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April 28

Royal converts to Protestantism

Has there been any major royal figure who converted to Protestantism from Catholicism after the Reformation and the Wars of Religion? So like in the Catholic powers of Austria, France and Spain.--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 01:18, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Take a look through Category:Converts to Protestantism there may be some. Princess Irene of the Netherlands went the other way. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 05:30, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Would you count Autumn Phillips as a "major royal figure"? I couldn't find anyone else using WP:CatScan. Gabbe (talk) 10:49, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Manuel António of Portugal? Renée of France? Charles XIV John of Sweden? Adam Bishop (talk) 20:23, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Of those, I think Charles XIV John of Sweden is the only one that fits the criteria in the question (post Wars of Religion era). Blueboar (talk) 20:56, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

April 29

50 states book

I'm looking for a book that is similar to encyclopedia of the 50 states of the United States. The book should contains history, geography, economy, demographic, education... of all 50 states, similar to the articles on here. And don't recommend me the book "Almanac of the 50 states", I have that book and it is not what I'm looking for. It just has a bunch of datas. And please don't recommend me random books that don't have what I'm looking for. I don't have much money to buy books that in the end just to find out that's not what I'm looking for. Thanks!184.97.130.145 (talk) 02:44, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

It sounds like you are looking for something that combines an almanac and an encyclopedia. Not sure if it exists. Have you tried the Encyclopedia Britannica? Seriously, it has fairly extensive articles on all 50 States, and will contain most of the information you want.

As for cost... why buy the books? If you live in the US, there is probably a public library in a town somewhere near you... where you will be able to access all sorts of good reference materials for very little cost. Blueboar (talk) 03:00, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I do live in the US but I want to buy it for someone else in a different country. Anyway, it is always nice to own a book. There is a big difference between a book that I own and the book I borrow from the library. There is limitations to things I can do with books from the library, it is not my book so I can't do whatever with it. Plus if I own a book, I can use it whenever I want, no time restriction.65.128.150.59 (talk) 22:01, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

How about The 50 States, by Bahmueller and Rasmussen? (Found by searching Google Books for "the 50 states"; you can find other possibilities that way, although none that look as nice to me.) Looie496 (talk) 03:01, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

You could print our 50 articles and bind them into a book, that would be the cheapest option if you are short of cash. --Lgriot (talk) 10:52, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

That makes a number of assumptions. California takes 33 pages; New Hampshire takes 22 pages. If we assume the average number of pages is 25 (probably conservative), that means 1,250 pages or 625 double sided, a very thick book. What sort of short-of-cash student is going to have 625 pages of blank paper lying around, plus a commercial-type binder that would handle a binding job of that size? If the OP had to rely on a commercial printer, the cost of printing 625 pages double sided and then binding them into a book, could far exceed the cost of such a book purchased in a book shop. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 21:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm not short in cash but I don't want to waste money on things I don't need.65.128.150.59 (talk) 22:01, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Fair point regarding the cost of ink, but not paper (US$ 5 should cover 500 pages). Also binding is available in shops that offer professional copying and usually costs very little obviously depends where you are. --Lgriot (talk) 16:05, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

No Nobel nominations?

List of Nobel laureates says "In years in which the Nobel Prize is not awarded due to external events or a lack of nominations, the prize money is returned to the funds delegated to the relevant prize. The Nobel Prize was not awarded between 1940 and 1942 due to the outbreak of World War II." When was the last time that a prize wasn't awarded because there weren't any nominations? I found [1], which mentions the lack of nominations during World War I, but (1) that's also a potential issue of external events, and (2) it doesn't say that this was the last time.

Meanwhile, what does "Chinti" mean in the 1914 Literature Prize? [2] says that no literature prize was awarded, but I don't understand how it's different from the various "None" entries. Nyttend (talk) 03:26, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

It's vandalism dating from January. An IP made a series of changes, most of which were rapidly reverted, but this one was missed. Gone now. Rojomoke (talk) 05:31, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

There's a table on this page showing the non-awarding years for all the prizes. Looks like it happens most frequently with the Peace prizes, but they all, except Economics, have seen years outside the two world wars when they have not been awarded. 1972 is the most recent year listed, for the Peace prize. Karenjc 06:54, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Additional note: I've found several references to the fact that the committee is not obliged to reveal details of nominees or reasons for not awarding a prize, so it may be difficult to establish whether omissions were down to a lack of nominations in any particular year. Our article Nobel Prize controversies says that the 1948 Peace prize was withheld as a tacit acknowledgement that Gandhi had been wrongly passed over and could not now be honoured - the committee declared that there were no suitable living candidates in that year, but that's not the same as no nominations. - Karenjc 07:17, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

website that show differences between Ultra-Orthodox, Hasidic, Modern Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews

Is there a website that does that?--Donmust90 (talk) 03:34, 29 April 2013 (UTC)Donmust90

See here and follow links thereon. Omidinist (talk) 04:08, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

[edit conflict] See this website. Nyttend (talk) 04:10, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Which city has the largest Bangladeshi Canadians, Arab Canadians, Iranian Canadians, Afghani Canadians and Turk Canadians?

Besides Toronto, which other cities or places has the largest Bangladeshi Canadians, Arab, Iranian, Afghani and Turk?--Donmust90 (talk) 03:37, 29 April 2013 (UTC)Donmust90

Must you, Donmust90? Must you, really? -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 04:28, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I don't find the question outside the scope of the Reference Desk. Yes, Donmust's interests are a bit peculiar, but I don't see any problem with them as such. --Soman (talk) 04:43, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

However, he asks the same or similar questions repeatedly, despite having been pointed to relevant Canadian government websites etc. a number of times. AnonMoos (talk) 11:23, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Donmust90, your question is answered in Bangladeshi Canadian, Arab Canadians, Iranian Canadian, Afghan Canadian and Turkish Canadian. 184.147.121.2 (talk) 11:41, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

(Semi-EC, I mostly composed this when only JoO had replied but wasn't completed and then had to do somethinghten forgot about it, I've read the other responses and they don't change my comment.) Well this one is a bit more complicated then the typical Donmust90 question. If we trust this source [3], St. John has one of the highest percentage of obese people. However according to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, they don't have many people in those categories. It sounds like Saint John, New Brunswick may not have many either. Toronto for all the ones it does have seems to have not so much of a problem with obesity. Surprisingly Hamilton, Ontario does, and it also has a decent number, so perhaps it's a decent bet. However there's no guarantee the obesity figures for these subpopulations match. Perhaps more importantly, going by such figures is only slightly better than random guesswork. For example, it's possible out of the 180 Arabs in 2006 in St. John, 179 are underweight but one of them is 500kg making him the heaviest Arab Canadian and St. John the city to have the largest Arab Canadian. Edit: i just noticed the OP said im the question, but not the title, 'place', suggesting they don't care if these people live outside a city. The good news is that from stuff I saw earlier, rural populations tend to have lower percentages for obesity. The bad news is, as I said earlier, statistics have limited use when talking about individuals. Also slightly concurring with Blueboar, it's possible these people don't even live in Canada. Is the OP including anyone with Canadian citizenship and whatever ethnicity or people who would identify as Arab Canadian in at least some contexts or what? Unfortunately, the only way I can see for a decent, but probaly not definite, answer to this question if there is some random story on the fattest Canadian and he or she happens to be of whatever ethnicity. However despite the existance of List of the heaviest people, I don't think posting such a story to the RD is good for BLP reasons. I would add 'largest' is generally taken as a sign of volume and while there is some correlation between body mass and volume, other factors also come in to play. Nil Einne (talk) 17:46, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Given the number of Canadians who travel south for the winter... the answer is probably Phoenix, AZ Blueboar (talk) 16:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Check [[4]] if you are so interested in Canada. OsmanRF34 (talk) 17:32, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Donmust. Why do you want to know? If you tell us, you will get more willing help. I already asked. Are you perhaps targeting a political campaign? If so, we might not all agree with your campaign, but we will understand where you are coming from. I sincerely hope that you are not planning some sort of attack on these communities. I know it sounds weird to suggest it but honestly when we have so many similar questions, we are naturally going to wonder why. Itsmejudith (talk) 17:59, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I recall the OP's reply to your previous request for clarification, and now I'll state my continued difficulty with it. This apparently sincere interest is (a) generally focused on definitions of ethnic and religious identities (predominantly Jewish and Muslim), and (b) particularly quantitative in nature. I find this sort of classification approach simplistic - possibly dangerously so - and thus am disinclined to support it. I'd far rather move in the direction of recommending selections of literary and journalistic sources treating the immigrant and minority experiences in their complexity at the personal, interpersonal, and intergroup levels, hoping that this will impart actual understanding and empathy rather than sheer categorization (and generalizing) and where that might lead. And I'm posting this here rather than on the User talk:Donmust90 or Refdesk Talk pages, aiming to reach those involved in this ongoing situation. -- Deborahjay (talk) 19:42, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Is this the same user that kept asking questions like this, under various ID's, and was blocked each time? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:05, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

