Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2010 November 1

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November 1

History of voteing, I.E. New commers flooding in to effect the outcome.

I remeber learning in high school that wars were stopped to allow a contested country to vote who it would be allined with. In the two or three years given before the vote, one country flooded the other with it's citizens to ensure that the vote would go to their advantage. I think it was in Europe after world war one or two, I'm not sure. How would I go about researching this?72.93.6.226 (talk) 00:47, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Sounds a bit like the Upper Silesia plebiscite after World War I. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 01:07, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Possible effects of castration

I just finished reading an English translation of the vampire novel Let the Right One In. One of the book's main characters is Eli, a vampire who looks like a 12-year-old girl. The reader finds out about 3/4 of the way through the book that she is actually a boy who was castrated and later turned by a vampire 200 years ago. Several characters in the book think Eli is the "prettiest little girl [they] have ever seen." I know some boys have feminine qualities (e.g., thin, small frames and long hair), but can the loss of testosterone through castration enhance these features? --Ghostexorcist (talk) 03:27, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The article Eunuch would answer your questions regarding real people who have been castrated at a young age. I wouldn't trust what a work of vampire fiction has to say on the matter. --Jayron32 04:09, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I never said I was going to write a biology paper based on information pulled from the story. It's a book about vampires after all. Of course I know it's a fiction. Anyway, the article doesn't answer my question. There is only one sentence that I can find which talks about the biological effects of castration. I find this odd considering there should be a stand alone section on this. --Ghostexorcist (talk) 13:21, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The Castration article has a small section that more or less answers my question. --Ghostexorcist (talk) 13:29, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Castrating a pre-pubescent male will prevent the onset of puberty. WikiDao ☯ (talk) 14:08, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

That's incorrect, as the castration article discusses. Development is altered greatly but puberty isn't stopped. Castrato, another relevant article, refers to this. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:20, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Co-Princess consort of Andorra

Were the wives of the Co-Prince of Andorra (the secular one not the Bishop of Urgell) ever called Princesses?--Queen Elizabeth II's Little Spy (talk) 03:34, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Probably not in any real usage. Andorra's fame today is only as a curiosity; I'm not sure that even the early Counts of Foix considered it a significant portion of their estates, if they considered it at all. The title itself was of lesser significance than the title holders main title, such as Count of Foix or King of Navarre; so the consort of those Counts and/or Kings likely went by whatever honors those titles gave them. --Jayron32 03:42, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Quickly spot-checking several articles on the nominal co-Princes of Andorra, none of the articles list Andorra as among the many titles; they all list Count of Foix. It's possible that the phrase "Co-Prince of Andorra" is a description rather than an outright title, in other words it describes one of the roles of the Count of Foix, but perhaps was not itself an official title of nobility. --Jayron32 03:45, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Ok. I thought so. One other question why were the rulers of Andorra called Princes and the state called a Principality. All the other states of the March of Hispania were counties or viscounties and no principalities existed in Europe during that time.--Queen Elizabeth II's Little Spy (talk) 03:55, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The notion of Andorra as a monarchy under the modern understanding of the nation is likely a fairly recent invention. From the looks of the history articles, the joint-rulership of Andorra between the Counts of Foix and the Bishops of Urgell was something of a political expedient. The idea that it is a Principality, as ruled by a Prince (the title of Nobility) may be a lot more recent than you seem to be implying. The original usage was again probably descriptive of the role that its rulers had, and the term Prince was used as the "generic" Prince meaning "ruler". Remember that we're talking about a land that consists of a few mountainsides in the Pyrenees populated by a few shepherds. The idea of Andorra as a country in the same sense that say, China or the United Kingdom, is is a fairly recent idea, developing with the modern concept of the "nation-state", which is really only a concept which reached its modern notion less than 200 years ago. --Jayron32 04:07, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Bronze age axes

I was just reading about these: [1] and I was wondering how they were attached to the haft. What's the function of the little loop? Which way up does it go? Axe doesn't offer any details, though it links to palstave, which has a similar picture (the caption suggesting the loop is not typical). Do the flanges fit into grooves in the head of the forked wooden handle? Which part of the picture is the "stop bar", and what does it stop? Isn't lodging an axe head into a forked wooden handle a good way to split your entire handle in half? 213.122.50.15 (talk) 04:50, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

There are many types - but the ones you linked (at least the second image set) are socketed - ie hollow at the back - eg like this one [2] No idea about the hoop.Sf5xeplus (talk) 05:02, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

As for palstaves - see [3] (it's possibly set up wrong - ie the cutter is 90 degrees out from what it should be) - but it gives clues. Sf5xeplus (talk) 05:07, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

This gives a better desription of the "stop bar" [4] - it's the raised flange perpendicular to the length of the axe.Sf5xeplus (talk) 05:12, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Here [5] is a plain example - the "stop" is the raised thing in the middle. The raised things on the sides on the opposite end to the flared blade are called the "flanges"

