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September 18

Roger Touhy

I have information on this story. Yours is most accurate. But Rogers father James, Had a set of twin boys in Ireland. He left their mother alone, and went to America to find his pot of gold. My grandmother Esther Legge, (Touhy then D.O.B, 09/04/1927, cork records) was the daughter of one of James`s sons he left behind in Ireland. One of my grandmothers elder sister`s, Kitty, was hauled from class in the convent, and given a telegram upon James`s death, from a solicitor, giving a massive sum of money. But, my great grandfather threw it in the fire, and said it was blood money, even though he had 13 children, and no shoes, coal picking and school was barefoot. There was no food for any of them, it was shocking. We have got the book the stolen years, but, I am unable to get a copy of the film that was shown to all the stars via a red carpet, in my great great great uncles prison.... can you help with that....? Also, the amount of money that was offered, meant that James wasnt as clean a policeman as it was over repeatedly stated. Its all very exciting, I wondered if you could give me a contact to fill in gaps for me, and for me to fill in gaps for them, so that I may be able to fill some gaps in for my wonderful, beautiful kind nan, while shes still here. shes 87, and the most remarkable human being. Shes been my mentor for almost 40 years. And I would love to repay her unthwarted kindness and ever loving spirit, with something extra about this for her. Is there a chance at all, you might be able to help me...?

kindest regards, Sarah Ajax. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.123.45.248 (talk) 00:14, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

(The relevant article is Roger Touhy.) Unfortunately, the information you've given can't be added to the article purely on the basis of your recollections, fascinating as they are. We need reliable independent sources for what you're saying, which basically means reputable books, newspapers, magazines etc. If you can find anything in those sources that corroborates what you say, then you can add the information to the article yourself. But in my opinion you would be better off making your own blog through something like Blogspot or Wordpress and telling the story yourself on there. Thanks for sharing, --Viennese Waltz 07:25, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And making a blog about it might allow others to use the information for the Wikipedia article. We do sometimes cite blogs, though they are not usually preferred. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:49, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm curious to know whether he was any relation to Patrick L. Touhy. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:39, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Oculus

What the meaning (Literary) of the oculus in Roman Republic. Many poets used this noun (like catullus etc)...so I wonder if there is something more that just eyes. --132.64.30.238 (talk) 05:46, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Literally, oculus is eye, but just as in many modern languages, it's sometimes used to denote similar things and related concepts. See wikt:oculus. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:16, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The eyes are an extremely important part of the way we interact with other human beings. Thus from biblical to modern times we have variations on "the eyes are the window to the soul", and the eyes are widely mentioned in poetry, pop music etc with both literal and not-so-literal meanings. One can imagine Catullus was doing much the same.

It's worth noting that the word osculum (even more similar to oculus than it looks to us, because the last two letters can be largely disregarded) can mean "kiss" in Latin. Although Catullus did not use that word for "kiss" in Catullus 5 where he spends half the poem obsessing over kisses, perhaps he is thinking of similar things when he uses oculus elsewhere. Imagine if the English words for "kiss" and "eye" were only one letter different, the ambiguity would certainly turn up in a few pop songs. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 21:41, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The mind's eye is just fallible, but mirrors always lie. For further evidence, see Zero. Hear it, too; the lyrics are important, but the video has the Roman connection. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:57, September 18, 2014 (UTC)

Maybe also see Eye and Lost Highway InedibleHulk (talk) 22:02, September 18, 2014 (UTC)

According to the Teach Yourself Latin dictionary, it also means "bud". Fiddlersmouth (talk) 15:21, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A little bud works well for light tasks like reflection and illumination. According to Philp J. Fry, it also speeds and slows the passage of time. He'd know, being from the future.