"Mr. Fader, you sure do ask a lot of questions for a guy from New Jersey" Gzuckier (talk) 06:13, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

ISAF

Where can I find stats for troop contributions of various nations to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan? The article only lists current stats -- where can I find stats for all the deployments from 2001 to present day? 24.23.196.85 (talk) 05:01, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

At ISAF troop number statistics, scroll down for numbers starting at 2007, when there were much less troops than today. OsmanRF34 (talk) 18:02, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! 24.23.196.85 (talk) 05:31, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Arts: Mauricio García Vega, Prints for sale?

I came across the page of this artist just now and am impressed with his work. I immediately wanted to purchase some prints or posters but a google search and amazon search turns up nothing, not even a homepage for him. Of course that's probably the end and the answer to this question, but I figured there might be some art buffs who could have some insider news. Anyone? Thanks in advance. 208.127.39.230 (talk) 08:31, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Request for help in defeating vandalism of Wiki page

Hi all,

I realize this is not the proper place to make this sort of request, but I'm not sure where else to turn. There has been a persistent effort to vandalize the page Huizhou University. As the user Astrayalien has noted in the edit history, this vandal is a former employee of the university involved in a labor dispute. Most of the vandalism centers around his claim that the school is not actually a university. Apart from being untrue, the vandal fails to provide any source confirming his claim (The one link he has recently provided contains no mention of any "demotion." On the contrary, the source repeatedly refers to the institution as a university, as does the school's official website, which has been included as a source from the beginning). At the best, this user's changes constitute original research and violate Wikipedia's policies. At the worst, they constitute a sustained vandalism attempt which might necessitate the banning of the user in question. If someone is willing to help, I suggest restoring the recent changes by user AndreGallant and instituting a freeze on further edits until this blows over.

Thank you in advance for your help. 216.151.31.101 (talk) 09:03, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

For future reference... there are several places to raise an issue like this. The first is probably WP:NPOVN (the "Neutral point of view noticeboard"). And if it persists, take it to WP:ANI. Blueboar (talk) 16:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I wouldn't shout vandal too soon. How can we know that Hiuzhou is actually a university and not a community college? OsmanRF34 (talk) 17:19, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

In Chinese terms, Huizhou is not classified as a university (大学）, but rather as a college (学院）. Here is a link to the Chinese Wikipedia article on this institution, showing that, according to its official name, it is a college. The distinction seems to be whether an institution offers postgraduate degree programs, and apparently this institution does not, even though it uses an English-language name including the word university. Marco polo (talk) 18:30, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

While one could have an honest debate about whether the differences in naming conventions should be mentioned, the edits themselves make it clear that the user in question has lost objectivity and should refrain from further edits (see the article's talk page for more). You refer to the official Chinese name of the institution correctly. However, the official name of the institution in English is indeed "Huizhou University," information I gained from the institution's official website and an English list of academic institutions from China's Ministry of Education (MOE link here http://www.moe.edu.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2012/03/06/20120306092426358.xls.) I also think it's important to note that, as I understand it, our role on Wikipedia is not to act as detectives or attorneys presenting a certain point of view, but simply to provide relevant, sourced information. If the user in question wants to make allegations that this institution was demoted, he needs to provide sourced material indicating this is the case. This has not been done, and so the article should not be changed. Truly, thanks to all for taking some interest in this matter. 216.151.31.21 (talk) 01:27, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Book banning in Nazi Germany

I was reading Nazi guidelines for banning books and List of authors banned during the Third Reich. Nazis clearly mentioned they will ban books on Marxism (point 2), liberalism (point 4), and sexuality (point 8). It is understandable they banned Karl Marx (point 2), Sigmund Freud (point 8). But I don't understand why did they ban Alfred Adler, Charles Darwin? Was Hitler a creationist, opposed to evolution? And why they didn't ban Immanuel Kant, Ludwig von Mises, John Locke, Adam Smith? --Yoglti (talk) 13:14, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure why he would ban Darwin, but Adler (like Marx and Freud) was Jewish. הסרפד (call me Hasirpad) (formerly R——bo) 13:43, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

An article called Was Hitler influenced by Darwin or by Christianity? by Peter Hitchens says; "I believe that this ban (on Darwin's works) was not caused by any NSDAP objection to the theory of evolution, but may have more to do with Hitler's specific disagreement with Haeckel's supporters and disciples, the Monists, who were very far from being Nazis."

Perhaps the oddest ban was H G Wells who had proposed the disappearance of the Judaism (through forced integration rather than extermination) in The Shape of Things to Come. I think Hitler had taken a dislike to The History of Mr Polly who he thought was a bit of an anarchist. Funny how such a harmless old buffer as Mr Polly could be seen as a threat to the Thousand Year Reich. Alansplodge (talk) 15:28, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

It hardly seems odd that they banned Wells, when he was a prominent socialist and, while his views on Judaism and on eugenics were mixed at best and sometimes pretty unpleasant, they weren't the same as the Nazi views. Warofdreams talk 10:27, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

The Nazis were not particularly strong on intellectual endeavours, and von Mises, Locke, and Smith were not particularly widely read in Germany. Indeed, they are probably only known to rather small audiences now. So they may just have slipped under the radar --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:29, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

One should remember that the Wikipedia list is far from exhaustive (and as has been pointed out below, very dubious in regards to use of citations), so those authors might actually have been banned. --Saddhiyama (talk) 10:14, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Charles Darwin was never banned, as the article by Peter Hitchens makes clear. The source cited in List of authors banned during the Third Reich is [5], which mentions Ernst Haeckel but never Darwin. I've removed him from the list. --Bowlhover (talk) 04:28, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Ranking of MIT Mathematics Department

I came up with the article and I am quite surprised. It claims that MIT Mathematics Department is ranked Number 1 in the world ahead of four other USA universities coming second. First of all the department does not have a single Category:Fields Medalists which is considered the Nobel prize of Mathematics. École Normale Supérieure of France have got 10 Category:Fields Medalists alumni more than all other universities in USA combined. The closest a USA university has came is University of California, Berkeley with 7 Category:Fields Medalists My question then is:

• Are there any criticism of these surely biased (Not my original research) rankings?

I have checked out the articles of Criticism of college and university rankings (North America) Criticism of college and university rankings (2007 United States) but they fail to provide the explanation of the question I seek. Solomon7968 (talk) 18:26, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Um, no where does the article say the MIT was ranked number 1 in the world. It says it's 'one of the leading mathematics departments in the USA and the world' and 'In the 2010 US News ranking of US graduate programs,[3] the Department was ranked number one'. In other words, it only says it's one of the leading mathematics departments in the world, and was ranked number one of US graduate programmes in one specific ranking table. From the article history, it hasn't been modified since March [6] so I guess said the same thing when you read it. As for your later question, since it was based on a misconception, perhaps that explains the problem. Note in terms of the number 1 place among US graduate programmes in 2010, both U.S. News & World Report and the articles you linked to discuss specific criticism of the U.S. News & World Report rankings. None of them refer to the MIT mathematics placing in particular, but there's a fair chance you won't find a specific criticism of a specific rank, because it's easily possible no one commented on it. In terms of how the U.S. News & World Report ranking works, again there is some detail in the articles, you can probably find more from the links.

