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March 24

Hitler's "compassion"

Inspired by the Gay Nazi section above I saw this in the Rohm article: "as a last act of compassion, [Hitler} ensured he had an opportunity to commit suicide first". Why was Rohm's and others' chance to commit suicide seen as a better gesture than killing them outright since they were already sentenced to death? Julia Rossi (talk) 00:05, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Its the admission of being wrong in one's belief that homosexuality is an acceptable sexual orientation so as to show one's support for and harmony with the Nazi state (ideal of heterosexual orientation) despite being sentenced to death for being a homosexual contrary to the ideal. ${\aleph _{0}}^{\aleph _{0}}$ _{(talk) (email)} 00:25, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

In some cultures, the Japanese culture comes to mind, of course, suicide has been regarded as an honorary method to conclude one´s life, whilst an execution was shameful.

Consider that virtually all of the top Nazis (Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Goering, Bormann) comitted suicide. Adolf Eichmann is the only major official who did not follow this path.

It does, fortunately, sound entirely alien and sick to us, but granting to somebody the right to suicide was a privilege in the twisted Aryan "Blood and Honour" mythos of the Third Reich. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 00:27, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Is this what explains the many suicides of the youthful and radical followers of Islam? 71.100.1.14 (talk) 00:31, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Martyrdom is entirely different from Seppuku or its German equivalent. --S.dedalus (talk) 00:49, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Would you describe the act of Jesus Christ as somewhere in between? 71.100.175.66 (talk) 01:21, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Would you describe yourself as a troll? :) --S.dedalus (talk) 03:45, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

No, as a Jew. However, your post fits the act of a troll very well. 71.100.175.66 (talk) 08:17, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I will ignore the above posting, as it is logically unrelated to Julia´s query.

On seconds thoughts, if you were on death row, you may prefer suicide to the degrading spectacle of being strapped to some contraption and know that 20 witnesses watch your death throes.

Consider also, that some of the executions in the Third Reich were gruesomely slow executions where victims struggled for half an hour against impending death. The offer of a gun may have been almost a sign of human compassion. As you know, Ernst Röhm refused this offer. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 00:45, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Ah, thanks all – I was wondering about the cultural meaning of even being given the choice. Maybe Röhm had something else at stake. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:49, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

By "else" i mean something in his own mind, to his own way of thinking. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:51, 24 March 2008 (UTC) ...spiritual reconciliation with the ideals of the Nazi State, perhaps for the benefit of his family or friends is what I think is implied by the response above. 71.100.175.66 (talk) 01:40, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm guessing but - family and war pension - being shot as a traitor leaves the family in an awkwards position. Commiting suicide lets them avoid the court martial and firing squad - leaving them with a 'clean slate' - did that make sense.?87.102.16.238 (talk) 10:30, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

There does seem to be a culpability factor. Thanks all, Julia Rossi (talk) 02:22, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

to give somebody the possibility to commit suicide was a custom all over Europe. The custom is even portrayed in movies. If I remember correctly The Life of Emile Zola shows Dreyfus being offered a handgun.--Tresckow (talk) 04:43, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Tresckow is absolutely right: it was a general practice among soldiers of all nations. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:48, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

American economic history

Is the following objectively correct?: In the 20th Century, lasting/major conflicts have had a positive effect on the American economy: WW1, WW2 and the Vietnam war all gave an good boost to the US economy, primarily through industrial production and employment: but the current Iraq war, although a lasting conflict, has not stimulated the economy, as top-level technology has not significantly increased industrial production nor employment. Thanks for help and information, --AlexSuricata (talk) 01:05, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Nationally I'm unsure, but following internet bubble, and post 9/11 has greatly helped to expand the Northern Virginia area according to this Time article which referred to Fairfax County, Virginia as ""one of the great economic success stories of our time." (albeit because of our so-called "Rich Uncle.) Essentially, government, and government contract jobs makes Fairfax County, Virginia have a unemployement rate of 1.9% incomparison of the national rate of 4.9%. The main reason is that is geographically extremely close to the Nation's Capital, and that many private and public companies and Fortune Five Hundred companies are located within the county's borders. Most of said companies deal with the Military-industrial complex, intelligence gathering, technology/IT/technical for government and companies, lobbying, or just white collar/professional employement. Besides that, Fairfax County, and next door neighbor Loudoun County have the first and second highest medium incomes in the nation respectively, for the same reasons. The Northern Virginia/DC Capital Area is just booming due to the influx of federal spending. As an aside, mine own father works as a Computer program developer and tester for the CIA (I think; he legally can't tell me anything. Kinda cool huh?). I hope this helped to answer at least part of your question. Zidel333 (talk) 01:31, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

It may be that the post-9/11 military spending has helped the DC Metro Area and perhaps other regions dependent on military spending, but nationally it is hard to find a positive effect. Instead, spending on the Iraq war and other military activity has increased the budget deficit and contributed to the U.S. current account deficit, to the detriment of the overall economy. Also, the pouring of resources into essentially unproductive uses instead of into productive infrastructure or other capital weakens the U.S. economy in the long run. In fact, while the Vietnam War stimulated the economy in the short run, in the somewhat longer run, it undermined the dollar by forcing the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and led to the harmful stagflation of the 1970s. I think that if you look closely at the supposed positive economic effects of wars, they amount to no more than short-term stimulus that does the economy more harm than good long-term. While a long-term boom followed World War II, after a late-40s recession, this can be better explained by structural factors that favored the U.S. economy in the aftermath of the war than by the warmaking itself. No war since has placed the United States in a such a favorable global position, and arguably every war since the Korean War has weakened the position of the United States in the global economy. Marco polo (talk) 02:16, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I neglected to say that an almost decade-long boom followed WWI in the United States (though not so much in Europe), again due to the way the war improved the global economic position of the US rather than due to the short-term stimulus of the warmaking (which led to a sharp recession in 1919–1920). World Wars I and II improved the global economic position of the United States mainly by devastating the economies of its main competitors (Britain and Europe in World War I, Britain, Europe, and to a lesser extent Japan in World War II). This left the United States in the position of the world's workshop and supplier. Quite unrelated to these wars, however, the United States was rising to global ascendancy due to 1) its relatively early industrialization and extensive transport infrastructure, 2) its large and rapidly expanding population, commanding a relatively high standard of living, and 3) the size of its market. While its competitors mostly shared the first advantage, they did not share the second or third to the same extent. Since World War II, the United States's military adventures have not brought the same advantages for the following reasons: 1) wars since World War II have diverted US resources from productive investment while leaving its main competitors (Europe and increasingly East Asia) free to invest in new and more productive infrastructure and industrial plant, 2) the second and third advantages of the United States listed above have diminished. The United States population is not expanding as rapidly as it once did, and the median standard of living has actually been dropping due in part to policies that have sharply increased income disparities in the United States, eroding the purchasing power of the median household. Meanwhile, the main competitors of the United States have internal markets that are potentially as large or larger (China) or have combined in trading blocks to compete with the United States on the basis of scale (European Union). Therefore, the United States no longer enjoys the same structural advantages over its competitors as it did in the first half of the 20th century at the same time that it has, in effect, been wasting its resources on wars that did not improve its economic position while its competitors have been building their economies. Marco polo (talk) 20:10, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Break-up of the Soviet Union

How strongly did the Soviet Union in the period 1981-1991 fear a possible coming civil war? Thanks, --AlexSuricata (talk) 01:16, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

What broke the State occurred at the top and not the middle or the bottom. 71.100.175.66 (talk) 01:25, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Very strongly, although 71.100.175.66 is essentially correct. --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 01:29, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Erm is that true? Did anyone in the soviet union say in 1985 even vaguely fear civil war. This is news to me. References please etc??87.102.16.238 (talk) 11:15, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Post 1985, but: There was the August coup (1991) against Gorbachev, there was his resignation and the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet. Under Yeltsin there was widespread corruption, economic collapse and the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis when the parliament was shelled by tanks.

If you imagine similar events: President X steps down, Congress and Senate dissolve, California and the newly formed Confederate States cede from the Union. The role of the armed forces is not necessarily clear cut as tanks are rolling towards Washington. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 13:46, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Nazi justice and foreign workers

First, my belated thanks to the person who gave such a wonderful response to my last set of questions on the Nazi state. I would like to build on this by asking one more. Germany had a huge number of foreign workers from 1940 onwards, some forced and some voluntary. I would like to know precisely how crimes, misdemeanours and the like committed by these people were treated by the normal apparatus of law and justice? Some were treated worse than others, I know, but precisely how? Tee Pot (talk) 13:26, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Attitude towards disabled people in Buddhism

I have heard and sometimes read that certain elements of Buddhism discriminate people born with disabilities as they believe it to be punishment for former life. I would be greateful for more information on that subject.--Molobo (talk) 14:41, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

This does not form part of Buddhist teaching. You may be thinking of the caste system, which is a Hindu tradition. You might be interested to read about karma in Hinduism and karma in Buddhism.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:26, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Analyzing "bog land" by Seamus Heaney

I understand that I am not supposed to ask for homework help, but I am totally stumped. Its for English Literature, and I'm supposed to be analyzing the poem "bog land" by Seamus Heaney. Currently all I've got is that the poem represents Irish history - with the layers of the bog preserving it (such as finding bog bodies from thousands of years ago). I'm not asking that anyone analyze the poem for me, only that if some kind person could point me in the right direction or give me a few hints. Thank you. Sincerely, Robbert. 79.76.231.232 (talk) 16:15, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

This search may help. There seems to be good stuff out there, such as Landscape or Mindscape? Seamus Heaney's Bogs. I hope this answer does not prevent a more knowledgeable soul from assisting. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:26, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Looking for any information on Harold Johnson, 60s-era jazz pianist

Hello there. I'm looking for whatever information is available on 60s era jazz pianist Harold Johnson of the Harold Johnson Sextet. Repeated google searches have turned up very little info. I've managed to find a very basic bio, but I'm looking for whatever additional information is available, such as: Is he still alive? Where is he living? Is he still playing? How do I contact him for bookings? etc etc. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance. (Santegeezhe (talk) 18:39, 24 March 2008 (UTC))

Please sign future edits by typing four tildes (~~~~) after your post. As you can see here wikipedia, currently does not have any info on the person you are looking for. Perhaps you could use a search engine. When and if you find anything you may want to create a page about him here on wikipedia. Please make sure it follows Wikipedia: guidelines and WP:N though. Thanks --Camaeron (t/c) 17:44, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Googling "Harold Johnson Sextet" brings up a mention of him (without a redlink) in Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler and a short article here which is clearly about your man but may be the bio you have already? Here is a page which says that in 1967 he was still a senior at the Washington High School in Westmont, California and may be the same Harold Johnson who later played keyboards on Motown recordings and was an organist behind Liz McComb. An interview here also mentions him - "There was a guy named Harold Johnson who was a grade ahead of me in my piano class in Horace Mann Junior High School. He also played in his father’s church... When I got to Washington High School, there was a talent show that he played in with his own band." You could try calling the local paper and/or public library in Westmont. Xn4 00:26, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Time Capsule

Hello. The term "time capsule" was used since 1937. The idea of time capsules existed 5000 years ago. What were time capsules called before 1937? Thanks in advance. --Mayfare (talk) 21:40, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

On a wider scale: Books? Manuscripts? Cave paintings? Language? Evolution?

All of those are time capsules of a kind. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:33, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Burials with personal things and treasures or artifacts worked as time capsules but were not likely intended that way – even if they were meant to be collected later in the afterlife it's for "use" rather than for post-time value. Looks like it's a retrospective kind of application. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:57, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Musical instrument learning resources (Piano in particular)

I'm looking for recommendations on resources for learning different musical instruments. My main goal is to find a quality resource for learning piano/keyboard, but I'd also appreicate if you could recommend me some for ANY other instruments, especially guitar and percussion. Thanks! --Voyaging ^(talk) 21:59, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

While self-taught can work, I've found having a real live teacher saves so much learning the hard way. But it's hard to recommend a teacher in person over the web. Do you have any friends whose kids take lessons? That may be a good way to find a good teacher. NB that for piano, people generally also learn to read standard music notation, whereas for guitar many play by ear or learn tablature or some other system. Hope you have fun! WikiJedits (talk) 15:12, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't know what a resource is, but Mel Bay's "Rhythm Guitar Chord System" is excellent. --Milkbreath (talk) 15:59, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

By resource, I mean just basically anything you can use to help teach yourself. Books, videos, sites, references, etc. Thanks guys for the help! I'm probably going to try to find a teacher. --Voyaging ^(talk) 16:50, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm late, I'm late, I'm LATE... For weeks I've been combing the humanities desk for a music question and this one somehow slipped between my fingers...

Well, to answer that question, nothing beats a one-on-one teacher-student conference, period. But if you want something on the side, I've found a handful of videos on YouTube (you can get started here) from a long list of installments. Of course, I wouldn't recommend on relying on these entirely, but you can watch these on weekends, after lessons, etc. Sorry again for the delay in reply! =)--~~MusicalConnoisseur~~ Got Classical? 05:00, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Hehe, no worries. Thanks for the reply, I'll check those videos out and probably get a teacher. Voyaging^(talk) 01:55, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

March 25

Nation and Ethnic Group

What is the difference between the terms nation and ethnic group. Is there a certain criteria differentiating one from the other.

A huge difference, a nation is a political entity which (hopefully) endears itself to social and cultural unity for all the different sub-groups with in it. An ethnic group is a group of people sharing at the very least a genetic linkage, and sometimes a social and/or cultural link as wel, howevere the two can exist very independently, and can split each other up. If we look in the conext of Africa. When the Europeans arrived they thought Africans should be divided up into ethnic groups and tribes because that is what they expected, and thus in a way you could argue they invented tribalism and emphasised the idea of unity within ethnic groups. Then they drew nations around these groups, unintentionally splitting up the true social groups with political boundaries. Look at the troubles within Kenya now, there is little nationalism because loyalty is to ethnic and social groups rather than to the political entity that is Kenya the nation. Nationalism was not a known concept at first in Africa because people didn't give their loyalty to nations, but to other social committments. So there is an interplay between the two, but they can affect each other greatly and exist independently. SGGH ^speak! 02:12, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid I must disagree. A nation is not the same as a country. Try reading Nation#Ambiguity_in_usage for a start, and compare that with ethnic group, particularly ethnicity and nation. Nationalism and the European conception of the nation-state are also useful related concepts. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:01, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I'd certainly agree with BrainyBabe's commentary, and I think the question is a good one to ponder. My opinion (based on my experience and reading, which in this area is not very extensive) is that when I use "ethnic group" I am talking about a self-identified community that is organized primarily around shared ancestry/race, whereas when I use "nation" I am talking about a self-identified community that organizes itself primarily around societal/political structure. The Kurds, in my example, are an ethnic group (they see themselves as a biological community), and most Kurds would identify themselves as a nation (that is, a community that is or ought to be unified structurally). I might call Native Americans an ethnic group (I think that's a community connected biologically) but not a nation (this is not a group seeking to unify itself in one structure, from my perspective...nations for Native Americans are at a lower level: the Navajo, for example, which I would call an ethnic group and a nation). "Americans" (or whatever we call the denizens of the United States) are, in my terminology, a nation but not an ethnic group. I believe I am using these words as they ought to be, but if anyone has a better (and more easily explained) distinction I'd be anxious to know it. Hope this helps, Jwrosenzweig (talk) 04:05, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

It is always difficult to stake out the differences between two closely related notions, each of which is somewhat fluid. Although members of an ethnic group will often have a larger genetic commonality among themselves than with randomly selected people, it is a mistake to use genetic linkage one way or another as a criterion for ethnicity. The most important aspect, in my opinion, is a shared culture, which includes many aspects, such as language, art, myths, customs, dress, and cuisine. Also important is a sense of a group-derived identity, of belonging to the group, which is only possible if there is a shared culture. Quite naturally, people who identify as members of an ethnic group are more likely to marry within the group, which explains the stability of genetic commonality.

