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August 11

Founding documents and happiness

Is the United States Declaration of Independence the only founding document addressing the pursuit of happiness? I'm wondering whether any other country has included happiness in their founding documents, constitution, etc. Thank you for your help! gretchen 66.237.239.140 00:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

It wasn't a founding document, but the Constitution of Japan has the phrase in Article 13 ([1]). Note also that the phrase doesn't deal with the right to be happy, only with the right to try to be happy :) Most English-speaking countries use the more specific "Peace, order and good government" instead. Ziggurat 00:22, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Thirty constitutions adopted by seventeen states from 1776 to 1902 have incorporated the phrase. Eleven other constitutions as well as the Federal Constitution clearly imply individual human rights, including the right to the pursuit of happiness, as a privilege of citizenship.

Friedrich, Carl J. (1959). The Pursuit of Happiness in the Democratic Creed: An Analysis of Political Ethics. p. 2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

George Mason, Virginia patriot, legislator, and author of The Virginia Declaration of Rights and of one of the drafts of The Virginia Constitution, is considered by some historians the first to have expressed an inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness in a legislative document. Mason stated, in The Virginia Declaration of Rights:

That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

Ibid. p. 161.EricR 00:33, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

A Mouse In The House!

Or more specifically, in my garage!

Or at least I think it is a mouse- I haven't seen it but there are some droppings evident and some paper has been "nibbled". It doesn't seem to live there but there are a few holes that he can get in through.

What is the most humane way to get rid of it? I am thinking if I left poison it might die somewhere else- Not very humane but at least I wouldn't have to deal with it;-) I don't want to catch it in a traditional mouse trap cos I am sure it (the mouse) would suffer. I guess I could block up the holes but I might miss the one he is using.

What should I do? What is the best way to catch a mouse?Downunda 00:53, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Check your local hardware stores for non-lethal mousetraps. Several varieties exist, and they actually work pretty well (assuming it's not a rat or anything else). What to do with the mouse next, however... Ziggurat 00:58, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Get a cat. While certainly lethal if he catches the mouse, most likely the sight of the cat will convince the mouse to live elsewhere. Of course, there is always the possibility that the cat, wanting to prove his value, will leave you a "gift" of a dead, bloody mouse on your pillow. :-) StuRat 01:07, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Cats can be severely injured by a mouse, and also run the risk of catching diseases. User:Zoe|(talk) 01:40, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Severely injured by a mouse ? A rat, perhaps, but how badly could a mouse hurt a cat ? Maybe a little nip on the nose ? StuRat 02:08, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Make any potential food (has anything been nibbled on?) unreachable for them. DirkvdM 06:41, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Owls are much better predators than cats, especially when it comes to mice. One owl can catch as much as ten cats when put into a barnhouse (I read that somewhere once, I don't remember where though). schyler 14:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but where do you buy an owl ? And how do you train them to use an "owl pan" ? Also, recall that the object is to scare the mouse off, not to actually kill it. StuRat 17:18, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

My gosh!!! How big is this owl, that can catch up to ten cats? 69.158.118.85 00:11, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Mouse_trap : the two last types of traps look pretty safe. Check the trap at regular times, then release the poor fellow somewhere far away. Evilbu 18:26, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Why from Eeylops Owl Emporium of course! Where else? ;) schyler 21:00, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

You certainly wouldn't want to use the mouse trap of Dutch comedian Dorus. Take a small plank, make a slit in the middle, put a razor blade in it and put a bit of cheese on one side. A mouse comes along, sees the cheese, eats it, thinks "Hmmm, maybe there's some at the other side as well", looks across the razor blade (throat resting on it) and says "No, no cheese", shaking its head. DirkvdM 08:48, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Big ideas

Can you please find me a definition of "big idea"? Thank you

"big idea" = an idea which is large in scope or meaning or importance --Bmk 03:32, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

This should really be asked in the Language section of the RefDesk, but I've never been anal about those kinds of things so I don't mind at all responding here. Bmk gave you the literal definition, which is correct. However I have a feeling you're looking for some more idiomatic definitions. There are two I can think of:

If someone says: "Hey! What's the "big idea!", they're basically saying the equivalent of "Hey! What the hell's going on here!" or "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing". Basically then, "big idea" can be defined as some sort of surprising and somewhat innaproriate, or at least "unnaproved of by the speaker" behaviour.

In other cases it can be used as basically a sarcastic version of Bmk's literal definition. It's somewhat synonymous with a pipe dream. Basically, if one says "yeah...my idiot cousin has a whole bunch of "big ideas" for the family business", it basically means that the speaker believes that her cousin is an idiot with a whole bunch of ideas that he thinks are brilliant, but she thinks are purely useless. Loomis 23:07, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

mens fashion icons

Who would be considered fashion icons for men in the twentith century? Who would be men who have permanently changed the direction of fashion by what they wear?

• Cary Grant
• Spencer Tracy,
• James Cagney,
• James Bond 007,
• Dwight Eisenhower: and the short jacket,
• David Bowie,
• Sir Elton John,
• Giorgio Armani,
• Michael Jackson,
• Richard Roundtree as "Shaft",
• Billy Dee Williams,
• The Beetles,
• Abby Hoffman and the hippy loo,
• Bill Cosby,
• Harry Bellefonte,
• Mr. Blackwell,
• James Dean,

--Sfleece 01:07, 11 August 2006 (UTC)S.Fleece

Andy Warhol, Don Johnson, Gianni Versace, Hugo Boss ? StuRat 01:10, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Also, do you want to include females who had an influence on male fashions ? StuRat 01:16, 11 August 2006 (UTC) Thank you, but I am just looking for male icons.--Sfleece 11:55, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Jawaharlal Nehru. User:Zoe|(talk) 01:42, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Ozwald Boateng in the UK. --mboverload@ 07:14, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Kurt Cobain, Hugh Hefner, Elvis Presley (hairstyles anyway), John Travolta, The Monkees, Duran Duran, Snoop Dogg, MC Hammer, Andre Agassi, Pierre Trudeau, Abba, The Captain. Anchoress 07:27, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Thank you everyone great ideas. Please keep editing or adding ideas.--Sfleece 11:55, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Would Bob Marley be considered an icon?--Sfleece 11:55, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

John F. Kennedy was very important and killed the Fedora. Don Johnson in Miami Vice did the "sportcoat with t-shirt" thing, and Richard Gere in American Gigolo got every man's woman to start dressing him differently. Geogre 12:03, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

According to snopes.com, Kennedy killing off men's hats is an urban legend. (here)

The answers so far have mixed two degrees of influence. The second part of the question asked which men "permanently changed the direction of fashion". That's setting the bar pretty high, excluding fads with no long term impact. I know as much about fashion as I do about physics, but I'm guessing the Nehru jacket or anything worn by Duran Duran and MC Hammer was a fad and effected no "permanent change", if such a thing is even possible in fashion. --Kevin (complaints?) 14:04, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Marlon Brando, through his potrayal of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire is definitely a biggie. In much of the film he was wearing what we would call today a simple T-Shirt. Yet at the time, these "T-Shirts" were no more than underwear. It's true, there was some appearance of men wearing nothing but T-Shirts (and pants, of course!) as early as the '40s, in particular by sailors in the Navy. Still, the film and Brando really turned what was an odd occurence (guys going around in public in their underwear) into a definite, avant-guard fashion statement. And apparently it was no mere fad, as T-Shirts are as popular today as ever. In fact I'm wearing one right now...with no pants! :--) Loomis 22:27, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Then we have to include Clark Gable, since his shirtless appearance in It Happened One Night almost killed the American undershirt industry single-handed. User:Zoe|(talk) 02:22, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Jesus in other religions?

I know Jesus is mentioned in the Quran. But is he mentioned in any other religious texts? Curius particularly about Hinduism.

Thanks. Cris

I'm almost certain he's mentioned in the Bible.  :--) JackofOz 03:39, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

I'll point out that our article on him mentions the views of several other religions in relation to him, just in case you didn't notice it. I'm not sure if he would be in any religious texts of those religions, though. With regard to Hinduism... well, the most important Hindu texts are probably the Vedas, and they all pre-date Jesus, so obviously won't mention him (at least, not unless you choose to interpret something in them as predicting him). It's possible that he's mentioned in other Hindu texts somewhere (there are quite a few), but I'm not aware of any such mention. -- Vardion 06:18, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Religions come in this order: Judaism,Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

Only the last two mention Jesus I guess. That makes sense , at least. Evilbu 12:55, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

The above order is a bit wrong. Hinduism is the oldest religion by age. see here for details.nids 06:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Jadaism mentions Jesus. They mention the Son of God. :)... if that's what you believe. schyler 14:51, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

You may be interested in Yuz Asaf. MeltBanana 15:49, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Was the mention of "Jadaism" a typo for "Judaism" or a reference to something else? Please don't take this as a cheeky remark, I'm honestly curious. Everyone makes typos. In any case, if it was indeed a reference to Judaism, where in particular does Judaism mention "The son of God"? Loomis 22:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Jainism? --Lambiam^Talk 03:49, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Daniel 3:25 is the only place in the Tanakh I am aware of that uses the expression "son of God" (as opposed to "sons of God"). The Jade Knight 07:40, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

He's mentioned plenty of times in Baha'i texts. -LambaJan 05:13, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

And to construe any prediction in a Jewish text as a mention of Jesus is backwards. Jews predict a son of god, but they differ from Christians in pricisely that they don't believe that that son of god, that messiah, is Jesus Christ. So to say that Jewish texts mention Jesus is to reclaim them as Christian "Old Testament" texts and not Jewish ones. Sashafklein 05:18, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

The Tanakh (Old Testament for Christians) unquestionably mentions Christ (=Messiah), but there's nothing that specifies Jesus, or that it absolutely must be interpreted to mean Jesus (as any believing Jew could tell you). It gets more complicated, as well. On the same note, the Qur'an mentions Jesus, but not as Christ—Muhammad specifically denied the crucifixion, as well as any divine role for Jesus. The Jade Knight 07:40, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I am not so sure of that. Muhammad said that Jesus was but a mortal prophet but he also said that "all men born of the bosom of their mother are slapped by Satan except Jesus and his mother." Flamarande 19:11, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

While I do not consider myself a hadith scholar, I've done some limited studies into Muhammad's perception of Jesus, and did not find anything that would suggest that Muhammad thought Jesus was any bit a greater prophet than he (Muhammad) was. The Jade Knight 03:17, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Jesus is also mentioned in Latter Day Saint scriptures—which includes the Bible, but there are also (extensive) references in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants; unsurprising for a Christian sect, however. The Jade Knight 03:21, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Besides, according to Jewish prophecy, the Messiah will be a descendant of King David. As the Gospel of Matthew takes great pains to explain, Mary's husband Joseph was a decendant of King David. Yet apparently, Joseph wasn't Jesus' real father at all, more of a step-father. His real father was God. It would appear then that Jesus was indeed not a descendant of David, and therefore, not the Messiah that Judaism had prophecized. Loomis 23:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

The Bible in several places states that Jesus was, in fact, a descendant of David (Romans 1:3; Luke 1:32; etc.) This may be taken as an implication that Mary was also a descendant of David (and according to Dr. Lewis, the Sinaitic Palimpsest confirms the claim that Mary was of the house of David). I have read that it is likely that Joseph and Mary were related, though I do not remember where or what the references were. That is all, naturally, besides the point—those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah became Christians; modern Judaism derives from those who rejected his claims (or never heard them). The Jade Knight 00:26, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Obscure question involving the defense of gay-bashing in the courts

What's the term used in the American (perhaps otherwhere) legal system to describe a moment when a heterosexual is overcome by fear/hate of a gay person and thus becomes irresponsible for actions immediately afterward? I believe there have been a few noteworthy cases recently...

When a defense lawyer claims that such a thing has occurred, it is called homosexual panic, though most of Wikpedia's content on the subject is at gay panic defense. - Nunh-huh 06:30, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Hold on, homophobia can be used as a legal excuse for assaulting people? Or am I misreading this? DirkvdM 06:49, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh shit, I thought Law & Order was just making it up. --mboverload@ 07:10, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

It seems lawyers will try anything in a defense case, on the off chance that it just might work. See Twinkie defense and, of course, the Chewbacca Defense. (The popularity of this kind of defensive tactic in the U.S., as the O.J. Simpson trial showed, is that being a victim has achieved a sort of privileged status, so if you can suggest to an impressionable jury that the accused is actually a victim too, maybe they'll let him off easy.) Kevin (complaints?) 07:26, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

These are attempts at showing that the person did not have mens rea -- the criminal intent. They also say that the person did not have a choice and could not have refused the impulse to harm. It is why the insane are not punished the way that the sane are. A sane person chooses to act criminally, but the insane cannot help themselves. This principle goes a long way. For example, there are laws covering hateful speech where one can be excused if the speech was so horrible that you could not help yourself from bashing the other person. The argument, therefore, is that someone is so homophobic and so latently homosexual himself that when the gay person brushed up against him at the crowded concert, his insane fears took over and he had no way to choose not to bash. For the gay panic defense to work, the bashing person has to admit to being a latent homosexual, a sexual abuse victim, and mentally ill. Geogre 12:01, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

A hate crime. I'm sorry, using hate as "temporary insanity" is not sound. ColourBurst 17:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

No, well, hate crime laws had to be passes specifically to stifle such defenses. If the person argues that she or he is not a prejudiced, hateful person, that he or she sets out with no intention of a hate crime, but then, through psychological stress, is suddenly flipped out and acts, then it will not be a hate crime but, instead, a crime committed in temporary insanity. I'm not saying that I agree with this tactic, but it is why the tactic works. Hate crimes are for Klansmen, they'd say: the people who have clear criminal intent and clear hate ahead of time, while the gay basher might be overcome by homosexual panic. Geogre 02:33, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Lawyers who come up with crap like this should be murdered by the victim's family, who can then plea "lawyer panic defense", which says they are latent lawyers, who ate a Twinkie, so couldn't help but kill the lawyer they had brushed up against. StuRat 17:30, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

You missed the most important part of the defence speech; the hour-long detailed talk about how Chewbacca is on the wrong planet, and how the bananas are different there. Then no jury would dare to convict them! —Daniel (‽) 21:03, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Is shares a Giffen good

A Giffen good is a product for which a rise in price of this product makes people buy even more of the product. Giffen goods may or may not exist in the real world, but there is an economic model that explains how such a thing could exist. Giffen goods are named after Sir Robert Giffen, who was attributed as the author of this idea by Alfred Marshall in his book Principles of Economics.

Are shares a Giffen good? If the price of a share (of a company) rises then more people want to buy the shares. Ohanian 12:17, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

(I have edited your question a little to make it clearer.)--Shantavira 12:44, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

That wouldn't fit the definition of a Giffen good because it is not just the price that is changing, but people's perceptions of the value of that share. I think Veblen good would be a better description of that situation. --129.110.195.26 15:58, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

You've got it the wrong way around. The price goes up because people want it. Basic supply and demand. DirkvdM 08:52, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

As the Giffen good article says, in old England the price of bread went up, so people didn't have enough money for meat, so they bought more bread. Shares are not a staple like bread is. DavidMack 18:23, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

An Artist Named Tsugonham Fonjita

Any information appreciated-I have print of girls head dated 1947

Mike James

Best Google can do, unfortunately... seems to be a relatively minor artist, though I found one mention of a piece that sold for $1,300, bottom righton here. Good luck! Tony Fox (arf!) 16:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Tony-I have tried all the major search engines

Music identification (again)

Does anyone know what this music is called: ? I'm playing it from memory, so there are probably some differences from the original. Thanks in advance! --BrainInAVat 16:20, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

You probably know a thousand times more about music than me, so this should be no problem for you : [2] Just type U(Up) D (down) and R(repeat), compare the results(listen to them) and choose. Something as long as URDDUR should do it. Evilbu 18:32, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

This is an interesting one - it was originally known as Bach's Viola Concerto in C-minor, but it was discovered that it was in fact written by Henri Casadesus in the style of Bach, so it is sometimes known as the J.C. Bach/Casadesus concerto for Viola in C-minor. Nice playing, by the way. --Bmk 23:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Musipedia is very well designed and helpful. Bookmark it! Does someone know a site giving any help for images ? Also, why don't people on ImageShack tag their pics ? -- DLL ^{.. T} 17:22, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

There's this news about image search : [3] --193.56.241.75 14:03, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Shortest film

Does anyone know the shortest film to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award?

Please read the instructions at the top of the page before posting - then you get to pick your own title! --Bmk 23:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Googling 'Shortest Best Picture nominee' reveals that it is She Done Him Wrong starring Mae West in 1933 at 66 mins.The shortest winner is Marty in 1955 at 91 mins, followed by Annie Hall in 1977 at 93 mins. Lemon martini 15:24, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Castro : studied in New York and congratulated Roosevelt?(+language)

Hello,

I just watched a documentary about Fidel Castro on Canvas, the second channel by the public broadcasting service in Flanders, Belgium. In fact, those interested and receiving Canvas, can still watch it, they will repeat it all night long (as usual).

They said Castro had travelled, long before he took power, to New York, got influenced by Karl Marx's theories there, and even congratulated president Roosevelt for being re-elected (with a letter). Now if I understand correctly, Roosevelt was re-elected the three times, the last time was in 1944. Castro was at most 18 at that time?! Did he travel to New York at that age?

And then a minor question : at the end of the documentary, he is shown (in military uniform) with a Soviet leader at an airport (presumably Gorbachev), what language were these two men speaking (Russian, English, Spanish?)

Thank you,

Evilbu 19:39, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Castro's letter to Roosevelt:

In November 1940 he ventured to write a letter in English to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, congratulating the president on his recent reelection to a third term. "I am a boy," he said, "but I think very much.... If you like, give me a ten dollars bill green american in the letter, because I have not seen a ten dollars bill american and I would like to have one of them." In a postscript he suggested that if Roosevelt wanted iron to build his ships, "I will show to you the bigest [sic] minas of iron of the land." They were close by, in Mayarí, he said. The president's short reply, regretting that no money could be sent, was tacked up for every student to read.

Quirk, Robert E. (1995). Fidel Castro. p. 14.

He was studying at the Dolores Jesuit school in Santiago. Castro later traveled to New York for his honeymoon in October 1948 (Ibid., p. 27), again in September 1960 (Ibid., p. 333), and finally in September 2000[4].EricR 20:40, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, so he was isn't the USA at the time he wrote that letter?. He has been in USA three times then? You do mean Santiago, Chile? Evilbu 21:31, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

The letter was written while he was in Santiago de Cuba, sorry about that. Castro was on Meet the Press (at least twice?) in 1959. I have no idea as to the total number of trips he made, but there should be news coverage for each post-'59.EricR 22:20, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Papal succession

Is Benedict XVI the first non-Italian Pope to be elected one after another? User:NoN

Not at all...especially if you consider the Avignon papacy. See List of French popes for example. Adam Bishop 20:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

However, he is the first non-Italian pope since 1523 to succeed another non-Italian pope (1523 was the year Pope Adrian VI died). JackofOz 09:57, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Malcolm Miller Chartres Cathedral, France

Is Malcolm Miller still giving free guided tours of Chartres Cathedral. Thks et Merci

It would seem so. "Malcolm offers tours at noon and 2:45 daily except Sundays . . ." Dar-Ape 17:17, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Acquiring English accent possible?

I've heard it's possible for people to pick up on other English accents/speaking mannerisms. Is it true? The reason i'm asking is because i'm an American (ethnically British though)and i'm going to attend a little bit of college in Britain hopefully, and I thought it would be awesome if I picked up a little of the UK accent.

