Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities

Welcome to the humanities section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

skip to bottom

Select a section:

• Computing
• Entertainment
• Humanities
• Language
• Mathematics
• Science
• Miscellaneous
• Archives

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

   

How can I get my question answered?

• Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
• Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
• Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
• Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
• Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
• Note:
  • We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
  • We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
  • We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
  • We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

• The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

See also:

• Teahouse
• Help desk
• Village pump
• Help manual

July 5

When was Vostok Island claimed by the UK?

The best sourcing I can find is that a "Mr John T. Arundel" claimed Vostok Island for the United Kingdom in 1873. Does anyone have any idea if it's possible to find the specific date and what it might be? The best I can conceive is going through the archives of Parliament for 1873-4 and seeing if it was mentioned but that seems an excessive amount of work that may not even pan out. --Golbez (talk) 02:44, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Arundel also claimed Flint Island for the UK in 1881, again without any specific date; would love to know that as well. --Golbez (talk) 03:10, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

We do have an article on him: John T. Arundel, which lists several sources. Rojomoke (talk) 06:22, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if it was related to the Challenger expedition, which was in those parts in early 1874? Alansplodge (talk) 17:02, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

I found an official looking 1940 Report on the Phoenix and Line Islands with special reference to the question of British sovereignty (link to pdf at bottom of web page). See page 40 of the Report for details about Vostok Island.--Cam (talk) 18:35, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Order of competing claims

(I am not sure if this is the right place, if not, I would be happy if someone directed me to the correct place)

In many articles, in WP:ARBPIA, there are competing claims. The UN says something, Israel says something, the Palestinians say something etc. Is there some guideline as to which order these claims should be presented in a section? See for instance, the dispute here. Kingsindian ♝♚ 09:18, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Bumping thread. Kingsindian ♝♚ 09:40, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Suggest you ask at WT:NPOV... that would be the policy that best applies (as DUE WEIGHT may have an impact on the order of presentation). Blueboar (talk) 12:03, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, I've asked there. Kingsindian ♝♚ 17:41, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Raymond Lubitz

Resolved

The final chapter of the book Anarchy, State, and Utopia lists a number of individuals. One of them is "Raymond Lubitz". Who is Robert Nozick likely referring to? The name could be misspelled (for example the same list includes "Hugh Hefner" spelled with two "f"'s). If it helps, the entire list is as follows: "Wittgenstein, Elizabeth Taylor, Bertrand Russell, Thomas Merton, Yogi Berra, Allen Ginsburg, Harry Wolfson, Thoreau, Casey Stengel, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Picasso, Moses, Einstein, Hugh Heffner, Socrates, Henry Ford, Lenny Bruce, Baba Ram Dass, Gandhi, Sir Edmund Hillary, Raymond Lubitz, Buddha, Frank Sinatra, Columbus, Freud, Norman Mailer, Ayn Rand, Baron Rothschild, Ted Williams, Thomas Edison, H. L. Mencken, Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Ellison, Bobby Fischer, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin." Gabbe (talk) 10:11, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

The economist Raymond Lubitz (1937-1984). He was Assistant and Associate Professor of Economics at Columbia University (from 1967-1973), a member of the Federal Reserve Board (1973-1984), and Chief of the FRB's World Payments Economic Activities Section (Division of International Finance). In 1971, he co-authored International Economics with Peter Kenen. Nanonic (talk) 10:24, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

One of the essays of Socratic Puzzles was dedicated to Raymond Lubitz, the economist. So it seems you are spot on. Thanks for the quick response! Gabbe (talk) 10:55, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Pansexuality and Cochin

How come the so called Pansexual pride flag is directly copied from the flag of the Kingdom of Cochin? Is this just a coincidence or is there any Indian spiritual inspiration for the new flag which has led to this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.251.77.222 (talk) 14:50, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

It was conceived by JustJasper on Tumblr in 2011. Might be worth asking her there. Nanonic (talk) 15:57, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

No. According to the sources here at Wikipedia it was concieved in 2010. 83.251.77.222 (talk) 16:52, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Well that's odd because I got that info directly from the sources on the Wiki page itself. Even now, if you go to the original Tumblr page here it states that JustJasper created it in 2011. Nanonic (talk) 16:59, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Flags Of The World has different shades for the colours for Cochin [1].
Sleigh (talk) 16:02, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

No source make any claim to have the right colours, as far as I can see. 83.251.77.222 (talk) 16:59, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

I can't find anything on LGBT topics and Hinduism either. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.251.77.222 (talk) 16:33, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Is there any reliable source for even the existence of that Cochin flag anyway (let alone the precise shades)? I can see none. Fut.Perf. ☼ 19:30, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

This site traces the flag (with the colours "red, yellow, and turquoise", rather than pink, yellow, and blue) back to a book entitled "Nations Without States", written by James Minahan in 1996. We don't have an article on Minahan, but his works are frequently used as references here. The site mentions that (for this book) Minahan does not cite any sources. Apart from that, all references are to the image on Commons and our article. Tevildo (talk) 21:46, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

But even the crwflags site says that Minahan is describing that tricolor as "the Keralan national flag", not the flag of Cochin. And the difference between red and pink is too big to make this count as the same flag anyway. Plus, we are talking about a state established in the 13th century; the idea that such a state (outside Europe) should have had a tricolor "flag" (of any color combination) falls into the category of "extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence" (the tricolor format being a decidedly modern, European convention); the same goes for the European-style "coat of arms" given on the page. I'm removing both from the article. Fut.Perf. ☼ 05:05, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Maiden names as middle names

When did it become established that married woman use their maiden name as middle names, e.g. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Michelle Robinson Obama? I'd never heard of this practice before, but it seems to have become common in recent years. Zacwill16 (talk) 13:09, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, the articles about middle names and married and maiden names are pretty poor about things like that, aren't they? My impression is that this sort of naming has been going on for some decades in the US, but has become more common there. But do I have a cite for that? Certainly not. --174.88.133.209 (talk) 19:15, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

It was certainly a common-ish practice in C19th Britain. It can be a useful aid to tracing family history. Mjroots (talk) 19:18, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Double-barrelled name has some relevant information. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 19:23, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Not quite the same thing, but having the mothers' maiden name as the childs' second forename is not unusual in Wales - my mother, her brother, and her sister all had "Jones" as their second forename (dating from around 1920). --Arwel Parry (talk) 00:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The same happened in my family (Scotland and Cornwall) - although my mother's middle name is MacKay, her grandmother's maiden name. Alansplodge (talk) 09:14, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm reluctant to add WP:OR, but this might help direct further research. When my American parents (Mother from Georgia, father from New York) married in 1947, my mother took her maiden name as her middle name, and while she is no longer around to ask, my father says that it was not an uncommon practice at the time. -- ToE 00:03, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Not WP:RS, but this discussion suggests that it is a long standing Southern tradition. -- ToE 00:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

And this article says that about 25% of American women marrying today follow this practice, and that it is most common in the Northeast and the South. -- ToE 00:20, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

In my family (Northeastern US) the custom certainly goes back to at least the second half of 1800s ... All four of my Great-grand mothers took their maiden names as a middle name when they married. Blueboar (talk) 01:26, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Both my mother and my aunt use their maiden names as a middle name, replacing their former middle names which were chosen as confirmation names. Neither of them were given middle names at birth. For what it's worth, they are also from the Northeastern US and first-generation Americans. Helene O'Troy - Et In Arcadia Ego Sum (talk) 17:19, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Has a confederation of nations ever been stable when it has central law/monetary policy but not redistribution of resources?

Looking at the Greek crisis, I find myself doubting that the Greeks are part of Europe presently. I mean, they might be EU members and part of the euro and such, but when Europeans hear they have a 25% unemployment rate and 25% contraction of their economy, their response is typically to ask what the Greeks can cut to pay interest on debt, i.e. thinking of ways for money to flow out of Greece. This isn't how I'd expect one's fellow countryman to think. Fundamentally, in a federation of poor and rich countries, I'd expect that the rich will find ways to write law, monetary policy or whatever to suit their needs; this means that the poor countries must either receive some kind of free money, or else it is in their benefit to leave the union altogether. Only if the confederation were maintained by brutal force (Ireland in the UK), or else in name only, or maybe just a free trade pact or alliance, would it be possible to maintain, I'd think. And in practice, of course, to get NATO off the ground there was the Marshall Plan, and the U.S. likewise put money into Puerto Rico to encourage development, and West Germany poured a fortune into East Germany after unification as I understand it. Contrarily, the U.S. under the original Articles of Confederation, and quite probably the Confederate States of America, were what I would think of as unstable.