Note that if you look around these articles on wikipedia, you'll likely eventually come across the Academic Ranking of World Universities which does use Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, and you'll also come across criticism such as that in the article I linked to, of those rankings precisely because of the high focus on people associated with them (staff and alumni, particularly on staff which you didn't mention but also alumni) winning Nobel prizes and Fields Medals. You may even come across comment of the Fields Medal age limit and how it creates additional problems if you use it to indicate the most important work in the field. (BTW, I intentionally avoided using the word criticism here, since it may fit with the purpose of the medal and may not be bad thing, provided you aren't using the medal for something other then its purpose. I would note there's also a lot of commentary surrounding the Nobel Prizes even the science ones, and how well they indicate contribution to the field but it doesn't have the age issue.)

Edit: BTW, if you look at the actual ref for the claim it's one of the leading in the world, you'll see the foot note itself says it's based on 'MIT ranked 15th on citations and 17 on impact', in other words, even from this it's possible it's 15-17. Now if you look at the actual ref, which is dead but I added an archive (so the article has now been edit), you won't see École Normale Supérieure de Lyon there however since all it's doing is giving the citation impact and number of citations over a 10 year period, I presume it's accurate. In terms of whether it's fair to say the MIT Mathematics Department is one of the world leading mathematics departments based on this citation, that's a discussion best held on the article talk page.

Nil Einne (talk) 18:39, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I am still not convinced. There are many reason to believe that the article MIT Mathematics Department itself does not suit according to wikipedia guidelines. Well it is just a department of mathematics in a university like plenty many around the world and the fact that it is a department of MIT does not itself make it a encyclopedic topic for discussion. Even we have a article for Michael Sipser and the wikipedia article does not say anything about his research interests but just includes it because he is the head MIT Mathematics Department. I don't think just only having the MIT brand power makes any professor automatically notable. Solomon7968 (talk) 19:04, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Not convinced of what? You asked a question based on a misconception and I clarified that. If you have further details that confuse you, please explain what they are. Please note as I explained in the edit I added (unfortunately only saved after you replied) this is not the place to discuss problems you have with an article or with wikipedia in general. For notability concerns, there are various ways to deal with this, I suggest you read Wikipedia:Notability (academics) to start with, follow appropriate links and seek help at an appropriate place like WP:Help Desk if you still have concerns and can't work out what to do. Nil Einne (talk) 19:22, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Well I didn't noticed what the foot note says but the phrase read US News ranking of US graduate programs. Since I am not from USA I got confused that there is a specific US News with a brandname US News. I now have added the link to the article to avoid any misconception. Solomon7968 (talk) 19:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Actually the phrase read 'In the 2010 US News ranking of US graduate programs' until you changed it after this discussion. While I can understand how you may not have realised there was something called U.S. News or U.S. News & World Report, I don't particularly understand how this lead you to believe it was a world ranking when it clearly specified it was a US ranking, and the only mention of world was in the earlier comment on MIT being one of the leading in the world. (Even though the full name for the magazine may be U.S. News & World Report, only US News or U.S. News was used in the article including the footnote text and any wikilinks.) But anyway feel free to modify the article and/or discuss it on the talk page if there are any more issues in it you feel need clarification. Nil Einne (talk) 20:12, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

(EC) Edit for above: Note that being President of MIT and probably chancellor would imply notability, as it would at least for president or equivalent for many other universities. Head of mathematics department is less clear, but again, you appear to be mistaken. The article, which again hasn't been edited since March [7] make an additional claim for notability namely 'Sipser is the author of Introduction to the Theory of Computation (ISBN 0-534-95097-3), a standard textbook in the study of theoretical computer science'. The article on the book doesn't establish it as such, and the notability criteria does suggest he may need to be the author of more than one book but such things are always unclear, if the book is significant enough just the one book could be enough. In any case, sufficient RS covering the person in depth would establish notability whatever the reason, and while the article may not be great, I think there are signs of notability from the little that's there so I would suggest caution and research if you really want to take this further. For example, a simple Google Scholar search [8] finds many articles, including the book with 2248 citations, the author on a paper 710 and another with 699 etc. (He's listed first on one of these, but apparently this doesn't mean he's necessarily the or one of lead author/s in mathematics.) Nil Einne (talk) 20:12, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Social dancing...

In social dancing, are dance partners allowed to be the same sex? Sneazy (talk) 18:32, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

I answered my own question. Partner dance. Sneazy (talk) 19:06, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

In the US, in the 1950's and 1960's at parties, sock hops or other teen dance occasions, it was very common for two girls to dance with each other, at least until a guy got up the nerve to ask one of them to dance. One generally did not see two girls close dancing to a slow tune. It would have been rare to see two guys dancing with each other. There were likely dances at gay or avant garde clubs where anything might be seen. Edison (talk) 19:25, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

If we're talking technicalities: There are no doubt many places in the world where 2 guys dancing together is still frowned on, or they are asked to get off the dance floor, or they suffer far worse consequences from the authorities. That's because there are still some places where homosexual activity is illegal. Even though dancing is not a sexual act per se, anyone in those places who wanted to take a stand (or take a waltz) and test the distinction might come off second best. On the other hand, in enlightened places, if anyone even frowns on 2 males dancing, let alone worse treatment, the law would be on the side of the dancers. Two women dancing together has always had far greater acceptance than two males; but only if they were assumed not to be lesbians. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 21:28, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Could it be that the ballroom dances have a distinct sex appeal to them? In tango, the dance partners would have to be intimate physically, which to the audience would like they are in love. Are there any exceptions? How about a mother dancing with her daughter or a father dancing with his son? Or would people count as a both incest and homosexuality? Sneazy (talk) 21:44, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Not unless they actually were. Many families are affectionate with each other regardless of gender. Meanwhile, in pop culture, I recall a scene from the early-1970s movie, Paint Your Wagon, in which a whole bunch of men were shown dancing with each other. They weren't gay, they just didn't have any women around, but they wanted to dance after a long week of gold mining, so they got some fiddlers and had a dance. Closer to home, in junior high and high school every year we had a segment of the P.E. curriculum that was dancing. There were always more girls than boys, so the "extra" girls would dance with each other and nobody made anything of it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:02, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Indeed many films from the 1940's and 1950's feature military men dancing together because there are no women around. Take for example The_Deadly_Mantis.Helene O'Troy - Et In Arcadia Ego Sum (talk) 19:16, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Scotland/Northern Ireland

What do loyalist/protestants/orange think of both the Scottish referendum next year and the SNP? Are they supportive of the Celtic League? Or does the monarchy card trump it? (Though Salmond said he would keep the monarch). Any word on what the SNP intends for Ireland relations and Northern Ireland conflict management proposals?Lihaas (talk) 20:54, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

See McGuinness issues warning as DUP figures split on Scottish referendum response - Peter Robinson: “We hope that Scotland will know just how much we want Edinburgh to remain within the United Kingdom.” Alansplodge (talk) 22:03, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. It seems religion divides. Though from a political perspective Robinson has not learned as much as McGuiness and Paisley.Lihaas (talk) 22:20, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Although you would rather expect Unionists to support the continuation of the Union. Quis separabit? is still a powerful slogan there.[9] [10] [11] Alansplodge (talk) 23:15, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

And I suspect that most of them do. However, I think politicians on both sides are simply being practical about things by keeping their mouths over the issue. One of the major pillars of peace in Northern Ireland, from the Good Friday Agreement onwards, is that the future of Northern Ireland should be decided by the population of Northern Ireland alone, without 'outside influence' (from either Britain or Ireland). Poking their noses into the question of Scottish independence could be seen as them not extending the same courtesy to the Scots as they would hope for in return. Hence, both Unionists and Nationalists, as well as the government of the Republic, are, in general, keeping their counsel on the matter. Of course, in private, each side presumably has a desired outcome. It's not too difficult to guess which is which. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 06:56, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

It should hardly be a surprise that the Orange Order in Scotland and N. Ireland are not fans of independence for Scotland. Here's Slugger O'Toole's take on the recent news that the OO will back "Better Together": [12]. Nothing new there as this much scarier decade-old Herald story shows [13].

