this sort of misuse, but you certainly can't say the same about Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle, for example. All sorts of people think this is a general explanation for everything. Turn it around, and you have physicists striving for GUT (Grand unification theory.) So the one is going to borrow a principle and apply it to everything, and the other is going to discover a principle and say it is everything. Ohmiohmy. --Halcatalyst 04:49, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

"About which one cannot say anything, over it man must be silent" - thus Googl translates Wittgenstein . Would AI logic give results that we could not understand and still be plain logic ? I think that it depends only of the choices made in relation to data. Our logic talks about data from our common experience of the current world. We know that when we begin logic plays with italian bananas, it is a play : AI does not know that first time.

We need to feed AI with collected data, namespaces, referential common sense ... to avoid it giving back crap as seen in our sense.

Now, the measure of truth we can impart to our data is the measure of truth of the results of logic. The truth of the very process of logic itself is given by us and it can't prove itself. You can see that AI is built only with that logic of ours, with transistor gates saying "and, or, not" ...

Logic itself is based upon assumptions or axioms such as "non contradiction" and "causality" : it's built in babies'brains, our brains do not change easily. The risk would be to built AI logic with only such axioms. If we try a wider logic game, including contradictory axioms such "A is B and also non-B", as we began to observe with quantic things, then the big risk is that results will grow quickly hard to evaluate, even if the rules are strongly enforced. --DLL 15:42, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I see, but I was proposing a case in which we where smart enough and had the thechnology to do that...and even if it's not possible, we can't prove it isn't for 'someone' or 'something'... and I didn't mean for the AI to only come up with 'crap', lol...the AI would come up with 'crap' for us in this world but with crap which is consistent with it's internal logic (illogic) ( a logic we created)...so the AI would think that WE are the illogical ones if it came to think about us... I put this example to imply that we are the AI...(it's hypothetical...of course...I'm not that crazy yet).So...what I mean is that our logic is completely consistent for us, it's usefull and what not, but we can't ever prove it's TRUE not only for itself but for 'beyond' itself also...I mean, it can't ever prove it's ABSOLUTELY true...nor can any sort of logic (that's my guess)but then again I may be trapped in a meaningless wordplay here...I think I need a prophesional logician for this question. :S what did Russell have to say about this?.--Cosmic girl 17:21, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

This is beginning to sound strikingly similar to Meta-God, where I eventually drew the line and said something along the lines of 'maybe, but this is the reality we have. So... does it matter?' -LambaJan 22:32, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

True...I just wanna know what logicians have to say regarding this problem. --Cosmic girl 02:06, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that they don't say anything about it. I think this is a much bigger picture than they tend to look at. -LambaJan 20:48, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

March 1

How many students graduated in the year 2001?

Students of what? The School of Hard Knocks? Dismas|^(talk) 04:55, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

42 - Adrian Pingstone 06:36, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Clearly not suitly emphazi. --BluePlatypus 06:49, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

You'll need to give us more information for us to be able to answer that question. Click the "edit" link on the right hand side of the heading to add more info. - Akamad 11:16, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Where, and in what level (high school or collage)? – b_jonas 13:08, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Straits of Malacca

There are piracy and terrorism in the Straits of Malacca. It is important sea lane to the world economy. The Air Force Maritime operation and coastguard is one of the means to prevent or combat those activities. Is there any other ways or means to curb it?

Thank you.

• ---*

There have always been three ways to approach piracy. The first is to encourage or coerce those nations that hold the pirates to disallow/kill them. The second is to ensure that no one will fence stolen goods. Finally, the European and American naval powers in the 19th century signed a concord that any nation might attack any safe harbor of pirates without its being an act of war against the nation that had that port. That's why English and French navies would patrol up and down and simply open fire on pirate havens. There was talk, after 9/11, of modern nations doing something similar with terrorism, but then it fell apart in the heat of unilateralism. Geogre 12:38, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I think the anti-piracy ieda goes back further than the 19th century. Cicero coined the phrase hostis humanis generis, describing pirates as enemies of all the world back in the first century BC. Lisiate 00:57, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

You're right, of course. The idea does go back that far, and the Classically educated 16th-19th century Europeans knew the concept and embraced it, in theory, but an international agreement had to wait for the day when none of them were unofficially sponsoring pirates. Even then, the various nations had places in their own territories where petty piracy occurred, but anyone caught would be punished. In Europe and the US, all sides lamented pirates with one side of their mouths and commissioned them with the other side, and even the Romans made deals with them. Geogre 11:00, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

No meat. Why?

I go to a catholic school here in australia. it is ash wednesday today, so we are asked to fast, and abstain from meat.

now, i understand the belief behind why catholics fast. but i do not understand what significance or meaning is held in the abstinence from meat.

could someone please clear this up for me.

thanks! gelo 11:11, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

It is a memorial of the fasting that Jesus did before his ministry. Friday is specifically a memorial of Good Friday, and therefore it is the day of greatest privation. No matter what else you give up during Lent, red meat on Friday is a sacrifice in the Western Catholic tradition. (Note that the Archbishop of Norway represented coastal farmers who only had puffins and small amounts of fish in their diets, so he got a Pope to rule that Puffins are, from the point of view of the church, fish.) Generally, the idea is that red meat is a treat and a luxury, and you give that up in memorial of the passion. Geogre 12:41, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

See unclean animals for further. Marskell 12:43, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Jack Vettriano

I am doing research on the artist Jack Vettriano and i cant find any information on the name of his ex wife, or when he was married. I have tried to access the marriages register but as a student i have not got enough money!!!

Please can anyone help?

Thank you

Natasha Miller

A google search on "Jack Vettriano" wife turned up over 30,000 hits. Good luck! --Halcatalyst 14:46, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Tried googling "Jack Vettriano" divorced and found: Jack Vettriano, Married: 1980 Gail Cormack, divorced '88. [2] --Kainaw ^(talk) 20:42, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Gosh, you know a lot about divorce, Kainaw :P --Halcatalyst 21:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Naomi Rebekah lodges

i assume the the naomi rebekah lodges are a female version of the moose, elks, etc. i know that naomi and rebekah are famous bible mothers, but why are the names linked together and not just one as i don't think they are linked in the bible, although i could be wrong? 24.2.112.218 14:00, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Isn't it connected with Freemasonry? But I couldn't find any info there. --Halcatalyst 21:23, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Rebekah lodges are the women's part of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, some individual lodges were named Naomi. Rmhermen 03:55, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Xylophone

What is the range of a western xylophone? (Not one for children, one for real adult musicians.) The russian article says 3.5 or 4 octaves, but from where to where is that in absolute pitch? Thanks, David 16:36, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Take a look here, where a "typical playing range" is given as "F3 to C8", or here, where several instruments are listed with their ranges. --LarryMac 17:17, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Which are C4 to C8 for 4 octave and F4 to C8 for 3.5 octave models. Rmhermen 03:57, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. David 15:06, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Salary of people in CNBC India

How much salary do people like Udayan Mukherjee and senthil chengalvarayan of CNBC India get?

