Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2012 June 30

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June 30

universe

it seems from reading sections on the UNIVERSE.....that WE ..are not the center of it -- 12:14, 30 June 2012‎ 101.170.255.230

Speak for yourself HiLo48 (talk) 12:21, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Have you a question? DriveByWire (talk) 12:59, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

We're not. See Geocentric model and Heliocentrism. --Theurgist (talk) 13:52, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

According to the science fiction novel "Star of the Unborn" by Franz Werfel, future science will supposedly someday determine that Earth has a special status as the "Infinitely Mobile Central Point of All Conceivable Orbits" (that info has been banned from the Modern geocentrism article, though I was never given any substantive meaningful explanation as to why...). -- AnonMoos (talk) 14:59, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

It was probably removed because it's just a fictional concept from a relatively obscure novel. --Tango (talk) 15:09, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

It's not "information" about the universe. It is merely information about what Franz Werfel wrote about the universe, and he's merely one of vast numbers of people who've done so. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 21:58, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Modern geocentrism isn't actually about the universe in any scientific sense... AnonMoos (talk) 02:09, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

Those are about us not being the centre of the solar system, rather than not being the centre of the universe. Try Physical cosmology. We are, however, the centre of our observable universe (by definition). --Tango (talk) 15:09, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

UK's name in 1920?

What was the United Kingdom's complete formal name in 1920? The article is not clear and precise about it. Roger (talk) 14:37, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland says that was the formal name "until 1927" and later attributes the change then to the passage of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 14:50, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. I'd like to suggest that a small section containing a "timeline" of the country's names and describing which bits of territory were added or removed with each change, be added to the United Kingdom article. Roger (talk) 15:00, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

It's not a very long timeline. The Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the Acts of Union 1707. It became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800. It then became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927, as Finlay says, and it remains as such today. All of this is explained in History of the United Kingdom, and summarised in United Kingdom#History. --Tango (talk) 15:15, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

The semi-presidential system

• Semi-presidential system
• Cohabitation (government)

In 2000, with the support of President Chirac, the term of the President of the Fifth Republic was shortened from seven years to five years, a change accepted by a referendum. Because of this, cohabitation will almost certainly be much more rare. Unless French voters exercise "ticket splitting", cohabitation should not occur unless a President feels compelled to call for Assembly elections mid-term, a prospect which cannot be ruled out. It can also occur if the President dies during his term.

Let's say La La Land, a country consists of 3 provinces, adopts the semi-presidential system.

Each province has exactly 100 voters. They all vote and none of them split his/her vote. If anyone votes for Party A's presidential candidate, he/she votes for Party A's congress member candidate as well.

	Province #1	Province #2	Province #3	TOTAL
Party A	51	51	0	102
Party B	49	49	100	198

Party A gets two seats in the congress. The Premiere goes to the Party A.

However, Party B won the Presidential election.

Cohabitation seems to be unavoidable.

Is there an academic jargon for this extreme and very unlikely situation? -- Toytoy (talk) 14:57, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

What is wrong with the term "cohabitation"? Or do I misunderstand the question? --Stephan Schulz (talk) 15:09, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

In what way is it unavoidable? It is simply possible. If people voted differently, it wouldn't happen. The situation you describe is just a case of cohabitation. --Tango ([[User talk:Tango|talk]15:18, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Generally, cohabitation is caused by split-voting or two different elections held years apart (e.g., before 2000, France). I want to show that without these two factors, cohabitation may still occur. -- Toytoy (talk) 15:38, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Unless there is a very good proportional representation system, yes it may. Modifiable areal unit problem may be of interest. Itsmejudith (talk) 23:31, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

Family Grave Plot Stone Marker

What do you call a Family Grave Plot Stone Marker that is a giant stone monument to mark a family grave plot. Within the grave plot itself would be individual headstones, possible marked "father", "mother", "daughter", "son" or their individual named small headstone giving date born and death date.--Doug Coldwell ^talk 19:19, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

"Family grave monument" works for me, or "family tombstone". Note that there are two varieties, though, one where individual names are inscribed on the monument itself, and the other, like you describe, where each family member gets an individual stone. StuRat (talk) 20:46, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks.--Doug Coldwell ^talk 21:41, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. StuRat (talk) 21:43, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Petelo Vikena

Does anyone know if Alo (Wallis and Futuna) has elected a successor to Petelo Vikena? It has been two years since his abdication.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 19:27, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

According to the Government of New Zealand as of 22 August 2011 the answer would be not yet. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 04:02, 1 July 2012 (UTC)