But is this any sort of valid observation, or can you point to a counterexample? Wnt (talk) 22:00, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Switzerland has very limited redistribution among its cantons, which, like European countries, also may differ in language. The main difference is a shared identity and a federal government with a small redistributive role. Marco polo (talk) 14:50, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Instead of redistributing wealth you can redistribute population. That is, instead of moving wealth where the population is poor, the population can move where the wealth is. Clearly for the free movement of people you need some sort of union. So that could be another recipe for stability. How much redistribution there really was in the US in the first say 150 years of its existence? But the population was very mobile. The Greek should try to solve their problems by helping all of their unemployed move to Germany. Now how about that? Would they, as EU citizens, be entitled to German benefits?

I'm surprised to hear that Switzerland doesn't have much redistribution. I'd always thought of Switzerland as a country with relatively few economic disparities (compared to say the US). Maybe there is very limited redistribution because the country is very homogeneous and a lot of redistribution is not needed?

Incidentally: "Else it is in their benefit to leave the union altogether". You're talking as if a country has some kind of monolithic will. But usually, even in democracies, countries are run for the benefit of a small proportion of their population, and you discover that the "national interest" is in fact the interest of a small proportion of its population. What may not be in the interest of the general Greek population may have been in the interest of a Greek elite.

Contact Basemetal here 16:10, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

July 6

Jules Dumont d'Urville in Manga Reva

When was Jules Dumont d'Urville, Jacques Marescot du Thilleul, and his crew of the Astrolabe on the island of Mangareva (Manga Reva) in the Gambier Islands? Exact dates if possible. I'm trying to date when these sketches were made which was when they were on the island. It seems to be somewhere around August 1838.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 01:20, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

You are right. The book is set up with the dates in the margins; 1838 is the year for Chapters XXI to XXIII, which recount their stay at Mangareva and août means August. The two ships Astrolabe and Zélée arrived on Aug 2 at night at Aka-Marou/Wainwright island. They left on Aug 15 from Manga Reva. 184.147.138.101 (talk) 10:07, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Is it known yet what will be the last state to perform its first same sex marriage?

I think a state can say that they will start doing SSMs as soon as they can change their own laws or print forms that say husband and husband or abrogate their constitutional amendment or something like that. And some states have part time legislators, with a months long vacation. After that they might have to waiting periods. Have they all set timetables for their first SSM yet? A state can't gay marry a person if there's no provision for it in the state's laws, right?

If a state not in the four sued wanted to drag this out as long as possible could it make excuse(s) until they lose all credibility and then at least one gay couple in each state would have to sue each state in federal court to force them to write gay marriage laws or something? And if the legislature somehow still refuses what are they going to do? Cut off their funding? Can Congress change the law for the state if their legislature feels like they're defending God by refusing? What if our Republican Congress doesn't want to do anything about it? What if Bush was president and the Republicans were in power when the Supreme Court decided so nobody wanted to do anything about it? The Supreme Court can't really do anything, they're just 9 people. (If a marriage clerk refuses to follow his state they can threaten to fire him or find someone in the state who will (by emergency training of new marriage clerks if necessary). But if the state doesn't want to marry gays and the state is the only thing that can marry people then what could be done if the Congress and President are anti-gay marriage enough?) Who will win, people who think they're sinning if they don't or people who realize what a horrible third world country-like precedent that'd be setting for the rule of law in America?

Has a government ever tried to do anything like this against a Supreme Court decision (besides segregation)? They could at least grant marriage licenses with a 10000 year waiting period on gay marriages only and then wait to be sued again, right? I'm not sure if the Supreme Court decision specifically addressed that. (Sorry if my writing sounds like a Michael Bay movie (if Michael Bay was a lawyer)). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:39, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

No, Michael Bay edits for people with short attention spans. Ten quick cuts per explosion. To be like him, you'd need a paragraph for each of your fourteen questions. This is more like Alexander Sokurov. InedibleHulk (talk) 01:54, July 6, 2015 (UTC)

I was thinking of his very over the top scenarios like the Rock, Armegeddon, The Purge and The Purge:Anarchy. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 02:19, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Then you may be right. I didn't really read the scenario, just skipped to the end and counted the question marks. Not to be rude, but blocks of text simply aren't appropriate for general audiences, even with parental guidance. (Which state will be last to give equality to incestuous gays?) I'm not saying cut anything, but some line breaks would be nice.

Anyway, not trying to hijack the question, just saying. I'll let those who sat through it say the rest. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:28, July 6, 2015 (UTC)

Do you like the OP's questions? Do you like them here or there? Do you like them in a house? Do you like them with a mouse? Do you like them in a box? Do you like them with a fox? Do you like them with a goat? Do you like them in a boat? Do you like them on a train? Do you like them in the rain? Do you like them in the park? Do you like them in the dark? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:08, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I like it better now, Sam. Thanks for the line breaks, Sag! InedibleHulk (talk) 05:31, July 8, 2015 (UTC)

Where did I say anything about incest? And you know what a local government did when the Supreme Court said school segregation is unconstitutional? They just stopped running schools at all for a year or two and subsidized private schools (or the white parents?) so even poor white kids had school and blacks had no school at all. Most of them dragged their feet for years or only had token integration for the next 20 years and the Supreme Court kept having to give stronger judgements. I've hardly stepped foot in a red state much less lived there so I don't know where realisticness stops. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 03:14, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

You didn't mention gay incest, I did. In the "parental guidance" pipelink. It's a Sokurov film. Not the clearest statement. Did I say something about segregation, or was that you? InedibleHulk (talk) 04:26, July 6, 2015 (UTC)

I just wanted to show how crazy US conservatives can get when the Supreme Court declares something they really like unconstitutional. Florida declared it null and void (the governor sided with the rule of law, though). Prince Edward County closed its entire school system from 1959 to 1964 in a Virginia-wide campaign called Massive Resistance. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 12:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Wacky bastards. InedibleHulk (talk) 06:18, July 7, 2015 (UTC)

Well some counties in some states had already stopped issuing all marriage licences even before Obergefell. Edit: Forgot to mention, however since Obergefell reaffirmed the Loving v. Virginia inding that marriage is a fundamental right, this doesn't seem to be even a medium term solution. Heck even short term I'm not sure if it'll do much. One reason it seemed to come about before Obergefell wasn't just because of reluctance to perform same sex marriage, but due to a lack of clarity of whether or not they should be doing so. Nil Einne (talk) 15:36, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

If you have a list of states which have not yet performed a same-sex marriage, then the answer to your overall question will likely be "one of those." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:15, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

From the Caitlyn Jenner discussion I gather that a-to-b transsexuals are (post transition) considered to have been gender b from birth. So if a couple enters an opposite-sex marriage and then one member transitions, that means it was really a same-sex marriage from the very beginning. That probably means all states have done SSM's by now, even if they are still on the books as OSM's. But it would be very hard to document this. 50.0.136.194 (talk) 06:55, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I don't think that's true. Even if you accept that particular fiction (I don't, Kris Jenner is not a lesbian, she married a man when she married Bruce) that would only make it a same-gender marriage, not a same-sex marriage. - Lindert (talk) 08:00, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The notion that a woman who marries another woman is necessarily a lesbian, is not supported by the language. It's called "same sex" marriage, not "same sexual orientation" marriage. Many gay people have entered into traditional opposite sex marriages. (Isn't that so, WH Auden, Elton John, Oscar Wilde, Peter Tchaikovsky, Rock Hudson and Natacha Rambova?) I wonder what the reverse of lavender marriage is called. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 08:32, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I did not say anything about Bruce's sexual orientation, what I said has nothing to do with "same sexual orientation" marriage. My point was that Kris is not sexually attracted to women, and therefore she wouldn't have married Bruce if he had been woman at that time. And yes, many same-sex attracted people have indeed married the opposite sex, but the reverse I'd say is extremely unlikely/uncommon. - Lindert (talk) 08:56, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I would say that if the state considers the spouses opposite sex but won't marry people born the same sex then that is just a footnote. It probably just begrudgingly marries a guy and a guy with a penis after he produces proof that he was born a female (birth certificate, state ID etc.). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 12:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

At a state level in the US, I strongly suspect there is no state where there hasn't been at least one marriage licence issued to a same sex couple even a the time of your post.

One thing to understand is even before Obergefell, many states already had had some licences, particularly after Windsor. If you take a read of Same-sex marriage in the United States and the old version [2], 35 states seem to have had same sex marriages before Obergefell. 3 more Same-sex marriage in Kansas, Same-sex marriage in Missouri, Same-sex marriage in Alabama had some licences. In fact, it seems to me from the respective articles that Same-sex marriage in Texas, Same-sex marriage in Arkansas and Same-sex marriage in Michigan also had some licences before Obergefell.

The ones which hadn't issued licences before Obergefell are probably Same-sex marriage in Mississippi, Same-sex marriage in South Dakota, LGBT rights in Nebraska, Same-sex marriage in Georgia (U.S. state), Same-sex marriage in Kentucky, Same-sex marriage in Louisiana, Same-sex marriage in North Dakota, Same-sex marriage in Ohio, Same-sex marriage in Tennessee. (At least none of these articles mentioned licences before Obergefell.)