I am not inclined to call the Native Americans an ethnic group; rather, they are a conglomeration of many diverse ethnic groups.

The word nation is related to nativity, and originally indicated a group of people, such as a tribe, related by birth. The "German nation", as used in "the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" (Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicae, Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation), consisted originally of an ethnic group, the Germans – although in 1512, when this name was adopted, the Empire had expanded so as to extend to many non-German ethnic groups. It is only with the advent of the nation state (which the Holy Roman Empire was not), with its ideology of nationalism, that the notion of "nation" acquires a new meaning, diverging from that of an ethnic group. The new notion of "nation" becomes primarily political: a group of people who share a sovereign territory under a common leadership, and have a sense of sharing a common destiny.  --Lambiam 13:43, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

translators/interpretors salary

how much do they make an hour, like court interpreters and medical interpretors?

In the US, $35319.23 - $57864.66 for court interpreters and bilingual job descriptions as at 2005. Another google find (search: court interpreter salary) gives 30k to 80k pa. A nice link to FAQs on this is here[1]. Julia Rossi (talk) 09:32, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Deletion of "list of automobiles - makes with histories.

Hello, I have never asked a question before which will become obvious shortly. I was reviewing the entrie(s) in the above topic/listing and saw a discussion, I believe, about deleting the above lists? Will they be replaced with something similiar or new? Are they believed to be incorrect? I have found them to be very interesting and informative. They are, I believe, rather incredible w/ many names, makes etc. that are completely unknown to me along with their histories, pictures etc.

It appears this "deletion" is imminent(sic). Could you please advise as to the current decision, if any? Would there be a similiar replacement of them? Where should I look for an answer? Thank you for your patience! Respectfully, jdmoran2Jdmoran2 (talk) 03:04, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I couldn't find the article you're talking about. The best way to get an answer here would be for you to go to the article you mean, copy the title, and paste it here between double square brackets, like this: Audi. This will create a link that will take us straight to it. --Milkbreath (talk) 10:49, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

1937 Soviet census

What literacy rate did the 1937 Soviet census determine for the USSR? The education in the Soviet Union article gives the literacy rate in 1939, but the 1939 census was doctored by the government and is not reliable. --Bowlhover (talk) 05:23, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Bowlhover, are you still interested in this? If so, come to my talk page and we can discuss it there. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:39, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Absurd Philosophical Notion

Which writer or philosopher was it, or have there been several, who raised the notion that we only admire great men of history because of the atrocities which they committed? In other words, for instance, Lincoln would not have been lauded as nearly so great a leader if he hadn't shown a willingness to shed blood on the battlefield. Our saints and prophets are marginalized and neglected, for the most part, while those who make haste to commit murder and evil are commended as heroes and saints. Even our most acclaimed cultural and historical figures - such as Washington, Lincoln, and FDR - have undergone this process. It sounds vaguely Swiftian, but I don't recall Swift ever going quite as far as this.

Thanks once again for your help! MelancholyDanish (talk) 06:34, 25 March 2008 (UTC)MelancholyDanish

Social Darwinism? and the relentless publicity machine, PR (aka history)– usually commandeered by the victors. my bad, you were looking for a philosopher who raised the idea... apols  ; ) Julia Rossi (talk) 09:21, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

First thought that came to mind was Max Weber's disctinction of ethics of responsibility ("Verantwortungsethik") and ethics of conviction ("Gesinnungsethik") in Politics as a Vocation. But I believe similar thoughts can also be found in Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality and all the way back to Machiavelli's thoughts on Agathocles. ---Sluzzelin talk 11:02, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Hannah Arendt talked of the "banality of evil" in relation to Eichmann. Might she have had something to say about this question? -- JackofOz (talk) 21:35, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Conquest of the Desert and the 1982 war for the Islas Malvinas (Falklands)

In what way precise way did Argentina's nineteenth century Conquest of the Desert lead to the later dispute with Britain over these islands? I have more in mind here than simple geographic proximity. TheLostPrince (talk) 06:48, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Argentina only claims sovereignty on the Falkland Islands on geographical grounds (the islands are located on the Patagonia's continental shelf, see: Argentine Sea). The Patagonia became a part of Argentina after the Conquest of the Desert, so if this hadn't taken place Patagonia would either be independent or it would belong to any of the other countries that were interested in the region (France, Spain, UK) and Argentina would have never fought against Britain. Hope this helps. --Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 16:24, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

According to Falkland Islands, Argentina has claimed the islands since independence on the basis of prior Spanish claims. Is this incorrect? Algebraist 17:03, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

No, because Spain was the Island's sovereign until 1811, but when the revolution broke out Spain had to move their troops, leaving the Islands unprotected. That is why Argentina's Uti possidetis claim applies, because no treaty was ever signed by Spain or Argentina.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 19:59, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I've never seen Patagonia called The Patagonia before. Is this correct usage, or old-fashioned, like The Lebanon? Snorgle (talk) 11:28, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Oops, sorry, that was just my own translation. In Spanish you refer to Patagonia as "La Patagonia", and I just forgot how it's called in English.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 12:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

help plz

i m writing something on what makes life insecure ( imean the external influences) such as bomb blast, political unrest, inequality of life leading to crimes). Can anyone please provide some good sources for primary reading. and citation or anyone who has written about these things (any online essay or link).

:Just had to decap your question or you might be ignored (kidding), Julia Rossi (talk) 09:26, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

There's this[2] in our article on lists of publications in sociology: social change section. Then if you really, really like reading, there's the Pierre Bourdieu article – a social scientist who talks about kinds of capital (as in what people have going for them – or not). Happy reading, Julia Rossi (talk) 09:53, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Things People Have Crossed Canada In

Alright. I know Terry Fox ran across canada. I know Rick Hansen wheelchaired across canada. Some woman went paddling across it. Is there a list somewhere of Things People Have Crossed Canada In For Charity? 24.69.167.145 (talk) 08:40, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Terry Fox completed about two-thirds, so I take it your list is not of people who completed the journey. There must have been early voyageurs who crossed all of known Canada by canoe. Amelia Earhart flew across part in her early aviation trips. BrainyBabe (talk) 09:40, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

You can add walking, rollerblading, cycling, car and RV but I don't know of any existing list. WikiJedits (talk) 15:18, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Barbara Kingscote rode her horse Zazy across Canada in 1949 when she was 20, and much later wrote this up as Ride the Rising Wind [3]. There's a touching review of her giving a reading here. BrainyBabe (talk) 09:58, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Critique of Dialectical Reason

In what way does Sartre use his existensial phenomenology to support the arguments he advances in the Critique of Dialectical Reason? F Hebert (talk) 11:54, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Marxism and Existentialism

Is it possible to reconcile a determinist doctrine like Marxism and the subjective forms of freedom that Sartre had promoted for most of his intellectual life? Was his attempt to do so a final surrender to intellectual dishonesty and creeping bad-faith? F Hebert (talk) 11:57, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

These will be on the mid-term. --Wetman (talk) 01:10, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

If you bend them enough, you can reconcile any two doctrines.  --Lambiam 13:54, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Herbert, I'll post an answer to your questions on my talk page tommorrow. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:37, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

War of the Two Matildas

Hello, all good people. I need some guidance from you historians. Would it be OK for me to describe the English Anarchy of the twelfth century as the War of the Two Matildas? Thanx.

Well, Matilda of Boulogne was only involved because she happened to be Stephen's wife, so I don't think that would be the best description. I guess you can call it whatever you want in your daily life, but on Wikipedia you should stick to The Anarchy (unless this counts as a reliable source!). Adam Bishop (talk) 12:40, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

In fact there was a stage when it might very well have been described as the War of the Two Matildas! Clio the Muse (talk) 03:45, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

gear vehicle

Are all cars sold in developed countries non-gear automatic cars? What about truck?

Can you clarify what you mean by "non-gear automatic"? I'm not sure what specific car type you're referring to.

Regardless, the answer is almost certainly "no". Cars in the US are sold with both manual and automatic transmissions, commonly with 4 to 6 gears, and continuously variable transmissions are emerging in the market. Pickup trucks share the same options, but large trucks are predominantly fitted with manual transmissions. In any event, it is unlikely that all cars will be fitted into any such category. — Lomn 13:50, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Also, the tendency to like automatic transmissions is mainly a USA thing, for whatever reason. Americans also tend to favor ridiculously large, living-room-on-wheels type vehicles- apparently valuing sitting in comfort more than they value actual driving. We take steps to improve auto safety, but this generally involves forcing manufacturers to make heavier vehicles, rather than encouraging people to actually pay attention while driving. Our cars show this. The rest of the world tends to make fun of us for that. Friday (talk) 14:54, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

citation needed.

Sorry. Perhaps that was a bit soapboxy. I'm confident that the bit about automatics being way more common in the US than most of the rest of the world is factually correct, tho. Friday (talk) 15:10, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree with you completely, Friday. If everyone in this country had manual transmissions then they'd pay more attention to driving than phone calls, eating, applying lipstick, shaving, etc. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 15:43, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Wishful thinking! People in the UK still do the same thing in manual cars. I have had someone say "hang on, I need to put the phone down to change gear" - even though using a non-hands-free phoe when diriving is illegal in the UK. -- Q Chris (talk) 18:27, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

It's illegal here too, but it really isn't enforced throughly enough. I didn't see a single police car on my 30 minute drive to work this morning, but I did see scores of people yakking away on their cell phones. Anyway, the fact is that the person calling you knew that he/she had to change the gear means that they were paying more attention to the road than someone with an automatic whose frontal vision turns into peripheral vision the moment they start talking. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 18:49, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Automatics are rare in Europe. User:Krator (t c) 15:18, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

81.93.102.185 (talk) 15:42, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

How does anyone know people driving sticks pay more attention than those driving automatics? has this been documented? Or is it a big assumption people make? Does driving an automatic make you lazy, or do lazy, inattentive drivers tend to prefer automatics? I drive an automatic and don't talk on my cell, and try to look where I'm going most of the time. I'm not sure paying more attention to my transmission would make me a better driver. It seems like substituting one distraction for another.66.152.245.18 (talk) 20:36, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Here's one source discussing the question. And there are plenty of forum posters with personal opinions, of course. I have to imagine the insurance companies would know- they're interested in any factors that help them predict who's likely to be in an accident. That one source implies it's a wash, though. In the US, where the vast majority of cars are automatics, the manuals tend to be either economy cars or performance cars. The performance-car enthusiasts may enjoy driving more, and thus may pay more attention.. or they may be irresponsible kids taking stupid risks. I dislike cars that get you away from the feel of driving, because I think they make the driver more likely to forget he's holding a deadly weapon in his hands. But, people are capable of being inattentive in manuals, too. I think the most neutral answer is "go with what you prefer." Friday (talk) 20:54, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Manual transmissions are more common in other countries as petrol (gasoline) is generally much more expensive and manuals are more economical. Exxolon (talk) 00:55, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

If the direct-shift gearbox becomes widespread, we could see automatic transmissions without torque converters, which is mostly what causes their inefficiency. And presumably automatic shift timing will also get better with technology. Right now efficiency, convenience, and performance are the biggest factors in what people decide to drive. But it's just a matter of time before technology catches up, and it will be no less efficient to drive an automatic. Then it will be purely a question of how much people prefer manual operation vs. automatic. 66.152.245.18 (talk) 17:36, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

From my own experience in the UK, some of the larger hire car companies provide automatics by default as they are "easier" to drive in that there is usually only one configuration (Neutral, Park, Reverse and Drive gears). Manual geared cars can have 7 gears or more depending on the make and the layout of the stick selection varies from model to model. In view of this, UK drivers can obtain an "automatic only" driving license which gives them the right to drive but prevents them from ever using a car with a manual gearbox unless they retake the full test. Historically, automatics were more expensive and seen as a "luxury" item - today a flappy paddle gearbox still is. 84.66.15.200 (talk) 06:47, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Whereas some off-road vehicles have "seven gears or more" (often accessed by a separate "low ratio" shift leaver and a "standard" shift lever), and some high performance sports cars have six forward gears plus reverse, almost all cars have five forward plus reverse. Some low range have only four forward plus reverse. Every car I have come across since the citroen 2cv and the early Renaults were withdrawn (early 70s?) have a standard shift pattern for the forward gears. Reverse gear can be in different places and may need a collar bellow the stick to be lifted to go into reverse, but for forward driving people expect the standard layout.

The above layout will cover any car you are likely to come across will have the above pattern, maybe with the fith gear missing and with the reverse somewhere else. See Manual transmission for details, though note that column mounted changes are almost unheard of now and sequential gearboxes are normaly only used in track-racing, not road cars. In short European drivers expect to be able to get into a manual transmission car and not have to worry about where the forward gears are. BTW for most cars automatics are still more expensive in the UK, though luxury models often have it as a "no cost" option. -- Q Chris (talk) 10:26, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

My 2001 Renault Laguna (diesel estate) has six forward gears - hardly a 'high performance sports car'. --ColinFine (talk) 17:57, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Sony vs. Casio

What Phone has sold more units, the sony ericsson w580i or the casio G'Z one type-s?

Please don't post the same question on multiple desks. If somebody can find the answer, they'll provide it. --LarryMac | Talk 15:22, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Why not write to the two companies and ask? Going to the source seems like a good idea at this point. 08:32, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Scriabin's Sonata in E-Flat Minor (1889)

Alexander Scriabin is my favorite composer, and I enjoy playing his music on the piano. However, I have a couple recordings of people playing his 'Sonata in E-Flat Minor', and I can't seem to find the sheet music to this sonata. The work doesn't have an opus number, so that doesn't help much. It is a very interesting sonata from what I've heard in the recordings; I would love to play it myself. Does anyone know of anywhere I can buy a copy of this piece in sheet music form?