On that note, here's an alleged oculus, but when that guy's older, he'll probably realize it's an octopus. No relation. Or is there? InedibleHulk (talk) 22:18, September 20, 2014 (UTC)

Grand Ducal Highness

The Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family traditionally used the style of Grand Ducal Highness prior to the marriage of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma when they added the "royal" title of Prince of Bourbon-Parma to their descendants. But Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg relinquish the titles for Bourbon-Parma in 1986, so why are current members of the Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family still Royal Highness rather than Grand Ducal Highness?--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 20:55, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Grand dukes, grand duchesses, hereditary grand dukes and hereditary grand duchesses were always "Royal Highnesses". Other members of the family were "Grand Ducal Highnesses". Due to descent from the Bourbons through Felix, all princes of Luxembourg are now "Royal Highnesses". Jean relinquished his father's titles in 1986, but resumed them in 1995. Surtsicna (talk) 21:27, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

human Ecology

three examples of human and non-human — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.27.131.150 (talk) 23:27, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Are you asking a question, and, if this is your homework, have you made an attempt to find the answer yourself in our Human ecology article? Dbfirs 00:20, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

McElligot, Thidwick and Horton had human minds and non-human forms. So that's six. See On Beyond Zebra! for 20 more, and the Dr. Seuss bibliography for a general education on ecology. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:07, September 19, 2014 (UTC)

September 19

10 different qira'ats in this audio

This is for Muslims only. Sorry. Does anybody or can anybody list the qira'ats that this qari used to recite Ch.2 verse 255 known as Ayatul Kursi? Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkKO_NEfBXY. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.34.175 (talk) 00:27, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Why is it for Muslims only? Can't people of other faiths, or of no faith, answer it as well? --Viennese Waltz 07:37, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The truths of Islam are so self-evident, if you know enough Islam to answer this, you'd be a believer as well (ie. there's no way your interest is academic.) Entertaining ideas without accepting them is Western relativism and moral confusion. Or something. Asmrulz (talk) 11:21, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm unclear why understanding beliefs different than mine is morally confusing. I can comprehend the beliefs of others, and I can understand why they believe them, but doing so doesn't mean I have to agree with them. That is, having some bit of knowledge (understanding the beliefs of others) doesn't make me a relativist (agreeing that conflicting beliefs must all be correct). The notion that one must refuse to try to understand other people in order to be morally pure seems odd... --Jayron32 11:58, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

link Asmrulz (talk) 19:16, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

link back atcha --Jayron32 19:33, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I was first. Also, this :) Asmrulz (talk) 20:08, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I can understand why people may want to ask questions about beliefs only to believers (I think that this is rational, because human ability to understand the minds of outsiders is low), but that's right that this one is not a question about a belief, it is merely a technical question, so such request would not make sense. Since I cannot answer this question, I shut up. - 89.110.0.146 (talk) 12:27, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I believe this question should be removed or hidden. Wikipedia reference desk is for everyone, if they want to address only particular people they should go off to an appropriate other forum instead. Dmcq (talk) 13:16, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Why, if someone knows Arabic by ear and knows Quran well, why can't he or she answer the question? It is a request for facts, not for beliefs or opinions, so it is okay. It has been formulated lamely, but this shouldn't be a problem in this case, the asker apparently merely attempted to be polite to everyone (with little luck). - 89.110.0.146 (talk) 13:24, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The questioner said the question was for Muslims only. The questioner should go to such a forum and not waste other people's time. I'm perfectly aware of what you said, I used to know a Dutchman who the local Chinese used to go to when they wanted to know what some obscure Chinese character meant. Dmcq (talk) 13:33, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it was a request. I think it was an excuse. The person apparently felt badly about asking an obscure question, so he just acknowledged this (in wrong terms) and said "sorry". We can simply treat it this way. - 89.110.0.146 (talk) 13:57, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The questioner, trying to be polite, excused himself or herself for asking a question that he or she (probably correctly) assumed that only a Muslim might be able to answer. I'm sure that the questioner would be pleasantly surprised if a non-Muslim were able to answer, but I doubt that that will happen. Can the person who asked the question comment on whether you would be open to a response by a non-Muslim who happened to be knowledgeable about qira'at? Unless the questioner responds that he or she would not accept an answer from a non-Muslim, I urge that we assume good faith and let the question and any responses stand. Marco polo (talk) 14:08, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The questioner made the mistake of assuming that RefDeskers were capable of assuming good faith. Some can, some rather voluble ones can't. I made the same mistake not that long ago. DuncanHill (talk) 21:01, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well they're most probably in the standard order as in our article about them Qira'at, otherwise someone would have listed out the order specially. Dmcq (talk) 00:56, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Duncan, to say of any human being that he is incapable of assuming good faith doesn't sit well with me. We can all do it, but it's a challenge to do it all the time, and I daresay we all sometimes fall by the wayside. Some perhaps more than others, but who's keeping tally? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 11:50, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

