Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2007 May 31

= May 31 =

Flag and general officers.
1. What current active duty united States Navy Admiral recieved his commision the earliest? 2. Military retirement. Is it true that even after retirement a us military officer still holds his commision? 3. British army what is the mandatory retirement age for a General or Abmiral in the British military?


 * It appears to me that you are asking us to answer some questions for school. If you read the top of this page it says that We will not do your homework for you. Sorry. -- Tλε Rαnδоm Eδι  τ  оr   02:15, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * No, what possible school subject would require a student no fairly important trivia about relativly obscure figures. I Truth is I am a hobbiest.


 * I am hobbier than thou :P --Lambiam Talk  07:08, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Longest serving legislators
1. What current member of the French natonal assemby was earliest elected? 2. What current member of the lower house of the indian parliment was earliest elected? 3. What current member of the Japanese diet was the earliest elected?


 * It appears to me that you are asking us to answer some questions for school. If you read the top of this page it says that We will not do your homework for you. Sorry. -- Tλε Rαnδоm Eδι  τ  оr   02:15, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Random editor, you might like to refer to these articles: Assume_good_faith, and Don%27t_bite_the_newcomers -Czmtzc 12:38, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

No, what possible school subject would require a student no fairly important trivia about relativly obscure figures. I Truth is I am a hobbiest.
 * Oh, I bet we can find someone here who's hobbier than you. &mdash;Tamfang 07:07, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * There are only 577 members of the French National Assembly, with some obstination, you can skim through their official bios. David.Monniaux 11:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Now for the US we have this article: List_of_U._S._Congressmen_By_Longevity_of_Service, which I found by seaching wikipedia for "list of us congressmen". I have not had so much luck seaching for French, Indian or Japanese.  Perhaps you could ask nicely on the language desk if some one could look at the language specific wikipedias for these answers.  -Czmtzc 12:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I like that word obstination for an act of obstinacy. &mdash;Tamfang 18:44, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Icelandic Holidays
Several sources (a list of bank holidays and this blog) mention an Icelandic holiday occurring on the 27th and 28th of May or thereabouts of this year. As I was unable to find a list of Icelandic holidays--any idea as to what it might be? Applicable to my recent edit to EVE Online. Thanks! Jouster (  whisper  ) 02:26, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Googling "public holidays, Iceland", without the quotation marks, led me to this site which shows Whit Monday and Ascension Day as public holidays.  These are celebrations tied to Easter and the moon cycles, so they will fall on different days each year. In 2007, Ascension Day was May 28th. Bielle 04:00, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Whit Monday? Ah, how great to go back to wonderfully poetic liturgical language like Whitsuntide.  Pastordavid 04:04, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I wonder what it is in Icelandic? Someone on the Ref Desk will know. Bielle 04:10, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Whitsunday is Hvítasunnudagur, and Whit Monday Annar í hvítasunnu. The last bit of information is actually given in our Whit Monday article. --Lambiam Talk  06:58, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Are Tinnitus real?
In philosophy of reality, if the sound of Tinnitus is not a real sound then what is it? Or can false and fake source create real sensory inputs. If so then how can I be sure that what I am seeing (vision) is not just another form of visual Tinnitus?

202.168.50.40 03:21, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Uh... what are you seeing? :) But in all seriousness, it may depend upon your definition of "sound."  If you go with, "the sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air or other medium," then it's not really a sound, since its cause is internal.  If you go with, "the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause," (both these definitions come from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary) then it does fit this more general meaning.  A fake source cannot create real inputs, but it can lead to a perception of inputs that are not really there.  Similarly, you can see things that aren't really there, based upon factors not directly correlating to the effect.  Society is largely based upon the assumption of commonly shared perceptions, and that has worked with varying degrees of effectiveness down through human history.  The article on Critical realism might be of interest to you.   ◄    Zahakiel    ►   04:06, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Um, why not link to hallucination rather than lysergic acid diethylamide? —Keenan Pepper 07:26, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Because my focus there was on the potential factor(s), not the effects.  ◄    Zahakiel    ►   13:29, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * For whatever it's worth, during my *cough* youthful experimentation with LSD (mostly in 1993) I had auditory hallucinations (always the same: while coming down I'd hear a varying buzz as if toy airplanes were, er, buzzing me) and visual distortions, but never saw anything that wasn't there. &mdash;Tamfang 02:39, 1 June 2007 (UTC)


