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Reference Desk

January 3

What would be The Better career

With my interest in International Business, and architecture,what would be the better career?Which one would make the most money?You see,i'm interested in both,so if i go in either one,people will know thats its not just because of the money.Its kind of hard to choose between the two though,for me.I wonder if i can merge the two together...........which one is more popular based on peoples' view?These are a couple of things i need to know in order to pick either one.If i'm missing out on any additional information,please let me know when answering the question.Thank you for your time.

Andre' Ward

Is 'International Business' a particular career? Do you mean working for IBM, and if so, in what capacity? Notinasnaid 20:07, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

I mean like working for companies that have businesses overseas.Yeah International Business can be considered a particular career.It depends though what you would do while in that business.Some people i've read about were in businesses like that,and then,some way started their own businesses or became intrapreneurs.With being an architect,you can build stuff and possibly start your own business.

Andre' Ward

• Andre' my man, you need to go to a good university that offers both IB and architecture. (If you're an American, virtually every school with "State" in the name qualifies, so you'll have no shortage of options, but I recommend Carnegie Mellon if you can get in). As someone who has friends in both fields, I can tell you that you can make six figures in either field by the time you turn 30 if you go to a good school, get good grades, an exhibit the kind of social skills that big companies need in their most skilled employees. And yes, you can do both; Santiago Calatrava is a pretty good role model. --Mareino 21:37, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Would civil engineering be a good way to get started?Because you see,I'm here in South Carolina,and i'm thinking about majoring in civil engineering at theUniversity of South Carolina since they don't have any architecture majors for right now.I know i read some things on certain architects,and some articles said that they started off with civil engineering and worked their way up.Some also majored in some art courses,just to keep that in mind.But overall,i just basically want to know if civil engineering would be a good beginning.

Andre' Ward

• Yes, I'd say so. Since you're interested in the business end, I'd say art is not a good choice as an undergraduate major, but engineering is definitely good preparation.

• Civil engineering is the oldest of the engineering disciplines, since something like it was used by the Egyptians, the Romans, and even ancient Britons (e.g., Avebury, which is like Stonehenge but older). Architecture is also obviously very old. Halcatalyst 04:32, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

If it comes down to your choice is between Civil Engineering (CE) and architecture you should consider your personal interests:

• Do you like drawing and art? CE has no drawing or art, whereas Architecture has lots.
• Do you do well at maths? You need to do the harder maths courses at school to do CE (gererally), whereas architects don't know what maths is (generally).
• An engineering course is hard work, make sure you are really interested in the subjects (I can talk about this if you like) before you decide to do a four year degree. Architecture (at least at my uni) is not as hard.--Commander Keane 22:04, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm writing this from my desk at KPF so I think I can offer you some sound advice. These day's Architecture and International Business are essentially the same thing. Every large firm and many small firms do work around the world, especially with all the building happening in China and Southeast Asia. If you're interested in both I would consider enrolling in Architecture and taking some business classes. Firms always need people to act as Managing Architects who take care of the business end of things.

You don't sound like a design wonk, but I still wouldn't recommend Civil Engineering. If you want to make buildings do Architecture, if you want to make bridges do Civ-E. Both degrees are rigorous and difficult, but they prepair you for different things.

Finally you should consider that almost all accredited architecture schools in the U.S. are five year programs. You come away with a professional degree, but if you don't want to put in the extra year don't do it. The path to an architecture degree is paved with those who burned out along the way :) My school (PSU) enrolls about one hundred architecture under-grads each year and graduates fifty to sixty. Half of those who leave do so during or after their first year, many for business.

That said, I'm glad I chose architecture every day I walk into work. Jasongetsdown 22:50, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Is Architecture lucrative?Civil Engineering lucrative?I want to be nationally and internationally known for my works of buildings and other creations like others.I want to do something i enjoy and have good pay.Some architects have became both,engineers of all kinds and architects.I kind of changed my mind about going to the University of South Carolina because it doesn't offer architectural courses and Clemson University seems to be the only University with it.So which one is lucrative?

Andre' Ward

You will earn good pay as a civil engineer or an architect. I would guess that there is more oppurtunity to become famous as an architect. More importantly, civil engineers and architects do vastly different jobs - you should consider your interests when desciding between them. You have expressed interest in buildings. Civil engineers that work on buildings include (all hold a CE degree):

• Strucutral engineers - design the building itself (I think this is what you might be interested in)
• Geotechnical engineers - consider/test the soil below the building
• Construction engineers - organise the construction of the building, on-site.

For example, consider the design of a small office building. An architect will work with the client in choosing the shape of the building, and the extras (like will it have glass cladding etc). Structural engineers will get the basic plan from the architect and do do calculations for the wind, earthquake and floor loads. They then choose beams, columns and a floor slab, possibly modifying the intitial architects plan. Usually the architect will organise the project, eg work with the engineers, the door suppliers, constructors etc.--Commander Keane 23:35, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

January 4

The Embargo Act

Was the embargo act of 1807 actually constitutional? -AK

• I think you asked this before. Have you read Embargo Act of 1807? Or perhaps even United States Constitution?

• A basic principle of the Constitution is that Congress enacts laws (article I). The famous case Marbury v. Madison (1803) set the precedent that the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review and can declare laws unconstitutional.

• So, since it was legally enacted and not overruled, the Embargo Act was constitutional. That doesn't necessarily mean it was a good idea. Halcatalyst 01:59, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• Simply because the Supreme Court does not rule an act of legislation unconstitutional does not make it so. One must remember that sovereignty lies with the people, not the courts; for instance, slavery was never constitutional, even if the courts ruled otherwise for a time. MSTCrow 13:41, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• The question, as I understood it, was whether the act was seen as consitutional at that time rather than whether it would be considered constitutional now. I believe it was.

• It's true in principle, of course, that sovereignty lies with the people, not the courts. However, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and it's settled law that, short of constitutional amendments, the Supreme Court has the final word on what is "constitutional."

• BTW, slavery was indeed constitutional. It was recognized implicity by the Three-fifths compromise during the Constitutional Convention. The 13th amendment (1865) abolished slavery. Halcatalyst 16:08, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• Slavery was implicitly recognized because it wasn't possible to rip it out. The three-fifths clause was designed to limit the number of Representatives in the US House that the slave-holding States would have, thereby implicitly recognizing that slavery was unconstitutional, and allowing it to be enforced as such in the future, by placing legslative majority in non-slave holding states. I don't know how anyone can say that "it's settled law" that the Supreme Court has the final word on what is constitutional or not. That goes against our entire history of law, and the Supreme Court itself is not monolithic on holding such extensive and far-reaching powers. The only place such nonsense exists are government textbooks, which aren't known for being accurate anyways.

MSTCrow 01:23, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks. My question was whether if we study the constitution now, was the act actually constitutional? I know at the time the supreme court didn't stop it, but there were many times laws and acts were passed that at the time the supreme court ignored or ruled was OK and later it was declared unconstitutional. What in the constitution allowed or didn't allow the passing of the embargo act? -AK

• I would say, honestly, nothing, either way. The Consitution was what it was at the time, just as, today, it is what it is: A written document.

• But American politics is and was in large part a "seat of the pants" operation. It involves a lot more people now than then, but... hey, it's about partisan politics and foreign policy. Jefferson was anti-British and pro-French; the French and the British were at war, and the British were shanghai-ing Americans to be British sailors. The Embargo Act attempted as a strong countermeasure to cut off Anglo-American trade. You could say that Jefferson was defending America, just like Bush today. Or you could say he was running wild, just like Bush today. Halcatalyst 20:23, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

A lot of people at the time, particularly but not just Federalists, thought the Embargo Act of 1807 was unconstitutional; some talked of secession. The relevant Constitutional issue was of course the "commerce clause." But, to quote this page, "in 1808 a federal district court, in the case of 'United States v. The William', ruled the embargo constitutional." The verdict is here. Not everyone agreed with the ruling. The real problem was not with the Act itself, but with the enforcement of it, which potentially violated the 4th amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. --Kevin Myers | (complaint dept.) 19:20, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

What is the opposite of the word intaglio (the antonym)?

added by gina: 1-10-06 ... The word I am looking for is to describe a type of preparation for painting. An artist coats the prepared canvas with a color - say, burt umber - and paints the images over the color (rather than over a white canvas). Sometimes, the artist lets the color show through. Generally, this textured color approach makes a richer painting. I am pretty certain this technique originated during the Rennessaince ... there is a specific name for the technique that I can't remember. Intaglio is applying a coat of dark color -- like a black crayon -- on a piece of art paper and then scratching through the crayon to create an image. The opposite of that is the word I am looking for.

Thank you for any help. Gina

The antonym of a carving? It doesn't have a logical opposite. --Kainaw 02:16, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Nouns don't generally have opposites. But for what it's worth, the opposite of "an engraved thing" is "an unengraved thing". - Nunh-huh 02:18, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

How about relief? Dalembert 02:21, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Cameo is an antonym. Halcatalyst 03:37, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Poetry:

Who wrote the poem containing the following passages: I loved you and perhaps I love you still The flame perhaps is not extinguished It burns so quitely within my soul No longer should you feel distressed by it .... ?

These lines?:

"I loved you; and perhaps I love you still,

The flame, perhaps, is not extinguished; yet

It burns so quietly within my soul,

No longer should you feel distressed by it.

Silently and hopelessly I loved you,

At times too jealous and at times too shy.

God grant you find another who will love you

As tenderly and truthfully as I. "

• That would be "I loved you; and perhaps I love you still", by Aleksandr Pushkin. СПУТНИК 02:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• Pushkin, translated by D. M. Thomas. Halcatalyst 03:33, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks!

Shoplifting

What are the effects of shoplifting on the community?

plz and thnk u

• Increases the cost of items to everybody else, as businesses must raise prices to cover losses.

• Increases in mistrust in the community, with security guards needed for all businesses.

StuRat 03:19, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• I don't know about you, but I prefer an increase in price for items to cover security expenses rather than losses. Otherwise you never stop it. - 131.211.210.11 09:25, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
• Adds to everyone overhead to pay justice system to warehouse the people who got caught into prison, where the cost of doing so is often higher than the value of the stuff they swiped. User:AlMac| 11:04, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• Increases other crimes. Once a person happily commits one crime and gets away with it, others don't seem so bad. --Kainaw 20:20, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

-> this theory, that simple crimes make way to bigger ones which i beliave is called "broken window theory" lacks cientifical foundation. When it was aplied ( namely, to the secury of New York ) it did not cause noticible change in crime rates ( yes, crime dropped, but when you consider the influence of the number of cops , that has raised, and the overall crime reduction throughout the USA, this and all the other revolutionri crime fighing theories seem to have little influence, if any ) source : freakonomics

as to prices, well, they are pretty more complex than that ... some of then might rise, while other can't due to other characteristics of the markets

Tasmanian Real Estate Agents

What does Tasmanian Real Estate Agents mean?

I dont know if you are from Australia, but it is more than likely the name of a group of people who sell Real Estate in Tasmania--Ali K 06:12, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

People who buy and sell land and houses and business facilities in Tasmania, I would imagine. StuRat 06:14, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

is referring to a cryptic hint I gave her for an earlier question. Herein lies a lesson in how to use Google. Go to the website http://www.google.com and type the words "Denmark" and "Tasmania" into the search box, and click the search button. It will become abundantly clear what I'm referring to; a specific real estate agent from Tasmania who holds a prominent place in the minds of the Danish people. --Robert Merkel 06:16, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

There's a good reason as to why that is the case (it's in the article, but I'll explain it here anyhow): Crown Princess Mary of Denmark worked as a Tamanian real estate agent, prior to her meetup with, and subsequent marraige to, Crown Prince Frederick. --JB Adder | Talk 07:21, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, no, actually. She was never a real estate agent personally, as in having a licence to conduct such a business. She was employed by a real estate firm, as a sales director. And it was in Sydney, not Tasmania. JackofOz 08:08, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Question about myself?

What dating system was around back when christian monks preserved written history of my existance through the dark ages? Was it this BCE crap? No, I didn't think so--Xenaphon 05:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

No, but it wasn't BC either, and they knew how to spell your name correctly. Adam Bishop 06:32, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

See section 2 of Anno Domini. Gdr 11:14, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I wonder if it's mentioning Misplaced Pages:Three revert rule in connection with Xenophon. Notinasnaid 12:19, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

huh? can someone explain this question to me please? --Cosmic girl 03:42, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

To answer Cosmic Girl (or try to), there was this Greek philosopher. Two people have joined Wiki, using that person's name as their account names, one of them misspelled. Plus the two of them have not been having a harmonious relationship. At the time of the REAL Greek philosopher, assuming one or more of these accounits is not claiming to be reincarnation of the REAL guy, there must have been some kind of Calendar system. Then over the centuries, new kinds of systems were developed, such as the Mayan calendar. Was it them, or the Aztecs that had a Y2K type of end-of-universe time when their Gods would play havoc with their civilization? Most of the West today is on the Julian calendar which is named after some Pope in the middle ages, where AD means after Christ (the D for latin for him that I not remember the spelling for), and BC means before Christ. Meanwhile the Chinese, and some other folks are on some other calendar system (I know about some of this because you can set on some computer systems to compenstate for which system you doing business with). So I understand the question, I just not know the answer. User:AlMac| 09:39, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

In the words of Mrs. Broslofsky, "What what what?" Most of the West uses the Gregorian calendar, not the Julian calendar, and the Julian calendar is named after Julius Caesar, not a medieval pope. If the question is what dates did monks use for Xenophon (c. 427-355 BC) before the notation of "BC" was invented, they'd likely have used ab urbe condita, Alexandrian era, or Anno Diocletiani dates. The "D" in anno domini dates stands for "domini" or lord, not the Latin for "Christ". 355 BC is roughly 399 AUC. - Nunh-huh 09:53, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

So I understand the question, I just not know the answer, and there's obviously a lot of stuff I think I know but don't really. User:AlMac| 09:57, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Although he wrote some philosophical dialogues, Xenophon wasn't just a philosopher. He was also a soldier, mercenary, politician, historian and novelist. Xenophon himself identified did not number years but identified them by the events that took place in them. For example, in Hellenica he identifies some years like this:

... the year of the evening eclipse of the moon, and the burning of the old temple of Athena. (i.e. 406 BC)

Some Greek historians dated by Olympiads; thus 406 BC would be the 3rd year of the 92nd Olympiad. Gdr 18:29, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Japanese art

Is anyone familiar with 'azuma'? Japanese anime? Thanks!

What I meant was...can someone explain/define what 'azuma' is? Thanks.

Are you looking for Kiyohiko Azuma, manga artist? Or maybe Hiroki Azuma, a critic who has written about anime? (See Azuma for other, less likely, possibilities.) Gdr 16:03, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

britain armour

what was armour and swords like in britain after the romans left? was it like roman armor or pict armor or saramatian armor? and what were the swords like?

flags

I'm doing a report on the meanings and what different flags of the world symbolize. What do these flags symbolize? I just need websites, and I can take it from there. Sarah

1. India 2.Japan 3. Denmark 4. Italy

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

We have articles on all of these which explain them in great detail. See Flag of India, Flag of Japan, and so on. —Keenan Pepper 17:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Truth be told, for most vexillological topics, the Flags of the World website is still a much better resource than Misplaced Pages.--Pharos 06:03, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

best selling male solo artist

who is the best selling male solo artist

In terms of records sold worldwide, I believe it is Elvis Presley. - Akamad 19:42, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Our article on Elvis Presley says that he "as sold over one billion records worldwide - the first to do so - and is the best selling record artist in history." Our article on Michael Jackson notes his departure from the Jackson 5 and states that "e has since become the biggest selling solo artist of all-time, with worldwide sales of over 300 million.,," My first thought was that Jackson must have sold more records because the population was so much larger during his peak years, but, against that, he seems to have had longer breaks between albums than Elvis did. Because of Jackson's early work with his brothers, it's conceivable that both our articles are wrong -- that Elvis is the best-selling solo artist but that Jackson has sold more records than anyone else (if you count all the Jackson 5 records). Ah, but in that case, could Paul McCartney aggregate Beatles plus Wings plus solo records? I don't know. Even All Music Guide equivocates, saying that Elvis's extraordinary sales figures "may make him the single highest-selling performer in history." Thanks loads, you wussies. It would be nice if we could get all this cleared up by Elvis's birthday this coming Sunday. JamesMLane 09:02, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I sincerely doubt that the Jackson 5 sold over 700 million records (which is what Michael Jackson would need in addition to his 300 million sales in order to even equal Elvis's tally). MJ does have the biggest selling album of all time. Proto t c 15:01, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Hitler's invasions

What kept hitler from invading Switzerland or Sweden?

See Switzerland during the World Wars (also Operation Tannenbaum) and Sweden during World War II. (Other European nations which remained neutral throughout WW2 were the Republic of Ireland, Spain, Liechtenstein, and Portugal.) Gdr 18:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Haha, people just ask this now because it's the example question. Come to think of it, I seem to remember a lot of people asking about the capital of South Africa before I changed it... =P —Keenan Pepper 19:06, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• And don't forget to read answer previously posted on this page. - Mgm| 19:07, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• Having some nuetral areas was helpful to the NAZIs, for example, by allowing for simple prisoner exchanges with the Allies. Later on, they provided a possible escape route for NAZIs wanting to avoid trials and punishment. StuRat 23:20, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
  • And, don't forget, an escape route for their money, as well! From Switzerland: "Modern historical findings, such as the research done by the Bergier commission, indicate that another major factor was the continued trade by Swiss banks with Nazi Germany." Common Man 20:18, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

• Maybe people keep asking this question because it's the example question at the head of the refernce section? Halcatalyst 05:28, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Actually maybe it's because human nature is to not read. (See three lines above yours :) - Taxman 00:38, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• And that's tragic, because without written language, we wouldn't have civilization. OTOH, maybe that would be a good thing. In any case, as the linguists insist over on the Language reference desk, the only real languages are spoken ones. {You'll have to pardon me today. I'm not feeling cynical, but rather too much in the both/and band of reality.} Halcatalyst 19:25, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Ku Klux Klan - burning cross

Why do the Ku Klux Klan burn crosses? The article just says it comes from some movie, but it doesn't seem to say what it stands for. It comes across sort of like burning a flag, but somehow anti-chistianity (or what should I call that) doesn't seem to fit in with the Klan. DirkvdM 18:36, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

The movie, The Birth of a Nation, is based on the book The Clansman. The book is the first historical mention of KKK cross burning. However, the writer, Thomas Dixon, admitted that he took liberty with the cross burning. It wasn't from the KKK. It was from the Scottish history (particularly one of Dixon's favorite poems "The Lady of the Lake"). D. W. Griffith knew that a burning cross would look great in his movie. So, he kept it. The KKK liked it and adopted the practice. --Kainaw 20:13, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Annexation Laws in South Carolina

I wonder why are the annexation laws so strict in South Carolina.I mean why?It slows down the expansion and growth of some cities.But now today,some cities of SC are still growing regardless.They complain about urban sprawl,well i'm like maybe if the annexation laws weren't so strict maybe they could possibly capture and stop urban sprawl.Will these annexation laws change in the future?Because i think its ridiculous.I mean its an alright state and everything and its highly recognized in the country,but still though these laws has gots to go.Its either that or pick another General Assembly or another team of the state government instead.Thats the way i see it.

Andre' Ward

The laws are strict to protect the poor. Look at James Island outside of Charleston as an example. They have tried multiple times to annex themselves as their own city. The catch is that they only want to annex the rich parts of James Island and leave the poor parts for the city of Charleston. The annexation laws require James Island to annex it all or take none of it. If it wasn't for such laws, all the poor parts of SC would be annexed as one city and all the rich parts would be another. --Kainaw 20:17, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I should have mentioned why this is a problem. The reason for annexing only rich neighborhoods is to avoid paying taxes to support the poor. Take a peek at the census and you can see that in South Carolina it is very much a racial issue as well. The poor neighborhoods are predominately black. The rich ones are predominately white. So, selective annexation is also a tool to keep black children out of white schools. Also of note: The James Island case that I mentioned has been back and forth through the courts. They have been instructed to annex all of James Island or none of it. They continue to try and find ways to be selective. Similarly, Daniel Island is currently in a predominately black county. It is a new hot-spot for rich whites to move to. So, they are fighting to be reannexed to the neighboring predominately white county. Again, a rich/poor and black/white issue. --Kainaw 01:11, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course, rich people are still free to move away to avoid being asked to support the poor people around them. This has happened in my home town of Detroit, which is now into a serious budget crisis as a result of the rich moving to the suburbs. StuRat 09:55, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• There are more ways to solve the municipal governance questions than there are states in the union. In Pennsylvania, for example, there simply is no unincorporated space -- everything is a self-governed community of some sort -- and merging or reorganizing them requires majority votes by every involved constituency, plus the state legislature. Why? Because Pennsylvania places a huge value on historical continuity, and so far, is willing to pay the social costs attendant with that value. South Carolina's system has its flaws, but any change is certain to have non-obvious consequences, and that gives most politicians pause. --Mareino 02:21, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Twelfth Night

Hi, in the play Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, act 2 scene 5, when Malvolio was reading the letter he said '"M.O.A.I." doth sway my life' what does MOAI stand for? Thanks

Gosh I hope that's not a homework question, which we don't answer (see above). But there are places that might be able to help. Have you tried SparkNotes? --George 21:15, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

You mean he wasn't talking about the Moai? Joking aside, M.O.A.I. is believed to have been an inside joke. Some people (ie: Leimberg) claim to know what it means, but others refute their claims. --Kainaw 21:27, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Catholicism

which theologians have influenced current catholic thought? I mean, in which theology is current catholiscism based? and also christianism. thnx.--Cosmic girl 23:46, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe Catholicism was mostly invented around the time the Roman Empire switched to Christianity, starting with Constantine in 312 AD. Many of the self-serving doctrines, like the infallibility of the Pope, the right to torture and murder anyone who disagreed with the Pope, and the selling of indulgences, came about subsequently. I believe this is a manifestation of the saying "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely". I will leave it to others to list the specific people who invented these policies. StuRat 00:27, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• This is hardly NPOV, StuRat. Halcatalyst 04:09, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Pope Boniface VIII, in his Bull Unam Sanctum (1302), spelled out the doctrine of the necessity of the Church for salvation and with it the necessity of submission to the Roman Pontiff. StuRat 00:29, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

For the Catholic question, you will most definently want to read our article on Doctors of the Church. The biggest name, however, is certainly Thomas Aquinas.

I'm not clear on your other question - I don't know what "Christianism" is. If you mean non-Catholic Christianity, there are many such theologians. You could do worse than to start with Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli. And here are some select articles on more recent and influential movments in Christian theology: Karl Barth, Liberation theology, Historical Jesus, Fundamentalist Christianity. --George 00:31, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• Pope Benedict XVI is one of the foremost Catholic theologians today. Hans Urs von Balthasar is also very prominent. Hans Küng is a well-known dissenting Catholic theologian. Halcatalyst 04:14, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• OK, for Balthazar I should have said "was" <g>. Halcatalyst 04:20, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• Influences on the Roman Catholic Church certainly include Aquinas (1200s) and also Augustine (ca. 400), who also heavily influenced the Protestant Martin Luther (1500s). Earlier, there were the Church Fathers and of course the writers of the New Testament and the Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures). BTW, "catholic" in the religious sense is a more general word. Halcatalyst 04:38, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

How can Ratzinger speak of rationality when religion is inherently irational? I mean, miracles aren't rational, the trinity isn't rational,stuff like that isn't rational,dogma isn't rational since we are creative creatures, so why does he have a theology of the 'rational'? how come?--Cosmic girl 15:39, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Well I think many people have argued that religion is not inherently irrational. In Catholic theology, Aquinas springs right to mind, as does the whole tradition of natural theology. For that matter, all the arguments for or against the existence of god(s) are based on the presupposition that one can reason about religion. --George 20:49, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

"Spiritual is most rational." Dean Inge. ] 19:36, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

• Catholicism works a lot like the common law. New ideas always build upon the old, which reinforces the impression that the Church is unchanging. And considering they are talking about life, the universe, and everything, the Church takes great pride in how slowly and carefully it develops new thought. --Mareino 02:24, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

• Mareino, I hope you won't mind if I correct that link to The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Halcatalyst 03:18, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

If we're being picky, it's actually "The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything". JackofOz 20:22, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

CATHOLICISM CONTINUED!