Allpianoscores has a downloadable pdf-file. It's free. ---Sluzzelin talk 19:26, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Awesome, thanks a lot!

SS

Hi all I would like a bit of information on the SS which operated in Nazi Germany. I have read the article on the SS but found it a bit overwhelming. I have heard the SS being called a 'state within a state'. Could anyone explain to me whether this is true or not and if so, how? I realise that the SS amassed great wealth through the use of slave labour during the second world war and that they operated as a sort of army and police force. Any expansion or simple explanations of the SS and their role would be much appreiciated!

Not to be condescending, but the version at the Simple English Wikipedia is briefer and (obviously) more simply written and may be more of what you're looking for. -Elmer Clark (talk) 06:10, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Rubles at turn of 20th century

I'm writing a short story set around 1900, and I have a question that I can't answer (and don't really know where to look for). Approximately how much would it cost, in rubles, to travel from the western Russian empire at this time across the ocean to America (say New York)? And if you don't know but have an idea where to look, that'd be good too. Any help would be appreciated! zafiroblue05 | Talk 22:54, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

This is a very cool question, so I had to take a stab, but it's a huge research project for a non-expert. Still, if no expert appears, maybe this can help get you started. The first part, cost of getting from your character's starting point to Hamburg or other main port (maybe Danzig? Bremen?) I have no idea. But as for the ship crossing, here are some interesting links:

American Historical Society of Germans From Russia: Passenger Ships and Immigration Links

100 Years of Emigrant Ships from Norway: Cost of passage, Norway – America This gives you 166 Kroner from Trondheim to Boston in 1900.

New York Times, April 9, 1892. Steerage Rates Raised This gives Bremen/Hamburg – New York passage as now up to $30 from $25 in 1892. ("steerage rates" might be a fruitful google search term.)

And a couple more interesting sites that popped up Emigration From Hamburg – description of the passage, though a bit earlier than you want. And Genoelogy.com gives the contact info for two America-Russia history societies.

Happy writing :) WikiJedits (talk) 18:21, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! Accord to this link from Google, rates were cut down to $18 in 1894, while this link from the early 1890s gives a rate of 6 pounds, and half rate for children. Now to find a historical exchange rate converter that goes back that far... zafiroblue05 | Talk 22:54, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The answer is on the tip of my tongue, but you might find answers in histories of Jewish emmigration. 192.117.101.209 (talk) 20:15, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Unreasonable and outdated dissatisfactions

Removed trolling. --Milkbreath (talk) 22:43, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Changing fortunes of the Nazi Party

Hi there I was wondering if anyone could help me understand how the fortunes of the Nazi party changed in their 12 years of power (1933-1945) or could recommend any books which deal with this subject. If you were wondering, this is a school assignment but I am asking for help as I have no idea about what to write. I think the defeat at Stalingrad in the second world war seems reasonable to mention as it was a change of fortune for the Nazis. If anyone could inform me of any other events which denoted a change of fortune for the Nazis or just give me some hints that would be great! Thanks.

Are you looking for the basis of the change of fortune? I can't find it just now but I have read somewhere that the current reason it is rejected is that it was deemed part of the Jewish agenda (see verse 26) to dominate the Earth and regard States and government as animals rather than as men. I'll keep looking for the reference. Multimillionaire (talk) 23:45, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Um, maybe it's a little early for me, but are you suggesting that Nazism is not in favor now because it is regarded as part of the "Jewish Agenda", which you have defined as a passage in Genesis? Because that's ridiculous, as well as ignorant. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 12:54, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes. As a member of law enforcement I am often within earshot of members of the brotherhood of which several members have been overheard expressing the point of view that because Hitler's grandfather was a Jew there is a Jewish connection which reveals a Jewish purpose. The purpose is to dominate the Earth of which government, business and a mered of other enterprises are a mere part. Multimillionaire (talk) 13:25, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Also, in 1943 the allies started targeting their oil sources in Romania (covered a little here). It had been the Axis plan to capture Arabian oil fields to ensure a supply, but obviously that didn't work out. — Laura Scudder ☎ 23:45, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I am reasonably certain that any "brotherhood" whom you might "overhear" as a member of law enforcement, Multimillionaire, is not likley to be a relaible source for reasoned political and social histories. Wild fringe theories based on distortions and misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise, yes; thoughtful analysis based on evidence, no. ៛ Bielle (talk) 17:27, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Kublai and Genghis

Why is Kublai Khan so much more famous than Genghis Khan in America, but Genghis is more famous in Europe? Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that American culture (South Park, Citizen Kane etc) always mention Kublai Khan whereas in the UK I'd never heard of him until these references but Genghis is infamous. Thanks a lot. 90.192.223.225 (talk) 18:00, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm American. I've never heard of Kublai Khan until 2 minutes ago when I read this question. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 18:32, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm also American and don't think that Kublai is more famous than Genghis here. Both are covered in world history school textbooks. Kublai might get a little more attention because Marco Polo claimed to have met him and because Kublai was also emperor of China. (I may be old, but not old enough to have met Kublai Khan!) Marco polo (talk) 18:54, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Marco Polo may also get relatively more attention in American textbooks because he's treated as a predecessor to Columbus.--Pharos (talk) 19:03, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Kublai Khan is almost certainly not better known than Genghis Khan in America. To the extent that Kublai Khan may be relatively more popular than in Europe, I would put that down to Xanadu in Citizen Kane, which was of course inspired by "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I imagine that Kublai Khan may also be more relatively popular in Britain than in the rest of Europe because of the Coleridge poem.--Pharos (talk) 19:01, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Another American who thinks Genghis is more famous than Kublai.--droptone (talk) 19:02, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

The questioner is probably thinking of What Would Brian Boitano Do?, which mentions Kublai Khan, but I believe that is only because it is such a bizarre reference. Referencing Genghis would have fit the meter as well, but it wouldn't had the same bizarre effect, since everyone knows who Genghis Khan is. In popular culture, he was the leader of the Mongols in the original Civilization, and my favourite, John Wayne played him in a movie. Adam Bishop 01:17, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Is that where he said "Truly this is the son of Genghis!"?  :) -- JackofOz (talk) 03:25, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Haha, that reminds me of an anecdote I once read - Wayne was directed to give that line "more awe", and on the next take he said "Awwww, truly this is the son of God!" Adam Bishop (talk) 13:53, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I hate to ruin a joke but I have to report that that anecdote was slightly fictitious. The "Truly this was the Son a Gaaad" quote is a real quote, but it comes from the 1965 movie The Greatest Story Ever Told, in which John Wayne is in a brief cameo role (all of 3 seconds) as a Roman centurion at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He's shown in darkness and facing away from the camera, silhouetted against the sunset with his cape waving in the breeze. He's only recognisable by his unmistakeable voice. The Conqueror was made 9 years earlier, in 1956. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:28, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I know, I thought we were referring to Greatest Story now. (And the anecdote came from "Movie Anecdotes" or some other book of apocrypha.) Adam Bishop (talk) 00:56, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

OT, but this reminded me of the Berryz Kobo's cover of Dschinghis Khan (song). Youtube has translated lyrics. — Shinhan < talk > 21:22, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Authorship and publication of Wikipedia

Who wrote the Wikepedia? Also, when was is publihed?

Volunteers wrote wikipedia anoymously and continue to edit it constantly; it's not been published in any real form. Kuronue | Talk 01:27, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

It seems to me that people asking this question are usually trying to fill out bibliographical citations. If that's your purpose, see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. Jwrosenzweig (talk) 04:09, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

In English law, Wikipedia is certainly published and is an "electronic publication" of the Wikimedia Foundation. There's no answer to 'When was [Wikipedia] published?' - but you can of course establish when particular statements or words in it were published. Xn4 09:05, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Republic of Ireland: Income tax liability for actors

I have checked Taxation in the Republic of Ireland and also read the material produced at the government website, as linked at the bottom of the WP article. Writers, painters, sculptors can be exempt from paying income tax in the Republic of Ireland, providing the work they do is "creative". (There are other qualifiers and distinctions, too, but this is enough for a lead-in to the question.) Does anyone know if musicians and/or actors, full-time or part-time, receive any taxation exemption or reduction based on their earnings in these fields. (I know it is possible that they may not pay taxes because of the limited amount they earn.) ៛ Bielle (talk) 19:46, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

stores in history

Before Auto Zone, Meineke, Pep Boys, and many other auto parts stores, there was Grand Auto. Before there was Home Depot and Lowe's, there was this home improvement store called J. Borg & Company. Whatever happened to them? Anyone know?72.229.136.18 (talk) 21:01, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Pep Boys has been around for quite a long time; the article indicates that the first store opened in 1921. In general, however, before large nationwide chains of any type, there were more local or perhaps regional operations. I'm not personally familiar with Grand Auto or J. Borg, where were these stores located? --LarryMac | Talk 21:05, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

J. Borg & Co. and Grand Auto were located in the San Francisco Bay Area, as far as I know.72.229.136.18 (talk) 03:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

H Donald Smith

What was her given name? - Kittybrewster ☎ 21:03, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

According to the National Portrait Gallery website [4], it is "Helen". The NPG -and ArtPrice- hyphenates the last two names as "Helen Donald-Smith". ៛ Bielle (talk) 21:15, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I see this information is now in the renamed Helen Donald-Smith article. You are quite welcome. ៛ Bielle (talk) 19:45, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

A painting by Picasso of Modigliani

Hello, Humanities. I am in desperate need of a good picture of Picasso's painting of Modigliani. In particular, the one in cubist style, made not long before Modigliani passed away. It is a portrait of Modigliani, taller than it is wide, I can only guess it is entitled "Modigliani". I would be much obliged for your help on the matter! 81.93.102.185 (talk) 22:36, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

PS. It was shown in the movie about Modigliani, as part of the exhibition contest. 81.93.102.185 (talk) 22:38, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I haven't seen the movie and can't trace the painting. I wonder, could you be thinking of Modigliani's portrait of Picasso (1915)? Xn4 08:42, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

This is the OP. No, this would not be the painting I had in mind. It follows closely the style of Picasso and Braque's cubism, that which Picasso used around 1910-1912. Indeed, see [5] for what is, stylistically, very close to "Modigliani" by Pablo Picasso. Edited for tildes and addition: I wonder if the picture is in private ownership by the Modigliani family. 213.161.190.228 (talk) 09:22, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Are you sure this is not a fictional portrait, sprouting from the fantasy of the filmmakers to spice up the film's largely fictional story?  --Lambiam 17:06, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

undent^. I've researched the movie further. It actually states that these works (Mexico, the Madness, Modigliani, all the pieces for the competition) are not real. Absolutely bummed about this. A good discussion actually follows here, on Imdb, from which I intend to pursue the hunt for the picture. Thank you for your replies! 81.93.102.185 (talk) 18:18, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Strories set in the Deep South

Is there any stories set in the Deep South, like Forrest Gump?

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter set in the deep South yes, like Forrest Gump, no. Julia Rossi (talk) 23:46, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

John Ball's In the Heat of the Night and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird come to mind, not to mention Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. -- JackofOz (talk) 00:00, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Song of the South? Exxolon (talk) 00:53, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh my lawd. That is the epitome of historical inaccuracy. bibliomaniac15 Hey you! Stop lazing around and help fix this article instead! 01:02, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

You'll be interested in the genre Southern literature.--Wetman (talk) 01:02, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Don't fret, Bibliomaniac. The OP didn't ask for an accurate picture of the deep South, just a book set there. 01:15, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

For more current reading, there is James Lee Burke's Dave Robichaux novels set in and around New Orleans and the bayou country, and those by Virginia Lanier with the bloodhound theme. ៛ Bielle (talk) 01:21, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

William Faulkner is an noble prize winning American genuis whose works focused on early 20th century Deep south. Plus, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemmingway, Tenessee Williams, Truman Capote. Those are some truly big ones. 68.229.113.142 (talk) 02:39, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is another well-known one. -- JackofOz (talk) 03:23, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

What about John Grisham? Adam Bishop (talk) 07:21, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Pulitzer Prize: The Yearling. Non PP: The Black Stallion's Ghost. And that female forensic pathologist who keeps digging up corpses. Atmospheric. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:38, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

My Dog Skip and Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood by Willie Morris are honorable mentions.72.229.136.18 (talk) 06:43, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

That female pathologist is Kathy Reichs, but, although much of her work is set in North Carolina, some of it is set in Montreal, as well. Corvus cornix_talk 18:24, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Montreal is in Latin America, after all. The weather may differ from Tennesseee, but the Confederate flag is seen as a decoration. BrainyBabe (talk) 01:31, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent is partly set in the deep south.HS7 (talk) 21:02, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

March 26

legal age for...

I read the archived question about the "legal drinking age" and I was wondering a few things.

1.)being that the legal buying age is 21, if you're 21st is on sunday and you want to buy liquor the day before. Are you allowed?

2.) has anyone read/heard of any specific laws in the state of virginia that are irregular of other drinking laws in the rest of the united states. if so, help!?! I've been looking for them online and can't find them.

3.) establishments, once again in virginia, that have a 21+ policy for entering do so at their own will, right? it isn't illegal to have someone that is under 21 in a bar. it's illegal to serve and/or have someone intoxicated in said bar, correct?

4.) since the zero tolerance law was made, I was also pulled over and given an under-aged possession charge. I have court on the day before my 21st birthday (next week). the initial reason for being pulled over wasn't stated until the officer first gave the car a once over, then was able to find an expired sticker on the license plate. 1.) I did allow him to give me a breathalyzer test because I didn't think that he'd ticket me (he did). I blew under the legal limit for being ticketed for a DUI, however he decided to ticket me for under-aged possession.

1.) if I hadn't consented, what would have happened? 2.) even though I did, drinking wasn't the initial reason for my being pulled over as the officer told me that I was driving just fine. 3.) is there a way to get out of this without having to hire a lawyer and/or do ASAP and community service?