I very much doubt their salary is publicly disclosed, but TV anchors for popular programs are well paid. However, the proportion of journalists who end up as TV anchors is miniscule. The vast majority of journalists in Western countries are only moderately paid, though the situation might be a little different in India. --Robert Merkel 04:06, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

19th c. Atlantic crossings

How long did it take merchandise (not necessarily passengers) to cross the Atlantic in the 1800's? Specifically, I want to know how long it would take a woodworking tool made in Sheffield, England to reach a New England shipbuilding port such as Boston or New Bedford. Thanks everyone!

The precise answer you're looking for is not possible to give. There were slow boats, and slower boats, and slower boats still. Vessels did not specialize in freight or passengers: most commercial ships carried both. A specific item like the one you mentioned might have been carried over as part of a woodworker's personal kit, if not transported commercially. If it's a tool used in shipbuilding, unless it's very specialized, which is unlikely, it may have been found on most ships. That said, you might want to have a look at Shipbuilding. --Halcatalyst 02:47, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Also, given the pace of technological development through the 19th century, you really need to give a more specific date. --Anonymous, 03:47 UTC, March 2.

The answer will vary greatly if you are discussing the early 1800 with only sailing ship or the late 1800s with increaingly fast steamers. Rmhermen 03:51, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

It also depends on the route taken, ships leaving from Glasgow in Scotland could make the journey in half the time it took ships leaving from England (sailing ships), hence Scottish dominance of the British Tobacco trade in the 18th century. Therefore depending on the state of the roads between sheffield & Glasgow it may well have been quicker to go by road to Glasgow then sail over, rather than sailing from an English port. AllanHainey 09:20, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

The Blue Riband was awarded for the fastest transatlantic crossing. The record time fell rapidly during the century, from 18 days in 1833 to 5 days in 1902. The Scottish clipper James Baines gained the record for a sailing vessel (12 days, 6 hours) in the mid-1850s. The U.S. clipper Flying Cloud held several records, though not for the Atlantic crossing. Gdr 21:32, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

BP trade with India's companies

Is there anywhere I can obtain a list of companies BP plc trades petroleum, petrochemicals, solar panels, natural gas, etc. to. I have had a really hard time obtaining specifics on this. The answers to this question are very vague. I'm interested in finding out which companies they trade with and what kind of trade relationship they have. Please help me on this as much as possible-thank you!

I doubt such a list exists - and where do you draw the line? Do you care about the companies that fill their cars up at BP fuel outlets? --Robert Merkel 04:08, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

This is not a well-known topic, and you want quite specific information, so it's unlikely many people here would be able to help you. The best place to get the information is from BP India itself, who maybe able to provide you with the information you need. Contact details and some information are here. --Canley 04:14, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Line from poetry

I'm looking for the source of the following line, which if I recall correctly is the last line from a classical song, or possibly a poem... "A moment of midnight is worth the whole day". I tried google but that didn't help. Thx!

Here's one that's close (based on A moment of midnight): (see "blossom"). Probably not the real thing, though. --Halcatalyst 21:18, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Nope, that's not it.

Frogger

Why do Americans refer to the French as Frogs? User:206.15.98.65

Because they eat frog legs, I assume. -- Mwalcoff 23:46, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Because they're xenophobic? See Frog legs.
Slumgum 23:47, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Because they eat frog leg and because FRog and FRench both start with FR. StuRat 00:07, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

• "Did you know that French people everywhere in the world are named frogs? It's true! You must have heard it, of course; frogs. And if you put yourselves this question, I also am called a frog. It is not an insult, actually, it is a compliment. I always wanted to know why and where this whole thing began, which encouraged me to telephone the Center franco-ontarien of folklore of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. They were very nice and gave me some anecdotes on this subject." Or so says the host of the bi-lingual Archived French Frog Stories. --Halcatalyst 02:55, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
• PS The state of Maine is about 30% Franco-American and (at least in the 70s) about half of these people were francophone. The University of Maine had, and maybe still has, a unit in Student Affairs called the Franco-American Resource Opportunities Group -- F.A.R.O.G. Ironic, in view of the fact that many Anglos used "frog" and "nigger" with the same intent. --Halcatalyst 02:55, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Americans are not the only ones to issue pejoratives based on diet. Americans referred to British as "limeys" because British sailors ate limes to avoid rickets, and they referred to the French as "frogs" because of frog's legs, and they referred to Germans as "krauts" because of sauerkraut, but one suggested German language pejorative of Americans is "peanut butter eaters." As insults go, these are not terribly bad. The original of "canuck" is worse, and the various vilifications of oriental peoples are all much more insulting ("chink" may derive from "chinese" in other languages," but it caught on because of other, nastier associations, and "slope" and "gook" are meant to insult and harm). Those insults that derive from the military always have more hatred in them than those that derive from traders. Geogre 14:59, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Canuck doesn't discuss an offensive origin. What is it? Can you add it to the article? moink 00:01, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Interesting. As I had heard it discussed by ethnologists, they believed that its origin was in an insult related to being a savage. Therefore, unlike a dietary insult, it was character based. I don't mind hitting the books to find some serious documentation. (Am. Heritage is usually pretty good with etymology.) Geogre 11:04, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

March 2

Early Man

What did the early men [neanderthals,cro-magnon,ealy homo sapiens sapiens] wear,eat,live in?

...all explained to some extent in our articles on and neanderthal and the many articles which link to it. Did you look there first, like it says at the top of the page? Grutness...wha? 01:03, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Did you check Neanderthal, Cro-magnon, and Homo sapiens sapiens? All were omnivores and lived in shelters constructed with tools. The Neanderthal has no evidence of woven clothing, but Cro-magnon (and obviously Homo Sapiens Sapiens) do. --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:08, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

bumm rooomate

In had a roomate who rang up a 750 dollar phone bill and now refuses to pay i have property belonging to him but in my possesion and want to know if i can leagally sell it tom regain my money?

