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

= July 7 =

Somalis in Africa
Which African nations doesn't have Somali refugees since Somali Civil War? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.64.130.164 (talk) 00:06, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I would imagine every nation in Africa probably has at least one Somali living there, although whether they are granted official refuge status is another matter. If this is a quiz question, it might be a trick, with the answer being Somalia, on the basis of them not being refuges if they remained in Somalia.  There is the classification of "internally displaced refuges", however, so that might not be it. StuRat (talk) 00:58, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Living conditions in 14th century in southern Germany
Is it appropriate to ask for history information here? Or where can I ask?

My ancestors were in Heilbronn in the 1300s, surname of MARKART and MAERKLIN. I want to find out about living conditions in that area. What were the houses like? What kind of boats were on the Neckar? What public buildings were there? thank you Hortense501 (talk) 00:21, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, this is the right place to ask. I've reformatted your question a bit, though.  Note that Germany didn't exist as a nation until the 19th century, but the Germanic states go back much further.  Hopefully others can address the conditions. StuRat (talk) 00:54, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * See for the history of Heilbronn. StuRat (talk) 01:02, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Late Middle Ages will provide a bit of context also. Gwinva (talk) 20:50, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * You may care to have a look at the German version of the article (link in box languages: Deutsch) which contains a number of photos of historical buildings, partly of medieval Gothic origin.
 * As to your question on shipping: The German article says that the Neckar was blocked by mills and weirs since the High Middle Ages.  Only in the Industrial Revolution Helbronn regained importance as one of the important inland ports.
 * Märklin, BTW, is until today a famous manufacturer of technical toys (model trains and the like) and does stem from Württemberg.
 * Some of the fame of Heilbronn is connected to Götz von Berlichingen, a historical figure often quoted in a suitable context by people of sophisticated literary erudition :-)  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 21:23, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Evidence for Islam as the One True Religion
I’ve heard Christians claim that there are proofs and evidences for Christianity to be the “one true religion”. Those evidences include evidences that what the Bible says is true and evidences that Jesus Christ is God and the son of God.

But what about Muslims? Do they also claim to have any proofs or evidences for their religion, Islam, to be the one true religion? If so, then what are they? Are there any websites or sections of websites that talk about them?

I'm not asking if Muslims actually have any evidences for Islam. I'm just asking if they claim to have such evidences. Don’t tell me if those evidences of Islam are true or false, right or wrong, really evidences of them or not. Just tell me if they claim to have so.

Brickfield 02:05, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I saw a youtube video recording of an Arab TV show with English subtitles about how Mecca has the oldest rocks on earth, people who live there live longer than anywhere else, it has energy emanating from it, and it is equidistant from the magnetic poles. Wrad (talk) 02:10, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, of course they have evidence. Amongst many prophecies and encounters with angels, Mohammad was supposedly taken up to heaven for a little one-on-one with the big man himself. His lore wasn't actually written down for a couple centuries, but you can find the Islamic version of these events in the Qur'an. The Kaaba was supposedly laid down by Abraham (they called him Ibrahim) and it reflects a house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Maˤmur. And please, please, please, do not think you are gaining a reasonable insight into ancient and nuanced cultures via youtube.  Plasticup  T / C  13:15, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Haha! If he shouldn't trust youtube why in the world should he trust us?! Wrad (talk) 14:32, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

The best I could come up with is Q:4:163: "Lo! We inspire thee as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as We imparted unto David the Psalms;" I think this make their view pretty clear. -LambaJan (talk) 17:15, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * As clear as mud.  Plasticup  T / C  18:11, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Basically, they believe that they teach the same things Jesus, Job, Noah, and Abraham taught. Wrad (talk) 22:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Right, something about Christianity and Judaism having lost their way with too much sophistry. Same God, purer text, if I recall.  Plasticup  T / C  23:41, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Exactly. They dig up evidence that the Old Testament and New Testament have been changed through the centuries to back this up. Wrad (talk) 00:17, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Islamic view of miracles may be of interest. Itsmejudith (talk) 20:52, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Map
In a map book I have, Utah is smaller than it should be. Its left border crosses over the Great Salt Lake. The book in question is quite old, so was it really like that at one point? 208.76.245.162 (talk) 03:38, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't think Utah was ever that small, but just to be sure, exactly how old is your book? Wrad (talk) 03:48, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * My book was made in the mid-'80s. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.76.245.162 (talk) 03:51, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Utah has not changed in size since the 1980s. Curious, what book is this?  Dismas |(talk) 05:20, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * It's called "Jacaranda Atlas Programme: Atlas 2". 208.76.245.162 (talk) 06:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Occasionally, producers of maps insert fictitious entries or errors to catch copyright infringers. See also trap street. But moving the border and shrinking a state seems to be unusually misleading and erroneous for this practice. ---Sluzzelin talk  08:49, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Ramayana
We all know that the Ramayana is a mythological epic of Lord Rama's war with Ravana.But it was a fact that Rama really fought with Ravana to regain his wife Seeta.In the epic we come across the vanaras who are said to be monkey like people inhabiting the jungles of present day Andhra pradesh.Mythological stories generally exxagerate the details so let us decide that the vanaras were not monkeys but a brachycephalic tribe living in the forests whom Rama helped and gained their support.With their support Rama fought with the army of Ravana which was obviously superior in arms.Okay we will decide that Rama taught them modern warfare tactics.But how did they reach Lanka especially Lord Hanuman when he went in search of Seeta?In reality they could not fly.Did they build ships or did they use the already existing natural landform of Adam's bridge?They are said to have built a bridge with floating stones to Lanka but it looks rediculous to think so.I want to know what actually happened —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.65.158.162 (talk) 07:17, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Take a look at Ram sethu -- Q Chris (talk) 07:43, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