But while the response of the states have varied, generally the biggest roadblock that seems to have been put in place is waiting for a lower court to remove a stay (or similar), they need to study the decision or otherwise dragging their feet. But by now, most of the time stuff has happened. Some also said that the decision is the ultimate evil (or whatever) and they will support anyone who refuses to issue a licence. But while that's a problem, as I'll mention later this probably doesn't happen entirely state wide.

The thing is, even if marriages are partially regulated at a state level, the licences themselves aren't normally issued by the top level politicians. They are instead usually issued by clerks or judges or something like that. And even in the state with the most opposition, there tends to be people and areas where there is less opposition. It becomes clear if you read the articles (and also the news reports from around the time) that it isn't uncommon some of these people have taken whatever opportunity they feel they can, sometimes even based on decisions before Obergefell, opening on Saturday etc.

So I wouldn't be surprised if all states had issued licences by the end of the day of the ruling, no matter whether the Attorney General or Governor or whatever had said they should wait.

Probably the only remaining thing to consider are waiting periods. Some states have a waiting period between issuing a licence and the marriage being performed. But from sources at the time, it was also clear that some people were willing to waive such waiting periods if the law allowed them for same sex couples on the day of the ruling. If there was any state which hadn't yet issued licences before Obergefell, where the waiting period couldn't be waived, then perhaps they had no same sex marriages on the day of the ruling. But I don't know if any state has a unwaivable waiting period so long that they wouldn't have performed a same sex marriage by the time of your question.

Notably, Kansas seems one of the biggest holdouts in recognision same sex marriages, but as mentioned earlier, they already had issued licences even before Obergefell. (Other states may also resist properly recognising same sex marriages. This may be problematic, but is distinct from refusing to allow such marriages.)

P.S. This isn't to say that same sex couples wanting to marry aren't facing problems. Obviously if you're a same sex couple in some ultra conservative rural area of whatever state, where the clerk or whoeever is going to refuse to issue a licence, and will be supported by the state government, you're liable to be as angry as a "interracial" couple or whatever facing the same problems, and the fact that other parts of your state which you may live a distance from are better may be of limited comfort. But the question was about the "last state" which only requires one licence.

Nil Einne (talk) 15:28, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

shortsightedness

Shortsightedness runs through the genes of my family. Therefore I would like a spouse that is farsighted to avoid passing on my deficiency to my offspring. However, to avoid being rude, I aim to propose to my future spouse in a less direct way. Are there any sports or other hobbies/activities which require farsightedness? 2.96.211.17 (talk) 10:05, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Probably not, as wearing contact lenses is always a possibility when glasses are inconvenient. Except when swimming. Swimming with contact lenses is a very bad idea, so people don't do that. I find it strange though that you're looking for a spouse like you're looking for a broodmare. Isn't love the most important thing in a marriage? — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 12:01, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I'll avoid the temptation to editorialize; I will note though that [3] says that two loci (I think - maybe more because I didn't go through the data carefully) have 'risk alleles' with effects in opposite directions on myopia and hyperopia. (I had been curious because I could picture that both conditions could have many of the same genes for 'refractive error') So the OP's genetic notion has at least a little basis in reality. I wonder if 23andme ever ran a dating service... :) Wnt (talk) 12:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

This question really ought to be on the science desk. I'm not sure your grasp of genetics is scientific - I don't think 'minus' genes balance 'plus' ones. If having children with good vision is so important to you, your best genetic lottery option would be to find a mate who has perfect vision. Your way, your offspring are likely to be some % mix of short and long sighted. --Dweller (talk) 12:20, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Some genes do work like that. For example, one tall parent and one short is likely, but not guaranteed, to produce offspring between them in size (with adjustments for male versus female heights). Other genes don't work that way, like eye color (we would all have an eye color that looks like what you get when you mix all colors together by now if it did !). Also note that nearsightedness frequently occurs early in life, and farsightedness often later, so it's possible to have both, at different ages (my brother is an example of this). StuRat (talk) 16:16, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

To answer the actual explicit question of your post, no there are no practical activities or pastimes which require an inability to focus properly at short range (which is essentially what you are asking). There certainly are activities which require a person to be able to focus on distant points, but this not the same thing; a person can be perfectly capable of focusing at a distance without being at a disadvantage in focusing on closer points, so you are equating an ability with a disability.

But more to the point, there are numerous reasons why your breeding strategy is unlikely to gain you the result you are looking for. For starters, although there is a bit of disagreement amongst researchers as to which is the more potent influence, both myopia and hyperopia are the result of a complicated interplay of genetics and environment, with the latter being further divided into broader physiological effects (diet, general health) and the manner of exercise to which one puts their eyes, which can have a significant effect on the degree to which genetic propensity for near and farsightedness manifests. Next, to the degree that these conditions are genetic, they involve multiple structures of the eye, governed by multiple genes, so this is not a matter of a simple two-way spectrum with those showing refractive error at one end expected to have strength at the other. Third, some of the implicated genes are recessive, meaning that even if your (oh so lucky) wife-to-be didn't exhibit signs of myopia, she may very well still be capable of passing the trait along, just as you are, regardless of the focal spectrum she herself has manifested. Lastly, even her own vision might change over the course of her life, as might yours and that of your children.

If you insist on approaching your choice of partner like you are a character from Gattaca, the best advice that can be offered to you (in specific regard to this trait) is simply to choose a mate who is in generally good health, who has good overall vision and does not tend towards myopia, has no significant history of myopia in her immediate heredity, and then make sure that your children receive a good diet, are in generally good health and that they regularly exercise their vision at a distance (though not to the full exclusion of closer usage, lest you tempt fate in the other direction). But even exercising this extreme level of control over your choice of breeding partner and the upbringing of your offspring, you're only going to tilt the scales in favour of ideal vision so much -- a lot is simply out of your control, especially considering that your own genetics bring some disposition towards dysopia. But to be perfectly honest, I think the manner of myopia you ought to be concerned about here is not the clinical, literal, ocular kind, but rather one that has more to do with the metaphorical extension of that term.  :) Snow ^{let's rap} 23:24, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Very simple solution: adopt. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:27, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

History of the Queen Victoria Monument

Just been listening to a conversation about the Victoria Monument in Liverpool that there used to be public toilets underneath it years ago (I've heard this before many times) but nobody knows if that is true or not.
Does anyone know if this is true or not ? Or Where there be info about it ?
80.195.85.92 (talk) 10:35, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

There used to be subterranean toilets in Derby Square and there is a lot of commentary on the web that the statue either used to face the entrance or indicate it in some way. Photo of entrance here. Photo inside here. They were closed in the early 80s. I can't find anything to say they extended below the Monument, it appears they were nearby but built at the same time. The statue at Queen Victoria Square in Hull does continue to have public toilets beneath it. They were even Grade II listed in 1994, quick pic where you can see the entrance to the Gents here, shoddy Youtube vid of the interior here. Nanonic (talk) 11:07, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Additional - there are images of the original Liverpool excavations here along with some discussion that the Ladies toilets were closer to the monument and perhaps underneath. Nanonic (talk) 11:25, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

According to our article, the monument includes a large "pedestal" with symbolic sculptures etc, and looking at the images, then it seems that the toilets were certainly under that structure, if not under the actual statue itself. I have to confess that I've never been to Liverpool, so have no local knowledge to add - maybe User:KageTora, our resident Scouser, may be able to shed some more light on the subject. Alansplodge (talk) 13:00, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I go past there every week from the underground station at James St. to my favourite sushi restaurant at Liverpool One. I'll check to see if there is an entrance of some sort next time I go, because I have never heard this rumour. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 15:20, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Yes - Smith, Peter F (1974). The Dynamics of Urbanism. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-41738-4. Retrieved 7 July 2015. Tevildo (talk) 23:05, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I used them in the 1970s, but I can't remember whether they were directly under Victoria. I don't think there is any entrance now, KT. BTW, you know about her umbrella, viewed from a certain angle, don't you? I expect someone can provide a photo. Dbfirs 22:02, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Real person - Paul Berowne

Was Paul Berowne a real person? Can only see search results for a character in a novel. Also related is McIver-Berowne baronets. Hack (talk) 13:54, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The article about the baronetcy says it is currently unclaimed, but neither Berowne nor McIver-Berowne appear on the list of unclaimed baronetcies. DuncanHill (talk) 08:31, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Furthermore, neither Berowne nor McIver-Berowne appear on the official roll of the baronetage. DuncanHill (talk) 08:34, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, I am beginning to suspect it may be a hoax. Hack (talk) 08:35, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

And no results for either "Berowne" or "McIver-Berowne" or "McIver Berowne" in the London Gazette, where his baronetcy would have been announced, as would his army career. DuncanHill (talk) 08:48, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Both articles have been deleted, thanks for your work. Hack (talk) 12:31, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

I love it when hoax articles like this get found. I remember seeing a list somewhere of the hoax articles that went the longest before being found. If someone can post a link to that list, I'd be grateful. --Viennese Waltz 12:38, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

@Hack: My pleasure. @Viennese Waltz: I think Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia is what you are looking for. DuncanHill (talk) 12:46, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

So I can add it to the list, can someone see when this was created? Hack (talk) 13:05, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

An admin will be able to see when it was created - might be worth asking @DrKiernan: who did the deletion. There is a redirect dating back to 2012. DuncanHill (talk) 13:10, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

I had a look at the page history before it got deleted. I think it was 2012 or so. Yes that's the list I was thinking of, thanks Duncan. --Viennese Waltz 13:15, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

It was created on 3 December 2012. DrKiernan (talk) 13:38, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Negotiating with Apocalyptic lunatics

I have an interest in the Waco siege. In particular, my focus is on the attempts by the FBI to negotiate with David Koresh in the weeks leading up to the horrifying climax.