You need advice from a lawyer, not some random person on the reference desk. --Anonymous, 07:00 UTC, March 2, 2006.

It would not be legal, provided he still legally owns them. Willzyx 07:08, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Does he have a receipt to prove it is his property? --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:12, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Don't sell his stuff. You could potentially get in a lot of trouble. Get a lawyer or an arbitrater. The outcome may end up being the same, but at least if it's done right it'll be done and over. -LambaJan 21:34, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Do you have a Small Claims Tribunal? They deal with these sorts of cases every day of the week. JackofOz 21:55, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Help with a costume: Chinese courtesan in 1500

I have been cast in a live action roleplaying game set in a world loosely based on the island which is now called Taiwan in approximately 1500. I say loosely, because history is different, magic works, and, well, generally, it's a fantasy world. I have been cast as a "bailian," which may be a made up word or may exist. The description says: "A Bailian is a woman paid to be charming and entertaining and perhaps to have sex as well. They are respected, unlike whores, as a legitimate and graceful profession. Bailians generally operate either from a professional establishment or else are sold into concubinage."

I'm not terribly concerned about precise historical accuracy or anything, but I would like some idea of what such a person would wear. And I'm poor... I will be shopping at Goodwill and The Garment District, as well as making use of things already in my closet if they are appropriate. I have for example, two corsets, one black, one white.

Oh, and did I mention the game is 10 days long? And involves running, sometimes up and down stairs, sometimes shooting at people with toy guns or avoiding being shot at. If you're terribly interested, you can look at links to the pdf documents about the game.

I'd appreciate any advice anyone could give me on a costume. Really I'm just trying to evoke the period/place/role, rather than recreate it. moink 06:53, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Although there is a wealth of difference between Taiwanese and Japanese history, I'd suggest looking up geisha costuming, since it sounds like a similar sort of role - primarily hostesses and entertainers, on very rare occasions also sexual partners. If you can find anything on early 16th century geisha clothing, and any comparison of early 16th century Taiwanese and Japanese clothing in general, it might give you a few pointers. Grutness...wha? 09:21, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Sounds a lot like a Geisha AllanHainey 09:22, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I thought about geishas too. But from looking at, for example sing-song girls, there doesn't seem to be much of a tradition (at least not one that survived to the 20th century) that such girls in Chinese culture (which I'm guessing is much closer to Taiwanese than Japanese is) have a formalized dress code. If I knew what women wore in that region/time period in general, that would be a good start. moink 21:28, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I just found Han Chinese clothing. It looks like a good start, though the article needs a lot of work and is confusing. Also, I'm not sure how I can "fake" this without spending lots of money. moink 23:03, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

The dresses worn by the girls in the picture in the article look like they'd be really easy to sew. The cloth was probably not too expensive. One looked like she was wearing silk but the others looked like it was probably some form of cotton, which would be nice and cheap. -LambaJan 22:04, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Thank you LambaJan. You're probably right, but unfortunately I'm a terrible seamstress. I failed the sewing half of home economics in junior high. I only passed the class because I aced the cooking half. But it looks like if I get a robe or something and combine it with a long skirt and a sash I might be able to evoke the look. moink 23:31, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it looks like the skirt matches the trim of the blouse. So a lightweight-fabric robe from a thrift shop would be a good base. You could then get some fabric for the skirt and cut some of it and sew on a good three inch trim, and use the rest for a skirt, which failing home-ec qualifies you to do well. It's EZ. If you want a three inch wide trim you just cut it 7 inches wide, which gives you three and a half for each side. Fold under the half inch on each side and pin and iron to keep it in place, then sew. You can even use scraps to make the sash, but you'd have to get at least a D in sewing to do that. :-) -LambaJan 20:43, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Translation of 'Nessun Dorma' on Spicks and Specks

Does anybody remember the translation of the aria from Turandot that was on Spicks and Specks (ABC, Australia) on Wednesday? It was told by Richard Gill. --Alexs letterbox 08:20, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I missed it (dammit!), but if it was "Nessun Dorma", it means "None shall sleep". JackofOz 10:02, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Looks more like 'Nobody is sleeping' to me, or 'Nobody is to sleep', though I'm no expert on Italian. Maid Marion 10:28, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Actually I've just found a complete translation via Google. Try this link. http://ingeb.org/songs/nessundo.html Maid Marion 10:31, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

This translation was quite funny, done using the Australian venacular. --203.129.37.213 22:47, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I can't get to sleep now.
I can't get to sleep now.
All because of you, you rotten old princess,
I can't get to sleep now.
...
So come on princess, stop your rot,
I'd like to show you what I've got.
Oh yeah, what I've got!
...
So princess be a sport and try your luck,
I'd like to show you I'm a terrific fellow
Geoff/Gsl 04:04, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Hitler's army

While sitting in psychology class we went into dicussing about the possibility of amphedemies used in the military foreine and domestic. I remember watching the history channel and I was looking for the information on how hitlers troops advanced so quickly with the help of drugs.

The British & American forces used amphetamines too (I believe the U.S.A. still uses them, & downers too, for pilots) in WWII & in more recent conflicts. AllanHainey 09:25, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I suppose you mean amphetamines. That would make sense for soldiers, because it's an 'upper', giving you more energy (or rather the illusion of more energy). Then again, it also wears you out, so it might as well have been a cause for the ultimate defeat of the Germans. Interresting theory? DirkvdM 07:18, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

George Strait, Crystal Gayle, Eddie Rabbitt - Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Hi, I attended the first show that George Strait played at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in the Astrodome. I believe it was 1983 (I was 12 at that time). My recollection, and my mother's, is that the performers were to be Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle. Eddie Rabbitt was sick and unable to perform, and they flew George Strait in from his ranch to perform. At the time, George Strait was relatively unknown, at least to such a broad audience.

I have seen George Strait at the rodeo many times since (I'm a big fan), most recently at the show earlier this week. Out of nostalgia, and to verify my recollection, I've tried to search the web about that first appearance. The only website that talks in detail about it is www.houstonhistory.com, but that site refers to an appearance by Eddie Rabbitt and Roseanne Cash in which Rabbitt got sick and Strait replaced him. I have no recollection of ever seeing Roseanne Cash in concert, nor does my mother (and we both do recall seeing Gayle at a rodeo). Cash is a very good artist, and I think we would've remembered seeing her in concert.

Could you please look into this and see if you can verify with whom George Strait performed in that first appearance at the Houston Rodeo? Thank you very much in advance for your assistance.

