Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2008 August 31

= August 31 =

Large Religious Faction absent from the Christianity Portal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Christianity

I am aware of the Baptist articles in Wikipedia but when I went to find some info in the Christianity Portal and some other areas... I kept finding a blank area void of any refrences to Baptist... although the lists go from the Largest denomination to the smallest... the Baptist articles were no where to be seen?

I dont think the problem is in not having an article.. the problem is that the articles are not refrenced in the Portal.

Thanks Mr Maranatha —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr Maranatha (talk • contribs) 01:32, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * The refdesk isn't really the place for this. Try Portal talk:Christianity or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Christianity. Algebraist 01:34, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Portal:Christianity doesn't generally contain specific articles on any given denomination. For the purpose of a portal, see Portal.  There are however many articles on the Baptist denomination.  Wikiproject:Christianity is the place to go to voice your input about Baptist related articles as a whole, and there's always the specific articles' talk pages.  You are also welcome to edit the articles, and you may join Wikiproject:Christianity if you would like too.  There are many denomination-related wikiprojects and workgroups working through the wikiprojects. I'm kinda surprised there isn't a Baptist one yet (although there is an Anabaptist work group. Kristamaranatha (talk) 04:22, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Public domain MP3\OGG Japanese\Chinese\Greek music for download?
We're creating a website with three themes (ancient oriental cultures, ancient Greek cultures and ancient European monarchies), and we'd like to use some background music. I'd like to know if you guys know of any good sources to download suitable music. They should have an open license, like public domain, since the website is promotional and I wouldn't like to violate any licenses by commercial use.

Even if you don't know where to download any specific music, it would also be of great help if you could provide the name of particular instruments or genres of the time, since those kind of keywords usually help to track these down.

Thanks in advance! &mdash; Kieff | Talk 02:02, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Traditional Japanese musical instruments and List of traditional Chinese musical instruments might be helpful. How about shamisen and erhu? --Kjoonlee 15:48, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Eurasians in Japan
Does anyone know what is the population of Japanese eurasians(part Japanese part white) living in Japan today? 72.136.110.93 (talk) 03:44, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Odd vote in a U.S. political convention roll call
I am trying to remember the details of an incident which took place at a national political convention in the United States, most likely in 1984, 1988, or 1992. It could have been either the Democratic or Republican convention, but more likely the Republican convention.

The party was taking a roll call vote by states for either president or vice president, and the party was sufficiently unified that the expected candidate received all of the votes in the roll call. (So it probably wasn't the Democratic convention, because in each of those years the presidential candidate was not nominated unanimously, and our articles on the Democratic conventions for those years indicate that the vice presidential candidates in those years were nominated by acclamation rather than a state-by-state roll call.)

The unusual incident was that at first, the expected candidate did not receive one particular vote. The delegation chair from some state announced that the state was casting all except one of its votes for the expected candidate, and one vote for some unusual character. And by unusual, I mean someone whose name did not even sound like that of a regular person. It was a name like "Chickenman". After a moment of bewilderment, the delegation chair announced that there was a change to the state's votes, and the state was now casting all of its votes for the expected candidate. So the roll call vote went down in the records as being unanimous for the expected candidate.

My questions are: What convention did this take place at, and who was the unusual character voted for at first? (And, if anyone knows, why did the delegate do that?) --Metropolitan90 (talk) 04:28, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

There have been attention-seeking persons who have managed to grab the mike and announce bogus votes for themselves, which were repudiated when the actual state delegation regained control of the microphone. I recall a well-known political humorist doing this at one convention, announcing that some delegation cast one vote for him and the rest for the real choice. Edison2 (talk) 06:33, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Who do you think you are?
Seriously, man!... (Sorry, couldn't resist the title):) But really "who" are you? And for that matter, who the hell am I!? A collection of experiences? Memories, like on a computer, can be deleted (thru damage, viruses, etc.). A natural result of our culture? If that's the case, forget about being "individual". Why are you "you", and me "me"? Is it just a matter of semantics? The more similar our physiology, the more we'd know about each other. Even if we just met. We might even "be" the same thing (at least on some levels). That's one of the ways mind readers and psychological shysters in general can tell you a lot about yourself. What kind of psychic pseudo-well are we drawing from that gives us our sense of identity?