 * In addition to what Zahakiel says, consider this: are sensory organs accurate? In other words, can you hear something that is not a sound, and can you fail to hear something that is a sound?  I think the answers to these are obvious.  If your nerves fire, you feel it, whether you interpret that feeling accurately as a particular class of stimulus or not.  In other words, there can be errors in percept, in concept, and in the analytical category of the concept.  What, then, is the big deal?  Utgard Loki 13:14, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Fibromyalgia may be of interest also. 213.48.15.234 13:29, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * You are basically asking how we know the veracity of our senses. This is a big topic. It has been discussed for some time (maybe we're just in a dream. maybe we're in a computer simulation. maybe, maybe). The fact is that at some level you don't really know — Occam's razor would implore you to probably think the reality you experience has some correlation to the reality which is assumed to be shared by all, but there are plenty of people with severe mental illness, for example, who we generally think are not participating in that shared reality but don't know it. Is there a rigorous solution? I don't think so. Since your senses and even ultimately your ability to understand and process logical statements are dependent on the proper functioning of your physiological brain, at some level it becomes impossible to verify the world outside your self. You can try to stack probabilities up in your favor but at some basic level a dream or Matrix world is going to be indisguishable from a "real" world. However if you assume that your logical functions are working correctly, then you can triangulate something of a base reality — i.e. if I know that hippos can't fly, and I see a flying hippo, I probably have good reason to suspect that my visual senses are deceiving me. In practice that can be a hard thing for people to do, of course — we come to trust our senses, and even when they are clearly deceiving us we still tend to trust them. --24.147.86.187 13:44, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Anon. user seems to be making reference to an application of Gödel's incompleteness theorems, which would also be an applicable reference for this topic.  ◄    Zahakiel    ►   14:03, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Cossack pirates
I would like some information, please, on the Cossack pirates of the Black Sea.
 * Have a look at Kuban_Cossacks. --Richardrj talkemail 07:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I suppose when people think of Cossacks they bring horsemen to mind, but the story of the sea-going variety is every bit as dramatic, and still remembered in Ukrainian foklore. Their story really begins after the Ottoman Turks gained control of the Crimean Khanate, and began to operate a trade in Ukrainian slaves out of the port of Kaffa. In 1553 Dmytro Vyshnevetsky organised several Cossack bands into a single host, centred on a fortified camp, known as a sich. This fortification was located on the lower Dnieper River close to a series of cataracts or za porohamy. Because of this the host took the name of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and began raiding Turkish settlements along the shores of the Black Sea.

Their first recorded naval raid dates to 1538, with an attack on the fortress of Ochakov. This was followed by more frequent and better-organised raids elsewhere, the freeing of Christian slaves being one of the chief aims, as well as the acqusition of plunder. Their success was such that they attracted the attention of the western European powers, including the Papacy, who made diplomatic overtures in the hope of launching joint ventures against the Turks.

During the early decades of the seventeenth century the Zaporozhian naval war reached the height of its success. Using small, shallow-draft, and highly manoeuvrable galleys known as chaiky, they moved swiftly across the Black Sea. According to the Cossacks' own records, these vessels, carrying a 50 to 70 man crew, could reach the Anatolian coast of Asia Minor from the mouth of the Dnieper River in forty hours. The chaiky were often accompanied by larger galleys, that served as command and control centres. The raids also acquired a distinct political purpose after Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny became hetman in 1613, intending to turn the host into the nucleus of a Ukrainian nation with the support of the European states. By 1618 the Zaporozhians were members of the Anti-Turkish League, as Schaidachny transferred his seat of power to Kiev, nominally under Polish control, but functionally independent. The fighting qualities of the sea-going Cossacks was even admired in the Ottoman chronicles: "One can safely say that in the entire world one cannot find a people more careless for their lives or having less fear of death; persons versed in navigation assert that because of thir skill and boldness in naval battles these bands are more dangerous than any other enemy."

In 1615 the raiders even sailed to the walls of 'Tsarhorod', as they referred to the Turkish capital, plundering the ports of Mizevna and Archioca. An attempt by the Turks to blockade the mouth of the Dneiper, and thus deny the Cossacks access to the sea, was defeated in the spring of 1616, the raiders going on to capture Kaffa, which was burned down after all of the slaves were freed. That same year Trebizond, in eastern Anatolia, was captured and destroyed. Sultan Ahmed I sent his fleet to the Dneiper in pursuit; but instead of going home the Cossacks once more sailed to Istanbul, where they raided at leisure, even rampaging through the Topkapi Palace, according to one account. The city was raided four more times, once in 1620 and no fewer than three times in 1624.

