Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 August 24

= August 24 =

Malignant Narcissism
Sadly, my effort to talk to a human being has failed after more than one clock hour searching your voluminous libraries of how to contact and how to edit and how to get help. If you have a human volunteer that one human reader with handicaps (interfacing with modern internet software can communicate with, I did not get there and my time is over for this extremely stressful session.

The Wikipedia article is Malignant Narcissism.

My original intent, sirs and ma'ams, was to add two extremely important world-class, global researchers to the "See also" or "References" or "External links" section(s).

1. M. Scott Peck, M.D., contemporary American Psychiatrist clinician and researcher and more, author of the two popular bestsellers clearly identifying and warning and more, The Road Less Traveled and People of the Lie.

2. Viktor Frankl, M.D., established, famous Austrian or German Jew Psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust and wrote his unique journey of survival from the Nazis. He founded Logotherapy outlining his remarkable unique personal experience. His global-impact two bestsellers of timeless value to humanity are Man's Search for Meaning and Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning.

3. Why? Because you say on page 2 of 4, at the end of the "Spectrum of pathological narcissism and psychopathy" section:  "Malignant narcissism is highlighted as a key area in the study of mass murder, sexual and serial murder. [10][11]

4. In 2015, new brain research and epigenetics research is seeking to identify folk like Adam Lanza and his mother from Newtown, Connecticut; the Boston Bombings two brothers; the radicalized American volunteers for Isis and the other terror groups; trying to profile the next mass murderer, sexual and serial murderer. Before the homicide, genocide. ..

5. I do not know any more enlightening pair of clinicians and researchers with boots on the ground, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with this evil spirit, whatever it is, attacking all humanity at this time in known public domain world history of humankind, attacking HEARTS, BRAINS, attacking MINDS. Covertly. Secretly. Subtly. Globally. Electronically. Internet webs, networks, portals. ..

6. Thank you. If a human can/will talk to me, you know how to reach me. Rose Vernier, A.A., B.A.E., M.Ed., University of Florida, United States of America — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:304:b0d5:d220:849d:4cf5:dd54:928d (talk • contribs)


 * Is this the article Malignant narcissism? I found this by typing the two words into the search box. [This page] may assist you and guide you to other useful pages. Richard Avery (talk) 06:30, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Richard, the OP refers to the article, she knows where it is. She's asking if someone can alter it as she feels unable.  Rojomoke (talk) 11:56, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Ah, right, that academic language confused me ;-) Richard Avery (talk) 13:57, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I added the request on the article's talkpage. I noticed that one of the psychiatrists was already mentioned there. Akseli9 (talk) 12:36, 24 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia has just the thing for you (assuming this is something you'd like to be able to do by yourself, and assuming you'll be wanting to do this kind of thing in the future). Check out Adopt-a-user - this is a place where you can ask for an actual human to help you out with whatever ails you on Wikipedia.  Someone comes along and offers to "adopt" you - and if you accept, they'll offer advice, monitor your editing, help out where needed, suggest other pages that might benefit from your attention and so forth.  Many adopters and adoptees wind up being friends over the longer term.  It's a great program. SteveBaker (talk) 14:59, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Stealing copper
Once a thief has stolen copper from a church roof or a telecommunications cable, how do they go about selling it? Who buys clearly stolen copper? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.133.213.180 (talk) 15:45, 24 August 2015 (UTC)


 * The scrap trade is huge, and plenty of people will sell e.g. perfectly legitimate left over cable to scrapyards, and the scrapyard will then either recycle the items or attempt to re-sell them as-is, depending on condition. The scrapyards can't really tell the provenance of things like this, so they usually just take anything on offer unless it is highly suspicious. For example, they might turn away a brand-new unused spool of cable, but accept a similar volume of clearly used and degraded cable. More info at junkyard, though the concept is not so centered on vehicles as the article implies. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:07, 24 August 2015 (UTC)


 * The problem with the junk dealer buyers is complex:


 * 1) Some may know the goods are stolen and not care, as long as they have plausible deniability.


 * 2) Others don't know if the items are stolen, but don't consider that to be their problem.


 * 3) Others are good citizens and try to avoid buying stolen goods, but can't always tell.


 * Some approaches to solve the problem:


 * A) Require sellers to provide identification, such as a driver's license, which is then recorded. If any of the items sold to the dealer are later found to be stolen, the seller can then be tracked down.


 * B) Make it illegal to accept items from anyone previously convicted of selling stolen goods.


 * C) Add identifying serial numbers to scrapable items. This is for the future, as new items sold now can have the codes.  It probably isn't practical to add such codes after installation.


 * D) Use less valuable materials. New LED street lights in Detroit now use aluminum wiring instead of copper, and the lower electricity requirement for LEDs means smaller diameter wire can be used.