-- Laikaprincess

Generally, with this kind of question, you'd be better off asking in a forum devoted to the artist concerned. His official website has a fan club with a member's forum; that might be a good place to ask. --Robert Merkel 03:37, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Security Deposit Hijack/Stopped Check Affect??

The homeowner from whom my 20yr. old daughter and her friend rented accused them, the day before they were to be out of the house, of damaging property in the house. The homeowner lives in the house, too and never mentioned this before hand.

They did not cause the damage. My daughter was able to locate the previous homeowners who confirmed that the damage existed even before they, themselves, had purchased the house.

The homeowners from whom the girls rented says - that they don't care what the previous owner said, the security deposit would not be returned and they expect the girls to pay any outstanding difference to repair the damage - which the homeowner said will be completed by their friend!! No other damage or concerns are at issue but the homeowners are just really being difficult, rude and un-cooperative.

Both the girls are just learning about living out on ther own. I have tried not to interfere but I feel they are being taken advantage of and intimidated by the much older homeowner who seems to see the young girls as easy targets.

The girls asked for a disclosure statement that might show whether or not there was damage when this homeowner purchased the property last fall. There was no official "walk-through" when the girls moved-in in Oct.'05.

They refused to present the disclosure statement or even talk about it. The homeowners even made the girls write additional checks for utility bills that should have already been covered by the first and last. They had given their 30 days notice and actually moved out several days before the 30 days were up. The homeowner had another person move into the house before the 30 days were up but refused to prorate or refund any of the prepaid rent to the girls.

I suggested the girls stop-payment on those last checks they'd written for utilities before they could be cashed. I really felt this was totally unfair and at least this was one issue they might be able to have control of. Though half the check amount went to the fee to stop payment I preferred it went to the bank than to these unscrupulous homeowners.

The previous homeowners are willing to write a statement to the affect that the damage was done some years ago and so should not be attributed to my daughter and friend.

We've discussed getting an attorney involved but the cost of taking these landlords to court would be much more than the security deposit and certainly more then the girls can afford. I've suggested that the homeowners never intended to give back the security deposit and the girls are going to have to accept the loss and consider it a lesson learned about living in society with people who lack civil honor, perceptions of fairness, or acceptable behavior. Sorry I'm ranting - it's been stressful.

Could any of this, the accusation of property damage, or the stopped payment on the check affect the girls' credit rating?? ----209.206.253.157Ever-The-Mom.

Wikipedia should not be used for legal advice. Beyond that, security deposits are commonly kept for various reasons. It is not abnormal to have it kept for random repairs. As for the credit rating, you have to pay money to put bad things on a person's credit report. Do you think that someone so cheap that they won't return a security deposit will pay to mess with someone's credit? The best option is to take it to small claims court. Absolutely anything else you do will quickly skirt with illegal activity and cause you more harm than the person you are fighting. --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:11, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

You can also find a wealth of information online and at your library or bookstore. Search for landlord tenant relations and look for advocacy organizations in your state. Landlord tenant is one of the most common civil disputes, so there is a lot of information available. Get ahold of the rules and the full relevant laws in your state and follow them very carefully. There are a number of deadlines, that if not followed can invalidate either party's claims to the money. Nolo press publishes some guides to small claims court and civil matters. The laws are typically biased towards the tenant because they typically do not know their rights, but you still have to look them up to find out. So do your research, and to get actual legal advice, consult an attorney. A couple hours of their time even if just for information may be worth your money. I of course am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. - Taxman ^Talk 21:27, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

What you are asking about will vary wildly depending upon state, and sometimes city. In the United States, some places are pro-renter in their laws, some pro-landlord. In general, the burden of proof is on the person trying to take the money, but the landlord is usually playing a game of chicken -- daring you to go to small claims court (in the US, that would be the venue). Again just in general private landlords (some dude in his house) do this because they haven't kept the security deposit in an escrow account, as they are required to do (in the US). Geogre 11:09, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

March 3

What J-Pop groups, other than SMAP are most popular in Japan and the US?

Many of SMAP's songs are hits and I enjoy them personally, but unfortunately, they haven't made enough songs. I cannot think of other J-Pop groups that perform as well at the level that SMAP is at. Therefore, would you care to tell me what other J-Pop singers & groups have many hit songs and are as well-received as SMAP is? Thank you. --Shultz III 00:44, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

So anyway, what J-Pop groups are as well-renowned as SMAP for their music? Thanks. --Shultz III 11:33, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Where? Do you mean "What Japanese Pop groups are popular in the United States?" Do you mean "What Japanese Pop groups are popular in Merca?" If you mean the U.S., Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi is on Cartoon Network, so they have been getting decent album sales. --Kainaw ^(talk) 14:44, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Why didn't your answer ring the right bells in me, Kainaw? HHPAY is for the too-young set. I'd like something that teens or young adults enjoy. Why did you even suggest if I meant what J-Pop groups are popular in a town I've never even heard of? Well anyways, I meant what are the most popular J-Pop groups in either Japan, the US, or both. --Shultz III 15:29, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Music is a listener's preference. There are many groups. You'll have to find ones you like. Wikipedia, being an encylopedia, has a large list of them here. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:58, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I already looked. Weren't J-Pop artists rated on the likability of their songs somehow? If so, who had the highest ratings? What I'm kinda looking for are J-Pop artists/groups that are liked the most by a common audience. --Shultz III 16:09, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

check out B'z --Vsion 22:36, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

As an American music fan, I have to say the only Japanese pop artist I'm familiar with is Hikaru Utada, who recorded with Timbaland a while ago. -- Наташа ( ^User ♡ ^Talk ) 01:12, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Difference Btw

Are there any difference between a hospital and a medical center? I've read what the hospital article said by the way. and also about the size, which is larger? In the wiki hospital article it says it "usually conduct operations in virtually every field of modern medicine". Does this mean that general hospitals do not conduct operations in virtually every field of modern medicine? thanks

No. Purely a marketing choice. alteripse 01:54, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

A medical center may contain any medical practice - such as strictly outpatient care. A hospital is expected to include in-patient care as well as have some sort of emergency room. So, a hospital is a type of medical center, but not all medical centers are hospitals. --Kainaw ^(talk) 03:48, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Hospitals all have in-patient care but some do not have emergency rooms. But some medical centers are hospitals and more. Rmhermen 16:15, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

In Britain hospital means hospital and medical centre/health centre means a building shared by a number of GPs (family doctors). Jameswilson 23:50, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I'd agree with alterprise, at least as far as the US is concerned. In real estate it's location, location, location; in most of the rest of business, it's marketing, marketing, marketing. Ça me plait pas. On the other hand, I think there should be a lot more articles on business in Wikipedia. Surely we're not all pointy-headed intellectuals. Or are we? --Halcatalyst 04:28, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Big pants in The Tempest?

