Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2011 March 28

= March 28 =

Demanding an anorexia suffered to eat
In Skins, a character sends repeated messages to an anorexia suffered (Cassie_Ainsworth), demanding her to eat. Considering that anorexia is an anxiety disorder, and that this would not deal with the causes of it, isn't that a horrible idea? Quest09 (talk) 14:58, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes, that is likely to be counter-effective. Compare the options listed under Anorexia nervosa. In a hospital setting, a person might be made to ingest food (possibly though an IV), but that would be ideally be combined with other forms of treatment. (By the way, "anorexia suffered" doesn't work. I would say "an anorexic person" or "a person suffering from anorexia".) Lesgles (talk) 15:55, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Or the nearest viable: "anorexia sufferer ". 212.169.179.193 (talk) 16:32, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

What is common to "Ford Mustang" Porsche and Ferrari
Looking for something common among "Ford Mustang" Porsche and Ferrari. The commonality could be anything. People/companies associated with them or just anything

Would appreciate any help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.31.252.236 (talk) 15:08, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * They are all cars with horses in their logos. Lesgles (talk) 15:47, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * They have 4 wheels and internal combustion engines. Googlemeister (talk) 16:38, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * They cater to young, affluent males with feelings of sexual inadequacy. Wait a minute, I had a '67 'Stang! DOR (HK) (talk) 04:05, 30 March 2011 (UTC)


 * "Mustang", "Porsche", and "Ferrari" all have 7 letters. StuRat (talk) 04:27, 30 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Ford was in a position to buy both Volkswagen and Ferrari at one point in their history, but ended up buying neither, though under different circumstances in each case.  --some jerk on the Internet    (talk)  20:54, 1 April 2011 (UTC)
 * And to clarify, the Volkswagen was the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche. Wikipedia's articles don't state it, and I'm not up to fact-checking it right this second (though I invite others to do so), but it's conceivable Henry Ford II ate lunch with both Enzo Ferrari and with Ferdinand Porsche.  --some jerk on the Internet    (talk)  21:04, 1 April 2011 (UTC)
 * The Ford Mustang I, the Porsche 914, and the Ferrari Dino are all mid-engined vehicles.  --some jerk on the Internet    (talk)  21:11, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