I think if you live with native English people for more than two weeks, you'll start picking up the accent and the mannerisms, with no more effort than simply socializing with them. It doesn't work nearly as much if you're with other Americans, though. --Bmk 23:14, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Most people would actually need to make an effort to avoid taking on the native accent. StuRat 23:19, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

The change in accent might be noticible to your family or maybe other Americans, but I recon you'd still just sound 'American' to me. --Username132 (talk) 13:54, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

There is a huge range of distinct accents in the UK though and if you go anywhere sizeable you are likely to be exposed to a fair proportion. You might end up pronouncing certain sounds a little more as they are pronounced in English accents on the whole and less as they are in American accents, but you are unlikely to develop anything that would pass as even a vaguely convincing native accent. The danger with actively trying to sound more English is that it may be seen as patronising at best and piss-taking at worst, so I wouldn't try it except with people you know. Mattley ^(Chattley) 23:34, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't work nearly as much if you're with other Americans, though Of course-- it's obvious (sorry if I sound rude-- I have no intention to appear that way) that I couldn't develop a genuine UK accent if it were just me and a few of my American friends talking to each other. As you all said, that it's actually likely that I will pick up on a UK accent, that does sound true to me because I met someone (who was very kind, and fun to hang out with) who was a redneck, and spoke rather... "southernly" (speaking of southern in the United States), and I noticed after just one day of speaking with him at school that I was saying several words in a southern accent already-- I don't know if it's just that my own speech mannerisms are that moldable or what, but it would seem like I would be able to pick up an accent if I went to the UK for a semester or two in college =D. EDIT: I've noticed also, that if I watch more than an hour of BBC at a time, I start speaking with a tiny accent.. So that means if I actually socialize with Britons for longer than an hour (for several months), i'll develop a genuine accent..? --Rainsey

I think that's quite possible. Some people are more adept at that than others and it sounds like you're among the talented. I am also and have done a bit of travelling as well. I can tell you that some aspects come sooner than others and unless you make an effort you will most likely always carry a bit of where you're from with you, though it'll show less and less. My advice is to just be genuine and pick up and use the accent at whatever rate you naturally do. You won't offend anyone unless they're easily offendable. There's no need to work at these things unless you're an actor. -LambaJan 05:24, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

If you go for a few weeks you'll probably pick up something (if you hang out only with English people and especially if they are all from the same area, speaking the same accent), but after returning to the US, you'll probably loose all that in a matter of days. When travelling, my English gradually improves, provided I speak mainly to native English speakers. But when I get to talk to Germans, I start picking up their accent (which is not unlike the Dutch accent in speaking English, just a lot worse) in a matter of minutes. That said, after months of travelling my Dutch worsens and I once met a Dutchman who had been travelling for years and didn't want to speak Dutch because he said he had forgotten how to and sometimes I hear Dutch emigrants struggling for words when they try to speak Dutch. DirkvdM 09:29, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

You have to question what is meant by "developing an accent". Your speech may be modified - that's certainly likely - but if you haven't developed an accent that the English would recognise as one of theirs then in what sense would you have developed an English accent? Yes - it happens to a certain degree that people pick up sounds and speech patters if they go somewhere unusual, but on the other hand it also doesn't happen a lot. I moved to a city which has a strong and distinctive accent eight years ago and while my own regional accent has softened over this time I certainly haven't started talking like a local. Nor have any of my incomer friends, and the UK-based Australians, Americans and Canadians that I know haven't started to sound English either. You also have to take perception into account. If you are dealing with unfamiliar accents, and unless you are a good mimic, which most people are not, you may not get the nuances. Lots of Americans confuse Australian and English accents, and Brits can't generally tell Canadians apart from Americans. Will you sound more English to you? Very likely. Will you sound English to the English? Unlikely. Will you sound like Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins? Possibly - and you don't want that. Mattley ^(Chattley) 09:46, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Contrary to popular belief, there is no "British accent" only the Queen speaks like the Queen, and only James Bond speaks like James Bond. Pretty much all other people have a regional accent. This will become most apparent for example if you are intending on going to college in Exeter, and pick up mannersims in Newcastle. After spending time in Britiain, to Brits, you will still seem american, as it is your american maanersims etc. that set you apart, though on your return to America, you may seem more british to them. Philc _T^E_C^I 13:25, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Don't pick up a Newcastle accent - it's totally unintelligible. DirkvdM 09:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

A Newcastle accent is very useful if you want to sound as hard as bloody nails. On the other hand, a Brummie accent is a thing of grotesqueness beyond all imagining. (It is, to be fair, easier to understand than Geordie) --Dweller 15:38, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Those subaccents are all part of the British accent, just as there are subaccents which are part of the American accent. Although, in the US, there is one majority accent spoken in most of the country, with only small variations, excluding the East Coast and the South. Is there a "majority accent" in Britain, as well ? StuRat 23:38, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Not really. (The following answer is a generalisation).

• 1/ Upper-class people (5% of the population?) have their own distinct accent which does not vary at all by region (except for Scots).

• 2/ People a bit lower down (10-15%) have a different accent which doesnt vary much (a bit different in the north). This is the accent now used by BBC newsreaders; previously they used the posh accent. When people on here do IPA for British English they use this accent.

• 3/ Lower middle-class and working-class people (75%-80%) have a variety of regional accents. No one region is big enough to predominate in terms of numbers. Each of these accents ranges from barely noticeable (ie almost converging with accent 2) to very strong depending on the person's social class and education.

But its in a state of flux - lots of upper-class people now use accent 2. And urban working-class accents are gaining at the expense of rural ones. Jameswilson 02:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Chicks dig teh accents --mboverload@ 09:20, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Back in 1995, my family spent a summer in Northern Ireland, and by the end of the summer my father was told that he sounded more like an Irishman than an American. My college roommate last schoolyear had an Irish accent, and his speech influenced mine to a small extent. Nyttend 17:54, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Squatters

What is the deal with squatters? What laws is there against them in Britain? Is it true that if they legally get into your house then it's theirs??????? I've heard so many different things about it and I finally want to know the truth! - Thanks for the help Joel

In your specific example the question is a definite no. That person certainly doesn't own your house.

Squatters' rights usually only kick in after a great deal of time, many years at least. Plus there's the concept of adverse possession. (I just realized that both of those links are directed to the same page). To answer your question as briefly as possible, squatters' rights are very easily defeated. Let's say some squatter is living in a property of yours. It takes very little to make sure they never acquire ownership. Even if you want to be totally lazy about it, all you have to do is tell the person, even as infrequently as every couple of years, and probably even much less often than that (depending on your jurisdiction): "I allow you to live here for now". By doing that the squatter will never end up owning it. Of course it would be wise to have some sort of proof of it. I suppose another possibilty might be to call up the local police department, tell them of the situation, and tell them that you want to be on record as consciously allowing that person to be there. That's all that's necessary. Loomis 00:48, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Possession may not matter as much as the right to use something. According to the Dutch squatting article, the Netherlands is one of the few countries where squatting is not explicitly forbidden by law. If a house is left unused for over a year (and there are no clear intentions of plans to start using it) and people move in and can make it clear that they live there then they can't be evicted (basically, all that is needed is a bed, a table and a chair). Which is fair, considering the housing situation in some cities, maybe not so much to give the squatters a place to live, but to stop speculation on houses, which only worsens the problem. You may find that using someone else's property is unfair, but so is holding on to a scarce good just to drive up the price. However, you specifically asked about the UK, so my apologies for this answer. :) DirkvdM 09:42, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

What if I build a hut somewhere in the Netherlands, and no-one questions it for a year - am I allowed to keep my hut there? --130.161.182.91 13:35, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Thank You :)

August 12

Graditude

I want to say thanks to everyone. I have learned a lot from everyone who participates in this Q&A forum. There is nowhere else like this that I know of. For those who believe in God (for me that is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost) God loves you. For those who do not... God loves you also! Jesus came for all of God's creation. Not just for me and not just for you. Cris Deloach

Thank you, and pax tecum. Geogre 02:29, 12 August 2006 (UTC) (sometimes helpful)

Whatr does pax tecum mean:CAD

"Peace be with you." David Sneek 07:10, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I must admit, this is one of the best Help Desks I'm aware of—though I still manage to stump a few of the folks here (why is it that I always want to know really obscure stuff?) Anyway, I'm glad you appreciate it, Cris. The Jade Knight 07:32, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

And I love you too, whether you believe in me or not. :) DirkvdM 09:45, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Writing a Page and Adding a Photo

Hello. I am trying to write a page called "Origin of Light". It is about a book of poetry. To upload the photo of the book, I am a bit confused. Also, there is a warning message there. I'm a little confused. Could you plaese help me to download and publish the photo and to not get the website deleted as I am still writing it and did not mean to save it before finishing it. Thank you, S.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Thatpoet (talk • contribs)

Stephanie, are you writing an article on your own book? Wikipedia:Uploading images and Wikipedia:Picture tutorial may be your friends. --Tagishsimon (talk)

You might also find Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Vanity guidelines helpful. Your article will probably get deleted if it fails to comply with these policies.--Shantavira 06:41, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

....Looks like you should also read this page about your "publisher".--Shantavira 19:25, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Strange pic floating around...

Does anyone recognize this dude? Other then he's from Nebraska, I can't tell... 68.39.174.238 10:57, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

where'd you get that picture? looks like a relative..

He most probably is. The question is of whom. DirkvdM 09:17, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Relative of who? Anyway, I found it on this nonsensical hoax: ZX60.8 and wondered if it could be used in a legitimate articel about the dude. He looks like a politician. 68.39.174.238 09:47, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

No, whom. Don't miscorrect me. :) DirkvdM 09:45, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

He likes cows. And elephant(s). --Dweller 15:32, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

research on levels of processing approach since year 2000

202.159.224.89 13:14, 12 August 2006 (UTC)where do i get research on levels of processing approach since the year 2000?

I assume you looked at Levels of processing. You can use Google scholar, Advanced search with a query like "with the exact phrase [levels of processing]; return articles published between [2000]—[ ]", and see what comes up. If you have access to a research library you can try to use the Social Sciences Citation Index; the librarian can show you how to use it. --Lambiam^Talk 23:49, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Where can I find a list of Canadian Number 1 hits?

I've searched Wikipedia,Google,Yahoo all over and can't find a list of Canadian Number 1 songs.The best I've found is some local charts,one in particular being CHUM? Is there any sort of equivalent of the Billboard charts/UK Top 40 at all and if so,where is it? Lemon martini 15:30, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

How about this: http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/. Marskell 10:20, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

30 years of Canadian Chart Hits, by week. Scroll down in the individual months' windows, all the weeks of each month are on one page, listed vertically. --Anchoress 19:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Old School in London Fifty years ago

I am looking for my old school that I went to fifty years ago. It was located on Central Hill in Upper Norwood London.

It was an all girls Convent School run by Nuns, at that time and was attached to Catholic Church. The School was called Our Lady's Convent School and there was another school in the same building I think it was call Notre Dame also girls. I do not know if the Church had another name, proberley did.

I am not able to do a search from here in Canada so I was hoping I could get some help from someone in the UK.

Hope you can help.

Regards

Diana Connolly

Is it Our Lady of Fidelity or Virgo Fidelis? Their webpages are here and here. You can change to any of the regional google sites by changing the URL in the address bar after you perform your search - note the only difference between this search and this search is that I've changed google.co.uk to google.ca - make your change in the address bar and press enter. Although in this case it doesn't actually make any difference as the results were very similar - for what did you search? Natgoo 18:18, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Mysterious Rock Circle

I found this while walking on a path through one of my mother's flower gardens. It is obviously dug and hand placed rocks in a small trench in the form of an almost perfect circle. There is also a small triangle pointing inwards at one point in the circle.

Here are the photographs I just took,

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a260/insenid/rockcircle1.jpg http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a260/insenid/rockcircle2.jpg

Does anyone know what might have caused something so eerie, or if not, what the symbol is?

Does the little triangle point north? Maybe someone made a "rock compass" for the garden? - Nunh-huh 23:11, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

How about a border for a flower garden (now in disrepair) ? StuRat 23:44, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

It looks pretty small, huh? How big is it?--Anchoress 23:51, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

The only person who works on the garden is my mother and she says she did not create it. it is actually in the path between two placed rock walls that denote the path and the garden. The rock circle is about two feet in diameter. A friend said it was probably from a flowerpot. However my mom does no planting at this time of the year, and I have not found any pots that big, and it still doesnt explain the tiny rocks in the trenches, because the rock wall is on the north side and would have prevented washing, and not that many rocks are apparent under the soil.

Eerie? Such a near perfect circle is likely to be man made. What's eerie about humans? Anyway, how long have your parents lived there? It could be a fireplace of previous inhabitants (or their kids). The rocks are rather small, but some rocks splinter when they get hot. Do they have sharp edges and is the ground charred under the surface? DirkvdM 09:24, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Robert Heinlein/Mormons

I understand that scifi author Robert Heinlein wrote a book that had a mormon/LDS spaceship including a temple. Does anyone know which book this was?

Citizen of the Galaxy mentions a Free Trader spaceship named Joseph Smith. I don't remember if a temple was mentioned, but the ship was huge. The Menace from Earth mentions a Mormon temple in Luna City (not a spaceship). Arthur C. Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth mentions Mormon "seedships" (colony ships) presumed lost. In all these cases it plays no role in the story line. --Lambiam^Talk 00:17, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Interesting note: 26% of all Hugo/Nebula-winning books have Latter-day Saint/Utah references. This does not include Hugo-winning movies which include them (such as Starship Troopers or Contact), or books which were nominated but did not win awards. 32% of the books on Amazon.com's "25 Best SF/F Novels of the Century" list have Latter-day Saint characters or references. Of the 27 novels which have won the Locus award for science fiction, 26% have Latter-day Saint characters or references. (all taken from www.adherents.com)[5]. The Jade Knight 03:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok, so this is not about morons spaced out on LSD. Sorry, misread that. :) DirkvdM 09:26, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Larry Niven included a LDS sect in a space colony in his The Mote in God's Eye sequel The Gripping Hand as a plot element. There were a number of spaceships working for/with the temple in question. 205.132.76.4 14:47, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The Art of The Prehistoric Aegean

The Treasury of Atreus is an excellent example of?

a homework question? 71.112.125.31 23:44, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

an informative article on Wikipedia? --Lambiam^Talk 00:33, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone know if Malcolm Miller is still alive?

I imagine that Malcolm Miller does. :-) StuRat 23:41, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Question to StuRat: Does it follow that you believe in afterlife? Or else, do you have knowledge of his being alive that you do not wish to reveal here? --Lambiam^Talk 00:20, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, after we die we become one with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. StuRat 04:10, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

In the great pasta-bowl in the sky. Makes me feel like a meatball just thinking about it. The Jade Knight 05:22, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I get many Google hits, some of which are quite recent and none suggesting abating health. If you want to be sure, I suggest that you send an e-mail enquiry to the Chartres Tourist Office, info@otchartres•fr (after replacing the raised dot by a regular dot). --Lambiam^Talk 00:30, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

August 13

Shebby Singh

do you know anything about Shebby Singh? he was a host to Astro Supersport channel in Malaysia during the world Cup 2006. i heard from people that he was a defender in Malaysian National team before and from his look and accent i can guess that he is an indian ethnic. i would like to know more about his life history or something? --218.111.31.160 14:53, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Largest city..

What is the largest US city without a mcdonalds? --Geobeedude 01:47, 13 August 2006 (UTC)Geobeedude

First, define "largest" US city. Largest population? Largest land area? Do you include the entire metropolitan area? Compare this list to this page. --Kainaw ^(talk) 03:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

According to yahoo answers it is Hogshooter, Oklahoma with a pop of 143. But I know that is not true as my hometown has over 2,000 people and no mcdonalds. I think you would have to go smaller than that list of over 100,000. I know several cities of 20-30,000 and they each have at least 1 if not 2 or 3 mcdonalds. Nowimnthing 18:52, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Is there REALLY a place called "Hogshooter"??!?! --Dweller 15:26, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

You cannot rely on Yahoo! Answers. Most postings are jokes. --Nelson Ricardo 15:42, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

i could not understand Nowimnthing comment of a largest city with just 143 peoples. otherwise, largest city could be Delhi for about 15 million population and 1500 square kilometers in Area.nids 19:01, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

No, he said in the US.

Ps: If every town in the U.S. with over 143 people has a McDonalds, that's pretty sad. Russian F 19:19, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

When I was in 29 Palms, there was a big city holiday because the town finally got big enough to get a McDonalds. So, I assume there is a minimum town size required for McDonalds to allow a franchise. --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:06, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

• somewhere in Alaska? hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 15:34, 14 August 2006 (UTC))

釘宮理恵

What does "釘宮理恵" mean? I'm not sure of the original language. Babelfish says if it's traditional Chinese, it's "Nail palace principle □"; whereas if it's Japanese, it's "Rie Kugimiya." Windows Media Player somehow came up with this as a folder name when it was sorting the song Banquet by Bloc Party. On a related note, what does "「りぜるまいん」主題歌～はじめてしましょ！｜ほんきパワーのだっしゅ！" mean? NeonMerlin 04:09, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

This belongs on the Language Ref Desk. StuRat 04:11, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

About your first query, it's most likely referring to Rie Kugimiya. Windows Media Player may be creating that as a folder name due to incorrect information in its CD identification databases. As for your second query, that reads "rizerumain" shudaika - hajimete shimasho! / honki pawa- no dasshu. A Google search for りぜるまいん turned up some results that seemed to be related to otaku culture. See [6] Cheers, Tangotango 04:43, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

ingrown toenail and the military

I was watching a M*A*S*H episode and they were treating people for ingrown toenails and the people were embarrassed and wanted to keep it a secret. Is getting an ingrown toenail against military rules?

No, but it's evidence that they lied about their shoe size in their induction lol. No, just kidding. I don't remember that episode, but I'd guess that it's a pretty 'girly' condition for infantrymen to have to admit to being laid low by. Anchoress 05:07, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

It was Season 4 episode Hey, Doc

I seem to recall that the person treated was British and that foot care was considered very important after their experiences in the World War I trenchs (Trenchfoot). Rmhermen 18:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Wow, he must have been pretty old. Anchoress 21:05, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

The Korean War was about 30 years after WW1, so, if he was about 20 in WW1, he would be about 50 in Korea, not too old for an officer. StuRat 00:19, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, kinda. The end of WWI was 32 years before the beginning of the Korean war, so 50 is about the youngest he could be.Anchoress 00:22, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

• An institutional healthcare priority within the British forces could easily outlive a personal aversion to trenchfoot. --Dystopos 15:33, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Social Cultural

There are people who live within their own community, build a large family, marry to other residents in their commnunity, does not allow television or newspapers in their homes, everyone works including the children, and only a few people who are leaders of the commnunity can go outside of their commnunity. What do we call these groups of people? I have seen they lived in Alburqueque, New Mexico and La Honda, Zacatecas, Mexico. They are not polygomists and prohibit divorces. The commnunity is caucasians, I think they are German descendants. Thank you for all your responses. Masterhp 05:06, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

North Koreans.

No, joking aside, it really depends on the cultural context. You could call them a slew of things, such as "xenophobic", "endogamous", "controlling", etc. Which people in particular are you thinking about? The Jade Knight 05:25, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Amish? - Pyro19 05:27, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

That's a good one, too. The Jade Knight 05:28, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

The questioner's description is a close match with the breakaway Mormon community in Bountiful, British Columbia and Hildale, Utah.Anchoress 05:34, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

That came to mind as well (though I wasn't sure about the media ban and child labor). The Jade Knight 05:39, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Media ban, definitely. As for labour, if you call being forced to quit school at 14 and give birth once a year for the next 25 years child labour, then - yeah. ;-) Anchoress 05:41, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Additional comment on the section added to the bottom of the original question: That's an Amish community. Anchoress 05:50, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm, actually on further investigation they may be Mennonites. Both have communities in the town you mentioned. Anchoress 05:53, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

For further reading, see Anabaptists (Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites), as well as the Church of the Brethren. Here in the Midwestern U.S., German Baptists (sometimes called Dunkards) are often mistaken for the Amish. --Kevin (complaints?) 17:50, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

How about the Hidden Jews of New Mexico? Hm. I thought we would probably have an article on them, but I couldn't find one. User:Zoe|(talk) 22:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Not likely, considering the fact that the Spanish had not reached New Mexico by the year 1492, let alone 200,000 Jews. (Having looked at the link closer, I see that they claim that these Jews converted in Spain, and then came to New Mexico. They offer absolutely nothing to back up their claims of such a phenomenon, and it does not seem to be documented anywhere but on their radio program.) The Jade Knight 00:37, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

That site is by far not the only place where the subject is mentioned, in fact it's just the first one I found when looking it up. I have heard of the Hidden Jews of New Mexico many times, not from that site. User:Zoe|(talk) 00:59, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I've heard of the Jackalopes of Nevada all over, too, and even seen "photographs". You have to forgive me for being a skeptic. The Jade Knight 05:01, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Roof Replacement

Masterhp 09:31, 13 August 2006 (UTC)Which energy efficient bricks are available in the market with reasonable prices?