Equally unamazing, the DUP aren't fans of the idea as FM Peter Robinson explains [14]. As N.I. Unionists go, Robinson's interventions have been restrained. At least he's not screaming for partition: [15]. And on the subject of An Phoblacht and their political masters in SF, they won't be taking an official position: [16].

So far as I know, such analysis as there has been done of religious voting patterns in 2011 - which is not much - can be found on page 9 of this pdf http://www.scottishelectionstudy.org.uk/docs/Mitchell_slides.pdf from the preliminary Scottish Election Study findings. Party vote is not a terribly good surrogate for views on independence - there are Yes voters in every party's share and there are dead-cert No voters who voted for the SNP - but it's as good as you'll find. Angus McLellan (Talk) 17:10, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

What is oldest age a person can be adopted foster parent in Russia or Finland?

You already asked this on the Misc desk. If we don't know there, we won't know here.
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Since there is no age maximum for how old someone adpotes or foster a child in Russia or Finland I wonder how old the foster or adpoted parents has been in the past or is now? Venustar84 (talk) 21:09, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Sailing

When was the technique of working to windward first developed or used?LordGorval (talk) 23:16, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

The earliest rig capable of tacking successfully was the spritsail, first recorded in the second century BC. Tevildo (talk) 23:45, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Most Austronesian peoples use fore-and-aft rigs, whose use is recorded in China and the Indian Ocean in ancient times as well. It is quite possible that the invention was prehistoric and arrived in Europe from the east. Marco polo (talk) 02:06, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Follow up question: Can we consider that keeping the Roman empire together wouldn't have been possible without the spritsail? --Lgriot (talk) 08:34, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

No, probably not. I don't think Roman ships used spritsails a lot. Trade on the Mediterranean depended a lot on seasonal favorable winds, not on being able to sail upwind (much of this is true for all commercial sailing - while most ships can sail upwind to a degree, it's nearly always much much much slower than using a favorable wind). And roman corbita were not particularly good at beating upwind, AFAIK. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 17:22, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Thank you Mr Schulz --Lgriot (talk) 15:57, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Session times of state parliaments

According to Indiana Senate#Operating rules, the Senate of Indiana must meet for 61 resp. 30 days (not necessarily consecutive days) per year, and adjourn no later than [date in spring]. Exceptions only when the Governor calls for a special session. Is it right to read that as "Under normal circumstances, new laws are created in Indiana only from January to April, because during the rest of the year the Senate is not in session and therefore cannot give its consent to any law"? I'd find that a bit astonishing, if it is indeed so, because: Can't a "need" to create a new law arise at any time? Being from a German state, I always believed (and Google just confirmed it to me) that - even though it can't make laws on as many areas as a US state legislature - the state parliament here meets at least monthly. --MF-W 23:25, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

That's what special sessions are for -- if there is a need for legislative action while the legislature is not in session. Looie496 (talk) 00:04, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Also, it bears noting, that unlike the Federal Congress, state legislators are usually part time positions: the pay is often not very high in many states, and most legislators hold down other jobs, necessitating short sessions. Most notably, the New Hampshire General Court has never given its legislators a pay raise since the 18th century, which means they are still given a salary of $100 per year. Even with the per diem when the legislature is in session (which is supposed to cover food and lodging), few people would serve as a full-time job and be on call all year long under those conditions. Now, New Hampshire is an extreme example, and like literally everything else about the U.S., this is highly variable from state to state, but in general in states that pay their legislators very little, sessions are kept short on purpose: the idea is to pass the laws that need passing for that year as quick as possible, then get home to get back to one's normal job. Of course, in many states, it is a full-time job, for example the California State Legislature meets year-round, but a) it's a much larger state to govern than Indiana or New Hampshire is, both in terms of population and area and b) they pay their legislators for it, $90,526 per year compared to New Hampshire's $100 per year, or Indiana's $22,616 per year. --Jayron32 04:28, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Read the sentence again, MF: "under normal circumstances . . . ." A special session is, by definition, not a normal session, but a possible one. And whenever it is in session, the Legislature has all of its full powers to make laws.[Expanding my answer:] That being said, many state legislatures in the U.S., unlike the U.S. Congress, do not meet all year round, or even every year. The Florida Legislature, for example, meets in normal session for only 60 days a year. And the Texas Legislature meets for 140 days, but only every other year. Of course, as mentioned, the governor of a state can call the Legislature into special session if a need arises for legislation outside of the normal sessions. Textorus (talk) 04:29, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

April 30

Refunds for defective goods

Why aren't businesses in the US required to give a refund when they sell you goods that are defective? --128.42.156.120 (talk) 02:30, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Generally they are, or at least to replace the defective product. In most places in the US there is an implied warranty of merchantability -- although it may be possible to disclaim that warranty if a prominent notice is given. (This answer should not be taken as legal advice.) Looie496 (talk) 02:54, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Please contact a lawyer, or the Texas state Attorney General's office if you have an actual complaint. μηδείς (talk) 02:55, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

Yes, see a lawyer if you have a complaint about a particular merchant. For a discussion of the legal principle at work, see Caveat emptor. Textorus (talk) 05:21, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Sometimes a product is "defective" only in the mind of the unreasonable or perhaps mentally impaired consumer, and a "reasonable person" or court of law would find no defect. Some people just love to buy things and then return them, often with the packaging damaged so it is difficult to sell to another consumer. These consumers are referred to as "returnaholics:" [17], [18], [19]. This may be a consequence of recreational shopping, and buying things they don't need and can't afford. Then there are outright fraudsters, who buy a videocamera to film a graduation, then return it afterwards, or who buy clothing for a special event, wear it, then return it, as if they had rented it. Certainly there are defective consumer goods, and if a merchant expects repeat business, he will cheerfully do refunds or replacements for anything defective, or will issue a store credit or refund for mistaken purchases, if they are in salable condition. Edison (talk) 18:24, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

How did America become so much more powerful than Canada?

Topic^ ScienceApe (talk) 11:53, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Pure geographic determinism, pretty much. The United States has more territory suitable for a larger population to live on. It's noticeable that a majority of Canadians live relatively close to the border with the U.S., but a majority of Americans do not live relatively close to the border with Canada. To put it in crudest terms, both countries have roughly the same land area, but a lot more Canadian land is covered with snow and ice all or most of the time... AnonMoos (talk) 12:49, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

(ec)Population and climate. The US has roughly ten times the population of Canada. The harshness of winter in Canada has an inhibiting effect on the development of trade, transport and other infrastructure compared to the US. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 12:52, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

More than just the harshness of the climate, the fact that most of eastern and central Canada is covered by the Canadian Shield, which is unsuitable for agriculture, is a bigger factor. The really harsh climate doesn't hit until quite a ways north, much further than the area of relatively concentrated settlement. --Xuxl (talk) 13:48, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

There's also the fact that the general geography in other ways gave the U.S. a head start; consider that the U.S. began as a series of settlements along the Atlantic Seaboard and along rivers at the fall line which runs quite close to the Atlantic coast. This gave the U.S. a big advantage in natural resources (more natural ports and harbors, the abundance of medium sized rivers along the fall line means lots of water-powered factories in the 19th century, see for just one example the Merrimack Valley). Canada had some historical advantages in natural resources (the timber resources cannot be underestimated) but on the balance the U.S. had many geographical advantages in terms of where to settle people and how to take advantage of the advances of the Industrial Revolution that Canada simply didn't have. Canada didn't have as many places to distribute warm water ports along its Atlantic coast to take advantage of trade with Europe, didn't have as many suitable rivers for water powered factories, and as such didn't attract as many settlers to take advantage of those geographic advantages. Such advantages multiply over time. --Jayron32 13:58, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Another factor is that the French by and large weren't interested in colonization and didn't put much effort into New France. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:42, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, the British used the New World as a place to deport their religious minorities, while the French preferred other means of dealing with that issue. To be fair, however, there wasn't a lot of great places to settle in New France. British North America was easily accessible Atlantic coast, lots of settlement places, all you need to run a tidy little colony in one place. New France was open, inland wilderness for the most part. So, it still comes back to Geography. The French did send colonists where they could (Quebec, Acadia, New Orleans), but most of the land under their claim wasn't ammenable to setting up easy colonies. --Jayron32 23:04, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

• It's simply a matter of the size of the market and its economic freedom. The US population exceeded that of Britain about 1850. Except for slavery (which was soon abolished, and comparable to the Irish problem in Britain) trade within the US was almost entirely free. Large free markets have economic efficiencies, see Zollverein. Canada was also relatively free, but its population has always been about a tenth that of the US, similar at times to New York or now California. So, of course its total GDP and hence "power" would be less. μηδείς (talk) 16:28, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

What coat of arms is this please?

