Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 November 3

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November 3

Der Sturmer & Der Giftpilz

Hi, does anybody know if it's possible to acquire a translated version of the May 1934 issue of Der Sturmer, with the headline 'Jewish world plan to destroy gentile humanity', it features accusations of blood libel. Also any secondary literature on the article would be useful. With regard to Der Giftpilz all that would be required is secondary literature as I've already sourced a translated version. This is part of a university project on Nazi depictions of the Jewish religion in the persecutory phase of the Holocaust if anybody's interested. Thanks in advance --Andrew 00:47, 3 November 2015 (UTC

Hello, Mrandrewnohome. You should know that Der Stürmer was a weekly newspaper, so there would have been four or five issues published in May, 1934. There is an online database of the cartoons that appeared on the cover, but I am not aware that the full text of their vile articles is available online. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:26, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

You are probably referring to the May, 1934 special issue described on this website. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:33, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

Here is a purported translation from a neo-Nazi website. I cannot vouch for its authenticity. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:40, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

• This user is a previously indeffed concern troll who "asks" about antisemitic topics in order to propagate them. See his talk page, and see this web page about Der Sturmer which says its author was "a victim of the horrible Talmudic Blood Rite known as the Nuremberg trials". μηδείς (talk) 22:42, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
  • Thanks for that highly relevant information to the question which asked for scholarly material --Andrew 00:08, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Mrandrewnohome, the article blood libel provides a link to pages from Der Sturmer here ([1]) by a professor at Calvin College. More examples of Nazi propaganda are available at the top level page. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 06:17, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

The "Old Boundary Pine Tree" and the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire

1846 map of the region in question

So, I came across this map in Wikipedia while perusing some articles, and I have a general interest in the local geography (I was born and grew up basically in this area, and have long and deep family connections to it). The map, near where the NH and MA borders change from the straight line to the curved line, on the line between Pelham, New Hampshire and Dracut, Massachusetts, notes a landmark known as the "Old Boundary Pine Tree". Now, this point is historically a significant point, as its location became a landmark in defining the border of the two states. As noted in Northern boundary of Massachusetts, the border between NH and Mass was settled to be a line 3 miles north of the course of the Merrimack River, to a point 3 miles due north of Pawtucket Falls, and from that point a line ran generally westward to where the boundary with New York had already been established. The corner where the two lines meet (the 3-mile curved line and the straight line) seems to be indicated by this map as being marked by something called "The Old Boundary Pine Tree", which I found intriguing, as its presence on the map would indicate what should have been, at one time, a somewhat significant land mark. Trees were often used under the system of Metes and bounds (the common surveying system in place at the time these boundaries would have been laid out) as landmarks to define boundaries. Such boundaries were often periodically audited and reviewed during a New England custom known as Perambulating the Bounds. Doing some google searches, I did find this book which notes such a perambulation, around the town of Dracut, and notes several such pine trees, as well as one noted as the "boundary pine monument on the State Line", which is likely this pine tree, but could be a different one, as a pine tree also marked the northeastern corner of the town where it meets Methuen, Massachusetts, which would also be located on the state border. Some cursory google searches turns up little else, and I'm having a hard time finding details on this monument. If anyone finds something I cannot, that'd be great. It might make the start of an interesting Wikipedia article, or at least some information to beef up a few others. --Jayron32 04:02, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

According to Boundaries, Areas, Geographic Centers and Altitudes of the United States and the Several States, the Boundary Pine Monument stands at 42°41′50.25″N 71°19′22.02″W 3 miles due north of Pawtucket Falls – then in a pasture, now in a dense forest. That doesn't precisely line up with the map provided, which shows the pine tree a bit too far east of the falls. Smurrayinchester 12:17, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

And here's a page about it as a geocache, with lots of nice pictures. I suspect this probably actually is the "old boundary pine", and it marks the point where instead of running due east/west, the Massachusetts border instead starts following the Merrimack River (the map maker possibly drew it in the wrong place under the false belief that the corner in the border is this point). According to the monument, there were originally stones piled around the boundary tree, which is what made it a landmark. Smurrayinchester 12:50, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

Cool! Thanks! --Jayron32 18:31, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

@Smurrayinchester: Actually, looking into it, the map is almost exactly correct, that sharp angle is not, nor is it supposed to be, the location of the old boundary pine. Since the Merrimack continues almost due east for several hundred yards past the Pawtucket Falls, the border does not make a pronounced angle at the monument, nor should it. The border's first deep angle is some distance to the east of the boundary pine, not at it. The old map checks out. --Jayron32 19:27, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

Major/minor key cultural universal?

In modern music, major keys are happy while minor keys are sad or ominous. How universal is this? The only hint either way in our article major and minor is that it says "In Western music, a minor chord, in comparison, "sounds darker than a major chord"." Obviously most non-Western musical traditions don't use the same scales and conventions, but if nothing else, exposure to Western pop music is more or less universal these days. Smurrayinchester 11:53, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

It's not universal even in western music, and much less so in other music traditions, even if they use a octaves with 812 semitones. I've recently encountered this in at least two contexts, one of which I recall: The excellent The Naked Scientists podcast, with transcript here. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 15:20, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

That would be an octave with 12 semitones, I assume you meant.--Phil Holmes (talk) 16:08, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

Your assumption is valid ;-). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:10, 3 November 2015 (UTC)