In Act 2, Scene 2 of The Tempest, what the heck is going on? Is Trinculo physically inside Caliban's pants with him? What kind of garment is a "gaberdine"? (The article says it's a kind of fabric.) —Keenan Pepper 15:01, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

It is a kind of cloth, but that's not really important. Caliban lies down. Trinculo wonders if it's a fish or man, makes comments about Londoners being stupid, and thinks it's a dead man. Caliban thinks Trinculo is another of Prospero's airy spirits. As the rain comes, Trinculo gets under Caliban's cloak (a gaberdine overcoat/cloak). This is to shelter from the rain. Stephano comes along, drunk and drinking, and Caliban thinks it's another spirit, and a very bad one (because of the singing). He stands up, and Trinculo, who knows that he's under the cloak of a live man, rises with him. Stephano thinks Caliban is a man with four legs (Caliban's and Trinculo's) (hilarity for the audience). He talks to Caliban, and Trinculo recognizes his voice. He speaks (probably peaking out of the cloak at the audience, but unable to see Stephano), and Stephano thinks it's a two headed, four legged man, with a good and bad voice. Trinculo eventually calls out to Stephano and emerges from the cloak. Geogre 15:14, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Ah, okay. I had this edition that glossed "gaberdines" as "pants", which confused me. Makes more sense if it's a big overcoat. Heh, some of these jokes are pretty funny: "How cam'st thou to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?" —Keenan Pepper 15:44, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

She said the man in the gaberdine suit was a spy. --BluePlatypus 16:25, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera.

As for the play, I have always found The Tempest less funny -- maybe because of all the cosmic portent in it and maybe because it's one of Shakespeare's plays where we see the differences between his values and our own very clearly -- but you can imagine that scene as being a great one for slapstick humor. (Two characters that bug us most, Malvolio and Caliban, with Shylock coming in, I think, third.) Geogre 18:35, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Attorney General Ashcroft

We need a current office address for the retired Attorney General so that we can send an invitation to some upcoming events this year. Does anyone know the address, number or fax or email of how to currently reach his office? thank you.

I suggest you contact the Department of Justice --Halcatalyst 21:46, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

the article of Jack the Ripper disappear

It shocks me!Can someone help restore it?Alltonight 16:52, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Looks fine to me now. —Keenan Pepper 17:22, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I quite agree with you Keenan Pepper.

You probably suffered a database glitch. I've had a few of these where I get the "Wikipedia does not have an article with this title" page on something that does exist. The problem usually corrects itself after a couple of minutes. DJ Clayworth 19:38, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Roman festivals

How many days out of the year did the Roman empire celebrate festivals?

A lot. You could see Fasti. AnonMoos 21:22, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I believe that people in Rome worked only something like 100 days per year. (Or is this an exaggeration?) DirkvdM 08:55, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Since slaves were people in Rome, it's clearly not true for all... - Nunh-huh 13:17, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Right, I think I should have said 'Romans in Rome', which sounds a bit odd. Not all Romans lived in Rome (I think the term refers to 'free men' throughout the empire) and not all those who lived in Rome were called Romans. DirkvdM 09:04, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Argentina's official names

I heard that the Argentine constitution recognizes 4 official names for the country: Argentine Republic, Argentine Nation, Argentine Confederation, and United Provinces. So, is Argentina the only state in the world with 4 denominations?

Well, I live in Argentina and here AFAIK the only official name is "Argentine Republic"; as stated in the article, "Argentine Nation" is only used for legislation purposes. The denominations of "Argentine Confederation" and "United Provinces" are almost extinct. --OneEuropeanHeart 20:25, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

On the other hand, countries with several official languages often have different names in each language. For example, Switzerland, with four languages, is officially the Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Confédération suisse, Confederazione Svizzera, Confederaziun svizra, and for good measure, Confœderatio (or Confoederatio) Helvetica. --Anonymous, 02:22 UTC, March 4, 2006.

Switzerland certainly uses their names more too, the Swiss franc has four names on it. The Argentinian peso only uses "Argentine Republic". --BluePlatypus 12:32, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• Actually the Swiss franc only has the Latin name; there isn't room for four names on a coin (same with stamps, using the even shorter form "Helvetia"). It's their larger denominations, the paper money, where the four names are used. --Anon, 11:11 UTC, March 5, 2006.

What about the US? United States of America, United States, America, States, USA, U.S.A, US, U.S., US of A, U.S. of A. and Columbia (!?). That's 11! Not very official, though. But what is the official name? The article is called just United States, which doesn't seem right to me. However, someone has once warned me not to go down that road because "there be dragons there". :) DirkvdM 09:15, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, the US Constitution uses "the United States". Superm401 - Talk 03:48, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

March 4

Author

What Author/Novelist Can be a combination of Jorge luis borges and Stephen King,Also What Author can be a Combination of Jorge Luis Borges And H.P. Lovecraft?

You can. Try it.
Slumgum 01:04, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• Better read Jorge Luis Borges, Stephen King, and H. P. Lovecraft first. --Halcatalyst 02:40, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

What do you get if you cross a gorilla with a porcupine? I don't know, but I bet it gets a seat on the bus. JamesMLane t c 07:50, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I'd say Jorge King and H.L. Luis. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 11:15, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I think this is the third time this chap has asked this question. Persistent, if nothing else. Mark^{your words} 13:04, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Fourth at least. (S)he obviously didn't like my earlier answer of Ray Bradbury. Um... Edgar Allan Poe? Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Jane Yolen? Pugh? Pugh? Barney McGrew? Grutness...wha? 13:35, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I think it's a koan, and the questioner is trying to help us achieve enlightenmnet. Geogre 13:58, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Buddhism? Fugeddaboudit. Achieve enlightenmnet® wid Wikipediduh. --Halcatalyst 15:27, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Law question

Currently i have a major question that i need to answer it within this week. Question: what are 'the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998' on statutory interpretation' (UK)?

i am very thankfull to you if you can help me to answer this question ...