[20]. They are not Arbuthnott in spite of the coronet and motto. Kittybrewster ☎ 13:00, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

If nobody else is able to answer in the meantime, I'll have a look in my Papworth's when I get home this evening (UK timezone) – I don't bring it to the office, obviously! {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 13:12, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

The closest I can find may be Nicolson, it is very similar to Otho Nicolson, as this page shows Otho Nicolson's as "Azure two bars ermine in chief Argent three suns in splendour Or", and there are several other Nicolson arms on that page with similar organization to yours: The "three suns in splendour Or" and "Azure/ermine" combination seems to be indicative of Nicolson arms. That yours is also charged with a crescent also indicates a younger son, see Cadency. I'm by no means an arms expert, but that's the best I can find with Google. --Jayron32 13:36, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Different motto, but this page associates the blazon "Two bars ermine in chief three suns; Crest: Out of a ducal coronet a lion's head" with one Otto Nicholson... AnonMoos (talk) 13:33, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Papworth's Ordinary of Arms (1874) lists under these arms (ignoring the cadency crescent):

"Nicholl of Greenhill Grove, co, Hereford. Nichols. Nicholson, Thelwell Hall, co. Chester. Nicholson, co Cumberland; and co. Lancaster. Nicholson, London; confirmed 1596."

Unfortunately Papworth doesn't run to giving mottos. Debrett's (1909) has no entries of these exact arms, only a couple of recently created Nicholson baronetages with variants (one with nebuly bars, the other with two suns, neither with a similar motto). Best I can do for now, I'm afraid. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 5.66.241.41 (talk) 08:13, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Fairbairn does and mentions (1892) Lusk and Rundle as using "Laus Deo". On balance though my vote goes with Otto Nicholson. Thanks all. Kittybrewster ☎ 16:40, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

The right to use public roads

Resolved

When and how did the right of citizens to use public roads become established in Roman and English law? A friend of mine who knows a bit about law said he thinks it was stipulated in the Magna Carta, but I'm of the opinion the right is much older, the English "inherited" it from the Romans. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 13:21, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Rights of way in England and Wales may be a good place to start your research. --Jayron32 14:35, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 15:12, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Actually, I was thinking that this article may be more likely to (ahem) head you off in the right direction.... Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:14, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! I'm afraid Rights of way in England and Wales and related articles here on WP are about everything except actual public roads - they cover the right to use paths on private land. The Freedom of movement article covers international travel. That's also the subject of the Magna Carta so my friend's claim is incorrect.

A bit of background to my question: A mutual friend of mine and my aforementioned friend fell out of his wheelchair due to the bad condition of the sidewalk, so we were just wondering if the use of public roads and streets is an actual legally established right. We're in South Africa where the common law is based on Roman, Dutch and English law.

We can't give legal advice. AndyTheGrump (talk) 16:50, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm not a noob here, I know the no legal advice rule. This is a question about legal history out of curiosity. Our injured friend has already received compensation from the municipality. The legal case is already settled. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 17:47, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

In the UK it is quite common for people to sue the local authority for failure to maintain pavements (sidewalks). This is separate from rights of way. Say there is a public right of way to walk across farmland on a footpath. The farmer has to make sure that the footpath is clear of crops. They don't have to make sure that the path is accessible for baby buggies or wheelchairs. But if there is a pavement (sidewalk) along an urban street, there would be an expectation that it would be accessible by everyone, including wheelchair users, people with mobility issues, prams and buggies. From the Rights of Way in England and Wales article you will see that there are different categories of rights of way: footpaths, bridleways, roads used as a public path, byways open to all traffic. Sidewalks on streets are in the top category: highways. Everyone has the right to use the highway. The highway is maintained by the local authority, which is, indeed the Highways authority. The local authority has a duty of care to ensure that the highway is kept in correct condition so that users are not endangered. Itsmejudith (talk) 18:45, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

In at least some municipalities in the US, maintenance of public sidewalks is the responsibility of the landowner, but will sometimes be subsidized by the city. Failure to keep your sidewalk clear of snow will yield a fine and the homeowner is responsibility for fixing any cracks. Homeowners can also be liable for injuries sustained by people on their premises. That's why many companies sell homeowners liability insurance or probably include it with regular homeowners insurance. Ryan Vesey 07:40, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

It's interesting that in the US sidewalks are on private property rather than part of the municipal street. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 11:54, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Here is a example of a sidewalk easement document from Michigan: [21] Rmhermen (talk) 15:58, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Roman law definitely dealt with this. Our article on Roman roads talks about it a bit, for a start. Adam Bishop (talk) 00:46, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Right of way is one thing; the natural right of people to pass by their own effort on common (public) and undeveloped land and waterways. Negligence and duty of care are other concepts from easement all the way to attractive nuisance may apply according to local custom in the maintenance of roads and publicly accessible lands. But these are separate matters. The positive right to ease of access to be provided for the handicapped is not a traditional one, and wouldn't trace to Roman or common law. μηδείς (talk) 02:13, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Seems to me the OP's question is a bit muddled: a public road is by definition open to the public for their use, obviously, and this concept goes back to antiquity; the Romans of course built many roads for public use, and likewise many other governments before and since. The opposite would be a private road, or a toll road. But freedom of travel or movement on a public road is a basic freedom in Western society; if the OP really wants to pursue the topic, here is a long brief with quotations from numerous jurists on the idea - but don't take that as legal advice. But it's such a basic principle that it goes without need of argument in a court of law, IMO; the relevant question would be, who is liable for injuries caused by poorly-maintained roads or sidewalks? Apparently in the case mentioned by the OP, the municipality was found liable. Textorus (talk) 07:28, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks - this helps clarify a lot. My friend's matter never went to court, the municipality coughed up without too much threatening.

My original thought that prompted the question was that perhaps there was a Roman or English law or even case law that prevents an authority (the proverbial Sherrif of Nottingham) from denying the common people free use of "the king's highway". IOW is use of a public road actually a right in the strict sense? The answer is clearly yes. Is the road authority's failure to maintain the road in a usable condition an infringement of the freedom of movement? It seems the answer might be yes.

To answer Medeis' comment about "handicapped access": In terms of South African constitutional rights any distinction between a wheelchair user and a "traditional" pedestrian is illegal discrimination - we're very big on anti-discrimination in SA, given our history.