 * E) Make devices which contain valuable materials less accessible. For example, a transformer formerly on the ground and requiring only basic tools to open can be put on top of a pole and have a lock on it. StuRat (talk) 16:25, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, the obvious references to me, I'm a bit surprised no one linked these already, are fence and Blackmarket. Vespine (talk) 23:17, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Duly noted, but I don't think most scrap yards are running fences, or that stolen copper ends up sold at mostly illicit venues. One coil of copper looks much like another, e.g. fungibility and commodity. Despite Stu's suggestion, it's untenable to have serial numbers and logged databases for every foot of copper piping, wire, etc. I don't think you need to find a black market fence to unload a few hundred dollars worth of copper scrap - that's depressingly part of the appeal :-/ SemanticMantis (talk) 23:57, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Metal theft might be interesting reading. --jpgordon:==( o ) 05:25, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
 * In the UK the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 was an attempt to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen metal. In particular it's illegal for a dealer to buy scrap metal for cash. (Our article isn't much to go on - better information and links here). AndrewWTaylor (talk) 08:02, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Because of the factor AndrewWTaylor details, telecomms cables stolen in the UK are often now (it's believed) accumulated in shipping containers (along with other similar spoils) and exported (clandestinely, of course) to metals processors in Eastern Europe where checks on such activities are less stringent. This means that the thieves also now target aluminium cables, which previously were often substituted for better-performance (and actually cheaper) copper cables, with signage put up to advertise the fact — small UK scrap dealers usually can't melt down aluminium because its much higher melting point necessitates equipment they don't have.
 * Re StuRat's suggestion E) — increased inaccessibility would not help much, as most of such sites are already moderately secure, it's evident that the thieves often have some rigging expertise, and the components have to remain reasonably accessible for legitimate maintenance.
 * Disclosure: I work for a company whose work includes replacing such stolen cable, etc. on telecomms sites, often a 2-day job. On more than one occasion, we've returned on the second day to find our first day's replacements have been stolen again overnight! {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 185.74.232.130 (talk) 13:51, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Not serial numbers, but using DNA markers has apparently been really succesful. Sjö (talk) 16:00, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Stopping the smell of rotting faeces?
When I was on a trip in my RV, I often did not have access to toilets. I used a bottle for my urine but for emptying my bowel I used small plastic bags. Yet, despite my best efforts tying the individual bags up, a bad smell permeated! I then moved the individual bags into a larger bin liner, yet the stink still found its way out?

What gives. Isn't plastic odour in permeable? Or is there a special way to tie them? I twisted the bags then knotted them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.195.27.47 (talk) 17:13, 24 August 2015 (UTC)


 * It depends a bit on the type of plastic. Many plastic bags are polyethylene - which is not totally impermeable. Here is a paper that discusses permeability of polyethylene films in the context of landfill covers. E.g. methane will seep through 2 mil film at a rate of 92 cm³/100 in²/day . There are products like this that claim to be "odor proof" and usable for human waste. They are still made of polyethylene, but probably denser and thicker than other normal bags. SemanticMantis (talk) 22:11, 24 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Whatever the UK equivalent of Pine-Sol is put into the larger bag should solve the smell. For several years all the houses had honey buckets and you always put some Pine-Sol in the liner first. It's not mentioned in the article but they do mention the ability to get rid of smells at the Pine-Sol site. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 01:15, 25 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Another approach might be to denature the feces, by submerging them in bleach. The problem here is that your typical bleach container has a rather small opening, so you would have to find a vapor- and liquid-proof bottle with a wide opening.  Bleach isn't so good for the environment, but then neither are feces, which could contain a contagious disease. StuRat (talk) 01:34, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Contagious diseases are part of the natural environment, not its enemy. If it wasn't for rotting shit and "bad" bacteria, we wouldn't have soil. No soil, no humans. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:33, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Might be better to use the fluid for chemical toilets which is actually concocted for that specific purpose, such as Elsanol. You might even go the whole hog and buy a Porta Potti to save all that unpleasantness with plastic bags. Alansplodge (talk) 18:34, 25 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Ah but there wasn't anything like Elsanol at the one store. Plus Pine-Sol can be used for other things such as cleaning. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 01:28, 26 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Uhm... The OP's RV may not be large enough to accommodate a chemical toilet. Also, the chemicals mentioned are bulky. Also they wont stop the evolution of gases in a sealed bag; (this is what the Apollo Astronauts had to do to achieve that: Then they had to knead a germicide into their waste so that gas-expelling bacteria wouldn't flourish inside the sealed bag and cause it to explode). Might be worth the OP defecating into a cheap waxed-paper bag, though. Then adding a little quicklime or caustic soda (and giving it a little massage to mix). Rather than keep that soiled bag in the RV, give it a sallow burial a the earliest opportunity.  Then wash hands. Potassium hydroxide is a little harder to get than household caustic soda (which is sold everywhere) but is more environmentally friendly. Of course, if his RV had a microwave – then just sterilize it and dump it.--Aspro (talk) 17:21, 26 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Mmmm...microturd. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:48, 26 August 2015 (UTC)


 * I agree. They deserved to be arrested for not selecting the auto-cook function that would have cooked it to  a turd turn. Yet, maybe the 7-Eleven just had a cheap, use-once, single function, throw-away microwave, in which case the 7/11 only had themselves to blame.--Aspro (talk) 21:36, 26 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Quite the opposite. This microwave allegedly cost $3500. Mine cost $60, and I thought it did the same thing those do. Maybe theirs make very hot human feces smell particulary gruesome. Seems a strange feature to shell out for, so there's probably more to this story. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:15, 27 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Have you considered using a RubberMaid container? Solid seals, room for many turds, easy to dump, easy to clean. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:24, 27 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Those type of containers are not going to be able to resit the positive internal pressure of the evolving gasses ( In hot climes corpse can explode because the gas evolve faster then the tissue can purify). That why the Apollo astronauts had to spend so long kneading the bags to thoroughly mix the germicide into the turds. A simpler: defecate, add sterilizer (not bleach - too much organic matter) and depose method as I described, I think, is more efficacious and less messy (my apologies to any coprophil readers here that like the messy part – nothing personal against you). Airline sick-bags would be suitable plus a spoon full of caustic . The 3½ grand figure for the MW, indubitably includes all the labour charges and any other expenses the 7/11 could claim off their  insurance company. Not the cost of the MW itself. I have never seen a commercial quality MW in any such store – never! Suggest the OP experiments. Then post back here with his results.--Aspro (talk) 17:56, 28 August 2015 (UTC)