I suggest you go to your local home improvement store. If you live in the US, Home Depot or Lowes will work great. They will definitely have someone there that can answer your question. I don't know of any foreign equivalents of Home Depot or Lowes, so I can't help you there. schyler 12:40, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

In the UK you've got B&Q and in the Netherlands, I think it's 'Gamma'. Can you not find anything via Google? --130.161.182.91 13:36, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia's expertise in not in current products and markets. I am unfamiliar with brick roof systems. If you refer to clay tiles, there are many recyclers of salvaged tile, but they are usually small local or regional outfits. --Dystopos 15:37, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Spartacus

In the recent Spartacus it talks about the republic,however here it says the republic was founded in around 44bc??also who was the emperor/king?and what was he doing during all this?it doesnt even mention one in the movie??Dagon13 10:17, 13 August 2006 (UTC)Nasir

According to most sources the Roman Republic ended in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar was proclaimed dictator for life. The uprising led by Spartacus took place before that, between 73 BC and 71 BC. So at the time there was no emperor yet. David Sneek 11:28, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Recent? - Have they remade Spartacus? AllanHainey 11:58, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Play it like...

I watched an episode of 20/20 or Dateline (I can't really remember) and there was a special on mentally chalenged kids who could play the piano incredibly well (good?). One that stuck out was a UKer who was blind and somewhat retarded. But he remembered every single piece of music he ever played. He was asked to play Beethoven's Fur Elise, and he did so without even thinking. Then the interviewer asked him to play Fur Elise as if [J.S.] Bach had written it. This intrigued me. He played it with a lot more decorative stuff (e.g. gracenotes). What did this mean? schyler 13:11, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I think he wanted to add some typical baroque ornamentation. David Sneek 13:43, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Yah, but like Bach. What does that mean? Is there a cetrain kind ofway Bach wrote his pieces that you could hear a piece and say , 'Oh. That piece is by Bach. No doubt.' schyler 14:06, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

There can always be some doubt, as is illustrated by the frequent misattribution of Bist du bei mir and the Eight Short Preludes and Fugues. But someone who uses the ornaments of that time, shows some contrapuntal invention and has some knowledge of Bach's style, would certainly be able to do a convincing imitation. (Here - if it works - is a funny fragment of Peter Ustinov improvising a fake Bach aria.) David Sneek 14:23, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

In the film Amadeus Mozart is also asked to play a piece "in the style of Bach". Yes, most composers have a somewhat recognizable style, and many composers have actually written some piece "in the style of X", where X is a different composer. --Lambiam^Talk 19:38, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Think of it in terms of modern music instead of classical. Most people could easily hear the difference in style between, say, The Beatles, The Rollings Stones and Led Zeppelin, even if it was only an instrumental part and you never heard the song before. Same thing with writers, painters, actors, operas, and indeed classical music. Listen to a few of Bach's compositions, then listen to a few of Beethovens. I can guarantee you that you would hear a difference in style. Oskar 21:41, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

A number of people have written variations on a theme, where each variation imitates the style of a different composer or is meant to sound as if it were written by that composer. One who comes to mind is Siegfried Ochs (no WP article), who wrote "Humorous Variations" on the German folk song Kommt ein Vogel geflogen, in the styles of about 10 other composers. Victor Borge also had a routine where he played "Happy Birthday" as if written by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms etc. JackofOz 02:24, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Tattooing

How does a Tattoo artist practice tattooing? If the artist messes up while drawing on someone's skin, that's obivously a big problem. So how do they practice and make sure they don't make mistakes? Drawing on paper can't be the only practice, as skin is very different to paper, right? Anyone have an answer. --Burbster 13:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

• Sure. One option is "practice skin" -- here's an ad for the brand "Almost Skin". --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 15:46, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Yourself and your friends is probably one of the more popular and yet potentially damaging ways. I have also heard of using the skin of fruits like oranges or the skin of a (dead) pig. Ink drawing can be very helpful as you will learn not to make mistakes (at least not ones you cannot fix.) The skin substitutes help you get a feel for the depth. Nowimnthing 18:15, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Homeless In The Netherlands? Find Out Next Week!

I live in the Netherlands and my subletting contract expires at the end of this month. I'm trying to find accomodation near Haarlem but its difficult to find places with suitable dates (and prices!). The first time round, I ended up living in Delft on my 30th attempt through kamernet.nl (arranged just under a week before I arrived) so I'm wondering what happens if I fail to get accepted by a new landlord - it must occur - what does the government do with the people who fail to shift from one room to the next in time? Is this what they mean when they warn about stepping out into the world? --Username132 (talk) 13:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

A subletting contract? Subletting is not usually allowed in the Netherlands. In general, a Dutch rent contract can only be ended if both parties agree, so maybe you should look into that. David Sneek 13:59, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

According to this source the person that sublets the place can demand that the person that subrents leaves, at the end of the agreed term. (And so can I, but I assume this means they have some way of enforcing this.) --Lambiam^Talk 16:42, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Not an answer to your questions but hopefully an answer to your problem: try marktplaats.nl and speurders.nl. You'll be suprised about the housing ads at these sites. I hope you've got some other place you can stay at in the meantime, at family or at friends. Good luck!

Are Jews more Intelligent?

Are jews more intelligent than folks following other religion? If yes, why is that such? Help.

Quoting from our article Race and intelligence:

Ashkenazi Jews score significantly higher than other groups (107-115) in the U.S. and Britain, but estimates of the average IQ of Ashkenazim in Israel may be somewhat closer to the European mean.

Anything in this area will be hotly debated, including whether, if true, it is genetic or cultural (like valuing intellectual achievement is part of Jewish tradition), but few will ascribe it to religion. Read the article. --Lambiam^Talk 17:01, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Personally, I find it very improbable that a whole ethnic group is signifiantly more intelligent than average. The reasons for Ashkenazi Jews scoring that high in the U.S. and the U.K. may be easier explained by just highly educated intellectual elites immigrating those countries instead of a more heterogeneous group. But that's solely my hypothesis. --GTubio 20:57, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I really have no clue as to the answer to either of those questions. I just thought it might be helpful to bring up the old "nature or nurture" concept. Jews may indeed score higher, but this may be attributed to nothing more than education (nurture). The word "Jew" actually refers to two entirely separate concepts. It can refer to one's nationality (nature) or one's religion (nurture). What would be interesting is if there were studies of those few "Jews" who belong to one category but not the other. For example, a Jew by nurture but not by nature (e.g. a child whose biological parents were not Jewish, but who was adopted at infancy by a religious Jewish mother and father) vs. the opposite, a Jew by nature but not by nurture (e.g. the opposite, a child whose biological parents were Jewish, but whose adoptive parents were not). A study into that would actually be very interesting. Loomis 22:54, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

There was a paper a couple years ago, which the Race and intelligence article is refering to. The hypothesis is that Jews in much of Europe were forbidden from almost all professions except banking, where mathematical ability is very important. This (supposedly) caused such a strong selection effect that over the course of about a millenium the Askenazi became significantly smarter. But there was a tradeoff: the authors linked it to the high occurence of certain heriditary neurological disorders like Tay-Sachs. They compared it to a situation in some African populations where having a single copy of a gene conveys resistance to malaria but having two causes sickle-cell anemia.--Pyroclastic 19:20, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

As Loomis already suggested, you're mixing up religion and ethnicity (except that he used the word 'nationality', which seems a bit odd). I don't know about the ethnic side of this (although the success of Jews in all sorts of intellectual fields is rather suggestive), but there appears to be a relation between religion in general and intelligence, in the sense that intelligent people tend to be less religious: see Religiosity and intelligence. DirkvdM 10:01, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Regarding the terms: nationality vs. ethnicity, this would seem to be a cultural issue. It would appear that in Europe, the term "nation" would seem to be something of a four-letter word (for plenty of good reasons), demanding the euphemistic term "ethnicity". But here in North America, and especially Canada, having pride in one's nationality is actually seen as positive, and harmless. One big example is that most French Quebecers, both separatist and federalist, freely refer to themselves as "nationalists", and members of the Quebecois "nation". In fact our indigenous groups are refered to as our "First Nations". Nobody here has any qualms about this terminology. The sensibility here in North America is quite different from that Europe, as I don't recall we've started too many world wars in the recent past. However, if you prefer to call, say, the people of Italy or Greece as ethnic groups rather than nations, then, I suppose it would only be consistent to refer to the Jews as an ethnic group as well. However over here, from my perspective, Jews, Italians and Greeks are all national groups. Loomis 02:12, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

But of course. How else are we to take over all forms of mass media (with the possible exception of JewWatch.com) as well as the world banks, at the same time as we slaughter Christian children (to make bread with)? —Daniel (‽) 15:40, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Jews migrated to the USA as communities, not on individual basis. Nationality is more nurture then nature. A proof of this is the Finno-Ugric language family, which consists out of Mongolian-looking people and Northern European looking people. Jews are mixed. Former European Jews are much whiter then former Arab Jews. A final answer to your question is impossible to make.--Daanschr 18:27, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Pretty broad generalization there. I know my father's grandfather emigrated as an individual, not as a community; and his cousins emigrated piecemeal over the next 40 years (too bad more of them didn't, all thigns considered.) My not-quite-tongue-in-cheek answer to the original question is, "Yes. We breed for intelligence." --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 20:33, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

There are plenty of dumb Jews (I don't think Yasmine Bleeth is going to cure cancer) and smart Gentiles, but I'd guess Jews might score higher on intelligent tests because they are probably better educated on average. -- Mwalcoff 00:19, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Of course Jews aren't more intelligent, that would be racist. We're just less stupid. :--) Loomis 22:49, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

BMD

I have a great grand father called Frederick James Dady and i cant remember what i want to know about him! Oh well, what i was wondering about was the birth marriage and death registrations. He was actually born on a day trip out to Cromer, Norfolk, England in 1892 but his parents lived in Stanfield. In the 1901 england and wales census it says he was born in Cromer but in the 1837-1983 birth regestration thingy it says he was registered in erpingham. If you look at a map of norfolk you will see why this appears odd. (If you have trouble finding some of the places stanfield is nearly directly between fakenham and dereham and erpingham is a few miles north of aylesham.) I would like to know any reasons why this has happened? There are no family links (at the time) with the area around erpingham as they were around the swaffham to holt area. I do have some theories: 1) After he was born, unexpectantly, in cromer they might of taken the then main road back home which would have taken them through erpingham and decided to register him there. Did the main road go through erpingham back then? 2) erpingham was the main regester place thingy, althought i doubt this as erpingham is a very small village and there were bigger and closer places which would probably of had regester place thingys. 3) they could have just liked erpingham or it could have been for some random strange reason.

i suppose you have to be very un-interested in practically everything else to bother to answer this question, i am so iv given you the pleasure of trying to answer it. thankyou--William dady 17:52, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, you got me by the balls. I have no idea AdamBiswanger1 03:34, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Ouch. Erm... I'm going to throw some other thoughts out on this one: perhaps if they used a midwife, the midwife was from Erpingham and filled out the necessary paperwork for them and registered it with whatever officials were there; it's possible that Erpingham was a bigger deal in terms of local and regional government at that time, and a central office of some sort was there (towns appeared, disappeared and varied in size and importance ridiculously easily in earlier days); or perhaps someone buggered up in the main office and got the registration wrong. But I think it'd be challenging to figure any of that out officially, and being on the wrong continent I think I'll leave it for someone else. Tony Fox (arf!) 15:49, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Looking at the map I don't see why this appears odd. Erpingham is more or less on the way between Cromer and Stanfield, Norfolk. I don't know what would have been a good route in those days, but the A140 wasn't there, and quite possibly there was no road where the A140 runs now. Does the "1837-1983 birth regestration thingy", whatever that is, give a date, and is it the next day? Does it give the name of the person who did the registration and does (s)he have the Dady family name? --Lambiam^Talk 23:09, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The "1837-1983 birth regestration thingy" is probably FreeBMD. However, the cause of confusion here is that people were not registered in specific villages or towns; they were registered in specific districts. One of the registration districts in Norfolk was Erpingham; details on that are here. Note that Erpingham, the district, contains the parish of Cromer... and there's your answer. Shimgray | talk | 23:16, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Saturday

Why is Saturday named afer a roman god, if the week is of christian origin? --192.94.73.1 21:01, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

You might as well ask: if the week is of Jewish origin, why are several days named after Germanic Gods? The concept of the week spread from one culture to another ("Various groups of citizens of the Roman Empire adopted the week, especially those who had spent time in the eastern parts of the empire, such as Egypt, where the 7-day week was in use", the week article says), and the names of the days reflect this mixed background. David Sneek 21:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

As I understand it the days of the week are named after the sun, moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye, which are named after Roman gods. In English four of those planet's names were translated into the names of the equivalent Anglo-Saxon gods (Mars>Tiw, Tuesday; Mercury>Woden, Wednesday; Jupiter>Thunor, Thursday; and Venus>Freye, Friday), but the Anglo-Saxons mustn't have had a god equivalent to Saturn, so it stayed Saturn. In French and Spanish the names of the days of the week still derive from the Roman gods' names. --Nicknack009 21:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Your answer is better than mine. David Sneek 21:24, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

This is a little simplistic. First of all, there isn't such a neat explanation for all of them (check out articles Monday, Tuesday, etc. for more details). First of all, Oden/Odin/Wotan is NOT equivalent to Mercury/Hermes (I mean, not at ALL), he is much, much more like Jupiter/Zeus. Actually, he's like this wierd mixture of Jupiter. Mars, with a little bit of Minerva thrown in (his three major roles where god of war, god of wisdom and king of the gods). Thor, while being the god of thunder and a bit of an ass, shares little resemblance to Jupiter. Most notably, he's very stupid (one could argue that Jupiter isn't the sharpest god in the pantheon either, but still, he's not a moron). Tyr is kindof like the god of war, but not really. I mean, Oden is definitly the god to go to, Tyr is more of a glory of battle kindofa guy. Freja, however, is fairly similar to Venus. Also, there are no direct connection between the Aesir and the planets, that's a greek thing. The names of the days of the week has snuck in from a number of places, mostly Nordic mythology obviosly, but there is no conveinient answer like yours (unfortunatly). Oskar 21:36, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

You have two "first of alls." Or are they supposed to be nested first-of-alls? --LarryMac 20:51, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

True enough, although I don't know whether the Anglo-Saxon gods' roles are exactly the same as the Norse ones. Matching up gods from different cultures is a very inexact science. You could say Woden and Jupiter are equivalent because they're both chief of the gods, or Jupiter and Thunor because they're weather/sky gods. There's a passage in Plutarch's On the Cessation of Oracles about "Saturn" being imprisoned under the earth in an island near Britain that makes me think Loki could be considered an equivalent to Saturn, on a similarly flimsy basis. --Nicknack009 21:42, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Why would you say that the week is of Christian origin? The article you hyperlinked to explains that the seven day week was used far before Christ not only by ancient Jews (who, from a Christian perspective I suppose could be characterized as "proto-Christians"), but by civilizations completely unfamiliar with any Abrahamic religion, such as Babylonians, Hindus, the Chinese and the Japanese, all also before Christ. Loomis 22:29, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

it doesn't matter whether Woden/Odin was "equivalent" to Mercury; it is enough that classical authors (Caesar, Tacitus,...) identified him with Mercury. At the time there could be any question of introducing weekdays for the Christianized Anglo-Saxons (6th century), there could be no question of not following the established interpretatio romana equations Woden=Mercury, Donar=Jove etc. dab (ᛏ) 20:47, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I've read somewhere or other that Odin is identified with Mercury because both guide the souls of the dead. —Tamfang 06:12, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

foreign ambassador's benefits

What benefits do ambassadors in Canada receive? Thanks very much. --209.135.110.13

Presumably they get a salary from the government they are representing, as well as a pension build-up and paid medical care. They will typically live in a house owned by and paid for by their country. They must attend a good deal of receptions, with free snacks and booze. And they enjoy diplomatic immunity. None of this is specific to Canada. Was there something more specific you had in mind? --Lambiam^Talk 23:17, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Latin's death

When and why did Latin become a dead language? Reywas92 21:29, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, it's not really dead, you know. It's just "evolved"—into Spanish, French, Italian, etc. All languages change over time, and Latin was no exception. A more detailed answer could get very complicated (such as dealing with the nationalist tendencies that encouraged Romance nations to discard academic Latin for the "vernacular" language). Eventually, local versions of Latin became so different as to be unrecognizable as Latin, and international standards of Acadamia and writing (and particularly ecclesiastical) traditions encouraged the retention of Latin even as the general speakership of "Latin"-speaking countries had their languages evolve in different manners… I recommend you take a look at language change. Also, specifically, take a look at History of Latin. The Jade Knight 21:34, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Technically Latin is still the official language of the Vatican City. As the Roman empire crumbled the people lost the knowledge to read and write (too a overwhelming extent). Latin was also mixed with the languages of the invading barbarians. And any language which is only spoken and not written evolves much more rapidly and easily splits into many local dialects. As languages weretaught (and standartized on a national scale) in schools and unirversities again they became much more stable but by then they were not Latin anymore. Nevertheless Latin is still the language of the Roman Catholic Church and the Mass (liturgy) was still spoken in Latin until 1970. You should also take a look at romance languages. Flamarande 22:18, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

See History of Latin.
Latin is a language
As dead as dead can be:
It killed the ancient Romans,
And now it's killing me. =P —Keenan Pepper 00:43, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

A dead language is defined as a language with no native speakers, but as Latin flowed directly into romance languages there is no one clear date when this was. An important spear in the back of Latin was when Heraclius made Greek the official language of the Byzantine Empire; the successor to the Roman empire. MeltBanana 03:10, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

It is more accurate to say that the Roman Empire "morphed" into the Byzantine Empire; it was simply the surviving Eastern part of the Empire while the Western part was overrun. --Lambiam^Talk 08:35, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

One images that an individual raised in Vatican City might well have as his primary/native language Ecclesiastical Latin; as it happens, though, the Vatican's birth rate is exceedingly low... :) Joe 06:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Can we point to a date when writers began to distinguish between the vernacular and the written language? —Tamfang 04:19, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Sometime during the Middle Ages, I would say. My guess would be 10th or 11th centuries, though it may have been earlier. And certainly, there was a distinction between "vulgar" Latin and earlier forms… The Jade Knight 04:59, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The Strasbourg Oaths show that proto-French was recognized as different from Latin by as early as the 9th century. I'm not sure about the other Romance languages, but I don't think anyone ever considered Italian to be a separate language until much later, 12th or 13th century (but it is much closer to Latin anyway). Adam Bishop 05:23, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Methinks this is on the wrong desk... -- THE GREAT GAVINI {T|C|#} 08:20, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Overview of Belgian ambassadors

Hello,

I have been looking for some time, but I cannot find a site giving the names of (current and former)Belgian ambassadors (thus I mean ambassadors who are Belgian and working in a different country than Belgian).

The ironic thing is that I am trying to find out information about someone in my own family who appears to have been ambassador, unfortunately as usual a family's memory fades.

I would have a particular interest in the ambassadors to Sweden, Iran and Romania.

Any help or hints would be appreciated very much. Thanks, Evilbu 22:13, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

This list should do. Mr. Raoul Delcorde is ambassador to Sweden, Mr. Philippe Roland to Romania, and Mr. Jacques Vermeulen to Iran. --Thunderhead 22:28, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, while the link is interesting, my problem is even harder : I am talking about ambassadors from 1970-now, not just the current ones. I agree that wasn't clear in my original question, it has been changed now. There seems to be confusion about whether or not he was the ambassador to Romania when Ceaucescu fell from power (which is -sadly- remembered almost exclusively in Belgium because of the dead of one Belgian cameraman). By the way : I am Belgian (but that was probably obvious), so links in Dutch are no problem and in French shouldn't be either (hopefully). Evilbu 22:35, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Two solutions to find an answer - the first is to try dropping a letter or email to a) the Belgian Foreign Ministry (or equivalent) and b) the Belgian embassy in those countries - they'll certainly have records of past postings to those countries. If you tell them the name of the guy you want, it'll help, and be as specific as possible - was he the ambassador, or embassy staff?

The second solution is to go to a largish library and look for Belgian government handbooks, almanacs, etc, from the right period - these generally list the current ambassador to a given country. I can't suggest any specific series of books, though; I'm not sure what the standard almanac is in Belgium. Shimgray | talk | 14:21, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

what living actor has been in the most films

what living actor/actress has been in the most films to date?