Read the top of this page - don't post your e-mail address.
Slumgum 01:52, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

You'll have to be more specific. I don't even know what country you're talking about. If you want to provide more information, click on the <edit> button you see at the right of the screen, scroll to the bottom of the window that pops up, and write there. We're willing to help but can't write your paper for you. --Halcatalyst 02:37, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I think it's for the UK. (It says it at the end of the question in brackets). - Akamad 13:29, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

the marriage tax

In the US, some politicians talk about "the marriage tax," claiming tax law discriminates against married people (and by implication favors living together). Yet married people filing federal income taxes jointly usually save money over filing separately. What evidence is brought forward to support the idea that there is a "marriage tax"? --Halcatalyst 05:05, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• [3] - Nunh-huh 05:51, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. An informative article. --Halcatalyst 15:22, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Persia VS Greece

Hello everyone, i was just wondering if you could help or provide me with some information regarding the significance of the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium in 500-440BC involing archaeological and written sources. i have tried searching but have failed if you could help it would a great deal thank you.

I remembered this question being asked before, so I checked the archives and saw that you were pointed at the articles for the battles, which weren't sufficient. You'll find that the more specific the question you ask here, the better your response. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 10:12, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• i would look up "persopolis" on some Iranian websites - maybe... Amirman 11:02, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

If you think about it, an archeological source doesn't help much explain the significance of a battle in any way except confirming that it took place as described. Significance is always a matter of historical interpretation and construction-- armchair speculation at its best. Written sources may be better at providing an interpretive construction, but we often reject the interpretive constructions of ancient writers as inaccurate from our POVs. Our principal written source for both battles is Herodotus, who is wonderfully readable, but does not provide a discussion of "significance" in our modern academic sense. alteripse 13:08, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

• When you say, "historical interpretation and construction-- armchair speculation at its best," do you mean that historical interpretation and construction are no more than armchair speculation, or rather that armchair speculation is a species of historical interpretation and construction?!? Does armchair speculation have any other important usages? --Halcatalyst 19:07, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
  • When one is assessing significance of an event, it is a matter of thinking about alternatives and what-ifs, weighing factors and results. It is an armchair exercise, rather than field detection or scientific research. It isn't bad, and can be quite entertaining. It is rarely a "useful" exercise, but rather an example of entertainment for an intellectual elite. That is why it pays so much less than mass entertainment. Do you disagree? alteripse 04:01, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Info on portrait of Countess Potocka

My family in England posesses a portrait (25x21 inches) in an elaborate gold and black frame, of Countess Potocka (or Potoska). I have read all the information about the Potocki family in the Wikipedia encyclopedia and have not come across a similar picture.

I would like to find out which Countess Potocka is represented in our portrait and whether or not she is an ancester of our family.

My mother was told that she was the wife of Count Stanislaw Kostka Potocki (whose name was Aleksandra Lubomirska), but I do not know if this is correct. My mother was also told that she was somebody's mistress (a courtesan). I know that there was a Countess Potcka (née Hélène Massalka) who was first the Count Vincent Potocki's mistress (he was already married and then got a divorce) and then his wife. This Countess Potocka lived partly in Paris and had another famous lover. However, I haven't found out anything about this Count Vincent Potocki.

Can you advise me how I could find out more about the Countess Potocka in our picture?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can make. Yours sincerely Charlotte de Montalivet

This website seems to have a detailed family lineage of the Potockis: [4], [5], [6], [7], [8],

[9], [10]. David Sneek 14:45, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Without the Soviet Union, is it now safer to invade Cuba?

A hardliner is expected to replace Fidel Castro. This hardliner may distance Cuba further from the United States politically.

Is it safer to invade Cuba now than when the Soviet Union was here? If we invade Cuba, how strong would the army resist, how soon would the entire country fall, and would we soon make it our 51st State? --Shultz III 17:18, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

You'll have to take a number. Mr. Bush has his hands full right now. --Halcatalyst 18:57, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

It's certainly safer; Russia is far less likely to respond with nuclear weapons now than the Soviet Union would have been. As for resistance, that's a military issue and well beyond the scope of an amateur answer. Perhaps you should write the Joint Chiefs of Staff and ask? As for making it a 51st state, the chances are slim to none. The US government hasn't pushed Puerto Rico to become a state over our century-plus of control there, nor are we attempting to formally annex Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, or any of the other sites of our recent military incursions. — Lomn Talk 20:02, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

About making Cuba the 51st state, it is closer to the continental US than Alaska. This is in great contrast to Iraq and the other places you mentioned. --Shultz III 21:38, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't like my next-door neighbour, so I'm going to steal his house. Is it safer to invade now that he hasn't got a guard dog?
Slumgum 21:50, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

More like, "That competitor down the next block isn't affiliated with (name of major corporation) anymore, so is it safer to buy them out? --Shultz III 22:12, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I can happily trade with them. They're not a competitor. We are in different lines of business.
p.s. It's wrong to edit other people's comments.
Slumgum 22:24, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

In general, an external threat is by far the fastest way to unite a country behind its political leadershÌip, even if that government is not particularly well-liked. It's fairly safe to say, though, that most countries the size of Cuba would have no hope of resisting the full force of the US military were it to be applied, particularly as the logistical problems facing the US in places like Iraq would not apply.

But, frankly, such an invasion is unlikely (absent Castro doing something crazy like attempting to acquire a nuclear weapon, or his death leading to political chaos). Without the Russians, Cuba is strategically near-irrelevant. If I may be blunt, if it wasn't for the frothing at the mouth of Cuban exiles who happen to be in a swing state, nobody in Washington would care much about the place any more. It may be a tinpot dictatorship with scant regard for human rights, but Cuba is hardly in the worst rank of those. --Robert Merkel 02:28, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Conspiracy theorists would say that the main reason the Castro regime survived the end of the Cold War was because the US government feared that a freer Cuba would lead to an influx of Cuban immigrants to the US. So the US didnt apply as much pressure on Cuba as might have been expected. Jameswilson 03:10, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

After the Cuban missile crisis the US promised not to attack Cuba anymore. But did they make that promise to the USSR only and is it therefore no longer valid now that the USSR no longer exists?

The entire population is trained at guerrilla warfare. From early childhood Cubans are taught how to use guns. There is even an annual 'defence day' when the whole country enacts an invasion (or rather the defence against it). Then again, I've experienced one such day and it looks more like a show than an actual training. But I'm sure the people will resist massively. Quite a lot of people complain about (or even hate) the government, but the hatred for the US is rooted deeper. People haven't forgotten about the past just yet (and of course they are regularly reminded of it). And I don't just mean the Bay of Pigs, but more the situation before the 50's revolution, when the US were effectively in control and there was severe poverty (which caused the revolution to succeed because Castro had popular support - actual physical support). And of course how the US cheated the Cubans out of their revolution in 1898. So the US would have to fight for every street. That is the sort of war one cannot win, irrespective of the military force. The US may take over officially, but the country would be impossible to handle.