After 1624 the Zaporozhian raids gradually died out, as the Cossacks began to devote more and more of their martial energies to land-based campaigns, fighting on one side and then the other during such conflicts as the Thirty Years War. But the legacy of the raiders remains an important part of the Ukrainian national consciousness. And if anyone wants a little fanciful insight into the spirit of these indomitable men, then I would suggest looking at Ilya Repin's marvellous painting Reply of the Zhaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmet IV of Turkey Clio the Muse 01:01, 1 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I wikified the text of Clio's answer and merged it into History of the Cossacks. For those interested in other branches of the Cossackdom, I recommend Ushkuiniks and Stenka_Razin. --Ghirla-трёп- 22:39, 1 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Incidentally, could chaiky be the root of the name Чайковский? &mdash;Tamfang 18:48, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Bill Clinton quote
As a conclusion for his interim successful Middle East peace initiative, Bill Clinton delivered a speech, including a catchy phrase with short words, ending in "... and work for peace."

At least this is I believe to remember, but I don't find a quote like that on the web. Can someone help me pls? --KnightMove 08:32, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * You might try WikiQuote. Just type in bill clintons name, and it will pull up a list of quotes, hopefully with the one you want. -- Tλε Rαnδоm Eδι  τ  оr   17:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately not, but thx. --KnightMove 19:50, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Constantinople after the conquest
I would be grateful for some details on the history of Constantinople after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. There is a little information in your page on the History of Istanbul, though not very much. Some references would also be useful. Oh, and I would like to thank the person who gave me such a great answer to my recent question on Shah Abbas I and the Armenians. Decline and fall 14:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I have three suggestions. The first is reading Fall of Constantinople. Granted it not provide exactly what you want to know, but it will provide some information. Next try reading Ottoman Empire. Finally, I recommend checking out your local library for books on the subject. -- Tλε Rαnδоm Eδι  τ  оr   17:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

To begin with, you should be aware that in the final years of the Byzantine Empire the population of Constantinople had reduced steadily, throwing the great imperial city into the shadow of its past glory. For Mehmet II conquest was only the first stage; the second was giving the old city an entirely new cosmoplitan social structure. Most of what remained of the Byzantine population-a mere 30,000 people-was deported. According to the Ashikpashazade, a Turkish chronicler, Mehmet then

''...sent officers to all his lands to announce that whoever wished should come and take possession in Constantinople, as freehold, of houses and orchards and gardens...Despite this measure the city was not repopulated. So then the Sultan commanded that from every land families, rich and poor alike, should be brought in by force...and now the city began to be populous.''

Mehmet took much personal interest in the creation of his new capital. On his orders the great mosque and the college of Fatih were built on the old burial grounds of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostle. Bit by bit the great Christian city was transformed into a great Muslim city. Even so, the city was not to be entirely Muslim, at least not until the late twentieth century. Slavs, Greeks, Jews and Armenians, all of whose diverse skills were needed, were allowed to settle in a city which was to become known as alem penah-refuge of the universe. According to the census of 1477, there were 9,486 houses occupied by Muslims; 3,743 by Greeks; 1,647 by Jews;267 by Christians from the Crimea, and 31 Gypsies. Mehmet also re-established Istanbul, as we should now call it, as the cente of the Orthodox patriarchate. The atmosphere was both relaxed and tolerant, as a Jewish rabbi noted in a letter;

''...every one of us lives in peace and freedom. Here the Jew is not compelled to wear the yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany, where even wealth and great fortune are a curse for the Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all sorts of slander against him to rob him of his gold.''

There was also an Italian community in the area of the Galata Tower. Having surrendered before the fall of the city Mehmet allowed them to preserve an element of self-government. For generations after they supplied interpretors and diplomats for the Ottoman Court. After the conquest of Egypt in 1517, and the Sultan's acceptance of the position of Caliph, Istanbul acquired an additional importance in Muslim eyes. Mosques built by Suleyman the Magnificent and his successors gave the city the unique appearance it still preserves today. The individual communities, though, still lived in self-contained areas, and had little in the way of social interaction, a source of future trouble.