• To Cosmic Girl: I believe that other than Aquinas and Luther, the latest and most impactful teacher is Basil Hill. In his latest book, "The Golden Fleece Found," not only does he re-construct the first 300 years of pre- and post Roman Chrsitianity, but uses data from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hebrew archaeological data to vet those events against the records of history. By re-tracing all branches: the Greek Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox and Russian Orthodox to the records of the Jerusalem church that James the brother of Jeshua headed, many questionably Roman reports can be thoroughly scrutinized against new prophecies coded in Hebrew texts and their fulfillment from the Book of Acts. This results in completely new revelations which WILL FORCE some teachings--formerly questioned by Justin Martyr, Polycarp and Martin Luther--to be revisited. By showing that contentious issues and the splits that occurred were prophesied, "Infallibility" has to be perceived as mythical--in light of scriptures like Romans 3:23 "All have erred and come short."

T.A.

By showing that contentious issues and the splits that occurred were prophesied, "Infallibility" has to be perceived as mythical

Am I the only one who sees the irony in that statement?--◀Puck▶ 19:46, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

cool,I'll try to check basil hill out but the truth is that I didn't get your point at all...--Cosmic girl 22:19, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• Nor do I. Halcatalyst 01:31, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Lebanese unload

When I wrote the stub Lebanese unload I thought this would be notable. I could think of one incident where firing guns into the air as a sign of celebration was very prominent (in Albania). Does anyone have historical context and other recent examples of this ritual? JFW | T@lk 23:57, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe there was at least one incident where wedding guests in Iraq were bombed by US planes as a result of this practice, which the planes took as hostile enemy fire. Also, you might want to mention that the bullets come back down at almost the initial velocity, and have killed civilians when they do so. This practice is therefore illegal in most cities. StuRat 00:10, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Actually this came up in a past reference desk question (I don't recall where, but you could find it in the archives if you really wanted) where I thought the bullets come back at the same speed too. The conclusion at the time was that wind resistance is a bigger factor than I thought and they only come down at something like 20-30% of initial velocity. I think that's still more than enough to kill though. I also recall reading articles well before the latest Iraq war on firing guns into the air being a not uncommon practice in the middle east, but I never found them again to confirm that. On that specific term being used, I've never heard it. - Taxman 00:28, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Every New Year's Eve, the police in Los Angeles warn people not to shoot their guns in the air at midnight. People don't seem to understand that their bullets have to come down somewhere. Usually through the roof of somebody else's house. User:Zoe| 16:46, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

January 5

List of crazy Laws and government policies

Just wanting to compile a list of what the title basicly states that have been passed throughout history, eg. Cambodia, Pol Pots policy of genecide of those who wore glasses etc. (7121989 01:30, 5 January 2006 (UTC))

• "Crazy" is sort of a matter of opinion. You and I might agree that Pol Pot's policies were nuts, and so might The Vast Majority of Humanity, but that doesn't make it so. That said, you'll have to do your own homework if you want to cover all of history. But do have a look at Pol Pot and The Killing Fields. Halcatalyst 04:06, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Greek and Hebrew

Is there a place where I can learn greek letters pretty well? Hebrew as well (and prehaps actually learn the latter language)

The former because we're reading the Odyssey and it would be nice to understand some of the footnotes, and the latter because I have a Jewish background.

—Ilyanep (Talk) 02:49, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

If you just want the letters of the alphabets, see Greek alphabet and Hebrew alphabet. Actually learning the languages is a bit out of the scope of Misplaced Pages, but you should be able to find some basic language guides and phrase books on Wikibooks for Hebrew and Greek. --Canley 03:39, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I've recently commenced learning Hindi on my own, and found that through some searching it is fairly easy to put together a list of free resources for learning popular languages. First check the external links in our articles on the language, then google for learn Hebrew, and filter out the crap. Eventually by following links and recommendations you'll find a bunch of good websites. For Hindi I was able to find quite a number of sites that would teach you the script, how to write it and pronounce it with audio samples and animations, etc. Then your local library should have some of the teach yourself Hebrew type books, or if you want to spend some cash the local bookstore will certainly have a few or buy them on Amazon or bn.com, etc. I also highly recommend the Pimsleur audio lessons with some caveats. The method itself is awesome and makes a ton of sense, but their choice of words to emphasize is not perfect. A few of the words they teach you are really stupid ones that no native speaker would use. So as long as you consider that, 95% of the words you'll and all of the sentence structure, etc that you learn will be very helpful. They're a bit expensive so if you live near a large university their language learning center or library may have them available. Combining whatever of the above methods should work if you're persistent. After 5 or so months of less than a couple hours a week on average I think I'm well ahead of where I'd be if I'd taken a class because I can learn the way I want to. - Taxman 23:57, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• Just Google "learn hebrew" and you'll get many results. - AK

The Violation of Jasmine Lynn

Please list the actresses in the movie The Violation of Jasmine Lynn by uniform number. In particular, I want to know who #00 and #69 are.

No. Do your own, um, homework. Proto t c 12:26, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

No. I wanted to know who #69 is: she's really cute. (Jasmine Lynn wears #70, I know that much...)

IMDB has a cast list for this movie; from there you should be able to find pictures (try google image search, for instance) of each to determine which one you're looking for. Don't try this from your work PC unless you're really trying to get yourself fired...--Robert Merkel 22:20, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Was Jesus real?

See historicity of Jesus, and perhaps you should think about what you mean by the question. Did you mean "was there a religious leader in Judea who went by the name Jesus about 2000 years ago", or did you mean "was the son of God born in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago, and did he (amongst other alleged miracles) walk on water, turn water into wine, and die on the cross only to be resurrected a couple of days later?". Many non-Christians would answer "maybe" to the first question and "no" to the second.--Robert Merkel 06:35, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, even atheists and critics of Christianity often, if not usually, believe that Jesus existed, but was only a man. Friedrich Nietzsche, for instance, not only admits the historicity of Jesus but shows a good deal of admiration for the man - despite extreme disdain of the religion that followed him. --Tothebarricades 06:43, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe C.S. Lewis wrote many proofs that Jesus was the Son of God. I read his book Miracles some time ago, and was convinced myself. Personally, I believe that there is nothing to lose if one believes in the existence of God, Jesus, miracles, etc. - indeed, there is something to be gained. Igor the Lion 11:06, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

If anybody's interested, this argument in favour of believing in God is basically Pascal's Wager. --Robert Merkel 12:32, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Lewis'most famous argument in favor of the divinity of Jesus is actually his trilemma -George 14:21, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

If Jesus didn't actually exist, then some alternate explanation would be needed for how Christianity began. I say we go with the simplest explanation and say that a person, named Jesus, did live some 2000 years ago. As for the miracles and divinity of Jesus, I will leave that to the theologians to argue indefinitely. StuRat 22:07, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I repent upon my "duck and cover" attitude. The question is sensible.

There can’t be any consensus beween encyclopedists about such a big one, and my own reluctance must not matter.

One true fact is that Jesus existed and exists for some men. Their truth cannot be ignored. Others don’t believe it and there are no proofs else than - good faith.

Imagine that prescription time is not due and that the case would be submitted to a judge : a man was condemned to death by an illegal power (Rome conquered Palestine without any reason like a retaliation from aggression) but there is no evidence : what to do ?

Who to hear in court, who to condemn : the Holy empire was some legal follower of the latin one, but is it somewhat extinct. The Church took plenty of the empire’s powers, plus some more, but those powers are extinct too. Sure, they kept some archive of such cases : do that material follow our criteria of falsification (in Popper’s sense) ? The gospels were written centuries after the alleged facts and are suspected of bold refactoring.

If, like Pascal, you give benefit to doubt, this is not a scientist attitude. --Harvestman 18:19, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

The Gospels are, as we know, historally inaccurate, as they were written some decades after Jesus died, and were thus mostly hearsay. We can confirm, however, which miracles happened and which ones might not have happened, by the sheer simplicity of seeing the number of times a certain miracle was written in the Gospels. Some of them appear in all four Gospels, some of them appear in even the newly discovered ones (I think), etc. I think that would build up its chances of being real, wouldn't it? Anyhow, we all accept that the Gospels are inaccurate, though only to a certain degree.

As for the benefit of the doubt, I exercise that towards my fellow man, and maybe towards God, but there really is no need. I have witnessed some small "miracles" myself and others I had verified by several eyewitnesses (now tell me about a mass hallucination theory, go on). I don't mean really great miracles like the sun crashing down to Earth, or the parting of the Pacific Ocean, I mean small "coincidences" that all happen at the opportune moment, needless to say, simultaneously, as if some Great Cosmic Force hath manipulated them.

For instance, when I was 12 (I don't mean to brag, but this is a good example of what I am talking about), I entered a national music competition (violin), and my violin teacher, quite shockingly, neglected to teach me in favor of his other students. He and his other students withheld one of the concert pieces from me, so that we had to negotiate with the board of judges to let me play another (available) piece. I was not given a single lesson for 4 months, and only received coaching from my accompanist, who is a pianist and naturally had no experience with the violin. All the pieces were difficult, and without a teacher, my chances of winning were extremely low. Moreover, one of the judges was biased against my teacher and his students.

So I practised hard by myself, without any help from any violin teacher, and, come the week of the competition, I win. Youngest competitor in the high school category. First prize. And to top it all, I was surprised to learn that this judge who was biased against my teacher and co. actually voted for, and defended, me. Now how do we explain this? Use Occam's razor and you come up with the explanation that a)I'm a darn good violinist (which would really be a nice compliment but still far from reality); b)I cheated (but there is zero opportunity for cheating in a music contest, unless you smuggle in a CD, and that's going to be pretty obvious); or c)I bribed the judges (also out of the question, esp. as a "rival" judge voted for his opponent). I am left with the outlandish idea that perhaps God had something to do with this. Perhaps He sent down His Holy Spirit to enlighten the minds of the judges? Who knows.

For the atheists, I know this is quite strong language for you, and you might automatically put up your defenses and say, "That isn't true because we know it can't happen," or, "There can't possibly be a God," or other variations thereof. Permit me, however, to subject you to another anecdote I believe may support the existence of God.

In the recent past, quite a few years ago, something extraordinary happened to my brother (henceforth, I shall tone down my language and use only scientific terms). He was a young boy then, eleven years old, and on that specific day, he snuck out of his room to play ball with his friends on the street. This was in direct violation of his mother's orders, but you know how young boys are. So, at around 1300 hours, Manila time, he went out of the house and played ball on the pavement. While they were playing, one of the boys kicked the ball into the street, so my brother ran to get it. Unbeknownst to him, there was a taxicab traveling towards him at a velocity of 50-60 kph, and at the same moment that my brother ran onto the street, the taxi hit him. So great was the force of the impact that my brother flew into the air, rotated exactly 720° in midair, and landed on the other side of the street on his bottom, just in time to see another(!) oncoming car stop right in front of him (about a foot away). He was promptly rushed to the hospital, tests were done, etc. etc. and the startling findings were that he had obtained not one single bruise, cut, concussion, broken bone, or ruptured organ. Abrasions were negligible. In the doctor's words, "it was as if nothing had ever happened." To top it all, the taxi that hit him had been dented.

If you are ever in doubt, as I was when I first heard it, rest assured that I have verified this tale with all the eyewitnesses, and the medical and police records still exist, unaltered. I now ask you to answer two simple questions: what are the chances of a boy in that circumstance coming out alive and without a single bruise? What are the chances of the taxi getting dented? I haven't worked out the math, but I believe that the answer to both questions is "very, very small". That all the circumstances fitted together in such a way that my brother did not get hurt is, for me, enough to prove that a God (or a deity or great cosmic fluid of some sort) exists in the universe and that he is merciful enough to prevent a young, unimportant little boy from getting injured. There have been many more incidents and scenarios that prove that, at least, the good triumphs over evil, and that there is a God.

I am not one to give in to compromises or to "mystical" explanations of things. For one thing, I do not believe in UFO's, aliens, psychics, King Kong (aka Bigfoot), and related stuff (though I do believe in ghosts, an abundance of which we have in the Philippines), so I am pretty hard to sway. However, very early on, the Hand of God (for atheists: influence of the great cosmic fluid or something similar) has influenced my life and the parameters not under my control. You may say that to believe in God as Pascal's gambler did is a compromise, and I think so too. One should not believe in God just because if there is a God, you would be better off. One should believe in Him always. There is enough proof in the world (disregarding "intelligent design" and variants thereof) if one just has enough patience and motivation to look for it. And one has to be open to the evidence, and be objective. Eventually, skepticism will crumble, and one will see that there is a God, and one may have already seen Him before(!), under the names Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and so on. C.S. Lewis was an atheist before he was convinced that God existed. Einstein, too. Some well-known psychiatrist, too, was an atheist, before he accumulated enough evidence that convinced him that He exists. And if God exists, then Jesus exists/ed, as we get miracles from him, too. I would think so.

This leads me to another question. We may now assume that God and Heaven exist, whether you like it or not. C.S. Lewis, in his Chronicles of Narnia illustrated the scenario of a non-Catholic doing good work and eventually ending up in Aslan's Paradise. In real terms, an atheist does much good in the world, and when he dies, he is surprised to find himself in heaven. My question is that would this truly happen? Would God even accept an honest and good non-believer into His Paradise? Igor the Lion 20:15, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• I hope so, my faith sustains the hope, and I believe more than anything else that God is love (not the WP article, which is about a band).

• I also hope some of this discussion gets into Misplaced Pages. Halcatalyst 03:09, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

I hope it doesn't. I congratulate Igor on winning, and his brother on surviving, but their personal experiences aren't appropriate for an encyclopedia. As for his concluding question, I think (not sure) that Christians have differed on the point. Some say virtue alone will get you into Heaven; others say "no way to the Father but through Me" or whatever the language is, meaning that belief in Jesus is an absolute prerequisite. I think there's even a compromise position, that "virtuous pagans" who died before Jesus' ministry are now in Heaven, but that, with the teachings of Jesus now available, that loophole has been closed, so that only believers may enter. Clarifying the Christian view(s) on this point would be an appropriate subject for Misplaced Pages. JamesMLane 02:00, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Etymology of the French word roman

What is the etymology of this word? Online Latin dictionaries are no good, and I'm curious as to whether it derives from Latin or has anything to do with our word "Roman" or what. --Tothebarricades 06:45, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I suggest you move your question over to Misplaced Pages:Reference desk/Language, where one could hope the language mavens hang out. JamesMLane 08:35, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes it is a cognate of the english word "roman", both originating with the Latin word "romanus" (= english "roman"). From "romanus" you have in Latin "romanicus" (of Roman origin/style), which turned into old french "romanz" (to write in vernacular language, "roman style" as opposed to a non-latin tounge). From this you have the english "romance", originally meaning "written in french", but eventually shifting towards today's meaning "a love story". And in French you also got "roman" = a novel. The word "roman" in that sense has been borrowed into German and most Germanic languages. Note the english word "novel" is from Italian "novella" or French "nouvelle" meant "new", (from "new story"), but in those languages it means "a short story", as does the english "novella". So you have to watch out: "a novel" isn't "eine novelle" or "une nouvelle" but rather "ein roman"/"un roman". --BluePlatypus 16:26, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you! --Tothebarricades 19:22, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

• This whole thing is also tied to the Troubadours and the idea of courtly love, which in turn (during the 18th century in Europe) evolved into our current delusion (pardon me, conception ) of romantic love. Halcatalyst 19:15, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

The Roman-ces were called romans in French because, initially, these were tales re Roma -- matters of the founding of Rome. Each of the works dealt with an Aeneid-like tale. Gently and slowly, the works began concentrating instead upon other figures from roughly the same lineage (cf. Roman de la Rose and the early Arthurian tales that place Arthur at 230 AD). So, from "Roman tales" they came to be "Arthur tales" to "courtly tales." Just general slippage. In English, the roman died out, somewhat, while it continued in France and Spain. Therefore, when the English began to re-import these stories (particularly Orlando Furioso), they came to use the French "roman" and pluralize it. Hence, the English word "romance" referred to such courtly stuff, while the later term "novel" was used to refer to the "new tales" and "novelties." Geogre 22:32, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Spain? But the Spanish term is "novela." Weird how French kept the roman term through all this time. --Tothebarricades 23:43, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for my ignorance of the Spanish. That is interesting, because the romance continues without significant interruption in Spain. It is, after all, the literature that Don Quixote is making fun of. The Don had read too much romance and convinced himself that he was a knight. Cervantes represents a break, and the picaresque comes, I think, from Spain to England. Perhaps you know when "novello" comes to replace "roman" in Spanish? Geogre 04:32, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

string length?

how long is a piece of string? and where does this question originate?

thanks to all Angus more- gordie

You could try taking all the angels that fit on the head of a pin, laying them end-to-end, and then measuring them. Ba-dum, chhh! But this does sound like an intentionally unanswerable question, such as a koan (the sound of one hand clapping, tree falling in a forest with no one around, etc.). Contemplate the unknowable... TheSPY 15:50, 5 January 2006 (UTC)TheSPY

I've heard the question posed as a joke. The "correct" answer is: twice the distance from the center to either end. I have no idea about its origin. JamesMLane 00:41, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Are you referring to strings, as in String theory, if so, I believe they are in the order of a Planck length (10m). If this is what you meant, best to ask this on the Science reference desk. - Akamad 11:45, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Varies with what system you are talking about. In most older basic interpreters and pascal compilers, they are at most 255 characters long, but newer compilers usually shift this restriction. (I've also heared that some basic interpreter had the vary low limit of 6 characters.) Length of a source line is also commonly limited to 255 characters. In old seds, the buffer length is limited to 4000 characters. In classical vi, line length was limited to what fits on a single screen, otehrwise the line couldn't be displayed. In the age of windows 3.1, many applications and languages limited it to 2^32 or 2^31 characters. Nowdays these kinds of arbitary constraints are rare -- they are usually only limited by how much virtual memory (or address space, if that's smaller) can hold. A limit on the length of filenames is usually enforced by most systems though, as otherwise there would be a danger of accidentally creating files that are haro to delete because their pathname doesn't fit in the memory. – b_jonas 22:13, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Bucky Fuller

Hi, does any of u guys know what was Buckminster Fuller? ( an atheist, agnostic, theist?) I've already read the article but I can't find anything that gives me that information.--Cosmic girl 16:34, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

The guy believed that the universe was a Great bucky ball administered by a godlike fullerene. Little progress has been done about those questions of faith. I still can't figure out why a cosmic person can ignore such things.

But let us imagine that faith pertains to private life : why such a question ? Do I define myself in terms of my beliefs, should I ?--Harvestman 17:34, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Who Was Buckminster Fuller? by E.J. Applewhite says:

Buckminster Fuller had one of the most fascinating and original minds of his century. Born in 1895 in Milton, Massachusetts, he was the latest--if not the last--of the New England Transcendentalists. Like the transcendentalists, Fuller rejected the established religious and political notions of the past and adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on the essential unity of the natural world and the use of experiment and intuition as a means of understanding it. But, departing from the pattern of his New England predecessors, he proposed that only an understanding of technology in the deepest sense would afford humans a proper guide to individual conduct and the eventual salvation of society. Industrial and scientific technology, despite their disruption of established habits and values, was not a blight on the landscape, but in fact for Fuller they have a redeeming humanitarian role.

Gdr 18:39, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

thank u guys,I think Bucky was a really cool person :). ps. that cosmic person comment was funny. :) --Cosmic girl 19:40, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

isn't it ironic that bucky balls are destructive while bucky fuller wasn't destructive at all?.lol. --Cosmic girl 20:16, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Buckyballs are destructive?? —Keenan Pepper 03:54, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I think they have something to do with free radicals and they damage cells somehow, but I don't know.--Cosmic girl 13:15, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• The Fullerene article has a section on possible dangers. It sounds like you're already read it :-) . Halcatalyst 19:10, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

actually I read it somewhere else, but I don't remember where, is it ok to say you're already read it or is it you've already read it ? I thought it was the 2nd one.--Cosmic girl 19:24, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• You're right, it's "you've already read it." Typo! My apologies. Halcatalyst 23:01, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the Transcendentalist memo. Nothing to do with Maharishi's TM. I'll complete my creed by saying thay one does not define him|herself by his faith : his faith defines him and the actions he takes on. As a cosmic person too I believe that all our world belong to us and that creed makes me a WPian. --Harvestman 20:50, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

This could have been answered with a link to Buckminster Fuller. Bethefawn 0227; 9.1.06

HISTORY

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW EVENTS WERE RECORDED OR DOCUMENTED, FOR EXAMPLE AS THROUGH THE AGES FROM THE CAVEMAN DRAWINGS TILL DVD'S AND COMPUTER. 201.238.65.126 16:49, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe we (humanity) have recorded history through whatever means we possesed at the time. for example through cave paintings and then through written word after we developed language, but also, it's not only what the people before us recorded willingly, it is also what we find with sciences like archeology, those things are records too, but they weren't made purposefully to be a record, they where only part of the daily life of those people, hope this helps. :) --Cosmic girl 17:00, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

What is regarded as "history" today is largely a product of the late 19th century. Much of what came before that had a very different notion of history — the Bible, for example, has aspects which we would clearly identify as "historical" but it is not written for the same purposes or using the methods of a Rankean historian. The "simple" recording of events is known generally as chronicling, but even that is a number of different practices spread over time and space. Our article on historians gives a very schematic outline of the history of historical thought and method. Our article on recorded history might also be useful. --03:02, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Also there is the fact that what we consider recorded history is just what hasn't been destroyed/edited/reinterpreted & changed by time or those preceding us. AllanHainey 12:15, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Winning Superbowl Head Coaches

How many teams that have won the superbowl were coached by a head coach who had been there before; either as a head coach an assistant, or player? Of the ones that didn't have Superbowl experience; how many had been in involved in a National Championship at the Collegiate level.

This question would take some research to answer. Visit this list of Super Bowl coaches and then Google-search the winners. -- Mwalcoff 00:11, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I researched it as to the coaches who had been to the Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, or head coach. I didn't research the collegiate championships. By my count, 29 of the 39 Super Bowl-winning teams had head coaches who had been to the Super Bowl before either on the winning or losing side as a player, assistant coach, or head coach. --Metropolitan90 09:50, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

The article on the 1986 reorganization act of the military gives me the impression that the Joint Chiefs do very little in their day-to-day jobs. It says that they hold no direct control over the military. If this is true, then if a major war broke out between the United States and a powerful nation, would the Secretary of Defense be the one in charge of planning the overall troop movements? Would he design the campaigns and then send the orders off to the troops to execute them? This seems strange to me...can anyone give me a clue as to what the Chairman actually does?

--163.153.132.5 18:46, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Have you read the article on the Joint Chiefs of Staff? The initial section answers your question, and your supposition is more or less correct. While the Secretary of Defense is not likely to be planning troop movements, he is part of the chain of command for those units. — Lomn | Talk / RfC 19:29, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

what are the actual sales of amerie's latest album because it said us certification as Platinum

is her album platinum? where did u get that information

I had a look on the riaa.com site, if you search "Amerie" as artist, it states that All I have is Gold, but does not list Touch as either gold or platinum, therefore, I am going to remove the reference to the platinum status. - Akamad 11:40, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

why did witch hunting decline during the 17th century?

Much like whales, witches were overhunted and their population suffered drastically until the recent advent of conservation efforts.

