Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2006 November 12

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November 12

Does fathering a child give the father citizenship (or any legal ability to stay in the US)?

Good evening, I have a good friend who is pregnant with the child of an Indian man in the US temporarily. I don't know what type of work visa / permit he has, but his time on his current visa / permit will be running out in the next couple of months. My understanding is that he would prefer her to have an abortion, while she would prefer to keep it. She's afraid of him leaving the country and abandoning the two of them while he goes home to a different continent.

The big question goes like this: what can she do? I would think that filing for child support would be meaningless since he'll be in India long before she has the child. Does he have any legal obligations towards the child even if he leaves the country? Would fathering the child give him the ability to stay in the country legally, or would it help him in gaining citizenship (should he choose that)?

Thanks, 74.131.105.37 01:30, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

This is a pretty big question, and someone probably ought to consult an immigration lawyer. However, regardless of whether or not he has a legal obligation to the child, it would probably be nearly impossible to collect child support internationally. Since there's plenty of "dead beat dads" who still live in the U.S. and manage to avoid payment I imagine it would be pretty easy to avoid child suppport overseas. Dina 01:59, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I concur with Dina. I'm a lawyer in real life, though not an immigration lawyer, and I know there are a lot of complexities to this situation, and it's not suitable for giving advice over the Internet. For one thing, questions about child support are governed by state, not federal law. I will say that in general, fathering a US-born child does not confer residency or citizenship on the father, but again, there are complexities. Please have your friend consult a qualified lawyer in your area. Newyorkbrad 02:09, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are given some priority in obtaining visas for permanent residence. Immigrant visa info. The child might have to be a certain age, and I don't know what that age is. U.S. courts have little or no influence over non-resident aliens in regards to child support. Newyorkbrad is correct about consulting an immigration lawyer. It is possible to obtain free legal help and many lawyers provide an initial consultation at no cost. -THB 05:52, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

WPLJ Radio; New York's Best Rock Theme Song

Hi:

Does anyone know the instrumental theme music that WPLJ 95.5 FM radio used for the days when it was "New York's Best Rock". I believe the song and artist were fairly obscure at the time. It was a guitar based song; it probably would fall into the category of "Progressive Rock". It was not a hit song, and WPLJ did not have it in their song rotation. If you could provide the song title and artist, that would be great.

Thanks,

Jay

If you remember the melody, try Musipedia's contour search. Dar-Ape 03:50, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

The theme song was : My Sweet Heart by Focus

Andy from Old Bethpage

Search for specific prayer

Urgent

It's late on Saturday, but I had no chance to post my request for assistance earlier.

First, I am a newcomer to this site. Learned about it just last week, and am hoping that you can help me. I've already searched every which way through "My documents" on my computer, the 'C' drive, Google, Desktop Google, and a couple of "Prayer" sites, looking unsuccessfully for the answer to the question below.

Perhaps one of you has that answer..... which I hope to get by 6:00 p.m. EST tomorrow (11/2, Monday. Nervy, I know, but then...I can still hope.

I once had a copy of a prayer, the first stanza of which ended with the words, "Thank you for the Waiting time." It was a lovely, reflective prayer which expressed several of the frustrations we humans have in life, one of them being impatience at waiting for help with a problem from whichever God is our God (thus the line I quoted). Unfortunately, I can't remember the other frustrations the supplicant had. But essentially, the prayer was one of perhaps reluctant but gracious acceptance, each 'complaint' ending with the refrain, "Thank you for the ______ [time]".

Thank you for volunteering your time, and knowledge. This is an amazing service and site.

Anne Graffam Walker

It must be this one [1] -- specifically for women priests. See the "you keep us waiting" portion, with the "waiting time" in the refrain. Hope this helps! Antandrus (talk) 04:12, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Oops, edit conflict. Waiting. Anchoress 04:15, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

SFX question

I'm not really sure if this is the correct category, but since it sort of falls into pop culture, I'll just post it here. Does anyone know what the name of the audio effect used for the distortion of the radio chatter in the first Star Wars film/the new Battlestar Galactica? I've perused some of the entries on the list (flanging, ring modulation, comb filtering) and none of them really seem to be what was used - it seems more like a highpass filter mixed with some other effect. Virog^{It's not}_{my fault!} 04:55, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, I don't know about BSG but as for the 1st Star Wars movie, I don't know that they actually used an "audio effect" beyond using cheap communications gear ;). I don't remember the sound being very characteristic. You can simulate the effect by downsampling your recording, most audio processing applications will let you do it. Instead of recording at 16bit, try 8 or 4. Vespine 02:09, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, it's a very distinct sound - it's a lot rougher on the ears than typical radio chatter in a scifi movie and drops out enough of the frequencies that the voices were altered significantly. If it is the result of cheap comm. gear, it can still be reproduced by some combination of filters, which is in what I'm interested . Virog^{It's not}_{my fault!} 07:54, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