Jameswilson, the US were already doing all they could (short of military intervention) to bring down Cuba, so they could not step up their measures after the fall of the USSR. DirkvdM 09:42, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Btw, funny, yesterday I recorded a movie called '51st state'. Haven't seen it yet, but I doubt it'll be about Cuba. :) DirkvdM 10:47, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

And why would you think the US would want Cuba? Maybe we could transfer Miami to them and both countries would be better off. Dalembert 13:06, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Addition: In the 1950's that handful of untrained revolutionaries managed to beat a regular army in about two years' time thanks to the popular support. Now, however, all those people are also trained soldiers. That's an army of 11 million! And an interresting effect of this is that the government have to keep them relatively happy. If these people would have nothing to lose, like in the 50's, they would easily overthrow the government. I had thought about an alternative to the army for years, and those thoughts came together when I was in Cuba. There, they have the solution (at least in principle); make it an unpleasantr prospect for anouther country to invade you. Organise the underground resistance before the war breaks out. Big dif is, in Cuba they still have a regular army. Perfection this system and they could do away with it altogether. That should save them a fair bit of money. DirkvdM 18:52, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

South Carolina's Metros

S.C. has only about 4 true metros.Now I'm wondering if its possible in the future,will these metros be good contributors to South Carolina in the future?

Columbia, South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina Greenville, South Carolina Spartanburg, South Carolina

Andre' Ward

Sure, it's possible, OTOH, they might end up losing money and cost the taxpayers plenty (assuming they're publicly financed, which is probably a pretty good bet -- I'd put $0.25 on it). --Halcatalyst 19:00, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I just answered with the assumption that metros meant metroplitan areas. Do you mean public transportation? If so, you have left off many cities in SC with good public transportation: Myrtle Beach, Orangeburg, Florence, Beaufort - just to name a few. Are you asking if the public transportation system will ever become a profit system for the state? Why limit this to SC? Why not ask if public transportation in *any* city will ever become profitable? Even the national bus, train, and air systems can't find a way to turn a profit. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:56, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

March 5

Need help- why am I having trouble getting along with Australians?

Online, the only Australians I remember interacting with were corrosive and difficult to get along with. I'll not go into too many details because I think they're too personal to give out. There were two on Wikipedia, and another two on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki.

Here, one berated me for making fun of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, saying that "this is an encyclopedia, not a Kindergarten." He might as well berate someone for making fun of Hitler, bin Laden, Hussein, or Stalin.

However, I seem to get along just fine with the vast majority of non-Australian users.

I know non-verbal gestures that are benevolent/benign in American culture may prove offensive in others (like rubbing the bottom of your chin is very offensive to Italians), but online, we never even see each other so that isn't relevant.

Therefore, what must I watch out for while speaking/posting at or around Australians that I usually don't need to watch out for while doing the same at or around people of other nationalities? --Shultz III 03:16, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Firstly, sorry if my comments in regards to Cuban exiles offended you.

But in general, I don't think there's anything specific about Australians that you need to be careful of when conversing online; most Australians who regularly use global internet fora are well-versed in dealing with Americans. I suspect your issues may be to do with a small sample size; in other words, maybe you have managed to find two Aussies with whom you have a personality clash. It happens. Back when I was in high school, two American exchange students were in my class in the same year. One was a blond Californian cheerleader who, while not unintelligent, had clearly had any capacity for irony or negativity removed at birth, the other a redhead from Rhode Island with a dry, rather cynical wit. They were chalk and cheese; a perfect illustration that assuming that people born in the same nation will share similar personal characteristics is inappropriate. --Robert Merkel 09:11, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Have you ever had any clashes with Dutch people? I'm one and we're generally pretty much to the point, not beating about the bush, calling things by their name and such, which can be rather offensive with 'politically correct' US'ers (especially me, I should add). So there's usually no offence meant, you just have to interpret it the right way. With Aussies it may be something similar. You don't give any explicit examples, so that makes it hard to judge this, but my experience with Aussies is that they like to take the mickey, but that's generally tongue in cheek. Aussies are also known for their 'rude' language, but that's jus the way they talk, so you have to interpret that the right way. The lingo (strine) is quite 'colourful' as exemplified by Kevin Bloody Wilson. Strikingly, though, on the internet they usually don't say 'fuck' twice per sentence, but maybe that's because there may be ladies present. And they like tall stories told with straight faces, but that doesn't seem relevant here.

That said, if you start comparing people to Hitler you're asking for it. :) DirkvdM 19:13, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

I've only ever met two Australians, through business, and went out to dinner with them. They stole literally everything they could: knives, forks, salt and pepper pots, beer glasses and a plate. I thought this was probably the reason that their ancestors were sent to Australia in the first place. Otherwise I got along fine with them, and I can forgive Australia for a lot of things, because it's given us Neighbours!
Slumgum 19:33, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Mr. --Shultz III,

I have seen several of your postings, like the one about invading Cuba. Your problem is not with Australians, I believe that you do not get along with anybody that is not from your church in Kansas. Perhaps in the future you can think more thoroughly your questions. LG, Greensboro, NC

telephone amusement

i own a telephone, and live in canada. what 1-800 or toll free places can i call to amuse myself? are tHERE ANY PLACES WHERE I CAN CALL TO LISTEN TO MUSic on the telephone? or just whatever?--152.163.100.72 04:16, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

If there were, they'd be busy all the time. 1-800 numbers are mostly run by people who want your business, whereas you are expected to pay premium rates for entertainment lines. Try owning a radio instead. --Shantavira 10:20, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

:-) He could also try calling customer help numbers for credit card companies, cable companies, power companies, and telephone companies (since he owns one of those). He'll get to hear music for free for quite some time while he's on hold. Geogre 13:52, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

You could call companies that make things that you buy and ask questions about them, like: "How do you get all of that ketchup into your ketchup chips?" You can find the number on the package. -LambaJan 20:16, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Okay, thanks. I'll try to call credit card companies to listen to music and then hang up when they answer. I already own a radio, btw. --152.163.100.72