I'll pause for a moment here and try to grasp my "me"....I'm still confused. This is why I ask for a new perspective- "yours".--Hey, I&#39;m Just Curious (talk) 05:02, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * This is the Reference Desk, not the Discussion Desk.  Corvus cornix  talk  05:18, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * If you're having trouble sleeping, try Personal identity (philosophy). Clarityfiend (talk) 05:43, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * You could also try the self articles: Self (philosophy) and Self (psychology), and, while you're at it, the no-self article, Anatta.


 * And try Plato. Strawless (talk) 14:12, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Who Do You Think You Are? :-) Carcharoth (talk) 14:21, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

LSD --mboverload @ 21:30, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Greek to Turkish
How is it that before 100 CE most people in western half of modern Turkey spoke Greek? How did it suddenly change to Turkish?--71.118.38.240 (talk) 06:49, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * This overachiever had something to do with the first part. Also, the Greeks colonized the region before he came along. Then, centuries later, there was a Turkic migration into the region. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:46, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thales (circa 600 BC) would have been a resident of modern Turkey if he were alive today.--71.118.38.240 (talk) 08:29, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I conclude that nobody spoke Turkish in Anatolia. Turkish people originated in Turkistan which is east of the Caspian Sea.  Even in a region that would be at the center of modern Turkey (e.g. Cappadocia or Cilicia) the people spoke Greek.  Turkish speaking gained its momentum starting with the Seljuks after 1000-1100 CE.--71.118.38.240 (talk) 08:23, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

No one has mentioned the most obvious proximate cause, the Battle of Manzikert... If the early Arab caliphates had succeeded in conquering Anatolia, then that area might be Arabic-speaking today -- in which case, the intellectual history of the West might have been very different, since it's quite possible that a very significant fraction of Greek writings of the types that the Arabs weren't interested in (such as history, mythology, fiction, epics, poetry, etc.) would have been lost forever. AnonMoos (talk) 12:39, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

I've heard it said before that a Greek is merely a Christian Turk, and a Turk is merely a Muslim Greek. Refering to how totally the two populations merged following the Turkish immigrations, and how ethnically homogenous the two nations remain to this day. With this in mind, its important to note that the linguistic shift was not a result of ethnic cleansing; instead, it was simply a case of a Turkish-speaking élite replacing a (ineffectual and unpopular) Greek-speaking élite. Anyone who wanted to communicate with the new élite needed to know Turkish, and thus there was a huge impotus to learn the language, even if they did still speak Greek in their homes or in their churches. 82.36.179.20 (talk) 22:57, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

ALGER HISS
Reading the reference to Alger Hiss and the information about his spouse, according to the reference he was born in 1904 and married one year before in 1903 or was this his wifes birthdate?

Regards

Mrs Linda C Walton —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.39.38.72 (talk) 19:11, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * According to the article, he was married in 1929. His wife was born in 1903.   Corvus cornix  talk  20:38, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Last year of peace in recorded history? Was there really ever one?
Today, I heard a quote that I've heard a few other times; some historian had said there were only a couple hundred years of peace int he 6000 years of recorded history.