US politics/office-holders campaigning
Hi - I was wondering if Americans could explain something to me, after watching The California 47th. In this episode, Bartlet and his staff fly on Air Force One to California, for no reason other than campaigning in a Federal special Congressional election. This isn't uncommon in the show, e.g. when campaigning for re-election as President, Bartlet and staff fly there on AF1. Does this actually happen in US politics? (Presumably so?) If so, given that federal funding of party political campaigns is illegal (a point often referenced in the show, such as having election posters in the white house being illegal, even during a political party's own administration, or indeed in this episode, when staffers stay behind to campaign longer, they have to come off the WH payroll), how is the free flight on AF1, and all concomitant governmental expenditure not a massive donation to the campaign coffers of the party in question? Or do they just get to use it because the President has to travel in style, but then they have to re-imburse the government? What about staff pay for all the time they're out endorsing the candidate, even if they're nominally not door-knocking/handing out leaflets? I'd love to understand this better :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.195.197.254 (talk) 15:50, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, and it's a major advantage for an incumbent. In 2004 George W. Bush used AF1 to campaign, and Dick Cheney used AF2.  They're at the disposal of the president, and the Secret Service wouldn't let the president fly with anything less than that kind of security.  It makes campaigning much easier, although the advantage was somewhat neutralized in 2004 because John Kerry is and was a senator (in contrast to most presidential candidates; having current or former governors is far more typical) and could more than afford his own air transportation.   As to the aides, that's handled through the respective parties; many people aren't paid (a lot of interns and volunteers do the work at a local/regional level), but those who are get their checks from whichever political organization they're working for. The Blade of the Northern Lights  ( 話して下さい ) 17:55, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * [ec] :This article addresses most of your questions. As for paying presidential staff who spend time on partisan projects, they don't punch a time clock when they start or stop working on government business, which is the basis for their salary.  What they do in their spare time (even if that spare time adds up to 40 hours per week or more) is their own business, though if a presidential staffer were found to be working mainly on a campaign, it could be the basis of a scandal that could threaten the president's re-election.  Marco polo (talk) 17:58, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * It is an issue though if they use governmental resources, as I understand it. They may not punch the clock, but their use of offices, telephones, computers, etc., can fall under scrutiny. Much less if they use the implements of government more directly (e.g. firing judges for political reasons). --Mr.98 (talk) 19:52, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Also, don't forget that any (Air Force) plane the president is on is technically "Air Force One". Qrsdogg (talk) 18:38, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Karl Rove clearly worked on the 2004 re-election campaign for George W. Bush while he held the Federal office of "Senior Advisor to the President". I merely cite him as an example.  Senior political aides for other presidents have also had roles in their campaigns.  Marco polo (talk) 20:36, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * There is a current discussion going on right now about Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour flying around the country at state expense for campaign events (he is an unannounced candidate for President). He claims he is travelling on state business while at the same time attending these events.   Corvus cornix  talk  20:50, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Politicians in the United States have been doing that sort of thing for as long as I can remember and probably longer. (My memory of such things goes back to the 1970s.)  Marco polo (talk) 23:54, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Rush und Bedeutung
In this text, is 'Milquetoast' a definite description and if so, what is its referent? Danke,  Skomorokh   21:06, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I believe you are asking who Rush Limbaugh refers to in this quote: "The truth is, the sad reality is we may end up with Milquetoast as a nominee". Is this right ? StuRat (talk) 21:56, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * See Caspar Milquetoast. --ColinFine (talk) 23:23, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * And milquetoast seems to derive from "milk sopping" of bread (so, "milk toast"), a practice common in the Middle Ages but generally only used for the infirm or ill in later periods. So, essentially, Rush is saying that the only option left for the Republican party will be a weak candidate, because the strong ones are too divisive for the electorate. &mdash;  The Hand That Feeds You :Bite 18:34, 30 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Wasn't this the case for UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. That is, he got in just because he didn't piss anybody off ? StuRat (talk) 22:26, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Shapes in Chinese Calligraphy
I am learning Chinese calligraphy, and I need practice with a particular shape. I don't know how to refer to it other than by calling it what the author of the book I'm studying calls it. Rebecca Yue refers to it as the "horizontal form of the diagonal brushstroke to the right." It is the shape seens at the bottom of these characters: 之逞逗. I would rather prefer to write this shape as part of a word, rather than simply repeating the shape over and over. I need a way to locate words that contain this shape so I can practice them, but I can't find a way to do that. Can anyone help me with this? Calamus Fortis  21:57, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * You could take a look at "What's in a Chinese Character" ISBN 9787800055157. It steps through the basic ideographs, giving their origins, and then shows how the basic ideographs combine into more complex ones. CS Miller (talk) 22:21, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Though the web site is for Japanese Kanji, seems like a good way to find characters based on multiple radicals.  CJEDictionary gives a disappointingly incomplete set of Hanzi based on particular radicals, but not in combination.  Pablo allows a pretty good lookup from English to Chinese, with animated brush strokes, but I don't see much capability in the other direction (you must run as administrator or it crashes Windows Explorer).  I hope someone will give better freeware answers than this so I can check them out. ;) Wnt (talk) 23:17, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
 * The radical you refer to is called a 走之, or 走之底. Googling "走之", the first hit I found was a page on "how to write 走之", which may be of interest to you. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 03:43, 29 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Re-reading your question, I realised that you may have been referring to the stroke, not the whole radical. As you probably know, a downward diagonal stroke to the right with a light flourish at the end is called a 捺, "na". This particular form of that stroke is called a 平捺, a "flat na". Googling 平捺 took me to some video results teaching viewers how to write the stroke, so these may be of some interest to you.
 * If you simply want to find characters with this stroke, simply look up that radical in a radical-based Chinese dictionary. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 03:46, 29 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Here are the list of characters with the two radicals. and . The second and the third are basically the same. And a list of radicals is here. Oda Mari (talk) 05:47, 29 March 2011 (UTC)