On a more serious note, the western world increasingly looked to scientific rather than superstitious explanations for events. When you don't believe the witches are at fault, you don't bother hunting them. — Lomn | Talk / RfC 19:25, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

As a supplemant to Lomn's comment, see Scientific revolution. --Tothebarricades 20:11, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, any "witch hunt", taken in the broadest sense, will eventually "run out of steam". The "witch hunt" of the US House Unamerican Activities Committee in the 1950s and many revolutions, like the French Revolution, Russian Revolution, and (Chinese) Cultural Revolution had many similar features, such as condemning people on little or no evidence, such as their unwillingness to denounce others. Such "witch hunts" eventually either attack powerful figures who are capable of launching a counter-offensive (such as the military, in the US case) or begin to scare the majority of the population, as they feel the "witch hunt" has spread far enough that they might personally be harmed by it. Thus, a certain "tipping point" is reached where the majority oppose the "witch hunts" and put an end to them. StuRat 21:55, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. All witch-hunts, literal ones and modern ones were cases of mass hysteria. And those come and go as long as there is fear for them to feed on. Witch-hunts died out in the 18th century because the enlightenment got rid of the superstitions and fear of witches. --BluePlatypus 22:07, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

...to be replaced with any number of silly moral panics. Nothing ever changes. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:43, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I think you're all a bit off the mark, here. The question should not be "why did witch hunts stop," but "why did they start?" Further, the question cannot be asked universally. Why did they occur in Germany? Why did they occur in France? Why in Italy? Did some nations have fewer than others? In fact, in England, what we find is that there were very few witch trials and hangings prior to the 17th century and then very few after only a few years. Why is that? Well, consider the political temper of the time. When heretic trials are underway, there are fewer witch hunts. Secondly, James I of England had written a book on Demonology before coming to the British throne and had a strong belief in witches. Thus, during his reign, it was good politics to find witches. After he was no longer king, witch trials dry up rapidly and go back to their pre-Jacobite numbers. Interesting, yes? By 1710, they're regarded as a freak show by people in London. On the other hand, in Germany there were many more witch trials right along. One reason may be the type of Protestantism in a particular place. For whatever reason, the German folk and Scottish folk inflections of Protestant thought held a higher belief in witches than the Church of England sort. Geogre 22:39, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

An interesting and seldom discussed aspect were the witch hunts among Native Americans, which lasted into the 19th century. Tecumseh's brother Tenskwatawa, for example, rose to prominence as a witch hunter, and reportedly had several accused witches killed. --Kevin Myers | (complaint dept.) 19:33, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

South Carolina's Growing Cities

South Carolina cities are experiencing tremendous growth,and i'm wondering if they are going to become like big metropolitan cities like Atlanta,Miami,Charlotte, you know cities like that.Well specfically I'm talking about Greenville,Spartanburg,Charleston,North Charleston,Columbia,and Myrtle Beach.These are cities that are experiencing tremendous growth right now.Based on the laws,I kinda of still think cities will be a good decent size.But you know Columbia,i think needs a better well-defined financial district.Thats what they are working on now.So does Greenville and Spartanburg.They are getting there,but i wonder how long its going to be though.Overall though,my question is,are these SC cities going to grow to the other cities i mentioned earlier?

Andre' Ward

I don't have an answer for you but you may find the article on urban sprawl interesting. Dismas| 19:42, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

My opinions for the near future (the next 50 years or so)...

Columbia: Yes. It will continue to grow.

Myrtle Beach: No. It is a tourist attraction, not a metropolitan city. Through outside investment, it could eventually become like Orlando.

Charleston: No. The Board of Architectual Review will not allow buildings to get larger and the JC Long laws forbid filling in the bay with dirt to make more land.

N. Charleston: Maybe. It is still suffering from the loss of the Navy base.

While populations will continue to increase in all of the cities, a skyscraper metropolis will not necessarily form. --Kainaw 19:50, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

If you were to treat William Gibson as a futurist (rather than a somewhat overrated novelist) you'd come to think that the metropolises of the east coast of the US would eventually sprawl into on eanother (Gibson calls it BAMA, the Boston-Atlanta metropolitan Axis, aka The Sprawl). That model is what became of Los Angeles and the Greater Tokyo Area - unless the city and state governments actively try to keep space between the cities, they'll inch together (one easment, one grand mall, one special case at a time) in ribbon development. Then it won't matter if Columbia has a financial district at all, any more than it matters whether Reseda has one. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:39, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Theres a place on the upper East Coast called BosWash.This area includes Boston,Baltimore,Washington D.C.,New York,Newark,and several more i think.The two that are officially linked together is Newark and New York City.The others are kind of linked together.The population density up there is intense.The states in that are Rhode Island,Massachusetts,Connecticut,New York,New Jersey,Maryland,and Virginia.Check that out.

Andre' Ward

Mental Disorders

Hi!

I have been wondering for the last year and don't know where to go about finding the answer... is there a specific mental illness designated for people who believe themselves to be characters inside of novels, or who are convinced that novel-worthy events happen to them on a regular basis? Any response would help me tremendously; thank you so much!

Boze

Well I'm not sure if there is a specific term for it, but the syptoms you describe seem to fit the Grandiose Delusuional Disorder. Start there, and hopefully someone else can help you more. --Articuno1 21:20, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I doubt if there is a specific term for novels, versus movies, TV shows, real life, etc. Also, the term may not distinguish between people who think they are fictional characters and those who think they are some other real person. The only term I can think of is delusions of grandeur (which may not appear to apply if they pick a character which isn't very "grand"). Basically, they can't stand how bad, painful, or boring their ordinary life is, so imagine they are somebody else, to such an extent that they lose touch with reality and "become" the new character. StuRat 21:23, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I noticed my link just redirects to delusion. Perhaps someone more qualified than myself can add a specific article for delusions of grandeur, or at least a stub. StuRat 21:33, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

While that might seem like a rather specific query, a single symptom isn't enough to diagnose a disease. Especially when it comes to mental illnesses, where different underlying problems can give similar symptoms. It could be caused by anything from Schizophrenia to some other form of Psychosis, Dissociative identity disorder (a controversial diagnosis). Whereas a person who believes novel-worthy events happen to them regularily could have a personality disorder (such as Narcissistic personality disorder), but may still be able to function. I'm not a psychiatrist though. --BluePlatypus 21:45, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I think it's some form of psychosis, probably schizophrenia, since delusions of grandeour are one of the simptoms of this disorder.--Cosmic girl 22:28, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

It's spelled symptoms. StuRat 22:44, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

The question reminds me of the movie A Beautiful Mind, where (Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow) the John Nash character lives out a spy novel in his mind. In the movie and in Nash's life the disorder was certainly paranoid schizophrenia. Paranoia can also be associated with the mania of bipolar disorder. If it's a good feeling the person experiences in his/her delusions, an extreme manic phase of biploar disorder is a good bet. Halcatalyst 05:30, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! That is a wonderful movie! -- Boze

I'm just going to plug my Napoleon in popular culture article whilst I get a highly tenuous chance. --bodnotbod 00:25, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Oldest School in West Virginia

I have been looking on the net and tried to look here to find it but I am not having any luck. Could you please help me find out when the first school was started in wv?

Thanky you so much

Sandra

Since WV was split off from Virginia in 1863, the question comes up, do you mean the first school in WV after the split, or the first school in the area that is now WV, when it was still part of Virginia ? StuRat 21:13, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

my grandfarther

hello ive been told that my grandfarther fought or at least lent his services in the russo-finnish war as a doctor im just trying to find out if he's listed anywhere ie a search engine for men and woman who fought or were involved in this war it would mean alot to me to find out this. regards fish

What side was he on? If it was the Finnish, was he in the Finnish armed forces or the volunteer corps? What unit did he belong to? Etc. Anyway there's no such search engine. The records aren't in digital format. If he was on the Finnish armed forces, try the Finnish military archive. They can give you copies of his documents if they have them. You'll need his full name, date of birth and place of birth, and date of death (if applicable), and if you don't know Finnish you'll need someone to help you fill out the form and so on. And it'll cost you a few euros. --BluePlatypus 01:32, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

January 6

Question about Tolkien's Silmarillion

I have a question about J.R.R. Tolkien's work. Does he at any point in The Silmarillion describe how Middle-Earth came to be the world as we know it? (Assuming that, as I remember, the preface to The Hobbit suggests that within the myth of Tolkien's world, the events of The Lord of the Rings were intended to have occured sometime in the past of the modern era). If not, do any of Tolkien's work deal with this? Thanks. --Brasswatchman 00:15, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Middle earth is a region of Arda (the Earth), the history of which is described at History of Arda. I think it's mostly in Silmarillion. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:29, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and a big giant paragraph in Arda correlates "ancient" places in Middle earth with their "modern" equivalents. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:30, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Fantastic. Thanks. Is the actual transition from Arda to Earth ever described by Tolkien, as far as you know? --Brasswatchman 01:04, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't think so. Timeline of Arda says "Tolkien has often mentioned that after the War of the Ring the ages went on and now we are likely in the beginning of the Seventh Age, a bridge that connects this fantasy to reality.", but doesn't give a cite for this saying - I'd ask on its talk page (as it should have a cite supporting it). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:15, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Johnny Ramone's religion

Was Johnny Ramone Jewish?

Well, according to and our own List of Jewish American Musicians, only Joey and Tommy Ramone were Jewish. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 08:57, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• If you were to talk about Jewish as an ethnic thing rather than just the religion, he may have been Jewish (if he took it over from his father). My gut instinct is to ask: Does it really matter? - Mgm| 10:26, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I thought the ethnicity passed down a matrilineal rather than patrilineal line. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 11:46, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Matthew Boyd

Hello. I am looking for information about Matthew Boyd who was the Provost of Renfewshire (Glasgow)from 1827 - 1830. How can you help me? Regards Chris Reid Brisbane Australia

I guess the Clan Boyd or the Renfrewshire Council might be able to provide some answers. Lupo 10:27, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Kabbalistic technique

I am currently reading the Sefer Yetzirah. In the process I got a little sidetracked trying to work out a way to visualize what to me is very abstract. I started playing around with combinations of letters. I made a table of the mother letters, the double letters and the single or elemental letters. You can see it here.

Taking each mother letter and combining it with the double letters adjacent to it and the single letters adjacent to them I came up with twenty four combinations, eight for each mother letter. You can see them here.

It is similar to the two hundred thirty one gates in the Sefer Yetzirah. I know its not the same thing. I used a different technique and I'm not presumptuous enough to think it is anything more than just an interesting trick. Considering the gates I decided to try combinations of each mother letter with all the double letters and all the single letters, not just those adjacent to them in the table. I wrote a PHP script to actually do the work. I came up with two hundred fifty two combinations, eighty four for each mother letter. They are here. I don't speak Hebrew so I don't know how many are actual words and how many are just nonsense, but I have translated some of them via Morfix and I'm still working at it. It has been curious to say the least.

All of this has been to lead up to my question. Is there an historical precedent for this type of exploration? I'm epsecially interested the adjacent letters scheme, but I'd like to know of anything using the three classes of letters to form words. Being totally self-taught in Kabbalah there are tremendous gaps in my knowledge, but I can't believe I'm the first person to try this. I'd be interested to know if anyone has done this in the past and written about it, even if it just turned out to be a dead end.--◀Puck▶ 10:06, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

The table is quite similar to what appears in the center of the "Rose Cross Lamen" of the Order of the Golden Dawn, except that that's in circular form. AnonMoos 18:21, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, Lon Milo DuQuette discusses the Lamen in detail in Understanding the Thoth Tarot, but as I look at that it doesn't really aligned the same way--the Lamen has aleph adjacent to koph and pe--and wouldn't produce the same combinations of letters. The Lamen's design seems to have more to do with the Tarot trumps than with Hebrew per se. I'm actually not looking for Hermetic interpretations at this point anyway. I'm more concerned with traditional Judiaic Kabbalah in respect to the Hebrew alphabet itself.--◀Puck▶ 20:35, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Any other takers on this? Or am I just going to have to actually read those twenty-six books I have on my Kabbalah shelf? Oh, the Humanity!--◀Puck▶ 11:11, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

role of the media

• Definitely a big question. What IS the question? Halcatalyst 18:59, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
  • To be or not to be? that is the question.... isnt it?--Goshawk 19:16, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

We can mention some roles of the media: Inform, Misinform, Entertain, Brainwash... --Kainaw 20:51, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

iconographer

contact sister christina dochwat

Who is Helen Frakenthaler?

Who is Helen frakenthaler?

I think you spelt it wrong. Do you mean Helen Frankenthaler? --Canley 17:10, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Amerie

according to billboard.com the riaa list that amerie's latest album touch is certified gold so if u don't mind iam going to put back the GOLD reference ok?

Yes, that's OK. Good for you! --Canley 17:10, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Judiciary term

A law making an act a crime that was commited before the law was passed is called an ....

A retroactive law? See Nulla poena sine lege for more info. -Canley 17:12, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the term being looked for is ex post facto laws, the making of which by Congress is explicitly prohibited by the US Constitution, among others, and is generally seen as a violation of the rule of law. Brian Schlosser42 18:36, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Specifically, it is against the US Constitution to pass retroactive criminal laws, but not other retroactive laws. Congress could pass a 100% tax for your income last year and take all your money, for example. But don't worry, this isn't likely to happen until the Democrats win the next election. StuRat 22:28, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Please keep your highly politicized POV separate from your answers on the reference desk. While I realize that it is hyperbole, I feel it is out of line. WAvegetarian (email) 03:41, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Retroactively : had you time to do your homework properly before reading all this ? Also, there must be a way to find a word by its context. It is called (not google, not wikipedia) ... (please help). --Harvestman 21:22, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing?

How accurate is the song in this regard? The article mentions the accuracy regarding the astronomical distance but doesn't comment on the bicycle claim. No websites that I've found seem to comment either. Thryduulf 17:18, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

There are over 14 million people in Beijing. If half the people had a bicycle, that would be over 7 million. Because bicycles are rather common in Beijing (many people drive to a parking area and bike the rest of the way to work), I would be surprised if the number was as low as 9 million. --Kainaw 18:46, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

How many millilitres of milk would a mother be able to give on an average daily?

How many millilitres of milk would a mother be able to give on an average daily?

A mother what? User:Zoe| 21:36, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I think we can safely assume he means human. --Nelson Ricardo 01:39, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

It depends on lots of things: how soon after delivery, whether other foods are being offered the child, whether there is 24 hour skin to skin contact, how many children are being suckled, whether the mother is adequately nourished, etc. A nursing woman can easily produce a liter a day of milk, which would be a pretty ordinary daily intake for much of the first year, but maximum output given the right circumstances and an unusually productive person would be much more. Does that cover it? alteripse 12:26, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Generations of European Americans

On an average, for how many generations have the current European Americans been living in the US. What about the current African Americans and Asian Americans? deeptrivia (talk) 17:52, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

That's pretty hard to answer, even for one person. I, for example, have a grandfather who was born French-Canadian and also have an ancestor along another branch who fought in the American Revolution. So, am I a 3rd generation American or 10th ? StuRat 22:24, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

A , and probablly even after 1900. As such it is likely that most people probally 5th or fourth generation of Americans. I my self am a fourth generation american.

African Americans mainly came over as slaves, the slave trade ended in 1800, As such most african Americans families came over in colonial times. Such means that most Americans are at at least 10th generation. Asians it varies. Many came in the second half the 19 century, this makes them 5th, 6th 7th generation Americans, many of these early chinese where eventually absorbed into the general population. In the early 20th century imigration law grealy restricted asian imigration until the mid twentieth century. Many Asians came post word war II, thus it is safe to say that perhaps a majority of asians are first second and third generation.

If one were to order the groups by average number of generations in the U.S., it would be first African Americans, second European Americans and third Asian Americans.--Pharos 05:55, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

majority of European Americans now have families who came here after the Civil war may be true but it is also true that the majority of European Americans have much older, even colonial ancrestry. "It only takes a little leaven to raise the whole batch." If 7 of my grandparents are recent (early 20th century imigration) immigrants but one has colonial ancestry, what is my average generation? What does the question mean? Rmhermen 19:44, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

eminem

In eminem's new album "Curtian Call" one of the songs titled "Shake that" has a background sample that sounds very familliar.

Can you identify it for me?

Thanks

nickelback

is chad kroger born in canada and is there anyway his name was bruce hedrick

Yes, Chad Kroeger and his brother were born in Canada. There is nothing I have seen to imply he ever had another name. --Kainaw 19:37, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

God

is it christian, or catholic to say that God is everything, because I've heard that from a couple of Catholics, but I don't think the church promotes this view, since to me it sounds a little like eastern mysticism...so are those catholics that think that way, at odds with their creed? or am I being too close minded or dumb...--Cosmic girl 20:03, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

It's certainly not the official view of the Roman Catholic Church - you should browse the Catechism for all the official details. I also don't know of any major Christian theologian who's held such a view, though certain Western philosophers have (e.g., Spinoza). --George 20:41, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

the thing is that I have devout catholic friends who, when I ask them what god is, just answer god is everything or god is in everything or god is infinite and uncomprehensible but that to me certanly doesn't sound like what the church says...but it's true there are a lot of catholics in latin america that have mystical views of god, and also there are a lot of agnostics and atheists that are catholics suposedly, like mylself, I'm supposed to be a catholic, but I am actually an agnostic.--Cosmic girl 20:55, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• There are many strands of mysticism, Christian and otherwise, but IMHO this kind of talk is just pre-Vatican II intellectual abstraction reduced to popspeak. More specifically, it's easy answers applied to a hard religion. Halcatalyst 21:31, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

• The belief that "God is everything" sounds like pantheism which is not a mainstream Christian belief, but see the article about pantheism for references to aspects of it in Christianity. "God is infinite and uncomprehensible", on the other hand, seems to be consistent with the Catechism of the Catholic Church cited above: "We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, image-bound or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God - 'the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable' - with our human representations." Catechism § 42. --Metropolitan90 02:22, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

• Panentheism is a concept related to pantheism. See this discussion for its relationship to Christian belief. Halcatalyst 03:04, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

• Come on, the list of attributes really pertaining to God amounts to zero. The list of attributes that men didn't try to fit to God also. What is the point ? Can someone say something sensible, or is it better to shut up (that's zen). --Harvestman 21:16, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

• It's also the apophatic tradition in Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. Halcatalyst 01:54, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• To say it with a few more words: negative (apophatic) theology holds that no attributes of God can be known, but that God can be experienced. A 14th century anonymous Christian book which exemplifies this approach is The Cloud of Unknowing. Halcatalyst_

And that is also mentioned by Hilton and Rolle, and Soren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript argues that, indeed, if God were known, God would be subjective, since all knowledge is subjective, and therefore God must be known experientially -- hence his formulation of the "leap of faith" into paradox. (Specifically, paradox demonstrates that language and subjectivity is insufficient. This insufficiency points to an Other. That other cannot be known but can be experienced or lived. Once lived and experienced, it is still not known, but, rather, communed and intersubjective. You cannot know that the Other is God ahead of time. You can only know that it is a void of reason. This drvies rationalists nuts.) Really, though, all of these headers from a particular user seem to be nothing more than an attempt to get a college freshman dormitory bull session going. Not really the point. Geogre 03:58, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

what did Soren Kierkegaard mean when he said subjectivity is truth? --Cosmic girl 18:45, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

What is subjectively so is so. I.e. if it is within you, it is true within you. This, however, is in the context of the usual realist dichotomy of subject/object. In contrast to those who had posited a real that matters and is apprehensible in a pure form, if only the messiness of subjectivity were cleared away, he argued that the subjective state is the only thing that can ever be known because knowing is a subjective activity. Thus, whether the yellow bicycle is yellow and a bicycle and the same for two observers or not is not really a thing to argue about. Like Nietzsche and Marx, Kierkegaard had been a student of Hegel's, and Hegel had brought up the problem of pure knowledge of the objective world in his Phenomenology lectures. Nietzsche solved the problem one way, Kierkegaard another, and Marx apparently skipped class that week. Geogre 19:51, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Why isn't the bicycle thing something to argue about if supposedly we can never know objective truth since our knowing is subjective? I mean, wouldn't then we have to argue about every single thing? even about evolution and the roundness of the earth because truth is subjective and god may be fooling us or whatever... I actually think its useless to think truth is subjective even if it is,because we gain nothing from it, but we've gained a lot of progress by asuming that truth is objective and that we are capable of finding it, is there any philosphy that you think goes with my views? because I haven't found a single one that says what I think.--Cosmic girl 20:27, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• One problem with simple subjectivity is, how can I know there is anything else? And if there are other "subjects" like me, how is is intersubjective communication possible? Phenomenology takes up this challenge, so you might like to read the article. Halcatalyst 20:55, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• P.S. You're really wanting to understand philosophical distinctions, so take a deep look at Subjectivity and Objectivity. Halcatalyst 21:10, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Help

Hi

My name is Phillip I'm writting a bookabout Nazi Germany, whick one of the caracters is Grand Admiral Karl Doeniz, I need to find out if he has any next of kin still alive and how to get a email to them, I need the copyrights before I can Publish it, can you help me with this,

Thank you for any help in this matter

Please don't post your e-mail address, as it can be picked up by spammers. --George 20:39, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

What do you need copyrights for? You don't need copyright or approval from next-of-kin to write a biography of someone. Copyrights cover artistic works, not people's lives. You'd only need a copyright license to reproduce something he'd written/recorded (to an extent larger than is considered 'fair use'). Of course, you could be violating privacy or libel laws if you were writing about someone unknown, or something which is not true, but that protection isn't particularily strong for a public figure, which Dönitz certainly was. --BluePlatypus 01:53, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Russian Archiving Methods

I would greatly appreciate if anyone could describe the mythically efficient, if mystifying, archiving method used in Russia or USSR?

Unless you mean that Manuscripts do not burn, I have no idea. --Ornil 02:08, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

You might want to search out archival guides for Russia/USSR, such as this one I found by Googling "Using soviet archives". I don't know about their general archival practices though I do know that doing research there now is notoriously difficult, though mostly for matters of lack of money (small staffs) than the old problem of secrecy. --Fastfission 19:27, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

January 7

Stone Age

What are the years of the Stone Age

That will depend on the location, as humans learned to use metals much earlier in some locations than in others. Some primitive tribes might even still be considered to be in the Stone Age. StuRat 01:58, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Try the Stone Age article. Note that there isn't a fixed set of years, it varies from culture to culture. --BluePlatypus 01:55, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Swastika, San Antonio, TX Thomas Jefferson High School

Howdy - I have in my possession a copy of the 1934 Monticello, the Annual for Thomas Jefferson High School. Many of the female students were members of the "Swastika" and wore that symbol on their "Uniform" caps. Apparentlly they were part of a Cadet Corp. I have been unable to find any information about them or the local history of the swastika symbol they use. It has been surpressed rather thoroughly by persons unknown. I would appreciate any information you can provide.Thanks in advance for your help. This is an awesome site!! Dave An addition - 1. By supressed I mean I can find no acknowledgement of the symbol anywhere in the history of the High School. 2. The females Uniforms were obviously designed in the early 1930's. The males uniforms seemed to be modeled on the Texas Aggies, Boots or leggings, high jacket collar and peaked hat. The school was segregated in that there were no African-Americans there. I did see at least one Chines person and a number of Hispanics.

The swastika was also used as a symbol by Native Americans and others but was bent the other way. Judging from the time frame, I am guessing they were supporters of German nationalism. Bear in mind, however, that the NAZIs had not committed genocide or invaded anything at that point, although their anti-semitism and military ambition was quite apparent, even then. Also note that many prominent Americans, such as Charles Lindberg, Henry Ford and Joseph Kennedy, were pro-NAZI at that point. StuRat 02:35, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Not neccesarily the Swastika is a ancient symbol, this symbol was used by native americans up untill wwII that is likely who where copied. Furthermore Hitler had only been in power for a brief time in 1934, so he might not been identified with the symbol the way he is now.