German stereotypes

What stereotypes exist of people from different states of Germany? Note, I'm not interested in stereotypes of German people in general, only in the supposed differences between people from different parts of the country. And I'm not interested in whether the stereotypes have any basis in reality, either. Thank you, --Viennese Waltz 12:29, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Die Zeit posted a map of negative stereotypes a couple of years ago. The article was "Negative Vorurteile". Many of the attributes were collected from travel guides, and the author comments on their questionable accuracy and the nasty way that stereotypes have of spreading anyway (but you're not interested in that ;-). I will take the trouble of translating the adjectives later on, if no one beats me to it (but I understand you understand German, Vienna Waltz). ---Sluzzelin talk 12:40, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, here goes:

Sylter are decadent.

North Frisians are proud.

East Frisians are dumb.

Holsteiner are taciturn.

Mecklenburger are sluggish.

Hamburger are reserved/aloof.

Low Saxons are sober-minded.

Hannoveraner are boring.

Altmärker are stubborn.

Brandenburger are lower class/vulgar/chav.

Berliner are gruff.

Potsdamer are nouveau-riche.

Münsteraner are conservative.

Ruhrgebietler are simple.

Düsseldorfer are (also) nouveau-riche.

Kölner are corrupt.

Rheinländer are superficial.

Sauerländer are pig-headed.

Westphalians are brittle.

Harzer are lethargic.

Thuringians are hillbillies.

Saxons are cunning.

Erzgebirgler are quarrelsome.

Dresdner are slow.

Eifler are sober-minded.

Frankfurter are snobby.

Hessen are talkative.

Pfälzer are hoggy

Saarländer are petit-bourgeois.

Upper Franconians are silent.

Nürnberger are stuffy.

Middle Franconians are stolid and sedate.

Lower Bavarians are narcissistic.

Münchner are snotty.

Upper Bavarians are conservative.

Baden-Baden is of old money.

Schwarzwälder are uncommunicative.

Freiburger are environmentally smug and petty (don't know how to translate "ökologisch verspießt").

Badenser are withdrawn.

Bodenseer are slow.

Swabians are stingy.

Allgäuer are superstitious.

---Sluzzelin talk 13:20, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, what a great response. Thanks so much Sluzzelin, my German would never have been up to translating all those adjectives. I need to save this somewhere and if there was a RD Response of the Month Award, this would get it. --Viennese Waltz 13:54, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How amusing! I happen to know a Sylterin. I had never heard of that stereotype before, but she is indeed decadent. On the other hand, I recall making a visit to Hamburg when I was living in Berlin and having the impression, contrary to the stereotype, that Hamburgers were friendly and open (by comparison with Berliners, anyway). But of course all stereotypes are unreliable and basically wrong. Marco polo (talk) 14:16, 19 September 2014 (UTC) [reply]

both Hamburgers and Berliners are delicious, though --Golbez (talk) 14:24, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What do you have against Frankfurters? --Jayron32 14:25, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The irony here is that a hot dog could be considered snobby --Golbez (talk) 15:56, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

When I think of German stereotypes, this is what comes to mind. Which of the above list does this go with? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:26, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That is an Upper Bavarian or possibly an Allgäuer, Bugs, but of course that is an outsider's stereotype of a German. Marco polo (talk) 17:43, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Of course I wasn't familiar with each and every of the stereotypes listed there, and I think they are of varying reach and traction within Germany too. Three stereotypes that resonate with what even most German-speaking Swiss have heard of are the thick East Frisians (we have an article on East Frisian jokes too, and one of the reasons I've known about them since I can remember is probably Otto, an East Frisian with an extremely high IQ, I am certain of that :-), the stingy Swabians (they're our neighbours, after all, and we're very similar: there's a bit under Swabian culture and stereotypes) and the gruff (in a good way :-) Berliners (didn't find anything in our Berlin article, but wiktionary does have an entry on Berliner Schnauze). ---Sluzzelin talk 18:27, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