Thanks for the history lesson. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 11:54, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

interest in pawn

i want to ask.. if i pawn my house and lot to a pawn person.. how much is the right percent of interest he can apply or i will pay to him in legal way... thanks.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.200.123.171 (talk) 14:16, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia cannot give legal advice. If you wish to find an answer to your question, it would be better to find a person who you can contact locally who is qualified to do so. --Jayron32 14:33, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Legal limitations on interest vary greatly, but you can get some sense of the background law by looking at our article on usury. If this is actually an issue for you, you should by all means consult a lawyer. John M Baker (talk) 15:47, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Mortgage is the relevant article for this enquiry, incidentally. Tevildo (talk) 22:40, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

A mortgage is not that relevant to a pawn operation.It is usually a 15 or 30 year loan. "Pawning" a house would be difficult: picture carrying the house to the pawn shop and handing it over the counter. This website[22] says the finance charge at a US pawn shop can be 5% to 25% PER MONTH (based on state and federal rules), and that the amount loaned is a small fraction of the value. If the item is not redeemed by the end of the pawn term, the pawnshop gets to sell it and you are out of luck. We have in the US the "home equity loan." It is a short term loan, (perhaps 24 months) subordinate to the first mortgage if any. My local bank will loan up to 75% of the equity in the home (appraised value less any mortgages or other liens) for prime plus a bit, currently 3.99%. Edison (talk) 15:06, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

I doubt your average pawnbroker is interested in laying out that much money for something that isn't easy to turn over if you default. Rick Harrison, maybe. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:11, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

In many places you cannot pawn a house except by way of of either a legal mortgage or an equitable mortgage. A house is a fixture of the land and a "house and lot" would not be transferrable as chattel. So yeah, mortgage is the relevant article, even if your mortgagee is a pawnbroker. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 08:59, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

World War 1 vs 2

I have seen images of both wars. One thing I noticed is that in the first war, most soldiers have mustache. But in the second, most don't have mustache. Why? --Yoglti (talk) 15:29, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Shavers were only invented in WWII? :P ☯ Bonkers The Clown \(^_^)/ Nonsensical Babble ☯ 15:32, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Fashion. Facial hairstyles, like regular hairstyles, go in and out of fashion. Here's a blog on historical facial hair and a book on the history of beards. 184.147.121.2 (talk) 15:52, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

The fact that Hitler and Stalin had mustaches probably didn't help much either... GurkhaGherkin (talk) 16:59, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

@GurkhaGherkin: that could explain why many men don't have mustaches after the WWII, but the question is why they didn't have mustache during the WWII. (I don't know if it's indeed true, although it could be an army policy for all sides about no facial hair, which is not only a question of fashion, but has also practical implications for soldiers). OsmanRF34 (talk) 18:36, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

A story that I've been unable to pin down, is that during WWI, an order went out for German soldiers to cut back their elaborate handlebar moustaches, so that their gas masks would seal properly. Therefore, Herr Hitler's toothbrush, while making him resemble Charlie Chaplin in the Anglosphere, was the mark of a veteran of the trenches to German people. I'm not sure that this is entirely true, as a number of photographs of him in 1918 show him with facial hair that a walrus would be proud of. Alansplodge (talk) 22:04, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

According to our article Facial hair in the military#United Kingdom British soldiers were forbidden to shave their upper lips until 1916!. --ColinFine (talk) 22:09, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Someone should double check that last one... it's sourced to the Daily Mail (and we should be able to do better). Blueboar (talk) 22:19, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia should be purged of the Daily Mail and the New York Post. Ryan Vesey 22:23, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Not everything in the Daily Mail is false. I read the article, and found that it stated that the King's Regulations were amended on a particular date, and decided that the specific reference meant that this was probably accurate. --ColinFine (talk) 11:17, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Professor Richard Holmes tells the story of a British officer who was successfully court martialled for "persistently shaving the upper lip". In response, Lieutenant-General Sir Neville Macready amended King's Regulations by Army Order 340 (3) of 1916, removing the prohibition of shaving the upper lip. See Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front. Alansplodge (talk) 23:29, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

And in Macready's own words, in his autobiography Annals of an Active Life, pp 258-259. "On 8th October, 1916, the order allowing all ranks to grow or not to grow, moustaches according to their fancy was signed... I dropped into a barber's shop and set the example that evening, as I was only too glad to be rid of the unsightly bristles to which I had for many years been condemned by obedience to regulations." 174.88.10.231 (talk) 23:57, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Our article on Sir Nevil says; "He also abolished the compulsory wearing of moustaches by British soldiers, and immediately shaved off his own, which he had hated." Alansplodge (talk) 12:47, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Note that the French Army of the Great War didn't share the British obsession with shaving, and allowed their soldiers to grow immense whiskers and beards, leading to their nickname Les Poilus ("the hairy ones").[23] British troops were often infuriated when being marched away from some desperate action lasting several days, only to be berated by a staff officer for not shaving. Alansplodge (talk) 13:07, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Have you not seen this, chaps? Shaving is very very important to the British Army!

Weekly news magazines

Weekly news magazines are a staple of print media in many countries - for example, Time and Newsweek in the USA, Der Spiegel and Stern in Germany, Profil in Austria, Le Nouvel Observateur and L'Express in France, and so on. The one country where these magazines have never really been successful is the UK. The only attempt at such a publication in the UK, Now, was a flop. The Economist is not comparable. What are some of the reasons why the UK has never taken to the idea of a weekly news magazine? (I don't buy the argument that the Sunday papers fulfil that function in the UK, since other countries have equally encyclopaedic Sunday papers as well.) --Viennese Waltz 17:57, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Are you not counting The Spectator and New Statesman as news magazines? There's also Private Eye, albeit on a fortnightly basis. Dalliance (talk) 18:40, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, those three are all different from the ones listed. They don't report news exactly, nor do they have a strong emphasis on photojournalism. They are more analytical and discursive. --Viennese Waltz 19:19, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Way back in the dim, distant past we had the Sunday Pictorial. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:44, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

And other hasbeens were the Illustrated London News and Picture Post. New Statesman still caters for an educated-left-of-centre readership. Both Time and Newsweek had European editions that had a British following. I suspect that it is the strength of the national broadsheet newspapers that is to blame; you can read in quality in-depth news articles in The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph or The Guardian and their Sunday counterparts, without having to buy a magazine as well. Alansplodge (talk) 21:49, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

The Week is the only contemporary newsmagazine I can think of. Tevildo (talk) 22:42, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if it's "one hasbeen, many havebeen". Probably not. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 08:15, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

It's "many has-beens," dating back to at least 1888. Textorus (talk) 08:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 19:56, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Newsweek went out of business as a print magazine. Edison (talk) 15:18, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

For what it's worth, my guess is that the UK has a tradition of quality daily newspapers, and therefore it doesn't need the weekly newspapers in the same way. The main reason for buying a weekly newspaper (in my eyes) is that it provides some commentary or in-depth analysis that the daily newspaper can't. However, UK dailies provide a lot of commentary, e.g. through multiple editorials. And tehn, of course, there are the Sunday papers, which provide a lot of reading material. V85 (talk) 10:13, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Distribution

How much US federal spending is distributed to each state for things like infrastructure? Is it in proportion to each state's population? Pass a Method talk 20:09, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Nope... the amount each state gets is determined by the various Congressional committees. Ideally appropriations are based on need (if a state already has lots of good roads and bridges, it does not need as much infrastructure funding as the states that have poor roads and bridges). Of course the reality is that "need" is often influenced by political calculations. See our article on Pork barrel politics for more on that. Blueboar (talk) 22:51, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

A good, important question. Our article on Revenue sharing is meager and too broad, and gives wrong impressions, and I can't find a better one. A major factor in the comparatively poor economic performance of the USA in the so-called Great Moderation (and with worldwide effects because of the US economy's size) was the drop in such infrastructure spending, federal money to the states, first under Nixon, and only worse as time went by. Less Pork barrel than earlier eras (adjusting for the size of government, the level of (federal) taxation) led states to rely more on economically destructive, often regressive taxes.John Z (talk) 23:58, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Infrastructure covers a very broad range of projects, but probably you can find specific dollar amounts by searching the website of the U.S. Government Accountability Office website at gao.gov. A quick google search turns up a number of different programs and projects, like these. Textorus (talk) 08:03, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Here is an interesting article. Notice that the states that complain about taxes (Republican) are the ones that receive the most of it!165.212.189.187 (talk) 15:06, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