My understanding is that the FBI negotiators were considered to have seriously taken the wrong tactics for dealing with a character such as Koresh. (E.g. engaging in religious debates with him, which was never going to work).

(Of course, I accept that even if the negotiators had been world-class at dealing with such a character, there is absolutely no guarantee of a peaceful outcome - but there would presumably have been a higher chance of one).

Could someone either offer some sourced opinions on what would have been the appropriate tack for the negotiators to take in attempting to persuade an apocalyptic lunatic to peacefully surrender? Or direct me to articles (either from the media or scholarly sources) dealing with the subject (this particular tragedy)?

Also, have any experts speculated on the likely chances of success (in obtaining a peaceful outcome) had the proper approach (whatever that is) been used?

PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT asking this to "blame or attack" the FBI. I'm simply trying to understand what lessons can be learned about the ideal way to approach such situations. 121.219.249.222 (talk) 15:37, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The expert speculation at the time, on various news sources, was all about how the ATF should have nabbed him when he was outside the compound, as inside the compound he had lots of followers, weapons, and hostages. He apparently did often leave the compound, so it was a really poor decision to try to arrest him there, as was continuing to plan the raid after they knew the element of surprise was lost. Once agents had been killed, there may very well have been no peaceful way out. (The speculation on why they tried to arrest him inside the compound was around them wanting to be able to get a look around for evidence of other crimes.) StuRat (talk) 16:08, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

An account regarding that aspect: [4] ( I guess the OP is questioning negociations during the stand-off phase, but the rule there can be only "unconditional surrender" from the law enforcement point of vue, so you will have to dig into psychological publications for theories about whether this would have been possible. ) --Askedonty (talk) 16:19, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The OP asks a loaded question: “to persuade an apocalyptic lunatic”. The final analysis was that the Waco community still had faith in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was the authorities had forgotten this which lead to such a shameful stand off that it must have some of the founding fathers of the US constitution revolving in their graves... Let this not ever happen again.--Aspro (talk) 18:27, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

For once I agree with Aspro--the apocalyptic lunatic here was Janet Reno. The fifth amendment also applies, since the ATF was using the arrest warrant on Koresh to justify a fishing expedition. μηδείς (talk) 17:03, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Online sales

It's often said in the UK that online sales are cannibalising brick and mortar sales but is this true in all developed countries? in the U.S., other European countries, Japan etc. 94.2.199.15 (talk) 17:57, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

True in the US, yes. The alternative is that total sales increase. This might have been possible when Internet sales were 1% of total sales, but if Internet sales are 50% of total sales, that would mean twice as much stuff would have to be sold for brick-and-mortar stores not to lose sales. Of course, many Internet sales are from the same brick-and-mortar stores, and transitioning their sales from one form to another isn't particularly a problem for them. In fact, a hybrid system, where customers get the info online, then either buy directly at the store or have their Internet purchases sent to the store, might be the best for both customer and retailer (although perhaps not best for salespeople). StuRat (talk) 18:10, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

A salesperson once tried to sell me a case & huge deductible fall/water plan when my uncased phone was designed to be thrown in a meter of saltwater and has fallen many times, lol. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 18:25, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Yea, the world could probably due with fewer salespeople. At best they provide truthful info, but you can get that more reliably from other sources. At worst they lie and convince you to buy something inappropriate. Of course, web sites can also lie about their products, but there the evidence against them is relatively easy to collect, so they tend to be more honest, and you can also get info/reviews from independent sites. Then, the worst part about salespeople is that they get a significant cut of the action, for providing this questionable info, while you can get more reliable product reviews for free, online. StuRat (talk) 18:30, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Project vs general management

Many sources claim that the skills used in both are similar and transferable. If that's the case, then why do people tend to stick to careers in one or the other. There isn't much moving between them. 94.2.199.15 (talk) 19:29, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

There are some important areas that don't overlap, though, like project managers generally not having to fire people. StuRat (talk) 19:57, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

As a generality, when one already has experience in a particular field or discipline, it's easier to get another in the same one than in a different, even if related one, because when potential employers are considering many applicants (100+ is typical) they often value previous experience – which is demonstrable – more heavily that potential – which is harder to measure. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 20:25, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

To hold palms up or not?

The Roman Catholic Mass has a missal with prescribed recitations. What it doesn't say is the hand motions and other body movements during the Mass, such as holding the palms up, making the sign of the cross, genuflecting, standing up, or sitting down. So, how does one know when one should hold the palms up (or not), make the sign of the cross, genuflect, stand up, or sit down - or does one just have to look around the room for the body cues? Also, does it matter which hand one uses to make the sign of the cross or to shake hands with others while saying "Peace be with you"? 66.213.29.17 (talk) 19:32, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

It is down to body language. Open palms upwards signifies openness. Other than for con-artists, priests, and politicians, etc., it is difficult for a ordinary person to display open palm whilst in their mind-set is of closed fists. The ritual of having acolytes repeat the physical performances is a psychological trick to catch the the unwary into following one's own way, belief and dogma.--Aspro (talk) 19:53, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Riiight. Seriously, give me a Roman Catholic response. 66.213.29.17 (talk) 19:59, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Always right hand for sign of the cross for Catholics, left for Orthodox. I can't even recite most of the Mass anymore, so the ritual can be forgotten. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:17, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Er, not quite. It's right hand for both. The Catholics do it forehead-breast-left-right, while the Orthos go forehead-breast-right-left. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:12, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Well, I would've wrote that if I hadn't been so absent-minded. I even wrote this because you do it that way on the front side of both. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 21:33, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Also the Orthodox have two ways of doing it: the Old Believers do it with two fingers while the official church does it with three fingers (including the thumb). Contact Basemetal here 21:37, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Vasily Surikov's Boyarynya Morozova, depicting the defiant Feodosia Morozova during her arrest. Her two raised fingers refer to the dispute about the proper way to make the sign of the cross.

Does Greece have a backup plan?

According to the media, the Greek government is focused intensely on trying to get the European Commission and ECB to bail them out without too many strings attached, but European leaders have made clear that they are unwilling to offer terms acceptable to the Greeks. Meanwhile, the recent referendum makes it all but impossible for the Greek government to agree to the terms on offer. So it seems likely that Greece will soon run out of euros. Yet Greece has few exports and earns little money except through tourism, which is collapsing as tourists fear chaos there, and Greece is reliant on imports for much of its food and nearly all of its fuel. Despite this, I can find no evidence in the media that the Greek government has made contingency plans to keep the country from running out of food and fuel in the increasingly likely event they do not secure a bailout that they will accept. This would be a serious humanitarian crisis. I have limited time to research this. Can anyone else find evidence of contingency plans to prevent economic collapse and starvation in Greece? Marco polo (talk) 20:18, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The problem is the contingency plans aren't going to come from the current Greek government. After a bit of chaos, you can expect the current government to resign en masse and be replaced by one more willing to negotiate. Also, the Greek population will then be more willing to accept those terms, once they've seen what the alternative looks like. StuRat (talk) 19:53, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

But that makes sense only if the current Greek government is both delusional and incompetent. Of course, that is possible. They have to be delusional to think that they can get what they want from Europe, and they have to be incompetent not to have a fallback plan. Arguably, what Europe is proposing for Greece is not a real solution but a recipe for further economic contraction and crisis that merely postpones a reckoning. If the Greek government were competent, they would be ready to implement a backup plan that offered a way through the crisis (nationalization of the banks and rationing of resources to support essential infrastructure, the tourism sector, and essential, prioritized imports). That way, they might be able to mobilize national solidarity and hold onto power. But maybe they really are delusional and incompetent. Can anyone find evidence to the contrary? Marco polo (talk) 20:18, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Escaping from the Euro is the back up plan. Let me explain it this way. Margaret Thatcher would not let the UK adopt the Euro even though her next door neighbour in number 11 (Nigel Lawson) showed that he could track the exchange rate. However, should a country find itself in a position where it can not reconcile its balance of payments it can always devalue. Whist Greece is locked into the Euro it can't. It is 101 economics.--Aspro (talk) 20:27, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