The Koran and Harmony

All too often, nations go to war over the earth’s resources instead of sharing them in an equitable manner. With this in mind, I’d like to know if there are any specific passages in the Koran that talk about 1) the importance of mankind working together and co-operating in a spirit of harmony and/or 2) describe how Islam can help mankind achieve this goal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.242.64.3 (talk • contribs)

I'd guess that could depend a lot on interpretation... 惑乱 分からん 13:07, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Go to the wiki quote article on the Qu'ran and checkout some of the Surahs under charity, for a start. --Cody.Pope 19:30, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

There are lots of quotes in the Skeptic's Annotated Quran (Good stuff) --Phydaux 21:57, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Current Events

i'm doing a current events quiz in my exam it is based on all the major things that has happened this year around the world e.g Fifa soccer and the death of Steve Irwin. Can anyone tell me all the most major things that has happened this year? It can't be anything that has just happend the past few weeks because the exam is written before that. Since i'm living in New Zealand i'm expected to know some local news too. So please tell me some most major New zealand news too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.88.93.51 (talk • contribs)

Did you try 2006? AnonMoos 06:35, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I also found this under New Zealand:

"New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land have been occupied simultaneously by women, between March 2005 and August 2006 - The Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II, Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, Prime Minister Helen Clark, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Margaret Wilson and Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias."

StuRat 06:39, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I tryed 2006 but there's too many and most aren't that major

I have to say I am a little bewildered by your definition of a 'major' event. Try to think in the long term. In other words, what is going to be remembered in, say, a decade or so from today. Amongst other things the war in Lebanon and the death sentence passed against Sadam Hussein are bound to rate high. Fifa soccer and the death of Steve Irwin, tragic as it was, are hardly of great world importance. Anyway, you must read the list-long as it is-and draw your own conclusions. Either that or go through the papers in your local library.Clio the Muse 07:08, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

You might try Wikinews Digest. Simply skimming through the headlines could give you an overall idea. But remember that most editors will be from the US, so there might be a bit too much focus on what is considered important in that country. Same for the West in general. Filtering that bias out shouldn't be too hard, but getting a view from other parts of the world would require different sources. But then again, of course, the same goes for Kiwi media, so you'll probably be expected to work from a Western bias anyway. DirkvdM 09:05, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I suggest you try web sites for local newspapers, and then search the archives for "2006". Here's my results for the New Zealand Herald: [2] Then, just scan through the titles and only read articles that seem important. StuRat 09:28, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

It also depends on who you ask and their POV. For example, I turned 33 this year, an event of colossal importance to humanity, no doubt. :--) Loomis 19:33, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Black or Mid-Eastern Monk

In the movie The Name of the Rose (I can't remember if in the book as well), there was a black or mid-eastern monk. How historically realistic is this? The movie's staged in Medieval Europe, and the monk was a well-educated scholar of greek. Was this just the director's attempt at diversity, or were there actually black monks back then? Just curious. Sashafklein 06:38, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

There were most definitely black monks belonging to the Coptic eastern Orthodox churches in Egypt and Abyssinia (Ethiopia); the question is whether there would have been many in Europe... AnonMoos 06:42, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

It's unlikely that there would have been any black monks in Europe in the fourteenth century. In any event, there is no record of such, as far as I am aware. Clio the Muse 06:55, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't have any factual knowledge on this specifically, but one thing to consider is that catholicism is (and was even then) a pretty strong international organisation, cutting through national and cultural borders. Those who travelled in those days were people on business and religious people, the 'intellectuals' of the day. So taking a black convert to Europe for further 'education' to consequently spread the word on return is not too unlikely. And this was set in Italy. A black guy in Ireland would have been a different story (and still is, by the way). DirkvdM 09:17, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Once again, due to my lack of expertise in this area, I choose to REFRAIN from loose conjecture. Loomis 11:50, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Check out this article on the African Origins of the Holy Grail and the Witch's Cauldron (at your own risk). ---Sluzzelin 15:03, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