As far as I know it's not commonly suggested that they were used with wood that had been split - though maybe that's another type I haven't thought of.Sf5xeplus (talk) 05:16, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Oh, like that. I wasn't thinking that the haft would have a bend in it, and I mistook the socket for a kind of hammer. You think the head would be rotated 90 degrees around its major axis, like an adz? 213.122.50.15 (talk) 05:22, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I got that impression from the article palstave since it said it was used for digging.. personally I can't see one being much use for anything.. :) Not sure really.Sf5xeplus (talk) 05:49, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The copper axe of Ötzi the Iceman, although roughly 1500 years earlier than the ones mentioned here, still seems to be an early version of these, and may give some clue as to how they looked with haft and all. --Saddhiyama (talk) 09:10, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

That is a split haft - for the record - as I didn't see it written anywhere here - if the axe is placed in the split, and then tie string round it when the string is wet ... the string shrinks when it drys - which makes the fastening much better than you might expect.Sf5xeplus (talk) 09:31, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Richard Adams (Watership Down) bio inconsistency

There is a contradiction between Watership Down and Richard Adams articles. The former says "He based the struggles of the animals in the story on the struggles he and his friends encountered during the Battle of Oosterbeek, Arnhem, the Netherlands in 1944", while the latter says "He served in the Middle East and in India but saw no action against either the Germans or the Japanese." Which one is right? --Dr Dima (talk) 07:26, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

To confuse matters even further, this says "he participated in the liberation of Singapore in 1945". Clarityfiend (talk) 22:13, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

I don't think there was any combat involved in the liberation of Singapore, just relief work. I'm pretty certain I've seen an air recon photo of Changi Prison with a plaintive message in large letters painted on the roof: "JAPS GONE - EXTRACT DIGIT". See Japanese Occupation of Singapore#End of the occupation. Alansplodge (talk) 14:02, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

What does "EXTRACT DIGIT" mean? "Get your thumb out of your ass"? Clarityfiend (talk) 03:49, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Yes - from "Get your finger out!" which is a Sergeant Major's way of asking you to hurry up[6]. Alansplodge (talk) 20:58, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Apologies, one and all - I've misled you. The "EXTRACT DIGIT" photo was of Rangoon Prison during Operation Dracula and can be seen here[7]. However, the point stands, Singapore went down without a fight thanks to the atom bomb. Alansplodge (talk) 22:08, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

German urban planner working in the US?

Hi, I'm a German and I'm studying Urban Planning on a german university. Now my question is, how I could work as a urban planner one day in the US. Is this possible? Is it possible for me to work at a city plannig office or do I have to become a US citizen first? Many thanks for helpful answers. --82.113.121.54 (talk) 17:07, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The article on urban planners should be of interest. You need to be accredited with the American Institute of Certified Planners and - it seems - undergo a rigorous exam (follow the links for further information). Your university may be able to advise you. Also bear in mind that urban planning in the USA in some / many cases is subservient to some megabuck investment company. It bears little resemblance to the procedures in Europe where urban planning is generally performed under the "control" of a local government authority. Grüße aus Wien. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:26, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Local governments in the U.S. have planners too. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 22:31, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Copyright issue

Is an author's English translation of a charter, originally written in Latin in 1121 by King Henry I of England, and from the Public Record Office in London, protected by copyright? Is it possible to include author's translation in a Wikipedia article citing the author?--Jeanne Boleyn (talk) 19:26, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The original is in the public domain, of course, but, at least in the US, the translation itself is copyrighted by the translator. See derivative work. As to your last question, this depends on whether the inclusion is a "fair use" or not, which is usually a complicated thing to figure out. See WP:Fair use. In the long term, the desire is for Wikipedia to use entirely free content and no fair use content; but some fair use content is allowed currently. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:46, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

To elaborate briefly: 1. Translations have their own copyright status independent of the translated work. This is especially clear when the translated (original) work is in the public domain. 2. If there is a public domain translation it would be better. Otherwise it is fine if you are using very small portions compared to the whole. This is not a trivial thing — if the entire work is quite short (as I would imagine a 12th century charter would be), then even a very small amount (one paragraph or so) makes up a considerable percentage of the overall work. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:40, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

If it is a translation published in a fairly recent book or article, it's probably under copyright. Sometimes academics waive copyright to make translations more accessible (they're not making any money off it anyway, probably), although I don't know if they are actually allowed to do that, legally. Adam Bishop (talk) 23:22, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

The issue isn't so much that academics can't waive copyright (they can license their work like everyone else), as much as academic presses are eager enforcers of copyright and really have to be struggled with to allow for contracts that include more permissive licensing. As the academic credit system is contingent on being published by an "established" press, this means most academic works are under pretty restrictive copyright clauses, even if the academic in question leans towards more sharing. I have a colleague who got his academic book licensed under Creative Commons, but it took many months of back and forth with the press for them to agree to it. --Mr.98 (talk) 23:44, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Guys, I have copied this question over to Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. I didn't want to cut the question from here as I did not ask the question. Jack forbes (talk) 22:45, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Native American face paint / piercings

I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to identify a Native American tribe or group by an eighteenth-century author's description of their face paint and piercings. Can someone point me toward a (hopefully online and reliable) resource that might help? Thanks, 160.10.215.201 (talk) 23:56, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

If you post the description here, we might be able to help you better. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:57, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Also, the famous McKenney & Hall portraits may be of use. —Kevin Myers 02:25, 2 November 2010 (UTC)