May 1

Western Culture and homosexuality

Hi, i'm trying to find some information for an article in progress but struggling. I know there is something out there but now i need it there's nothing obvious on a Google search I can use. I need something; research or just notable ramblings concerning the accusation of Western Culture either causing or promoting homosexuality. It's for User:Jenova20/List of suggested causes of homosexuality and this is becoming one of the more difficult ones to find accusations/evidence of. I would appreciate greatly the effort put in to find some information on this. Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 14:10, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

I guess it depends what you mean by "western culture". The idea that "decadent" Western values (i.e. liberalism) promotes homosexuality is pretty commonplace. The likes of Robert Mugabe have made such pronouncements, and you can find it in some Islamists. That;s linked to defense of local traditions against westernisation. Nationalist ideologies etc. The idea that modern society itself promotes "unnatural" behaviour - including homosexuality - date back to the sexologists of the late nineteenth century, and is linked to the debates about "degeneration", loss of of traditional belief, liberalisation etc. If you are referring to an older model of "western culture" derived from medieval Christianity, you could argue that the very concept of homosexual identity emerges from the fact that it is proscribed. Paul B (talk) 14:50, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

From my Internet search for xenoestrogens homosexuality, the first result is

http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/xenoestrogens-turning-men-into-women.

—Wavelength (talk) 14:56, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

See "Joseph Nicolosi" and http://josephnicolosi.com/an-open-secret-the-truth-about/.

—Wavelength (talk) 15:08, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Amazing! thank you both very much ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 15:11, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

I think this book chapter from the Family Research Council might be helpful (pp. 29 ff). Looie496 (talk) 15:15, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

See "Homosexuality in ancient Greece" and http://www.banap.net/spip.php?article121.

—Wavelength (talk) 15:19, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

A caution... the topic of this article is guaranteed to be controversial. I am not at all sure that a list article is an appropriate way to cover it. Blueboar (talk) 15:21, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Most gay-related articles are controversial. If i show all opinions here in line with WP:WEIGHT I think i'll be fine. That-being-said, if you have anything to add or change then go right ahead or just suggest it for me to do. Thanks for the sources. If you find more then post 'em up ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 15:30, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

See http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110216141118AAAuy5j.

—Wavelength (talk) 17:07, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

I only skimmed your draft, but you appear to be missing the obvious 'it feels good to put your penis into a hole and sometimes anuses are handier' “cause” (practiced by prisoners the world over, among others), as well as the simple 'hey I like this person and I like putting my penis in holes, combine the two?' cause (alternatively, the 'no religion taught me this was wrong' cause). No idea what these would be summed up into one or two words as in academia. :) ¦ Reisio (talk) 04:40, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm gonna play the dyslexic card and say i don't understand that. Can you reword or explain? Sorry ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 10:10, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

I don't want to speak for him, but he seems to be saying "Some people men have sex with men because a) it feels good and b) they don't live in a society where people seem to care." That is, it isn't caused so much as "not prevented". --Jayron32 12:25, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

For female people, this is often much more widely accepted even in fairly conservative societies. Indeed, they may even be allowed to marry men! --Stephan Schulz (talk) 12:29, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

So corrected. --Jayron32 13:02, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Ahh, i see! Well that's all useful stuff for me to add =D Thanks a lot and keep it coming if you find/think of more ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 13:41, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Note an important point Reisio seemed to be refer to that Jayron32 did not is that of Prison sexuality and other cases of where Men who have sex with men for access and similar reasons, i.e. Situational sexual behavior. Note in such cases it may not be be that it's generally socially acceptable, simply that it's possible and the risk isn't so great as to stop it, in fact it isn't uncommon that those involved may not wish people to know or to speak about. However while there may be some merit to mention this in your article, as your article appears to be homosexuality as a sexual orientation, not as a behaviour. Nil Einne (talk) 15:14, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

The article in progress is a list of claimed causes. Prison and situation are clearly missing and i'll add them right away. All i need is some decent sources now. Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 15:27, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Our articles Homosexuality in Japan#Ancient Japan, Homosexuality in China#Traditional views of homosexuality in China and LGBT history should dispel the notion that something Western might have in some way determined or prevented someone’s idea of appropriate sexual orientation. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:30, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, i'm aware that it's a bullshit explanation that Western Society/Culture = Gay but it's for an article and my opinion isn't a source. Thanks for the links, i'll knock through 'em over the weekend ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 08:34, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Distant members of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein

What are the status of the descendants of Prince Eduard Franz of Liechtenstein in Liechtenstein? They are dynasts and bear the title prince but are they recognized by the reigning prince or given a pension by the government? It seems they mostly live in Austria and Germany. Are they consider foreign royals in those countries?--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 22:02, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Austria and Germany are very much republics today, and AFAIK, neither has any government recognition at all of any privilege of royalty or nobility; that is there are no heritable privileges associated with title or ancestry recognized by the governments of either country. --Jayron32 02:49, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Foreign royals too?--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 02:52, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

How do you mean? Like does the government give special privileges to foreign royals? Why would they? --Jayron32 02:58, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Just to give some references, both Austrian nobility and German nobility give some good information on the abolition of privilege and of the non-recognition of nobility by those countries today. It seems that there is still considerable "social" recognition in the sense that formerly rich and famous noble families are, well, still rich and famous and being so tend to live the sort of life and have the sort of social privilege that, say, members of the Social Register in the U.S. may, you know the "jet set", playboy, ultra-rich lifestyle, that sort of thing still exists in Austria and Germany. What doesn't exist is any sort of legal distinction that sets such a class apart. So yes, socially, formerly noble families in those countries still live a very different life than the average office worker or school teacher. But there's no official government recognition. It should be noted that it isn't just Liectensteiner nobility that run in those circles either. Aga Khan IV, the Nizari Imam and one of the richest private individuals in the world, who is married to a German princess and whose step mother was Rita Hayworth, is also part of the European noble social scene, as was his father Aly Khan. --Jayron32 03:13, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Tracing new world's black population

From what part of Africa do each community of American (as a continent) black population come from? OsmanRF34 (talk) 23:04, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Some Brazilian slaves came from Portugal's colonies of Angola and Mozambique. Otherwise, slaves could come from many parts of Africa, but coastal West Africa was the main area where slave ships loaded. Caribbean Lukumi/Orisha religious practice shows significant influences from Yoruba culture, in current day Nigeria etc. AnonMoos (talk) 23:31, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

So a "cross-colonizer" supply (Portuguese supplying the English or the other way round) was also possible? Are there historical records of how many slaves left Africa, at what ships, and so on? OsmanRF34 (talk) 00:15, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

There's some good information at Atlantic slave trade. There's a map and tables and percentages and all sorts of good data and everything that shows where most slaves bound for the Americas came from; though it doesn't explicitly say where each slave went to. It is likely that such records may not be available or even possible to produce; though we know where most of the slaves came from, there isn't likely a one-to-one correspondence between a land of origin in Africa and a land of arrival in the Americas. But otherwise, that article's actually in pretty good shape. --Jayron32 02:45, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

"Cross-colonizer trade" was considered a bad thing according to the prevailing economic philosophy of Mercantilism, and the English desire to trade with Spanish new world colonies was a continual source of friction. For this aspect of the slave trade, see Asiento. AnonMoos (talk) 03:36, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

And note that populations have moved around considerably over the past few centuries, so you're likely to find a wide mixture of ethnic origins everywhere now. StuRat (talk) 03:46, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Hence "African American" rather than "Yoruba American" or "Ashanti American" or whatever. Because of their intermingling in the New World, which would not have happened in their native lands to anything like the same extent, if at all, their individual ethnicities have been largely lost. Imagine if all we knew about Italian Americans, German Americans, Hispanic Americans etc was that they were "European Americans". -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 06:03, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