But devaluing the currency is essentially another way to default. In either case, nobody will want to loan them more money, knowing it may not be repaid or may be repaid with devalued drachmas. So, they would have to learn to live within their means, which means doing unpleasant things like collecting income taxes and reducing pensions. They could just skip the drama and do that now, but collecting income taxes from the rich is very difficult for them to do, for political reasons (not so much different from the US, in that respect). StuRat (talk) 20:41, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The value of the drachma in their pocket will not change with devaluation. For further explanation read: [5]. With the Euro the economy stalls for the lack of Euros in circulation. It is something that the West found an advantage with when it abandoned the gold standard. The IMF could lend cheap dollars to poor countries, then when the dollar value changed, the borrowers found they could not climb out of their debt mountain and had become slaves to the US economy. This is how imperialists become imperialists. The standard of living 'you' enjoy today (and others don't) is the result of the powerful being able to move the goalposts each and every time.--Aspro (talk) 21:17, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

That "pound in your pocket" comment was from 1967 from someone trying to sell devaluation to the public. Since then national economies have become far more interlinked. So, for a Greek buying anything produced abroad, like a car, their devalued drachma would most definitely buy less. Same if they ever travel abroad. StuRat (talk) 15:53, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

• This may sound odd, but what is to stop the Greeks from simply printing more Euros? Would Merkel back an invasion force to stop it? I am sure I must be missing something here, but I can't imagine what. μηδείς (talk) 21:03, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

For a bank to ask for more paper currency it has to show it has 'money' on deposit. The Greek financial accounts are in the red so the printing of more can't be authorized.--Aspro (talk) 21:24, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

That turns out to be the NOMITACCED (No. 1 Most Inflationary Thing A Country Can Ever Do). -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:10, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Indeed. In addition, Greece only prints some Euro banknotes (IIRC the 10-Euro ones). More importantly, such a move would lead to Greece being immediately and summarily thrown out of the Eurozone and the EU. Not that this may not happen either way the way the crisis is going, but the Greek government, whether led by Syriza or not, are not willing to commit political and national suicide in this way and have to shoulder the blame into the bargain. Constantine ✍ 21:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

This article explains some details, although it's a lot less practical than the article makes out. It's important to note that the Bank of Athens (as opposed to the German and Austrian presses that normally print Greek Euros) hasn't printed many Euros so far - of the notes that the EuroTracer website has detected, there are 105,636 notes with the Bank of Athens "N" printing code, against the 4,392,845 notes in the system - and the Greek banknotes are entirely low denomination (mostly fivers and tenners, nothing bigger than a fifty). It looks like about 1 in 3000 euros have been collected by the EuroTracer system, so lets assume that we have a fair sample of Greek banknotes, and in total there are around 300,000,000 Greek-printed euros with a total value of something like €3,000,000,000. If every single one of those euros was in Tsipras's hands right now, he could pay off about... 1% of the Greek debt. To pay its bills effectively with fresh Euros, Greece would have to either a) print massive quantities of Greek €5 and €10 notes (dozens of times more than currently exist), which would be quickly detected, b) produce new plates with a faked printing code on it and churn out massive quantities of Euros that pretend to be from other countries, which would cause them big problems with serial number generation and would be detected as soon as those euros started getting paid into banks, or c) obtain from somewhere the equipment for printing €500 bills and just go into straight-up counterfeiting (and again, struggle with serial number generation). Even this would be noticed very quickly - The Greek debt is (according to our article) on the order of €300 billion, and the total value of all euro banknotes in existence is €900 billion. Physical money printing is an impractical solution to dealing with state debts (which is why nowadays, quantitative easing is mainly an computerized process). Smurrayinchester 09:21, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Smurrayinchester, that answers my question in a practical manner--the sheer number of notes needed. Of course I was already aware that such printing would be unauthorized (hence my Merkel invasion allusion) and that it would lead to hyperinflation--ameliorated by the fact that the devaluation would be across the Eurozone, not local, if they could pull it off. μηδείς (talk) 17:20, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

I think the immediate plan is they are going to issue scrip (tax anticipation notes or TANs) as a parallel currency alongside Euros. They'll pay out instead of Euros and also accept them back for payments of taxes. If you owe taxes to the Greek government you'll be able to pay with TAN instead of Euros, which means the TANs will inherently have some value, at least in Greece. So that gets a little more money in circulation. On the other hand it means the government is bringing in fewer actual Euros that it can service external debt with. Then mostly it's trying to work out a deal with the IMF, ECB, etc. 50.0.136.194 (talk) 03:03, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

But my point is that the IMF, ECB, etc., have indicated that they are not going to offer better terms to Greece than the ones voted down in the recent referendum. It seems very likely, even probable, that they will not be able to work out a mutually acceptable deal. If they can't, the ECB cuts off funding to Greece's banks and they collapse. Meanwhile, Greece depends on imports for its food and fuel. It depends heavily on tourism to earn the money needed for imports, but tourism earnings are plummeting amid fear of unrest. In this situation, how are they going to pay for food and fuel when the euros run out? It's all well and good to issue scrip in lieu of euros to state employees and contractors, but without foreign exchange earnings to give that scrip value, why would foreign exporters of food and fuel accept it? There are possible ways around this: borrowing hard currency against collateral in the form of state-owned property and using that to cover needed imports during a transitional period, together with a plan to nationalize banks and impose capital controls and rationing as needed to insure that the tourism industry gets what it needs to bring in hard currency. However, I can find no mention in the media of any planning along these lines, and a plan would need to exist before it is needed to avoid a damaging period of chaos. (Nothing would scare tourists away like food riots.) Can anyone find evidence that the government is planning for this kind of transition in the likely case that no acceptable bailout is possible? Marco polo (talk) 21:02, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Why don't Roman Catholic Masses ever finish the hymn?

Last week, I visited a Roman Catholic Mass. I was surprised that there were Amazing Grace and America The Beautiful in the hymnal. Everybody just sang the first two or three stanzas, but never finished the entire hymn. Why? Why do Protestant churches finish the entire hymn in the hymnal? 66.213.29.17 (talk) 19:55, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

The Catholic masses I've been to usually had more going on then Protestant services, especially with everyone lining up to receive communion.

Protestantism often downplays communion (freeing up more time in the service), but American Protestantism (influenced by the Great Awakenings) places a lot of emphasis on the congregation participation. Since having everyone preaching would be a stupid idea, and most people can only tolerate so much call-and-response liturgy, that leaves singing hymns (which is more fun for most people). Ian.thomson (talk) 20:10, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

"Having everyone preach" is exactly what's done in some sects, although they are more likely to call it "testifying". See Universal priesthood (doctrine) and Quakers#Unprogrammed worship. StuRat (talk) 20:56, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

They don't make you wait until everyone's said something, though, and everyone doesn't do it at the same time. I should have been clearer that I did not mean "volunteering to taking turns preaching." Ian.thomson (talk) 20:59, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Back (waaay back) when I attended a Methodist boarding school, I necessarily took part in Methodist and/or Anglican services daily (twice on Sunday), and in the subsequent 40 years have not infrequently seen/heard services on BBC TV/radio (by dint of not bothering to switch stations when they come on). Many hymns have quite a few verses, and it was and is routine for the preacher to announce that "we" will sing (only) Verses 1,2 and 6 (or whatever). If all the verses of all the hymns were sung, it would considerably lengthen the service, and I suspect exhaust some of the older participants (since both standing for extended periods and singing (especially if untrained) can be quite tiring. Also, I seem to recall that some verses of some hymns in the then Methodist Hymnbook were perhaps a little outdated and irrelevant (if not borderline racist in a 20th-century context). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 20:45, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure why "Amazing Grace" would be surprising in a hymnal but I digress... The song is sung rather slowly in general and has, from what I could see in a search, anywhere from 5 to 7 verses. "America the Beautiful" has anywhere from 4 to 8 verses, again from my Google searches for lyrics. That would chew up a big chunk of time. Nearly every Catholic mass that I've been to is just under an hour, maybe 45 minutes at the least, and I've been to a lot of Catholic masses. When you consider that you have 2-3 other songs, the communion, 3 bible readings, a homily, and other assorted things to get through, something has to be cut to fit the hour. Dismas|^(talk) 21:09, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