I suspect it would be an extra or stuntman, as they only may need to spend a small amount of time on each movie. StuRat 00:37, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

According to imdb, the most prolific actors are usually voice actors, or actors who have done a lot of voice acting. If we leave off Howard Stern, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, the highest living actor is James Ellis. If we leave off voice acting, then it appears to be William Shatner. If you only want to count films, imdb doesn't help. User:Zoe|(talk) 01:08, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I heard it was Clint Eastwood, watched a TV program --mboverload@ 01:20, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

James Ellis has been in only 55 movies or TV shows. That's chicken feed compared to some actors. But what did you mean by "the highest living actor"? JackofOz 02:14, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The one highest on imdb's list of prolific actors. It looks like imdb is counting every episode of "Z Cars" for James Ellis. That would skew Shatner, as well, for his series work. User:Zoe|(talk) 02:16, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Indian film industry has numerous actors and actresses who have acted in more than 200 films. Mohanlal and Jagathy Sreekumar (more than 1000 films) are still very active. Sukumari, a veteran actress, has acted in more than 2000 films and is believed to be the most prolific fim personality--Tachs 09:28, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

if you want to know about an actor as an hero, he is Mithun Chakraborty with about 200 films as a hero in hindi films, and a large no. in other indian languages.nids 23:05, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

• Probally Don Lafontaine, he has done the voice over for 4000 movie trailers?

The question itself needs to be refined.

I don't believe that voiceovers, television episodes, or commercials was what was meant. The questioner probably was not looking for stuntmen, extras, or members of the Indian film industry.

Restricting ourselves to persons whose names might be recognized, say those in line to possibly be nominated for an acting Oscar, go with Christopher Lee with over 250 film credits. B00P 23:05, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

August 14

Who funds "The More You Know" ads on NBC?

I've been trying to figure out who funds those ads. It's not the Ad Council. Does NBC get a grant from the government for these? Who is paying for them?

I don't know, but it's probably actually an act of good will by NBC. That and it's a tax write-off. Maybe they have to give a certain amount of airtime to charitable public causes, as they do in radio. AdamBiswanger1 03:32, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I assure you nothing that takes airtime is an act of good will. --mboverload@ 10:12, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree... likely not an act of good will but there doesn't seem to be much transparency here. NBC probably gets a sizable tax break or something for these. They show up no where on the charity databases which is odd.

They are funded from the large settlement of the tobacco lawsuit in the US. You can see Truth (advertising) but it doesn't seem to have any information regarding the lawsuit or the settlement... maybe Google... 71.112.125.31 19:08, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I did some digging here and haven't been able to connect the tobacco lawsuit to TMYK campaign.

Ahh... see also Tobacco industry and scroll down to the "Industry outlook" section. 71.112.125.31 19:16, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

take a look at http://www.themoreyouknow.com/overview/: "NBC Universal's THE MORE YOU KNOW public service campaign"

Interesting but doesn't say who is funding... this question is still unanswered

I can't speak for NBC, but as a broadcaster I can say that stations and networks often do public-service messages for free. Ostensibly they are done as a service to the community and to the public in general. The practical benefit is that advertisers like doing business with broadcasters who are "good corporate citizens," hence there is a secondary financial benefit. It also helps with the FCC when licenses come up for renewal. — Michael J 18:13, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Yea, the FCC is the reason. Broadcasters have an obligation under the law to "serve the public interest". Some freebie public service ads help with their claim that they are doing so. You may also notice some shows with the label "E/I" in the corner. This means they are "Educational/Information" and thus also help them to keep their license. An example is "Dora the Explorer". If a station builds up enough good will with the FCC then it will look the other way when they put total crap on, like Jerry Springer. StuRat 22:20, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

sources greek mythology

I would like to write an article about Biblis(mythological human) but don't know where to find a reliable source.

It's actually spelled Byblis, and the article does exist : ) AdamBiswanger1 03:26, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Ahh!! Thanks. It did seem like a rather large hole. I had seen it spelt "Byblis" but I was taking my spelling from William-Adolphe Bouguereau's painting. Is the spelling "Biblis" french and should a search for "Biblis" not yield a link to the page? (I would do this but I have no clue how)Npenns 03:07, 19 August 2006 (UTC)NPEnns

politics

give clear reference & information about mptc, zptc, in indian context of local self government

In how many words? When is it due? Will this be on the final exam?Loomis 08:42, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

is this related to panchayati raj system of indian local governments??nids 23:01, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

When did Klingons become a big deal

When did large numbers of people star dressing up as the Klingons on Star Trek? When did the "Warriors of Honor" aspects of the Klingons get started-- was it with the start of TNG in '87? or were there earlier appearances of this quality in TOS, movies, or early novels? --Alecmconroy 05:48, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Presumably they were mentioned or parodied or something on a different programme; otherwise, non-Trekkies wouldn't have heard of them and they wouldn't be so popular. Maybe References to Star Trek would be useful... -- THE GREAT GAVINI {T|C|#} 08:18, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I would expect it would have been after the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation, yes. In the original series the Klingons were portrayed as untrustworthy and murderous. Only in TNG did they become honorable warriors. Also, they looked a lot better in TNG (at least if you don't mind gluing a chunk of latex onto your forehead). StuRat 08:20, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, the Klingons got their new look and the first hints of new language in the 1979 "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". The language was created for the 1984 film "Search for Spock". And the first Klingon main character was Worf in the 1987 TNG series. But I can't find any good sources for what was going on in the fan culture during those times. Maybe large numbers of people were dressing up like Klingons just after the orginal series-- I know there was no shortage of Vulcans back then. Or maybe the "Warrior Culture" got invented in the novels / fan fiction / culture sometime prior to 1987. --Alecmconroy 11:05, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The end of season 4 through season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation had a great deal of plot involving the Klingons (before that they were a minor recurring thing, excepting the character Worf). This was in 1991, I believe. I would say that this would have had a big impact on their popularity. Before this, there were the Star Trek movies, which have already been mentioned. - Rainwarrior 02:18, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Discovered Berlioz composition

About ten years ago a Berlioz composition was discovered in a piano bench compartment in Belgium and was performed for the first time in 127 years in the cathedral in Vezelay, France. What was the name of that piece? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Charroux (talk • contribs)

A bit of googling turned up some information (in French, unfortunately) about a piece called Messe solennelle. I'm not sure if it's the same piece you're talking about; it was written in 1824 and performed in 1993, and the first performance was in Bremen, although it was also performed in Vezelay several days later (another French link). --Cadaeib (talk) 15:23, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

John Alford, Landscape painter

I have acquired an oil painting of Saulisbury Cathedral painted by John Alford and dated 1954. Can any one tell me anything about this artist please?

Thank you

David Smith

I'm afraid this gentleman's being quite elusive. This [7] was the best I could come up with on Google, and all it offers is a few auction results that you have to subscribe to get. He's mentioned a few other times as an editor of various books on art, though. I would highly suggest you ring your nearest art dealer or estimator and see if they have any knowledge of him. He seems to be notable, but not terribly well-represented on the 'net. Tony Fox (arf!) 15:45, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

David, I was taught painting at school by John Alford in Shrewsbury around 1980. Look up Shrewsbury School - they should be able to contact him. Sam Welbourne.

German Empire 1871 (Poland)

Was the town of Kazimierza ever in the German Empire? Kazimierza is located 45KM NE of Krakow. I think that Krakow was under austrian rule at the time but not Kazimierza. If kazimierza was not under the german empire what was it under?

Thank You Leonard Seszycki

From the vague description, sounds like it would have been Russia. Only Silesia, "greater Pomerania", and "greater Prussia" were under German rule after 1815 -- see Image:HistoricSilesiamap.png , Image:Schlesien 1905.png etc... AnonMoos 16:18, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it was. But it was not internationally recognized. Germany conquered Poland in 1939 and made nearly the whole of present Poland part of the Great Germanic Empire. The Red Army liberated this village in 1944. Since Krakow is east of Silesia, and Kazimierza as well, then it is clear that this village was not part of the German Empire before 1939. It has been part of Austria though.--Daanschr 18:34, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

A probable chronology of countries owning Kazimierza could be:

• 10th century-1795: Poland
• 1795-1809: Austria
• 1809-1813: Warsaw (France)
• 1815-1832: Poland (Russia)
• 1832-1915: Russia
• 1915-1918: Germany
• 1918-1939: Poland
• 1939-1944: Germany
• 1945-present: Poland

Citation in Edward Mitchel bannister article

Re: Resource Citation in Edward Mitchell Bannister article: Anne Louise Avery published a PhD dissertation called "The Veiled Landscape: Space and Place in E.M. Bannister's work...." 2006... and there is no reference to where it was published (what university, for example) and I would love to find it and read it! Can you help?

Bill Allen <e-mail removed, see Reference desk policies above>

Iran

Which Iranian provinces have the most Arabs that speaks Arabic and that they are Sunni Muslims?

Most Arabic-speaking Iranians are found in Khuzestan and along the Persian Gulf coast. The Khuzestan Arabs are Shias. The Arabs in the area stretching from Bushehr to Bandar-e Abbas tend to be Sunnis. Source: AllRefer.com. --Lambiam^Talk 18:25, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Do these Arabic-speaking Iranians still speak Persian?

You should read the page that Lambiam linked - Khuzestan!! They answer your questions. (go to the "languages" section). --Bmk 04:07, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Music download

what is music called that has nobody singin/ no vocals, and can you download that type of music if so where can you down load it. dylan arthur

It's called Instrumental music. You can download it anywhere where you download any other music. DJ Clayworth 17:39, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The questioner may also be asking about MIDI music. Many popular songs are composed in MIDI, which has the capabilty of adding a vocal track, but in practice rarely does so. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:57, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The MIDI file format does not have the capability to add a vocal track. There is no recorded sound in a MIDI file, and there is no standard for speech synthesis that could be used to produce vocals from such a file. - Rainwarrior 02:14, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, I could imagine some 'lalala' singing sound, although I don't know of any sound that would sound realistic enough. But add lyrics and it becomes near impossible. Or could a voice synthesiser work here? DirkvdM 07:49, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

MIDI does allow the inclusion of lyrics tied to notes in the file. And you can pass a program like flinger a MIDI with lyrics broken into syllables and attached to notes and it will sing it for you. So that might count :) digfarenough (talk) 17:07, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

MIDI allows for the inclusion of any sound source. 99.9999999999% (is that exact enough?) of them are instrument samples (mostly synthesized). Some are sampled instruments - a real recording of the instrument playing. As such, the sample can be a recording of a person singing. In practice, such samples are used to record fart noises (and the like) so you can play them on a MIDI keyboard. But, it is possible to have a long sample of a person singing all the lyrics and add that as a MIDI track to the song. Because of that one situation that, in reality, I've never heard of anyone doing, I don't want to say it is "impossible" to add vocals to a MIDI song. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:47, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Again, no, there are no samples in the MIDI file format or information specification. It is possible to use MIDI signals to control a specific sampler that you have loaded with a voice sample, but the sample is not MIDI. The sample is only being triggered by a MIDI signal. - Rainwarrior 04:38, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Are you asking about Karaoke? That would be the backing music (no article in WikiPedia, sorry), or the instrumental background accompaniment (a somewhat dense and difficult article for the non-musically inclined, I think) without the singing or words of the original recording. You can find many sites for that if you go to a search engine like Google and type the words "karaoke download" in the search box, like so. --Seejyb 21:34, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Hold on before you take Kainaw too seriously, some clarification about MIDI. It's like a pianola, recording when a key is struck (well, in pracitse it's keys, but in principle it could be anything else), how hard it is struck and when it is released. You can add some functionality to this, but that's basically it. You can also give a track a name like 'piano' and assign it to a channel and then hope that the one playing the MIDI recording has the same instruments assigned to the channels as you did. Anyway, yes you can play back a synthesised sound or a recording (the MIDI file doesn't care what sound you assign to it), but the idea is that each channel has one instrument assigned to it, with the different keys standign for different notes. Now you could use the different keys to trigger different sounds, and that is indeed done as a sort of added gimmick, aned you could extend that to an entire recording of a song (why limit it to the lyrics) and assign it to one key, but that is hardly what MIDI is meant for. You're 'supposed to' assign one note to one keystroke. You could also use a claw hammer to pick your nose, but that's not what it's meant for. :) DirkvdM 18:31, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh my god! You think someone might take me seriously!? I'll have to start using the educated side of my brain instead of the side raised on Benny Hill, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers... Don't support PBS or your children may turn out like me! --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:22, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Cost of World War II

What would be approximate cost of World War II ? I've heard about 1 trillion dollars, would this be accurate ?

Does not seem like a lot, considering the Iraq-Iran war had about the same cost. Matt714 21:28, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

If we're not adjusting for inflation, they might be the same. Also, depending on what you count as the "costs", you could get some very different values. StuRat 22:08, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. How does one measure the cost of a single life that might otherwise not have been lost. Let alone millions. JackofOz 22:52, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The value is what you really think a human live is worth, perhaps 50cents or so :). Flamarande 23:23, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I wouldn't pay much for a human live. But a live human, or a human life, well, that's something else again. :--) JackofOz 01:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

One could actually quantify this. The cost of a late teenager is the investment put into them (food, education, ...) that hasn't resulted in the expected return (through work). The cost of a pensioner would then be negative (yes, I'm being rude again). But most deaths will have been younger people (soldiers). Any statistics on that? Ironically, after a destructive war, the value of work and therefore of the worker increases because of the need to build society back up again. Another factor is that destruction of the old will bring more of the new, which might be a boost to both the economy and welfare (in the long run). A bit hard to assess, that. DirkvdM 08:31, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, there were lots of civilians killed - more nations were invaded and lost solely civilians than those not theatres of war losing military personnel. This article is very informative. There are lots of factors to be considered when calculating the cost of war - not just the value of a life. The ongoing costs, in welfare benefits, medical treatment, psychological treatment etc for veterans and victims (and their children), are huge. As are the costs of rebuilding, not just buildings but infrastructure, and industries such as agriculture. There may be personal cost to the survivors to consider, such as people who lost millions of dollars of assets to looting artworks and such. All of these things are then offset by the economic benefits of war - there is a scarcity of resources, costs are high and high-profit industries are in demand. Rebuilding is economically beneficial to all sorts of subsidiary industries. You could also argue that the loss of ~65 million people may have been good for the economy - overpopulation at that level may have had really negative consequences. So, to answer the OP's question, I think the cost of war is incalculable, and I think Dirk may be on to something. Natgoo 18:28, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Safe Air Travel

How about this -- treat the airplane just like a movie theater: no outside food/drinks allowed. We need to dispense with the high gadgets and just say you can't bring anything on board except the clothes on your back. All food, drinks and comfort will be provided by the airlines. That the only way to truly make things safe. Or if overhead luggage is allowed, it must be locked down for the entire flight: no access at all.

Here is my idea.

Nudist Airways

All passengers must board the plane completely nude. Furthermore, each passenger must eat a mouthful of pork before they are allowed on board the plane. All passengers are handcuffed during the duration of the flight. All lights in the cabin are turn off and the windows shutters are pulled down.

I guarranty there will be not a single terrorist incident on Nudist Airways. Ohanian 22:43, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm assuming this is satire, but at any rate, what is the question? I really just think people should calm down, anyway, since if the terrorists are determined enough they'll get themselves through... —Keakealani •Poke Me•contribs• 22:49, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh yes, I forgot to ask the question. Would you travel on Nudist Airways if the fares are 10% cheaper than other Airlines?

Ohanian 23:01, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I would have thought Nudist Airlines would be more in the spirit of "100% off".... - Nunh-huh 23:13, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

"If God had meant for people to fly, they would have been born with wings. And if He meant for them to be nudists, they would have been born buck naked." :-) StuRat 00:27, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

If people had meant God to fly, he would have been an angel. DirkvdM 08:39, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

What's with the pork? No Jews and vegetarians allowed on board? Oh, and you forgot about swallowed weapons, so people would have to take some laxative too, some time in advance - sort of a check out during check in. DirkvdM 08:39, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I suspect they were having a go at Muslims, presumably on the basis that "Muslim = terrorist". JackofOz 23:30, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Britsh and american accents

In the U.S. many men and woman find British/ Commonwealth accents sexy; do many british/ commonwealth people find American accents sexy?

It's hard to say... there are many different American accents, just as there are many different British regional and Commonwealth accents. I'm presuming what you are talking about is the Received Pronunciation of stock English characters (usually villains or butlers) in films and television, which seems sexy to some because it implies refinement and culture. What you also have to realise though is that the UK and Commonwealth are saturated with American television and films, and are much more "used to" an American accent than would happen the other way around, so I don't think it works quite the same way as a US accent doesn't seem as "unusual" or "different" to what one is used to hearing. --Canley 01:11, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Speaking personally as a UKer, I have to say in all honesty that I find US accents (male or female) in general unpleasent to listen to, and not sexy. But I just accept this as they are everywere on TV and in films. Even the best-spoken female film stars, who take care not to speak nasally etc., are still unattractive due to the connotations of America and the stereotype of Americans. For sexy you want French, Italian, and even Indian and Asian.

Of course, if all Brits found American accents annoying and refused to watch, then UK TV wouldn't be saturated with US TV programs, would it ? StuRat 23:20, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Aww, I like British stuff, and that was a letdown :( - CRiyl 18:28, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

And my dreams of being fawned over are dashed :P But I have noticed that these things greatly depend on individual persons. Some find any accent they do not possess attractive (be it Cockney, US Southern, Indian, etc.), while others are more specific (for instance, they find Scottish accents too grandfatherly to be attractive in THAT sense). I do pick up on accents quickly myself (which I'm afraid results in listener whiplash), so maybe I have a chance yet... ;) Russia Moore 22:55, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Jo Swinson

Would Jo Swinson MP be attracted to men with standard American accents, who also have good careers?

You managed to spell her name right! Congratulations. That is so sexy... But lawyer doctors with a standard accent? Can't you develop a gay lisp or something that makes you stand out? That would be really cool. --Lambiam^Talk 07:26, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Why not drop her a line at the Houses of Parliament? :) and see whether you get a reply? Lemon martini 19:00, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

To tell you the truth I am scared of girls. I am 25 years old but I have never been on a date!

Then I suggest you practice first being more comfortable with women. What is it you're afraid of? The fact is, women are more easily attracted to men who are comfortable with women (and with themselves), and who exude a fair degree of self-confidence, than with men who behave like losers. You don't actually have to be confident, as long as you behave like it. Being groomed and dressed well also helps, but don't overdo it. You may profit from some personal advice and counselling, both from older women and older men who you can confide in. --Lambiam^Talk 03:05, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

lawyer doctor degrees

I hold a JD, would it be exceptable for me to use the title of Doctor?

The lower the law school literacy standards, the more necessary it is to distinguish yourself with a fancy title?

Skrew you!

Sorry to be harsh. It is unusual to see a lawyer unable to compose a single grammatical sentence and you packed a record number of syntax, grammar, and punctuation errors into your question-- not just typos. Second, you are socially "tone-deaf" if you haven't noticed that American lawyers don't habitually refer to themselves as "doctor" even though most hold a JD or equivalent. The combination of the specific question and the way it was expressed evokes such an image of ignorant pomposity that I couldn't help it. Work on your language skills if you want to impress people with your educational achievements, not your degree. 159.14.18.144 15:46, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Your initial reply was extremely uncivil, insulting and inappropriate, and your second posting did not improve the tone. If your face to face discourse were of a like nature, your nose would likely be occasionally punched. And yes, "Doctor" is an acceptable form of address to one who holds a Juris Doctor, although "Counsellor" is more common. Edison 16:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Very exceptable, as long as you except the fact that, accept for those in the US, most law schools in common law jurisdictions offer LLBs rather than JDs. You may find that if you visit some of these jurisdictions, many lawyers may take acception to the idea of you calling yourself a Doctor. Loomis 01:44, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I guess the lesson to be learned here is to make sure your English is correct before mentioning that you hold a JD. The Jade Knight 03:59, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I've never been one to pick on typos, or the inadvertent misuse of their/they're/their or its/it's. I do these things all the time when typing faster than I can think. I just found this case to be rather acceptional. :-) Loomis 13:01, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

• what's a "JD"? sorry to be thick- hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 15:05, 15 August 2006 (UTC))

Juris Doctor. --LarryMac 15:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I Googled around to see if I could maybe help Loomis out here, but had no luck. Does anyone know, are there courses available to increase one's thinking rate, so that one can keep up with your typing speed? --Seejyb 22:15, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Am i being really blonde, where are the mistakes in the question "I hold a JD, would it be exceptable for me to use the title of Doctor?"