As the years passed the population increased, from about 80,000 at the death of Mehmet, to 300,000 by the eighteenth century, and 400,000 in 1800. The capital of an empire that stretched across, Europe, Asia and Africa, it also became an important diplomatic centre, with several foreign embassies. The city continued to develop a distinct international identity, so much so that by the time the population reached a million in 1900, under 50% of the people were Muslim. It was only after 1922, following the war between Greece and Turkey that things really began to change. With the establishment of the new Turkish Republic, built on a wave of nationalism, there was a mass exodus of much of the Greek and Armenian population from Istanbul, which had ceased to be the capital After riots in 1955 the remaining fraction also departed.

For further information I would suggest that you consult An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1914 by halil Inalcik and Donald Quataert, Between Two Worlds: the Construction of the Ottoman State by Cemal Kafadar; and Turkey a Modern History by E. J. Zürchner. See also Europe's Muslim Capital by Philip Mansel in the June 2003 issue of History Today for a reasonable overview. Clio the Muse 23:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Clio's answer imported to History of Istanbul. --Ghirla-трёп- 21:54, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

how to become REALLY
131.220.115.227 15:39, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * really invisible? I think there's a song by that title.  Utgard Loki 15:45, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I think you are, really. Clarityfiend 17:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

How to REALLY become a successful trader? (please pardon my last post, it was a mistake)
Sure, there are many books/websites that claim to teach it. But no successful trader would reveal his/her secrets, literally, their trade secrets. If I may request any volunteer here who is also a successful trader, will he/she reveal a few secrets or universal principles of success in trading? 15:48, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * This is a Reference Desk for an encyclopedia. We can point you to articles about various aspects of trading, but you're really asking a question about people's personal experiences and opinions, which isn't really suitable. --Dweller 15:55, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * At least you have learned a very important lesson. Anyone on TV, radio, or print media that claims to have all the answers about stock trading would be stock trading, not wasting time on TV, radio, and print media.  The most profitable trader I know is actually a computer program (Automated Trading Desk) that buys and sells stocks very quickly (rarely holding a stock longer than a few seconds). --Kainaw (talk) 16:03, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Buy low, sell high...Purchase firms with good fundamentals. Or to quote the legend Gordon Gekko...

Or perhaps you should listen to Lou Manheim (the somewhat more sensible character of the film): There is no sure fire way to win at stock. It requires understand of business, ability to see the 'big picture', a bit of luck and a cold hard realisation that no matter how much you know something could happen tomorrow that scares the market half to death and wipes the smile off your face. Read up on stop losses, fundamentals, price earning ratios. If you are a casual investor (like myself) you should focus on an area you know well, say technology, and try to find the firm you believe has the fundamentals and prospects to drive forward. ny156uk 18:51, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * "the most valuable commodity I know of is information".
 * "you wanna know why fund managers can't beat the S&P500? Because they're sheep, and sheep get slaughtered."
 * "Stick to the fundamentals. That's how IBM and Hilton were built. Good things sometimes take time"

There might be easy tricks to make big profits, but if they are known widely enough to be mentioned here then they will be widely exploited, and pretty soon they will be "overfished". &mdash;Tamfang 18:53, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

spirop user page
why is images and facts on robert lovett jr. not relavent to currency page as a link page.

also anyone claming rights to my coin jpg 1 in my possession for 20 years, jpgs taken by me copyrighted in lib of congress 2006, fld-self 2007, ethier copied without my permission or a different coin, in which i am not bound. spirop —Preceding unsigned comment added by Spirop (talk • contribs)


 * Anything you add to Wikipedia must be licenced with at least an equivalent to the GLPL. In other words, you cannot add images/text and claim a non-commercial restriction. --Kainaw (talk) 17:27, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

i do not put non commerical restrictions, did you see my spirop page. only commerical resrtrictions, under the guidlines of wikipedia. all images DFDL-self, web page same, also copyrighted lib of congreaa spirop


 * OK - let me reword this... You cannot add a "you can't use this for commercial purposes" restriction to the content you add to Wikipedia. Right below the edit box, it says "You agree to license your contributions under the GFDL."  That means that you agree to use the GFDL, not your own license or restrictions.  In other words, this is not a personal website for whatever you want to use it for or a blog or a myspace page or an advertisement board...  It is an encyclopedia. --Kainaw (talk) 15:30, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