I disagree. Hitler, the NAZIs, and the German swastika were big news worldwide, even before the War. StuRat 17:00, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

May 1934 was only one year after the Nazis came into power. AnonMoos 18:05, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

That's enough time for something sufficiently new and different to be noticed around the world. Also note the other clues, the uniforms, and the name "Cadet Corp". These are military trappings, more likely to be associated with NAZIs than other uses of the symbol, such as religious meanings. Also, the fact that info on it has been supressed implies there was something to hide. If not, like, say, Oliver Hardy's "Hitler mustache", it would only need to be explained (in that case, as a typical man's facial hair pattern of the time), rather than supressed. StuRat 18:36, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

There's no way to know without more information. The uniforms may have in all possibility been used for many years before the Nazis came to power for all we know, and did not have yet the negative stigma that they would soon get. And who knows if it has really been supressed or not, and what that really means. Often people use that to mean that they don't know anything about it. --Fastfission 03:50, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I lean toward believing the person who posted the question, lacking any evidence to the contrary. StuRat 04:27, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I lean towards using my brain no matter what. What you are doing is taking a few cryptic words and then drawing out very far-fetched conclusions from them. Furthermore the key question to ask is when the logos were adopted first, which the poster gives no information about. Also, is there a reason you capitalize Nazi? It is not an acronym, it is an abbreviation. --Fastfission 18:10, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

San Antonio was known for its German settlers in the 19th century-- I would vote for the modern connection. Not much different from the "fighting Irish" is it? alteripse 12:20, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

In response to the new information: "By supressed I mean I can find no acknowledgement of the symbol anywhere in the history of the High School." OK -- well that doesn't necessarily mean it was suppressed, which indicates something purposely removed or silenced. It sounds like what you mean is omitted, which doesn't assume a nefarious reason. (Anyway that is what a historian would conclude on that point. A lack of mention often just means that they were not viewed as important at the time, which itself can be an interesting and important observation when looking back at the past.) "The females Uniforms were obviously designed in the early 1930's. The males uniforms seemed to be modeled on the Texas Aggies, Boots or leggings, high jacket collar and peaked hat." I'm not sure this clarifies anything. The question is whether or not the uniforms were used in that way before or after the swastika became chiefly associated with Nazi Germany. Could you describe in more detail the swastikas they used? In particular -- which direction did they "swirl" and were they rotated to be on a "tip" or if they lay flat on their sides. The information about the school's racial status doesn't put it in a different situation than what might be expected from that time in U.S. western education. The burden of proof is in showing that this usage was not as a "good luck symbol" as they were traditionally considered before World War II, when they became completely entwined with the Nazi party. 1934 is a little too early to say for sure it was in reference to the Germans. --Fastfission 18:19, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Fastfission that it might not have been a Nazi connection. I used to live in Marietta, Ohio, where the county courthouse lobby had a tiled floor decorated with inlaid swastikas. I think it was built in the 1910s or 1920s. JamesMLane 01:07, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

The swastika article states that the the insignia of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division had a swastika until the 1930s and that Arizona highway signs had a swastika until 1940. This was because in the American Southwest, Native Americans such as the Navajo and Hopi had long used swastika-like symbols in their art (I read a Navajo creation story a long time ago about how four crooked rivers came together at sort of a whirlpool of Creation, see this commercial site that sells antique Navajo rugs with swastika designs), and it was considered a regional symbol. (The 45th is based out of "Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma".) Because of this association, the Southwest was probably one of the last places to accept the exclusive association of the swastika with Nazis now common in the West. Texas is close enough that I would assume that it was an innocuous name chosen to show regional pride, which was probably changed soon thereafter as the Nazi association came to dominate. - BanyanTree 06:05, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Names of Future Megapolises And how fast will they Grow and Come About

Today,our nation has adapted to this world.And keeps on adapting.One example is the gigantic metropolitan areas.Now some say that there will be megapolises in the future.Certain names for three have already been given,BosWash,ChiPitts,and SanSan.One is the megapolis of Northeast,one of the Far West and the other, Midwest where Illinois and the other states are.So what I'm basically asking is what are the possible Names for the future ones,because i know for sure eventually one will rise in the South.And i assume the several major ones would be Columbia,Atlanta,Charlotte, and several more. I'm Very curious about this. Maybe this will help hold the rapidly growing world population.

Andre' Ward

The population growth overall in the US is quite slow, but there is also a movement to suburbs and to the South at the same time, so growth of some Southern suburbs may be quite rapid. I would think this would make a Columbia, Atlanta, Charlotte megapolis much more likely than, say, Chicago to Pittsburg. StuRat 09:16, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Not necessarily. While population growth is not very fast in the North, the physical growth of urbanized areas in the North has continued at a rapid rate due to the spread of low-density exurbs. I read somewhere that the Cleveland area grew by one-third in terms of acreage in the 80s and 90s despite remaining steady in terms of population. There's very little countryside left between Lorain, Ohio and Youngstown.

According to the Census Bureau, it's now possible to go from Lorain to New Hampshire, then south to Petersburg, Virginia and back to Ohio via Pittsburgh without ever entering a rural county. Welcome to ClevErBufRochSyrAlbBosNYPhilBaltWashRichPitt Megalapolitan Area. -- Mwalcoff 04:51, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Looking outside the US, most of south-east England is now considered part of the London commuter belt, and Tokyo has absorbed every city within 50km. Namewise, I doubt the portmanteau names will stick; I'd much rather live in Chicago than ChiPitts. smurrayinchester 10:00, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Mega-City One. Notinasnaid 10:52, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

As regards the naming process, of the metropolitan areas in England two got named Greater London and Greater Manchester after the central city. But in the other cases the new name had to be anything but "Greater X", in order to keep the residents of the smaller towns happy. So Merseyside not Greater Liverpool, West Yorkshire not Greater Leeds, the West Midlands not Greater Birmingham, etc. The names have stuck even those that seemed cumbersome initially. So maybe in America it'll be Pacific City or Lakeside or North Ohio, etc,etc. Jameswilson 23:50, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Genocide

Is it true that Stalin killed approximately 20,000,000 people of different ethnic backgrounds? If this is so, it doesn't seem just that he does not get the deserved condemnation in our media; how can this be explained? Thanks. Butkus

I think it's more than that. Quite simply, no pictures means no media interest. Stalin didn't let many pics get out. We have many movies and pics from liberated German Death Camps, however. StuRat 02:42, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

This "killed" thing is a term you need to look very carefully at. First, did 20 million die during his years? No doubt many more. Did that many die due to a policy of his that would not have died otherwise? Probably. During collectivization, there were state sponsored killings. Further, there was a mass enslavement and labor camps that killed hundreds of thousands. However, the figures are all somewhat wild guesses, and the inherent comparison of Stalin with Hitler or Pol Pot is a bit bogus. Imagine if Hitler had not had the Final Solution, if, instead, only the numbers in the camps that starved and were worked to death counted. That would be a more accurate comparison. Stalin's "killing" of his people was more along the lines of forced labor and killing them that way than by genocide. As for the totals, no one can know. The total is very high. Geogre 04:27, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

I think Stalin did arrange for the intentional murder of million who opposed him, or he thought had some chance of opposing him in the future. The movie Dr. Zhivago portrays this, but most American media does ignore it, that's quite true. StuRat 05:45, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

• If you're referring to the Great Purge and the Gulag, there is no secret. The American media does portray Stalin as an authoritarian, paranoid killer. As to why he isn't thought of as specifically genocidal, it is because his campaigns did not have a "racial" bent to them; in fact, his most direct killings (that is, not the ones caused by famine) had almost nothing in common with each other at all except that for one reason or another they were swallowed into the Soviet security apparatus. To be genocidal one has to intentionally try to wipe out a people based on some sort of racial or genetic basis, which was never Stalin's approach to things, as horrible as he was. --Fastfission 03:55, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, that is just wrong. Stalin did indeed commit what amounts to genocide on purely ethnical grounds, by deporting and ethnically cleansing regions of certain groups, which lead to the death of many in the process. See this article, and I quote: nearly half of the entire Crimean Tatar population died of hunger in the first eighteen months after being banished from their homeland. If that isn't ethnically motivated genocide, what is? --BluePlatypus 04:59, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Citizenship of Colonists

How did the people who were colonists when America became a nation become citizens? Was there an edict of some sort? In order to vote - for instance, for the first president - surely people had to prove they were citizens.--68.100.215.152 04:18, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

How did they become American citizens? Implicitly. That was considered as an automatic part of the U.S. becoming independent. Independence, of course, was claimed by the U.S. in the Declaration of Independence and recognized by the British in the Treaty of Paris. Each document uses the word "citizen" one or more times to refer to Americans without saying that this is a new status.

At that time the U.S. was more of a confederation than the federation it became under the later constitution -- see Articles of Confederation. People were citizens of the individual states; this is still true today, but today citizenship of the United States is much more important for most purposes. Back then I don't know if the latter concept even existed. The Treaty of Paris refers at one point to "the said States, or their Citizens", but it also refers to "Citizens of the United States". However, this could have been meant to be read as meaning citizens of any of the states.

As to voting, I very much doubt that the idea of "proof of citizenship" existed at the time. If you were a resident, you would have been assumed to be a citizen, at least if you said you were. But I'm guessing. Even if I'm right, I would be interested to know when that changed and the concept of a formal immigration system got started.

--Anonymous, 5:15 UTC, January 7, 2006

I suspect that one needed to be a citizen of the prior colony to be considered a citizen of the state at that time. There were some excluded people, like slaves and Native Americans, who were denied full citezenship despite living there. StuRat 05:42, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Wasn't there some problem with Alexander Hamilton not being eligible for the Presidency because he was not born in what became the United States, even though he was living here at the time of the American Revolution? User:Zoe| 19:55, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, the Presidency doesn't just require that you be a citizen of the US, but that you be a natural born citizen. That was put in to prevent foreign leaders from moving to the US, gaining citzenship, then gaining the Presidency and making the US part of their empire. StuRat 20:24, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

See also Arnold Schwarzenegger.

However, what it actually says is "a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution", i.e. in 1789. Hamilton had moved to New York in 1772. The Misplaced Pages article about him (linked above) says nothing about his being considered ineligible, and indeed, considering that he was one of the driving forces behind the constitution being written in the first place, it's hard to imagine anyone feeling that he wasn't a citizen. (Of course, his political opponents might have tried saying it whether they believed it or not.) --Anon, 20:35 UTC

Hamilton had served in the Continental Congress and New York State Legislature before the Constitution was adopted. This suggests that even if there was not a clear citizenship law, Hamilton was considered to be a citizen; it's hard to imagine an alien being allowed to serve in a legislature in the 1780s. --Metropolitan90 02:19, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

what is a state church?

An official national religion, like the Church of England. StuRat 05:35, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Probably Established church would answer the question. Geogre 19:53, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

First City with a million inhabitants

Which city was the first to have a million inhabitants? QM

Perhaps Rome ? It's hard to say, as ancient census takers were rare. StuRat 16:55, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

experts.about.com claims it was Rome in 250 CE. No sources for that are cited but Emperial Rome kept a very accurate census compared to other ancient civilizations. WAvegetarian (email) 18:57, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

usefultrivia.com claims it was Rome in 5 BCE. corsinet.com claims it was Rome in 133 BCE. In short, without a cited census source, none of the numbers mean anything. It is clear that Rome reached that mark very early on. The problem is how you define inhabitants (do slaves count?) and how you define city (are you only counting people who have a residence inside the walls or are you counting more?). I think you can safely say that Rome was the first, but it will be hard to get accurate information on when via the Internet. WAvegetarian (email) 19:08, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

What do you mean, do slaves count? Where would YOU count slaves, together with domesticated animals? Thanks to all who answered! QM

Do slaves count? is a reasonable question. Under the unamended U.S. Constitution a slave only counted as three-fifths of a person. In other places censuses only counted males or only counted land owners or only citizens. Developing accurate and complete counts from these records can be difficult. Rmhermen 19:24, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Actually, the correct statement is "Slaves only bolstered a state's representation in the House of Representatives 3/5ths as much as free people did." If the three-fifths clause hadn't been in the constitution, the states with the most slaves would have had even more political power.

Not to be nit-picky, but if the three-fifths compromise hadn't been added slaves wouldn't have been counted at all. Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 counted "the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed." This clearly doesn't include slaves as they were neither free nor indentured. The compromise gave more power to slave holding states than they had before as the status quo was that slaves were not counted in population totals as they legally had the rights of a mule. WAvegetarian (email) 17:21, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

In any case, the ancient Romans did conduct censuses of a sort, but they were a lot more concerned with ascertaining who should pay taxes and how much they should pay, than with thoroughly counting individuals. AnonMoos 04:38, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry for the above remark, especially for introducing a personal note which is not called for. QM

The history section of our City article backs up Ancient Rome as well, though with a wildly different date, challenged only by Alexandria until the Industrial Revolution. - BanyanTree 16:21, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

pantheism

no question

See Pantheism WAvegetarian (email) 18:52, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

French Revolution

When did the French Revolution start

See French Revolution. WAvegetarian (email) 18:51, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

1983. --Tothebarricades 01:57, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

1991

What was the price of a new car in 1991? Thanks. :]

In US dollars of that year, median was probably about $16,000. alteripse 01:48, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Girls Borading Schools in the Victorian Age in England

Dear all,

I'm desperately looking for information about the daily routine/subjects in girls boarding schools in the Victorian Age (especially 1880+) as well as for any other information regarding boarding schools for girls in the a. m. time in England.

I, however, can find here and there something about boys boarding schools but nothing for girls at all. I wonder why? Can't be such a secret!

I would be glad for any hint you can give me (books, internet-addresses, etc.).

80.135.254.190 18:50, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Narrow your question considerably. Do you mean Victorian? It looks like you mean Edwardian. Do you mean in England? In Scotland? In the United States or Canada? Secondly, you have to realize that boarding schools are private and therefore heterogenous. There is no single model. Rather, one school would have focused on "polish" and refinement and domestic arts, while another might well have been the mirror of a male private school. Finally, there is enormous discussion of this subject in the scholarly literature, although you would be better off looking at "education for girls" and "conduct books" and "hygiene" and "female body" as your search terms. As you have asked it, the question is sort of difficult to answer. You can also go to any particular contemporary girls' boarding school and look for its past curricula. Generally, by 1880 it was a rough echo of the general liberal arts curriculum, with exceptions. Geogre 15:52, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. Well, I'll try to narrow: England (pref. London), 1880-1900 (should be late Victorian Age... 1837-1901), girls boarding schools for the gentry and higher social class, school subjects (just to get a rough impression what girls learned day after day). Okay, I understood that every boarding school specialises in specific subjects but I don't know even one exemplary subject for sure. I can imagine that etiquette or sewing could be such subjects... but I'm not even sure about that. 80.135.221.201 19:31, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Ok, well, I'll try. The problem is still, I think, that private girls' schools could be wildly different from one another. However, the general subjects were taught (Classics, mathematics, foreign languages (French), writing, religion, history). I'm not, alas, versed in the feminist work being done these days, so I can't tell you anything particular. However, I did find this:

McDermid, Jane. The schooling of working-class girls in Victorian Scotland : gender, education and identity. London ; New York : Routledge, 2005.

Reeves, Marjorie. Pursuing the muses : female education and nonconformist culture, 1700-1900. London; Washington: Leicester University Press.

Then there are all the books by Ward, by Hannah More, etc., though those are earlier than you want and not descriptive. Note that the first one I have there is going to concentrate not on ladies, but on regular girls, and the second one is going to concentrate on non-conformists (i.e. Presbyterians and Independents). Geogre 00:34, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

California's Strong Economy

California has a pretty good government and economy.My question to you is,Does California have one of the strongest economies in the world?I mean look at California,if you live there its like living in a totally different world.They have their own style of a lot of things.I believe if CA was to break off the U.S., it'll probably form a totally different country.It has a good economy,(last time i checked).Same for Texas,many definitely say that Texas is like living in a different country.But overall thats my question to you.

Andre' Ward

I don't know specifics about economics, but you might be interested in Nine Nations of North America, which some might feel constitutes a reasonable blueprint for the fission of America. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:06, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

An interesting fact for you, both California and Texas were independent countries, for a few years each, before being admitted to the US. StuRat 20:12, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

More like a few weeks for the California Republic (24 days, to be precise.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 21:48, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Please add that info to the California article. I read it before making my comment, and didn't see anything about it being only 24 days. StuRat 02:09, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

According the Article on the topic, Cali has between the 4th and 10th largest economy in the world. So yes, its pretty clear that California has "one of the strongest economies in the world." Jasongetsdown 19:49, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

French dance discipline

What is the name of that french dance discipline that consists of jumping off of walls, hanging from ledges, etc? Examples of this discipline can be seen in Madonna's "Hung Up" music video.

Parkour. Gdr 22:46, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

I would say it is not a dance discipline but free style artistic (and not only the French do it). You can find a lot of downloadable video clips with similar action in the i-net. 80.135.254.108 08:24, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Unusual will

Say I really wanted my body to be cooked and served to the guests at my funeral, provided I had not died of something that would make my body unfit for consumption. Would it be legally possible to do this in the US? What about other countries? Has anyone actually done this? —Keenan Pepper 23:11, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

It's illegal in some jurisdictions to eat human flesh, so your will couldn't be enforced if you were there. Otherwise, I don't know of anything that would stop it. I admit that I haven't taken trusts and estates yet, though, so don't make your will until you hear further. :) --George 00:42, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Rather than having laws which say how a body can't be disposed of, I believe there are quite specific laws of how it must be disposed of. Typically, the choices are:

1) Emballming and burial.

2) Cremation.

3) Donation of organs for medical use.

4) Donation to science for research and teaching.

Since cannabalism doesn't fit any of those categories, it would be illegal in most, perhaps all, states. StuRat 01:12, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

See also Armin Meiwes, the cannibal from Germany. Although in this case the person being eaten, although willing, was killed by Meiwes and didn't die of natural causes. Thryduulf 01:55, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't think you would find much people who would eat at that funeral, and you certainly cannot force them to do it, so I don't think there would be much point even if it's legal. – b_jonas 21:42, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

One thing I considered, which *IS* legal, and considerably less gross (though still a bit), would be to have myself cremated and my ashes stirred into Guinness to be served at my wake. I'm almost sure I'd have to have this done covertly (and probably, by consequence, illegally), as my friends are faithless, but if you are considering trying to get your friends to eat your cooked flesh, I'm sure drinking your ashes would be a welcome compromise to them. Bethefawn 1521; 8.1.06

Interesting that you should mention that. I attended a Requiem Mass today--Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica , not Roman Catholic--for the twin daughters of some very good friends. The girls were premature. One lived only 14 days, the other 44. The communion wafers, or Cakes of Light, contained a small amount of their ashes and the mother's breast milk. It was optional, they also second generation cakes made normally. I chose the active ones and it was a very powerful experience. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it meant a lot to me.--◀Puck▶ 02:01, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Kant vs. Rand

hi! :), if Kant was a rationalist, how come Ayn Rand was so against him? ( I read that Kant was a rationalist in the continental philosopy article, but probably he was an idealist).--Cosmic girl 23:45, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't know the specifics, not having read extensively in Ayn Rand's oeuvre, but she is quite famous for being extremely doctrinaire. Frequently, if you disagreed with her on any little point you were simply wrong and presumably disagreeing only because you were too obtuse or stupid to see why you were wrong. (Though, in fairness, she was not as bad as some of her followers became.) Immanuel Kant disagreed with her on a number of topics - not least ethics - and so presumably she didn't like him. --George 00:42, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I see... but aren't Kant's ethics too... subjective and mind puzzling? I can't understand them, besides, I don't want to sound like another Ayn, but I actually think that her ethics of self betterment, better all of humanity in the long run,I mean, selfishness may sound downright evil, but in the bigger picture it might be good for the progress of the collective, because it follows evolution's maxims. ps. you are cool George, haha.--Cosmic girl 03:56, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

You're very kind. :) Well, each person has to make up their own mind, obviously. If you're interested, it's fairly easy to find introductions to Kant for non-experts. (It's especially necessary because his books are notoriously difficult to read.) The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online has several articles on Kant, though they're a little bit technical. A Google search will turn up other websites, or you can just drop by your local bookstore.

It's much harder to find good books on Rand. She's not taken seriously by most professional philosophers, and most of her followers have been people, particularly young people, who have no training in philosophy. That said, you might find the Objectivist Center FAQ useful as an intro, and her most famous book on ethics is The Virtue of Selfishness. --George 20:31, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

thank you :), I knew that about Ayn, but I think they criticize her only on grounds that she didn't study philosophy and her philosophy was not complicated and that she wrote novels and not research papers...but I like her anyway.--Cosmic girl 21:31, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Well I think those prejudices are certainly part of the bias, but plenty of people have perfectly serious objections to her philosophy. This, for example, is a long critique of Rand's case for libertarianism by a philosophy professor in Florida. This and this are two more critiques of Objectivism by a philosophy professor in Colorado. While Rand may or may not be right in the end, she makes many errors of reasoning (and errors of fact about the history of philosophy) that someone trained in philosophy would not make. That's why professional philosophers have a bias against non-professionals: Philosophy is a subtle art, and it's easy to make mistakes that aren't obvious to the non-professional. --George 22:37, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

January 8

music/art

Hi! I am currently wokring on a project for school. I am looking for some Russian art pieces or musical instruments to display for the project. Can anyone direct me to where I may be able to find such items in Canada?

Can you be more specific than "Canada" ? If you live in Toronto, I doubt if you would be willing to go to Yellowknife to see Russian art. Also, if it's in a museum, I doubt if they will check it out to you for a school project. You might want to try to obtain prints of Russian paintings, though, those might be available for a modest investment. Or, if you are as cheap as me, just print some copies you find on the Internet on your own printer. Note that the Russians did colonize what is now the West Coast of Canada and the Northern US, so you might do best in British Columbia or possibly the Yukon Territory. StuRat 01:34, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Nine Nations of North America

With reference to Nine Nations of North America, what exactly are the features that differentiate these nine regions? Can one distinguish between people from these regions based on their accent or language or any such cultural traits? deeptrivia (talk) 01:58, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

You can distinguish between citizens of the United States based on accent, language, and cultural traits. Why would you think that there wouldn't be a difference when travelling from one country to the next? --Kainaw 02:33, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

No, these are "nations" roughly within the US. I want to know some particular examples of features that can be used to find, for example if a person is from Texas or California. deeptrivia (talk) 02:44, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Judging from a quick reading of the Nine Nations article and its links, I wouldn't say its focus is on the individual personal level. I read some of the Dixie excerpt from his book, since that's where I live, and he did say you could generally recognize whether you were there or in one of the bordering areas by how often the subject of change from the old traditions crops up in conversation, which is sort of similar to what you're asking, but for the most part it seems to be broad societal differences, like race relations, economic growth, that kind of thing. --70.243.46.200 06:20, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

It's possible, actually, that your question has nothing to do with the nine nations. If you're just asking how to tell what region people are from, there's loads of stuff on that, and I have no idea where to find most of it. Dialect has a link to List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language, which might be of some use. --70.243.46.200 06:27, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Dialect and speech patterns are all that trained people need to pinpoint a persons origin. Obvious examples are keywords: Y'all for the south, wicked for the northeast, wersh (instead of wash) in the midwest, eh (at the end of a question) along the Canadian border. The central midwest has much faster speach rhythms than the the southern midwest. The northeast is more staccato. I studied it a bit because I am from the midwest and I know that there are stereotypes based on language patterns. For example, to make sure an audience knows a person is stupid without getting into any character development, a director will give the person a southern accent. To make sure the audience knows they are rude and obnoxious, the get either a New York or Boston accent. So, I studied enough to try and break my old habits. --Kainaw 22:10, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Speaking specifically to the Nine nations thing, that is just one man's way of dividing up the pie. It has some valid generalizations, but in other ways it is terribly off. For ex Los Angeles is included in Mexamerica. While there are some connections and influences, suburban LA such as Orange county is about as far in many ways from Mexico as you can get. But if you're looking for a way to tell where someone is from, I would agree dialect (accent) is the most reliable. It only takes a couple seconds to tell between some of the strongest accents such as Boston, New York City, Southern, Yooper, Canadian, etc. Some can still fool you of course depending on your familiarity with an area. But accent wasn't the prime criteria that author used to delineate his areas. In some cases he prioritized economic similarities over accent ones. - Taxman 14:44, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Greek Mythology

Who are the three Greek Goddesses that took a vow of chastity?