71.63.38.230 (talk) 00:44, 26 March 2008 (UTC)Cimmaron

We don't give legal advice. Find more trustworthy hands to place yourself in, guy. Wrad (talk) 00:48, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

We don’t give legal ADVICE here. We do answer legal questions, which is what 1, 2, and 3 are. The last two we can’t help with however. --S.dedalus (talk) 01:36, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The answer to #1 is definitely no. I wonder if maybe you're referring to areas with blue laws, where it wouldn't be possible to buy alcohol on the Sunday itself, but I would still say the answer is certainly no. -Elmer Clark (talk) 06:18, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I believe that question 1 is related to the longstanding American common law principle that "a person attains a given age on the day before his corresponding birthday". So actually, it probably would be legal for you to buy alcohol the day before, but you might get to court before you meet anyone else who knows that. FiggyBee (talk) 06:41, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

You got a citation for the "longstanding American common law principle" that I've never heard of? Ed Fitzgerald (unfutz) ^{(talk / cont)} 09:36, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Also, those born on 29 February have a modest head start, as many systems of law deem their birthday in non-leap years to be 28 February. Xn4 08:20, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Mexicans in the US

Of the Mexican population in the US, how much of them are immigrants and how much are autochthonous of some annexed territory? Mr.K. (talk) 02:25, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

• I don't have the numbers on hand, but I believe the majority of Mexican Americans are neither, that the largest group is probably children and grandchildren of immigrants.--Pharos (talk) 02:35, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh yes, of course. There is still this possibility. It sounds quite plausible, by the way. Mr.K. (talk) 04:33, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

As for "autochthonous of some annexed territory", there were only a few areas populated by a relatively large number of Spanish speakers ca. 1836-1853 and included in the territories annexed by the U.S. -- mainly the city of San Antonio, the Rio Grande valley in south Texas, and northern New Mexico. I would doubt whether in 1848 most ancestors of most current-day Mexican-Americans were then living north of what is now the U.S.-Mexico border . AnonMoos (talk) 06:15, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I would also point out that, in New Mexico at least, the descendants of people who lived there before it was annexed by the United States do not identify and, I think, are not usually classified as Mexican or Mexican American. These people may be considered Latino or Hispanic. They typically identify as New Mexican or Spanish-American, but usually not as Mexican. In the views of many, they are no more Mexican than the Anglo-Americans are English nor than the Quebecois are French. Their ancestors were subjects of Mexico well over a hundred years ago, and then only at the periphery of Mexico and only for a couple of decades (after Mexico's independence from Spain). Marco polo (talk) 20:10, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Folk illnesses

I think this is more culture than science so I posted it here. Are there any other folk illnesses that only a certain culture gets, just curious? For example, it seems that only Filipinos suffer from Pasma while Bangungot sufferers seem to be concentrated in Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. --Lenticel ^(talk) 05:18, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Sickle cell is much more prevalent in sub-Saharan African and African-American populations than in the rest of the world's population, and Tay-Sachs disease is similarly overrepresented among Jews of Eastern European descent. Neither is 100% unique to those cultures, though, although there are certainly strong cultural connections between those groups and those diseases. -Elmer Clark (talk) 06:22, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

IANAD, but I am quite sure the question was about folk illnesses (specific medical conditions recognized by traditional medicine of the respective culture, but not by the modern medicine), and not about genetic disorders. Both Tay-Sachs and sickle-cell anemia are recessive genetic disorders, so two copies of the gene involved must be defective for the symptoms to emerge. Obviously, prevalence of marriages within a given culture or community increases the chance of this happening. As for non-genetic culture-specific illnesses of unclear etiology, there are conditions that are known from written tradition (like tzaraath) or historical texts (like Sudor anglicus) but not diagnosed as such by modern medicine. There are also conditions attributed by folk medicine to evil spirits or influences; these are religion- and culture-specific, of course. Please also note that we have a short article on Folk Illness that seems to stress the latter aspect. IANAD, so I will not expand it. Is there a doctor in the audience? Our article needs help! ;) . Cheers, --Dr Dima (talk) 07:18, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Zombies only exist in Haiti and its diaspora, because (some) Haitians believe in them. Similar chemical reactions in Japan are put down to the neurotoxic fugu fish. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:42, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to you both. --Lenticel ^(talk) 08:00, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

How about Fan death? APL (talk) 13:57, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

How about the article on this subject: Culture-bound syndrome? --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:20, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps Amok could be included in this list? Ninebucks (talk) 03:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

• Koro is a contagious disease that you are at risk of catching just by knowing what it is. Kuru is somewhat harder to contract. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 16:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Windows

When were glass windows invented? --Carnildo (talk) 06:46, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

According to Guns, Germs and Steel (through Google Books), the Romans invented them around 1 AD. Beyond that I'm not even sure where to start looking for info. Adam Bishop (talk) 07:18, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

See Fleming, S. J., Roman Glass: reflections on cultural change (Philadelphia, 1999). He also dates the first glass window panes to the reign of Augustus and says they were contemporaneous with the first glass tiles. Xn4 08:14, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

...but in fifteenth-century England glazed frames were still so precious and rare that they were removed when not needed, and were inventoried (this is how we know) as part of a room's (re)moveable furniture. Penelope Eames in an early volume of Furniture History: the Journal of the Furniture History Society.--Wetman (talk) 22:16, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The Don Flows Home to the Sea

How accurate is Sholokhov's depiction of the Don Cossacks and their role in the Russian Civil War in his novel? Is there significant political bias? Yermolov (talk) 06:49, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Sholokhov's depiction of the Don Cossacks is amazing. He grew up in the Vyoshenskaya Stanitsa and most of the characters are based on people that he knew and who had fought in the Civil War. There is also no better depiction of the Vyoshenskaya uprising. He managed to show not only what they were fighting for, but also their indecision and rivalries. I lived in the Don region for a while and all the Cossacks I've met raved about the book. It's suprising how sympatheticaly they were portrayed for Soviet times. AllenHansen (talk) 12:30, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmm...compared with And Quiet Flows the Don I found The Don Flows Home to the Sea wooden and unconvincing. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

They are the same book! Sholokhov actualy wrote most of the second half a year or two before the first. 192.117.101.209 (talk) 21:47, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

One is obviously a continuation of the other, and I certainly read them as two separate volumes (in a Penguin Paperbacks edition). I can only speak of my personal reading, 192.117, one which drew greater value from part dealing with the events leading up to the Revolution of 1917, than from that dealing with the aftereffects in the Civil War. Perhaps his style, technique and insight improved with the 'prequel'? I can't say for certain. Clio the Muse (talk) 23:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, he said that he wished that he had rewritten the 'second' half. What had happened was that he started writing a story about the Kornilov uprising, then decided that in order to understand that you must know a thing or two about Cossack life, so he shelved the story and about a year later started on what we know as And Quiet Flows. Interestingly enough, in the early story the Melekhovs were minor characters. If you can read Russian, I've added a link to an online book which goes into great detail about this. AllenHansen (talk) 08:51, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Is it true that the best Guillotine blades were made by Gillette???

Or is that just marketing?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.28.76 (talk • contribs)

Please sign future edits but typing four tildes (~~~~) after your post. Where on earth did you hear that? The Company Gillette is named after King C. Gillette! = ) --Cameron (t/c) 11:30, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

You mean Gillette, the company founded in 1901? In the article on the Guillotine, it does mention that device was used for execution after 1901, but a Google search of Gillette +guillotine does not return any worthwhile results.--droptone (talk) 11:42, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The Gillette Company was named after its founder, King Camp Gillette, an American who invented an inexpensive disposable blade for the safety razor in the late 19th century. The guillotine was named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a professor of anatomy at the facility of medicine in Paris, who proposed in 1789 that death sentences be executed by decapitation, employing "a machine that beheads painlessly". The blades made by The Gillette Company were very thin and quite unsuitable for decapitational use. There is no relation between the two.  --Lambiam 17:45, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

No and no. It could hardly be called marketing anyway. A bit like saying that the best weapons of mass destruction are made by General Atomics.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:50, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Mulatto - White and Black perspectives

Moved meta-discussion to talk page. -- APL (talk) 22:37, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Question about Niger

How does Niger regulate its [potentially dangerous] imports? (Barnstar for a speedy reply!) Scarian^{Call me Pat} 17:42, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Here's a list of import prohibitions.--Pharos (talk) 23:23, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The relevant authority would I think be the "Agence Nationale de Vérification de Conformité aux Normes (AVCN)", in English the "National Agency for Compliance Inspection". It's discussed here on a government website and this page has a brief description in English.--Pharos (talk) 23:33, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Kant's Categorical Imperative

Hi all read the article on the Categorical Imperative but one aspect of it is a bit too complex for me! I tried looking at it in simple English but that article doesn't describe any of the maxims and is really short. My question is, what does the third maxim 'Live in a Kingdom of ends' mean? Can anyone explain it simply please? I'm not that bright :( I-need-a-name-which-hasn't-been-taken-even-that-has-been-taken! (talk) 17:53, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

See Kingdom of Ends. IIRC, Kant believes you should always treat someone as an end, never as a means to an end; or in other words treat people in a way that could be made a universalizable principle. The Kingdom of Ends is the hypothetical state when people treat each other according to this maxim. 66.152.245.18 (talk) 19:19, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Marriage in the Canterbury Tales

The theme of power in marriage is the dominant theme in the Wife of Bath's Tale. Is this typical of Chaucer's view and can it be illustrated elsewhere in the Tales? Alisoun of Bath (talk) 19:44, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The best, and funnest, way to find out is by comparing the various stories!! AllenHansen (talk) 19:45, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The Clerk's Tale. Wrad (talk) 20:37, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The theme is handled in several of the tales, Allisoun. Reading through is, indeed, the best way to find the answer to your question. Clio the Muse (talk) 04:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Chaucer's Politics

Is anything known of Chaucer's political views? How did he respond, for example, to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381? Alisoun of Bath (talk) 19:51, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that his response to the revolt was recorded, but as a member of the near-elite and as a royal office holder, one would expect him to have been strongly opposed to the revolt. Marco polo (talk) 20:25, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

He mentions Wat Tyler in one of the Canterbury Tales. I forget which one... Wrad (talk) 20:28, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

not by name, according to searches I've done in TCT on Project Gutenberg and eChaucer. --Tagishsimon (talk) 21:13, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it's more subtle than that. I believe it's a pun on Wat/what or something. Wrad (talk) 23:14, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Found it. It's in the Nun's Priest's Tale and it's Jack Straw, not Wat Tyler. Sorry about that. Wrad (talk) 23:19, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I found this, doing a search for Chaucer's politics on google - "For work on political engagement, or the lack thereof, in Chaucer's life, see S. Sanderlin, "Chaucer and Ricardian Politics," Chaucer Review 22 (1988), 171-84, and Paul Strohm, "Politics and Poetics: Usk and Chaucer in the 1380s," in Literarv Practice and Social Change in Britain, 1380-1530, ed. Lee Patterson (Berkeley, 1990), pp. 83-112. Strohm's comparison with Usk is particularly illuminating, as it shows how Chaucer does not write for an explicit political purpose, as Usk does routinely. In this view, while Chaucer's politics may be reflected in his poetics, particularly in a constant emphasis on dialogue and plurality, he differs fundamentally from a poet like Usk who understands writing as a political tool."[6] --Tagishsimon (talk) 21:22, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

You will find one possible and one definite reference to the Peasants' Revolt in The Canterbury Tales. The possible reference comes in the Knight's Tale, where Saturn, in his planetary influence, lays claim to all sorts of disasters;

Myn is the stranglying and hangyng by the throte,

The murmure and the cherles rebellyng,

The groynynge, and the pryvee empoysonyng.

The definite reference comes in the Nun's Priest's Tale, the part where the fox has take Chauntecleer to carry him off to the woods, with the rest of the farm-yard in pursuit;

So hydous was the noyse-a, benedicitee!-

Certes, he Jakke Straw and his meynee

Ne mede nevere shoutes half so shrille

Whan that they wolden any Flemyng kille,

As thilke day was maad upon the fox.

Farmyard animals gone berserk: there is no reason to suppose that this was not Chaucer's own personal opinion of the Revolt. Clio the Muse (talk) 04:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Land Usage in U.S.

I am looking for information about what percentage of land in each of the U.S. states is used for various purposes, particularly farming. E.g., what percentage of the land in Ohio is farmland? (Absolute acreage is fine, too; I can divide.) Bipsbop (talk) 22:02, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

As in all things, google is your friend, turning up such sites as Land Use in the United States. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:14, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! Bipsbop (talk) 23:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Agitate. Agitate, Agitate!

Frederick Douglass famously recommended this tactic for social change: Agitate!

In fact [www.cafepress.com/agitate T-shirts] are sold under this banner. I am perhaps daft but can not find any reference to his statement in the article. Adaptron (talk) 23:46, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The article has a quote "Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the roar of its many waters." I can only guess that the factette has either been edited out of what is a long article, or has not yet made it in. The beauty of wikipedia is that, if you're informed on the subject, you can amend the article to include it. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:10, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

It's probably unnecessary to be included since it so well known. Anyone reading the article probably has already heard it. My only reason for wanting to include it and at the very top of the page is that it appears to be the most quoted saying and political position or direction attributed to him. It just strikes me as strange that it is not already there. Adaptron (talk) 02:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I would strongly disagree with that. I have heard of Frederick Douglass but I had never once heard of that quote before this question. Not everyone reading Wikipedia is a United States resident. Not every American reading Wikipedia is a university graduate. If it's well-known and attributed, it should be in his article. --NellieBly (talk) 14:28, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm an American and a university graduate, and I'd never heard that quote before.  :) Corvus cornix_talk 18:30, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Tagishsimon's quote is from Douglass's West India Emancipation Speech held in 1857. The famous "Agitate, agitate, agitate" is not a direct quote from any speech or text published by Douglass, but it is purported that he said this in 1895, decades after the West India Emancipation Speech but much in its spirit, in reply to a young student seeking his advice. ---Sluzzelin talk 00:48, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Where might I find both historical and recent commentary in regard to this advice, especially in connection with such events as the murder of Eve Carson. Adaptron (talk) 02:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

How is the murder of Eve Carson remotely connected with this topic?--droptone (talk) 11:38, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Lovette's comment? Adaptron (talk) 12:11, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

What comments? I cannot find any relevant comments.--droptone (talk) 12:36, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

It may be a comment from Black Panther, Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Well, I can't help you on the murder of Eve Carson, but I did search for some more information on the quote.

Most online articles I found went with the student story, with variations in tonality: "When asked shortly before his death in 1895 what advice he would give to a young black starting out in life, Douglass replied firmly: "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!" [7]. A book review uses the passive voice: "Shortly before his death, abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was asked what course black youths should follow in the face of continuing racism in this country. He replied, "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!" [8]. The Public Interest had "Douglass continued till the end to act on the advice he is said to have given to a young man inquiring what he should do for his people: "agitate, agitate, agitate." [9] Here he "urged a black student to "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!"] and here he "whispered" it "to a young follower".

But I also found this in The World & I: "Agitate, agitate, agitate!" With these words, Frederick Douglass exhorted a woman's suffrage meeting on February 20, 1895. After returning to Cedar Hill, he was dramatizing his speech to his second wife, Helen, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. It was just a week past his seventy-seventh birthday, or maybe it was his seventy-eighth. He wasn't quite sure." [10]. ---Sluzzelin talk 12:15, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Though i can't put an exact date to the slogan, it may have been borrowed from Daniel O'Connell's "three things I urge upon you, sons of Ireland: agitate, agitate, agitate!"—eric 16:20, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Would "borrowing" be called plagiarism in todays political climate? Adaptron (talk) 17:34, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

(Response to eric, not to Adaptron's queston which was inserted here later) That sounds very likely, see also a question from last June (and particularly Clio_the_Muse's answer) for the Douglass-O'Connell connection. ---Sluzzelin talk 16:45, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

The phrase might have been suggested to O'Connell by a December 1828 letter from Henry Paget: "If you really expect success, agitate, agitate, agitate." The letter seems to have caused the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland a bit of trouble with his government, our article states it led to his recall.—eric 17:45, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

March 27

A war between Japan and China, 1880-83?