There were probably monks of African descent who themselves came from places where commercial trade and intermarriage were commonplace such as Sicily or the Iberian peninsula. In fourteenth century Europe the dominant paradigm for construction of the "other" was religion, not race, so it seems reasonable that a learned scholar would have journeyed to northern Europe and been respected and valued there. Durova^Charge! 18:45, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Did you read, the OP wrote black or mid-eastern. Since Muslim culture at that time had saved a lot of old Greek texts and was at the height of its greatness, I'd say it's pretty likely a mid-eastern (say Syrian) monk could have been well-versed with Euclid and Pythagoras. -- 85.179.23.122 19:21, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Subject adapted accordingly. -- Rwst 19:28, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I think it reasonable to suppose that there may have been monks of Semitic, Middle Eastern or even North African origin in Medieval Europe. But if 'black' is taken to mean people from Sub-Saharan Africa, then their presence in Europe in the early fourteenth century is, to say the least, highly unlikely. This would have been so unusual that the records would almost certainly have reported the fact, which, as I have said, they do not. In any case this is clearly a contention that cannot be proved one way or the other. Clio the Muse 23:24, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Relatively uncommon if you're talking about Sub-Saharan Africa, but nonetheless feasible. There were land trade routes through the Sahara and there has always been considerable commerce throughout the Mediterranean. The stress we set upon continent of origin simply didn't hold much meaning during the late Middle Ages. What mattered in most of Europe was that a person was Christian - according to whichever variety of Christianity was dominant locally. Certainly - given the importance of Muslim scholarship to the preservation of Greek and Roman texts - it's plausible that a first or second generation Christian convert of Middle Eastern origin could have become a respected scholar in some Catholic monastic order. Durova^Charge!

And couldn't a sub Saharan African have travelled that way too? Contacts between Arabia and black Africa go back quite a bit, don't they? DirkvdM 08:52, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

They do indeed. The point remains, though, that this is still speculation. It is a matter, as I have already said, that cannot be proved one way or the other. Clio the Muse 00:36, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

The Leaders of a Traditional Middle-Eastern Tribe

As I understand it, the leader of a traditional middle-eastern tribe (such as the Bedouin tribe) is called a Sheik. What are the other leaders of these types of tribes called, and what is their primary responsibility? (I.E., if we were talking about American companies, I would be asking about job titles and job descriptions, such as CEO, COO, CFO etc. Are there functional equivalents in a middle-eastern tribe?)

Thanks for your help.

Tom

Shaykh literally means "old man" in the Arabic language, and can have many different meanings in various contexts in Arab/Muslim culture. Much of the rest of your question seems to be somewhat anachronistic. AnonMoos 07:30, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

is this correct

i think trignometry originated in india ancient indian mathematicians used "jya" or "jiba"to represent Sin the arabs then made 'jiba'(which was quite meaningless to them ) into 'Jiab' (which meant bay or inlet of water ). the romans translated 'jiab' as 'sinus' (i think it means bay )sinus began to be known as sin . is my logic correctMi2n15 09:38, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

You might do better at the language desk, but you are basically correct, although the word is sine (for which sin is an abbreviation used in formulae). The word sin is unrelated. According to the OED sine is derived from "ad. L. sinus a bend, bay, etc.; also, the hanging fold of the upper part of a toga, the bosom of a garment, and hence used to render the synonymous Arab. jaib, applied in geometry as in sense 2. Cf. F. sinus, Sp. and It. seno." --Shantavira 10:32, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

thnx shantaviraMi2n15 13:19, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Red Armband in Indonesian or Southeast Asian Culture

I'm looking for information on the role of the red armband in Indonesian culture, specifically, and/or Southeast Asian culture. Thank you.

Toronto Maple Leafs All time head to head records

I cannot seem to locate ths information anywhere. Plenty of sites with total wins and losses each year - but nothing concerning individual teams (i.e. Vancouver 239GP 122W 47L etc). Hockey-reference.com does not come online until summer 2006 - is there another site with this information available?

The winter hill gang in boston

Does winter hill gang still exist? If it does how many members does it have?

Winter Hill Gang seems to indicate the gang still exists, but doesn't mention the number of members. -Elmer Clark 00:25, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Virtual giving

It is amazing that we don’t seem to have an article on Christmas bazaars — an activity that involves millions of people each year.