From the sound of your initial statements, it doesn't sound like you want to know what really happened at all. Ninebucks (talk) 21:29, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

hostage taking
Is hostage taking punishable as a war crime the same as kidnapping is punishable as a domestic capital offense? Mimus polyglottos (talk) 09:03, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * It's a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and thus a war crime against civilians in the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction (which hasn't been ratified by all countries, see the linked articles). ---Sluzzelin talk  09:13, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Fourth Geneva Convention
How is the killing of civilians, such as by IED or even flying an airplane into a building, considered or treated by this convention? Mimus polyglottos (talk) 14:29, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * The Fourth Geneva Convention relates to the protection of civilians during times of war at the hands of a foreign power. Unless the killing is perpetrated by a foreign power you are describing a criminal act, not an act of war, so the Geneva Convention does not apply. You should look to the jurisdiction's criminal code.  Plasticup  T / C  23:46, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

common names that were once uncommon like (?) Adam and Eve
I was talking to a gentleman of about 70 who told me that people used to find it amusing when they met people called Adam or Eve, because the names were uncommon, and because the Biblical connection was seen as quirky or cute. Is this true, and are there any other good examples of names common now that were seen as truly surprising in, say, the last 50 or 60 years? 203.221.127.206 (talk) 16:28, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Given name has some information. Itsmejudith (talk) 16:35, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * (edit conflict) It's certainly true that at any given time, some names are far more popular than others. My own first name is the most popular name given on the year of my birth, for example, so many guys who're about the same age as I am have the same name. It's also entirely possible that in 40 years, it'll considered to be an old-fasioned name that a lot of old guys have. I mean, how many young people do you know, or have even heard of, that are called "Archibald", for example? In any case, you'll probably want to check our article on given names, and particular the sections on "popularity distribution of given names" and "influence of pop culture", as they discuss this. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 16:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Don't be silly, "Captain" will never go out of style. -LambaJan (talk) 17:19, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, that'll be a big relief to my mom. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 18:01, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * This is a fun toy : http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager APL (talk) 19:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Fun indeed. I could spend hours surfing it.  What am I talking about - I just did!  :)  --  JackofOz (talk) 00:00, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Wow. I picked the name "Archibald" pretty much at random, but turns out that it was apparently a pretty illustrative example; any even remotely widespread use of the name in the United States pretty much petered out circa mid-1920s. Man, this is a pretty nifty toy, all right. For the record, you've just made the deadline I'm supposed to meet sad, APL. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 00:53, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks for those replies. I checked the links, although the fun one wasn't working on my browser (poss security settings problem). I'm still curious as to whether Adam and Eve were sufficiently uncommon and quirky to cause amusement once upon a time. Can anyone help? 203.221.126.236 (talk) 17:00, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know about that, but I can think of a time when they were very very common indeed. For a while there it felt like everyone was called Adam or Eve.  Plasticup  T / C  20:02, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I looked up Adam and Eve for you on that link (which was VERY slow on my computer, which might explain your difficulties). Adam has always been in the top 300ish names (since 1880), with a sudden increase in popularity in the 50s, when it came up to 100ish.  Eve fairly constant at about 600, although disappeared during the 80s, for some reason.  So no, not uncommon or quirky (unless the 80s Eve blip counts.)  Of course, the site only looks at popularity in America.  It might be different elsewhere, or in specific areas of the US.  Gwinva (talk) 20:14, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * As for other names that are common now but would have been surprising 50 or 60 years ago, that link provided by APL (thanks, APL - great link) makes it easy to find many examples. For instance, Aiden  is now the 27th most popular male name but was practically unknown only thirty years ago.  The graphs also present visual confirmation of what has long been known - certain names become much more popular after well-liked public figures with those names become famous.  Jacqueline and Sean spring to mind.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.16.59.190 (talk) 04:10, 9 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I've got one of those names. "Joshua" was quite uncommon when I was a tad; I hated the name because nobody else had it. Then by the '80s if I was walking in the park and someone called "Josh!", a zillion little kids would respond. Take a look what happened; from #496 in the '50s to #3 in 2005. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 17:58, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