A lot of Catholics before the 20th century would actually be pretty shocked that their descendents are singing music written by heretics who rebelled against the Church established by Jesus. Heck, my music appreciation professor (a church music director) almost got in trouble (with just an old priest, everyone else didn't care) for trying to play Bach. Ian.thomson (talk) 21:16, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Jesus did not establish the Catholic Church. That's Catholic propaganda. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:19, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

Dam it. Baseball Bugs is right again. See 1 Corinthians 3:11 “θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός”. His body was his church – no other!--Aspro (talk) 22:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

As a Baptist, those views obviously are not mine. It is accurate to say that that was their views. As for which Church Jesus established, that's a matter of religious doctrine in all cases, unless someone has found some stuff that'll prompt a complete rewrite of the Historicity of Jesus article. Ian.thomson (talk) 22:50, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

These days isn't doctrine spelt p r o p a g a n d a?--Aspro (talk) 23:11, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

One man's sincere belief is another's cultish brainwashing, and that goes both ways for all peoples. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:50, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

There have been a few wording changes to "America the Beautiful" from the original poem, but it's still just 4 verses. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:59, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

• Ian Thomson's point above can be dated to Vatican II, not the turn of the 20th century. The adoption of the vernacular celebration of the mass and the encouragement of other "hymns" (like guitar accompanied Cat Steven's songs) began in the mid 1960's. The Cat Stevens-Kumbaya mass became decidedly unpopular in our parish, and was dropped after a few months. Most Catholics nowadays would likely have no idea that Amazing Grace was a Protestant hymn. μηδείς (talk) 16:56, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

July 7

Did Bouguereau have English ancestry?

I ask because of his name (William). It is very much understandable for French people of English ancestry to have an English name (or the English version), for example Michael Lonsdale, William Waddington and Alfred Sisley. Bouguereau's article mentions nothing of Enlish ancestry and his surname is French. Is there any information about his mother? For, if she was English, she could have asked for an English name for her son (along with the French one, Adolphe). This is also reinforced by the fact that he preferred William to Adolphe, which may denote affection for his English mother.

Thank you in advance.--The Theosophist (talk) 02:26, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

The French Wikipedia article does mention that he was "a des origines anglaises.", but provides no source. This book claims his father was English, but doesn't explain why his surname is French. Maybe his parents weren't married, or he or his father simply adopted a French name. - Lindert (talk) 08:58, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Large numbers of Britons have French surnames, Peter de la Billière springs to mind. Many of them are descended from Huguenot refugees who came here following the Edict of Fontainebleau and the resulting unpleasantness directed at Protestants. There were more refugees during the 18th and 19th centuries from various revolutions, of which the French seem to be especially fond. Alansplodge (talk) 12:36, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Lots of very old British families also have French surnames because of the influx of the Norman French people at the time of the Norman Conquest. Any of your various Fitz-<blank> names are of Norman-French origin (fitz = fils = son of), but so are many English family names which look even more "French" to modern eyes and which have been in the British Isles for a millennium, such as names like Grenville and Gascoyne and Granger (name) and the like. --Jayron32 02:17, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Certainly many British people have French surnames. Walter de la Mare comes to mind first, along with many Beauchamps, Villiers′s and Zouche′s. Still, if a British family of French ancestry (re-)settles in France, it would be rather peculiar if they gave their French-born child an English name. Also, his article somehow leaves the impression that the family was long-established in La Rochelle, and his uncle being a priest with a French name furtherly reinforces it. We have to learn more about his mother, for sure.--The Traditionalist (talk) 03:42, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

People give their kids names, and sometimes, they just up and give them names from other cultures, I don't know, maybe because they like the sound of them. Maybe no one bothered to ask until you did just now, and now since their dead, we'll never know why Casimir Pierre Périer's parents gave him a Slavic first name. It happens. --Jayron32 07:02, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Well, it certainly meant something to the family, given that his son added it to the family name.--The Traditionalist (talk) 17:28, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

This site gives some of his ancestry, but nothing springs out as obviously English. Interestingly, his second wife was one Elizabeth Jane Gardner, who sounds like a typical English gel. William's mother opposed his remarrying after his first wife died in 1877, at least not till after she (his mother) had died herself, so as an obedient son he waited almost 20 years before making Elizabeth his spouse in 1896. (Personal note: I have long wanted to know the answer to the OP's question, as Bouguereau's Le ravissement de Psyché became my favourite painting from the moment I first laid eyes on it, but I have never come across any explanation for "William"). -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 08:28, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

I do not think that his wife being British is really relevant, even though it could signify an appreciation for this country by the whole family, but few people think like that. By the way, this painting is beautiful. I believe that Bouguereau was one of the greatest 19th century painters along with Ary Scheffer and pretty much everyone listed here.--The Traditionalist (talk) 17:28, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

• Yes, William Bouguereau's grandfather was William Buggerall of East Norwich. When he was hired as Marie Antoinette's court milliner in 1789 he moved to Paris and changed his last name. μηδείς (talk) 16:46, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

"A Balagvatan"

I've recently aquired a reproduction of a 1626 map of Asia by John Speed. Around the edge of the map are illustrations of various peoples of the region, e.g. "A SVMATRAN", "A CHINEAN", "A IAVAN", "MOSCOVIAN". Despite the spelling, capitalization, and inconsistant use of the indefinite article, I can work out what all of the nations and ethinicities are - except one: "A BALAGVATAN". I've tried Googling both "Balagvatan" and "Balaguatan", with no success. (The former gives a single result for a map site with a link to a low-res picture of the map in question but no explanation of the word, while the latter gives what appears to be a foreign-language site that I can't access). Does anyone know what people this is supposed to be? (I'm guessing it might refer to Balaghat in India, but I can see the name on the map, and it seems unlikely that the cartographer would have included a nationality without including their actual place of origin). If it helps, there is a better image of the map here - the person in question is the man in the bottom left corner wearing the off-the-shoulder tunic and bangles around his wrists and ankles. Iapetus (talk) 15:37, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Given that the final -an is evidently the demonym suffix, we'd have to search for "Balagvat" or "Balaguat" for the placename. Several 18th and early 19th century sources [6][7][8] mention an Indian province of "Balagate", "Balaguat" or "Balaghat" whose capital was Aurangabad, Maharashtra. We don't seem to have a Wikipedia entry for that specific region (the present city of Balaghat seems to be a bit further east), but the Balaghat mountain range [9] is also somewhere in that area. Fut.Perf. ☼ 17:16, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Funny hair color for an Indian. Contact Basemetal here 17:50, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

The Javan's skin and hair don't look very accurate either, so I don't think that those offer reliable evidence about the peoples labeled. Probably the artist hadn't seen or didn't know how to draw non-Europeans. Marco polo (talk) 20:36, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

I was in Bangladesh a couple of years ago, and a lot of men there seem to dye their hair (or just beards) ginger. I don't know how contemporary Bangladeshi fashions compare to 17th Century Central Indian ones, but it could be that Balaguatans did the same. (The most impressive hair-styling in the illustrations though has the be the Tartarian, with his enormous moustach and pigtails). Iapetus (talk) 12:12, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Dying one's beard with henna is specifically a Muslim custom in imitation of Muhammad. See Henna#History. Google "henna beard" (image search) for some examples. Also some discussion here. Contact Basemetal here 16:12, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

I don't think the "blond"-looking things on the heads of these figures are even supposed to be hair, but rather some form of headdress, aren't they? Fut.Perf. ☼ 16:26, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

You're certainly right for the Javan. It's a turban without any doubt. But as to the Balagvatan, even zooming in at 400% (in Chrome) it still looks like hair to me. @Wardog, since you own a hardcopy you could examine the Balagvatan with a magnifying glass and settle the question. Contact Basemetal here 18:30, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

PS: @Wardog, if you're gonna use a magnifying glass, could you check if that fellow has an upavītam (sacred thread) hanging from the left shoulder. That would indicate a Brahmin or possibly a Parsi. It's hard to tell because part of his dress is also hanging from the left shoulder. Contact Basemetal here 18:50, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure it is hair on his head, rather than a hat of some kind. I can't see any sign of a thread over his shoulder. Incidently, the colours in my version are somewhat different from the linked image. Most of the orangish colours (e.g. the Syrian woman's clothes, the Arabian's tunic, and the Balagutan's robe) are bluish or purplish, the Javan and Chinese clothes as browner, and the Moscovian is pale pink with white trim rather than red with orange trim. I'm guessing this is either do use a pigment error in the reproduction, or fading in the original it was coloured from, or possibly different versions of the originals being coloured in differently to begin with. Iapetus (talk) 11:32, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

What ethnic group is the name "Ali Ag Wadossene" from?

