Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2008 August 7

= August 7 =

Contemporary Authors
Just wondering, what are the inclusion criteria for those Contemporary Authors books published by Gale? Thanks, Zagalejo^^^ 04:09, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * The fact sheet, accessible from this Gale page states that Contemporary Authors covers:
 * "Current writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama whose works have been issued by commercial publishers, risk publishers or university presses."
 * "Prominent print and broadcast journalists, editors, photojournalists, syndicated cartoonists, screenwriters and more."
 * And, expanding the meaning of the title:
 * "Literary greats of the early 20th century whose works are popular in today's high school and college curriculum."

---Sluzzelin talk  04:34, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reply. I saw all that, but browsing through the online version, it seems that their inclusion criteria are at least somewhat narrower than what is listed above. There are plenty of writers published by commerical publishers who aren't listed. Does anyone have any more insight into the selection process? Zagalejo^^^ 05:06, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Isis adventure
Hi I have an Isis Puzzleball and I paid to access the decryption files and this is what they gave me but I don't get what its on about:


 * [Q=E] [T=N] [J=T] [S=U] [N=R] [F=G] [P=O] [K=A] [O=C] [Z=P] [M=H] [I=S] [H=I] [R=L] [B=K] [A=D] [C=M] [W=B] [X=F] [L=W] [U=Y] [Y=V] [V=J] [D=X] [G=Q] [E=Z]

any thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.100.6.191 (talk) 09:48, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Not that I have any experience with the product in question, but this seems like a pretty simple substitution cypher to me -- so if you have a encrypted message that says "IQONQJ", you can use the decryption guide above to reveal the secret. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:13, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * But the isis ball is in hieroglyphs —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.100.6.191 (talk) 10:43, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, like I said, I don't have any experience with the product in question. If you can provide a picture of the thing or describe it in detail, or provide a link to the manufacturer's site, or something, that might help, of course. Or you might want to consider contacting the party you bought the decryption files from in the first place. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 11:20, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I think it is a one of these . DuncanHill (talk) 13:47, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * And we have an article Isis Adventure. DuncanHill (talk) 13:48, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Looking at the article, you need to use the substitution cypher to decrypt the clues in the book you got with the ball. Those clues should then help you decode the ball itself. But that's just based on reading the article (and the website, but that's busy sounding mythical and mysterious). 79.66.38.215 (talk) 23:42, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Among the liberators of the Auschwitz KL
I'm trying to verify (and expand) the name of a Maj. Gen. A.D. Goncharov, who according to my sources was "Chief of Staff of the Soviet Red Army's 60th Army in the 1st Ukrainian Front, that liberated Auschwitz." He appears in this photo (in uniform, standing beside Polish Premier Józef Cyrankiewicz) on April 11, 1965, at a memorial assembly marking the 20th anniversary of the camp's liberation. Perhaps my unsuccessful searching is due to inaccurate details? The pages for the 1st Ukrainian Front and Marshal Ivan S. Konev, its commander at that time, don't mention Auschwitz among their accomplishments; info on the 60th Army remains elusive.-- Thanks for your help, Deborahjay (talk) 13:13, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * These sources talk about the 60th Army and the 1st Ukrainian Front liberating Auschwitz:    Corvus cornix  talk  17:50, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Canadian Idenity
Greetings & Bonjour

As the British Government increasingly gave Canada sovernity, can it be said that Canadians increasingly sought the meaning to what it means to be Canadian.

Merci & Thanks, Ed Wenzl —Preceding unsigned comment added by "Fog46Horn" (talk • contribs) 13:26, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Sure. Anything can be said - especially by random strangers on the Internet.  Are you asking if respected historians have gone on record as saying this? --  k a i n a w &trade; 14:22, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you, yes, I am looking for a scholarly response. —Preceding unsigned comment added by "Fog46Horn" (talk • contribs) 16:57, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

75Janice (talk) 20:44, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Canadian identity addresses this somewhat, though perhaps not as conclusively as you are looking for. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 22:07, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * A google scholar search such as this might help ... you can generally at least get to abstracts. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:31, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

A book that briefly touches on this topic is The Shaping of America, Vol. 3: Transcontinental America, 1850-1915, by D.W. Meinig. He writes about how issues of nationality and what it means to be Canadian took on increasing significance as the Dominion came into being. The issue goes back farther, to things like the War of 1812 and, naturally, the American Revolution. Some of his main points about the topic include the knowledge that Canada would never reach a balance of power with the United States, and necessarily defines itself to some degree as "not being the US". Also Canada faced, and still faces, some major sectional differences, the most obvious being French Quebec. The geography of North America tends to have north-south axis patterns (mountain ranges, etc), making it harder for Canada to forge an east-west national identity. Meinig mentions two books from the turn of the 20th century, when the issue of Canadian identity was "hot". These books are Canada and the Canadian Question, Goldwin Smith (1891), and Americanization of Canada, Samuel E. Moffett (1907). These books apparently get into the topic in depth and offer quite different visions of the future of Canada. Pfly (talk) 18:12, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

What's gonna happen to Obama's senate seat?
Here's something I've been quietly wondering about. US senators serve for six years, right? And Obama assumed office in 2004? So he's got two years left. I assume that if he loses the election, he's going to go back to it, right? I mean, John Kerry did. But if he wins, he's going to have to resign his seat, because of the whole divisons-of-power, can't-hold-office-in-two-different-branches-of-government-at-the-same-time thing. So, what's going to happen to it? Is Illinois going to have to hold a new election? What happens in the mean time, does he have some sort of "vice-senator" that assumes his office?