OK, I'll do the decent thing and put you out of your misery. Accept means to receive, except means to exclude. Instead of "exceptable", they should have written "acceptable". OK? JackofOz 08:55, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I am a hopeless failure as an English tutor. I bow my head in shame :P I can't beleiev I didn't catch that. Russia Moore 22:59, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

And then there is the "Skrew you !" reply. When corresponding with politicians, I'm careful to use the proper spelling, so always close with a proper "Screw you !". StuRat

August 15

Fred Phelps

Are their any truth to rumors Phelps was once arrested for homosexual acts?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

If there was, everybody would know about it, and in any case it wouldn't be a rumor. See rumor and Fred Phelps#Criminal record.--Shantavira 06:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Republic of Poland Gold bond

Please give me any information about Republic of Poland twenty year six per cent U. S. Dollar Gold Bonds bond issue of 1920 due 1st April 1940.The amount of the bond is 100 dollars through The National City Bank of New York.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Applebees (talk • contribs)

I strongly doubt whether you're going to get any gold for it! AnonMoos 23:50, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

You won't it expired in 1940. AllanHainey 12:06, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

In 1940 up to 1945 Poland was under German occupation so it was impossible to cash it. The previous holders of this bond should have done it right after the war or if the post-1945 goverment refused to pay, you should have tried after the ending of the communist era in 1989. Ask Wikipedia:Polish Wikipedians' notice board for more details. The bill itself should have some collectors value, check out the polish version of ebay (low number of polish users) or allegro [8], a GOLD BOND - POLAND 500$ 1927 RRR is right now worth less than 300 zł (USD/PLN 1/3.0858 1/3.0888) so it is worth around 100 usd right now, but somone may bid higher. Mieciu K 17:19, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Iranian Jews and Christians

Which provinces of Iran have the most population of Jews alone and Christians alone?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.12.149.166 (talk • contribs)

For jews they are concentrated in large cities such as Terhran

Presumably it would be in the big cities where non-Muslims (tourists, etc.) would be as well as the bits which are closest to non-Muslim countries i.e. near the Armenian border. -- THE GREAT GAVINI {T|C|#} 07:19, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Brazil

Which provinces of Brazil have the population of Spanish-speaking people?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.12.149.166 (talk • contribs)

Is the article Portuñol of any help to you?-gadfium 09:22, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

no, the article Portuñol does not help where Spanish-speaking people live in which provinces of Brazil?

as far as I know, there are no "provinces" in Brazil where Spanish is spoken. There might, of course, be Spanish-speaking people in Brazil, but they would not constitute the majority of any "province", the same way that there are Spanish-speaking people in Australia, but they are a few people who also speak English and are scattered around the cities. I don't have a link for that, but I am Brazilian. You might find more people who speak Spanish closer to the border between Brazil and for example Argentina and Paraguai, but the main language would still be Portuguese.

Gay lisp

Is the gay lisp natural or contrived?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

It appears to be a cultural affectation. There are precedents; in one British Regiment (I've read somewhere or other) /r/ was pronounced /w/, so an officer named Brabazon was nicknamed "Bwab". A more interesting example perhaps is the pronunciation of diphthongs on Martha's Vineyard.[9] —Tamfang 06:05, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Without any air of criticism, I suspect it is somehow tied to the general mindset of the gay male, just as one might expect a rough-and-tough sports fan to grunt and speak in loud, declarative sentences. It seems to be a natural consequence of the increased expression and, dare I say femininity? I am by no means homophobic, and this is completely OR, and I'm sure that many of my nay-saying friends would love to refute this, but consider it nonetheless. I cannot, however, explain why the said mindset causes the speech different to be exactly as such-- AdamBiswanger1 15:42, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

You might not be homophobic, but on this topic you seem to be exceedingly uninformed. And if I don't stop here, I'm sure to run up against WP:NPA. --LarryMac 19:02, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

What's your problem? That wasn't even close to a personal attack. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Thank you Mac. Larry, I refuse to let the sensitivity of an issue forbid me from exploring or discussing it--and, unless you can provide a more informed hypothesis to contradict mine, there is no harm in speculation and no reason to condemn it.AdamBiswanger1 02:17, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

My point was that I would find it hard to argue against such a completely uninformed "hypothesis" without making a personal attack. Please do explain the "general mindset of the gay male" and how you have come by this information. And while you're at it, feel free to discourse on stereotypical presentations of homosexual men as feminine. --LarryMac 13:02, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

To say that many gay men do not have a higher concentration of feminine qualities, and to dismiss it as a stereotype is blind. I, for one, cannot live with myself suppressing such thought. For the sake of not igniting any hate, let me remind everyone that I do not possess the slightest tinge of homophobia--I'm going to a baseball game with a gay friend of mine later tonight. It's a shame that I have to issue that disclaimer so often. From the femininity article: The common stereotype of homosexual men is that they are effeminate, with perhaps even exaggerated feminine traits. While this is true of many homosexual men, there are many others who do not fit this discription; gay men range from very feminine to very masculine. Agreed. However the feminine attributes of the gay male are much more common and concentrated, and to deny that would be needlessly obstructive. Bell et al. (1981) reported that gender nonconformity was the single most statistically significant difference between predominantly homosexual males and predominantly heterosexual males, and the reason for this association is evident from their data on the "self-ratings" by males (as they were to the age of 17 years) using a "highly feminine to highly masculine" 7-point Likert scale (Table 4). [10]AdamBiswanger1 14:57, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The article gay lisp seems unreliable to me. I know that what I am about to say constitutes original research and POV, but I happen to be a gay man with lots of gay friends, none of whom have a lisp, and only some of whom might be identifiable by their speech. I have had years of practice and cannot identify gay men by their speech. I can identify likely suspects, but I can't rule out anyone who lacks "gay" speech patterns, because many gay men lack them. Gay men overwhelmingly grow up in "straight" families and communities (except for the small fraction brought up by adult gay men or lesbians). Gay men therefore learn English (or other native languages) mainly from straight people. That fraction of the gay population who adopt other female mannerisms may also adopt certain speech patterns culturally identified as female, probably unconsciously.

While the ability to speak is innate, forms of speech are cultural or learned, as are the sociolinguistic values attached to different forms of speech. Therefore, identifiable gay speech patterns, such as the rare lisp, are not "natural." Nor, in my opinion, are they generally "contrived," but rather learned, usually unconsciously or subconsciously. Marco polo 20:34, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I think the original question presupposes some things that just ain't true, and I agree our article on the gay lisp is pretty much bunkum. Even having an article called "gay lisp" just feeds a very unuseful stereotype. Is there a corresponding "straight lisp" article? A lisp may be associated with campness, or it may not be. Campness is an attribute of some gay people, but it is certainly not one of our defining features. Campness, with or without a lisp, is also an attribute of some straight people. It never pays to assume camp = gay, or lisp = gay. A lisp may have developed at a very early age (in which case it is very unlikely to have anything to do with sexuality), or it may have been contrived at a later stage of one's life (which might be evidence of campness, but not necessarily evidence of gayness). The majority of gay people have no outward appearances, mannerisms, behaviours or other attributes that distinguish them from other humans. Gayness is essentially an internal thing, although often expressed externally. JackofOz 23:28, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you, although I do believe there is such a thing as a "gay lisp", and it is coherent and notable enough to warrant an article AdamBiswanger1 02:20, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

As a preliminary note for Adam, we assume good faith here. What that translates into in your case is that we assume that you're indeed not homophobic until we see overwhelming proof that you are. Sort of like "innocent until proven guilty". It's entirely unnecessary for you to iterate and reiterate "I'm not homophobic". In fact when I hear similar disclaimers, they tend to only raise suspicion, rather than lower it. I can't help but get that instinctive impression that "the [man] protests to much, methinks". Let your words speak for themselves. Don't take this as a criticism, just a friendly suggestion. I don't believe you're homophobic at all. (Quite the mature Wikipedian I've evolved into, eh? :)

As for the subject at hand, of course as Jack pointed out, the vast majority of gay men "have no outward appearances, mannerisms, behaviours or other attributes that distinguish them from other humans". I'm certain of that. Likewise, things like "the gay lisp" are clearly stereotypes, that only a few gay people exhibit.

On the other hand though, I hate to do this but I have to part company with Jack to a certain degree. It would seem to me to be rather intellectually dishonest to deny the fact that the "gay lisp", along with many of the other mannerisms mentioned indeed exist. The article may indeed be bunkum, but at least it makes the effort to point out that much of what it's trying to explain is indeed stereotype.

Tell me honestly Jack, has there ever been any doubt in your mind that Richard Simmons, the very caricature of the stereotypical gay man was indeed gay? Be honest. Loomis 01:32, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I can honestly tell you that I have heard of a TV fitness guy named Richard Simmons, but that's about the extent of my knowledge of him. I am so dimly aware of him that I had to check our article, which shows he has denied rumours of being gay. I assume Simmons has a lisp, hence the gay rumours. Your very question runs the risk of bolstering the stereotype that I'm at pains to destroy. JackofOz 04:39, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok then, I'll switch minority groups for a moment. Has there ever been any doubt in your mind that Jerry Seinfeld is in fact Jewish? He displays almost every stereotypical Jewish mannerism, and even his surname is stereotypically Jewish, yet I don't ever seem to recall him ever making any sort of direct reference to being Jewish. Yet it seems pretty clear (to me at least) that he's obviously Jewish. But I should remind you, just in case you get the wrong idea, that I am by no means anti-semitic. :-) Loomis 13:09, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm really not sure where this is going now. Are you making the point that certain stereotypes exist and are attributed to certain groups? I couldn't agree more. But are these stereotypes accurate representations of typical behaviour? In the vast majority of cases, NO. If we want to exhaustively describe the gay lisp stereotype, let's do it, but let's make sure we label it as that, not make out that it reflects reality. JackofOz 05:38, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm confused. I agree entirely with what you just said. Entirely. My point was, literally, "that certain stereotypes exist and are attributed to certain groups". In fact I made it a point that I agreed with your statement that "the vast majority of gay men have no outward appearances, mannerisms, behaviours or other attributes that distinguish them from other humans. I'm certain of that. Likewise, things like "the gay lisp" are clearly stereotypes, that only a few gay people exhibit."

Now I'm really confused!

But just to make sure, I'll provide one last example. Perhaps Richard Simmons may not have been the best example as he may not be as widely known as I had thought. And actually no, he doesn't seem to have a "gay lisp". Also, apparently, (despite his non-stop use of homosexual innuendo,) he's never actually come out. Perhaps Liberace would be a better example. He never had a "gay lisp" either. Also, except until his very last days dying of AIDS, he never came out either. Yet I'm just barely old enough to remember when he was alive and well. And from what I remember it was something of an "open secret" that he was gay. When he finally revealed his sexuality to his fans and to the general public, no one was shocked in the slightest. He was clearly gay before he came out, and it only seemed natural, rather than shocking, when he finally did come out. Again, Liberace surely never represented the vast majority of gay people, yet he did indeed possess certain tell-tale mannerisms. No offence, but you're "just a bit" older than I am :) ... what was your reaction to this "shocking" revelation? "Oh my God! Liberace is actually gay? I never had the faintest clue!"

But of course Liberace in no way represents the vast majority of gay men. All I'm saying is that these stereotypical mannerisms are indeed based on something, be it a tiny minority of gays. But as you say, "are these stereotypes accurate representations of typical behaviour? In the vast majority of cases, NO!"

Jack, I think that we're agreeing a lot more than it would appear. I'd just chalk it up to another case of internet miscommunication. I'm pretty sure we're pretty much on the same page on this one. And if you still disagree, Oy veys mir! Vas fur a mishugeneh feigeleh bisti! Come! Eat some gefilte fish, have some bagels and some potato kugel and some matzah ball soup and we'll have a nice, freilicheh conversation over a glass of Manischewitz about all this mishugeneh naarishkeit! Please, please, make yourself at home! :--)Loomis 01:04, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Erattum: I just checked the article on Liberace and apparently he had never "come out" as I had assumed. My apologies for any contrary assumptions I had made. Loomis 01:34, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

(And note Adam, throughout my entire post I never felt the slightest need to use the "disclaimer": "I'm not homophobic". I'd think my words and my track record speak for themselves). Loomis 01:32, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

If this were a venue in which I knew that I did not have to protect my reputation against childishness I would agree with you. But I, being a realist, acknowledge that many do not assume good faith, and would disregard any logic I put forth if they suspected even an ounce of homophobia. You've seen it in economics-- A rich republican who calls for an unregulated economy and a restriction of welfare is elitist and unsympathetic. But learn that he grew up begging for tablescraps, and suddenly the masses are intrigued. AdamBiswanger1 03:26, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

You make a good point Adam. I really can't argue with what you're saying. It's just that I never for a moment had any suspicion of you being homophobic at all. Whether you're of the opinion that there's a such thing as a "gay lisp" or not doesn't seem to me to be much of an issue of homophobia at all. To me, homophobia, even in its mildest form, is about denying equal dignity and respect to gay people as to straight people. But then again, I'm not gay, so perhaps I'm not one to talk. In any case I still believe that "I'm not homophobic, but..." or "I'm not racist, but..." or "I'm not anti-semitic, but..." disclaimers only tend to raise suspicion rather than lower it. That's why I completely avoid them altogether and just let my words speak for themselves. But like I said, you do have a good point. Loomis 14:43, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Just out of curiosity why is lisping suposidly a femenin trait I went to a series of all girls schools as a child and now teach at a mixed (and huge) sixth form collage and the only girl I ever met who had a lisp had it because of a cleft palet or somthing.

Back to the original question, it has been my personal experience that many straight males also gain this lisp, so it doesn't quite fit that it is a sign of feminine manners. And I agree, since when is a lisp feminine? I know an abudance of guys with speech impediments, and only one girl. Russia Moore 23:11, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

George W Bush

Bush is not perfect, yet he seems well meaning; why is their there such viseral personalized hate for Mr. Bush??—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

'cause

Where do you live? In a bucket? It's not unusual for leaders to be hated, he may even prefer it.

See the article Public perception and assessments of George W. Bush, which lists some of the reasons behind criticism of Mr Bush. --Canley 02:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Read 1984. Of course, if you live in America and you read newspapers, you've read the first few pages already. It must be obvious by now that by declaring "war on terrorism", Bush has condemned our country to an a priori unending state of warfare? How will this war end? When all the terrorists are dead? How can we possibly kill all the terrorists in the world? Bush knows perfectly well that the war on terrorism is immortal, and it is a justification for the continuation of the power structure. It's just such a sinister, deceptive way to mislead a country, and it is slowly, slowly sliding into newspeak (read the book). War is peace! Peace is war! We are at war with Iraq. We have always been at war with the terrorists in Iraq. We never supplied Saddam Hussein with oodles of weapons as an ally only fifteen years ago. The terrorists have always been in Iraq. Did you notice (for instance at the end of the movie WTC) that the war in Iraq has recently become a way of "avenging" the 9/11 attacks? It's total mass amnesia!! Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11!! For got sake people...if you don't use your ability to think, you soon won't be allowed to!! *Shudder* Be afraid. Be very afraid. --Bmk 03:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

PS: Sorry for kind of ranting. I guess it was inevitable. Bravo to anyone who has resisted the urge to rant one way or the other - I wasn't strong enough.  :) --Bmk 03:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

It is easy if you accept that no matter what your opinion is and no matter how strongly you feel about it - at least half the world disagrees with you. They don't hate you. They don't want to beat you into submission or brainwash you. They just disagree for whatever their personal reasonings may be. --Kainaw ^(talk) 13:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Depends where you're asking.I'd imagine in the Bible Belt and deep Texas,there'd be considerable support for Bush... Lemon martini 19:11, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

And in The Bush. Quite possibly also, down the old Bull and Bush. Maybe at the Burning Bush.--Dweller 13:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I think that part of the reason why people dislike Bush is because he is a) ignorant and b) ignores everyone that disagrees with him. These may be useful traits in some circumstances however a the leader of a country that is such a major player in world politics they are not even remotely attractive attributes. Something like 75 million people across the world marched against the Iraq war and he went ahead anyway!!! Not only that but the UN also told him not to do it and he did it anyway. Iraq is a disaster, and will continue to be they can not hope to turn it into a democracy when every person they put in power is going to be blown up. Even the people in iraq that want the Americans their are to scrared that they to will be blow up or kidnapped top want to help. Oh and Bush brought God into politics which is NEVER under any circumstances a good idea.

medical and law degrees

Why is it in the UK and the commonwealth these are offered as undergraduate degrees, where as in the US they are almost always only offered as graduate degrees?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

• Becuase American universities are about 2 to 4 years behind the rest of the world, we're really quite pathetic, I blame the greeks, and the romans, I really wish they'd stop invading Gaul already, it wasn't funny the first time around--71.247.125.144 16:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I believe it is as a result of the decision of U.S.A. universities on the acceptance qualifications for their courses, they require a you to already have a (usually completely unrelated) degree. In the UK this isn't the case as they view law and medical degrees as just another degree, albeit degrees with a longer course than most (I think 7 years for Doctors inc practical work experience). In the UK we don't have "graduate degrees" unless you take that to mean things like Phds where you need an existing degree in the subject. AllanHainey 11:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

We do have graduate degrees in the UK, although in British-English they are called post-graduate degrees. They are master's degrees like MSc, MA, MBA, MPhil, etc., plus PhDs or DPhil etc. I've got one of them, and my undergraduate degree was, as it happens, in a completely different subject.

Seth Macfarlan

Which characters voice is his normal voice; Peter Grifin, Stewie Grifin, Brian, or Stan smith? which character does he most personally identify with?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

Well none of them are his normal voice, but he sounds more like Brian or Stan Smith. Adam Bishop 06:10, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Listening to him on the commentaries, I have to agree, he sounds most like Brian in his 'normal' voice. You would have to ask him about his identification, I'm sure like most authors he identifies closely with all his characters in one way or another. 208.23.140.34 15:46, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

New age music

Who is the leading new age artist?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

Leading in what sense? Most successful? Most financially successful? Most influential? Most avant-garde? Ziggurat 04:01, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Earliest? —Tamfang 05:59, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The most successful is probably Enya, though Enigma could arguably give her a run for her money. However, this is, as has been pointed out, a very subjective question. The Jade Knight 07:14, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

This article may help give an idea of traditionally significant New Age artists and songs: Key_songs_of_the_new_age_scene. The Jade Knight 07:19, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Who is the greatest currrent world leader

Who is the greatest currrent world leader??—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

Jimbo Wales AdamBiswanger1 15:08, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Someone's after a bonus in their pay packet. Oh, wait... Tony Fox (arf!) 15:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Greatest in what sense? Most popular? Least hated? Most successful domestically? Most successful internationally? You'll have to give us a clearer criterion, as the reference desk is not supposed to be a discussion board. Ziggurat 04:04, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The questioner clearly wants to know which world has the highest amperage and who leads it. —Tamfang 05:59, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Venus. Answer to both questions. The Jade Knight 07:13, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

World leader? No article, so doesn't exist. Alas the world is not that united yet. Then again - Kofi Annan? DirkvdM 08:48, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm sure there are many "World Leaders", but most people choose to ignore them - or lock them up in institutions to help them accept that they are not leaders of any kind. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:53, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

can you identify this song

My friend asked me if i could identify a song and i couldnt hwlp him so i posted it here. First the song is heard on classic rock stations and has lyrics that go something like this "Hey there, don't you know? Hey there, I don't know. something something something take me out." i know thats vauge but thats all my friend gave me.

Franz Ferdinand maybe?

I say don't you know

You say you don't know

I say... take me out

I say you don't show

Don't move time is slow

I say... take me out

See (link removed) here. Ziggurat 04:07, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Google is a great tool. Next time try searching the lyrics on there. Or any search engine.