Can you tell what ethnic group the name "Ali Ag Wadossene" would belong to? A person of that name, presumably a Malian citizen, has just been killed by French special forces in Mali. The main local languages (according to WP article Mali) are Mande, Fula (or Peul), "Senufo", "Bwa", Tuareg, Songhai. From his looks I would put my money on Tuareg, but I'm not sure. Contact Basemetal here 16:57, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Store within a store

In the Store-within-a-store concept, who typically hires the staff? The actual store the store within a store is located in or the store within the store? 94.14.216.80 (talk) 17:48, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

If the "to be used by a different company to run another, independent store" part is true, that different independent company would do the hiring. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:36, July 8, 2015 (UTC)

Yep, my WP:OR niece worked at a Starbucks inside a Target store. From her end, the Target was irrelevant - all hiring, managing, etc was through Starbucks. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:32, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

The only obvious need for coordination is that the inside store can't open before, or close after, the outside store, unless they have a separate entrance. In a sit-down restaurant, they also would need to allow people time to finish their meals before the outside store closes, so might need to have their last "sitting" an hour before that, or make special arrangements to keep one door open after closing time (typically with a guard posted to ensure people only leave via that door). StuRat (talk) 22:22, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Logically speaking, if the main store were doing the hiring, that would defeat the point of outsourcing the inner store. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:00, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Did Velázquez change his surname?

All Spanish people have two surnames: the maternal and the paternal. For example, Federico García Lorca, where García is the surname coming from his father and Lorca the one coming from his mother. Similarly, his father was Federico García Rodríguez and his mother was Vicenta Lorca Romero. Diego Velázquez′s full name was Diego Rodríguez de Silva Velázquez. It looks like he used his mother′s surname, which is not at all peculiar, as painters are certainly expected to have pseudonyms. His daughter, however, was called Francisca de Silva Velázquez Pacheco. Does this mean that he changed his surname, removing Rodríguez and adding Velázquez?--The Traditionalist (talk) 18:04, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

In our article, Spanish naming customs#Generational transmission, it says "Patrilineal surname transmission was not always the norm in Spanish speaking societies. Prior to the mid-eighteenth century,[citation needed] when the current paternal-maternal surname combination norm came into existence, Hispanophone societies often practised matrilineal surname transmission, giving children the maternal surname..." Maybe Velazquez' family was following this tradition. Rojomoke (talk) 22:31, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

Aren't Portuguese naming customs still like that? I think Velazquez was Portuguese on his father's side (father born in Spain but both paternal grandparents Portuguese)? Contact Basemetal here 22:38, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

@Basemetal: No, in Portugal too the child takes both surnames but the maternal goes first (e.g., Federico Lorca García). The paternal is transmitted as usual.--The Traditionalist (talk) 23:05, 7 July 2015 (UTC)

July 8

A question regarding recent work by David C. Mitchell on the Psalms

If you know or have access to David C. Mitchell's work on the Psalms and in particular the following three references:

1. David C. Mitchell "The Songs of Ascents: Psalms 120 to 134 in the Worship of Jerusalem's temples" (Campbell: Newton Mearns 2015)
2. David C. Mitchell "Resinging the Temple Psalmody", JSOT 36 (2012) pp. 355–378
3. David C. Mitchell "How Can We Sing the Lord's Song?" in S. Gillingham (ed.), "Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Psalms" (OUP, 2013) pp. 119–133

could you help with the following question:

David C. Mitchell seems to have some credibility as a scholar of the Psalms (if we go by where his articles are published and who prefaces his books; for example the first book in the above list was prefaced by John Barton, professor at Oxford University).

On the other hand two recent contributions to WP ([10], [11]) claim that David C. Mitchell supports Haïk-Vantoura's proposed "decipherment" of the tropes of the Hebrew Bible.

I have a hard time understanding that anyone with any credibility can lend their support to her work and I suspect that anyone who's read her book and become acquainted with her "methodology" will be left as baffled as I am.

If you can help shed some light on this matter (eg what precisely David C. Mitchell had to say regarding Haïk-Vantoura's proposed reconstruction) I'll be very grateful.

Contact Basemetal here 01:03, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Accessing hard-to-find references is probably better to be asked of WP:REX rather than the ref desks. You may get better luck there. --Jayron32 02:02, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I've just filed a request. Contact Basemetal here 02:41, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

holocaust revisionism

Obvious troll is obvious
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Why is holocaust revisionism falesly labeled as antisemitism? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.119.235.241 (talk) 07:46, 8 July 2015 (UTC) Because it isn't truthfully labeled that, as far as you're convinced. Same way a lot of Jews don't agree with the "myth" label for what they call a "historical event". Hurts their case for reparation, awareness and staying in Israel (among many other Jewish things) if nothing actually happened. Since the evidence is so abundant that it happened, basically as generally described, and since revisionists are so typically insistent on revising the same "existence" point, rather than anything else about it, it leads a man to think they're more interested in spreading lies instead of shedding them. That's an "anti" thing to do, not "pro". InedibleHulk (talk) 08:09, July 8, 2015 (UTC) But the existence of nazi gas chambers is completely impossible. The myth that as many as six million jews were killed is as fake as your girlfriends orgasm. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.119.235.241 (talk) 08:17, 8 July 2015 (UTC) Also, isn't there one jewish holocaust revisionist? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.119.235.241 (talk) 08:20, 8 July 2015 (UTC) Probably a Jewish holocaust revisionist or two. They're actually a bit of everything, not just bankers, doctors and producers. My entire girlfriend is fake. According to Wikipedia, Nazi gas chambers were damn real. If you're here to make statements instead of questions, go to YouTube. It doesn't even matter which video anymore, someone will debate, educate and/or infuriate you. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:28, July 8, 2015 (UTC) Not according to robert faurisson. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.119.235.241 (talk) 08:34, 8 July 2015 (UTC) Here. Knock yourself out. InedibleHulk (talk) 08:38, July 8, 2015 (UTC) But I don't speak french — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.119.235.241 (talk) 09:08, 8 July 2015 (UTC) This guy tried to start the same thread only 3 weeks ago. Contact Basemetal here 10:28, 8 July 2015 (UTC) Don't feed the troll. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Humanities/2015_June_24 196.213.35.146 (talk) 10:31, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Origin of the name Monthermer

Whence derives the medieval English name Monthermer, as used by the prominent lord Ralph de Monthermer? I presume it is a place somewhere in Normandy or elsewhere in northern France. Perhaps Monthermé in Champagne? Also, any general information about the origin of this family would be useful. Zacwill16 (talk) 09:51, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

A similar research is to be found here while remaining unconclusive. ( The next answer in the same thread is not uninteresting at least as its conclusion, critical of the edition or version used in [12] the Wikisource entry dedicated to Ralph de Monthermer, seems sufficiently authoritative to perhaps be accurate) --Askedonty (talk) 13:19, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Canada / Australia confusion

On the radio this morning, I heard an interview with a politician who was supposed to attend a function in Bucharest, but had gone to Budapest instead. It reminded me of a well-publicized incident from about 15 years ago, when booking flights online was the latest hi-tech exciting thing to do: a couple wanted to go to Australia, but ended up in Canada. To assist me in looking it up, does anyone have any suggestions for the places involved? We need a town in Canada that isn't of international renown but which is big enough to have its own airport, and which has a name which is identical, or at least very similar, to a major city in Australia. Tevildo (talk) 22:06, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm reminded of an indident in The Book of Heroic Failures, where an opera set intended for Bayreuth ended up in Beirut. DuncanHill (talk) 22:08, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Along the same lines: many years ago (1985?) there was a poisoning scare around some Austrian wines which led Japanese customers to start avoiding Australian wines. I've also heard that (in the 1990s?) the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Quai d'Orsay) once summoned by mistake the Ambassador of Nigeria instead of that of Niger to tell them about something the French Government was unhappy about. The Nigerian ambassador was totally baffled. I'm less sure about this one. There's also got to be some stories of people confusing Slovakia and Slovenia but I don't know of any. Contact Basemetal here 22:31, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

There is a Victoria in Canada, and another in Australia. The latter is not a city though. DuncanHill (talk) 22:13, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Sydney, Nova Scotia? There's an airport nearby. Contact Basemetal here 22:15, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Basemetal could be right - our article Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport says "Over the years, several travellers have been sent to this airport after their travel agents mistook it for the Sydney Airport in Australia." DuncanHill (talk) 22:24, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Sydney it is - this is the story. Thanks very much! Tevildo (talk) 22:31, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

August. Not too bad. I'd love to see the face of someone who's booked a flight in order to escape European winter weather for a few days and who arrives in Sydney, Nova Scotia in the middle of January. Contact Basemetal here 22:39, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Give me Nova Scotia in January over New South Wales in January any day. DuncanHill (talk) 22:50, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

If anyone finds a story on the net about a guy who thought he was going to Sydney, Nova Scotia, ended up in Sydney, New South Wales by mistake and complained about it, we know it's gotta be Duncan. Contact Basemetal here 01:43, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Then there was the time a would-be terrorist named Stosh hijacked a flight from Moscow to Warsaw, and demanded to be taken to Poland. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:55, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

(ec) Which is why it's properly called Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:32, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Three years ago the same thing happened to a bunch of Athletic Bilbao fans when they flew to see the Europa Cup final but went to Budapest while it was being held in Bucharest. MarnetteD|Talk 22:36, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Here is an article confirming a couple who were sent to Sydney airport in Canada when they wanted to go to Australia. It is only from five years ago so it could be a separate incident from the one that Tevildo is asking about. MarnetteD|Talk 22:42, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Oops I see that while I was typing they the incident from '02 was discovered. MarnetteD|Talk 22:44, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Similar... a friend of mine who works for an airline says baggage that is supposed to go to Auckland, NZ often ends up being sent to Oakland, CA (and vice-versa). He has not heard of this happening to passengers however. Blueboar (talk) 01:06, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

The internet delivers. Hack (talk) 02:09, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

For a while Facebook places confused Sydney, NS with Sydney, NSW. Hack (talk) 02:09, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Sidney, Montana also received a lost tourist.[13] Hack (talk) 02:25, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, you should see the look on people's faces at Hobart International Airport when they discover they aren't in Tanzania.