I want to know the skinny
When did western society's standard of attractiveness swing from the Rubenesque to a more Twiggy-like tendency? Was there a confused transition period when a Falstaffian husband was paired with a Audrey Hepburn-like waif? (Natalie Portman for you young whippersnappers) Clarityfiend 17:39, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * The main transition was in the ten years after the beginning of WW1 -- during the Victorian era, women of good families weren't really supposed to be athletic (in any sense that we would understand the term today), there was no cult of thinness, and weight gain was often compensated for by corseting. By 1925 (the flapper era), the idealized woman's body type was somewhat boyish and small-breasted, corsets were out, and women had much more opportunities to take exercise.  However, even the 1950's body-type ideal was still not as thin as that of recent decades... AnonMoos 18:41, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * The best analysis I know of is Marxist. By those lights, what is attractive is always money.  Evolutionary biology, with its just-so stories, tends to agree (money means resources for child rearing).  Thus, when food is scarce, the rich are fat, and fat is beautiful.  When most labor is outdoors, pale skin and fat is a sign of wealth.  When, on the other hand, food is plentiful and work is indoors, then tans and thinness are beautiful.  Therefore, after the ends of rationing in Europe, the pendulum would swing toward the elfin waif, and after the full industrial transportation network in the US, the same, so the US would move toward thin (and big busted) women before Europe would.  Geogre 20:42, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Thorstein Veblen. AnonMoos 22:22, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Literary quiz
This is not homework but it is for a school quiz on nineteenth century English literature (prizes are promised for the winner!). I think I have most of the answers but I am really stuck on three (everyone else is as well, I think)

Here they are:

1. Born in Calcutta, he takes us to Waterloo and then retreats. Who is he?

2. Who was the second gentleman in Europe in fiction and who was the first in fact?

3. Don Juan died in Greece. Why?

It's due in tomorrow, so please hurry!!! Thanks Princess of the night 20:00, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, Princess, here we go:


 * He is William Makepeace Thackery, who was indeed born in Calcutta. In Vanity Fair he builds up to the Battle of Waterloo, though he avoids direct description.


 * The 'second gentleman of Europe' is Old Mister Turveydrop, master of deportment, in Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House. The 'first gentleman', of course, was the Prince Regent.


 * Don Juan died in Greece because so, too, did his creator, Lord Byron, in 1824, leaving the poem unfinished.


 * Clio the Muse 20:50, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

SWEET! Thanks Clio-I love you. Princess of the night 21:02, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

CDC Military Uniforms
Why do at least some CDC employees were what appear to be Navy uniforms (see http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=106&sid=1154038)? Is the CDC a paramilitary organization? - MSTCrow 20:33, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * They are members of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the seven Uniformed services of the United States. --TotoBaggins 21:12, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Whats the difference between Stan and Kyle???
Off course,Kenny and Cartman got some characteristics, but is there any difference in the mentality and behaviour of Stan and Kyle,cause to me they seem like they behave excatly the same??


 * Perhaps the biggest difference i've noticed is...Stan is interested in girls and likes nancy (forget her name). Also Kyle is Jewish, i'm pretty sure Stan isn't. Look at South Park characters for details of each character. ny156uk 22:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * And Kyle's Mom is a Bitch.... - Nunh-huh 22:51, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Careers, teachers, and educators
Can teachers hire secretaries? 69.218.238.123 22:45, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Not meaning to question your intellect but...yes of course secretaries will make a few typing mistakes. World class newspapers that are written, checked and edited prior to print contain typing mistakes all the time. Secretaries will be no exception. ny156uk 22:53, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * What do typing mistakes have to do with the question? Yes, a teacher could hire a secretary but I don't know of any that do.  Some high ranking professors are likely to have secretaries or assistants.  Dismas |(talk) 00:37, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The original question mentioned typing mistakes. It's been redacted. - Nunh-huh 00:52, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
 * In the old days, before personal computers, photocopies, and print on demand, it was common for graduate students and professors to hire secretaries, at least part time, for their major projects. However, institutions themselves generally do the hiring of administrative secretaries.  I.e. the Russian Department has a secretary hired by State College for it, but Professor Jones may have hired a personal secretary for the manuscript of his big book Tolstoy and You in the old days.  In the cases of highly paid "teachers," such may still be the case (primarily physicians), but it is increasingly rare as institutions pick up more and more of clerical burden.  Utgard Loki 14:49, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Classic music in the film Ocean's Eleven
What is the penultimate piece of music in the film Ocean's Eleven? There is some music played over the credits, but I refer to the piece of classical music before that. Thanks


 * This is totally an entertainment desk question, but according to IMDB it is the very famous Clair de lune by Claude Debussy. --24.147.86.187 00:22, 1 June 2007 (UTC)