Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2011 January 23

= January 23 =

Incest laws in Israel
It seems from the relevant articles on this site and elsewhere that many forms of incest are allowed in Israel. At least the laws there do not prohibit many types of incestuous sex that are outlawed elsewhere. Is this correct? Imagine Reason (talk) 04:52, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I don't know much about the laws in Israel and a quick search isn't finding anything which I particularly trust. But if it's correct Israel does not have laws prohibiting consensual incestous sex, they're hardly unique in this regard, Laws regarding incest only includes a few countries but from a very quick glance there are at least 7 6 where there are no specific laws prohibiting consensual incestous sex including Brazil, Finland, (confusing article since modified) France, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and Belgium (mentioned under France). It also mentions it has been unsuccessfully challenged in Germany and there is a proposal to abolish the prohibition on consensual incestous sex in Switzerland. Note that anything beyond siblings and lineal descendants is even less likely to be illegal (e.g. first cousins, aunt/uncle-niece/nephew). Marriages may still be prohibited in some cases even when sex isn't illegal (in some of the earlier examples). Again I don't know much about the marriage laws in Israel but as has been discussed before, marriages are largely left up to the recognised religions so it's likely up to them (and I somewhat doubt that any of them allow siblings and lineal descendants to marry). Of course some countries may potentially have no specific laws regarding consensual incestous sex but all sex outside marriage. Nil Einne (talk) 07:05, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I searched this a little, and this interesting study came up: 10.1016/S0145-2134(02)00505-7 I think in general in Israel most non-abusive marriage and sexual laws are left to each individual religion to decide and enforce. Ariel. (talk) 11:10, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * It's the old Ottoman "millet" system... AnonMoos (talk) 15:46, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * For the curious the article is here: Millet (Ottoman Empire). Ariel. (talk) 21:26, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Israel here I come! Egg Centric (talk) 18:07, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I guess it wasn't clear from what I wrote. Even though the State does not have laws about this, the various individual communities do, and those laws are enforceable. Ariel. (talk) 22:46, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * How does that work for people who are not religious? DuncanHill (talk) 02:32, 25 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't see why that would be an issue, since people still belong to a given culture even if they do not believe in the religious principles that govern it, like an English person is still bound by the laws of England and Wales which have their roots in an Anglican worldview, even if that English person is not religious. More of a problem under the millet system, I'd have thought, is if you are a member of a smaller religion which is not recognised by the system. 86.164.58.119 (talk) 10:23, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The laws of England apply equally to all, we don't have "this is illegal if you belong to this religion but not that". The most that religions can do to enforce their internal "laws" on members is excommunication or the like - they cannot apply civil or criminal sanctions. DuncanHill (talk) 03:25, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Of course it was only two and a half years ago that the Church of England blasphemy law could still be applied in the civil courts to prevent members of all religions or none from blaspheming against Church of England beliefs only (see Blasphemous libel)... AnonMoos (talk) 07:11, 28 January 2011 (UTC)


 * According to the workings of the Millet system, you belong to your ancestral religious community unless you explicitly convert to become a member of another recognized religious community -- regardless of whether you might be the most flamingly militant atheist in your personal beliefs. AnonMoos (talk) 11:09, 25 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Not much point unless you're planning on taking your mother or sister with you. Matthewedwards : Chat  01:54, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

ancestry.co.uk
When was Ellen Margaret Midgley born in Bradford, W Yorkshire c 1942? Thank you. Kittybrewster  &#9742;  08:16, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Suggest you contact the local registry office -, they can provide copies of birth certificates , for a fee . Exxolon (talk) 13:06, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Kitty, Ancestry returns an Ellen M Midgley birth registered in Q2 (April-May-June) of 1942. Mother's maiden name Smith.  England & Wales Birth index, Bradford district, Yorkshire county.  Vol 9b page 223.  Would this fit?  Ka renjc 14:07, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Perfect. Thank you. Kittybrewster  &#9742;  15:51, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

IMDB title
What is the meaning of "video" in the bracket after the movie name? Such as this --Questesns (talk) 13:39, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The film in question was released Direct-to-video? Exxolon (talk) 13:44, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The IMDb help pages say (V) after a title means "made for video or direct-to-video release"; I think this is out of date and they now use (Video) for this purpose. --Colapeninsula (talk) 10:45, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

The everyday calendar in Islamic countries
In everyday use, do all Islamic countries use the Islamic calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, even for non-religious purposes? 92.24.184.8 (talk) 15:55, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * It's impossible to use the Islamic calendar for agricultural purposes. In the Ottoman empire a form of the Julian calendar was used to schedule agricultural tax collections, while in Safavid Persia a form of the Persian calendar was used.  Nowadays, the Gregorian calendar is fairly widely diffused through most Muslim-majority countries... AnonMoos (talk) 16:21, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * For business purposes it's necessary to use the Gregorian calendar, as the rest of the world does. Newspapers always (well, as far as I have ever seen) use both dates, like Al-Ahram (I'm sure Dar al-Hayat does too but I can't access the website at the moment). Adam Bishop (talk) 17:52, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * In Iran and Afghanistan, the Solar Hejri calendar is used rather exclusively. Moreover, I think that some more secular Arab newspapers, say organs of communist parties, only use Gregorian dates. --Soman (talk) 00:41, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Why the large growth rates in developing countries?
Are there any theories that account for the large growth rates of some developing countries, higher than those in the West?