(as you may gather from this question, I'm not american, so I wasn't educated on the basics of american government in school :) 195.58.125.67 (talk) 20:20, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

The quick answer is that aside from federal constitutional considerations, Illinois law will determine the method. As a poltical science major in college I am familiar with special elections and appointment by the governor. I don't have the time now to research the Illinois code. The code will specify the method. I'm sorry this could not be more comprehensive. Widows of deceased Senators are frequently appointed by governors to fill the rest of their deceased husband's terms. I'm being sexist. The spouse. Sorry I did not have time for the actual answer.75Janice (talk) 20:44, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * The governor of Illinois has the power to appoint a replacement who would fill out the remainer of Obama's term, which this article says runs through the election of 2010. And don't fret -- many Americans don't know how this works, either.  (The reason for the 2010 business: the Senate as a whole is divided into three classes based on staggered terms.  One-third of the senate is up for election every two years.  When there's an unexpired term to fill, it's filled for the rest of the term to keep that seat in its appropriate class.)  Same is true for McCain's seat (his term also runs through 2010); if he resigned after the November election, the governor of Arizona would pick a replacement.  Under Arizona law, however, the replacement would have to be of the same party as McCain. OtherDave (talk) 00:33, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


 * While Illinois law may not specify that Obama's replacement must be of the same party, in fact he almost certainly will be, since the governor who will appoint Obama's replacement, Rod Blagojevich, like Obama, belongs to the Democratic Party and so will almost certainly appoint a Democrat. Marco polo (talk) 01:57, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


 * How interesting. In Australia we changed our constitution in 1977 to ensure that a replacement senator (chosen by the State parliament or governor) is always from the same party as the senator who resigned, died or whatever.  But then, it took a Prime Minister to be chucked out of office to bring that issue into stark focus, so maybe it's not such an issue in the USA.  --  JackofOz (talk) 04:39, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * As noted in an earlier question on this page, it is a state by state issue and in fact Alaska just removed this power from their governor after Frank Murkowski appointed his own daughter as replacement Senator after he resigned the post himself to become Governor. Rmhermen (talk) 14:14, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Blagojevich could in fact appoint Blagojevich as Senator. Or he could appoint any other qualified person. Governors typically appoint someone from their own party, such as U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, who has said she is interested in moving up to the Senate position if Obama gets elected President, ot perhaps one of 9 other contenders named by National Public Radio . Edison (talk) 05:00, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Religions seeking temporal immortality
Many religions believe immortality can be acquired in some other place (heaven etc). Are there any religions that believe immortality can be achieved on earth? Are there any religions that actively pursue immortality? Some kind of alchimists or something along the Nicholas Flamel line? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.227.106.208 (talk) 21:01, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't know the answer, but I had a good belly laugh when I misread the header as "temporary immortality". Thanks for brightening my day.  --  JackofOz (talk) 23:34, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * And, naming no names, there are many that acquire temporal immorality. To answer your question though (sorry for being facetious) there's Count of St. Germain and the group that specialised in studying ascension on earth type stuff can be found in the reading lists at the end of the article. Does Theosophy count? Writers there seem to advance similar immortality now theories. Now you've introduced Nick Flamel, I'll look it up. Julia Rossi (talk) 23:40, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * This site might interest you. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:22, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Would metempsychosis count as serial temporal immortality? OtherDave (talk) 00:35, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * There's even an article on it. And then there's another form for some, fame as in going down in history. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:50, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Religious and Folk Taoism has historically actively pursued the idea of immortality (through not aging and dying rather than the inability to be wounded). Steewi (talk) 01:31, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Also see life extension and Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence. --Allen (talk) 02:00, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Our article on Immortality also lists the Aghoras, Rastafarians, and the Rebirthers.--Shantavira|feed me 06:42, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Let us not forget the

Raelians. - Nunh-huh 09:44, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Mescaline users often report of having years and years worth of exciting experiences in just a few moments. could this count?


 * I don't know what you'd call them, maybe pseudoscientific-immortalists (lol), but there's some people who think in the future medicine will be able to keep people alive for a long time, maybe an eternity if broken parts keep getting replaced. Some super rich 'eccentrics' have themselves cryogenically stored for this purpose. -LambaJan (talk) 14:11, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Jehovah's Witnesses believe that most of them will live for ever in a 'renewed paradise' on Earth. DJ Clayworth (talk) 21:19, 11 August 2008 (UTC)