I have discovered one line in a book which confuses me. The book is Love of the Samurai : a thousand years of Japanese homosexuality by Tsuneo Watanabe and Jun'ichi Iwata, the original Japanese of Iwata translated into French by Watanabe, and the whole thing translated from French to English by D. R. Roberts. The line, on pg. 122, is in a quoted paragraph, the citation of which reads:

Cited in Das Geschlechtsleben in Glauben, Sitte, Brauch und Gewohnheitsrecht der Japaner by Friedrich S. Krauss, Leipzig, 1910.

The line I am bothered by reads:

We can say, in fact, that in the homosexual liaison too, the old samurai spirit found exultant expression on the Manchu front (in the 1880-83 war between Japan and China), in a way that one would not have seen before 1868.

I have never heard of such a war. Did anything of the sort ever occur? Or is this just simply confusion on the part of Krauss, getting the dates of the First Sino-Japanese War mixed up? If so, though, I am surprised that Watanabe would not have added something along the lines of "[sic]" in the paragraph, and it surprises me that he would be so far, and to think that the war went on about twice as long as it really did. Could this have been simply a minor conflict?

I am a bit confused.

It ain't much, but this link offers the suggestion of conflict between Japan and China closer to the time you mention...1882-1885 in Korea. Given the reference to the "Manchu front", which I take to refer to Manchuria and therefore the Chinese border with Korea, I think this likely the referenced conflict. Brief mention of this conflict, at least the skirmishes in 1884, are available early in the First Sino-Japanese War article. Sorry I can't do better. --User:Jwrosenzweig editing as 71.231.197.110 (talk) 06:20, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Japan and Qing China were in constant conflict from the 1870s. In 1874, Japan made an incursion into Taiwan (Qing territory), meeting virtually no resistance, with the result of reparations paid by China. In 1875, Japan invaded Ryukyu (Qing vassal), with the Qing government refusing to send troops despite pleading by the Ryukyuans, with the result of Japanese annexation of Ryukyu in 1879. Also in 1875, Japan invaded Korea (Qing vassal), meeting little resistance and resulting in a treaty which proclaimed Korea's independence and autonomy from China, and the equal status of Korea and Japan.

In 1882, soldiers in the Korean capital revolted, mainly over unequal treatment of "new" (i.e. modern arms and training) and "old" troops. Japanese interests were attacked because Japan was intimately involved in the modernising attempts of the Korean regime. Korean ministers in Beijing requested Chinese help, which arrived in the form of an expeditionary force led by Yuan Shikai (later President and briefly self-crowned Emperor of China). Yuan quelled the rebellion, negotiated a treaty on behalf of Korea with Japan, and quickly became the power behind the throne, until the Japanese invasion of Korea in earnest from 1895.

My guess is that the 1880-1883 reference is an erroneous reference to the first Sino-Japanese war. There is a possibility that it refers to the Korean rebellion of 1882, but China was not really at war with Japan in that conflict. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 09:26, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

info on an artist

i have a small sculpture ( about 10 inches high and 12 inches long) it is of a roman soldier in a chariot with his helmet in his hand (maybe saluting the emperor). it also has two horses pulling the chariot. it is made of white marble, i think. there is a name on the base A. Giannetti. i was wondering if you had any info on this artist. i have tried for many months to find something and have not been successful. i have tried google,yahoo,and several libraries. i have even contacted the art department at both of our local colleges. no one seems to know anything about this artist. any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.194.37.231 (talk • contribs)

Hmmm, I immediately got results through Google with the search ""a. Giannetti" sculptor" and narrowed those results down by taking out a U.S. senator named John A. Giannetti and a dermatologist (here's the Google search I used): this appears to be a sculpture by the same artist being auctioned at a French gallery (you could call to ask); this is a different person inquiring about a sculpture they have, also seeking information; this page shows that there was at one time a horse statue by this artist being sold on ebay; here's an item being sold as a replica of a sculpture by this artist on ebay UK; and all this is from looking at just the first 60 results out of 187 unique hits.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:22, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

George Washington,Did he have investments in British Banks?

A friend of mine claims that G.W. had investments in British and European banks during revolutionary war.This was in case of an American defeat.I contend that G.W.(and other founding fathers) may have been hung if the Americans were defeated.Any savings or deposits surely would have been confiscated at the beginning of the war. Who is correct my friend or I? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.183.51.44 (talk) 03:12, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't know that he had a lot of loose liquid assets to be investing anywhere; he was a somewhat wealthy man after his marriage, but most of it was tied up in plantation land and slaves on the plantation land... AnonMoos (talk) 05:50, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I understood that his Great Grandfather was born in England and elements of his family would certainly have British Investments at that time. Possibly some of this remained and became his by inheritance rather than deliberate investments by George Washington personally.JonM267 (talk) 18:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Commonwealth war graves during WW2

How were these treated by the Germans after their occupation of Belgium and France? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wicky Witch (talk • contribs) 06:45, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Are you talking about the British Commonwealth? This only came into being after WWII. --ChokinBako (talk) 05:17, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

So an anacronism (and in any case you're wrong; the British Commonwealth officially came into being in 1926). I imagine the OP is talking about British and allied WWI graves in France (and I imagine the answer is that they didn't even think about them; why would they?). FiggyBee (talk) 05:23, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

They were, in general, treated with great respect. When Hitler visited the German cemetery at Langemarck in 1940 he also paid his respect to the Canadian memorial at Vimy en route, specifically to disprove British propaganda claims that Allied graves were being desecrated by German troops. These claims are traceable to such actions as the Germans had taken, but this was confined to removing offensive wording or imagery. The best example of this was the removal of the memorial to the Second Australian Division at Mont St Quentin, which featured a statue of a soldier bayoneting a German eagle. No graves were ever touched. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:16, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Centurion

I have an authentic heirloom, which is a roman centurion helmet, or head dress, how much would this be worth if I were to sell it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 13:28, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

However much a buyer is willing to pay for it. AnonMoos (talk) 14:40, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

It's also probably not authentic... Adam Bishop (talk) 15:05, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

He said it is an authentic heirloom, not an authentic centurion helmet. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 16:17, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh, oops :) Adam Bishop (talk) 00:47, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Its value will depend very much on its condition, materials, quality, age, rarity, etc etc. Try looking on eBay for similar products and see what sort of price they are fetching, or take it to an antique shop and ask.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:48, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

If it is actually an authentic roman centurion helmet, you'd be better taking it to Christie's or Southerby's and not putting it on e-Bay. --ChokinBako (talk) 05:15, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Against the Ustase

I would be interested to know why and to what extent the Italians co-operated with the Chetniks against the Ustase in the Second World War. 217.44.78.6 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 13:48, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Not to any great extent, considering that the Italians were nominally on the opposite side from the Chetniks, and the Ustaše were their allies. But the Ustaše militias were so ill-disciplined, and so murderous, that the Chetniks entered into active collaboration with Italian forces in the early days of the occupation in an attempt to restore order in parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:05, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Shia majority

Besides Iran, is there any Muslim country whose state religion is Shi'a Islam? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Don Mustafa (talk • contribs) 15:45, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Our article on Shia Islam indicates that (apart from Iran and a sizeable part of Iraq) Azerbaijan is predominantly Shiite. The split given in the article on the country is 85% Shiites and 15% Sunnites. If Islam is defined as a state religion I could not find out. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 16:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

http://www.azerb.com/az-reli.html says, "In the sixteenth century, the first shah of the Safavid Dynasty, Ismail I (r. 1486-1524), established Shia Islam as the state religion, although large numbers of Azeris remained followers of the other branch of Islam, Sunni." The current situation is described as "Article 18 of the Azeri constitution, mandating no state religion, allows for all faiths to practice their religion freely."

--Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 16:43, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

There is also our article on state religion, which has a map indicating that Iran is the sole country which has established Shia Islam as the state religion. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 17:04, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

The state religion of Egypt used to be Shi'ism...but that was 800 years ago... Adam Bishop (talk) 07:23, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

US Medal of Honour

I have recently read that a British Special Forces NCO from the SBS was awarded the US Medal of Honour. I understand this related to an action in Afghanistan where his patrol went to the location of a prison breakout saving the lives of US military and CIA personnel. I did not think that this decoration could be awarded to non-US service personnel. Is this possible?JonM267 (talk) 16:11, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Our article on the Medal of Honor (note the spelling - it's a proper name so it should be spelled without the "u") says that only members of the US military are eligible. Do you remember the person's name? --NellieBly (talk) 16:44, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Our list of Medal of Honor recipients makes it pretty clear that this is not the case. There are, however, a few awards of a more flexible nature with similar names to them. That could be what was awarded in this case. — Lomn 18:16, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for the incorrect spelling (being British I tend to fall into the error of typing in English). Mistake noted. The event in question was in Afghanistan, 2001, at Qala-i-Jangi fort. The NCO was a member of the Special Boat Service (similar to US Navy SEAL personnel). His eam of 6 was by pure coincidence en-route from a patrol and were the closest support available. Prisoners broke out and captured armoury but contained within the compound. US Personnel either killed or pinned down. SBS team scaled outer wall and gave covering fire whilst NCO went over wall to carry out injured CIA officer. At that time the SBS were operating under direct US Command. Event was reported in The Times (London). However as no member of the SAS or SBS have ever been awarded the Victoria Cross (generally due to lack of witnesses) I would assume the report of the award was in error.JonM267 (talk) 18:32, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Did you mean to say you fall into the habit of typing in British regional dialect? Edison (talk) 00:20, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

This obituary for Sergeant 'Scruff' McGough - who appears to be the soldier in question - from the Daily Telegraph of 24 July 2006 would seem to make it clear that whilst it was rumoured that a Medal of Honor was to be awarded, this did not in fact happen. (Found by Googling "Medal of Honor SBS"). Valiantis (talk) 01:52, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, I've just noticed that the above obituary is quoted as a reference in the Special Boat Service article. Valiantis (talk) 01:59, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I searched on "medal" plus the name of the battle, and the top hits I found gave the sergeant's name as Paul McGeogh. This includes an obituary in the Sun that also claims he receives the medal, as well as several other sites. But of course the Telegraph is a more credible source, so I guess McGough is the right spelling. The confusion may arise because, I also find, there is an Australian war reporter named Paul McGeogh.

On this British Army web page a Sergeant Paul McGough, retired from the Royal Marins (not SBS) is identified as receiving some sort of honor; it's not clear to me if that's the same man.

The SBS has its own web site (bizarrely placed under .co.uk instead of .mod.uk), and this page on the site about the battle says that "the SBS team leader was put up to be awarded" the (so-called) Congressional Medal of Honor, but "the then UK Secretary Of Defence, Jeff Hoon, quashed the nomination for undisclosed reasons." --Anonymous, 02:19 UTC, March 28, 2008.

It's not bizarre at all - that website is "not affiliated with or endorsed by the SBS". FiggyBee (talk) 02:30, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the correction -- I missed the illegible fine print where it says so. --Anon, 22:00 UTC, March 29, edited later.

Economy and outsourcing

How is recession to do with outsourcing?

Officially the United States is not yet in a recession, I believe, but I assume you mean the recession many economists are predicting for the US at the moment. The answer is that it doesn't have very much to do with outsourcing, but is mainly caused by the crisis in the financial sector. It is difficult for companies to find investors, who are worried about all the bad loans around (especially because of the subprime mortgage crisis, during which apparently safe securities often turn out to be extremely risky after all). As a result overall economic activity may decline: a recession. DAVID ŠENEK 18:23, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

The only arguable (very arguable) effect could be the result of a completely collapsed dollar value - which nobody is predicting. If, for example, every country we outsource to had a huge upswing in their economy and the our money became so devalued that it was below theirs, it would not be profitable to outsource because it would cost more to pay foreign workers to do the same job. Also, other countries would look at our country as a good country to outsource to. Since the chance of this happening is about 0.00%, it is ridiculous to suggest that there is some relation between outsourcing and a recession. -- kainaw™ 20:59, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Native Indian population of Americas

Of the total 900 million population of North and south America, how much is Native Indian population(excluding people from the south Asian country India). If some native Indian has married a white and have a child, lets calculate that child as 0.5 population. Calculating like that, what would be the population... any idea...?

Best I can find in a quick search is this page from the International Labour Organization which gives a *1990* figure of 41,977,600. The number today could be higher. (For example, that page estimates 350,000 in Canada, while the latest Canadian census says 1.2 million.)

The UN says worldwide there are about 300 million indigenous peoples living in more than 70 countries and 70 per cent live in Asia. So your number will fall somewhere between 42 and 90 million, I reckon.

P.S. You may find that your definition of indigenous is unlikely to be the same as that used by official census-takers, and the definition of indigenous varies from census to census anyway. WikiJedits (talk) 18:36, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Working out to decimal places the "mixed bloodedness" of a person would very often prove impossible -- there have been non-natives (not just "whites") in the Americas for over 500 years. You're not going to be able to find complete records with the kind of detail you are asking for. Pfly (talk) 23:27, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps DNA group studies (like the The Genographic Project) will be able answer this more precisely in the future. We'll never know for sure about the "mixed bloodedness" of many historic individuals—no one can say with certainty how much European ancestry, if any, guys like Tecumseh or Joseph Brant or Little Turtle had—but perhaps we'll get a better overall picture of North American ancestry eventually. —Kevin Myers 01:46, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Arts and Crafts

I was at a meeting the other day and had heard of a new Arts and Crafts discipline. I did not get the correct spelling, but phonetically it sounded like "emagaroomi". I know I butchered the spelling, but I'm trying to do some research on this. Anything would help.