History of progressive income tax

Recently Progressive tax was edited in a way that I find difficult to integrate because I lack access to dusty historical stuff that if someone has summarized online already, I apparently lack the time to find. Can anyone verify, "The first peace time graduated income tax was actually in Prussia in 1891."? EllenCT (talk) 16:22, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

According to this source, on page 108, Prussia introduced its first graduated income tax in 1851, not 1891. Marco polo (talk) 17:57, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have found online an article titled The Prussian Income Tax from an 1892 issue of The Quarterly Journal of Economics. I am no expert on the history of taxation so there is a lot there that goes over my head. However, it does seem to provide a detailed examination of the evolution of income tax in Prussia to the 1891 tax - see page 223. This states that the 1851 income tax was not progressive, an 1873 reform brought in something "practically" (but not exactly) a progressive income tax, and finally in 1891 a progressive income tax. Whether it was the first ever, anywhere, may be harder to prove. But the reference should at least be helpful in updating the article to include Prussia. - Eron^Talk 18:34, 19 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

September 20

Collective term for "Indian-ish" people

Is there a recognized term in English ethnographic literature for collectively referring to the "brown" people of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc? A term that differentiates them from the (more or less "white") Middle Easterners to the west and the "yellow" people to the east. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 12:22, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In the UK, it's "Asian". That won't work in the USA and Australia, at least. In cricketing circles the term "the sub-continent" is used to describe that area and people from it. HiLo48 (talk) 12:27, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if "cricket playing asians" would make it past a competent ethnography journal editor. :) Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 12:33, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

South Asian. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:15, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen South Asia(n) used to refer to places such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc, so it's not unambiguous. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 17:06, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've mainly heard South Asian used to refer to India, Pakistan, etc, and Central Asian for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and most countries ending in "-stan" that weren't former Mughal territory. Since Kazakhstan's about as far north as Mongolia, I can't figure out why anyone would call it South Asian. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:49, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Per Bugs, who is correct here, see South Asian ethnic groups. The countries that Roger names are always referred to as Central Asia. --Jayron32 17:54, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In my part of the world a lot of folks of Indian, Pakistani, etc., origin or descent refer to themselves as "Brown". But it's not a term I've heard many (non-racist) white folks use. - Eron^Talk 17:43, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That would refer back to old colloquial terms for the races: white, black, red, yellow, brown. (What, no green?) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:45, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'll agree with Bugs and Jayron above. The two largest broad ethnic groups of India are the Indo-Aryan peoples, mostly of the north and the Dravidian peoples (pictured,left) of the south, although India is far more ethnically diverse than Europe. The first is a branch of Indo-European and the second speak a linguistic phylum with no proven relations. Many Indo-Aryans of the north are quite fair-skinned. μηδείς (talk) 01:00, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks all, I was indeed misremembering the label used for "the ...stan" countries (formerly part of the Soviet Union), They are indeed usually grouped under the "Central Asian" label, so South Asian makes the most sense. Apparently the Indo-Aryans are related to the Persians and thus are "Caucasians" insofar as that term still has any validity ouside of tv series police jargon. Is there a common (genetic) lineage between Dravidian people and the superficially similar looking "brown" people of the Malaysia/Indonesia region? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 10:35, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

File:Afghan girl National Geographic cover June 1985.png

The 'Caucasians' of South Asia

Well, User:Dodger67, the Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages form the Indo-Iranian sub-branch of the Indo-European languages. See our article Afghan Girl (pictured, right) for a very famous picture of a Pashto (an Iranian language) woman from Afghanistan. She would definitely be considered "Caucasian" if she had been born in Europe, and people of her appearance brought the Indo-Aryan languages (e.g., Sanskrit, Hindi) to India. You will find people resembling her in Kashmir and other parts of (northern) India. The Dravidians seem to have entered India from the northwest as well. They may have been related to the Harappan culture and to the Elamites of the Fertile Crescent. The evidence I have seen for this is highly dubious and speculative, but those are the best guesses given the evidence. There has recently been evidence showing a rare Y-haplotype in extreme souther India to one found in Australian Aborigines.