• That's really going to put them out. But if they're not fuzzed enough, send them a bill for your time waiting. --Halcatalyst 01:43, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

In Vancouver you used to be able to call a bunch of numbers to play trivia games, get various bits of info, etc. It was listed in the front of the phone book and operated by BC Tel, which I guess has since been taken over by Telus. I have no idea if it still exists. I used to play a telephone music trivia game as a lonely teenager. moink 01:04, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Dreaming quotes

My teacher has given me an excercise: to create a creative piece based around a particular quote on dreaming (not sleeping dreams, but dreaming -- hoping)

What would be a good one, whether it be from literature or spoken? gelo 08:35, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

"I have a dream" (Martin Luther King) is the best one I know of. JackofOz 09:01, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

There are many quotations on dreams on wikiquote. My favorite is by Marcel Proust: "If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time." David Sneek 10:19, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Which is why Proust spent his whole life moping in his bedroom and trying to remember all the time he had lost... alteripse 12:58, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it shrivel like a raisin in the sun?" When dreams are deferred, additional dividend income must be claimed by the shareholder to the taxation department. This income is not subject to dividend taxation rate reductions and is taxable at the full marginal rate. If this deferral can be countered with a dream supplement for low dreaming rate individuals, then the primary income derived from this dream, when exercised in the current tax year, may be used to reduce the taxpayer's marginal rate through tax credits. If however, no dream supplement can be claimed, then the full deferral time must be considered a capital gain and be taxed accordingly. AnonMoos 23:25, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

birth record

hello, my name is valerie campbell and i am reasearching my family tree and have come to a full stop and dont know how to find out anymore,please could you help me? i have a relative catherine MALLON born in Mexico in 1850ish, she is on the 1871 cencus as being a british subject, i have tried all the records of consular births on the 1837 web site, and have tried to contact the mexican consulate with no success, i wonder can you tell me if there are any records anywhere of people who become british citsens, as i am now assuming she was not a british subject at birth, any help you can offer will be gratefully accepted, thank you valerie

The Saperia family apparently did it this way]. But Mallon is an Irish name, not Spanish, so maybe she was always of British nationality and her parents just happened to be in Mexico when she was born. Jameswilson 00:20, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

British/Indian Geography

In which Presidencies were Itarsi and Harda situated during British rule in India?

Thank you

None, I would guess. Though they are both in Madhya Pradesh, so must be close to Bombay Presidency. http://harda.nic.in/ has some history, though it's pathetically written. deeptrivia (talk) 14:43, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Baby birth

Is there any particular period of the year when maximum babies are born or the births are evenly distributed throughout the year?

Yes, there is. I will give you an example relating to teen births in Texas here: [11] - scroll down to page 8. It is a beautiful application of a particular type of time series analysis, but unfortunately, we have no articles on nonextensive entropy yet. --HappyCamper 17:24, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

This pdf, on and around p 45, has statistics for the entire U.S. in the year 2000, broken-down both by month and day of the week. The variation between the minimum birth rate in April and the maximum in August & September is less than 10%, though. I'd expect things could be quite different in other countries with different cultures and climates. ×Meegs 17:50, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

I had been told before that the Christmas/New Year holidays caused a spike in British/American births around August/September. The reasoning is that there is a lot of drinking and celebration, which translates to a lot of sex, which translates to a lot of births. But, when I researched this, I checked all countries that celebrate Christmas on Dec 25 and New Years on Jan 1. It turns out that only countries in the northern hemisphere see that spike. In the southern hemisphere, the spike is 6 months away: Feb/Mar. Then, I read a sociology study on cold weather and sex which claimed people have sex more in the winter than in the summer. I always meant to look for research to find if the birth spike is greater in countries furthest from the equator - since they would have the most correlation between cold weather and sex. But, I never got around to it. One more nugget I found was a study on birth control. Before birth control's popularity in the 60s, the end-of-summer spike was more prominent. Since birth control, birth rates are rather similar all year around. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:08, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

The variation is so small that planning, perhaps in anticipation of the academic calendar, may play a significant part too. I too have often heard the hypothesis that seasonal cold temperature causes (not simply correlates with) high conception rates, but I'm not sure how well it's been studied. I've also heard speculation tying births to the distribution of marriages through the year (something like summer wedding – winter conception – fall birth). ×Meegs 18:26, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

The paper I linked to above addresses this. Actually, it is a follow up to another related paper. To be brief, conceptions are highly correlated with the school year. --HappyCamper 18:36, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

All this is about the time of year. I don't know how precisely one can pinpoint the day of conception (based on birth statistics?), but I think there's a good chance that those take place more in the weekends. DirkvdM 19:23, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

This depends on the quality of the data set being analyzed. It is possible to detect weekly periodicities, and effects of holidays. For example, see page 16 of this paper by the same group of researchers. "...First of all, we notice that the number of births corresponding to Saturdays and Sundays are much smaller than those of the week days. In addition to Saturdays and Sundays, there are other days with very small number of births that are identified with holidays..." - I cannot find the paper I am looking for, but there is another related one published which illustrates how they were able to extract these periodicities from the data set. I don't recall the researchers going so far as pinpointing the day though, as they seemed to focused on something more important that came out of the data set - the discrepancies between the unmarried and married teens. --HappyCamper 20:30, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Gallipoli

Could anyone direct me to a good source describing Gallipoli's impact on future political events? I realise what it did for Turkey (Kemal Ataturk) and for the Anzacs but I need a good source for my history project and I've trolling the net for hours!

Thanks.

You do realize that not all sources are online? On this topic, you should probably read some actual books. Secondly, define "future political events". For instance, you could do an interesting, if rather provocative project on the current mood of Anzacophilia and government-encouraged enthusiasm for the Australian military in the context of the Gallipoli myth (not that Gallipoli didn't happen, but the story is told with emphases and omissions that ensure it resembles more a morality tale than a factual account of the campaign and its context), but that may well not be what you have in mind. Finally, realize that the percevied impact of Gallipoli (and more generally, WWI military history) on future political events depends rather strongly on who's doing the telling. The conservative side of politics may prefer, for instance, to airbrush the New Guard, our very own bunch of mainly WWI-veteran fascists, out of our history.

That said, you could try the Australian War Memorial website for some good, if somewhat tepid, interpretations of events. Relevant Wikipedia articles include Conscription in Australia, and ANZAC Day, amongst others. --Robert Merkel 00:19, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Merv Griffin Show theme?

Where can I find a copy of the Merv Griffin Show theme? WashingtonWillie