(Not true of course: the pretentiously named Hobart "International" Airport hasn't had scheduled international flights since 1998. And those so-called "international" flights were to New Zealand.)

Apart from a six-month period in 2004 when flights to Fiji were scheduled, the equally pretentiously named Canberra International Airport has never had any scheduled international flights in the 17 years since it became "International". I'm all for positive affirmations and forward thinking, but this seems to be an extraordinarily long gestation. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:45, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Imagine the disappointment on finding oneself in CIA when one expected another CIA entirely. DuncanHill (talk) 23:00, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Being forced to visit Canberra is a form of torture as some recent US visitors found out. Hack (talk) 00:37, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

They were hardly "visiting Canberra". They were diverted from a planned Sydney landing because of a hazard, and were stuck inside the plane, on the Canberra tarmac, for 4+ hours, because United Airlines chose to handle the situation that way and at no time did they request permission from the airport for their passengers to disembark. This reflects poorly on United Airlines, but on Canberra not at all. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 14:07, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Pete in New Zealand (as I plan to pretend I am for the duration of the 2015 Rugby World Cup) aka --Shirt58 (talk) 11:16, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

• Couple flown to Grenada in the Caribbean and not Granada in Spain lose $34,000 lawsuit. μηδείς (talk) 03:28, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Might float someone's boat to compare Locations in Canada with an English name to Locations in Australia with an English name. Those English sure got around. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:31, July 9, 2015 (UTC)

Same with those Scots (except for article name consistency). See here and here. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:42, July 9, 2015 (UTC)

A few years ago a news article told of a Japanese man, who spoke no English, who wanted to fly from Japan to Washington DC for a vacation. He wound up in Washington state, and had a fine time, viewing public buildings in the state capitol of Olympia, and was not aware for some time that he was in the wrong place (perhaps not until he got home and showed people his snapshots). Edison (talk) 16:24, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

July 9

First Daguerreotype of Non-White

What is the earliest documented daguerreotype of a person of color (non-white)? Also the first daguerreotype of an African-American slave?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 00:14, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

For the second question, possibly the 1850 series commissioned by Louis Agassiz? See Agassiz Zealy slave portraits. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:58, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

For the other question, the first daguerreotypes of non-Europeans ( term in use by museum) were made by Louis-Auguste Bisson in Paris in 1841-42: "Type descendant de Canarien".
(If looking for links regarding Bisson warning several blogs will pop-up with huge pictures of human skulls taken by Bisson as involved in ethnographic studies.)
Amongst the first pictures of non-Whites in Africa are the daguerreotypes by frigate Captain Charles Guillain in Somalia in 1846-48. One of those beautiful pictures also here to be seen. --Askedonty (talk) 13:41, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Architectural style of the former building of the Royal College of Organists.

Could anyone please tell me the architectural style of this beautiful building in London? Neither Royal College of Organists nor Royal College of Music mention it. Thanks in advance, --Ann (talk) 00:19, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

The style is (basically) Arts and Crafts, and the technique is sgraffito. See this article for more information. Tevildo (talk) 00:57, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Successful pre-Kindle self-published authors

What authors became successful through self-publishing in the paper book era? There must have been some (otherwise words like "self-publishing" and "vanity press" wouldn't have existed), but the only example I can think of is Virginia Woolf, who published everything through the Hogarth Press that she and her husband ran. Are there other examples of self-made self-published authors (not authors who briefly self-published and then got picked up by a professional press)? Smurrayinchester 05:53, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

I don't have an answer, but a distinction must be made between the quite common situation, such as the Hogarth Press mentioned above, when an author is also an editor, and a true self-published work. In the first case, the editor also publishes other writers, so it's not really what the OP is looking for. --Xuxl (talk) 09:21, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

There's a lengthy discussion on the matter here. Amanda Hocking is one example. Note that "self-publishing" and "vanity publishing" are not the same thing. --Viennese Waltz 09:46, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Timothy Mo. DuncanHill (talk) 09:48, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Edward Tufte mortgaged his house to fund the printing of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information after discussions with publishers failed. I imagine the textbook publishers thought it wasn't textbook-y enough, and the popsci publishers thought no-one would pay $40 for a book about pie charts. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 11:45, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Late in his career, William Morris began published his own 1st book editions (often following their magazine serialization) via his own Kelmscott Press, but was of course already a successful author (etc.) so did not thus 'become' successful as the PO stipulates. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 12:59, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

A few centuries ago, almost all authors self-published (although they would use professional printers) ... most books prior to around 1800 (as a very rough estimate) would probably qualify as being "self-published" as we use that term today... at least initially. Copyright laws were also less clear back then, and so and it was not uncommon for a successful book to subsequently be re-published (illegally by today's standards) by a professional publisher trying to cash in on the book's success. Blueboar (talk) 13:44, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Sequence of ancient Armenian kings

Which one came first, Artavasdes I of Armenia (Artavasdes I agrees with this one) or Tigranes I? The articles List of Armenian kings and Artaxiad dynasty have the dates basically swapped compared to the articles on the individual rulers. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 19:28, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Why do you agree with one listing? Is there some source you have for this, or is it the memory of one? μηδείς (talk) 02:00, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

I do not agree with either. I tried not to imply that, but I couldn't find a wording which avoided the implication (and then decided it wasn't all that important to take the time to find a wording which does). In short: Whatever. I just want to know the facts. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 08:36, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Although the second century Greek writer Appian stated that Tigranes' father was also named Tigranes, the majority of scholarly opinion holds that Tigranes was the son of Artavasdes. Tigranes' birth date of circa 140 B.C. is deduced from the tradition that he was eighty-five years old at the time of his death in 55 B.C.

Tigranes the Great. Dictionary of World Biography: The Ancient World. —eric 04:24, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

July 10

Help identifying Novel

I am trying to find a book which I think is part of a series & from what I can remember it's about a either WWI or WWII warship that passes through time portal into a alternate timeline/ universe where Humans don't exist but there are two native species, one I think descendant from a dinosaur species & the other is mammalian ( I am thinking Lemur descendant, but not sure).
Any ideas ? 80.195.85.92 (talk) 09:05, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Robert Moore Williams wrote a story called The Lost Warship where the USS Idaho is cast back to the dinosaur age. DuncanHill (talk) 09:38, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

I think that in the novel, the alternate timeline/ universe that the ship travels to is still in present day & the other two species there have their own fleets of ships that are based on a ship(s) that travelled from the 17th or 18th century, through the same portal. 80.195.85.92 (talk) 09:57, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

We have a List of fiction employing parallel universes but I couldn't see anything there that matched. DuncanHill (talk) 10:32, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

I can confirm that the OP's description is entirely accurate, because I read this novel around a year ago (no publication date can be inferred from this as I buy many 2nd-hand books).

Unfortunately I can't recall the author (it wasn't Williams) or title, I'm at work, and my home PC died last week so I won't be able to post a further reply this evening (I'm collecting the replacement tomorrow :-) ).

However, I'm 95% certain that the dimensional transfer occurred during the Second Battle of the Java Sea, so I'll look at that and see if I can remember more details. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 12:26, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Got it! Into the Storm by Taylor Anderson, 1st of the Destroyermen series. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 13:43, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

That's the one, thanks for that. I just couldn't remember the name of either the book or the series. 80.195.85.92 (talk) 14:06, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

The Odyssey of Flight 33 is very good and viewable here. Bus stop (talk) 14:32, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

The OP might also like The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream (and its sequel) by G. C. Edmondson, which involves time- rather than dimensional-slippage but is otherwise quite similar to Anderson's series, and I suspect inspired it. (The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 16:40, 10 July 2015 (UTC)