The supposition is that the wave of hunter gatherers that reached Australia did so 10's of thousands of years ago by following the coast of the Indian Ocean eastward from Africa. They would have left behind relatives along the way. The Dravidian speakers probably then brought farming and animal husbandry into India much more recently, largely interbreeding with and simply displacing the indigenous tribal peoples. Then the Indo-Aryan speaking wave entered following the same path, conquering the north with superior war technology, namely horses and chariots. The Mitanni people of the Fertile Crescent are poorly known, but they spoke an Indo-Aryan language, and used horses in war.

There's no linguistic or direct genetic link between the Dravidians and the SE Asians that I am aware of. (But the science advances so rapidly I may be wrong on the genetics.) Skin color evolves rapidly and is subject to biological convergence. The greater Malayo-Indonesian area is subject to a huge influence from the west, with the introduction of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism all coming in waves. One would expect intermixture has been going on for millennia. But I suspect that rather than from Indonesia, that the Dravdians' original closer relatives were from the Indus valley and the Middle East μηδείς (talk) 19:37, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Is desi too specific? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 11:45, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Good find User:JackofOz, it appears to be an endonym used by Indo-Aryans, unfortunately the article isn't clear about whether the term includes Dravidian peoples or not. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 12:47, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's a funny one. I remember once asking my partner, a Sri Lankan immigrant to Australia, about this word, but it meant nothing to him. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 12:53, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It should not be confused with Desi Arnaz.

—Wavelength (talk) 15:04, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And all these years I've taken you for a nerd par excellence (not a bad thing), without the slightest hint of a sense of humour. Thanks for sharing this hitherto unsuspected aspect of yourself, Wavelength. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:58, 21 September 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Although I do have a sense of humor, I did post my comment in seriousness. The Hindustani word Desi really can be confused with the given name Desi.

Here are three Desis: Desi Arnaz and Desi Lydic and Desi Relaford.
Here are three Scotts: Andrew Scott (actor) and Bruce Scott and Scott Campbell (author).
Here are three Romans: Roman Eremenko and Roman Polanski and Brian P. Roman.

—Wavelength (talk) 21:05, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There's a fairly popular filesharing forum called DesiRulez. For a while, I assumed the word was about Indian TV, a Desi scene to go with the Bollywood one. Still stuck thinking that, somewhat, despite the evidence. Still a bit weird calling them "pirates", too, as it must have been for Kanhoji Angre sometimes. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:04, September 22, 2014 (UTC)

Usage note: Desi is mainly popular among the South Asian diaspora, who use it as a form of self-identification to reflect a mix of self-depreciation and cultural pride. However the use of the term by "outsiders" (depending on the speaker, audience and context, of course) can come across as (mildly) pejorative; roughly equivalent to calling someone unrefined or a yokel. So don't regard desi as a neutral substitute for South Asian. This Ben Zimmer column goes into some of these issues. Abecedare (talk) 19:23, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Following up, it should be noted that the Austroasiatic peoples, remnants of whom live in eastern India, and who include the Vietnamese may have ben the first rice farmers, and were likely spread through SE Asia before the advent of the Dravidians, Sino-Tibetans, and others. Racial commonalities in the area may be a result of them as a genetic substrate. Note also that the originally Indian Buddhist liturgical language, Pali, survives now largely in Thailand and Cambodia.

Playing sasa

In a West African context, what is "sasa", and what does it mean that someone is "playing sasa"? It's clearly not Sasa (dance), seemingly not Sasa (plant), and definitely not Solvent-accessible surface area. In 1988, Liberia issued a stamp captioned "Sasa Players" (image), and I can't figure out what's going on. The catalogue is unhelpful; it says only "Sasa Players" as well. Nyttend (talk) 22:37, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm wondering whether "sasa" is a variety spelling of sansa/sanza/sanzu, a type of thumb piano (see also mbira). ---Sluzzelin talk 22:52, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Does this help? It appears to be a Liberian percussion instrument, possibly a pot full of stones/beads in a string bag. Fiddlersmouth (talk) 23:53, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"A percussion instrument with a loud, sharp sound. Made from a gourd covered in a net of beads". From Cracking the Code: The Confused Traveler's Guide to Liberian English. [2] AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:33, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Now I really feel silly — I work for IU Digital Libraries, and I'm in the middle of setting up an online image collection that (when finished) will be available through Image Collections Online. I never thought to look in our own online documentation!!! Thank you for finding that, and Andy, thanks for bringing up this book. My only textbook of Liberian English is Warren d'Azavedo's Some Terms from Liberian Speech, and I don't remember ever seeing this book or anything else like it. Nyttend (talk) 03:42, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