Thanks Aphs81 (talk) 19:36, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Macrame, maybe, pronounced MACK-ruh-may. [Undoubtedly what Deor said.] --Milkbreath (talk) 19:53, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Macaroni is the ancient Etruscan craft of knitting with oodles of noodles.  :) --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:13, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Amigurumi, I'll wager. Deor (talk) 22:40, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Religion

are there any religions whos religious mythology, or particularly, dieties, came into direct contradiction with (scientific) understanding of the world and suffered massive credibility loss, or do they all adapt quicker than this can occur? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.159.69.149 (talk) 19:40, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

To the extent that the drift to secularism arises out of an inability to swallow faith-based explanations of natural phenomena, all religions suffer in this respect. Specific issues, such as the roman catholic views on condoms in the context of the prevalence of HIV, illustrate times when arguably the church has moved insufficiently fast to stem further credibility losses. But I cannot think of a religion which crashed and burned as a result of the uptake of scientific notions. --Tagishsimon (talk) 20:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Many people would doubt the science rather than their religion.  --Lambiam 22:29, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I never doubt my religion. Atheism is infallible. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 00:46, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Atheism is NOT a religion! --S.dedalus (talk) 07:10, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

That depends. Is your atheism a belief unsupported by evidence that there are no gods, or is it a lack of belief in the existance of gods? --Carnildo (talk) 00:14, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Personally my atheism is a disbelief of anything unsupported by evidence (rational atheism). Your statement is flawed however, i.e. all religion is illogical belief, but not all illogical belief is religion. --S.dedalus (talk) 00:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Nothing is infallible. Except, in theory, God. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 04:30, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

My computer is an Atheist but admits that it is possible God is infallible since God can reduce more variables having more states to minimum form in less time; an infinite number of variables and states in an instant of time to be exact. 71.100.7.155 (talk) 01:47, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Religion is an umbrella term denoting the worship of k Gods, where k can have the value 0, 1 or n, (in words: atheism, monotheism or polytheism).

Stating that atheism is not a religion is equivalent to pontificating that zero is not a number, nihilism is not a philosophy and atheism is an oxymoron.

Apart from that, my comment was meant to be an absurdist joke. But then, one must apparantly expect the Spanish Inquisition to monitor the WP:RD to catch the odd heretic and drag them off to the barbecue. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 08:19, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I consider religion to be something you have to believe in regard to your existence, which you simply can not know. Thus, even atheism is only a belief and not a known. My computer says that man created God so man would have an explanation as to who or what created him. I have no problem with that. In fact I define God as the only entity who can accomplish exactly what my computer suggests would define God, i.e., the first and only entity with the capacity to reduce an infinite number of logical equations, having an infinite number of variables with an infinite number of states each to minimum form instantly, which my computer says neither it or its relatives will ever be able to do, nor mankind or society or any other entity in or not in the universe.

The difference between myself and my computer is that I can and do believe such an entity exists by definition alone, although I lack any proof of it otherwise. 71.100.0.214 (talk) 11:02, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

You may be interested in the article on the Historicity of the Book of Mormon.--droptone (talk) 11:52, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Interesting... I've always had this vision of an ancient hot air goat skin balloon at the time when Egyptian pyramids were the zeitgeist, sailing over the ocean only to land on the shores of South or Central America with passengers wanting only to continue their zeitgeist lifestyle. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.0.214 (talk) 16:41, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Huh? Wrad (talk) 20:28, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Although many have tried to discredit the Book of Mormon, it would be a bit of a stretch to say that credibility is a big problem in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's the fastest growing Christian Church in the world. That church isn't going to die anytime soon, and they haven't really "adapted" to what science believes either. The fact is, it's a matter of faith, and a lot of people believe it. In my experience, there are many people who, if they want to know about God, ask God about it, not science. Again, it's all a matter of perspective. Wrad (talk) 15:16, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Haha. Another thought. In order to have "massive credibility loss" as regards "(scientific) understanding of the world", you'd have to have it in the first place! The Book of Mormon has never had scientific credibility in anything more than a minority of academic circles. It has no credibility to lose in that regard. However, not everyone is an academic or respects what they think, especially about religion, thus, a religion can still thrive.

Science demands proof. Religion doesn't. For religious persons, credibility comes from faith, not science. It's all how you look at it. Wrad (talk) 20:28, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Kenya - sustainable development project

I'm visiting Africa especially Kenya and i would like to use some cash i have been saving to help the youth there.I'm a computer guy and i dont want to give the cash to a charitable organisation.i want to actully participate in helping the kenyans.I want My own project to create positive change in the environment. How can I foster sustainable development in a community.i know i cant change the whole country but just a few people.Something clever,something different. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.220.113.117 (talk) 20:54, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

am targeting the youth —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.220.113.117 (talk) 20:56, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Title added --Tagishsimon (talk) 20:59, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi 41.220, it's lateral but, illusionists Siegfried and Roy came up with a clever idea around their expertise: the College of Magic in Capetown, South Africa[11], for "social upliftment". There's something healing and sustaining about fun and skills combined. Julia Rossi (talk) 22:29, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

You may consider supplying a school with a number of OLPC notebooks. Check http://laptop.org/ (OLPC Foundation, 
P.O. Box 425087
, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, 
U.S.A.) for options to participate.

That way you can also use your own expertise on your visit to Kenya. Good luck, --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:45, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Famous Canadian Color guard photograph

Hi. In this article, a scene being shot for the film State of Play is described, featuring a marching band and an orange and cream-clad color guard performing complex choreography with rifles in the background. As the article describes: "[Director] Macdonald's purpose with the band and the Color guard is to recreate a famous photograph - a Canadian photograph [...] taken in the 1970s that featured majorettes twirling guns." My question is, of course, which "famous" photograph are they talking about? Macdonald goes on to talk about the themes which such an image represents in relation to the film, so I think it would more than qualify for fair use in the State of Play article. Thanks, Steve ^{T • C} 22:23, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

March 28

scrabble replays

where can i see scrabble replays to see how the masters do it? I wonder what kinds of points they usually score per turn too... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.88.10 (talk) 00:26, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Your second question is partially answered in our Scrabble article. I have left a note on the talk page of that article asking for assistance here. Bovlb (talk) 21:47, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

A couple of suggestions. One is Joe Edley's book "Everything Scrabble". The other is Internet Scrabble Club where you can actually watch live games in progress or view previously played games. Gr8white (talk) 23:31, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

big buildings in pre-Columbian America

The Aztecs, Maya, and Incas all constructed cities with very large buildings with which nothing north of Mexico compares. What factors might explain this fact? (Not an exam question... I'm 66 y.o. ;) ) --Halcatalyst (talk) 02:57, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Agriculture and population density. And of course there were some relatively large buildings and cities north of Mexico (described in some detail in the Mound builder (people) article). Perhaps not comparable to the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, but impressive nonetheless. --and also mainly due to agriculture and population density. Pfly (talk) 04:10, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

9/11 Lawsuit

The Cantor Fitzgerald article states: On September 2, 2004, Cantor filed a civil lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of a number of organizations to do so.[2] It was later joined in the suit by the Port Authority of New York.[3]

What was the outcome of the lawsuit? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.218.4.37 (talk) 03:16, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

All the lawsuits against Saudi Arabia and members of the Saudi royal family got knocked on the head within a few months, because there are laws in the US that say you can't sue a foreign government. Of course, there are still appeals and wrangling and lawyers-profiting-from-tragedy-ad-nauseum going on, but no actual lawsuit has ever gotten over the first hurdle of finding a court that will hear the case. FiggyBee (talk) 03:45, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Thomas Jefferson

Although Bill Clinton is presumed to have only "misspoken" when he said that he did not inhale, that he did not have sexual relations with that women and that the events a Waco were Janet Reno's responsibility, did Thomas Jefferson ever make the claim that he did not commit adultery or that in his opinion adultery was not illegal or not wrong? Also, are the offspring resulting from adultery considered illegitimate in Thomas Jefferson's case? Mimus polyglottos (talk) 04:37, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I read an excellent biography of Jefferson two years ago. If memory serves me well, Jefferson never acknowledged the relationship. I was surprised that the situation was very public. Jefferson was far worse than an adulterer. He had absolute power over Sally Hemmings, the half-sister of his deceased wife. She could not walk away. Choice was not present. One presidential campaign revolved around this relationship. The Sally Hemmings relationship was a larger affair than the Monica Lewinsky matter. Another negative factor that affected his conduct of foreign affairs while he was president was his massive debt, owed to foreign countries. Virginia enacted a state lottery to support him shortly before his death. I was shocked when I read his biography. Elementary school taught me that he was perfect. Of course, he had wonderful traits, too. The biography was a library book so I do not have a copy here to which I can refer. 75Janice (talk) 08:44, 28 March 2008 (UTC)75Janice

That's interesting. Jefferson has always been upheld as being ahead of his times, a man who had the foresight to make the Louisiana Purchase. A man who believed the way to eliminate the difference between American Indians and Whites was through interracial marriage. I probably need to read that book. Was the death of Meriwether Lewis mentioned in the book? Mimus polyglottos (talk) 10:38, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I've always loved Kurt Vonnegut's backhanded compliment of Jefferson where he refers to him as "a leading theorist on the topic of human liberty" (emphasis mine). :) --Sean 15:01, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes, and his theories are so well accepted that most people still look forward to a lifestyle based on borrowed money and lotto winnings even today. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.15.236 (talk) 20:46, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Irish short story

I've been trying for several days now to remember the name of an Irish short story I read a couple of years ago. It's nineteenth century I think, and concerns two old men looking for the precise location of an unmarked plot in an overcrowded church yard. Thanks for any prompts. Gifford Jnr (talk) 06:40, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Gifford, this has to be The Weaver's Grave by Seumus O'Kelly. You should note that Cloon na Morav-the Meadow of the Dead-is not attached to a church-yard. Clio the Muse (talk) 02:48, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Roger Casement's poem entitled The Nameless One

I'm trying to figure out the meaning of one part of a poem. It was written by Roger Casement some time close to 1900. Most consider this poem to point towards Casement's homosexuality. The whole poem can be found here [12], but I will only copy two stanzas out.

I look beyond the stricken sky

Where sunset paints its hopeless lie;

That way the flaming angel went

That sought by pride love's battlement.

I sought by love alone to go

Where God had writ an awful no.

Pride gave a guilty God to hell

I have no pride--by love I fell.

What is he trying to get at in the third and fourth line of the first stanza? Is it an allusion to Lucifer? What does he mean by "love's battlement"? In the second stanza, what is the meaning of the third line? Does it mean that one who is prideful places all guilt on God and dismisses him, as it were, to hell? I have several other ideas what the meanings could be, but I would be most appreciative if someone had other insights in to the possible meaning of these stanzas. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.174.0.10 (talk) 07:05, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The title seems loaded, too. Julia Rossi (talk) 23:24, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

"The love that dares not speak its name"? (When was that published, said she, lazily?) BrainyBabe (talk) 08:09, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Written in 1892, published in 1894. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Yeah. Lucifer, yes. "Battlement" is the top of the castle wall; you get there when you've breached the castle's (heaven's) defenses, a sort of victory. The "guilty God" is Lucifer again, quite simply, not the same God as before (this isn't a religious work); his pride was his downfall (to Hell). As for homosexuality, I'd have to say that if he thought he was coming out of the closet with this poem, he needed to try a little harder with his next one. --Milkbreath (talk) 23:52, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I hardly think he was intending to come out, but the phrase "this love God made, not I" is quite telling. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the help. This poem was certainly not a "coming out" poem because it wasn't published, or meant to be published, during his lifetime. It was first published by H. Montgomery Hyde, the M.P. for Belfast North in the 1950's who fought for the decriminalization of homosexuality, a position that caused the UUP to eventually reject him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.174.0.10 (talk) 00:07, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

State to first throw 500,000 men into war?

You did a great job on the last question guys. Thanks. Lotsofissues 07:38, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I would still go with the Achaemenid Empire :) Adam Bishop (talk) 07:48, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

State to first rule over 1 million people?

So many dates, so many states. This is my attempt to get a better idea of the span of history. Thanks guys for keeping up. Lotsofissues 08:16, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The problem with this question is that the population of all ancient kingdoms, empires, city states, etc. is a matter for speculation. Most of them had only a rough idea what their own populations were. Having said that, I think there's a scholarly consensus that the population of the Old Kingdom (between about 2575 and 2134 BC) was somewhere between one and two million. Perhaps there are other contenders in Asia? Xn4 08:54, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The first reliable population figures in Chinese history are for the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC) which ruled over about 20 million people - though even that figure is fairly rough as it is based on a number of separate figures for various regions of the empire.

The earliest recorded population figure is for the time of Yu the Great of Xia Dynasty (about 2200 BC), which was 13 million - but this first appeared in records long after the Xia Dynasty, and so is fairly unreliable. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 09:38, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

philosophy

bacon seems to challenge three kinds of what he calls false philosophy;"the sohistical,the emperical and the superstitious" why and how does he consider all three to corrupt philosophy? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.128.0.118 (talk) 10:14, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

You may be interested in the following paragraph from the Francis Bacon article:

Bacon did not propose an actual philosophy, but rather a method of developing philosophy; he wrote that, whilst philosophy at the time used the deductive syllogism to interpret nature, the philosopher should instead proceed through inductive reasoning from fact to axiom to law. Before beginning this induction, the inquirer is to free his mind from certain false notions or tendencies which distort the truth. These are called "Idols" (idola), and are of four kinds: "Idols of the Tribe" (idola tribus), which are common to the race; "Idols of the Den" (idola specus), which are peculiar to the individual; "Idols of the Marketplace" (idola fori), coming from the misuse of language; and "Idols of the Theatre" (idola theatri), which result from an abuse of authority. The end of induction is the discovery of forms, the ways in which natural phenomena occur, the causes from which they proceed.

AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 13:05, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Scotland and the Wars of the Roses

Here's an interesting question to which I have not yet found a definite answer. In the fifteenth century England was severely weakened by a prolonged period of upheaval that we now know as the Wars of the Roses. Considering the poor relations between England and Scotland ever since the Wars of Independence this was clearly an ideal time for the Scots to take advantage of the military and political weakness of their erstwhile powerful southern neighbour. So, to what extent did the Scots seek to exploit the situation in England for their own benefit? Clio, can you help me with this? Hamish MacLean (talk) 11:21, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Well to put it bluntly: they didn't. Though you may find this information interesting: Margaret of Anjou actually travelled to Scotland to negotiate for the assistance of the Scottish. The Queen of Scots, Mary of Gueldres agreed to give Margaret military aid on the condition that she cede the town of Berwick to Scotland and Mary's daughter be betrothed to Prince Edward (Margaret's son). Margaret agreed. Her was defeated at the Battle of Tewkesbury where her son died. Berwick ceded to Scotland. Hope you found that helpful or at least interesting... --Cameron (t/c) 16:24, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I feel a pantomime oh, yes, they did coming on here! The short answer, Hector, is that the Scots attempted to exploit the troubles in England, whenever they were in a position to do so. I would ask you to pay particular attention to the emphasis here; for more often than not during the whole period of The Wars of the Roses the Scots were beset by their own problems, arising, first, from a royal minority, and second, by the political problems caused by an unpopular king.

So, here are the simple facts. No sooner had James II heard of the death of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, the keeper of the northern march, at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455 than he ordered an attack on the English-held town of Berwick, in defiance of a prevailing truce. The attack was repulsed on this occasion, though James remained alter to the possibilities for renewed aggression, attacking the Isle of Man, a former Scottish possession, the following year. He also wrote to Charles VII of France in 1455, suggesting a co-ordinate attack on Calais and Berwick. Though Charles declined the offer, James continued to press his attacks, ravaging the county of Northumberland in 1456. His campaign came to a climax in 1460, when he laid siege to Roxburgh Castle, held by the English ever since the conclusion of the Scottish Wars of Independence. The castle was taken, though James was killed when one of his cannons exploded.