Is this a homework question? If so, you may find some information at Greek mythology and the associated articles linked from that one. Dismas| 05:09, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Italy

Is Italy important in world affairs? How and how not? Is Italy declining, improving, or maintaining conditions in technology, economy, human rights, environment or infrastructure? What rights do teenagers have in Italy?

First thing that comes to mind... The Vatican is in Italy. I know, Vatican City is it's own country, but it is competely within Italy. The next thing that comes to mind is commerce. When I was in Bermuda looking for something to buy for my wife the week before she was going to spend a few months in Italy, everything I found (besides rum) said "made in Italy". --Kainaw 02:31, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Is this homework by any chance? - Akamad 03:06, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Read Italy and economy of Italy for a start. As to the rights of teenagers, what do you mean? There's broad legal provisions, and then there's culture. Broad legal provisions tend to be a national issue, culture can vary greatly within a country. I'd imagine teenagers brought up in the trendier suburbs of Rome or Milan are allowed considerably more latitude than those brought up in rural villages in the more backward parts of southern Italy. --Robert Merkel 10:07, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Hello, I need to find information on the communist uniforms of china.

I think you may be thinking of the Mao suit. WAvegetarian (email) 10:01, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Yea, that's the one that made them all look like janitors. StuRat 10:16, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

freedm

What does freedom mean to me?

...who are you? —Keenan Pepper 03:37, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

• If your teacher asked you to respond to the question, "What does freedom mean to me?", it means you have to answer the question for yourself. Halcatalyst 23:03, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

It means you are perfectly free to do your own homework. StuRat 04:14, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I can absolutely guarantee that no one else but you can say what freedom means to you. - Akamad 09:54, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

your freedom should mean to you what my freedom means to me,and yeah, it's good for you to do your own homework, you'll gain freedom by doing that. ;) --Cosmic girl 14:29, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

To me, freedom means the right not to answer this question. smurrayinchester 20:35, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," according to Kris Kristofferson. Geogre 00:37, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• As memorably sung by Janis Joplin. Halcatalyst 01:48, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It also means that you are free to tell your teacher that he/she needs some more original essay prompts. --Tothebarricades 01:54, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I suspect telling the teacher that will lead to the realization that school is a not democracy, and your teacher is a dictator. StuRat 08:07, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• Freedom is either wasted on, or dangerous in the hands of, all but the most intelligent people and I recommend you become institutionalised as rapidly as possible, like me. --bodnotbod 00:56, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

• While there you can ponder One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- both book and film are terrific. Halcatalyst 05:37, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Film credits on posters

These days, a poster for a movie will usually have a section at the bottom with a lot of credits, written in an elongated font that is very difficult to read. This seems almost pointless to me. What is this block of text called, and why is it there? Is it just to pay lip service to some legal obligation to have certain people credited? But it couldn't possibly contain the full list of credits, so who's in and who's out? What's this really all about? JackofOz 08:34, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I happen to know someone in the business of making movies. He's one of the guys whose name about which you wonder "What is this guy's name doing in the credits?" I asked him a very similar question once. I asked him why people like the costume designer or the assistant to Mr. Eastwood or the key grip were in the credits when the general public doesn't care about those people's names. The answer that he gave me was that along with the money for working on a film there are a number of other things that studios and the people in these jobs can barter with. Someone may even take a little less money to get their name in the credits or whatever. It's basically just a little perk that they can write into the agreement when they agree to work on a picture. Now my question to him was specifically about the credits at the beginning/end of the films. I didn't ask specifically about the movie posters but I thought this might shed some light on the subject. Dismas| 08:51, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I think there might be union contracts which require listing the unions which worked on the film. They usually only listed the main people otherwise. At the end of the actual movie, however, they seem to list entirely too many people, down to caterers, for example. TV stations get so sick of showing all that crap that they either cut the credits short or squish them to one side of the screen so you can't read them. Unfortunately, they do this so soon that you frequently can't see the names of the stars. These days you can go to the internet to look them up, provided you know the name of the movie. StuRat 08:55, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

My point was not to take issue with those being involved getting credit. I always sit thru the entire credits at the end of a movie at the cinema because (a) I really like the idea of people being acknowledged for whatever contribution they may have made and (b) the music is still going and the movie ain't over till it's over. (I agree that this is usually denied to us on TV). I was mainly intrigued about the choice of font for this material at the bottom of the film poster. It's always the same thin, tall, unreadable typeface, no matter which film company made the movie. Why? Is it to squash in as much information as possible in the space available? Is it some psychological/marketing thing about a quality movie having a certain look and feel? If it's effectively unreadable, that means it is not intended that people actually read it. There has to be some other significant agenda/purpose. JackofOz 10:01, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, they occasional throw in some bonus material after the credits. I don't know the answer to the weird font question, but also notice how they tended to use roman numerals for dates, which can be quite difficult to read when they go flying by. This seems to be changing though, as more recent films tend to use standard arabic numerals for the year. StuRat 10:14, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I read somewhere that various people insist for various reasons that their name in the credits be of certain size, but that "size" is interpreted as "height". So the obvious way to pack more names in to the billing box, while keeping them of the contractually-obligated "size", is to make them tall and thin. You can read much more about this topic in a column by the inimitable Cecil Adams. Steve Summit (talk) 10:41, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

So, "billing box", that's what it's called. That answers one of my questions. Thank you very much. Steve. JackofOz 11:35, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

What does E B stand for in E B White's name?

There's a search box at the top left of the page. Typing E.B. White and clicking on go brings us to E.B. White, where you will find the answer to your question. Natgoo 15:39, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Education 1934

What percent of U.S. high school graduates went on to post secondary education (college, trade school, nurses training) in 1934?

• Here's a good place to start looking if you're really interested. Halcatalyst 22:38, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

For theologians

Don't Agustine of hippo and the creator of the opus dei, Jose Maria something, extremly contradict each other? the first one says that we should basicly turn our backs on the world because every human effort is worthless and God is the only way out and that the world traps the soul and stuff like that, while the other one says that materialism is not bad and that the material world is to be cherrished and based on his theology came all those christian rock and rap bands... now I find a huge contradiction here... how can a religion have such a self contradicting theology? where is catholiscism heading? what's this pope going to do? I also read that benedict didn't accuse pedophile priests and what's more, he excused them somewhat...is this true? and also, a religion that is changing its views constantly... what authority does it have to say that it posseses the truth? I find this extremly silly, being from a really catholic environment myself. and also, how can the vatican have an astronomy observatory, what is it looking for if they are supposed to know it all?--Cosmic girl 20:16, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Even the Bible contradicts itself. For example, do you "turn the other cheek" when harmed, or do you demand "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" ? You can't do both. StuRat 20:11, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

If you actually had some knowledge of the Bible, you'd know the answer to this "contradiction". "Turn the other cheek" is the New Testament answer to the Old Testament "eye for an eye" approach. In legal terms, it overturns the previous precedent, if you buy into the whole Jesus thing (I personally do not). But don't take it from me:

You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:38-39)

There are many better points to criticize the Bible on, but it helps to know what you are talking about before you do it. The Bible is two books, and finding something in the latter one which explicitly overturns something in the previous one does not make it a "contradiction". Which is not to say that the Bible is free from self-contradiction in a true sense (mostly on non theologically interesting issues), but this is about the worst example of that you could find. --Fastfission 21:05, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

The contradiction is that it makes no sense that God would so competely change his rules for us when Jesus was born. What, did God change his mind ? "Forget all that stuff I said before, I don't know what I was thinking back then." I guess God must be a woman after all, LOL. StuRat 21:31, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

But Jesus did not overturn the law. He said so in Matthew 5:18 and Luke 16:17. --BluePlatypus 00:04, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

There are biblical scholars who take "an eye for an eye" mean "if you must exact retribution, it must be of a proportionate degree"; that is that it sets a maxiumum (not minimum) tariff. They contend it was meant to contradict the prevailing habit of manyfold-retaliation (where if I stole your goat, you'd burn my house down). With the "eye for an eye" method you'd only get to steal one of my goats, or a smallish cow at most. I'm inclined to beleive this rather more enlightened interpretation, not least because it sounds a lot more like a sage rabinnical saying this way. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:07, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I would think that if it meant that, it would say that. If judges of the time had awarded less than equal compensation for any injury, this would cause the injured party to seek revenge outside the law, which would be a big problem for society. StuRat 22:39, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

There were no judges at the time. It was just Hammurabi. Babylon was very tribal. The example above doesn't begin to address the attitudes of the time. It was "you steal my goat, I burn your village, kill all your men, take all your women in as slaves, salt all your lands so no crops may ever grow there again." Hammurabi realized that this was self-destructive. Also, with people getting killed and crops being burned, he got a lot less in taxes. So, he set forth a code demanding and eye for an eye/a tooth for a tooth. To this day, people use those words to justify a village for an eye/a town for a tooth. --Kainaw 19:48, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I guess acording to religion only God (whatever that may be because even they don't seem to agreee themselves about what God is) only God can demand an eye 4 an eye, but we are supposed to turn the other cheek, and of course! never ever think for ourselves,and turn our backs on science and let the human race practically die out because it's heretical to fight for ourselves since that would mean we have faith in ourselves and in science and not in God the ghost. --Cosmic girl 20:19, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Please! Remember that it is said about Jesus that he came to complete the old law (meaning the books of the Bible before his gospel). Only there can you find retaliation, and Jesus himself said 'give another cheek'.

This is one message that you must keep from him. I mean, do not follow a religion, try to improve it.

--Harvestman 21:03, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Religion doesn't want to be improved though, it wants to be followed, so to not follow religion and try to improve it, you are automatically un religious, but I didn't mean silly biblical contradictions, I meant theological relevant contradictions for example concerning the nature of God, how can there be contradictions there? there shouldn't be no religion at all in the world, and only philosophy in its place because it's so stupid to say you know it all and comand everyone to believe what you say and burn people at the stake ( people that made huge contributions to mankind) and then just be like I changed my mind, tehehe...c'mon!.--Cosmic girl 21:44, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Not actually correct, of course. Firstly God does things in time, so he may choose to reveal bits of himself at different times. So mankind may know more about God at a later stage; hence religion would change and be improved. Secondly we are not perfect in interpreting anything God may communicate to us. As we understand God better religion is constantly changing. A simple look at the history of any religion will reveal that it does change, frequently changes from within, and in many cases is actively seeking to change. DJ Clayworth 15:45, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

most recorded music albums

I would like to know who has the most recorded albums in the history of rock and roll music?

                          thank you

                             Miliie Durden

Do you mean the artist with the most albums in that periiod ? StuRat 20:06, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

yes, i would like to know which artist, band, who has the most recorded albums of all time.

thank you millie

My first guess would be Slim Dusty, who was recording his 106th album when he died. Here is a link to his discography. Taiq 02:34, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• 106? Blimey. The Fall (band) are often spoken of as unusually prolific here in England but it seems they've "only" had 25 studio albums out (one per year since their inception in 1979), albeit considerably more when you take into account live and compilation releases according to The Fall discography. --bodnotbod 01:02, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

It isn't rock, but certainly pop.. what about Lata Mangeshkar? She has the world record as a performer I believe, with over 30,000 songs recorded, mostly Bollywood soundtracks. Of course, she didn't write them. --BluePlatypus 01:54, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

History

Analyes the impact of labor unions and immigration on the American worker between 1865 and 1900.

Please, do your own homework! Don't type a question verbatim from your assignment and expect people to answer it for you. I'll even give you a link to get you started: Labor unions in the United States. --Canley 22:42, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

And another: Immigration to the United States. JamesMLane 01:19, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

C. S. Lewis.

I believe that C. S. Lewis lived a part of his early life in Cork, Ireland. I would like to know if this can be verified.

Many thanks,

Peter Byrne.

I checked the C. S. Lewis article and it didn't mention it; a quick Google search seems to confirm that Lewis' mother was born outside Cork in Queenstown (in Cork county), and that his father was born in Cork, but it doesn't appear that he ever lived there. СПУТНИК 21:25, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

• Lewis' autobiography Surprised by Joy: The Shape of my Early Life will give you the answer to that question. Halcatalyst 22:57, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

homosexuality

What is the historical background on homosexuals?

See Homosexuality and History of sexuality. СПУТНИК 20:50, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages's resources are a little sketchy, in my opinion. If you're really interested, drop by your local library and read Homosexuality and Civilization by Louis Crompton (ISBN 067401197X). It is by far the best introduction to homosexuals in history that I've read. --George 22:45, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Celts

Who are the Celts? Are, they Vikings? I just know that they have something to do with Northern Europe.

See Celt. —Keenan Pepper 23:14, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

John Stockwell

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME MORE INFORMATION ON A JOHN STOCKWELL, PRIVATEER AND BUCCANEER WHO WAS COMMISSIONED BY WILLIAM III (WILLIAM OF ORANGE) TO TRACK DOWN AND CAPTURE CERTAIN PIRATES. HE FOUND PIRACY MORE PROFITABLE AND WISELY INVESTED HIS FORTUNE IN PROPERTY IN SOUTH LONDON INCLUDING PURLEY, STREATHAM, THE ANGEL ESTATE, AND OF COURSE STOCKWELL ITSELF.

THANK YOU, REGARDS DON LENNARDS--212.32.74.139 23:35, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

• FYI, a Google seach on

john stockwell pirate "WILLIAM OF ORANGE" "south london"

• turned up 8 results, none useful. Halcatalyst 01:46, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

From what I can gather, Stockwell has been known as such since the creation of Stockwell Manor near the village of Stokewell in the 1200s - the only info I can find about later years relates to Stockwell being the centre of tea smuggling . The Stockwell Partnership (history org) and Lambeth Landmark (archives) may be able to help you find more specific information. Natgoo 10:16, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

January 9

Mughal empire in 1780

If what is shown in yellow in this map is the Maratha empire, where's the Mughal empire? deeptrivia (talk) 02:22, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I believe that the Maratha empire and the Mughal empire existed in much the same place simultaneously. For much of its later existance, the Mughal rulers were just "overlords", with other rulers beneath them, and I think the Maratha empire was one of the places supposedly subject to Mughal rule. The warfare between the Marathas and the Mughals was, I think, basically a fight over this overlordship — I'm not sure whether the Marathas rejected all notion of Mughal overlordship, or whether they merely wanted the Mughals confined to a figurehead role, but I'm fairly certain that by this point, the Mughal Empire only really existed in theory, not as a "real" empire. It claimed supremacy over a large area, but in practice, the local rulers generally went their own way, and sometimes even fought the Mughals. (But as I say, I'm not an expert by any means — I could be completely wrong). -- Vardion 03:08, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! I think that makes sense. deeptrivia (talk) 04:26, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Philosophical/religious paradox

Is there a name for the idea that an omnipotent God would never have any needs and so therefore would never feel the desire to create something such as a universe? Glennh70 05:43, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• Omnipotence paradox is today's featured article --Tachs 07:27, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• Would this fall under that same heading? Glennh70 07:35, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• No, that sounds diferent to me, although related. As I uderstand it, the purpose for God creating the universe is to test the people He created, to determine which ones are good enough and which ones are "morally defective". The question then comes up as to why God can't just create all morally perfect people and skip this test entirely. StuRat 07:56, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

From what I know of my Jewish religion, God created people not out of "desire" but because it was metaphysically "good."--Urthogie 11:14, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It's not a paradox, actually. Plato, in Timaeus, suggested that a perfect creator would be perfect, unmoving and unmoved, because perfection can lack nothing and therefore be without motive or motion. He therefore had to resort to a demiurge to account for creation: the slightly imperfect near-perfect-thing did all the creating. This has implications for Christian heresies, as a number of Gnostic sects would essentially follow this scheme, and several dualist heresies would resort to the demiurge creating the world and God creating only the spirit -- this could take the form of the world being created by Satan and therefore all flesh as evil. However, traditional Jewish and Christian theology has been totally untroubled by this "paradox," because their idea of perfection is dynamic. I.e. God is alive. As a living being, God moves, thinks, etc., and love is the nature of perfection. Love necessitates creation. In other words, they'd say that Plato's idea of perfection was mathematical and absurd, that he defined his terms illogically and immorally. Geogre 11:38, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• Yes, love is the key. In one interpretation of the Trinity I've heard, the love between Father and Son (the Holy Spirit) is so immense that it overflows the Godhead, both causing the universe to come into existence and sustaining that existence. Halcatalyst 15:47, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

How is this a paradox or conflict or anything like that? The creator is omnipotent. For example, if you create a web page, you know everything in the web page. If you create a painting, you know everything in the painting. If you create a universe, you know everything in the universe. --Kainaw 19:53, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

That's why it's a paradox. It undercuts the rationale that StuRat mentioned, about God creating people so he could test them to determine whether they were good. An omniscient being would know the answer without running the test. That's in addition to StuRat's point that he (God, not StuRat) could have just made them all good to begin with. JamesMLane 01:24, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Again, I'd say it's no paradox. It's a question of what you define as "perfect." Plato would have it be impossible, but Plato's perfection is static and dead. In Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought, a thing is not perfect by being unmoving, but by being essentially one with God. Further, an all-wise creator could and would create humans who have the power to create, even to create evil by choosing not-God. This doesn't solve the problem of predestination and omniscience, but that's a separate issue and one that gets to the heart of theodicy. Would an all-knowing God know the outcome of all future choices and therefore be culpable in the evil created by unGodly choice/rebellion? Well, for some people that's a real snag. For others, it's not. (It's a lot easier, if you're existentialist, as there simply is no future. Futures cannot be known because they do not exist, and each choice is free.) However, the foreknowledge problem isn't really a perfection paradox. Geogre 03:31, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

1853

I was wondering if anyone knows what was the biggest type of christianity in 1853 i.e protestent, Baptist

Without doing any research, I'd say that in England it was Church of England, and worldwide it was Catholic. This is a guess, not research. Notinasnaid 09:07, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Not so sure about that...someone should double check.--Urthogie 11:14, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It would sort of have to be Roman Catholocism in the West. This is because "Protestant" breaks down into Lutheran, Church of England, Church of Sweden, Church of Scotland, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, etc. If all these new churches were added together, they probably would have massed to near the numbers of Roman Catholicism. Another factor is the Russian Orthodox Church, which, in 1853, had the population of Russia and most of the Romanov Empire. Greek and Syrian Orthodox Churches had very large numbers, of course, but, with Old and New World added together, it would be logical that Roman Catholicism was the most numerous church in 1853. Again, this is just a logic game. I don't know the actual numbers. Geogre 11:43, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It seems like a lot of it is based on where you draw the lines.--Urthogie 11:50, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course it is. The question is to vauge to be answered, and it's also posed in a confusing way: "i.e. protestent, baptist".. since baptists are a protestant denomination it's a weird distinction to make. --BluePlatypus 21:33, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

That said, it really does have to be the Roman Catholic church. It has been the largest ever since the Great Schism, and it is truely one church, one heirarchy and one faith. It'd be pointless to lump all protestant denominations together: The theological differences between protestant denominations can be larger than the differences between certain protestant denominations and the Catholic church. Also, see Christianity. There are 1 billion Catholics, half a billion protestants, and a quarter-billion orthodox christians. In the last 150 years there really hasn't been any major religious upheavals. Most of the places that are catholic-majority now were then too, and most places that had a protestant majority then have it now as well. The only major change I can think of is the 'atheisation' of the Soviet Union, but even that would't be enough to bring the Orthodox into the largest. The only other significant factor that could change the Catholic domination would be the fact that the Catholic nations have had on average a higher birth-rate. But I doubt that has been a significant enough effect to give you a protestant majority in the mid-19th century. --BluePlatypus 21:49, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

nineteen sixties pop music

What was the song, written or performed, by a popular group in the nineteen sixties. that had meaningless lyrics that were (supposedly) written as a result of a bet.

Could be "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" (1969) by Pink Floyd? --Canley 12:25, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the only bet involved in that song was who could do the most acid and retain their sanity. I think Sid Barrett lost that bet.--◀Puck▶ 12:32, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It's "Syd" Barrett, not Sid. And that song was released after he had already left the band. Dismas| 22:13, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Jimmy Webb said in an interview that I read a very long time ago that he wrote MacArthur Park on a bet. It was a very popular song - the most popular being by Donna Summer, though I am partial to the version by Richard Harris. --Kainaw 22:32, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I heard, but can't verify, that Manfred Mann had a bet about performing songs with meaningless titles (but not lyrics), resulting in Do Wah Diddy Diddy and 5-4-3-2-1. DJ Clayworth 15:38, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Tallest population

Which nation has the tallest population ?

See Average human height around the world. According to that, it's the Netherlands; that is, if you're referring to average height. СПУТНИК 13:22, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• Really, I was assuming it was Danish people. - Mgm| 09:04, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

strange collar

What is the name of the collar worn here by Michel de Montaigne? Do we have an article about them, or does anybody know why they were worn, when they were in fashion and when they fell out of fashion, and if they were comfortable? I just curious about them, but I couldn't think what to look up. Perhaps we have an article on Rennessance fashion? Smmurphy 14:10, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Maybe Ruff (clothing). Notinasnaid 14:26, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Ahh, so are the a collar at all? Also, does anyone happen to know the french term for these? Thanks. Smmurphy 23:21, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

OK for ruff. In french : fraise, or collerette. Very uncomfortable with the starch, but the ruchés give such a distinctive look ...--Harvestman 21:35, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

History of relationships between husbands and wifes in Saudi Arabia

I am trying to research the history of relationships between men and women in Saudi Arabia. I was told that men basicaly rule over woman as the head of the household. I was also told that if a woman cheated on a man, that the woman could be put to death. In the USA we handle marital disputes within the Family and Probate Courts.

My question would be, How or where could I find more information regarding the manner in which marital disputes are resolved in Saudi Arabia?

Thank you in advance for helping me with this topic. Brian Meuse

For a start you should see, Human rights in Saudi Arabia. Dismas| 22:18, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Note that the plural of wife is wives, not wifes. StuRat 02:42, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Music

What was the first world wide rock & roll hit song? I would like song and artist if possible. This is just a question I had so any help would be greatfull Jeff

IMO there haven't been any yet. There are still a number of places in the world that do not appreciate, or haven't had exposure to, rock & roll. You're question is going to be hard to answer until you more clearly define "world wide." Would being a hit in most English speaking nations count, Western nations, nations involved in World War II? Seriously though, if you narrow down that definiton it will be easier to get you an answer. WAvegetarian (email) 17:33, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

If by 'world wide' you meant the important parts of the world, i.e. the U.S, Europe, Australia and so on (ie, the 'Western' world), then maybe something like Great Balls of Fire or Rock Around the Clock. India, Africa, Asia and so on generally have shitty (and often government-imposed) tastes in music, and thus do not count. Japan is not so bad, but when those songs came out in the 1950s they hadn't caught up with the West (and then subsequently overtaken the West in everything except music taste and penis size). Proto t c 15:27, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Adolf Schmitz

Lately I've been looking for information about an artist called Adolf Schmitz, and my grandparents have an original painting by him. So I was trying to find out who he was and find out how much the painting might be worth. What I know about him is that he wasn't well-known from what I've found. I would like to know if his paintings might be rare. Can someone help me?

Well if he wasn't well known then it doesn't seem unlikely his paintings would be rare. But rare doesn't necessarily mean valuable, unless there happens to be a group of Adolf Schmitz collectors out there prepared to pay for it. In general, for lesser-known artists (who aren't likely to be collected) the price will depend almost completely on the qualities of the painting itself. Either you can go out yourself and make an estimate from what paintings of similar age, size, style and quality sell for. Or you can have it appraised by an expert, which is what I would recommend. Check with local auction houses and art dealers. --BluePlatypus 00:37, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Surf Music

I was wondering where surf music orginated from. Are Link Wray, The Ventures, and Dick Dale the founding fathers of insturmental surf music?

Sorry if this gets put in twice but I'm not sure if my question went in the first time.