September 21

Christians in Iraq and Syria

Are there any Christians left in either Iraq or Syria? --112.198.82.105 (talk) 14:11, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, sure. Syria used to have about 10% Christians in the population. Iraq has less by percentage, but a larger base. See Christianity in Iraq. ISIS is a bunch of assholes, but I neither do they control all of Iraq and Syria, nor do they operate organised death-or-conversion camps. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:27, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Although the mainly Christian city of Qaraqosh, which is regarded as Iraq's "Christian capital" has been overrun and a large proportion of the population have fled into Kurdish territory according to BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh. Alansplodge (talk) 16:15, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but that's still in Iraq, and for political reasons, it's quite likely that it won't become a recognised state in the foreseeable future. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 17:02, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"For political reasons..." Sure, like the "politics" of public beheadings. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:56, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

British (most likely) coat of arms identification

Looking to work out what a coat of arms that I've seen represents. I don't have a picture of it, I'm afraid. It's most likely British, and given context most likely represents a city/region/county. The background is green. The central figure is a large cross bottony in gold, with in each of the quarters made by the large central cross a smaller cross pattée in gold as well. Any ideas? 82.21.7.184 (talk) 16:58, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Nothing immediately obvious at List of British flags. The arms of Edward the Confessor (see image), perhaps? The colours are wrong, though. Tevildo (talk) 17:48, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Got it! It's the coat of arms of Abingdon-on-Thames. (See image). Cross patonce rather than bottony according to the blazon, but the Abingdon cross doesn't look very much like our reference image. Tevildo (talk) 22:13, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent, that's the once for sure, just slight colour variations. Cheers, that makes sense actually. 82.21.7.184 (talk) 06:40, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Daughtes of Tsars

Why did most of the daughters of Russian Tsars traditionally remain unmarried until the Petrine reforms?--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 17:18, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well, if you look at the sisters and half-sisters of Peter the Great, (you can find the list at Alexis_of_Russia#Family_and_children, most of them got caught up in the wrong side of the various intrigues in Russia leading up to the rise of Peter the Great; i.e. most sided with Sophia in the Moscow Uprising of 1682. As a result, when Peter took power many of them were shipped off to convents or otherwise barred from Marriage. The one sister that remained loyal to Peter, Natalya, appears to have been close enough to him to have remained unmarried so as to remain at Court rather than be married off for diplomatic purposes, which would have been the fate of other royal females. Peter's grandfather, Michael Romanov had many daughters, but only three lived to adulthood: Irina, Anna, and Tatiana. Wikipedia only has an article about Irina, who (like Natalya and Peter) seems to have been the "head of the household" during Michael's reign, and as such, was kept unmarried to keep her around the court. Prior to Michael Romanov was the Time of Troubles, when things were a bit confused regarding the Tsarship; a variety of pretenders and foreign princes claimed the title, but in reality, no one held widespread control of the country. Prior to the Time of Troubles, Boris Godunov had one daughter, Xenia. Boris tried TWICE to marry her off, but the first engagement was broken off, and the second was ended by her fiancees death. After that, she got caught up in the Troubles, and never married; she seems to have lived a rather unfortunately life being raped and imprisoned. Before Boris, Feodor I of Russia only had one daughter, and she died at age 1: [3]. Before Feodor was Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar. Ivan had a large number of wives and children, but from our list in the Wikipedia article, it appears Ivan the Terrible had no daughters to marry off; they all died before reaching marriageble age. So, the answer to your question is there was no such tradition. In the entire list of Tsars from the first Tsar to Peter the Great, there aren't that many daughters to establish a "tradition". At least one was engaged to be married twice, two others were kept at court because they were close to their brother, who wanted them around rather than married off to a foreign prince or some important Boyar, the rest of the ones that lived to adulthood ended up on the wrong side of a rebellion or political intrigue, and all the rest (the majority of Tsarevnas indeed) died before they reached marriagable age. If there's any tradition to be garnered from this, it would appear to be the tradition of dying as an infant. --Jayron32 17:53, 21 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There was simply no incentive for marrying them. The princesses spent their entire lives in a female chamber of the palace. They had next to no opportunities to meet young noblemen. The Tsar was far above his subjects. To marry a tsarevna to one of the Tsar's "slaves" was not a desirable prospect. The relatives by marriage were expected to claim positions in the government, and this prospect was not welcomed by the existing cliques. To marry her to a foreign prince was diffucult because of a religious difference, a difference in culture, and the bride's lack of education. It was expected from a would-be husband to convert to Orthodoxy, an unthinkable prospect for most Catholic and even Lutheran princes. That's the reason why the marriage of Tsarevna Irina Mikhailovna of Russia and Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein never happened. This matrimonial failure was viewed by the Russian government as a major international humiliation. The Orthodox suitors of royal rank could be found only in the distant kingdoms of Georgia. The prospect of a Russo-Georgian royal marriage was contemplated but ultimately fell through. --Ghirla^-трёп- 07:02, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There was a comparable situation with the Makedonioi princesses, by the way. --Ghirla^-трёп- 07:04, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