I imagine the high growth may be due to things like the implementation of technology copied from the west, the exploitation of natural resources, and the switching of the work-force from agriculture to factory production. But are these the only reasons? Thanks 92.24.184.8 (talk) 16:00, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Access to Western technology is surely a factor, but are developing countries now growing faster than, say, Britain did during the industrial revolution? It's not unusual for development to follow a kind of step pattern with sudden rapid growth following major breakthroughs. I think that is essentially what is happening with the economies of countries like China. --Tango (talk) 16:07, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The mobilisation of previously unused resources may play a part, and the fact that the West right now is still suffering from the damage of a huge financial crisis. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.171.56.13 (talk) 17:47, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * High growth rates in the developing world are not a recent thing. The current economic situation is not relevant. --Tango (talk) 18:28, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The Solow growth model explains this quite well (the model, that is, not sure if the WP article is good) though it fails to answer a lot of other interesting questions on economic growth. Basically, we can think of the high growth rate in developing countries as a catch-up effect. Jørgen (talk) 18:42, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Maybe the OP is asking why the population growth rate is so much higher in developing countries? I always thought that was due to improvements in healthcare being in advance of social changes such as education and the emancipation of womem.  Astronaut (talk) 20:14, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * The increase in population in developing countries is usually because the change to the morality rate has decreased but people still reproduce as if it were high. It takes a generation to correct this, usually, which means you get extremely high growth rates for awhile. National Geographic had a nice article on this recently; unfortunately it appears that the graphs and data they included as sidebars are not part of the online content. In any case, though, I doubt this is what the OP is talking about, given that all of the examples provided are relating to productivity and economy. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:49, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Do you mean developing countries, or "developing countries" (i.e. those euphemistically so called to indicate that they are not developing)? Michael Hardy (talk) 21:12, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Not all developing countries have rapid economic growth. Brazil, China and India do, but Sub-Saharan African nations don't, and nor do many Latin American countries. We hear a lot about the nations which are growing quickly, but that shouldn't make us assume all less developed countries do so. Prokhorovka (talk) 23:02, 23 January 2011 (UTC)


 * It all just depends on how you define "developing." One term which is slightly more precise is newly industrialized country, which includes the usual suspects. --Mr.98 (talk) 23:43, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I think I've heard the term used to refer to places like Zimbabwe, which has been under a dictator who has (intentionally, maybe?) prevented it from developing. In cases like that, it's a euphemism. Michael Hardy (talk) 02:24, 24 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Access to family planning, sexual education, sexual and reproductive rights, and women's emancipation are important factos. But it is also important to remember that in developing countries, there is often no or little public pensions, and people without children will have problems to have someone to care for them economically once they reach old age. With the construction of a social welfare state, that need decreases. --Soman (talk) 00:46, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

I mean economic growth, thanks. 92.15.26.222 (talk) 12:06, 24 January 2011 (UTC)


 * To correct a comment above, sub-Saharan African nations actually have an average rate of economic growth comparable to that of Asian nations. The Economist recently published a study showing that, of the 10 fastest-growing economies in countries with more than 1 million people during 2000-2010, 6 were in sub-Saharan Africa.  Marco polo (talk) 18:44, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Let's say you're living in a very poor country. However, you may still have food. You grow your grains and vegetables. You spend very little on salt and other things that you can't produce yourself, e.g., electricity. You have maybe 1600 kcal per day. And you live quite happily. You may live in a poor country and still have a reasonable life.

Now your country has improved its technologies. They opened a road to your village so you can sell your grains to the dealers. Now you have a little more money. You spend the money to buy very little meat from another village.

Your living condition only improves a little bit. However, since you are now spending money to buy your meat, the GDP of your country experienced a solid boost.

If you are living in a jungle, you may spend ZERO amount of money because you are not buying anything from anyone. You may barter from other people, but since you are not using any money, the GDP is ZERO.

If all of you start using money, there will be GDP and the growth of GDP can be very fast. -- Toytoy (talk) 17:10, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Korean Racist Slurs
Do the Koreans have derogatory terms for white people, black people and east indians? What are they? 99.245.73.51 (talk) 23:11, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
 * They call them: snow white, piece of coal, and second-class rice eater. All are pretty offensive in Korea. 77.231.17.82 (talk) 12:36, 24 January 2011 (UTC)
 * [Citation needed], especially for this sort of thing. Pais (talk) 12:44, 24 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Would the slur imply I ate rice which was of a lower class than the speaker's rice, or that I ate ordinary rice in a lower class manner (dropping it from the chopsticks, using a fork, using fingers?) Pretty funny, all around. Edison (talk) 16:14, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
 * East Indians as in Indians from the east of the country, i.e. East India? Or the residents of the East Indies? Are there separate racial slurs for Indians from the East and West of the country in the OP's native language? --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 18:01, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The first answer can only be a joke. 212.169.188.242 (talk) 22:00, 25 January 2011 (UTC)