The succession of the eight-year-old James III brought a contest in the Scottish government between those who wished to continue the campaign of the dead king and those anxious for peace. The Queen Mother, Mary of Guelders, was reluctant to pursue a fresh adventure, though she was persuaded to enter into an alliance with Margaret of Anjou after hearing of the death of Richard, Duke of York at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. Scots auxiliaries then joined the Lancastrian army, advancing to defeat the Yorkists at the Second Battle of St Albans. But Margaret's wild northern host only served to alarm the south still further, galvanising people behind Edward IV, who subjected his enemy to a devastating defeat at the Battle of Towton.

With Edward secure on the throne-and the government of James III divided on policy and tactics-there was no further possibility for some time for interference in English affairs, though the unsettled situation in the north allowed the Scots to retain Berwick. When James took charge of affairs in his own right he proved more interested in peace than war. In the end tensions between James and his own nobility was to allow the English to take the initiative, particularly in the brief war of 1482, when Richard Duke of York, Edward's brother, recaptured Berwick. Clio the Muse (talk) 02:28, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Letters of Danish parties

The List of political parties in Denmark links a letter to each party. A for Social Democrats, B for Danish Social Liberal Party and C for Conservative People's Party etc. Could some one explain how these letters are used, in the media, by the parties, in the electoral system? - C mon (talk) 11:57, 28 March 2008 (UTC) (on behalf of user:free socialist, who asked the same question here)

After searching: "The Standing Orders of the Folketing, it looks like these are designations for the parliamentary groups rather than the parties themselves ("The groups...are referred to in the Folketing by a designation decided by the group, and the Speaker will decide on an abbreviation of this designation not exceeding 3 letters..."). The party names seem to be abbreviated more conventionally, e.g. SD for Social Democrats.—eric 20:20, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Based on da:Partibogstav and de:Parteibuchstabe (Dänemark): Single-letter designations identify political partes on ballots and political posters, and usually don't correspond to the abbreviations of the parties' names, which are used in the press etc. Such letters were used for the first time in 1901. The designations that are used today were chosen in the parlamentary elections in 1943, based on the size of the parties in Copenhagen. The use of these letters is regulated by the Law of parlamentary elections, §14. The Minister of internal affairs assigns a letter to each party, which is to be shown on its ballot. Letters should be assigned such that they whenever possible correspond to the letters that have been used in previous elections. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands use a similar system. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:00, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

IQ and career success

A psychologist today told me IQ isn't very strongly connected to the ability to achieve distinction in a career. Is that right? NeonMerlin 17:46, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

See Intelligence quotient#Income. It looks like a yes. Algebraist 18:12, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Looks like it is only a minor factor, yes. Wrad (talk) 18:14, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

In fact it might even be a negative factor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.15.236 (talk) 20:48, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The cynic in me might suggest that being a 'shameless self publicist' is strongly connected to acchieving distinction. Though I'd say yes - though note the difference between 'distinction' and other measures of success such as income - you might not even get any credit until after you are dead...87.102.16.238 (talk) 21:52, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

People of low IQ who are organized, hard working, determined and good at achieving rapport with and gaining respect from other generally go very far in life. But when it comes to difficult verbal or mathematical challenges, they just don't "get it." Having rich and/or connected relatives helps a lot. Edison (talk) 00:18, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Exhibit A: George W. Bush. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:36, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Is this guy "organized, hard working, determined"?Mr.K. (talk) 05:17, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Notice the indentation. I was referring to the original question. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:54, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

If you read the IQ article over and over, you may start to understand it a little. IQ was developed to identify how well students will do in school in the future. For example, how well will a current first grader do in school in the second, third, fourth, and fifth grades? It was not a test of intelligence. It was a test of schooling aptitude. It was altered to be a quotient without the purpose being changed. Then, since it only applied to school children, it was adapted to be relative to a value of 100 for the mean population of any certain age - which changed the purpose, but not the test. So, if you are 30 and you take the IQ test, you are taking a test of how well you will do in school and your score will be above 100 if you do better than the average 30 year old and below 100 if you do worse than the average 30 year old. Because it is not a test of artistic ability, singing ability, driving ability, running ability, or anything else other than schooling ability, it cannot be considered a test for how well a person will do at anything other than school. The funny thing is that children with high IQs that are given normal schooling tend to do very poorly in school (such as Einstein). So, even there it contradicts itself. -- kainaw™ 03:18, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with your unsourced claim that high IQ students do poorly with "normal schooling." Actually, cream rises to the top, even in poor schools. Edison (talk) 02:32, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Einstein was an excellent student. Especially in math and science, as you would expect. The idea that he wasn't is a myth based on a misinterpretation of old school records. APL (talk) 03:51, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Although I don't remember if he got good or bad grades. Einstein always clashed with the authority figures at school and resented the fact that there was so much rote learning involved in being a good pupil at school.Mr.K. (talk) 05:15, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Einstein got excellent grades. It is commonly reported that he did poorly, which I think is based on the fact that his later high school years were spent in one country (Austria?) that used a number grading system opposite to that of the country he had previously lived in (Germany?), ie one country graded 1-6 with 6 as the highest, the other with 1 as the highest. Or something like that. --superioridad ^(discusión) 12:14, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Einstein attended school in Munich (the Luitpold Gymnasium) and later in Aarau and Zurich, both in Switzerland.

Our article on grade (education) implies that 1..5 (top to fail) is common in Europe and is used in Germany. The Swiss system is 6..1 (top to fail) and thus the reverse. I could not find a reference which makes it clear if these opposing systems were already used at the end of the 19th century. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 13:01, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I have heard both versions several times: one group affirms that Einstein got good grades and that it is a myth that he was a bad pupil at school and other group that says exactly the contraty. I still have not found a primary source that corroborate any version. Furthermore I also ask myself if Einstein was a good student at university. I remember some anecdotal evidence about one teacher of him asking if the Einstein that got famous was the same that sat on his lectures. Mr.K. (talk) 13:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Apparently, my definition of "do poorly in school" is not the same as other people's definition. I do not mean to imply that Einstein got bad grades. I meant to imply that he did not do well with the daily process of repeating things that he already learned while waiting painfully for the class to catch up. This is not limited to Einstein because it doesn't take a genius to have this experience. I do not consider myself a genius, but I do learn very quickly. So, I graduated school with perfect grades. However, I spent half of my time in detention for causing problems in class. By some definitions, I did not do poorly because of my grades. By mine, I did poorly because I couldn't be assimilated into the public school system. -- kainaw™ 14:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree with you about the two definitions of "do poorly in school" - don't fit or get bad grades. I know that Einstein didn't fit well at school and at the university, but I still miss a reliable source about his grades. I wouldn't say he was a fast learner. I always believed that he got hanged on some minor points and thought more detailedly about things that others took for granted. Apparently his job as a patent lawyer after graduation was rather a modest occupation, obtained through a friend. He was actually after a teaching position. This fact suggests that possibly his grades were not exceptional. Mr.K. (talk) 19:01, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

This seems to be both theoretical and relative. There must be a memorable catch phrase for this all which people will know without knowing anything about it, neither general ly nor special ly... --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:20, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I would just call it a hypothesis or hypothetical. I have also asked myself if the myth was that Einstein was good at school (concerning grades or 'fitness') or that indeed he got good grades. Due to the huge amount of fake quotes of Einstein and perhaps even more people backing their arguments with him, I suppose the hole topic must be rife with urban legends. See here. WikiWiking (talk) 20:50, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

The only thing doing well in an IQ test proves is how good the person is at IQ tests. 'Intelligence' is a minefield. Doing well in an IQ test is arguably completely dependant on a persons experiance, particularly education, rather than latent 'intelligence'. For example someone who has had no formal education will fail any IQ test questions relating to mathematics. Does this mean they are inherantly less 'intelligent' than someone who has been taught maths? Of course not. They are less knowledgable, but not less intelligent. With regards to achieving distinction in a career, it will obviously vary regarding what your career is. For example one could achieve distiction in the field of modeling despite having no intelligence or education. Whereas achieving distinction in quantam physics would require both. If achieving distinction equates to earning a lot of money, remember that your income is determined by the supply of and demand for your skills, and nothing else, certainly not your IQ score. Willy turner (talk) 22:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I have read funny articles by persons of moderate intelligence who complain about standardized tests, and quote a question and the possible answers, and question how anyone can state that the "correct" answer is better than the others. Then persons with greater IQ are quite able to explain why the "correct " answer actually is the right one. Edison (talk) 02:35, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Missing vessels

There is a List of shipwrecks that have been located. Is there a list of missing vessels (ship or aircraft) whose wreck (assumed so after long disappearance or known destruction) that has never been located? --Kvasir (talk) 21:59, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

How about Category:Disappeared ships? Bovlb (talk) 22:53, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Awesome thanks! I will start a list. Anything on aircraft? --Kvasir (talk) 00:14, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Don't rush to create a list if a category is sufficient. You might be better putting the work into making sure the categories are complete and consistent. There's at least one aircraft under Category:Unexplained disappearances and you could poke around in Category:Aviation accidents and incidents. You'll find more ships under Category:Mysteries. The trick is to find examples, and see what categories they're in. Bovlb (talk) 03:47, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

March 29

Floating Castles

Does anyone know where that image of a castle floating in the sky on a chunk of earth came from? An example can be found at http://www.geocities.com/yekante/Castle.jpg 70.55.145.239 (talk) 02:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I believe it came from the idiomatic "castle in the air" or "castle in the sky" for lofty plans that will never happen. I don't know who first painted it, couldn't find it among Bruegel's famous painted Netherlandish Proverbs but one famous examples is M. C. Escher's Castle in the Air. Related examples, though without floating islands of rock or earth, are Maxfield Parrish's Air Castles, The Dinky Bird and Dream Castle in the Sky. Speaking of which, see also Laputa and floating island. ---Sluzzelin talk 02:36, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

There is a (fortified) cloud city in The Birds by Aristophanes, perhaps that is the origin? Adam Bishop (talk) 04:45, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Excellent. See also cloud cuckoo land and cloudcuckooland. ---Sluzzelin talk 06:49, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

For Sci-Fi examples, see also the article on Floating city (science fiction). Here is a juxtaposition of Flash Gordon 's "Cloud City" and Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back . ---Sluzzelin talk 09:53, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

See also Tripura (mythology). --Dr Dima (talk) 14:06, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

René Magritte also did some - see [13]. -- JackofOz (talk) 22:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

George Bluth Sr. had this idea years ago.[14]--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 23:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

In considering this I immediately thought of Laputa from Gulliver's Travels, but I see that Sluzzelin has already covered that. Pushing my mind further back-back even further than Aristophanes-it occurs to me that the Babylonian Tale of Ahiqar may have some relevance here. This tells of a flight into the air to build a tower. The Life of Aesop, a later Greek text, takes up this theme. In this Aesop returns from exile to assist Alexander the Great in his desire to build a tower in the sky. He does so by harnessing four boys to four eagles, allowing them to be carried upwards with their bricklayer's equipment. They then start to build a wall in the air.

The Ahiqar story was widely known among the Jewish and Arab communities in the Middle East, and appears again in the work of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, the Persian historian and thinker, who describes the assistance of the devs (beneficial spirits) in building a castle in the air. It appears again the Shahnameh, Ferdowsi's great Persian epic.

Having said all that, 70.55, your particular anime-like castle in the sky may very well owe its inspiration to, well, the Castle in the Sky! Clio the Muse (talk) 01:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

war poems

What is a good website that explains the themes, meaning etc of poem such as the soldier by rupert brooke —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.90.65.15 (talk) 02:39, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

118.90, there is really no substitute for reading the poems yourself. I would have thought that Rupert Brooke's moving verses in The Soldier hardly need further gloss or explanation.

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is forever England... Clio the Muse (talk) 00:55, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

What is the philosophical value of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values? Is this book studied at academic institutions? Mr.K. (talk) 04:47, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

• Probably somewhere down there with Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Seriously, Pirsig was more mystic than philosopher, and his thinking would probably not be taken all that seriously in academic philosophical circles; it wasn't really academic in nature, and not particularly analytic, and generally outside the programme of academic philosophical research during the years of its popularity. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 14:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull seems much more the work of an insane mind that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. Pirsig was at least an academic philosopher - of halfway one. Do mainstream academic philosophy doesn't integrate/consider/absorb works produced outside academic circles? Mr.K. (talk) 19:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Agitprop

What is this picture in reference to? --superioridad ^(discusión) 08:36, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

The text says "Entente - under the mask of piece". The Allies of World War I were called the "Entente Powers" and also after that war, until about 1940, the word Entente was often used for the alliance between France and Britain. The image is from 1920, so it most likely refers to the support by these countries for the White Movement during the Russian Civil War. DAVID ŠENEK 09:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

The direct transliteration Антанта - "Entente" - means the Triple Entente. The poster seems to be a reminder that Russia's erstwhile allies, despite pulling out of the civil war and making overtures of peace, are still capitalists at heart and should not be trusted. FiggyBee (talk) 11:03, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Updated

And the word on the mask: 'МИР' (Mir)? What does this mean? --superioridad ^(discusión) 23:43, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Peace. It's an illustration of supposed hypocrisy. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:49, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

You can also check мир in Wiktionary, our sister project. - Saludos, Ev (talk) 01:04, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

There could also be a play on words involved here. Мир also means "a/the world". In the pre-revolutionary orthography, the words for "peace" and "world" were spelled slightly differently, but now they're spelled the same, thus introducing a potential for misinterpretation and word play that didn't exist previously. (The pronunciations have always been the same; the spelling change didn't alter that.) The poster could be a conveying a sense that the world is a pretty ugly place and it has to pretend to be more pleasant (with peace conferences, ententes etc) to be able to live with itself. Hence the entente referred to is being depicted as window dressing. If I had a face like that, I'd wear a mask too. Interesting to reflect on the entire world having a persona, not just individual people having them. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:01, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Given what David says above, it makes more sense for the word to be meaning "peace" here, though. Note that the word is written on the mask, not the face. --Anonymous, 03:00 UTC, March 30, 2008.