the eagle of empire
In David Potter's recent book, called, I think, Emperors of Rome, he says that someone was despatched "to show the eagle of the new regime to the western provinces." (p.173). I've tried looking this up, but can't find anything, so can someone tell me if "the eagle" was an openly used symbol, suggesting the aforementioned person was showing a standard bearing an image of an eagle (like a kind of military flag), or whether it is simply a metonym of the author's invention? thanks, 203.221.127.206 (talk) 16:35, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * See Aquila GeeJo (t)⁄(c) &bull; 16:46, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * As the link explains, the eagle was the symbol of the Roman empire, and displayed on coins, standards, statues, seals, and so forth. It was instituted at the beginning of the 2nd century, lasted throughout the empire. In heraldry, the eagle remains popular, and continues to have imperial connotations.  See Eagle (heraldry).  Gwinva (talk) 21:03, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

barefeet
is there such town or village in the world where people walk barefooted both outside and inside their homes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.30.202.29 (talk) 16:45, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I would imagine that quite a few tribes living in jungles and such would go without shoes of any kind; theirfeet just get used to it. Now, if you're talking paved roads, etc., where it's just custom, it's hard to imagine.209.244.30.221 (talk) 17:17, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I think that there are few towns where most people walk barefoot outdoors, though you will find some people walking barefoot even on paved streets in towns in Africa, India, and probably elsewhere. In towns, it is only the very poor who wear no shoes.  Bare feet are common outdoors in villages in some parts of Africa and probably in other places such as New Guinea.  Marco polo (talk) 17:56, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * In summer in NZ it is quite common to see adults and children go barefoot outside, even on the paved streets of cities. (Winter too, for some people.) Nothing to do with poverty, just more comfortable.  eg. .  Gwinva (talk) 21:19, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * There are a lot of bare feet in most parts of Polynesia. Xn4  ( talk ) 21:33, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I've gone out barefoot summer and winter (even in snow at zero degrees Fahrenheit) to pick up the morning paper in the U.S. Does that count? Edison (talk) 03:15, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm with Edison. I hardly ever wear shoes, do I count?  --Andrew from NC (talk) 08:32, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * In NZ we also have the expression "wear bare feet" [] which I'm sure like many others will prove to come from central London or north Scotland. Mhicaoidh (talk) 09:48, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Actually, im pretty sure in south america, people walk barefoot everywhere because i heard about the parasitic worms problem affecting barefooted people. the worms go through their bare feet while they are working in the forests, then they travel home with them and infect not only the host, but people in the host's close vincinity. so i guess these people would walk barefoot outside of their house as well as inside.RedHoTriCE (talk) 15:28, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

casual workers
What right do casual workers have in employment lawWastingtime2q (talk) 19:51, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * In which country? Fribbler (talk) 19:57, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

What Happens if you sign the wrong MPN?
Hello there. I signed a Master Promissory Note(MPN) that i wasn't suppose to sign.. I never really did a Stafford Loan application for this lender. It was an accident. I finally did sign the correct MPN for my correct lender. Now i want to know what will happen to the other MPN? Does signing the wrong MPN accidently mean anything?


 * This sounds like a request for specific legal advice, which wikipedia cannot give. -- Q Chris (talk) 13:27, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Landmark
Hi, was wondering what this thing actually is? I`m annoyed because I can`t decide whether its a huge whirlpool or some kind of huge dip in sea level. Thanks.

http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=61837353bs8.jpg


 * Looks to me like a meteorite impact crater. Xn4  ( talk ) 21:56, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Or a crater from a nuclear test. Though it looks older than that—I don't think you'd get that kind of coral buildup around it that soon? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:00, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

It looks like its could be in the Carribean or Australia to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.110.202.122 (talk) 22:04, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * A little hard to estimate its size, but from the ripples in the water at the bottom of the photo, I'd say it's way too small to be either a meteor crater or a nuclear test crater. Maybe it's where all the ships and planes vanished in the Bermuda Triangle (not).  --  JackofOz (talk) 23:44, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

That's the Great Blue Hole in Belize, to the best of my knowledge. It's an underwater sinkhole, formed when a prehistoric limestone cave collapsed - great snorkelling!!! СПУТНИК CCC P 23:47, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * That is just too cool.  Plasticup  T / C  00:11, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Why would a collapsed cave have such a circular perimeter, as opposed to an irregularly shaped edge ? StuRat (talk) 04:21, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Possibly because it was formed by limestone erosion before it ended up underwater. see Gaping Gill for another circular one.

That's a Cenote or sinkhole87.102.86.73 (talk) 06:33, 8 July 2008 (UTC)