See surf music. --Kainaw 20:01, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Dick Dale is the most universally credited originator of Surf Music. Dale used the double picking that he had learned as a child for mandolin on his electric guitar, and he chose the Fender Deluxe reverb because it sounded "wet" to him. That said, Dale played a circuit around the surfing communities, so that implies that there were other people already doing something akin to what he was doing and that they all worked out their sound together. However, Dick Dale got recorded, and the other fellows, whoever they were, didn't really get the records. After Dick Dale, the "fun and sun" lyrical content owes most of its origin to Jan and Dean. The wildcard in all of this is The Ventures, who were not a California band. They were a guitar group that had been doing popular song who then, apparently, changed their sound in response to Dick Dale and pushed things along considerably. The Ventures go back as far as anyone, just about, and, while others came and went, they kept producing reverb-drenched Stratocaster-based guitar music. Geogre 20:04, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Nettekoven's in history

I have a history textbook that has multiple references to people with the surname "Nettekoven". I'm wondering what the importance of these people are in the textbook. The textbook is about the history of Europe. These references only tell the last name of those who are referenced. Can someone help me find out the importance of this surname in history, and possibly how they are all related?

My last name is Nettekoven, but I don't know how my ancestry could actually get a footnote in a history text book...

What makes you think there's any connection at all? I mean, I can find any number of historical people named "Johnson", but it doesn't mean they're all related. --BluePlatypus 18:58, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Battle of Trenton

How did the Battle of Trenton in 1776 begin??? What caused it. I need this info for a history project!

As the top of the page states you must do your own homework. You should read the article Battle of Trenton. --WAvegetarian (email) 19:05, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Chrysler Building

How many people work at the Chrysler Building on a weekday?

--163.153.132.5 19:09, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Mmm. No responses yet so I'll do a highly approximate estimate (keep in mind that a better figure might be available from a google search, which I haven't done). All the info I have used is from Misplaced Pages articles. Take the World Trade Center. Building 1 had a floor area of 400,000m² and 25,000 people working there on a weekday. The Chrysler Building has a floor area of 111,201 m². Assume that both World Trade Center Building 1 and the Chrysler Building use floor space in the same way. The Chrysler Building has 30% of the floor space. 30% of 25,000 people is 8000. Maybe 8000 is a general ballpark figure. But that's a very rough estimate!--Commander Keane 11:04, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

You could use that as a "maximum" value, I suppose, since the more modern design of the WTC allowed more efficient use of floor space. --BluePlatypus 18:47, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Usage of Bromine In Swimming Pools, and Spas

I wrote an essay on the usage of bromine in swimming pools, and spas. I hvae indentified all the benefits and limitations, I have also explained the process of adding bromien to the pools and what happens one it's inside the water. But now I find myself looking for links between bromine and one of the following factors: economics, ethics, political, environmental, etc. and I can't! Please help it would mean a lot!

Thank you for your time!

Ludovica

• The article Bromine has a short discussion of economic uses under "Appications." You might also try Googling bromine applications. Halcatalyst 20:41, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

U.S. Commonwealth

I know there are four Commonwealths (VA, MA, PA and KY) On the Virginia Department of State Website they declare they are not a state only a Commonwealth. Does the Federal Government recoginze these four as states or Commonwealths?

MAV

From a legal standpoint and federal perspective, they are states, and the U.S. Constitution refers to them (and they assume implicit identification) as such. As far as I know, "commonwealth" is not an accepted term in this regard; see Political divisions of the United States. — Lomn | Talk / RfC 21:22, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• "Commonwealth" dictionary.com is the word officially used by the states, but that in no way is binding on the federal government. Halcatalyst 21:30, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

See Commonwealth and State naming debate. -- Mwalcoff 23:46, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

what is the best rave song ever

That is a subjective question. Please listen and decide for yourself.--Urthogie 21:09, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

• Don't listen to him. It was We Call It Acieed by D Mob. --bodnotbod 01:09, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Crusades

how were the british involved in the crusades?

See Crusades and do a page search on England. Halcatalyst 22:30, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

You should also do a page search on Scotland, Wales and Ireland; all of which are or have been, with England, part of Britain. AllanHainey 13:45, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

"Complaint Dept" vs "Customer Service"

The diff is much like that between the old US War Department and the newer US Department of Defense. By pretending that customers don't have complaints and countries don't make war, they make it sound like we live in a fairy land filled with care bears who give strangers flowers all the time. StuRat 04:27, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

• It's part of a trend of business euphemisms. Complaint Dept -> customer service -> customer support -> customer care. Employees -> team members. Customers -> guests (at a department store?) Halcatalyst 14:51, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Another Question ???

Which buildings,monuments, structures, and types of homes symbolize this culture?

Danish laws

Are the laws in Denmark the same as they are in the U.S.? Like what are some sites that I could find the taboos of the Danish culture?

You might try directly asking user talk:fyslee, who can tell you first-hand. alteripse 23:57, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Fyslee here. It took some hunting to find this reference to me. I got a comment elsewhere that must refer to this spot. Now what specific questions do you (whoever you are, please sign your comments!) have for me? -- Fyslee 05:19, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

What do you mean by 'the same'? They're not exactly the same as in the US, but US laws vary a bit from state to state as well. But the US and Danish laws are more or less the same contrasted to say, the laws of Saudi Arabia. There aren't any differences which would be significant for your average visitor. Remember to keep your headlights on while driving even in the daytime, and turning right on a red light is not generally legal. (but that varies within the US as well). Don't try and bring your handgun with you. The Danes don't really have any taboos the Americans don't have. In certain areas they have less taboos (e.g. more tolerant of nudity, pornography.. but that's also something which varies widely in the US). Oh, and Danes like most Europeans, hold their knives in their left hands while eating. (See: Zigzag method). All in all, there really isn't anything an American could do at home but which would be considered offensive in Denmark. For good or evil, Americans aren't really expected to know local custom in Europe (See: Ugly American). So at worst you'd just be confirming the stereotype. So if you're going there, be polite, humble, pick up some Danish phrases and help destroy that stereotype. Asking questions is a good way to start. :) --BluePlatypus 00:11, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I think you mean the other way around: Europeans (including Danes) hold their knife in their right hand when eating. -- Fyslee 05:19, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh and another thing, if you want to act like a True Scandinavian, you should avoid taking the last of anything offered to eat or drink. (like the last cookie from a tray) And if you do, make sure to ask the others first. Emptying your plate at a meal is fine though. (as opposed to some cultures where that indicates you want more food). Not emptying your plate isn't any more offensive than in the US either. --BluePlatypus 00:20, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

India's culture

Which buildings, monuments, structures,and types of homes sumbolize India's culture?

How do people communicate with each other? How is information spread in India?

What images (religious or secular) cause an immediate response in every person of India?

How does the average person get around in India?

What people, places and things spark feelings of loyalty ant patriotism in India?

Have you considered doing your own homework, starting with reading our India and Culture of India article? And here's a big hint: Sachin Tendulkar. --Robert Merkel 01:01, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, do your homework. Hints in random order: Vande Mataram, Mass media in India, Indian architecture, Arts and entertainment in India, Transport in India, Rail transport in India, Flag of India, Ashoka Chakra.

Civil Court

What are the advantages and disadvantages of accepting an offer in a dispute rather than referring to court. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.45.133.74 (talk • contribs)

• I'm not a lawyer and I suspect there will be some knowledgeable people along to help you out, and I suggest you wait for them. However, I can;t resist the temptation to try an answer and see if I can be in any way right:
  • I suspect the advantages in taking a settlement are:
    • Opportunity to avoid legal costs.
    • Avoid stress.
    • Avoid necessity to take time off work (or whatever) to go through the proceedings.
    • If the court does not find in your favour you would have done better to have accepted a settlement.
  • Disadvantages
    • Perhaps you would have done better if you'd gone through the court (eg, got a higher settlement).
      • How did I do?--bodnotbod 01:14, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

You did very well at hitting the most common reasons, although your fourth one should've been listed first. The importance of guaranteeing against the worst outcomes is seen from the existence of a limited settlement called a "High-Low". The parties might agree before trial that the defendant will pay the plaintiff at least $200,000 and at most $800,000. A verdict somewhere in that range will stand. If there's a verdict for defendant, or for plaintiff but in a small amount, the defendant must still pay $200,000. If there's a big verdict for plaintiff, the defendant has to pay only $800,000. The parties still have the expense of trial but reduce their exposure to variance.

Other (less common) reasons for settling would include: going ahead with the trial might entail divulging some information you'd rather keep confidential, or giving greater publicity to an embarrassing matter; pressing this case might set an unfavorable precedent that could work against you in other matters, so you settle this one on unfavorable terms while waiting for a better test case to come along. JamesMLane 01:36, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Well now I feel smug ;o) That matter of "precedent" you outline at the end; I understand what you're saying, but can you think of an illustrative example of it? Just out of idle interest. --bodnotbod 23:29, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

January 10

Chinua Achebe

What kind of writer was Chinua Achebe?

A. post-colonial B. African C. fiction D. often found on college reading lists

If you want his shoe size, favor dessert, mother's maiden name, or favorite football team, you will have to do your own research. Dalembert 01:55, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

The Safest Big Cities to Live In

When it comes to big cities,we all automatically think of high crime.Well,doing some research on New York City,they say New York City is one of the safest big cities of the world.Los Angeles is big and well known also,but we all know that LA is home to many gangs of the U.S.So my question to you is "What are the best safest and biggest cities to live in the United States?And why?

What are the best safest assumptions and biggest giveaways about homework questions?And why? WAvegetarian (email) 02:39, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

The safest U.S. cities are ranked yearly by different publications. CNN.com usually has an article about the rankings every year. So searching CNN.com and searching the rest of the net with Google should give you a pretty good amount of material to go through. Just search for something like "safest cities in the U.S." or whatever. Dismas| 03:51, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

You may get bonus points for noting how the "safe" is qualified. For example, does it include accidental death? Disease? Does it go with raw numbers, or does it calculate per capita? If per capita, what is the bottom limit on "large city?" Does it apply only to the United States, or is it global? Does it include wounding, or just death? Is it meaningless as a ranking, or is it totally meaningless as a ranking? Geogre 21:39, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Don't reply purely on statistics ... you need to understand how come so many people dying of cancer in a city that has the best cancer hospitals in a region ... look at their life expectancy and whether they came from some other city to be at those hospitals, or if you discount the impact on death rate because people coming to a city with lots of hospitals and consider the pollution situation. We can have several cities with same amount of pollultion, but depending on the surrounding terrain, it can get more concentrated in some valleys.

There's safety from crime where they steal your car or break into your home. Some cities have lots of that, while others have almost none. Then there is who is targeted. If you drive your personal car into Canada from USA, it is almost certainly going to be stolen and the police do nothing, but if you rent a car in Canada with Canadian license plates, it almost not get stolen. This is because the car thieves know they not gonna get away with stealing a Canadian car. If you drive a car into Detroit that was not made by the big 3 auto manufacturers, good chance you will get mugged, because a lot of unemployed people there attribute sales of foreign cars to cost their jobs. So many places are safe for some people and not for others, based on sociological patterns of their behavior. User:AlMac| 13:13, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

still taboos

Thank you, so what are some American taboos that the Danish might have in common, and how do you use that User talk:Fyslee thing.I think that's what it was called. Sorry if I called it the wrong name, I would have to close out of this question to see if I spelled it right. Thanks for your time! You guys are great!

All you had to do was click on the link supplied to you and you could leave a message on his user page. Dalembert 01:57, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Use your head. What things do you find rude, vulgar or ugly? What do you do you consider bad behaviour? Now, subtract those things which all humans find rude/vulgar/ugly/bad and you'll have your cultural taboos. You probably wouldn't go to have dinner with your neighbor without a shirt on. A tribesman in the jungle of New Guinea probably wouldn't have the same inhibition. See also Culture of Denmark. --BluePlatypus 02:19, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

You wouldn't have had to close the question window if you had Mozilla FireFox! :) --Ali K 08:15, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I use IE with several Windoz open at same time when I visit Misplaced Pages. User:AlMac|

It seems to me that there are a few humongous differences between Danish and US culture and society, as represented in the US news media.

1. The Danish criminal justice system consists of locking up Suspects and interrogating them 24x7 until some limit is reached that a Judge imposes, like 30 days. The US criminal investigation system consists of collecting evidence at a crime scene, placing it in little baggies labeled as to where it was found, then looking at it all through microscopes and other very expensive scientific instruments then testifying as to what the technicians thought they saw to some humongous number of decimal places of accuracy.
2. The USA is largely governed by some prudish attitudes dating back to the Puritan colonists who came from Denmark for reasons lost in antiquity, while the stay at home Danes culture evolved in a different direction. In the USA, while rules vary from state to state, it is generally a no no for people to go unclothed, view other unclothed persons, engage in sex with persons of same gender, wildly differing ages, such as children, or view pictures of this. While in Scandinavia this is perfectly acceptable behaviro.
3. The USA has a wild west history involving heavy use of violence to solve problems that could have been solved diplomatically, such as honoring treaties with native indians. One of the top rights in the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution, is the right of the citizentry to bear arms, although there is some controversy over what kinds of arms, such as WW II surplus, explosives, and so forth. Denmark, and lots of Europe, find an armed populace to be anathema, and in fact this is probably wy the movie ET was banned in parts of Europe. User:AlMac| 23:06, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Um... I don't think it's acceptable to sleep with children or view child pornography in Scandinavia. The minimum legal ages may be off a year or two, but I'm sure you can't legally have sex with a 7-year-old in Denmark. I also have trouble believing ET was banned in any European countries (except perhaps those in the old Soviet Bloc). And many Americans also disagree with widespread firearms ownership. -- Mwalcoff 01:00, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

status

how are people generalized into classes in a specific culture. I'm comparing and contrasting Japan and Denmark to see the different status. Please write back with help on this topic!

It sounds like you are wanting us to compare and contrast for you. You should start by clicking on those links and reading up on the cultures you are writing your essay about. WAvegetarian (email) 02:42, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, how would I find the status of the people. I really don't get that part. What does status mean? Is it like how many groups they are classified in or what? I'm confused. Please write back. I don't want you to do the homework for me, I just need your help please. It will be greatly appreciated!

I'm not really sure what your teacher meant either. Maybe they are referring to caste system-like stuff. Some questions to consider: How are poor people treated in each of these cultures? Are classes even divided by wealth or are they divided by family heritage or job? What have the historical classes been in Japan and Denmark and how are they different now? WAvegetarian (email) 04:02, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you! so, do you know of an available site where I can find if religion plays a part in the way the Danish people are treated?

Try the search box and follow links on Misplaced Pages rather than just asking questions here, it will help your research skills immensely. Sigh... see Religion in Denmark and Church of Denmark. Also Social class to get an understanding of the basis of the question and follow the links. --Canley 04:39, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your time and effort! I think I can handle it from here. Thanks so much!!!!!

India's Taboos

What behaviors are considered totally unacceptable in India?

Maybe you would find what your looking for at Culture of India. I know that there are a great number of Hindus in India. --WAvegetarian (email) 02:50, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Blowing your nose in public is an example of behavior acceptable in the West but not in India. deeptrivia (talk) 03:29, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Then what do they do when their noses fill with snot ? StuRat 04:19, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, excuse yourself and go somewhere else to do it :) deeptrivia (talk) 04:23, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

So, if you had a cold, they would think you have severe diarrhea because of the number of times you go to the bathroom, LOL. StuRat 04:39, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Public displays of affection; holding hands in public before marriage for example, although less now than in the past. smurrayinchester 21:43, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Hand contact is another in my experience. Indian shopkeepers prefer to put your change down on the counter rather than hand it to you for example. Jameswilson 00:15, 11 January 2006 (UTC) Jameswilson 00:15, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Eating with your left hand can be considered bad because it's traditionally used to wash oneself after using the restroom. Depending on the ruralness of the location lots of other things can be taboo. Rural areas tend to be more conservative so things like revealing clothing would be looked down upon there more than in some cities. Someone should probably do some research and add all this into Culture of India. - Taxman 15:53, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

The problem is, none of this can be generalized for the whole of India, or even a major part of it. deeptrivia (talk) 01:36, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

who wrote "tumhari amrita"?

Javed Siddiqi WAvegetarian (email) 11:24, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Green Acres: Surreal or Postmodern

Settle a debate: Is the television show Green Acres a better example of Surrealism or Postmodernism?

I always just thought it was funny. If I had to choose I guess I would say it was more Surreal than Postmodern, but I'd have to add that you and whomever you are having this debate with need to get out more often.--◀Puck▶ 07:44, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with the show, but the two terms need not be mutually exclusive. --Nick Boalch 13:01, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry to be the spoilsport, but it's not really either one very much. There are parts of it that were surreal (Arnold the Pig), but most of it was the comfortable "country bumpkin" humor that goes back to Horace's version of country mouse and city mouse, at least. Basically, you put a sophisticate in a place where he or she doesn't know the customs, and then hilarity results as the rubes prove cleverer than the smarty. Further, the show used quite a few standard folk lore types, such as Mr. Haney the huckster. It was still funny -- especially Mr. Haney. Geogre 21:43, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps a "fish out of water story" would be the way to classify it ? As in when Mr. Douglas plowed his field wearing a full suit and tie ? StuRat 02:37, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Sure, but it has some of the rural sports thing going, too. The Madcap and the Bumpkin are classic types, and, in particular, the Bumpkin who outfoxes the clever lads is a classic plot device (compare Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer), and American folk humor, in particular, loved the story of the city slicker who lost his way. Still, I have to admit that there was surrealism in the show, although I think it came from tall tales and folk lore rather than from the art movement of that name. (Yeah, I know: I'm taking the question seriously, when that's not how it was intended.) It's just that postmodernism would kind of be right out. I can't see any postmodern elements to it at all. Geogre 03:08, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Why not Magic realism? Or even a Fable of sorts? --BluePlatypus 03:00, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Id, ego, superego

WHAT IS ID ? VERSES EGO ,FREUD CONCEPT??

Read the articles on Id, Ego, and Superego.--Urthogie 10:43, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Barcelona was taken over by the English for 10 years??

Good day,

I have got a question and was hoping that the forum might have an answer for me. I am looking for the time period that barcelona was taken over by the english, it should be a period of 10 years.

But I can not seem to find this information on the internet. Would you happen to know what time-frame this is? Or could you re-direct me where I would be able to find this information?

Best Regards, Wouter Vroegop

I looked at History of Barcelona and it didn't mention it. It did say that Barcelona was taken over by Napoleon and his brother Joseph; is that what you meant? Sorry... СПУТНИК 13:21, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for the effort, this is already what I found too. But Napoleon was French not English. Wouter 194.109.22.148 14:41, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I've never heard of the English (or British forces of any kind) occupying Barcelona, but if it was for a period of ten years I'm sure it would be mentioned somewhere on the internet, as the details of Anglo-Spanish relations and conflict over the centuries have been well-documented. How did you come to ask this question? What was the source of the information that England took over Barcelona? --Canley 22:34, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

• The English and Dutch (among other allies) occupied Barcelona for almost ten years (1705 - 1714) during the War of the Spanish Succession. I think that must be it. --BluePlatypus 23:21, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

• • I read about the War of Spanish Succession, and by process of elimination this would be the only time period that the English could occupy Barcelona. On the other hand what made me doubt again is the fact that Philip V was king of spain, and although born in France, was trying to get the french out of Spain... I have not been able to find a reference stating that the English actually occupied barcelona in this time period. I did find that the English and Dutch were were opposed to the union of French and Spanish dominions. On top of this, archduke Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor entered barcelona. He was from Austria..... Wouter 194.109.22.148 09:12, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• • • Indeed Barcelona was captured by the Allies in 1705 by the Earl of Peterborough, october 9th 1705 the Govener surrenders. In 1714 surrendered to the bourbon army.

Chalta Purza (1932)

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this obscure silent zombie film from india. The most I've been able to hunt down so far is that it was directed by Balwant Bhatt.

Thanks.

--67.76.164.21 15:17, 10 January 2006 (UTC)Neosamurai85

ariel sharone

Try Ariel Sharon. Chuck 15:37, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Icon

What is Nepals Icon for tourists?

Have you read our articles on Nepal and the economy of Nepal? — Lomn | Talk / RfC 16:27, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I skimmed these two articles, but failed to find the answer. Pissant 17:08, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Somerset Township Somerset Co PA

I live in the UK and have an interest in tracking down the sites of old land documents from any part of the world

I recently aquired three 1848 onwards land sale deeds for the same piece, or parts of, land in Somerset Township SomersetCo PA. The boundaries where spelled out on the documents in compass bearings distance so I know exactly what the shape of the land was.

Unfortunately the markers where things like "a pile of stones" " a stump" etc giving no real indication of location. I have an ownership and neighbour history from 1848 to 1929. I know that the 1858 document for instance was recorded in Vol 29 pages 280,281 but I don't know in what book or where they would be kept today.

I am looking for help and or advise as to how I could track this tract down from 3500 miles away.

Thanks very in advance for any help. David Orchard

See Somerset County, Pennsylvania, which will give you links to the county seat website and phone numbers. Somerset is a small town in a rural county. You could call one of the courthouse clerks and ask for the title office, and someone there could help you with your next step and the questions above. If things are slow and you have a good story, and your accent is charming, she might exert some effort in checking the records in her office and give you all the answers for free. At a minimum she could give you contact info for someone in town who frequently does title searches for real estate transfers. If this is so important it would be worth spending money on, she could recommend an agent or attorney. To visit, Pittsburgh would be the nearest airport and it would be about a 1.5-2 hour drive from there to Somerset. alteripse 17:35, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

You can also look through the contacts at the county's Rootsweb genealogy page. -- Mwalcoff 00:54, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Golda Meir's Health

Did Golda Meir ever have shingles? I thought she had shingles in her eyes, and am trying to confirm/deny. Many thanks. Robin Kessler--69.254.36.3 17:09, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I find one reference to Golda Meir having Shingles, the first link in this page. Unfortunately, the site requires membership to read the article, so there's no way to learn more. Shingles does affect the eyes, so it's possible that she did. Sorry I can't be of more help. -- Vary | Talk 22:10, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Hitler

Did hitler only have one testical?

That's the rumor, there's even a song the soldiers sang which has a line about "Hitler's got one ball" but I've never seen anything authoritative about this. User:PedanticallySpeaking

Adolf Hitler's medical health#Autopsy comment on anatomy suggests it was probably Soviet propaganda. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:41, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

See Hitler has only got one ball. --BluePlatypus 18:42, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

See also Cecil's answer. Steve Summit (talk) 02:32, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Louisiana Purchase

Hi I need to find out facts about the Louisiana Purchase. Like when was it first created? Or when was it bought by the United States? For how much? How much land was in the Louisiana Purchase? Who fist established the Louisiana Purchase? How many people owned and fought over the Louisiana Purchase?

At first I thought the people here were just mean, but I'm beginning to see the logic of just shrugging and doing this: -->Louisiana Purchase<--. What part of Encyclopedia do you not understand? I mean, gosh, we're writing it for you; do we have to read it for you as well?--◀Puck▶ 18:46, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

The sad part is that the person who asked the question will most likely never return to read your answer and click on the link. --Kainaw 01:08, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

How long is the US Constitution?

How many words are in the Constitution before the amendments? How many with all the amendments?

It is an example to the world : it begins with words like "We the people of the States, &c." and is quite short.

Another example is the EC constitution which begins with "The Queen of (say, Belgium, followed by her colleagues kings and presidents and primes )" and is so long that few refer to it anymore. --Harvestman 20:16, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

2^30402457 − 1 is prime.

While our article on the United States Constitution lacks a "Trivia" section, it does contain links to the full text of the original document as well as the amendments. You should be able to copy the text into any word processor and answer your question. — Lomn | Talk / RfC 20:19, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

WHY THE HOTEL PUT THE BIBLE IN THE DRAWER

They don't. See Gideons International and turn off your capslock. —Charles P. (Mirv) 18:36, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Because everytime they used a driver they knocked it all the way across the room? --◀Puck▶ 18:52, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

To get to the other side? Proto t c 10:04, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Liberal, Moderate, Conservative: Classifying Members of Congress

I would appreciate it if you could advise me on searching this subject. I would like to find sites that, on a comparative basis, attempt to classify current members of the house and senate.