Lost tribes of Israel

Is their any historical evidence of their existence? If so what likely happened to them?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.72 (talk • contribs)

What about reading our article Lost tribes of Israel first, and see if you have any (answerable) questions left? --Lambiam^Talk 06:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

for the Indian connection, i would love to tell you that one of the lost ten tribes of israel was traced to the indian state of Mizoram. This connection was verified in 2002, by a series of genealogical tests, by eminent scientists.nids 10:42, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah and I'm the emperor of China. 69.10.198.26 18:54, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Holy spirit

Can anyone tell me what is, in Christian terms, the Holy spirit? Though I try to understand the term's meaning, I simply can't... I easily see that the Father is God, the dude in heaven that created the universe; the Son is Jesus, the one claiming to be the son of God and the main figure in Christianism... but what or who is the Holy Spirit? The group of believers or what? Please, help. Thanks in advance.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.50.42.102 (talk • contribs)

The Holy Spirit is really just what it sounds like-- a spirit that infuses you with the spirit of God and leads you to faith in Christ. Christians usually like to think of the Holy Spirit as a person, or at least an active force, rather than just some ethereal presence. So, whereas Jesus and the Father are more concrete beings, the Holy Spirit's realm is the human heart and emotional reaction to God. If someone is worshiping fervently or praising God, one might say that she is filled with the Holy Spirit. I hope that helps although I know many of my fellow editors are cringing at the POV language-- (I forgot God was dead) AdamBiswanger1 14:40, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

While not directly cringing, I'm wondering at your use of the word "concrete". --Lambiam^Talk 18:12, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

My line of thinking is that the Holy Spirit affects the spiritual world, whereas the Father and the Son have physical manifestations, and affect physical things (not to say that they are in any way unable to do anything, such as affect non-physical things). Your thoughts? AdamBiswanger1 18:25, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Sounds like a physical manifestation or at least affecting physical things. Still, is it not Christian doctrine that God is transcendent, and so has no material substance? --Lambiam^Talk 01:56, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Logic doesn't apply here--I was trying to get the idea across that the Holy Spirit centers around our hearts--that's all AdamBiswanger1 02:21, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Try reading Holy spirit, then get back to us if there's anything you don't understand. Isn't it amazing? Wikipedia is not only a reference desk, but also an encyclopedia!! Anchoress 09:47, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

That's pretty ironic-- I think you might want to read it as well 207.8.215.211 15:56, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I did, last night. What's your point? --Anchoress 22:35, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The Athanasian Creed sums it up pretty well. Personally, ever since I first heard the Holy Spirit referred to as the Paraclete and that he "descended like a dove" when God proclaimed Jesus his son, I have pictured the Holy Spirit as something like a parakeet in the same way that I picture God as an old man with a white beard and Jesus as a hippy looking long haired dude.Edison 18:48, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

A conventional iconographic representation of the Holy Ghost is a white dove, at least that's what I thought it was, but perhaps it is an albino parakeet. --Lambiam^Talk 02:04, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The Nicene Creed is also helpful. Most Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is a person -- an individual -- distinct from the Father (also a person) and the Son (you guessed it -- another person) yet in a way humans can't understand, all three are one God. So we speak of One God in Three Persons. Christians argue that, while this doesn't make logical sense, we shouldn't expect it to. God is very different from His creatures. How can we expect to fully understand what He is like? So we simply choose to believe about Him what He tells us about Himself in the Bible (as we see it, of course). This would be that there is only one God and yet the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. I don't know if that helps, but it's how I explain it all. --CTSWyneken^(talk) 20:02, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Of course it makes sense i dont even belive in God yet it still makes sense. Example. A woman "Ann" she has a daughter and a husband and she is a swimmer, so she is Ann the wife, Ann the mother, and Ann the swimmer the Holy Trinity is merely showing if you like three different facets of God, whois lets face it any all mighty being that is so vast, beyond time and space, and splitting him up into the Holy trinity makes him more manageble. God the Father is the creator, woh is all seeing etc, Jesus is the saviour and because of his pain and suffering our souls can be redeemed no matter what the crime and the Holy spirit is the bit that covers everything else. if your still confused, try asking a vicar/priest may be they can help, you dont have to go to their church, they will be happy to help a confused sheep

When was the first airline ticket created?

My name is Josh and i am 35 years old and i would like to know when the first airline ticket was created for one of my students.

Thank you for your time and effort to help me =)—Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.151.119.66 (talk • contribs)

According to (link removed) this site, it was on January 1, 1914 in St Petersburg, Florida. --Canley 13:00, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

35 is a nice age isn't it Josh? I wish I was 35 again.--Shantavira 13:11, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

If you would please help, the answer above says 1914 but i have a timeline saying the airline ticket was created in 194__ i need some help please?

thank you for all you do

Then I guess your timeline is wrong. Depending on your definition of airline, it could have been even earlier. See our article on airships.--Shantavira 13:21, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

According to this site [11]the world's first flight ticket booth was built in 1911. Tickets for passenger flights around the area cost about 1 pound. I don't know whether Keith Prowse Ltd qualifies as 'airline' though.Sluzzelin 13:28, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, this seems to depend on how you're defining an airline ticket, which the 1911 and 1914 suggestions seem to mean a paid-for docket for travel on a passenger aircraft. If the date you are after is in the 1940s, then you are probably after the origin of the printed airline ticket as we know it today: those produced by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which formed in 1945. The modern IATA airline ticket (not an e-ticket) with multilateral agreements between airlines to honour each other's tickets on a reciprocal basis originated in 1947.[12] --Canley 01:52, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

We would need to know more about your student if we were to determine a date for the creation of a ticket for him.--67.172.248.207 02:37, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Geography in France

I've been trying to find the exact date that the first Chair in Geography was added to the Sorbonne. I know it was Napoleon that added it, but I can't find a year (or for that matter the first professor to occupy that chair). Any ideas?

Thanks, Dana140.247.40.134 13:39, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

In 1806, I suspect. In the eighteenth century the Sorbonne was a theology faculty, which closed down after the revolution. Napoleon reopened it in 1806, and created faculties de Lettres et de Sciences. That may very well have included Geography. David Sneek 16:15, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Am I the only one that wants to say 'The same year they added the first Table and Sideboard? :) Lemon martini 19:14, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

History

There is a statue outside of the museum where I work that is referred to as "The Sausage King". It is a figure of a man dressed in 18th century waistcoat and breeches with a crown, and around his neck is a ring of sausages and he is holding a scepter in his hand that looks like a large bratwurst of sorts. All searches for sausage king don't give me any answers to who the Sausage King is supposed to be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.64.148.37.243 13:47, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

It would seem highly likely that someone at the museum would know. I would suggest asking them. DJ Clayworth 13:53, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Also, could you tell us what city and country you are in, or the name of the museum? It would really help narrow it down. --Canley 01:53, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Semi colon usage

Am I right in thinking that after 'AAV' is an appropriate place to put a semicolon? "There are a few disadvantages to using AAV, mainly the small amount of DNA it can carry and the difficulty in producing it". --Username132 (talk) 14:39, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I believe the clause after the semi-colon must be able to plausibly stand by itself as a complete unit (independent clause), and as such it could not. But more importantly, I think it sounds better with a comma than with the abruptness of a semicolon. But, if you think you must have some form of punctuation, a regular colon might be best--this indicates that a list is coming AdamBiswanger1 14:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

No. Only use a semicolon where you could have also placed a period. The following would be correct: "There are a few disadvantages to using AAV; it can carry a small amount of DNA, and it is difficult to produce." Alternatively you could have used a colon, as the first part of the sentence sets it up: "There are a few disadvantages to using AAV: the small amount of DNA it can carry, and the difficulty in producing it." - Rainwarrior 15:19, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I do think this would have been better asked in the Language section. And to answer your question, I don't think so. Viva La Vie Boheme!

vandals

what is the motivation behind most vandals?

When you say vandals.... do you mean vandals or vandals..--152.163.100.72 18:25, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Since you are a known vandal, he may be referring to you. What's more, he may even be you. I smell a sockpuppet. DirkvdM 10:12, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Probably the goal was to conquer Spain and North Africa to secure a new homeland free of the Roman yoke. If you're talking about vandalism it could be some combination of making a political point, having fun, impressing buddies and venting anger.--Pyroclastic 18:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Note This user, Bengurion, who has about 30 edits, has a history of asking random, obscure, and difficult questions that do not belong at the reference desk. If the user disputes this, please contact me. AdamBiswanger1 18:05, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Their motivation in their greatest triumph was both a desire for conquest and a desire for amusement. Thus it was that on June 2, 455, their leader set alight a paper bag of excrement in front of the gates of Rome, knocked loudly, and ran away. The ruler himself came running out and stomped on the bag to put out the fire, leading to great merriment among the vandals as they entered and sacked the city.Edison 19:04, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

To score more touchdowns than their opponents User:Zoe|(talk) 22:00, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

races of the the bible

What happened to the hittites, babylonians philistines, caninites ect, who are their descendents?

Note This user, Bengurion, who has about 30 edits, has a history of asking random, obscure, and difficult questions that do not belong at the reference desk. If the user disputes this, please contact me. AdamBiswanger1 18:04, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Have you read our articles Hittites, Babylonia, Philistines, and Canaan? Gdr 21:06, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

• a) they died out or dispersed

b)we all are

ect

Next time try "etc"

Shambala

What is name of the Russian archelogist who claimed to have visit shambala during the 1920's?

Note This user, who has about 30 edits, has a history of asking random, obscure, and difficult questions that do not belong at the reference desk. If the user disputes this, please contact me. AdamBiswanger1 18:04, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Well,this was neither particularly difficult nor obscure. A google search of "Shambala" & "Russian archaeologist" reveals him to be Nikolai Roerikj or in English Nicholas Roerich who claimed to have visited in the summer of 1926 Lemon martini 19:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Response

I am sorry about contacting you this way but I saw know other way. I am a highly curious person. I do ask a lot of difficult questions only because I am curious about the answer. I am intrested in anicent and bibical history as an avocation, that is why I ask these questions. Adam, you do not need to attack my questions.

Very respectfully Bengurion.

Granted, but why ask questions such as "Their is user who seems to have a crush on Jo Swinson; she seems an antiBlair extrmest!"? I just had an IP exhibiting the same behavior blocked a little while ago, and I can't help but wonder if it is you. But I will assume good faith and leave you with one piece of advice: Please limit your questions, and do research before asking. Thanks AdamBiswanger1 18:23, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Note: You can respond to a single user on their talk page. Click on the user's name and then click on the Discussion/Talk tab. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:50, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

And please sign your posts with four tildes, as specified at the top of this page: ~~~~. DirkvdM 09:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

U.S. Violations of U.N. Resolutions

Has the United States ever violated a U.N. resolution? If so, which ones?

They don't really need to, because they can veto UN resolutions. David Sneek 21:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

It should first be specified whether we're speaking of a General Assembly resolution or one of the Security Council. From what I understand, General Assembly resolutions aren't "binding" while those of the Security Council are, not that it really makes much difference. I'm also pretty certain that the US only has a veto in the Security Council, not in the General Assembly. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Americans violated quite a few General Assembly resolutions, and to be honest, I can't say that I'd blame them. On the one hand, you have a country with universal adult suffrage. The system isn't perfect, but perfect democracy is impossible. As Churchill put it: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others". On the other, you have a gathering of the representatives of some 200 states, most undemocratic, most dictatorships, all smartly dressed in suits and ties parading around as the legitimate representatives of their people and claiming to represent the people of the world, when in fact, representing a rather tiny, elite minority, all voting to "condemn" this democracy or that. If the US in fact violated any of these resolutions, good on them! The UN is a farce; a kangaroo court. Which state is it that chairs "The United Nations Committee on Human Rights" (or whatever it's called)? I'm pretty sure it's Libya. But perhaps Libya's term as chair expired and it's now some other misfit country like China or Iran, or maybe we got lucky this time and it's actually chaired by a legitimate, democratic state like Sweden. It doesn't really matter much. In fact the UN doesn't really matter much. Loomis 01:04, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

No offense, but with that view, the world will burn to ashes while we wait for a perfect solution. The US critically disables the first glimmer of hope for human unity when it flouts UN conventions and rules, witholds dues for political leverage, and uses its veto powers to exempt American citizens and personnel from equal treatment and prosecution. How will we ever end this hell of people pitted against people under flimsy cloth patterns if we don't learn to live with and trust each other? Quite frankly, Americans would do well to accustom themselves now to the "bitter taste" of equality - because our hegemony (speaking as US citizen) is quite short lived. Even if Americans feel like they are welcoming and worldly, this (America) is a wildly, uncontrollably xenophobic country. It will be an enormous national shock when we wake up one day and find that we are no longer militarily and economically able to force our will on the world. That's why we need to learn to cooperate now, so we'll be used to it when we are forced to. And i'm done. :) --Bmk 01:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Loomis, with your background as a Jewish lawyer, I'm surprised you have such an attitude to integrity and justice. You're saying that, having joined an association and agreed to abide by the commonly-decided rules, it's OK to flout them whenever it suits? Isn't that the approach the Nazis took? JackofOz 02:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Au contraire, mon ami. (Nice to see you back, Jack!). I see it as quite the opposite. The UN General Assembly is an insult to integrity and justice. You mention the Nazis. The German people under Nazism were actually quite splendidly devoted to the laws passed by their government, the government they voted in. The problem is that the Nazi "system of justice" was too a farce. (Actually, I shouldn't be comparing the UN to the Nazis, while the former is but a joke, the latter were evil incarnate). That said, what would be the right thing to do for the common German citizen? Follow the law, the law it should be reminded that was written by that party that they misguidedly (to be extremely generous to the German people) voted in (in a sort of analogous way to how the US, by joining the UN, misguidedly gave it a mandate to pass judgement on the rest of the world)? Or show some actual "integrity" and respect for real justice and disobey these completely, totally and absolutely unjust laws? I'm totally and absolutely dedicated to integrity and justice. It's just that sometimes, the "law" and real justice are in complete conflict with one another. All these things (such as the inevitable degree of disconnect between "law" and "justice") are covered rather quickly in first year. :--) Loomis 03:20, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

If "the UN General Assembly is an insult to integrity and justice", then this is an argument for the USA not belonging to the UN at all. But since it does belong to the UN, surely it has an obligation to pay more than lip service to its rules. JackofOz 04:15, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Then perhaps it should withdraw. Of course the political fallout of such a move would likely be infinitely worse. Perhaps the cure (withdrawing) may be worse than the disease (the phoney legitimacy of the UN General Assembly). I don't know...quite the tightrope to be walking. Loomis 04:54, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

You seem to be having a bet each way. When countries act inimically to Israel (ie. not playing by the rules of international behaviour), you're not happy. But apparently the USA should have carte blanche to make up the rules as they go along? Where's the consistency? And what if the USA suddenly decided it didn't like Israel anymore? Would you be defending her right to be a loose cannon then? JackofOz 06:01, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Who said anything about defending the right of the US (or any country) to be a loose cannon? I still strongly believe in the concepts of right behaviour and wrong behaviour, justice and injustice. I just feel that the UN GA has proven itself to be an extremely poor, and an extremely illegitimate arbiter of these concepts. If the US acts wrongly, it's acted wrongly. Same goes for Israel. I just can't have much respect, and can't help but smell the stench of the utter hypocrisy of when a large group of countries who themselves routinely flout the rules of decent, just behaviour, turn around and pass judgment on the activities, wrong though they may be indeed be, of democracies. It's funny how the "glass houses" proverb seems to be applying so well in so many different ways in the recent few discussions. Let's forget the US or Israel for the moment. Would you honestly not see the absolute hypocrisy going on in having such backward and oppresive regimes such as, say, Gabon, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Iran, Syria, North Korea, the PROC, Haiti, etc. etc. etc. all getting votes, passing judgment and condemning this or that Australian or Canadian policy, even if it were indeed an unjust one? Let's say the PROC or Iran sponsored a resolution condemning the treatment of the indigenous populations of either of our two countries by our respective governments, even if the treatment was indeed wrong on some level. Would you not see the utter absurdity of it all? Indeed, Australia and Canada are rarely if ever targetted by the GA, as their is little if any political capital to be gained in criticizing them. Indeed, that fact, in and of itself, the fact that countries only seem to be "condemned" when some political capital can be gained from it is proof enough that the idea of the GA as being a "fair and neutral" arbiter is pure farce. I would even say that giving these misfit regimes votes in the GA is indeed counterproductive, as it only serves to give them a completely undeserved air of legitimacy, one that can only further stifle any possibility of change from within. Don't you see absolute ridiculousness of having a country like Libya chair a UN committee on human rights? I just can't see these activities as having any positive impact on bringing about a more just and peaceful world. If anything, for the reasons I've mentioned, I can only see them as hindering any progress in that direction. Some say "well, the UN may have its faults, but surely it's better than nothing". To that I say: perhaps it's actually worse than nothing? Loomis 11:14, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I should probably make my view a bit clearer. I don't think all of the UN's functions are worthless. In fact, as a forum for allowing states to communicate their grievances before rushing to war, I think it's actually a pretty good thing. It's just the rest of its functions that I question. Loomis 14:42, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I've always been wary of anything coming after one of the most disingenuously used phrases in the English language: "No offense...". :) I have to say though, that I find your argument a bit too unwieldy to deal with all at once, no offense of course! So I'll just deal with one of your arguments. You call America "a wildly, uncontrollably xenophobic country." Fair enough. So how about a fun little friendly challenge. (I like to keep my debates as friendly as possible. I don't see anything to be gained from hostile rhetoric, and I hope you realize I'm being dead serious here, not sarcastic. I truly and sincerely want this debate to be friendly). As a friendly chalenge, and without mentioning Canada, Australia or New Zealand, I challenge you to name just a couple of countries that are less xenophobic than the US. I'm sure you'll find one, or two, or perhaps even half a dozen, but my point will be all the same. Look around the globe. Iran? Saudi Arabia? Of course not. Better to look to the democracies. France? Hmmmm...don't think so. What with all the banned religious symbols in public schools, a rather xenophobic policy I'd say, one that the American public wouldn't stand for, not to mention the Supreme Court. The UK? Maybe...that one's a possibilty. Just think about it and offer a few examples. I bet it'd be a bit harder than you originally thought! But please, I know I'm repeating myself, I don't know, maybe it's the Canadian in me, but please, let's keep this friendly. :--) Loomis 02:52, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

No offense, but I believe you mistook the meaning of "xenophobic". You are referring to internal interactions; the banning of muslim dress in schools isn't really a xenophobic for France - the muslims are part of France too! It's just the stereotype that France is equated with white Catholics. I suppose xenophobic isn't really the appropriate word for the intended meaning, although I hoped it would be clear in context, but I don't think it was. What I was trying to say was that in my opinion Americans are so used to be continuously on top of the world that they (we) have grown extremely afraid of other countries. Why else would we exempt Americans from prosecution in international courts? I understand that such an exemption clause is practically manditory in any resolution mentioning international courts. I just don't know what would happen if the US one day were forced to accept a security council resolution led by China or France or India to disarm our nuclear program! Imagine it! One day it might just happen, and I'd prefer that we (Americans) learn to be "part of the team" before then, rather than going psychotic when it happens and nuking someone. --68.64.100.100 03:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

"Manditory"? Another English word I hadn't been aware of? Is this perhaps a proper variant of the word "mandatory"? Glass houses! :) But like I said, everyone makes typos, it's only human.

You ask why Americans should be exempted from prosecution in international courts. I'll tell you why. It's because international courts are biased against America, just as they're biased against Israel. I suppose it goes back to that neverending debate of about a week or so ago as to why "Everybody Hates America". You apparently aren't a big fan of your President, and you have every right not to be. But would you go so far as to call him a "war criminal"? I don't know, maybe you would, but I doubt it. I don't. But I wouldn't put it past the Belgians or those kind folk at The Hague to decide that he is, just as they decided to indict Ariel Sharon. Nevermind the REAL war criminals out there. The ones that actually target civilians for death, the Saddams, the Gaddafis (those this one's been acting rather bizarre lately, once upon a time he'd be blowing up planes full of civilians, yet these days, by comparison, he's been acting like some sort of peace loving hippie...very odd. Yet he is responsible for many deaths of many innocent civilians and despite his recent "conversion", he should still be held accountable for his past acts) not to mention all the leaders of all those "NGOs" like Hezzbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Qu'aida, the Tamil Tigers, those responsible for the massacre of 800,000 in Rwanda, those responsible for the Tiananmen Square slaughter etc etc etc. But no, none of those guys seem to be the least bit interesting in Belgium or The Hague. Just as long as they can get their hands on Bush and Sharon!