September 22

Historically speaking, what did people with gender dysphoria do before the sex reassignment surgery was ever performed?

Did they just live as members of the other sex? Or did they unhappily accept their birth sex? Did they attempt to remove their external sex organs because they thought it was not theirs? 71.79.234.132 (talk) 04:18, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If Kathoeys, Hijras, and other Third gender individuals are any indication, they would at least try to live as their desired sex, if not become eunuchs. I've previously been given the impression that Two-Spirit peoples would apparently figure that being a man in a woman's body or a woman in a man's body just meant double the fun. Elegabalus offered a lot of money to any doctor who could turn him into a woman. Ian.thomson (talk) 04:32, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If you look up berdache and shamanism, you will see there is a phenomenon among tribal peoples where certain people going through puberty become "sick" (we would say acutely depressed) and often with the consultation of an elder shaman (who may not himself be transgender, but who has been taught the phenomenon) will emerge as the opposite gender after some transitional period. This is known throughout Siberia and North America. The transformed person doesn't have to become a shaman himself, sometimes they simply take up the opposite gender role and often shack up with someone of their own sex but live as husband and wife. I don't think we have an article, but among the indigenous Mexicans until today there is the concept of a mallate who is a man who is respected and treated as a heterosexual who has an effeminate/transgender homosexual "wife". I have met some myself. One relevant source would be Studies in Siberian Shamanism by Henry N. Michael, although I am not sure if that's the book that tells of the Siberians who change sex role, but who don't become shamans, and simply live as the opposite sex in a normal two-person couple. μηδείς (talk) 17:54, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly related: Enaree, Galli, and Gala. Ian.thomson (talk) 18:03, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

So... are there any indigenous Western European populations that recognize a third-gender or have some sort of special status for third-gendered individuals? 71.79.234.132 (talk) 18:46, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Duke of Half-"

In several articles about 14th/15th century Polish noblemen, they are described as "Duke of half-placename". For example, Henry V of Iron, is said to be "Duke of Duke of half-Głogów, and ... Duke of half-Ścinawa"; Konrad VII the White is described somewhat confusingly as "sole Duke of half of Ścinawa"; Bolko II the Small is "Duke over half of Brzeg and Oława from 1358 ... and Duke over half of Głogów and Ścinawa".