Thanks!

69.86.17.205 20:28, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean the United States Congress? WAvegetarian (email) 20:40, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

That's far, far, far too subjective a thing to get. The Nation won't list people as progressives ("liberal") that The National Review would. However, if you simply must have something like this, go to one of the political magazine websites that you like, and I'm sure they'll have a map of the House of Representatives and Senate for you. Really, though, it's somewhat pointless. Geogre 21:48, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Especially since the those terms are very fluid and can't come close to describing a politican like Ron Paul, nominally a very staunch conservative, who has been opposed to the war in Iraq from the very beginning and supports the legalization of marijuana.--◀Puck▶ 22:43, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Check out the ratings of the American Conservative Union and the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action. If a member of Congress has a 0 from the ACU and a 95 from ADA, you can bet he's left of center (by the standards of Congress). -- Mwalcoff 00:51, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Professions - Any occupations merging Dietetics (R.D.), Art, & Music?

Older students sometimes need Career Counseling as well ... this topic concerns merging a Medical Arts career with that of Performing Arts. Has anyone had any experience - or know anyone who has had experience - in merging the professions of Dietetics (as in Registered Dietitian), Art, and Performance Music? (No, I'm not joking.) I am an R.D. who uses Hypnotherapy for diagnostic help. I also a background in performance music, as well as being a very talented artist. My long-term boyfriend is a bass-player in a Metal band. I would love to have my own career, but to also be a little closer to flowing with that of my boyfriend. I have even thought of taking up Music Management courses. As I've had 6 years toward a career in Dietetics and have a gift for being nurturing, I question beginning another career at this point. Obviously ... these are not your average mix of priorities, but rather than just choosing one and ignoring the rest, I thought I would take a chance on posing the question. Thanks for any input. ---- Loraine

Well, there is music therapy, but it's not really dietary at all. There is a fair amount being done with psychoaccoustics as well, but that's pretty much bench science. The other option, and this is the most likely, would be to work as an illustrator or media supplier for dietetic education. Health teachers around the English speaking world need, and pay well for, visual and musical materials to help them get their point across. If you had some web authoring skills, combining dietary advice and instruction with music and art would be very helpful, although getting paid for web design is tricky. Geogre 03:13, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

If you're a talented artist, then as well as Geogre's suugestion, why not look into writing/illustrating a dietetics and nutrition book? Perhaps for children, where colorful and well drawn pictures always help to get he message across, and healthy child nutrition is becoming a major issue. Proto t c 10:03, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

antinonmium movement

Try Antinomianism. Halcatalyst 05:23, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

January 11

John Muir

Why did John Muir immigrate to the United States?

Other family members already immigrated and started a farm in Wisconsin. He followed them. --Kainaw 01:04, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• You can find out more about his life if you want to. Halcatalyst 05:25, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Organizations

What are the most improtant organizations in the Danish culture? Would like a chess club be one? I've been trying to see if boy scouts was, but was unable to find any information on it. Please help me!

• Can't answer the general question, but you might like to look at Scouting around the world, then follow up with List of World Organization of the Scout Movement members. Halcatalyst 05:21, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Most major cities, in most nations, have embassies of foreign nations, such as Denmark. If you visit them, and be extremely polite, I am sure they would be happy to get you access to a wide range of reference materials. User:AlMac| 15:08, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Ways of everyday life in the Danish culture

how do people spend their days in the Danish culture, and how do they take care of things such as shopping, cooking, washing clothes etc..........

Take a look at this. And then, have a read at this. If you want more stuff, try the Denmark article and follow the many WP and external links there. I'm sure that your question will be answered. hydnjo talk 03:53, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

If you are the same person posting lots of questions about Denmark and not posting your identity, it sounds to me like a trip to Denmark would be extremely helpful for you. User:AlMac| 15:06, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Epidemics

How many deaths have been attributed to bird flu thus far; and how many people died from the Ebola virus? Thank you.

• You might try WikiNews. Halcatalyst 03:28, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• According to this Australian news source, it is up to almost 80 human deaths from the Bird Flu.
• I saw an article in USA Today newspaper saying that Swedish researchers, in Vietnam, concluded a lot more people had got it than earlier reported, many more recover, so it not as bad as we had thought. However, I also see quotes where WHO saying we are on the verge of it mutating again, so that it can go human to human, like SARS. I also see that two cities in Turkey have had to be quarantined, with no one allowed out.
• Seems to me, the death toll to birds, killed by humans, to try to stop the spread of the disease, is astronomical.
  • When you said deaths due to Bird Flu, your question was not limited to people deaths.
• You might want to visit the official web site of the World Health Organization, which keeps track of this as best they can (some nations have bad habit of trying to cover up stuff, until it is totally out of control, instead of getting help when it could be stopped.)
  • Here's the official WHO page on the Bird Flu. I suggest you save the link and check back regularly because they have like daily updates.
  • Here's a WHO fact sheet on Ebola.
    • About 1,800 people caught it, of whom 1,200 died. Of course Ebola has existed in the world a bit longer than the latest Bird Flu.
• Last but not least, Misplaced Pages is an encyclopaedia with articles on all sorts of topics: Epidemics; Ebola; Bird flu.

User:AlMac| 15:14, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Why is the title of "Mein Kampf" never translated?

I'm not sure if this is exactly the right place to put this; but I've often wondered why Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in English translations still retains it's native German name, rather than being translated as "My Struggle". Has this always been the case? I've noticed that among Mein Kampf's links to corresponding articles in other wikipedias (ignoring those written in languages that use a script I can't read...) only the Spanish, Russian, Latvian, Finnish and Turkish wikipedias seem to have the book under a translated title, wheras the 15 other Wikipedias (obviously excluding German) all use the original title. How widespread is this practice? The article also mentions the various other meanings and connotations "kampf" has in German that the English word "struggle" does not. Is this also a factor in not translating the title? And finally, are there many other books who's titles are as consistently not translated? thanks. --86.135.217.213 02:42, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

"Das Kapital" by Karl Marx is another example. JackofOz 02:45, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Gotterdamerung, both as a musical and literary work, is untranslated as well, and some works by philosophers (Alsach Spraken Zarathustra) will be untranslated. It depends, more or less, on whether the work gets famous before it is translated or not. If the translation gets famous, the translated title gets famous. If people are talking up the work before there is a translation, they will talk of the , because they have no translated title to refer to. Once a work is famous, publishers will want, by all means, to print it under the title that will sell. Hitler was famous in the English speaking world and then his book was talked up -- no one cared to translate it before he rose to power. Marx was famous from Communist Manifesto before Das Kapital. It's a question of marketing. Geogre 03:20, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

As an opera, "Götterdamerung" is often translated as "Twilight of the Gods". However there are lots of operas that are not - La Traviata, Il Trovatore and La Boheme are 3 that come to mind. Nietzsche's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is also usually translated, as "Thus Spake Zarathustra". JackofOz 05:38, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

One guess is that the title didn't get translated because the book didn't get translated much, and to the extent it did, it simply didn't garner a significant readership outside of Germany. It wasn't really relevant to people there. To make a modern-day comparison, I doubt Pat Buchanan's (just an example..) political diatribes get much readership outside the USA, and in the cases they are mentioned it's most likely by their English titles. --BluePlatypus 05:03, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

There seems to be a pattern of leaving German terms untranslated in English when referring to them in association with the Nazi era. For example: Führer, Luftwaffe, and Panzer, which just mean "leader", "air force", and "tank" or "armor" respectively: people today might speak of the German Air Force as it exists today, but use Luftwaffe when referring to WW2. Perhaps calling the book Mein Kampf is one more example of this pattern. --Anonymous, 05:30 UTC, January 11

"Heil, Hitler" is also much more famous than its English counterpart "Hail, Hitler". JackofOz 05:38, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I doubt that's entirely Nazi-era related though (though the word for the Nazi era: "Third Reich" is itself a quite bizarre 'germanglish' phrase!). In WWI they were instead fighting the "Kaiser" and not the "Emperor". "U-Boat" is also from that era, and "Panzer" might be a continuation of that naming trend. --BluePlatypus 05:47, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Note incidentally that U-boat is another German-English hybrid; the German spelling is U-Boot. --Anonymous, 00:23 UTC, January 12, 2006.

America's Founding Fathers and copyright

Hi. I've been wondering what, exactly, America's Founding Fathers thought about copyright. I did a little research and it seems that they wanted to keep copyright under the control of the federal government, as they didn't think the states should control it. Is this accurate? Was there any major debate over this during the Constitutional Convention? Did any of the Founders have strong feelings one way or another? Was there any sort of consensus about whether strict or lenient copyright was a good idea? Thanks a lot. Stilgar135 03:15, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• Have a look at United States copyright law. Halcatalyst 03:26, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Richard Wagner

Can you direct me to books that contain the german and scandinavian mythologies that the Ring Cycle is based upon so that I can undertand the 4 operas of the Ring Cycle. Thank you. Phyllis Mate

The sources of the Ring cycle include the Nibelungenlied, the Volsunga Saga, and arguably Thiðrekssaga and possibly others. And some bits Wagner just made up. If your goal is understanding the Ring Cycle, you should read/listen to it rather than its sources, I would think. - Nunh-huh 05:54, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Volsunga Saga, in particular, gives the background on the cursed gold, Sigurd, etc., but that tale existed in several forms. Wagner used the German form of it (Nibelungenlied) more than Volsunga Saga, but there is also material presented and explained in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlusson. Snorri's explanation is very compressed, however, I agree with Nunh-huh, though: you're better off not chasing the sources much, as they're pretty disjointed in the originals. Geogre 17:41, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

While I can't tell you a book off the top of my head, Decoding Wagner: An Invitation to His World of Music Drama by Thomas May (ISBN 1574670972) contains an astonishingly comprehensive bibliography which will surely be able to point you in the right direction. Your local library may have a copy. --George 19:13, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Overthrowing the US Government

What would be the most feasible route to a revolution that would overthrow the U.S. government and force a new constitution? Mysteriousinventors 06:28, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

As far as forcing a new Constitution, that can be done by Amendment, there could be one stating "The former Constitution and all Amendments are hereby repealed, and replaced with the following..."

It would require 3/4 of the state legislatures to force such a change. StuRat 07:16, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

There is currently only one more state needed to call for a Constitutional convention to write a Balanced Budget Amendment. Nothing in the Constitution as it is now written would force that new convention to focus on only that issue. The delegates at the convention could write up any changes to the US government as they saw fit, and if 3/4 of the states approved them, that would be the new US government. Remember that the original Constitutional Convention was called to "fix" the Articles of Confederation. User:Zoe| 18:37, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Campaign for your cause and vote for change at the next election. Or run yourself. - Akamad 11:01, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Make a movie full of half-truths and misrepresented sound bytes. --Kainaw 21:04, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Travel backwards in time and help the Soviet Union to develop a nuclear bomb and drop it on Berlin, ending World War II early and leading to Soviet dominance of the Cold War. If video games and science fiction have taught me anything, revolution is guaranteed to follow. --Maxamegalon2000 23:01, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

The U.S. military is incredibly powerful. If the joint chiefs of staff decided on a military coup, and they were able to hold sway over the ranks, they could hold everyone hostage with the threat of nuclear bombs. —James S. 23:20, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Military coups are unlikely to produce a new stable constitution as they usually have to be enforced by marshal law. WAvegetarian (email) 23:22, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

If they could hold sway over the ranks. Which is a big 'if'. Soldiers have political sympathies like everyone else, which is why the 1991 Soviet coup failed and why the 1956 Hungarian revolution wasn't struck down at once. And they had nukes as well. Face it: nuking your own population is simply not on the menu.. the threat itself would cause a loss of all support). Most successful military coups have been in countries with highly polarized political situations. The military, conservative by nature, has then favored a facist solution against the 'danger' facing the nation, be it socialism (e.g. Spain, Chile) or what they simply percived as a weak and corrupt government (e.g. Portugal, Argentina, Pakistan). And in all those cases they did have a certain level of popular support. --BluePlatypus 07:12, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Rig the e-voting machines so that your political party wins a big victory. Oh wait, that already been done, the entrenched victors might give you a hard time. User:AlMac| 13:22, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Fund a bunch of terrorists to do lots of chaos, then use that to excuse a bunch of new laws that take away what is America. Well that has not been done, but start conspiracy theories about it. User:AlMac| 13:24, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Number of independent states by year

Can't find information on number of independent states by year. Could you help please?--Nixer 06:34, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean independent nations worldwide ? StuRat 07:04, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

begining of the year

Why does the western calander begin in January? Seasonally it doesn't make any sense as it is just at the beginning of the northern winter. Is it linked to the birth of Christ? Virginia --220.235.233.157 06:46, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• See Gregorian calendar#Beginning of the year. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 06:54, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

who invaided spain in teh 8th century

Napoleon ? --Harvestman 08:05, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Is this homework by any chance? - Akamad 10:58, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Try reading up on Spain. If you learn the answer on your own, Moors the better. :-) StuRat 10:59, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

"Who invaided spain in teh 8th century? Napolean ?"

Lol, that's the most hilarious thing I've read all day. thanx for that. :p --86.135.217.213 17:12, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I was lolling out plain. A reference to the above question (1O January) : "Barcelona was taken over by the English for 10 years??" Which was not so bad either. There are plenty more to come, as "Is it true that Napoleon was born in Geebraltar" ... --Harvestman 18:57, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

What Numbers of Mohd. Rafi's song?

In the Misplaced Pages reference shows that Indian playback singer Mohammad Rafi had been sung 26000 songs from 1940 to 1980 and less than 5000 can be verified songs. What are the sources of the figures because lot of gap between 26000 and 5000.

What is Mohd. Rafi's discography record shows from the sound recording companies of different labels?

Mohd. Rafi was a legend playback singer of Indian film industry and in his 40 years singer career he sing all type of moods, filmi/non-filmi, geet, ghazal, devotional, patriotic, qawwali, bhajans, cancel records, rejected films records, other languages.

Thank you

This is speculation, but one explanation could be the fact that he sang in different languages. He could've sung 5000 distinct songs and recorded each in about 5 languages, which would account for both figures. --BluePlatypus 22:21, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm sure he didn't sing in 5 languages. Maybe he didn't commercially release all his songs. deeptrivia (talk) 01:33, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

This site with a database of Rafi songs, lists songs in Punjabi, Marathi, Sindhi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Kannada and English.. So five doesn't seem like an exaggeration to me. --BluePlatypus 09:13, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh, now that's a surprise! deeptrivia (talk) 13:56, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

UK monarchy

Why does the United Kingdom only have a queen, and not a king? Why isn't the queen's husband considered King of Great Britain?

Because King is a higher rank than Queen so the Queens husband can't be called King (unless he is the Monarch & has the kingship in his own right) as he would outrank her. Generally the Queen's husband (when the Queen is the monarch) gets a title (EG Duke of Edinburgh) but he wouldn't ever be considered as King because he doesn't have a claim to the throne through blood/heredity. AllanHainey 12:33, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

It's plain old sexism: a king's wife is a queen consort but a queen's husband is a prince consort. Gdr 13:33, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

More generally, it's a feature of the way British titles work: a woman can get a title by marrying, but a man doesn't ordinarily get a title simply by marrying a woman. The same way that (generally) when Phil Smith marries Elizabeth Jones, she becomes Elizabeth Smith and he doesn't become Phil Jones. - Nunh-huh 18:45, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

There have been "Kings matrimonial" in the past (the husband of Mary I of England was arguably such), but it was avoided for the husbands of Queen Anne and Queen Victoria, because it might have carried the implication that their foreign husbands were the ones who were really running the country. AnonMoos 18:40, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, and it would be quite outrageous for England to be ruled by a bally foreign monarchy, it's absolutely inconceivable that such a thing could happen. So hurrah for Great British common sense! Pip-pip: Hurrah! Pip-pip: Hurrah! Pip-pip: Hurrah! --bodnotbod 23:21, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Election Symols of different parties in india

(unsigned)

Some political parties are mentioned in that article : India. Follow their links and find this nice symbol for example, File:BJP logo.png.

Symbols are of widespread use when people can't read, there must be plenty of them. Even where there are readers, symbols are still in use because of tradition and quicker appeal to the brain through the omnipotent visual system (see our userboxes quarrel). --Harvestman 21:35, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

List of recognised political parties in India deeptrivia (talk) 01:30, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Anti-science

Hi, I was wondering if there is any religion, sect, or philosophy that opposes scientific inquiry and the scientific method as its core belief, I mean, they have to take everything on faith acording to their religion, and science is to them like a sin. --201.230.146.101 15:57, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

There are none of significance. — Lomn | Talk / RfC 16:43, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

There are none, quite. Some groups, such as the Amish, will not use anything not mentioned in the Bible, but they don't consider science a sin at all. It's just not something they believe in employing. Further, the term Luddite is often used to denote someone who is "anti-progress]], but the Luddites were not against either science or progress: they were against the displacement of workers by machines, and they destroyed agricultural machinery as a working class revolt rather than any anti-intellectualism or anti-scientism. However, no significant religions are against scientific inquiry. Geogre 17:49, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

A serious misunderstanding of the Amish there. That's not their criterion for technology acceptance, and they certainly use things not mentioned in the Bible. See Amish. DJ Clayworth 19:05, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

This is a common misconception but is false. The Amish were an Anabaptist sect in Europe that formed during the late Reformation around theological ideas having nothing to do with modernism or rejection of it. Many migrated to Pennsylvania because of available farmland and religious freedom. Those who stayed in Europe became amalgamated and assimilated and are no longer distinctive communities. Those in America discovered, like many religious sects, that there was survival value in keeping distinct from their neighbors. Their society and decision-making is quite communal, and there were few other daily life differences between the Amish and their neighbors until the early 18th century, when many social and technological changes began to occur in American life. At this point the Amish began to consciously abstain from rapid adoption of technological advances for a variety of reasons, and through the 19th century this slowly became more and more of a defining characteristic (at least to non-Amish). So the strictest Old Order Amish have adopted few technical advances beyond 18th century clothing and farming methods, though there have been many exceptions, relaxations, schisms, defections, and split-offs over the years. Howevere, 18th century European and American rural life was certainly not "Biblical" and the Amish have not attempted to recreate that. Dalembert 01:00, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you both for correcting my mistake. I apologize and should have done more research of it. There were a few "not in the Bible" groups, but they had fallen out of my memory and still aren't back. Geogre 13:03, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I think you could argue that any sect, until the quite recent past, who eschewed anything not found in the bible, would quickly have been wiped out by their rivals, who allowed themselves guns and the like. At the level of nations, such fundamentalism is still likely to lead to the same result (would the Taliban's insistence on only teaching Islam have led that way in the long term? Possibly). Notinasnaid 18:19, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Not a religion, but a common term for anti-technology people is Luddites. --Kainaw 21:01, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Communists and other revolutionaries, though not really a religion, have certain traits in common with religions, like blind faith in a leader. Some of those leaders have led their countries down an anti-intellectual path. When the uneducated common people gain control of the government, they have a natural hatred for the intelligencia of the old system, and sometimes have intentionally killed off all educated people. This leaves a country ruled by idiots, like Mao Tse Tung, and his "great leap forward", which was so poorly planned it caused millions to starve. StuRat 03:03, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Totally agreee StuRat! finally I hear that from someone other that myself! :D .. oh , another thing, don't the amish use the internet? or have computers or cable tv? or are they allowed to have that. --Cosmic girl 03:09, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

<sigh> Sputnik Geogre 21:28, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry that u r so anoyed by me george...--Cosmic girl 23:21, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Larry Butler

Could someone verify the information at Talk:Larry Butler, please? Thank you. User:Zoe| 16:22, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, it certainly looks like this Larry Butler, but there could be 20 country singers named Larry Butler for all I know.--◀Puck▶ 17:13, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, and I think the article is about this Larry Butler.. Although I'm no expert either. --BluePlatypus 02:53, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

One Dollar Bill

In the last few years, all the bills in circulation in the United States have undergone a design change - except the one dollar bill. Why is this?

--163.153.132.5 17:05, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

As I recall they were going to do it in stages starting with the higher bills first. That would put the dollar bill at the lowest priority. Secondly, the modifications were done mostly to detract from the bills being counterfited. Since it costs counterfitters so much money to do what they do, they tend to only counterfit higher denominations of bills. They simply wouldn't get that much of a return on their investment if they counterfitted $1 bills. Dismas| 17:16, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Dismas is correct; the government has no plans to redesign the $1 or $2 bills because nobody wants to counterfeit them anyway. See the press release at . For the record, New $10 bills will be issued starting March 2. --Aaron 19:54, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, there has repeatedly been a push to drop the $1 bill in favor of the $1 coin. It has never worked. Most people blame habit (who wants some newfangled dollar coin!?) I blame strippers. They just don't seem to like it when you chuck dollar coins at them while they are dancing. --Kainaw 20:59, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I'd actually prefer it if we (I'm in the U.S.) got rid of the dollar bill. I much prefer the coins since they don't get mangled to the point that you can't use them in vending machines, along with other benefits... But yeah, the strippers I've known would have found them to be bothersome. Although, if the standard tip became a five dollar bill, I doubt they'd mind then.  :-P Dismas| 21:08, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

There's also been the occasional push to elimiate the penny altogether, replacing it with nothing. Those proposals never really go anywhere either. Personally, I'm against either replacing the $1 bill with a coin or eliminating the penny, both because the public at large is against both ideas and because the government actually makes money from pennies (see seigniorage). I am, however, pro-stripper. --Aaron 21:19, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Seigniorage isn't significant on pennies though. According to the 2004 Annual Report from the US Mint, the margin was 6.5% on pennies and 8.8% on nickels (year ended Sept 30 2004), which is drastically lower than for the other coins (68.6% for the dime and 70.6% on the quarter), and very close to breaking even. I'd say the days of pennies and nickels are limited. --BluePlatypus 23:04, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

When I was in Norway, there was some issue with the ore (equivalent to our penny). The people wanted it dropped, but the businesses wanted it kept so they could charge a few extra ore on each bill. In protest the people were throwing the ore they got in change on the floor in front of the register. I found this out because I started picking some up at a store and a lady started yelling at me in Norwegian. Luckily, another guy was there to explain to me what was going on. I don't know if the protest spread through the country or if the ore was every dropped. It does remind me of our "need a penny/take a penny" bowls. --Kainaw 22:55, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

The reason they still have the penny is because polls show people like it, and because the zinc lobby (yes, there is one) doesn't want to lose the business. Similarly, the people who make money from printing dollar bills, including Bureau of Printing employees, don't want to get rid of it. -- Mwalcoff 00:06, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I've heard that another reason for the endurance of the dollar bill is Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who happens to sit on the committee that would make the decision. It also happens that there's only one factory that makes the paper used in U.S. bills, and it's in... Massachusetts. Steve Summit (talk) 15:57, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Do you actually have $2 bills now? Were these recently introduced as when I was in the USA about 8 years ago I don't remember them.

We've had $2 bills since our bicentennial in 1976. They are uncommon, however, as the few that get printed are snapped up bby collectors. Hardly any are in general circulation. The reason is because the $2 bill is the most beautifully illustrated of all U.S. money; it has a picture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the reverse. Check out U.S. two-dollar bill for more info. --WAvegetarian (email) 16:14, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

There were $2 bills before 1976, it's just that the current design dates from then. User:Zoe| 00:18, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

On scrapping $1 notes & replacing them with coins try to avoid letting them do this as in the UK they have de facto phased out £1 notes & replaced them with coins (I think they're still legal currency but you never see them anymore & I don't think thy're printing new ones, even in Scotland) and its just an increased hassle as your pocket is filled with even more change and the pictures on the coins don't compare to artwork on notes. AllanHainey 09:22, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

The Bank of England one pound note was withdrawn from circulation in the late 1980s (see British banknotes). This means it is no longer legal tender: people are not obliged to accept it in settlement of debt. But if you have any under the mattress the Bank of England with exchange them for pound coins.

