Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2007 February 4

= February 4 =

Question on political titles
Hi! It's me--again; sorry if I'm bothering you, but I have another question about political titles. In this site, there is a delegate by the name of:

H.E. The Rt. Hon. Lester B. Bird

(Lester Bird is from Antigua and Barbuda)

What does '''The Rt. Hon.''' mean?-- Ed  ¿Cómo estás? Reviews? 01:50, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Rt. Hon. is an abbreviation for The Right Honourable. ---Sluzzelin 01:52, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Hah! Two things politicians rarely are: right and honourable. Clarityfiend 05:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Fortunately, those entitled to the title are not necessarily politicians. JackofOz 06:20, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * "Right" in this case means "very". I don't have an OED where I can look up the derivation, but http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/right says, —Usage note 47. Right in the sense of “very, extremely” is neither old-fashioned nor dialectal. It is most common in informal speech and writing: It's right cold this morning. The editor knew right well where the story had originated..  Corvus cornix 18:23, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Copyright law regarding photographs
If I take a photograph of a celebrity, say, at a premiere or something, wherever it doesn't violate privacy laws, and then stick it on a T-shirt and sell it, is that legal? Dev920 (Have a nice day!) 10:35, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Taking the photograph isn't illegal, but I think that unauthorized use of a celebrity's image to sell a product is illegal. GhostPirate 14:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * What do you think the celebrity's lawyer or image manager would say? Carcharoth 01:43, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The problem isn't a copyright one -- you own the copyright, you are fine with that. Depending on how it is used, it might be analogous to a trademark one, though. See personality rights. --140.247.250.175 16:58, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Heroic Roman fashion - Asterix 'shield' inspiration?
I recently saw this picture here (see right), and was reminded of the Asterix comic books, where a common running joke in one of the books was the Chief Vitalstatistix being raised on his shield in an uneven fashion like this. I am wondering whether the similarity is entirely coincidential, or whether there is a possible connection? How common was the motif of later times depicting people raised on a shield like this in the "heroic Roman fashion"? Carcharoth 12:39, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * You might try: &mdash;eric 15:41, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Oh, wow! Just wow! :-) Wikipedia's Reference Desk comes up trumps again. That is just amazing. I was resigning myself to thinking that this might be a "no answer" question, but that is incredible. Thanks for that. The next challenge I guess is how to work that reference into a Wikipedia article somewhere... Carcharoth 01:40, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * If it's any help: the authors of Astérix were certainly familiar with Daumier. There are lots of references to Daumier's cartoons in Astérix. Chl 23:42, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Hah! It gets better! Are these references documented anywhere? I'd be really interested in reading up on them. We have to try and get them, along with the PD Daumier cartoons, into the Astérix articles! Uderzo (who is still alive) was the illustrator, while Goscinny (who tragically died at the age of 51) was the writer. I guess the illustrator would be more influenced by the Daumier satirical cartoons. Carcharoth 01:40, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * After some searching, here's where I read about this: Stoll, André, Asterix, das Trivialepos Frankreichs : Die Bild- und Sprachartistik eines Bestseller-Comics, Köln: DuMont Schauberg, 1974, ISBN 3-7701-0773-X. Only available in German, I'm afraid. The book details all the cultural influences and hidden references in the comic. Chl 14:46, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * German is a problem. But many thanks anyway. Carcharoth 00:21, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I always liked the variations, such as when the chief Abraracourcix (or Vitalstatistix) was interrupted while taking a bath and was carried off, topless, tub and all, and presented to the visitors. Another one I remember is after the chief fired his carriers and Obelix is forced to "serve" him alone, balancing him on one hand over his head, like a waiter balances a tray (even carrying a towel folded over his other arm, if I remember correctly). ---Sluzzelin 23:55, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Yup. I remember all those. Maybe it is time to re-read my Asterix books? :-) I see, with glee, that there are three new ones I haven't read yet, though I seem to remember the later ones (post-2000) not being that good any more. :-( Carcharoth 01:40, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh dear, "not that good anymore" is the understatement of the day. My POV. ---Sluzzelin 01:43, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Now you're revealing WAY too much about yourself, Sluzzelin! I thought you chose to be a complete mystery. I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of all those black balls, with one conspicuous green ball on your user page! Loomis 00:29, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Maybe Sluzzelin is trying to tell us he's related to Shri Dattathreya Ramachandra Kaprekar. Having 6174 balls on the page would have taken up too much space, but 297 is ok. JackofOz 00:44, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

footpath
How do I make a footpath that runs by the reservoir that is owned by the water company into a public right of way so I can walk down it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lilyfan87 (talk • contribs) 13:24, 4 February 2007 (UTC).


