Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 March 10

= March 10 =

clothing measurement
How long are the sleeves (long sleeves) on a shirt that fits a 2.5-year-old (30 month-old) child? E.g., in centimetres. Thank you.184.147.116.102 (talk) 00:29, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Children vary significantly in size; we cannot provide a specific size that will be accurate. We might be able to provide a range of normal sizes, or a single size that's most common, but a one-size-fits-all solution wouldn't work.  Nyttend (talk) 00:43, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * The best thing to do would be to ask the parent(s) what age range currently fits the child, unless you are actually going to make the item yourself. μηδείς (talk) 01:01, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

I do not want a clothing size. I want a measurement length for the sleeve, please. A range is more than fine, in fact expected. 184.147.116.102 (talk) 01:20, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * You could actually take the child to the shop and get him/her measured. That usually works. We are not psychics - we have no idea how long your kid's arms are.  KägeTorä - ( 影 虎 )  ( Chin Wag )  04:30, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * I get the feeling that the OP doesn't have a child or access to one and would just like a general idea how long the sleeves are. Dismas |(talk) 08:13, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

That is correct Dismas. If I knew a child I could obviously just measure and wouldn't be asking. Can anyone answer this please?184.147.116.102 (talk) 10:46, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * This site gives a wide range of measurements, including upper arm length (in inches) for children from birth to 16 years. I'm not a tailor, so I can't tell you how accurate it might be, but you should be able to use it as a starting point. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 12:00, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Thank you! I can work with that for what I need. Thanks.184.147.116.102 (talk) 12:21, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

work hours for regular police officers in united states
How many hours a day and how many hours a week are patrol officers usually scheduled and required to work? Is it 8 hours 5 days a week? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:7:6580:5E3:5051:5744:C3BE:63FC (talk) 05:39, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Most work 5 eight-hour shifts a week but others work 10 or 12 hour shifts. New York state troopers work 12 hours shifts in alternating 60 hour/24 hour workweeks. With "17,985 state and local law enforcement agencies" and numerous federal ones, there are bound to be many variations in scheduling. Rmhermen (talk) 06:45, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Variations, there are. Every cop I've known has worked a different shift rotation than all the others.  And, I think without exception, they all had a rotating schedule so that nobody was on days/nights all the time.  Dismas |(talk) 08:19, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Some few months ago, one of the Pittsburgh-metro papers ran a story about the large number of part-time police officers in this region, including a discussion about some officers who work part-time shifts with multiple departments. It's a combination of several effects: state law doesn't provide for county-level policing (aside from the State Police, all police are municipal), there are tons of municipalities here (130 in Allegheny County alone), many of them small, and many are impoverished because they've not recovered from the Rust Belt years.  Nyttend (talk) 20:25, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

ISIS again
Given that ISIS considers all pre-Islamic cultures as blasphemous, does this also mean they consider everything that happened before Islam was invented as blasphemous? Are they willing to destroy all traces of the human race having existed at all before the early 7th century CE? J I P &#124; Talk 19:51, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * With them, who knows. They'll do whatever nets them the most new recruits. Now I'll stay out of this topic for the rest of it as this is a very painful topic for a Near Eastern archaeologist.... Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie &#124; Say Shalom! 19 Adar 5775 19:54, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * I've only read that they find idolatry blasphemous. There's plenty left without a face, which I'd expect they'll leave alone (or destroy for other reasons). Where'd you hear about them wanting to wipe everything? InedibleHulk (talk) 20:18, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Oh wait, I see the Iraqi antiquities ministry has said about as much. A bit hyperbolic, I think, but we'll see. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:21, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Look at iconoclasm. It seems to be an historically recurring mob madness based on jealousy.  It happened during the Byzantine Empire, when it was finally branded as heresy.  It happened in England, with the painting over in white of artwork that adorned the formerly Catholic churches.  The soviets did it for a while when they came to power, see the toppling of steeples and removal of icons i the episode "Red Flag" of the excellent documentary series People's Century.  The phenomenon reminds one of a dog who, every time he scents another dog, pisses on the spot. μηδείς (talk) 20:36, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Ironically, painting or plastering over old works of art may be the best way to preserve them for future generations. StuRat (talk) 20:00, 11 March 2015 (UTC)


 * A destroyed symbol is also a transformed symbol. Literally toppling Hussein wasn't exactly subtle. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:00, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * There's a difference between destroying world cultural heritage, and overthrowing a living dictator who raised the statue to himself. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair. μηδείς (talk) 00:50, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Yeah, not quite the same. But if that statue had survived another five hundred years, we'd call it an artifact. A preemptive cultural strike of sorts. Same general territorial pissing. InedibleHulk (talk) 19:50, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Here are some more equivalent examples. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:15, 11 March 2015 (UTC)


 * See jahiliyyah for the islamic concept of time before islam. 88.112.50.121 (talk) 23:21, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * And Pre-Islamic Arabia for the more tangible (some still breakable) constructs. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:44, 10 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Here's some old Joe Hill art I found in a new Cracked article, exhibited small to avoid the wrath of Mr. Highbrow. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:28, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
 * FWIW, having been involved in the study of several religions over the years, this question, and similar questions relating to the finer points of what might broadly be called "dogma" like it, tend not to be among the first things that occur to most people who become involved in what is, effectively, a "new" religion. Generally, unless a matter of other belief systems is involved somehow in the creation of a new belief system, it generally takes a few decades at least for them to get any sort of systematic theology system down. So, probably, the best answer I can offer is some individuals in ISIS probably do, some individuals in ISIS probably don't, and probably most of them haven't actually thought very much about it yet. Probably not the answer you were asking for, but the best one I can offer. John Carter (talk) 19:23, 15 March 2015 (UTC)