But to get to my point: I just came across one such bazaar, simply called “holiday fair”, which was different from what I’ve seen so far. Instead of arts and crafts, this one focused on what some people called “virtual giving”. I loved what I saw and I started to write this tentative article. Currently, my article is still mostly OR – but I feel this comes with the territory. It wasn’t easy to find any information about it on the internet, and I didn’t really know what to google for. Apparently such fairs are hosted mostly by local communities, such as churches, who may put it in their bulletin but not on the internet. The participating charitable organizations apparently offer such programs on their own, and none feels a need to use a generic name.

The phenomenon is there, I just don’t know what it’s called. I love "virtual giving" because it alludes to virtue, but that term already has other meanings and is – of course - hogged by a dotcom.

So my question is: What is this phenomenon called? — SebastianHelm (talk · contribs) 16:57, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

The title seems to vary, but Christmas bazaar seems to be the usual one. I think the closest we have in terms of articles at the moment is Christmas Market, Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre, and jumble sale.--Shantavira 17:10, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry - I realize that my introductory paragraph was misleading. My question is about this new form of 2-way giving, not about the bazaar. (I changed the title accordingly) — Sebastian (talk) 17:13, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

A number of charities offer this and have for quite some time: cards informing the recipient that a donation has been made in their name. I know Heifer Project does. Rmhermen 17:58, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that's it! And thanks for the pointer to Heifer. They indeed appear to be on the forefront of this concept. — Sebastian (talk) 18:12, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

A frequently used term is alternative giving, so I moved the article to that name. — Sebastian (talk) 19:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Views on homosexuality, sex outside of marriage and masturbation in Rastafarianism?

Anyone know? Thanks. --WineBob 17:41, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I just remember Buju Banton's incredibly stupid and offensive dancehall lyrics advocating violence against gays ("Boom Boom bye bye, in a batty bwoy head.) According to the article on WP he used Rastafarianism in his defense, quoting the infamous Leviticus passage. But to induce that this is Rastafarianism's attitude toward homosexuality would be like equaling Christianity's general attitude to the ignorant and homophobic statements made by the Christian Right. Sorry, no help on the other topics either. ---Sluzzelin 17:56, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Dancehall music seemsto be homophobic for machoism reasons, rather than any real religiosity... Otherwise, since the religion mostly seems Christianity-based, I find it hard thinking it could have particularly positive attitudes (although I guess it could depend largely on the person, I mean, Bob Marley certainly had his share of sex outside mariage...) 惑乱 分からん 18:27, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

The article LGBT rights in Jamaica might help you with the homosexuality part (although it doesn't mention Rastafarianism specifically). I think Jamaica has one of the highest rates of opposition to homosexuality of any country in the world. --Grace 22:23, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

What proportion of christian community in the US support premarital sex and homosexuality? 18:01, 14 November 2006 (UTC)~

revolutionary war

the revolutionary war- what were some of the major turning points that shaped the country's history?

Well, the execution of the King brought about Republican government, from which the French have never retreated. At least, I'm assuming you meant France, since you didn't mention which country... --Mnemeson 22:18, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

When the Communists defeated the Kuomintang. When the Communists executed the Romanovs. When the Communists defeated Batista. When the Communists... get the idea? --The Dark Side 23:22, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Which revolution? Which country? Durova^Charge! 23:42, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

This term is sometimes applied to the American War of Independence, though, in the absence of further elucidation, I would agree with Mnemeson that it is more commonly used in referring to the French wars from 1792 to 1802. There are, in fact, several 'turning points' worthy of note; but the most important in addition to the creation of the First Republc and the execution of Louis XVI are the Battle of Valmy, the fall of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, in particular the coup d'état of Eighteen Brumaire, which was to lead directly to the creation of the First Empire. Incidentally, Mnemeson, the French have in fact 'retreated' several several times from the republican form of government. Beyond the creation of the First Empire, the Bourbon monarchy was restored in 1814 and again in 1815, in the person, first, of Louis XVIII and then his brother Charles X. In 1830 this was replaced by the Orleanist monarchy of king Louis Phillipe, which ended with the creation of the Second Republic in 1848. But no sooner was the ink dry on the constitution than Napoleon III, the nephew of the first Napoleon, created the Second Empire in 1852. This ended in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. It was only after this that republicanism became the preferred form of government. Clio the Muse 23:54, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I tend to disagree. The French Revolutionary Wars (plural) are not generally known by the singular "revolutionary war". Given the numbers of US people who use this site, I strongly suspect the questioner is asking about the American War of Independence. Had France been intended, I think it's very likely this would have been mentioned. But only he/she can confirm. JackofOz 00:02, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes; you are probably right. Anyway, the American War was all 'turning point', almost by definition-was it not? Clio the Muse 00:12, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Maybe, but I wouldn't want to feed too much homework to the questioner (apologies if this is an incorrect perception). If they click on the link you supplied above, they can probably form their own conclusions. JackofOz 02:39, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Most of the time people mean the US. --Proficient 04:36, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