For many Americans, "European" is about all they know of their ancestry. And the European immigrants (like the slaves) also interbred much more in the Americas than they would have in their natal lands. My point is, for people (like me) who can rattle off ~6-10 European countries of ancestor origin, "European American" is probably the best title there is (apparently "White American Mutt" is deprecated). I suspect that, compared to USA, Europe has less people that are e.g. of Irish and German and Russian and Polish and English descent, but I'm not sure how USA would compare to Australia or Canada in that regard... SemanticMantis (talk) 19:46, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Actually, more to the point, you can rattle off 6-10 European countries. Most people with European ancestry can identify at least some, if not most, of the countries from whence their ancestors arrived in the New World. There are much fewer African Americans who can do the same with regard to where in Africa their ancestors came from at all. --Jayron32 21:18, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

There are genetic testing companies which for a hundred to several hundred dollars (US) can in some cases trace your mitochondrial DNA or Y chromosome DNA back to an ancestor who lived in some specific country several hundred years ago, Then you would know for sure that your maternal line was from some specific African subpopulation such as Khoikhoi or Bantu peoples, or that your paternal line was from the Amhara people or Igbo. They can give percentages of your ancestry from other world population, representing all your other ancestors besides mother's mother's mother's mother or father's father's father's father etc. Edison (talk) 04:02, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

May 2

"Sexual attraction"

Inspired by this RefDesk question, I have some follow-up questions. Does anybody know the cause of sexual attraction in general? Also, what is the difference between "sexual attraction" from other forms of attraction or other forms of affection or something that is agreeable to one's tastes? When people say "I am sexually attracted to..." what does this mean? Is this related to sexual desire, or is it just an affectionate emotion for another person? Is this why some people like to identify their boyfriends/girlfriends as different from their other regular friends? Maybe the boyfriend/girlfriend is the "best friend", while the other friends are merely friends and a bit distant from the individual. Sneazy (talk) 14:01, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Did you try Sexual attraction? Good luck in your quest for an answer ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 14:27, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

If by "cause" you mean the efficient cause -- the mechanism in the brain that causes males to move toward females or vice versa -- then no, we really don't understand that well at all. We know some of the brain areas that are involved but have little idea how they work. If you mean the final cause -- the function that is served by having males move toward females or vice versa -- then I would say we understand that reasonably well. Looie496 (talk) 14:55, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Moral Constructivism vs Semantic Meta-ethics

According to the book "The Normative Web", moral constructivism, or at least a new version of it, belongs to moral realism. However, it is widely known that constructivist moral theories do not discuss meta-ethics in terms of semantics. Instead, it focuses on substantial meta-ethics.

According to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "For some constructivists, lack of interest in semantics is motivated by the conviction that the semantic task with which metaethics is mostly preoccupied is positively misguided (Korsgaard 1996a; Korsgaard 2003; Street 2007, 239). The philosophical issue worth worrying about is normativity, and this is not something that we can explain solely on the basis of semantics. Rather, explaining normativity requires philosophers to engage in other sorts of philosophical investigation, for instance investigation into the idea of autonomy and rationality (Korsgaard 1996a)."

I believe that Korsgaard defended constructivism by dismissing the practicality of semantics in meta-ethics. She affirmed the belief that moral constructivism does not need to have a semantic position.

My questions: 1. Are there any other moral constructivists who criticize the dominance of semantics in the study of meta-ethics? Who are they?

2. Do moral constructivists agree to call themselves realists or anti-realists? Or, would they rather support the view of Korsgaard? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joshua Atienza (talk • contribs) 19:24, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Option 3: They have no idea what you're talking about. Can you suggest some links? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:19, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

He has given lots of references and elaborated quite a bit. Why don't you just not respond if you don't know anything about the subject? This is a relatively advanced question in philosophy, and is not the sort of thing you can just "wing" based on two Wikipedia articles. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:29, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

I have to agree with Bugs. These are "floating abstractions": words divorced from evident connections to concrete meanings. If the OP wants a serious answer he should do the research himself, since he already has the references, and is looking for an interpretation. If he wants our opinion, which we do, but do not do, (but do), then he should give examples and links. μηδείς (talk) 01:30, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

I think the OP's problem is quite different. They're hung up on the taxonomy of philosophical systems. It would be more helpful in studying philosophy to understand what each philosopher is saying than it is to pigeonhole everyone into a category or assign labels to it all. --Jayron32 04:00, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

This is not a baseless question, even if it does show confusion: I might respond more if I have the time tomorrow. Joshua is dealing with "textbook" metaethics, and the main lines in the debates are pretty well established, and he is just trying to see where those lines are.

Quick answers: 1. Yes: Most Kantians. 2. Realists. Korsgaard is a moral realist, and I don't see any reason why she would reject that label. --Atethnekos (Discussion, Contributions) 05:39, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

US military things named after Confederates

I note that USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) and the M3 Lee tank were named after CSA general Robert E. Lee, and USS Stonewall Jackson (SSBN-634) (and the two USS Stonewalls that preceeded it) after Thomas Jackson. Were/are other notable US military items (ships, bases, units, equipment classes) named after other CSA figures? [I thought I was onto something when I found USS Forrest (DD-461), but no] When those two submarines were named, both after noted rebels, was there any substantive complaint that it was inappropriate to name US military units against officers chiefly famous for fighting against that same US military? [Yes, I'm aware that both Jackson and Lee were formerly US Army officers, and that the US has made great efforts to heal the wounds of the civil war.] 87.114.11.184 (talk) 22:09, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

M3 Stuart tanks. A Liberty ship isn't exactly notable, but there's SS James Longstreet. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:33, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Various forts, many listed here, more recognizable ones being Fort Bragg and Fort Hood. "Although naming forts and camps after distinguished military veterans from both the U.S. and Confederate Armies had become a common practice, it was not the official policy until the publication of a War Department memorandum dated 20 November 1939."[24] (I'm not sure that Braxton Bragg "distinguished" himself in quite the right way, though.) Clarityfiend (talk) 22:45, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Did anyone die in the Tunguska event?

For the longest time that I can recall, the Tunguska Event article claimed that precisely zero people died in the impact. At some point, this source was used to add the claim that a single death was caused. Clearly, Earthsci.org is not going to be doing any original investigation, so I'm wondering if anyone can help dig up other references, better references, as to whether anyone actually died. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:34, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

It might not be very clearly known, considering that the main investigations came years later... AnonMoos (talk) 23:38, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

It is worth noting that Earthsci.org writes "One older man at about this distance was reportedly blown about 12-15m into a tree" - 'reportedly'. They aren't saying it happened, only that it was reported to have happened... AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:40, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

This article, today, mentions for the first time I have ever heard someone dying. μηδείς (talk) 01:20, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

mizrahi supporting and in left wing parties in Israel

Is Amir Peretz the only Mizrahi/Sephardi Jew that is a left-wing politician?--Donmust90 (talk) 23:25, 2 May 2013 (UTC)Donmust90

You are as capable of going to Category:Israeli politicians and reading all of the articles as any of us are. --Jayron32 23:43, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Unfortunately, our article doesn't specify what soccer team he roots for? μηδείς (talk) 01:26, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

May 3

God Bless Cuba

God bless America? What about Cuba, a communist country and the only country that has achieved sustainable development?

JUK845 (talk) 04:48, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, is there some question we can help you answer, or are you just here to rant? --Jayron32 04:50, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

You are at liberty to ask God to bless Cuba whenever you wish. Perhaps your question was about liberty? See Human rights in Cuba Dbfirs 06:31, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

World Sustainable Development

Cuba is the only country that has achieved sustainable development. What about the world as a whole?

JUK845 (talk) 04:51, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Sustainable development? Cuba? What on God's Earth are you talking about? -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 05:50, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

There's a thing called the "Environmental Performance Index", and in 2010 Cuba landed on ninth place. In the 2012 index it was not in the top 30. Gabbe (talk) 07:22, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Engels' contribution to sociology

what were the contribution of Fredirich Engels to sociology field? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.59.13.192 (talk) 09:20, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Grenade-resistant

Is there grenade resistant suit available? --Yoglti (talk) 09:43, 3 May 2013 (UTC)