Does anyone know what is meant by this? Was there another duke of the other half? Was it that they only laid claim/controlled one half? Was being "Duke of half-placename" an actual contemporary title? Or is this just a bad translation, that would benefit from a better explanation? Sotakeit (talk) 14:10, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See Duchy of Głogów for an explanation. Under the Polish hereditary system at the time, the lands were partitioned between claimants, meaning duchies and fiefs split, reunited, and attached themselves to other lands as various births, marriages and deaths took place. Mogism (talk) 14:20, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Such "splits" occur in other systems as well. See Partible inheritance, Gavelkind, Salic patrimony, Abeyance, etc. Such systems generally predate primogeniture systems. The Lord Great Chamberlain office in the United Kingdom is one such subdivided hereditary office. There are currently 14 people with some share of the office, ranging in portion from 1/2 ownership down to 1/100 ownership. This is also why so many Germanic duchies ended up excessively hyphenated. The duchies got split and split again into smaller and smaller portions, which is why we get duchies like the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach. --Jayron32 14:30, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

September 23

Shanty houses in Hong Kong

Has this slum been demolished already in that area or does it still exist? --112.198.82.85 (talk) 01:52, 23 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The file description includes the photographer's name and a link to his "personal website". You might be able to contact him there. Btw, here is an internal link to file page: File:Shanty housing in Hong Kong.jpeg —71.20.250.51 (talk) 04:05, 23 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

...burgh

In the late nineteenth century, the United States Board on Geographic Names decided to standardise toponyms throughout the United States, a process that resulted in places such as Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania and Alburgh, Vermont losing the "h" on the end. It provoked a particularly strong response in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, which unlike the other Pittsburghs, decided that it wanted to keep the "h". Do we have an article on this process? I didn't see anything in the Newburgh articles that I consulted (Indiana and New York), and while Etymology of Pittsburgh addresses the situation, it doesn't link to any articles. Nyttend (talk) 03:19, 23 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know about WP articles, and I'm away from my books; but as I recall, there's a fairly extensive treatment of the Board on Geographic Names's principles and their implementation in George R. Stewart's very interesting book Names on the Land. Deor (talk) 03:34, 23 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

American birthday or lunar birthday

For Hu Jintao It cites his birthday is December 21, 1942, is that his lunar birthday or is that his American Gregorian birthday. Also Yasuo Fukuda's birthday is cited July 16, 1936 do they do lunar calendar in Japan. Is July 16 Fukuda's American Gregorian birthday or it is his lunar birthday? Because I found a website you can convert American Gregorian to lunar birthday. Can we legally define our birthday to be lunar birthday instead of American birthday in USA? Lets say somebody's American birthday is June 18 then can they use their birthday as lunar birthday documenting May 3 (If that is the right match)? Can I use my lunar birthday as legal birthday in USA instead of American Gregorian birthday? For East Asian Politics do WP present them as American Gregorian birthday or lunar birthday?--107.202.105.233 (talk) 06:10, 23 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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	For [[Hu Jintao]] It cites his birthday is December 21, 1942, is that his lunar birthday or is that his American Gregorian birthday. Also [[Yasuo Fukuda]]'s birthday is cited July 16, 1936 do they do lunar calendar in Japan. Is July 16 Fukuda's American Gregorian birthday or it is his lunar birthday? Because I found a website you can convert American Gregorian to lunar birthday. Can we legally define our birthday to be lunar birthday instead of American birthday in USA? Lets say somebody's American birthday is June 18 then can they use their birthday as lunar birthday documenting May 14? Can I use my lunar birthday as legal birthday in USA instead of American Gregorian birthday? For East Asian Politics do WP present them as American Gregorian birthday or lunar birthday?--[[Special:Contributions/107.202.105.233\|107.202.105.233]] ([[User talk:107.202.105.233\|talk]]) 06:10, 23 September 2014 (UTC)		For [[Hu Jintao]] It cites his birthday is December 21, 1942, is that his lunar birthday or is that his American Gregorian birthday. Also [[Yasuo Fukuda]]'s birthday is cited July 16, 1936 do they do lunar calendar in Japan. Is July 16 Fukuda's American Gregorian birthday or it is his lunar birthday? Because I found a website you can convert American Gregorian to lunar birthday. Can we legally define our birthday to be lunar birthday instead of American birthday in USA? Lets say somebody's American birthday is June 18 then can they use their birthday as lunar birthday documenting May 3 (If that is the right match)? Can I use my lunar birthday as legal birthday in USA instead of American Gregorian birthday? For East Asian Politics do WP present them as American Gregorian birthday or lunar birthday?--[[Special:Contributions/107.202.105.233\|107.202.105.233]] ([[User talk:107.202.105.233\|talk]]) 06:10, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

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