In which case, the top candidates would be

• The Battle of Trenton (Dec 26, 1776), the first indication that the Continental Army was not going away.
• The Battle of Saratoga (Sept-Oct 1777), the first indication that the Americans might win, and the key to the alliance with France

B00P 07:08, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Since the questioneer still hasn't specified the country - in the Netherlands, the revolt against Philip II in the 16th century led to the Dutch Golden Age. The definite shaping of the Netherlands took a few more centuries, but this was the major turning point in Dutch history. Btw, speaking of communism being at the basis of many revolutions, it started in the form of a religious urising, which on some occasions had a definite communist streak to it, as with the anabaptists ("absolute equality and the community of goods"). DirkvdM 09:16, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Even assuming the questioner is asking about the US Revolution, the question didn't ask for references to turning points shaping the outcome of the war but rather for turning points shaping the country's history, possibly up until this day. Though I'm not sure I can adequately answer the question, I would imagine that much of the answer would lie in how the war was conducted by the American Revolutionaries, and the historical symbolism it brought along with it, helping to shape the US into the country it became. For example, I'd consider the following quote from the article on George Washington to be quite apposite:

"One of Washington's most important contributions as commander-in-chief was to establish the precedent that civilian-elected officials, rather than military officers, possessed ultimate authority over the military. Throughout the war, he deferred to the authority of Congress and state officials, and he relinquished his considerable military power once the fighting was over." Loomis 21:59, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

English Parliament= ??

Do we have anything comparable to the English Parliament from teh 1700's in our country?

Thanks, anon —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.39.27 (talk • contribs)

Firstly - by the 1700s, the 'English' Parliament was the British Parliament. Secondly - which is your country? --Mnemeson 23:47, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Absolutely; the question makes no sense as it stands. We need to know who 'we' are! Clio the Muse 23:58, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

The words "we" and "our" are inherently POV, btw. (It always annoys me when people use them in Wikipedia, even on discussion pages...) 惑乱 分からん 01:10, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Dear, oh, dear; it was intended as a small joke, a we on we. Not very good, I know. But for your benefit I will rephrase it: I need to know who we are. Will that do? Clio the Muse 01:16, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

No offense, just some irrelevant ranting from my side... If someone'd bother, we could of course check out the country IP, although it'd create unnecessary work. Otherwise, we could assume just it's the US, again... 惑乱 分からん 01:28, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

I think you are right; but I am not prepared to take that for granted. Besides, it is important to get them to think that there is a huge world beyond 'we', so to speak. Clio the Muse 01:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

There has been a high level of biting the newcomer and inside jokes lately, which are not actually that funny, either to the person seeking help here or to other editors. A new user may not be aware of the worldwide user base of Wikipedia. http://www.arin.net/whois/ yields the info that the service provider of 68.193.39.27 is in Hicksville, New York, the United States of America. Now please make an attempt to answer his/her question. Thanks. Edison 16:27, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

I can't believe there actually is a town called Hicksville. howcheng {chat} 22:29, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Losing indent) Edison, it was not my intention to 'bite' anyone, or to be unhelpful, and I apologize if that's how it came across; and if you look at the record you will see that I am also a 'newcomer'. I really only wanted some clarification of the question, which I do not believe to be an unreasonable position to take. I think even in Hicksville people are capable of elucidating their thoughts. Anyway, on the assumption that it is the United States we are talking about, there was, of course, no unified government or legislature in the 1700s. The individual colonies, as they were established, were subject to the control of a governor, who, in turn, was subject to the ministry in London. However, at a fairly early stage governors would rely on some form of local consultation. Have a look at Colonial government in America, and follow this up with an examination of the individual colonies. Take, for example, the Colony of Virginia, where the House of Burgesses, the equivalent of the House of Commons in England, was established as early as 1619. I hope this helps. Clio the Muse 00:04, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Frontier thesis

1) What is The Frontier Thesis? What role does Turner argue the frontier has played in American history?

Your first port of call should be Frederick Turner, followed by the Frontier Thesis. Clio the Muse 00:16, 13 November 2006 (UTC)