Of course the Americans should exempt themselves from yet another kangaroo court, motivated purely by politics, not justice. Loomis 04:46, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

As much as I'd love to weigh in on this argument (I disagree with Loomis on a number of points of fact and opinion :) maybe a discussion board would be the best place to take this? The ref desk isn't really the area for discussions unrelated to answering the question. Ziggurat 04:23, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Aww you're no fun Ziggurat! All we're doing is having a friendly debate. I consider Jack a good friend and hopefully once I get to know Bmk better I'll feel the same about him/her. I think these debates are perfect for the RefDesk. The RefDesk is actually very poorly defined by Wikipedia. The admins say it's for asking questions like "What does 'Lorem ipsum' mean"? Well there's an entire article on lorem ipsum! No need to go to the RefDesk for that! Just punch in the words "lorum ipsum" and you'll have your answer! I'm here to learn, not to argue. Yet according to the Socratic Method debate is the most effective way to learn. It's not about "pushing" my view over others, it's more about discussing important topics with intelligent people to get a better understanding of them. I'm just a very curious person, and I'm here to learn. If this learning requires a bit of debate, so be it. Loomis 05:17, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Your right, Loomis, America should stomp down on the israelis for thier involvement of killing thousands of palestinians and lebanesse, cowardly hiding behind tanks killing those with hand guns and complaining about how horrible they have it true, Israel is sorrounded by countries who dislike them, but I won't go to Iran or North Korea expecting open arms one mans freedom fighter is another's terrorist. If people democracy or otherwise (hopefully not) they can easily do so. The United Nations has started less wars and less sorrow then America, I can say that

BenGurion, I presume? :--) Loomis 09:52, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

police jobs

I have a law degree would, in the U.S., it possible for me to join a police force and start out as a detective?

you could probably do that with a middle school degree--64.12.116.72 21:11, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Ah, but detective in the US is a rank. I don't know whether you can or not, sorry. Ziggurat 21:16, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, detective is a rank in the US police force, not a job. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Well, it's both actually. I would only imagine that those ranked as police detectives would more likely than not actually work for police forces and get paid for it, in their capacity as "detectives". Sounds like a job to me. I'm just curious why the questioner would assume that having a law degree would in any way be a qualification, on it's own, to do police work. Criminal law is just one of a vast array of subjects dealt with in law school. I got through having taken only one mandatory course on the basics of criminal law. Even as such, law schools naturally teach the subject from a legal rather than a "criminological" perspective (which is the perspective required to be a decent detective). Loomis 23:49, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

With a law degree, no. With a masters in criminology including a high-profile or unusually relevant thesis, yes. In certain jurisdictions. Some law enforcement agencies rigidly promote from within based on whatever criteria, length of service, performance etc. But some jurisdictions will place significantly skilled or educated people in higher-level positions on merit or necessity. Anchoress 00:12, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Chief Justice of Banglisdesh

I need to knoow the name of individuals who were Chief Justice of Bangladesh back in the 1980's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Is "Banglisdesh" a proper variant to refer to that country, once part of India, then known for a while as East Pakistan, and finally today most commonly refered to in English as Bangladesh? If so, I've learned something new today. If not, what on earth is "Banglisdesh"? Loomis 23:22, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

He spelled it correctly in the question, you know. And besides - people in glass houses...you know the saying. Is refered a new word in English? Or are you referring to the word referred? In actual answer to the question, the Chief Justice of Bangladesh up to 1982 was Kemaluddin Hossain. From 1982 - 1989, it was Fazle Kaderi Muhammad Abdul Munim (quite a name, no?), and after that, Badrul Haider Chowdhury, but only for the last month of 1989. Read all about it on banglapedia, specifically here. --Bmk 01:51, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually "he" (if it is indeed a he) didn't spell it correctly in the question. Just click on the "history" tab and you'll see that s/he made the correction only after my post. In any case, is the inadvertent ommission of an "r" in the word "referred" anything close to the completely incomprehensible word "Banglisdesh"? As I've said over and over here at the RefDesk, everyone makes typos. I do it all the time. It's only human. However "Banglisdesh" is no typo.

As a matter of fact, I wasn't at all being sarcastic when I said "If so, I've learned something new today". I don't have the slightest knowledge about languages spoken in that part of the world. For all I know, "Banglisdesh" may have indeed been the more proper term, better reflecting the word's actual pronunciation, Try not to be so quick to judge. Loomis 02:18, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

My apologies for misinterpreting your post. I will indeed try not to be so quick to judge. --bmk

Don't worry about it Bmk. Just an honest mistake on your part. In fact "glass houses" actually does apply here. I've been known to rush to judgment on far too many occasions. Ask anyone who knows me here. Loomis 09:57, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

the wikipedia is communism vandal

How can the "wikipedia is communism vandal" call wikipedia communism. Communism is compulsory, where as wikipedia is voluntary, sort of like kibutz.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Vandalism is not always rational. David Sneek 21:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not (outtakes)#Wikipedia is not communism. Ziggurat 21:18, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Up the Wikirevolution!Wikiworkers of the world throw off your shackles and unite! Lemon martini 22:08, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The problem here is the definition of communism. Usually it is taken to mean 'what Cuba and China and such have'. But that should be more correctly be called state socialism. The more correct (at least original) meaning of communism is more like what they have in communes (!) like kibutzim - everyone does what they can and takes no more than what they need. Which is proabbly the reason for calling Wikipedia communist. But Wikipedia and the Open Source community go beyond that. Here, everyone contributes as they please and take as much as they please. The reason this works here is that the product is information, which is much chepaer to reproduce once someone has produced it. And in the last decade or so it can be spread instantly and worldwide at virtually no cost. So Marx's ideal is surpassed in a way that Marx himself probably never saw coming. Whether this will lead to more equality, I don't know, but my hopes are high. There is still a serious need for physical production, though and this advantage doesn't work there. Or could it? Could we reduce all physical production to information? In principle yes, I'd say, but I'd be deviating a bit too much. DirkvdM 09:50, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The Electoral College

I am 47, have lived in this country my entire life, gone through the traditional public school system and some college courses, but I am very confused by the electoral college and the voting booth votes. Who actually elects the President etc? Sandra Willis <email removed>

Ok so you live in a country. Which country? You're probably from the US right? Americans are always thinking it is "the country," and seem to forget often there are other countries. To answer your question though Sandra, the United States Electoral College, which is voted in by the populus, votes for the President and Vice President. The vote that you do is only to tell your representative in the electoral college what you think. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Assuming you are from the US, you should look at United States presidential election, Elections in the United States, and United States Electoral College. The Jade Knight 22:26, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Extremely brief overview: You should have elected your state government in a direct election. The State government chooses electors. If you don't like how they are chosen, elect a different state government until they change their elector law. You then vote for the electors to send to Washington DC to vote for President and Vice President. Electors are required by state law in most states to vote for the President and Vice President they pledged to vote for long before you cast your vote. This is completely unlike Congress, where you have a direct say in the election of 2 Senators and 1 Congressman - 3 people who make laws, make budgets, increase taxes, refuse to increase minimum wage, increase their own salary, continue to limit the little power the President has, ... --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:30, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

No, the state government doesn't choose the electors. Each party chooses a slate of proposed electors. See United States Electoral College#How states currently assign Electors. The people who are seated as the members of the Electoral College from that state are those whose party or candidate received the plurality of the votes in the official count. (In two states, the statewide vote is used only to select two electors; the others are chosen based on the plurality in each Congressional District.) I think that the state government would have the power to prescribe a different method for the selection of electors (i.e., other than popular vote), but in practice none do. (From Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution: "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress....") JamesMLane t c 10:01, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I wasn't clear. I wasn't discussing who goes out and writes down the name of the electors. I was discussing how the people's votes are reflected in the electors' votes. I live in an all-or-nothing state. Whoever gets the most votes statewide gets all of the electors votes. My point was that if you didn't like that, it is your responsibility to keep voting against politicians who support that system until it is changed. However, if it never changes, perhaps most of the people in the state disagree with you - the hell of a democratic system. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:55, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

See also Faithless elector for another aspect. Rmhermen 20:18, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Kainaw might have been clearer than he thought he was. The Constitution simply allocated electoral votes to the states. The states, through their legislatures, can choose their electors any way they want. Until the Civil War, South Carolina had no presidential elections -- the legislature just chose the electors. It would be perfectly constitutional for your state legislature, before the 2008 election, to cancel the presidential election in your state and choose whom they want to be the electors! There's a movement gaining headway in several states to pass laws to award all of the state's electoral votes to the national popular vote winner. Had this been in effect in any red state in 2000, Al Gore would have been elected president.

Anyway, to answer the original question, no, you do not technically elect the president. When you voted for Bush or Kerry (or Nader or whomever), you were actually voting for a slate of electors who, had the candidate won, would have formed your state's delegation to the Electoral College. Each state's electors send their votes to Washington, and all the states' votes are counted in Congress. Whoever gets 270 votes wins. If no one gets 270 votes (because of a tie or a third-party candidate winning states), the House of Representatives chooses from the top three candidates, with each state's delegation in the House getting one vote. -- Mwalcoff 23:25, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Some have demanded direct popular election of the President. This would violate the compromise made in the Constitution, whereby smaller states were induced to ratify it by a promise of some overrepresentation in the form of each state getting an elector for each of the 2 senators. It would also reward ballot box stuffing. A diehard Republican state may be a lost cause for Democratic Presidential candidates. It may be expected that the Republican will get the most popular votes and thus the total electoral votes for that state. But in direct national elections, there would be a strong incentive to keep stuffing the ballot box far beyond the count necessary to award the electoral votes. As mentioned above, there is no limit on how a state awards its electoral votes. The Supreme Court has said that a legislature could appoint some individual to cast all the electoral votes. They could decree the votes go to their favorite candidate. They could call for a game of poker, a footrace between the candidates, or a coin toss to determine the winner. More reasonably, they could award an electoral vote for the winner in each congressional district, with the two statewide votes going to the state popular vote winner. Some states are looking at awarding their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, and have passed legislation to do exactly that when sufficient other states pass the same bill.Edison 18:31, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Jimbo Wales

Is Mr. Wales available for interviews?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Ask him. Press contact information is on his user page, here. David Sneek 21:32, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

articles on wikipedia

how many articles are there on wikipedia?

In English? 6,898,212 Ziggurat 22:01, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Total? About 5 million. The Jade Knight 22:22, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

people editing

has any one person ever edited all of wikipedia's articles

No. Not gonna happen. There's over a million articles and new ones are added every day. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

I seriously doubt that any bot has edited all of the articles. --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:23, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Trivially, whoever created the first article had, as of that moment, edited all of Wikipedia's articles. In any meaningful sense, though, no, as per the other responses. JamesMLane t c 10:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

And up till that momentous event, everyone (including you) had edited all of Wikipedia's articles. --Lambiam^Talk 16:18, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

And I wouldn't advise trying it, Anonymous Question-Poser. I would take a loooong time. But you'd have over a million edits, though, so... -- THE GREAT GAVINI {T|C|#} 07:10, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

article experiance

do people usually have to have experiance in a subject before they write about it here

Not necessarily, but most articles have someone with experience watching over them to make sure that added information is correct. More importantly, contributions should be properly sourced, so theoretically anyone should be able to check whether information is correct or not with a little extra reading. Ziggurat 22:04, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I am extremely anti-bastardization. I guess that comes from my personal situation. That's why I have a quote by Jimbo Wales, the founder of Wikipedia on the top of my user page.

"To me the key thing is getting it right. And if a person's really smart and they're doing fantastic work, I don't care if they're a high school kid or a Harvard professor; it's the work that matters." — Jimbo

Its the work that matters, not who did it. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Make sure you truly understand yourself what you write. Some areas of science and mathematics, such as relativity theory and quantum physics, attract people who try to contribute based on some popularized and not particularly accurate account they read and only half understood, with predictably dire results. You don't need to be an expert yourself if you use good source material. The best sources are those that have been written by experts. --Lambiam^Talk 06:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Exactly, only I think you mean quantum mechanics--71.247.125.144 13:08, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Really? I thought he meant quantum physics. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Usually I don't know what I mean and rely on other people to explain it to me. --Lambiam^Talk 16:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

lawyers and copyrights on Wikipedia

• if you were a lwayer could you write about lawyers without it being a conflict of interest

I am a lawyer and let me tell you that lawyers write about lawyers all the time, that in it self would not constitute a conflict of intrest.

• does wikipedia retain any lawyers to deal with copywrite laws?
• if i was a lawyer would wikipedia hire me to work for them
• if i was a lawyer and wikipedia was hiring lawyers, what would be the best way to go on a job interview with jimbo wales?
• does jimbo wales like trial lawyers?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

To answer your question I am a lawyer and my own mother does not like me I doubht Jimbo would!

• if jimbo wales doesn't like trial lwayers do you think he could put it behind him long enough to judge me on my merits during a job interview?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

If he needs a lawyer he needs a lawyer, a lot of people hate lawyers, few however would allow that hatred to stop them from hireing a lawyer, if they need to protect their rights.

Can I suggest that you slow down, stop adding new questions for the time being, and have a browse around Wikipedia's help pages first? Most of the questions you're asking are answered there. Ziggurat 22:05, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Any job interview will probably end quickly when the subject of "copywrite laws" is brought up. --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:22, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

There is already a lawyer for the Wikimedia Foundation: User:Brad Patrick. —Daniel (‽) 10:08, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Where I'm from, you have to know how to spell before becoming a lawyer. - ulayiti (talk) 23:41, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

White people

What is percentage of white people living in the Caribbeans in total, that includes Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.53.95.153 (talk • contribs)

Hmmm... this site shows Caribbean demographics, but it doesn't include ethinicity. Will continue looking. Anchoress 23:42, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

This site has the data, but per country so you'll have to do some looking. Anchoress 23:45, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

That is tough question because it depends whether hispanics count as white. In jamaca it is about 10%.

Hispanics not white? How on Earth would you define 'white' then? And that is indeed a serious problem here, but in a different way. I don't know about the other islands, but Cuba is a true melting pot. The 'races' (skincolours) range from the black extreme to the white extreme due to centuries of crossbreeding (I have the feeling that is not quite the right word, but I suppose you know what I mean). So how white does one's skin have to be to be called 'white'? If you mean pure white ancestry, there aren't any. If you mean at least one white ancestor, that would be almost everyone. DirkvdM 10:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The question cannot be answered accurately, because racial standards vary among cultures. See the article race, which explains that race is a cultural construct, not a valid biological category. The article does a fair job of describing the construction of race in the United States, but does not offer much information on the very different constructions of race in the Caribbean countries. I suspect that what the person asking the question wants to know is "What percentage of people living in the Caribbeans would be considered 'white' in the United States?" But the U.S. government does not collect such statistics, nor do the governments of most Caribbean nations. Marco polo 14:53, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

August 16

Hitler's "Ultimate Ambition"

Almost literally, zillions of pages have been written on Hitler's lead role in instigating WWII, his responsibility for the 50 million deaths that resulted, his bizarre racial theories, his virulent anti-Semitism, and his ultimate responsibily for the Holocaust. A enormous amount has also been written about his tactics, his strategies, his diplomatic, political and military victories and failures, as well as a his ambitions concerning Europe and the central role that Germany should have within it.

But what next? What about the rest of the world? Had Hitler succeeded in conquering all of Europe (along with a few nice perques such as a few Asian or African colonies) would that be it? What about the US? Was it his ambition to move on to conquer America? Was it indeed his ambition to go on and conquer every square inch of the world?

It's unfortunate that despite the enormous amount of writing that's been done on this "man", Hitler's "ultimate ambition" is barely, if ever touched upon.

Perhaps some of the answers to these questions can be found in Mein Kampf, but I've yet to figure out a way to 1) Go about obtaining a copy, and 2) Be seen leafing through it in some coffee shop without appearing to be some sort of neo-Nazi lunatic! :--)

Nevermind the extermination of the Jews or the conquest of Europe, those parts couldn't be any clearer. What I'm more interested in is if anyone can offer any evidence as to Hitler's "ultimate ambition". Thanks to anyone who can offer any insight! Loomis 01:50, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

After Mein Kampf, I would recommend The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. Not only is it a good read, it goes deeply into (one opinion of) both the geopolitics and the psychology of the third reich and Hitler. Of course, it is Wouk's opinion, but i've heard he employed a lot of graduate students or something to do research and make sure everything was accurate. Eh. Either way, the way I understand it is that Hitler was a crazy bastard, but his general idea was to create German "living space" in Asia. He was fanatically afraid of the barbarian hordes of slavs which he believed would overrun Europe if he did not crush them first. He also believed that his fictional race of aryans were destined to rule as overlords for the "lower races". I think he was very regretful about going to war with England and the US - he viewed them as natural allies in his ultimate race war against the "inferior races". I think his idea was to kill a lot of slavs and jews, cleanse the earth, and have a merry good time being white and blonde with the americans and british with all the other races bringing them margaritas and fueling up their BMWs. Like I said, he was a crazy bastard. The scary thing is how close he came to his goal. --Bmk 02:07, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

And btw, I would go ahead and take out Mein Kampf in a coffe shop. It's a good test of whether or not free speech or freedom of thought still exists in whatever country you live. --Bmk 02:07, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Exactly. I don't see how it's possible to come to a fully rounded view of Hitler and his motivations without reading Mein Kampf. If you're serious about researching this part of history, then you have to ignore what people may think of you if you're seen reading it. Anybody who would seriously object to you reading whatever you please, or downgrade their opinion of you because you're reading MK, places themselves in the same moral camp as book-burning Nazis. Anybody who has ever contributed to our articles on Hitler, the Third Reich or related topics, would be equally suspect. I don't think so. JackofOz 02:18, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

If you're embarrassed to take Mein Kampf to the coffee shop, you can read the whole thing online. If you want to read that in a coffee shop, you can always wrap the computer in brown paper. ;-) Anchoress 02:16, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok, seriously, I appreciate all of your supportive suggestions, but the whole Mein Kampf reference was a bit of a side point. Perhaps I exaggerated my "embarassment" a bit just to add a bit of levity. And thanks to you especially, Anchoress, I'll definitely take a look at the link you provided. But again, my main question was about Hitler's ultimate ambitions, not about my courage (or lack thereof) to read Mein Kampf in a coffee shop. But thanks anyway, I really appreciate all your supportive comments. Loomis 03:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

You also HAVE to look at Zweites Buch (Hitler's Second Book) written in 1928. An english copy is online here. Hitler actually talks about the whole "conquer the entire world" thing and talks about a future war with the US after taking over Europe. Which, is interesting, because I always had figured it would be something he would do if given the chance, but I hadn't always realized he had explicitly said so. --Alecmconroy 03:35, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I've read about half of Mein Kampf, but, for the ravings of an insane lunatic, I found them pretty dull, going into his position on every tiny political party at the time. So, if you're going to read it, you should probably do so in a coffee house, as you will need the caffeine. StuRat 05:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

If you want slightly lighter reading try Swastika Night a dystopian novel of what life would be like under after Hitler's victory written before WWII. Nowimnthing 16:16, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

illegal housing

how do i find out if the apartment that im living in is legal or not— Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.80.50.78 (talk • contribs)

Where do you live? The rules for Abkhazia and Zimbabwe are different. --Lambiam^Talk 03:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Who the hell are you? Why don't you sign your own post with ~~~~. Ohanian 04:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Ohanian! Do you need a scolding?? Don't bite the newbies!! — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Licensing question

Hello. Suppose a person releases an image on his website under a particular Creative commons license today, and I upload it to wikipedia. A few days later, the person removes the license tag from his website. The web archives show the tag to be present on the site around the time I uploaded the image. So can I still have this image on wikipedia, or should I put it up for deletion? TIA. -- thunderboltz^{a.k.a.Deepu Joseph |TALK}07:05, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Is this hypothetical, or "based on a true story"? If the person had the right to relinquish the image, with that license, in the first place, they cannot suddenly revoke it, and particularly not if you already used it. They may have a case though, depending on where you are and what law applies, if they can show that their interest in the picture is disproportionately larger than any damage you might have if you give up your rights. Unless you behaved unreasonably, they would have to indemnify you. If they didn't have that right in the first place, you may have acted in good faith but should have the image deleted. This is not legal advice. I don't know what I'm talking about. --Lambiam^Talk 07:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The consensus over on Commons Village Pump seems to be that "revocation" of free licensing has no legal validity worth worrying about, but should be honored for ethical reasons in certain particular cases (not all). AnonMoos 08:20, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The terms of the free licenses generally explicitly say that it is perpetual for the duration of the copyright—see the "Termination" section on all of the CC licenses, for example. Which means that it cannot be legally revoked if it was put upon a work in good faith. That's the legal answer, not necessarily the "what should you do" practical/ethical answer. --Fastfission 00:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I have wondered about something like that. Suppose someone uploads an image and tags it as free, but it is foud that it originally isn't (eg downloaded from some website) and the image is removed. Suppose someone has downloaded in the meantime. They can then distribute a copyrighted image in good faith, but still breaking the law. DirkvdM 10:25, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

• Yes, they would be breaking the law, but if it ever came to court, I would blame it on whoever mistagged it. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
• What he said. It would be false representation of copyright. Because we make users attest to the copyright status being accurate it is supposedly their issue. If we completely neglected such things and it was clear we encouraged that, perhaps we'd have a problem (I suspect YouTube will eventually run into this issue), but a lot of time is spent cracking down on that sort of thing for just this purpose. --Fastfission 00:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

This was indeed "based on a true story". Thanks guys. -- thunderboltz^{a.k.a.Deepu Joseph |TALK}05:36, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Son of The Buddha

Hello! Does the word Rahula mean - a snake, or, a rope, or something which pulls you back?Did Buddha himself, name his son Rahula (as he considered his son's arrival as a Maya - bondage)?? In some articles & books, I noticed that, it's printed as Rahul instead of Rahula(though I doubt it's authenticity)...but then, the meaning of the name changes completely!Is it only a misprint ??? Buddham Sharanam Gachhami , Thanking you,--Pupunwiki 07:35, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