My question is, what was the quoted person's criteria? Did the person try to count days or months when there were no hostilities? I searched in the archives of the reference desk, and found that someone had guessed 1906-1910, though the U.S./Philippines War was then. And, the poster said it was probably just days and months that added together. I'm just wondering if said philosopher had any particular time in mind; I seem to reclall this philosopher said a less than round number, which implies counting to me. Somebody or his brother (talk) 19:46, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I think it is safe to say that in the last 6,000 years there has always been some kind of hostility between one group of people and another. If you are talking about "nations" maybe not, but I'm not sure nations have been all that common over the last 6,000 years. In any case there's no way to know, since there is no recorded history for most people over the last 6,000 years. Even in the case of recorded history, a few centuries sounds like a lot. I'd be skeptical. First I'd want to know how the historian defined "peace" and "hostilities". Pfly (talk) 07:53, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree, the answer depends highly on your definitions. For example, do you require actual fighting, a declaration of war, or both? The two are often very separate. As far as I know, the US is not officially at war with anyone (the "war on terror" is just political posturing), yet it is certainly involved fighting. Conversely, North and South Korea are no longer actively fighting each other yes, as far as I know, they are still officially at war (they've signed an armistice, but no peace treaty). So, would those conflicts be included as "hostilities" or not? --Tango (talk) 22:14, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Clearly, in recorded history there isn't a year of universal peace. No doubt the expression 'last year of peace' has often been used (and in many languages, we can suppose) on a more local basis. The historian of a particular country might well be able to find hundreds of years of peace, if by peace we mean an absence of war. Xn4  ( talk ) 23:21, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

It would be easy to find a year in which (say) no European powers were shooting at each other, or when no developed nations were waging declared war on one another. Would such a year be a year of peace? Maybe not; there are "peacekeeping missions" (of the UN, for instance) that involve exchanging fire with the locals; there are "tribal conflicts" in less-developed parts of the world; and then there are "insurrections" or "rebellions" and the "police actions" to put them down. These are all non-peace situations for the people living in them, even though they may not represent war between nations. --FOo (talk) 20:25, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Old Norse litterary/ historical reference for "Blokumannaland"
Hello! For an article I am in the process of creating, I would need an exact reference of where (in which texts)the Old Norse term "Blokumannaland" referring (or at least presumed as referring) to regions inhabited by Wlachs/Romanians is attested. I think one of them is the "Heimskringla" but I'm not sure. I was told that it is attested also in at least one erected runic inscription, but the person could not remember which one. Can anyone help? Cristixav (talk) 19:55, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * According to this handy side-by-side translation, there's a reference in the first line of the 21st and final chapter of the Saga of Håkon Herdebreid, itself the penultimate story in Heimskringla. See 21. Olaf's miracle in favor of the Varings.  Ka renjc 17:31, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Blokumannaland cannot be identified with the land of Wallachians/Vlachs/Romanians. Eventually, it can be identified with the "land of the Kumans".

What are the world's earliest known silly songs?
Before offering possibilities, let me explain what I have in mind:


 * It can be in any language. It can be a children's song or a more general folk song
 * It has to be a song (with a known melody and lyrics); no traditional nursery rhymes, riddles or poems unless they are inextricably and historically tied to a specific melody.
 * The words must be overtly absurd, childish or nonsensical, as opposed to ironic, clever, literary.

--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 20:01, 31 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Some early madrigals might fit the bill, with all that "folderol fa la la fiddle de dee rum tiddly"-type language. --  JackofOz (talk) 23:05, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Sounds like what I might be looking for. Where can I read lyrics for one of the sillier madrigals or hear a sound clip?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 02:34, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
 * If you can get your hands on this, it might help. This might be worth checking out as well.  --  JackofOz (talk) 07:14, 2 September 2008 (UTC)


 * In English, one of the earliest we have music for is Sumer is icumen in. In Western music, we don't have many melodies written down before the early middle ages. I couldn't tell you about other world music. Steewi (talk) 02:52, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Open Flag
Hello. How has the open flag (horizontal stripes from top to bottom: red, white with the word "OPEN" in the centre, blue) become popular and originated? It looks similar to the flag of the Netherlands. Thanks in advance. --Mayfare (talk) 22:29, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Are these popular outside of the States? Probably just some sign company with a good marketing idea to prey on the subliminal patriotism that is implied with the color scheme.  Dismas |(talk) 05:30, 1 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Might be considered more Bunting than flag... AnonMoos (talk) 14:18, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

I saw these flags in rural USA in Maine's east coast while vacationing. --Mayfare (talk) 14:50, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I see them quite often here in Vermont as well as other places around the country. It's a common item and like I said, probably just a good choice of colors that implies a patriotic store owner.  Dismas |(talk) 06:58, 2 September 2008 (UTC)