True. I was just idly musing on a mellow autumnal Sunday afternoon. Still, I wonder what the grotesque face was meant to represent. -- JackofOz (talk) 03:07, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

It depicts the treachery and perfidy of the 'capitalist' powers, hiding behind the mask of peace. The theme is repeated time and again in Soviet propaganda, with the bloated capitalist almost invariably wearing a top hat. Clio the Muse (talk) 03:20, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Patrona Halil

can i know any more about Patrona Haili rebellion in Ottoman Empire? what impact had it? Enver M (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 10:32, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

The chief effect of Patrona Halil's uprising, Enver, was to force the Ottoman authorities into ever deeper forms of social conservatism. The uprising was blamed on migrant Albanians, like Patrona Halil himself, so further migration from the western Balkans was severely restricted. Mahmud I issued decrees aimed at keeping all provincials out of Istanbul, though in practice these proved difficult to enforce. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:44, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Law question: title of party

Hi,
I'm writing about a criminal case (heard in the Magistrates Court, Melbourne) involving an application to return objects seized by the Victorian Police. The Applicant is self represented and the other party is the Victorian Police (I'm not really sure as it wasn't made explicit during the hearing but it must be) represented by solicitor. My question is what do you address the other party as? Are they the respondent/defendant/prosecutor? Thanks! --Fir0002 11:26, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Plaintiff brings the case against another party. Defendant or respondent is the accused party. Julia Rossi (talk) 12:43, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Seems like this is just a motion to return evidence. In this case the plaintiff is the person that brings the motion (or makes the complaint) and the defendant is the respondant who is opposing the motion. Rfwoolf (talk) 12:50, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Dance in UAE

For the people who come from U.A.E. and had seen this dance: What is the name of this dance, why is it bad to watch and where can you get these videos from, meaning which website? by the way, I am not a Muslim. Here are some videos:[[15]], [[16]],[[17]], and [[18]]. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Don Mustafa (talk • contribs) 13:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Somalis in Bangladesh

Is it true that there are Somalis living in Bangladesh? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Don Mustafa (talk • contribs) 13:53, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

As per http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3452.htm "In recent years ... Bangladeshi troops have served or are serving in Sierra Leone, Somalia, ..."

Reference http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-africa_democracy/article_1519.jsp mentions the particularly friendly terms which were established between Bangladesh UN troops and the warring Somalis.

As Bagladesh and Somalia share their religion, the Islam, it may be possible that some Somalis married soldiers or somehow established business connections which permitted an immigration to Bangladesh.

On a tangent, the Guardian on http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jan/23/britishidentity.features11 reports that there is a community of a few thousand Somalis around Cardiff in Wales. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Philosophy: career options

If one is interested in philosophy and wants to study it in college, what would one do as a career? One cannot simply be a philosopher nowadays. Is majoring in philosophy alone a wise decision? Are there people out there who hire philosophers to think of something for them? Am i hyperbolizing the term philosophy as it applies to today? Thanks very much, schyler (talk) 14:18, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

You are right, being a philosopher is not a career, but, philosophy is a still a valued degree in certain fields such as government, you could lecture, some businesses view the degree in the same way as a Bachelor of Art - and in this way you would be eligible for many positions that simply require a degree. Rfwoolf (talk) 14:25, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Academic philosophy is a perfectly valid career, though there aren't that many jobs available. Algebraist 14:26, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Well there are two paths that I know of. First you could be a professor in the academe or you could use your BA in Philosophy as a background for studying Law. --Lenticel ^(talk) 14:31, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

You could also become an actress with a record number of Oscars, or a comedian with a Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:57, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Or another (ludicrously over-rated) award winning comedian. Ooh have we found a connection between philosophy and comedy? - discuss? Willy turner (talk) 22:13, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I think it's a damn shame there aren't professional philosophers. Many health issues could be solved by your GP referring you to your local consultant philosopher. You'd get so involved in discussing being and nothingness that you'd forget all about your paltry medical problems and start to see the world in an entirely different light. -- JackofOz (talk) 22:54, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, JackofOz is referring to the WP:RD staff. The services of this institution (which, in dire circumstances, may save your sanity, unless you have lost it already and "work" here) are refundable via NHS / Medicare / whatever you call it

In exceptional circumstances it may happen that you leave our surgery with increased symptoms of lunacy. In this case, join our merry circle in the daily group therapy. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 00:29, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

What's the matter? Never mind. What's to mind? Never matter. Anyway, schyler, my advice to anyone considering a philosophy option would be to go with your interests and instincts. Thinking about thinking is surely no better basis for a fulfilling professional and personal life. It should equip one for almost anything! Clio the Muse (talk) 00:32, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

'Anything' here means probably nothing. As a philosopher you can teach other philosopher or you can become a dubious professional in airy fields like success consulting, intercultural consulting or motivational speaker. WikiWiking (talk) 00:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

On the contrary; anything here means almost everything. An educated mind is always an asset. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:46, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't say that philosophy 'educates your mind'. At least not more than science does. As a matter of fact, studying philosophy at university is just studying the history of philosophy - a ratter tiny part of the intellectual achievements of humankind. If you really want to educate your mind go for maths and you will learn the basic structure of everything. WikiWiking (talk) 02:31, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh, that's fine; I'm more than happy to leave you with maths, while I continue in my devotion to that 'ratter' tiny part of the mind! I do not mean to be unkind, WikiWiking, but it is patently obvious that you know next to nothing about academic philosophy. Clio the Muse (talk) 02:42, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, I have met more than one philosopher and 'appreciated' more than one lecture. I can only confirm what I have said: academic philosophy is in a terrible shape, it resembles in nothing the great achievements of the past, and there is nothing into it that can be respected. The whole field is full of toffee-nosed pretentious charlatans. Professionally you can become a teacher or a clown (success consulting, intercultural consulting or motivational speaker and the like). My best advise: learn something about how the world works. Go for maths if you are interested in abstract thinking and understanding a lot of phenomena. WikiWiking (talk) 03:17, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Katie Cruel

I've been having a devil of a time finding information about the original sources of this traditional folk song. Probably, the most well known recording of it is by Karen Dalton. Are there alternative titles I should be looking for? - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 14:46, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I can't trace any sources, but there's an earlier (and surely better) version of the lyrics here. Diddle-ay, oh diddle-i o-day. Xn4 15:28, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

"Katie Cruel" originated in New England in colonial times, and has been sung there continuously from the eighteenth century until today. Colonial militiamen used it as a marching song; children sang it as a jingle and speeded the tempo to a skipping pace; for women it was either a lullaby or a lament that captured well the dreaming loneliness and pain of love.

Scott, J. A. (1967). The ballad of America: the history of the United States in song and story. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. pp. 50-2. OCLC 213782149. There's some lyrics, and a snippet of sheet music from: Linscott, E. H. (1962). Folk songs of old New England. OCLC 165637186. I'll email 'em if you'd like.—eric 16:52, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Managed to find the Linscott version, and I should have the Scott book on the way next time I am at the loan desk. Also found a Scottish parallel / likely original. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 18:12, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Murdered Greek actress Eleni Papadaki, denounced by envious rival?

I recently saw a documentary on Maria Callas, in which one of the interviewees claimed that Callas had to flee Greece at the end of the war to avoid the fate of the celebrated actress Eleni Papadaki, who was murdered in December 1944 by Communists accusing her of having collaborated with the Germans.

When I tried to look her up on Wikipedia, there was no entry for Eleni Papadaki in English or any other language I could read. Searching for her name in Latin script gives only a few hits on Google or Google Books. When I first searched, a few weeks ago, even the Greek Wikipedia did not have an article on her. But her name gets 13,000 Google hits in Greek, so there seems to be material out there. Now, the Greek Wikipedia has an article, as somebody added one since I searched for her last time. (Isn't that a coincidence? The Greek Wikipedia has languished for years with no article on one of the apparently most famous 20th century Greek actresses, and just a couple of weeks after some random foreigner looks in vain for an article about her, somebody writes one...)

Using a Babelfish translation of the Greek Wikipedia article as my starting point, I have made an attempt to write an article on Eleni Papadaki, but it is pretty incomplete. (Bonus piece of trivia: Oscar Wilde transliterated to Greek and then re-transliterated by Babelfish back into English becomes "O'skar Goya'jlnt"?)

As for my actual question: According to the interview in the documentary I mentioned, Papadaki was denounced by a rival actress, envious of her success. A snippet I can see on Google Books from André Gerolymatos, Red Acropolis, Black Terror (from 2004, ISBN 0465027431) indicates that her rival was surnamed Economou [19] Does anyone know more of this particular Greek drama? Who was the rival actress? What happened to her later? (Gerolymatos's book is not easily available to me, or I would look it up there.)

Anyone knowing Greek and familiar with modern Greek theatre or interested in the history of the Greek Civil War should feel encouraged to improve the Papadaki article. Without expert help, I suspect that my modest attempt will make somebody conclude that she is undeserving of the honour of a Wikipedia page and fill the top of the page with little rectangular boxes. Olaus (talk) 14:54, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

1974 Jazz organist/keyboardist

Can anyone tell me who the keyboardist/hammond organist? that performed on Billy Cobham's '74 record Crosswinds is? Jan Hammer performed with him on the previous album, but I can't figure out if it could be Brian Auger, or someone completely different. Conveniently, his website isn't working properly either, which sucks. Specifically, I'm wondering about the track Heather (YouTube link). Would that be a Hammond, or some other keyboard? I can't really tell. Thanks in advance!  freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ  16:15, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's George Duke. Can't listen to the YouTube link right now, sorry. ---Sluzzelin talk 16:56, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I've just checked his homepage and it appears that you're right! Thank you! I wonder what he was playing; doesn't say that he's ever played a hammond organ.  freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ  17:22, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

... and I now just checked the beginning of your clip; the intro is played on a Rhodes piano. (Good to see you back at the desks, by the way!) ---Sluzzelin talk 17:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I listened to some more. The prominent electric piano sound is a Rhodes for certain. The atmospheric background sounds like it could be an ARP 2600, though that's merely a guess. ---Sluzzelin talk 20:43, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Hillary: The Movie

Why no one in the campaign is discussing about this film? Googling does not help much. No wikipedia article on this movie. Thanks, Slmking (talk) 21:35, 29 March 2008 (UTC) Slmking

Because it's not very notable? I'm not sure it satisfies Wikipedia's notability requirements for films. It has not been distributed widely, it is not old enough to be historically notable, it hasn't won an award, was not selected for preservation in an archive, and is not taught as a subject at an academic institution. (Maybe someday it will be notable, but at the moment it looks like a—boring—partisan hit piece, which are a dime a dozen in an election year this day and age.) --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 21:52, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Did Nazis execute old people??

I love reading about the Third Reich and its people. I have read here and on Spanish wikipedia that Nazis executed homosexuals, lesbians, black people, Gypsies, Jews, Communists, physically and mentally handicapped people, etc, etc. But I need to know. Did they execute old people? thanks and kisses from ArGenTina!. 201.254.75.4 (talk) 21:11, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Not specifically because they were old, no, unless they fell into one of those other categories. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 21:46, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Murder is, I think, a better word in this context, 201.254, than 'execute'. Yes, they murdered thousands of old people, but only, as Captain Reference Desk says, if they fell under some of the particular headings you have identified. I'm not sure, though, if it is correct to say that they specifically targeted black people as such. The so-called Rhineland Bastards were forcibly sterilized, it is certainly true, though they were not incarcerated or murdered. Other black Germans managed to live through the period in relative peace. Also, I think it would be more exact to say that gays, lesbians and Communists were sent to concentration camps for their 'offences', rather than targeted for murder in the same fashion as the Jews and the Gypsies eventually were. Of course, many died there, but that was not necessarily the chief aim. I hope you will understand that it is important to make these distinctions. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:15, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Name of song

I saw an old movie about the battle of the Bulge where the German tank commanders sang some kind of marching song. Does anyone know what it is called? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yes, I believe it (talk • contribs) 21:32, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

According to IMDb trivia and our very own article, it's "Panzerlied". Clarityfiend (talk) 22:22, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Here it is [20]. It's really quite stirring; so turn up the volume and stamp your feet! And there is no need to feel guilty if you like it. There is no mention at all of the Nazis! I've also managed to find the Battle of the Bulge version [21], though here all they do is repeat the first verse over and over. Clio the Muse (talk) 23:57, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Legal systems

Are there any legal systems anywhere in the World which publish the law in the form of a dichotomous key? 71.100.5.4 (talk) 23:17, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

The federal law of Switzerland is indexed with an hierarchical decimal key. For instance, 6 - finance law, 64 - tax law, 641.41 - beer tax law and so on (http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/index.html). I imagine many countries use a similar system. Sandstein (talk) 01:09, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the lookup but unfortunately that is not what I mean. What I am looking for is on the order of a flowchart or multiple state truth table in the form of a polychotomous key where the dependent variables are the list of actions defined by law and the independent variables are the conditions by which the actions are defined. 71.100.5.4 (talk) 02:32, 30 March 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.6.217 (talk)

March 30

Holocaust denial

Hello. What's the deal with holocaust deniers? Is it normally assumed that they privately believe in the holocaust or that they are genuinely deluded? 90.203.189.60 (talk) 00:10, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

There's actually a Wikipedia article on it which is illuminating somewhat: Holocaust denial. The most common story I hear is that it is a hoax inspired by a Jewish conspiracy. x42bn6 Talk Mess 00:13, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

In political terms it is most often the defining characteristic of Neo-Nazism. Take away the Holocaust-a uniquely awful event in world history-then it almost possible to 'normalise' the Nazi state. There is a perverse logic at work, though; the Jews, for these people, still remain the chief enemy, which leaves open the question what is to be done with such monsters. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:23, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

If you think that is perverse logic at work consider the belief of the Aryan Brotherhood that because Adolph Hitler was descended from a Jew that the Nazi party was from its very inception part of an International Jewish conspiracy or Jewish agenda which was in this case to "...reign over..." the earth as prescribed by God in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 26, of the Old Testament on the basis of being the "chosen people" where any non-chosen people such as the gentiles or their organizations, governments etc. are considered to be no different than the "...fish in the sea...," "...birds in the sky...," "...all the wild [and domestic] animals on the Earth..." Thus, the Aryan Brotherhood located within the CA State Prison of LA County (and documented by the Bible Baptist Prison Miniseries in nearby Tehachapi, CA) believes that the whole Nazi episode was merely a means for the Jews to wrestle control away from the Prussian (German) State so that the Jews might one day reign over it (Germany). In 1947 the Allied Occupation Forces declared the Prussian State abolished . 71.100.0.187 (talk) 03:19, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not a neo-nazi. However, he is one of the most popular Holocaust deniers. He denies it because of hatred towards Israel. If he really hates Israel or denies the Holocaust on a personal level is unknown. He is a politician and says anything required to be elected. -- kainaw™ 01:22, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

See Arthur Butz and The Hoax of the Twentieth Century. Edison (talk) 02:27, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

It's all about making the world fit their worldview. 9/11 conspiracy people can't accept that George Bush's America was a victim and non-Europeans perpetrators, so they try to twist facts to eliminate the cognitive dissonance. "Scientific creationists" won't accept natural history that doesn't follow their narrow interpretation of the Bible. Holocaust deniers are almost without exception antisemites who refuse to believe that Jews could be innocent victims of "Aryan" Europeans, so they invent an alternate history in which that isn't the case. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 03:25, 30 March 2008 (UTC)