Of course there is an advantage to the British public of the switch to coins which perhaps outweigh the extra weight and less exciting artwork: coins last much longer in circulation, so cost less for the government (and thus the taxpayer) to issue. Gdr 23:55, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I keep hearing one explanation as to why there is so much resistance to doing away with the $1 bill in the US is because the change drawers in already-existing cash registers already have all of the slots allocated, and there would have to be a removal of one of the other coins to make room for a $1 coin, so the business lobby is generally opposed, as well. User:Zoe| 00:18, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I find that hard to believe since all the cash drawers I've ever worked with have 5 small slots for coins. Right now they are taken up predominantly by four coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter). The fifth slot is often just a place to put random objects such as rubber bands from stacks of bills, a paper clip or two, some dust and crumbs, and maybe a Canadian coin or two that found their way into circulation in the States. So there is a slot that is available if this stuff is cleaned out and put in better places. It's like the junk drawer (that many people have in their kitchens for random object that don't really fit anywhere else) of the cash register. Dismas| 02:02, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

gladiators

who was the most favored gladiator to ever compete?

That's a little like asking who is the most famous baseball player to have ever played. Different people will give you different answers. They used to have riots in Rome and Constantinople over who was the the best gladiator.--◀Puck▶ 17:16, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Few gladiators are now known by name, though many achieved fame in their day. The names Verus and Priscus are preserved in a poem by Martial. The most notable gladiator is undoubtedly Spartacus. Gdr 18:01, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Franz von Papen

Do you think it was Franz von Papen who actually abolised democracy from germany? Evidence stating the opposite would be great!

Franz von Papen--◀Puck▶ 17:52, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Toquville

What is the Toquville connection between France and th USA

Do you mean de Tocqueville? AnonMoos 18:35, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

WHITE & BLACK

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE WAS A WHITE LEAGUE THAT PLAYED AGAINST THE BLACK LEAGUE? WHO WON? WHAT WAS THE SCORE? WHAT WAS THE DATE? WHAT WHERE THE NAMES OF THE TEAMS?

What country and what sport?- Akamad 19:41, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Never mind, I read the post below - Akamad 19:42, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• I think this article on Negro league baseball may be what you're looking for. As far as I know, there were no games between the Negro League teams and and major league teams. But read the articles to find out for sure. Halcatalyst 01:24, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Apoligize for caps

I recentky posted a few questions on whites and blacks playing baseball. I would like to apoligize for using all caps it was not done purposely or with the intent to defend anyone. I work on computers all day and it is always in caps. It is simply a habit.

Thank you

Article 9 and the threat of force

Military may defend Japanese whalers

11.01.06 By Ainsley Thomson

Japan has warned it may send armed aircraft to defend its whaling ships in the Southern Ocean if clashes with protest boats escalate.

But hang on a moment?

RENUNCIATION OF WAR

Article 9:

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. 2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

ie. The Japanese people forever renounce the threat of force as means of settling international disputes.

So what gives? Ohanian 20:51, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Protest boats are not a nation. It is not an international dispute. It is a police action to defend Japanese citizens. --Kainaw 20:56, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Note also that Junichiro Koizumi, the current Prime Minister of Japan, has been testing the boundaries of the Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. See Japan Self-Defense Forces#Article 9 for some of the recent movement on this. - BanyanTree 05:17, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

why columbus set sail

(no question)

See Christopher Columbus. Dismas| 21:02, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

He owed back rent? Geogre 13:07, 12 January 2006 (UTC) (Sorry, but the temptation was too great.)

about pearl harbor

what was the order of the the battleships that were hit by japeneses air crafts?

• You can start by reading the article, Attack on Pearl Harbor. That may help lead you to the answer to your question. Halcatalyst 01:19, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Boston Massacre

We are doing a mock trial in school about the boston massacre. I am to be a lawyer the procutor. (Is that spelt right?) anyways i need information that will help prove the soldiers are guilty! Hope you can help!

Thanks

--24.236.147.8 22:54, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Have you read the article on the Boston massacre? Dismas| 23:22, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

You will also want to read this site. —James S. 23:37, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

The spelling is prosecutor. AllanHainey 09:24, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Did you know that there were real world Category:Lawyer Wikipedians here? A bunch of them hang out at WikiProject Law. You might post something at the talk page there, inviting suggestions to help you out. Plus, the event was in Boston right? Guess what, there are like 50 law students from Harvard participating through the Wikiproject Cyberlaw, altough they are very busy with real contemporary events like what will happen if Misplaced Pages gets sued. User:AlMac| 11:04, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Theme tune to Friends: earnings? (I don't know why I'm asking, the answer will surely make me puke).

For some reason I'm wondering if anyone can give me an indication of how much money The Rembrandts have earned from creating I'll Be There For You (Theme From "Friends"). Figures for any particular year or a total or any revealing snippet is good. It must be a fortune as they'll presumably get some cash any time the theme is played on any showing of Friends throughout the world, the jammy swines. --bodnotbod 23:04, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

"To this day, we only get performance royalties, not publishing splits for the TV version of the song." -- Danny Wilde

Bet you didn't think you would puke for that reason. —James S. 23:34, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• I wasn't quite sure how to interpret that quote until I read the whole article you linked to (thank you!). They are still recieving money for every time the song goes out with the programme, just not as much as they would have done had they been the billed writers of the song. Must be a pretty penny. --bodnotbod 00:11, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

The River medina on the Isle of Wight

Dear Experts,

I have searched in vain for an answer to the question; from where did the Isle of Wight's River Medina get its name?

Some have suggested it was named after the Admiral of the Spanish armada, but I suspect it is much older.

Many thanks,

Darryl Fry

The IOW Tourist Board say its derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for 'middle', because it divides the island straight down the middle. Jameswilson 23:51, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I can't answer the question, but I can share your skepticism with the tourism board's explanation. That's not a regular formation for a derivative of Anglo-Saxon. The /i/ would very, very rarely go to /e/, and the only way it would have picked up the distinctly Romance -ina is if it were a contraction of "in hem" or "in" with some monosyllable ending in -a. It's a very unlikely explanation, although, as always, possible. The problem is that there are several Medina's that it could have been named after, as well as noble titles. Geogre 13:13, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I had a further look round and the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names says this:- Medina - 'Medine' 1196 - 'the middle one', from OE 'medume'. So thats the consensus although not necessarily 100% certain. They're saying the final consonant had already changed by then. As regards the vowels, maybe it's just that the "The Island is Different", and the general rules on vowel-shifts, etc, dont work well there. One thing that did occur to me is that at some stage of its evolution the name may have sounded too similar to 'midden' (waste-dump} and it was deliberately "re-branded" by some local magnate (like Shitterton to Sitterton and Piddletown to Puddletown). That might explain the romantic-sounding final 'a'. The noble titles came afterwards, I'm sure. BTW, it's interesting how many English rivers lost their ancient name and instead have more recent back-formations from a town, eg R. Chelmer from Chelmsford, R. Chelt from Cheltenham, and many others. Not in this case though. Jameswilson 23:44, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Avenue,Boulevard, and Garage

Were the words avenue, boulevard and garage were around before the invention of cars? And did all three of those words originate in France?

Well and truly in the case of avenue and boulevard, not so much garage. And yes. (There's a language reference desk where it's probably more appropriate to post questions such as these.) Natgoo 23:55, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

According to the Oxford English Dictionary:

Avenue as a type of roadway dates to the 17th century, when it meant something like "tree-lined driveway." Its use meaning "wide street" dates at least to 1858.

Boulevard comes from the French word for "bulwark," because the original "boulevards" were wide streets built on former fortifications. It's been used in English since at least 1769.

Garage dates only to 1902 and from its first use in English meant a place to store cars.

All three words are of French origin. -- Mwalcoff 01:44, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Goethe's Faust Pt II

At the end of Goethe's Faust Pt II, Faust ascends into heaven. However, I've read various interpretations that contest whether this is because (1) Mephistopheles loses the bet so the Angels claim what is rightly theirs (Booknotes), or (2) Mephistopheles wins the bet, but does not get Faust merely because of the Angels' trickery (Misplaced Pages). Which is correct? --JianLi 23:51, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

• It depends entirely on who you were rooting for, doesn't it? Dalembert 00:43, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

January 12

sai baba

is he for real at all? I've read the article and cheked some links, but there seems to be 'evidence' for both sides. has he ever been debunked beyond doubt? is there any link with that information? --Cosmic girl 00:01, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

He's bogus, clear and simple. You are asking the wrong questions. He can't be 'debunked without doubt' unless he allows his claims to be properly tested, which he hasn't. James Randi has a million dollars waiting for anyone who can prove any paranormal claim in controlled circumstances. The question you should ask is why you should believe an extraordinary claim without proof? And why hasn't he 'materialized' anything larger than what can be accomplished with slight-of-hand? And why would you believe a paranormal explanation when other people can achive the same effect by purely normal means? Simply because he says so? --BluePlatypus 00:23, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I know, that's why I doubt a lot, but there's a lot of supposedly educated people that believe in him ...so, and I don't say that is a proof or a reason to believe, but I was just wondering, because I'm a skeptic, but an open minded one, I mean, I believe in the possibility that stuff like that may actually happen,I don't have a fixed opinion about everything because I don't know it all, and stuff changes.-Cosmic girl 01:13, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I second the comments of BluePlatypus. There is even a quote: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." StuRat 02:37, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Five Largest Cities

What are the five largest cities in the US, by land size (rather than population)?

A friend who lives there told me Jacksonville, Florida was the largest, although the article adds the qualifier "in the contiguous 48 states of the United States".. So maybe there's a larger one in Alaska? --BluePlatypus 00:52, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

According to the National League of Cities:

1. Sitka, Alaska (2874 square miles)
2. Juneau, Alaska (2717 m2)
3. Anchorage, Alaska (1697 m2)
4. Jacksonville, Florida (758 m2)
5. Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Montana (737 m2)

All of those places are combined city-county governments (in Alaska, they call counties "boroughs"). The biggest city that is not a combined government is Oklahoma City at 607 m2. (Jacksonville's situation is complicated; see its article.)

The smallest municipality? Lithium, Missouri, 0.001924 m2 (1.23 acres), population zero. -- Mwalcoff 01:51, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

That sounds like an extremely anti-manic place.--Joel 00:02, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Shame on you! Bethefawn 01:49, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Musical Instrument

I have a lovely old piece but I am not sure what instrument it is, I am hoping you may be able to help me. It has the shape of the viola campaniça with the fan top of the guitarra portuguesa. It has 10-strings and 14 frets. The information I can see shows Da Silva and Funchal everything else is in Portuguese.

I have had this piece for over 20 years and it came from a friend of my Grandmother. I am guessing the piece is anywhere from sixty years and older. Can you help me identify this piece and it's possible worth?

I can send pictures through email to anyone that may be able to help me.

I have had one person identify this as:

"According to a little book on tunings by my friend Jose Lucio entitled Os Sons e os Tons da Música Popular Portuguesa there is a 9 string instrument from Madeira Island (Funchal) which he calls "Viola de Arame da Madeira". It typically has 9 strings, 14 frets, total instrument length 87cm, body length 42.5cm and lower bout of 27cm (1 inch = 2.54 cm).. It has 9 strings distributed in 5 courses-- 4 courses have double strings and one course has a single string. The tuning is dd, b, gg, dd, Gg."

Thank You,

email deleted

--198.69.66.3 01:02, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Religion(Muslim/Islam)

1.) Who are four Islamic leaders over the past 100 years who have been major influences in the Islamic faith?

2.) Who brought Cassius Marcellus Clay into the world of Islamic beliefs?

3.) What did Cassius Marcellus Clay do to strive to achieve outside of the sport he participated in?

Thank you.:)

69.159.39.23 03:43, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Do your own homework, and search first, particularly for questions 2 and 3. If you type "Cassius Marcellus Clay" into the search box on the left of this page, and click search, an article with a great deal of information about the man will turn up. As to question 1, that's a lot tougher; defining who exactly is an "Islamic leader" is a bit confusing of the conflation between religion and politics in the Islamic world. --Robert Merkel 04:54, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

1. King Hussein of Jordan, King Feisal of Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad 2. No one, the Nation of Islam doesn't represent Islamic beliefs (see the stuff on Yakub his genetically engineered followers & their spaceship and its bombs). 3.He made sure he didn't end up being shot at in Vietnam. AllanHainey 15:29, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Movies that start with "The Big"

I would like a list of the movies that start with "The Big". I have some listed such as "The Big Chill", "The Big Sleep", "The Big Heat", "The Big Sky", etc. Thanks.

67.40.179.34 04:02, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Try searching IMDB. --Robert Merkel 05:14, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

The Big Lebowski is another one. Zafiroblue05 08:10, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

What you need is an alphabetical list of movies. Old fashioned, I know, but five minutes in a bookstore looking through the very largest movie guide book should sort this out. Notinasnaid 08:52, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

People always underestimate Misplaced Pages. Click here and go nuts. Proto t c 09:55, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

the proper term

Some friends and I were wondering what the proper term of orientation for hermaphrodites is. We don't know whether it is gay or straight. Please help us. Thank you.

This is a semantic conundrum created by fuzzy and overlapping meanings of social labels for social categories. It is not a question about biological phenomena. Here are the problems with your questions:

1. Hermaphrodite was a 19th century medical term for a person with any type of intersex condition. In the 20th century the term was narrowed to refer to a single very rare intersex condition. In recent decades it has completely fallen out of medical use as a noun because it became used as a pejorative term in American vernacular speech (much as the term cretin was discarded by doctors when it became a vernacular term of abuse). So at this point your use of the term as a noun has two meanings, probably both different from what you think.
2. If I take your intended meaning as "person with an intersex disorder", the answer to the question is that it is still a matter of social convention. If a person who identifies himself as a man in our society is attracted primarily to other men he is generally considered gay, regardless of any discordances or ambiguities at biological levels of sexual differentiation. If a person who identifies herself as a woman in our society is attracted primarily to other women she is generally considered gay, regardless of any discordances or ambiguities at biological levels of sexual differentiation. There are plenty of people in both categories, but there are even more people with various intesex conditions who consider themselves male and are attracted to females, and vice versa.

In summary, the usual criteria for defining "gayness" or "straightness" are mainly behavioral and subjective, and attempting to map the definition against all levels of sexual differentiation in the presence of discordance simply generates misunderstanding and confusion. If you have not had all aspects of your chromosomes and anatomy thoroughly investigated and operated to the point of reproduction you may have a degree of discordance yourself. alteripse 05:21, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Note, a gay hermaphrodite would be attracted only to other hermaphrodites, would it not? Perhaps a straight hermaphrodite would be attracted to extremely gendered individuals. This inanely depicts the silliness of the question. Bethefawn 02:03, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Supreme Court dissents

Someone with access to West/Lexis: Who's written more solo dissents per year (on 7-1 or 8-1 cases—i.e., where he's the only one coming down on one side of the issue), Stevens or Scalia? --zenohockey 04:39, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Class Action Lawsuit question

I am eligible to join in on a class action lawsuit but if all other class action law suits are any indication the lawyers would get $2 million while I got five bucks. Does anything prevent me from just waiting for the class action to end and using that case as precedence in a small claims case?

Depends on the law operating in your particular country which, as it isn't stated, I assume to be the U.S.A. I am not a lawyer but providing that the class action wins and you are still alive and no statute of limitations for the case has expired by that time I don't think there is anything to prevent you. That said it would be a good idea to ask a lawyer. AllanHainey 09:29, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm not a lawyer either, but read the information available on the specific class action. It will include whether you can exclude yourself from it and how. In the US I've read a few, and if I recall they required you to do something to exclude yourself from the class if you wanted to sue separately. It could vary by the specific case and what the judge rules I suppose. Read our article that I linked above for you too as it seems to confirm my hunch. - Taxman 23:49, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Oprah Winfrey promo

I have a question concerning a television commercial for the Oprah television program. It was aired to promote the show and it freatured a song where the lyrics "Oprah's on" were sung. It was broadcast in the early-mid 1990's or maybe late 1980's. The commercial featured women telling one another that "Oprah's on." I am very interested in finding out where the best place to find this commercial and view it would be. Thank you very much.

-Edith

A quotation about Ben Franklin and King of UK

I heard a story in Chinese about Benjamin Franklin and the King of UK. It said that after Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, the King of UK rejected this new thing because he didn't like Franklin. A advisor of the king wanted to persuade him and said "The sword of satan is still a sword"(Sorry, I can only show the meaning of this quotation. I don't know the exact words). I'm interested in this story, but it's only in Chinese. Could anyone show me the original version of this story and the quotation? Thank you very much!--Addition 11:02, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I've never heard this story before & doubt it is true. Going by memory Ben Franklin wasn't in the UK after his lightning rod work.

The King at the time would have been George III of the United Kingdom & as far as I know he had no animosity or dislikeof Franklin, at least before he started supporting the American rebellion. AllanHainey 15:40, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, another source I'm looking at says that George III had his palace equipped with a blunt lightning rod -- the debate was whether to use Franklin's favored sharp rod instead. The debate continues. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 16:10, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I check the Chinese story again. It's about the choice between sharp rod and blunt rod. Here's another source, but it's a pity that there is no hint about that quotation.--Addition 16:18, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Citizenship or nationality

We're looking for examples where autonomous populations or identity groups are recognized by some label or designation other than 'nationality' or 'citizenship'. Nationality is, of course, used in most passports and identity documents, but there must be other phrases or words, in english, or another language, that can be applied to minorities or ethnic groups to allow their identity to be differentiated from the majority or dominant nationality. Of particular help would be examples of any passports that specificy alternative identities. Thanks if you can help.

You're confusing the term "nationality" as in citizenship with "nationality" as in ethnicity. Most passports and identity documents do not include ethnicity (except some which include 'race', which is however a much broader term). There's good reason not to: Ethnicity has no legal relevance except for in countries which have laws which distinguish and/or discriminate between ethnical groups. So what reason would a democracy (where we're all equal in the eyes of the law) have in keeping official records of the ethnical identity of individuals? Nazi Germany marked the passports of their Jewish citizens as such. -I doubt any democratic countries are interested in following that example. At least I can't think of any which have. --BluePlatypus 11:34, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, I think most democratic countries distinguish between ethnicities, but I'm unaware of any that mark it in passports (some countries note religion). Most official government forms, etc have a section for ethnicity; in Australia they ask specifically if you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and here in the UK they make you tick a box out of about 30 options. This is to ensure that departments are providing programs to the people they were funded for, or that employment practices aren't disciminatory, or just for the collection of demographic data. It sounds to me like the word the original poster was looking for is ethnicity. Natgoo 11:50, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Right: They ask you because they don't keep records of it, but rather get that information on a case-to-case basis where it's relevant. My point was that it's not relevant in the legal context of what passports are for. They exist to identify you as a citizen of a particular state for entry into a different one. Including ethnical information there has no purpose except for those who wish to discriminate against letting certain ethnic groups into their country. --BluePlatypus 12:01, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments so far. Maybe I can be more clear. There is legislation that identifies people living in Zanzibar as 'Zanzibaris', which is additional to their identity as Tanzanian citizens. I haven't been able to find on the internet whether or not the recognition of Zanzibari status is indicated in the Tanzanian passport. I don't think Zanzibari is ethnicity, nor nationality, though it might be 'citizen of Zanzibar'. I'd like to know if there is another term for it, or other examples where a sub-group wants to be formally identified as distinct from the state, and that distinction is accommodated formally somehow, especially in a passport. The Aland Island autonomy in Finland issues separate passports for Aland Islanders. How does it work in Quebec? Is the Quebecois identity, recognized in the Canadian passport, or other official documents? Is that identity 'nationality', 'ethnicity', or what?

Don't know about the Quebecois but in the UK the Scots, Welsh andNorthern Irish are legally recognised (through the fact that they have devolved Parliaments and seperate laws applicable only in their territories), on the passport though it says citizen of the UK. This isn't surprising as the body which issues passports (central government) is not usually interested in reinforcing identification with 'national sub-groups' or providing justification & encouragement for competing national identities, they'd rather encourage identification with the state as the UK so wouldn't want passports saying citizen of Scotland, etc. AllanHainey 15:57, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Åland is more than just an autonomous region within Finland, since unlike most such regions they have their own foreign relations. It is a demilitarized zone outside the EU customs union. Finland cannot force Åland to enter international treaties. (E.g. they could have stayed outside the EU had they wished) So there is a practical reason other than pride for their passports to be marked as such. Although de facto there is currently no reason since Finland and Åland have entered into the same treaties which are relevant for passports. (read:Schengen). --BluePlatypus 17:17, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Demographics of U.S. voters by Party

I am trying to compile information on the demographic of our two major political parties. I am looking for the percent of each educational level (from not finishing high school to Phd.)in both the Republican and Democratic parties. I would also like to get the income spread over the span.

Thank you for your help,

David

This looks like the closest you can get. --BluePlatypus 18:12, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

occupied territories

occupied territories? — Lomn Talk 18:05, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

divorce

Is it a proven fact that women with carreers and families cause families to "break up?" If so, what would be the percentage?

No, it isn't. You don't need to do a census, either. What is the divorce rate? Now, what is the percentage of "working women?" They don't match, do they? Further, if they did, what would it mean? Check out post hoc ergo propter hoc. Geogre 21:33, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Greek poet that inspired the latin lyric poetry

I think that it can be Alcman but can you confirm this for me.

Thanks

Raymonde Cyrenne Ottawa, Ontario Canada

• I guess you've looked at Alcman. Sappho was the first great Greek lyric poet. The Romans adopted (stole?) Greek culture in toto, but not until much later than either of these poets. Halcatalyst 23:07, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Ceaser

Why did Brutus kill Ceaser ?

Have you checked our articles on Marcus Junius Brutus and Julius Caesar (note spelling)? — Lomn Talk 20:58, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

How did people in the 16th and 17th centuries identify witches?

People determined that, since witches burned, they must be composed of otherwise identifyable burnable materials, e.g. wood. The problem then becomes one of determining if a prospective witch is, in fact, wooden. One cannot build a bridge of witches, as bridges can also be composed of stone. However, while stone sinks in water, wood floats. Since ducks also float, a simple test of witchery is to see if the prospective witch weighs the same as a duck.

Another theory is that witch identification was often arbitrary and politically motivated; such explanations lie at the heart of the Salem witch trials. — Lomn Talk 21:05, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

If you want to know what they did, check out Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay. Otherwise, look for Matthew Hutchison. Witch finders had various theories about their prey. Normally, they'd look for extra nipples (male or female) and numb spots that indicated giving suck to demons. See witch and witch trial for more. The methods changed with the times and the locale, and the folks I'm referring to are only the English. Geogre 21:37, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

1847 defintion of life and person. Why not the whole dictionary.

I am looking for and online dictionary that would have definitions from Meriam Webster (started in 1847) or other dictionaries that would included defintions of life and person at the time or even four years before 1847.

Thanks, Ken

Salvador Dali

what was the mental state of salvador Dali at the time when he painted 'the red orchasta'(1944)? was he happy? depressed? going through hard times? or enjoying his success? and what caused his mental state?

• You could do worse thhan starting with the article Salvador Dalí.Halcatalyst 23:01, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Francis Bellamy and the Pledge of Allegiance

I searched your website and could not find an answer my question. Was Francis Bellamy instructed by anybody to write the Pledge of Allegiance. Was it a government official, friend or anybody eles?

• If you take a look at Pledge_of_Allegiance#History, you will see that the pledge was written as part of a marketing campaign. Bellamy took his orders from the publishers of Youth's Companion. The government got involved later. Halcatalyst 01:13, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

January 13

american history 1800's

was daniel and noah webster related? thanks, bonnie

• No. See Daniel Webster and Noah Webster. Halcatalyst 01:06, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Legal Working Age In BC, Canada

Hey, I was wondering what the legal working age in BC, Canada, more specifically, Vancouver(if that makes any difference)

Art Prices

What is the most expensive piece of art in the world?

202.37.229.19 01:54, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Officially, which country is he a citizen of? deeptrivia (talk) 01:59, 13 January 2006 (UTC)