See our articles Rahula and Rahul. --Lambiam^Talk 07:51, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Although it is not clear from the article, it depends which language is being used. In Pali and Sanskrit (the languages of many Buddhist texts) the -a is very common, but in modern Hindi -a is a feminine suffix so it is not used for men's names. My name is Pali, but Indian people who are not familiar with the differences between Pali and Hindi insist on calling me Shantavir. --Shantavira 11:10, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I've tried to improve Rahul and Rahula to clarify this, but although the meaning of Rahula as a fetter or tie is well known in Buddhism, I can't find it in my Pali or Sanskrit dictionaries. However, Malalasekera's Dictionary of Pali Proper Names does say it means "bond".--Shantavira 19:26, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

department of federal government

my grandpa told me he wrote a request to washington dc 25--like a department 25--to get info on opening up a buisness--i can't finf anything on this subject. do you know what hes talking about- if it was real and maybe what it's called today.. i've searched al over the web but everytime i enter the #25 thats all i get:numbers. thank you tifanie

Before the introduction of the current ZIP Code system, major cities were broken down into postal zones with one- or two-digit designations. See ZIP Code#Background. I suspect that your grandfather was writing to some agency that had an office in zone 25, so that its address was in "Washington 25, D.C." If so, the "25" became obsolete when the old postal zones were eliminated in favor of ZIP Codes. I doubt that "25" was the designation of any department. JamesMLane t c 09:41, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

You might try the U.S. Small Business Administration Marco polo 14:57, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

• That would have been the the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, Washington 25 DC. I wonder if mail to there would still work? Anyway, now that's http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ -- and they still carry a lot of the same stuff. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 15:26, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Deliverance of Saints

Can anyone tell me if there's a specific term for the moment in a saint's life when he/she is lifted up to heaven, or undergoes some kind of miraculous deliverance from his/her martyrdom? I was thinking 'apotheosis', but it doesn't seem quite right; 'deliverance' might be closer, but I was wondering if there's a more specifically hagiographic term (if hagiographic is a word, that is). Thanks in advance Adambrowne666 12:39, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if you mean 'assumption' as in Mary's assumption into heaven? I think that involves the body being taken too, and is considered extremely uncommon among those who believe in it, even for saints. Skittle 12:56, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Maybe there is a term for this, but I don't think "deliverance" is it. "The deliverance of St. Peter", for example, does not refer to his martyrdom, but to the time when an angel freed him from Herod's prison. David Sneek 14:28, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Are you talking about Christian saints? From what do you derive the idea that there is such a moment in a saint's life? Most saints are not martyrs, but if routinely miraculously delivered from martyrdom there wouldn't be any martyrs left. --Lambiam^Talk 16:39, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, my ignorance is showing - I guess I thought martyrdom was one of the prerequisites for Christian sainthood. In the case of the Rapture, I see 'rapture' itself means 'caught up'; can it be used as a verb? 'to be raptured'? Or is there another term? Maybe 'assumption' is the term I'm looking for? If the Rapture happened, would all the people borne into heaven be undergoing an assumption? Thanks for your answers Adambrowne666 00:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Statutes

According to section 614 of the USA PATRIOT Act, "Section 112 of title I of section 101(b) of division A of Public Law 105-277 and section 108(a) of appendix A of Public Law 106-113 (113 Stat. 1501A-20) are amended to..."

Where would I find the statutes? I've tried looking up the GPO website, but a search gets me nowhere! - Ta bu shi da yu 14:31, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Thomas is the place to search for laws. This table of recently amended laws probably has what you are looking for. (Patriot Act was passed in 2001). Nowimnthing 16:25, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Step by step (you probably know most of this already): From Thomas (I haven't checked to see if that is different than the link above), click on Public Laws under Find More Legislations. Click on 106. Then, select 106-101-106-250 and click on View. Next to 113, click on H.R.3194. After Last Major Action, click on Text to see the whole text of the law. Search for 1501A-20 and you will see that statute in the law. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:34, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

why moses crossed the red sea??

I know that according to Biblical records, Moses parted the red sea to bring his fellow men to Jerusalem from Egypt. what i cannot understand is that when i look at the map of Middle East, there is no water body between Jerusalem and Egypt, (Suez Canal was built by britishers in 18th century). So, why does anybody need to cross the Red Sea to go to Israel from Egypt. Please tell me where i am wrong in my observations??nids 14:41, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

There's a few issues there. The Jews lived in the land of Goshen; presumably the most direct route out of Egypt from Goshen took them by the route of the Red Sea.

In terms of timing, the crossing of the Red Sea takes place at the start of Exodus. Entry into Canaan takes place at the start of the book of Joshua. An awful lot takes place in between. First (and before the Red Sea crossing) God decides not to take the Israelites by the quickest route, along the coast. Unusually, we're given God's reasoning; 1) it was too close (perhaps He wanted the Israelites to spend longer on their travels) and 2) because the warlike Philistines lived there and He was concerned that the slave-people would be afraid.

Futhermore, there was 40 years of wandering before the Israelites entered the land. When they did so, they crossed the river Jordan from East to West, opposite Jericho, which is a 90 degree angle from the southern approach from Egypt. --Dweller 15:26, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

They were also being pursued by an army, who may have got between them and the normal crossing-point. DJ Clayworth 16:54, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah - I think the idea is that the Egyptian army was hot on their heels, once the Pharaoh reneged on his promise to Moses to "let my people go". They needed a quick escape, and God provided for his chosen people (or so the story goes). --68.64.100.100 17:24, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I also heard that Red Sea is a matter of bad translation; instead of being the Red Sea it should be translated into Sea of Reeds. Read it (and read also Passage of the Red Sea, its is explained in greater detail. Flamarande 18:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

It's generally thought that the "Red Sea" of the Bible was actually the Gulf of Suez, Lake Manzilah or a body of water in the Bitter Lakes region. -- Mwalcoff 23:12, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

printing query

There seem to be quite a few folks here who are knowledgeable about printing, so hopefully one of them will be able to answer this. I've noticed that in most books, the first line of the opening paragraph of a chapter is not indented. Why should this be? Subsequent paragraphs are always indented, so surely the first paragraph should be as well. I'm not talking about cases where the first letter, word or few words are given some kind of special typographical treatment such as capitalisation. Rather, the first line begins right at the left hand margin of the page. Thanks. --Richardrj 15:01, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure if there's a specific precedent for that, but I don't believe so. I know that in most of the magazines I work on, we usually don't indent first paragraphs of any story or subsection as a stylistic thing. On the first page of a book, it's probably just to pull the reader in. Tony Fox (arf!) 16:15, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

The reason for indenting is to visually offset the next paragraph from the preceding one, which is particularly needed if that ended with a full line. The first paragraph has no preceding one and doesn't need to be thusly offset. --Lambiam^Talk 16:42, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Looking for a songname and artist

I am looking for a breakbeat song. It's a very known breakdance song. Some phrases from the lyrics are "Mash up the place", "Roughnecks" and "Freestylers". Can't seem to find the song using Google though. I'm sorry that I can't be more specific than this. Thanks in advance.

Did you try Musipedia ? Any (musical, not word) hint may help. -- DLL ^{.. T} 19:13, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Dictatorships

What existing nations are generally reconized as dictatorships? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

The ones under the people in the List of dictators may or may not be dictators depending on your definition. Tony Fox (arf!) 16:17, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

A mother's dislike

Why does my mother seem to dislike me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Probably because you ask so many questions. Tony Fox (arf!) 16:17, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

(To clarify, this was a comment on the fact the anon IP who posted this question also posted a bunch of others at the same time, on a diverse range of questions. This was not meant to be snarky or mean or anything.)Tony Fox (arf!) 05:17, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

A mother shall love her child and still dislike some little odds, is it so hard to feel ? Are you a boy or a girl ? How old are you ? Symptoms (your impressions about her attitude) may vary. -- DLL ^{.. T} 19:09, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

He is (or claims to be) a 25-year old man who finds sex boring, has never had a date with a girl, and connives to have a threesome with Enya and Jo Swinson (at least he spells her name right now). He also wants to get a job interview with Jimbo Wales, and become a secondary school administrator. In the meantime he wonders who the last living Boer War veteran was, and what the mandatory retirement age is for British Generals. If I was his mother, sure, I'd love him, but... little odds... what can I say? --Lambiam^Talk 07:04, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

It's most likely your perception which is faulty, especially if you are a teenager. At a certain age almost anything a parent does is taken as a sign of hatred: "My mom bought me a new shirt, and it's bigger than my old shirts, this must mean she thinks I'm fat and hates me." StuRat 21:25, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Any child will confirm they dislike their parents for years, sometimes decades, at a time. And any parent can confirm that there are times when they don't like their children either. The important thing is that parents love their children unconditionally, most particularly when (a) they don't like them, or (b) they don't seem to deserve their love. JackofOz 23:20, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:08, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Shangrala and Shambala

Are Shangrala and Shambala the same place? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Shangri-La. Shambhala. You tell us. Tony Fox (arf!) 16:18, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Shangri-La seems to be a composite of a number of real and legendary places, including Shambala.

police state

Is the US a police State? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Research it at Police state and make your own judgement. Tony Fox (arf!) 16:20, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

One requirement of a police state is that the police are not subject to law - giving them the authority to try and convict anyone at will. I don't know about the whole U.S., but where I live the police have more laws governing how they do their jobs that I have governing how I do mine. There are many people who try to loosen the definition of a police state in order to argue that the U.S. is a police state and, because so, Bush is evil. But, redefining terms to prove your point doesn't prove anything. --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:59, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Where I live the police also have laws governing their jobs, they just have the option of ignoring them. That's not to say that there are no laws governing them, for instance if a police officer discharged his or her weapon into a crowded subway car during rush hour killing 12 people and spilling a cup of coffee, I'm sure, someone in the mayors office would make sure that such an officer was given a ticket for uncovering a hot beverage in a subway during rush hour, that's against the law you know--152.163.100.72 18:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Wow. A police officer killed 12 people in a subway in your town and wasn't punished? Or - are you just making up things that haven't actually happened because you can't find anything that really did happen that is bad enough to justify your position? I can do better: President Bush came to my town and, for no reason, stopped by my house while I was at work and ate my hedgehog. I tried to complain, but the secret service threatened to exile me to Iraq. Damn Patriot Act!!! --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:07, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

If you're trying to belittle the serious threat of coffee spillage, it's not going to happen. Unless you're trying to have a serious conversation here, which seems doubtful--205.188.117.12 00:08, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, spilled coffee represents an enormous threat, especially to McDonalds. :=) StuRat 05:36, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:06, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Figurine

What was this figurine used for? And how old is it?

File:Rita's figurine.JPG

Possible Staffordshire figurine

It appears to be able to be hung, as on a wall, but it also contains a dish, beyond a hole, like a holy water stoup. The dancing characters seem to suggest a function that is not religious, however. Any suggestions gratefully received!--G N Frykman 16:10, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

No clear idea, it could be a wedding gift. -- DLL ^{.. T} 18:56, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

It looks like a bud vase. Anchoress 23:38, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

• The hole is to hang a pocket watch in when you go to bed so you have a kind of bedside clock.It dates from the times when clocks/timepieces were rare and expensive.If it's undamaged,it's quite valuable.hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 23:53, 16 August 2006 (UTC))

A very simmilar ebay example[13] MeltBanana 00:12, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Alfredo Stroessner

I just heard Alfredo Stroessner died; does anyone know a web address (prefferably) or physical address where I can send my condolences? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:05, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Sex

Why does sex seem so boreing? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:05, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

You'd have to ask a boer. --68.64.100.100 17:25, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Any of a number of reasons. Maybe you're under 12, or over 70. Or you're bored with your partner, or you don't have a partner at all, or you've watched the same video too many times. Try including more affection, friendship, play, foreplay, doing it in different places, or try different sexual positions. You might also find this link helpful.--Shantavira 17:51, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Lack of testosterone. Or clinical depression. --Lambiam^Talk 18:12, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Lack of whips and chains ? StuRat 05:25, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't know, and I don't want to cross the line from jocularity and ribbing into ridicule, but to quote an old chestnut:

Person A: "I'm bored."

Person B: "That's because you're boring."

--Anchoress 05:30, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Boer war

Who was last living boer war veteran? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:05, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Well "last boer war veteran" in google suggests Pte. Gordon Williams but then again George Ives. Or a rather differnt kind of survivor MeltBanana 00:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

principal

I have undergrad degree in bussiness and a law degree; however would like to become a secondary school administrator; what should I do next? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:04, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

The requirements will vary from one country to another. In the United States, some training and experience in education (typically at least a couple years as a classroom teacher) is usually expected. Normally, this involves gaining licensing or certification as a public-school teacher, a process which varies from state to state. Check with your state department of education on the process for obtaining a teaching license or certification if you are in the United States. I believe the requirements and process in Canada are similar and are handled by provincial governments. However, I do not think that classroom teaching experience is an absolute requirement. Districts might accept experience in education administration. Given your law background, if you have passed the bar, you might try working for a large district as legal counsel. Or, given your business background, you might apply for a job in the business office in a large school district. Without at least some experience in the field of education or education administration, I don't think that most districts would see you as a serious candidate for one of the top jobs in the field. I do not know the usual practice or procedure in other countries. Marco polo 19:51, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

And work on improving your spelling. --Lambiam^Talk 20:34, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Greatest Polyglot

Hi! Who is considered to be the greatest Polyglot till date? What are the languages he/she learnt? Thanks...--Pupunwiki 17:33, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Check out Sir William Jones. nids 17:38, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Adam (and Eve) did speak every language existing during their life ... -- DLL ^{.. T} 18:53, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Where on earth did you get that idea?? BenC7 02:05, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Moreover: Kenneth Hale who was exceptionally fast at picking up new languages. user:Sluzzelin 20:32, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

They appear to be outclassed by John Bowring and Hans Georg Conon von der Gabelentz. --Lambiam^Talk 20:42, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Cardinal Mezzofanti deserves a mention too. There's a lot of information on him on this site [14], which gives an indication of how he might have been able to acquire proficiency in such a large number of languages. There will almost certainly never be a clear winner of the greatest polyglot title, though, as there are too many differing criteria. How do you decide what counts as a language as opposed to a dialect, for example, and how do you decide what counts as knowing a language? For documented and demonstrated language acquisition, someone like Kenneth Hale would probably be at the head of the list. Mattley ^(Chattley) 21:21, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Jimmy Page

Just a suggestion, but could Wikipedia upload (since I can't for some reason) a picture of Jimmy Page on the article of him? Type in 'Dragon suit' in google images and pick the second one FROM the right.Jk31213 18:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Do you have doumentation to prove that the image is not copyrighted? Just because it is on Google doesn't mean you are allowed to use it. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:15, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, it won't let me upload it and it isn't copywrighted. Not my fault.69.31.216.242 18:30, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

How do you know it isn't copyrighted? If you upload it and don't provide documentation, it will be deleted. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:34, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Umm, there's already an image of Jimmy Page on Jimmy Page. What is the question? If you want to provide a different picture, you must clear it with copyright laws. - Rainwarrior 18:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

And which image is the fourth from the right depends on the width of your browser window. --Lambiam^Talk 20:31, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

wealthy

who are the least wealthy members of both houses of the us congress? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:03, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't know, but you can look at all of the financial-disclosure reports at this page. -- Mwalcoff 23:33, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Franz Müntefering

Is Franz Müntefering likely to ever become the chancilor

Chancellor?? of what? a university? a country? Please be more specific. JackofOz 22:33, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I presume you mean Franz Müntefering, former chairman of the German SDP? Well, his successor as chairman resigned after six months, so if turnover remains that rapid he may well return to that position. But seeing as he's currently not at the top of SDP hierachy, is 66 years old, and won't be having another general election 'til 2009, odds would not seem to be on his side. Seeing as he's currently Vice-Chancellor, what does the German constitution say would happen if you killed Angela Merkel? Mnemeson 00:04, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Okay, if you kill Merkel the Vice-Chancellor of Germany doesn't automatically get the job. So although my crystal ball is in storage somewhere, I'm gonna guess that Franz won't ever be the Chancellor of Germany. Mnemeson 00:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

london society

…i am currently writing a novel the characters being gangsters to provide authenticity i would like to learn of areas in london where social and economic structures would provide the correct setting for gangsters to live as they have for generations

Like the East End, for instance? Are you saving up all your punctuation for the book? Mattley ^(Chattley) 21:34, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

What about white chaple

Do you mean Whitechapel? JackofOz 22:31, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

• What period?It has changed over the years.It would appear your knowledge of London gangsters is so poor that I hold no hope out for your book. hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 23:57, 16 August 2006 (UTC))

Unnecessary, Hotclaws

i'm really not sure how to answer your question but I'd say the first step would be to do some research on the history of london then I'd proceed to do some research on the development of the welfare state in the UK then I'd do some research on the history of organized crime in London and perhaps try to interview some experts in the field and then draft a rough outline of your novel and take it to a publishing company to see what they think but before you do that I think you should take it to a decent editor so that he or she can perhaps offer you some advice such as the fact that run-on sentences are very awkward and very hard to comprehend all at once but still there may be people who disagree in any case the editor will at least be able to introduce you to a few simple English concepts such as the capitalization of the first word of every sentence and such other English idiosyncracies such as the coma and the period Loomis 02:41, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes. I. Go. To. Extremes. To. Avoid. Run. On. Sentences. :-) StuRat 05:22, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I hope the questioner doesn't find these answers discouraging - writing prose is very hard, harder still if one feels discouraged. Some of the best crime novels written here in Australia are the work of Mark 'Chopper' Read; an illiterate thug with a brilliant wit and a passionate understanding of his subject matter - he's written several bestselling and eminently readable books. Adambrowne666 05:47, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

August 17

street prostitutes

Is a street prostitute a good person to have "practice sex" with? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

• Could you please stop asking stupid questions from AOL? It makes the entire Internet Service Provider look bad--205.188.117.12 00:37, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Depends on your definition of 'good'. A prostitute is probably going to be fairly experienced, but whether that makes them a good teacher is another matter. The increased risk of STDs brought about by their increased frequency of sex with multiple partners is a bit of a risk. Oh, and don't forget that depending on your locality, it's probably illegal to pick one up. Have you tried chatting to women at bars? Mnemeson 00:33, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

This is a reference desk, not an opinion desk. So, checking... Nope, no references in our library about the "goodness" of "practice sex" with "street prostitutes". Looks like you'll have to do your own scientific study. --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:17, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Well there is at least an anecdotal connection between men whose first sexual experience was with a street prostitute and premature ejaculation, because the combination of performance anxiety, anticipation, fear of being discovered (because sex with street workers usually takes place in a car), physical discomfort due to location, and the impatience of the sex worker trying to get the man to 'get it over with' habituates fast ejaculation without attention to the signals that indicate imminent ejaculation.

Also, and I say this as someone who fully supports the freedom of people to exchange money for sexual services, most street workers are there by necessity, not choice. Many are drug addicts, many are HIV or Hepatitis carriers, most are controlled by pimps, etc etc etc. And frankly (I'm speaking from intimate knowledge, if not direct experience) have NO respect for you, may even HATE YOU and hate the experience of having sex with you. Is that the kind of person you want your first time (or any time) to be with? Practice is great, but being with someone who isn't dying of impatience for you to be done, who is healthy and happy, who doesn't have a pimp, drug dealer or boyfriend standing 20 feet away from your car waiting to take his cut, and with whom you can at least share mutual respect is better. Anchoress 01:34, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Edited to add: My answer does not reflect a worldwide view. I live in Vancouver Canada, which, despite supposedly being one of the best places in the world to live, a) is anecdotally known as the sex-trade capital of North America, and b) statistically (in one neighbourhood at least, Vancouver's 'skid row) has one of the highest HIV and Hepatitis infection rates in the whole world, so the particularly dire circumstances of our street sex workers may not be reflective of the norm. However, since there are better ways for people to make their money on their backs so to speak (in massage parlours or as escorts), it still holds true that street workers are the most marginalised and desperate segment of the sex trade, irrespective of nationality. Anchoress 05:37, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Mandatory retirement age

what is the mandatory retirement age for British Generals? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.163.100.72 (talk • contribs)

Could you please stop asking wildly random questions and start signing your posts? DirkvdM 06:01, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Wearing white after US Labor Day

What does "don't wear white after (US) Labor Day" mean?

That means it is only considered fashionable to wear white until the end of summer. StuRat 07:24, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I thought it may have had a more "cultural" meaning so cheers, I will try not to be unfashionable on my trip :-).

black sheep

my accent is totally different from anybody around me, people ask if I am a foreigner. I have no speech inpediment.why?