 * Assuming you live in England or Wales, the short answer is that you can't. The law is complicated, and keeps changing, and access rights have improved a lot over the past few years, especially within National Parks. It used to be the case that if you could prove someone had used a path every single day for more than a year, you could claim a right, but that may have changed with recent legislation. If there is a notice telling you it is private property, that remains the case. See rights of way in the United Kingdom for more information.--Shantavira 13:57, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not a lawyer, but you might contact the water company and express a concern that the lack of a footpath is an environmental hazard. You might claim that quality inspectors and/or children have been seen misbehaving as a result of there being no footpath. I would avoid suggesting vagrants need bathing access. DDB 06:56, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * You may not be a lawyer DDB, but you're sure sounding like one! :) Seriously, without a mental picture of the property, and the history behind its usage, the question is impossible to answer. Still, I'd definitely disagree with Shantavira's short answer that you simply can't. There are too many different varieties of easements to list here. But take the simplist possible of examples: say you own a piece of land that is completely surrounded by that of another. By operation of law you'd have what's called an easement by necessity. After all, if your property is completely surrounded by someone else's, how can you possibly get to it without trespassing on your neighbour's property! And by the way, even if you plan on airlifting yourself in, you're still technically trespassing, according to the maxim cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos, the Latin for for whomsoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to the sky and down to the depths. Loomis 23:52, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I forgot to mention it, but if you happen to be in the Civil Law world, the law is extremely similar. The main difference is in the terminology. What in the Common Law world is termed an easement is pretty much identical to what in the Civil Law world is termed a servitude. Loomis 00:03, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Soco and Vancette
I hear references to Soco and Vancette and would like to understand who they were. I thought they were WWII spies in the Boston Mass area but can not find a connection when I search that phrase. Your help will be appreciated Everett Hastings```` —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.109.184.11 (talk) 14:49, 4 February 2007 (UTC).
 * It's Sacco and Vanzetti. They were anarchists who were executed by the U.S. government. Here's the article: Sacco and Vanzetti. -GhostPirate 15:19, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * They were executed by the government of Massachusetts, not the U.S. government. - Nunh-huh 16:22, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Meanwhile, eight German spies/saboteurs did get captured in the U.S. during World War II, of whom six were executed, but that wasn't in Boston and didn't involve Sacco and Vanzetti (whose execution was in 1927). For the story of the German saboteurs, see Ex parte Quirin and follow the links. Newyorkbrad 16:34, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Doctorate in "Krishna"
i wish to do PhD on the topic "kRISHNA" .How can Wikipedai help me? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 221.128.141.142 (talk) 15:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC).
 * The answer is - not much - a PhD is usually original research - of which wikipedia has none.
 * You could look at the article krishna and see if this is the same thing - though in terms of a PhD thesis it would only contain very basic information. Other related topics may have articles on wikipedia that would serve as background and the links may be of more use to you for obtaining more detailed information.213.249.232.179 15:53, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * That's right. Wikipedia can give you some information on what is already known about the subject, but what is unknown and how you could approach that is completely up to you. Wikipedia is a good place to start your research, by reading up on the subject, but further research should take place elsewhere. A  ecis Brievenbus 16:12, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

I agree with the others. We're very proud of the work we do here, but no one should write a high school term paper based on Wikipedia articles without checking out the sources, much less a Ph.D. thesis. The articles should cite some sources you could start with, though if you are ready to approach the subject on a doctoral level you should already know many of them. Newyorkbrad 16:29, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Your IP address indicates you are in Kerala, India. If your question is, where can you find information about earning a Ph.D. on the topic, it is still hard to answer the question since Krishna is a subject of interest to several disciplines.  If you would like to become expert in the Sanskrit sources, for example, then you may wish to inquire further of the Department of Sanskrit at Kerala University (Kariavattom, Trivandrum, 695 581) or the Department of Sanskrit at Calicut University (673 635).  Wareh 01:48, 5 February 2007 (UTC)