Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2016 July 11

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July 11

How and when do the Republican and Democratic Party announce their official candidate?

When, and in what form, are official presidential candidates made official? Llaanngg (talk) 12:40, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

2016 Democratic National Convention, 2016 Republican National Convention. --Wrongfilter (talk) 12:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

And what (and why) were they voting lately (for Trump and Clinton)? Couldn't they just hold these national conventions and no previous elections? Llaanngg (talk) 12:54, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

If there were no previous elections that would be undemocratic. Politicians (which is what the delegates are) do not need more power. They used to have no previous elections and the conventions used to really choose the candidate, the current system of BS infomercial conventions is just a kludge grafted on on top of that, just like many other things in the American political system they just duct taped a kludge to something centuries old whenever society advanced enough that they didn't want something undemocratic anymore which was originally "acceptable". Your country's core laws explicitly allow slaves? Duct tape something on to fix that. It allows former slaves to be prevented from voting? Duct tape stuff on to fix that. Doesn't let anyone who lives in the capital vote for President for 160 years? Duct tape something on to fix that.. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:47, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

They voted for the delegates to the conventions. The process is explained in countless wikipedia articles, newspaper articles and TV programmes. Start with Presidential nominee or United_States_presidential_election#Procedure and take it from there. --Wrongfilter (talk) 13:03, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

It's also been talked about recently in the ref desks. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:41, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Happy Hour by The Housemartins

I had a conversation with one of my friends who stated that the 1986 Happy Hour (The Housemartins song) was an anti-Margaret Thatcher song, but I fail to see how and why? Is it about her or something else? --Cabinetto-Polo (talk) 14:08, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

It's been described in WP:RS as an attack on casual sexism rather than Thatcherism. Perhaps your friend is referring to the album it appeared on, London 0 Hull 4, which, as our article notes, is infused with Marxism, including in the liner notes. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 15:45, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Was aristocratic women allowed to mix with men in 18th-century China?

I have the impression, that it was not accepted by custom for upper class women in early modern China to mingle with men, socially. For women of the poorer classes, things were different, but aristocratic women were, as I understand, only allowed to socialize with other women, and that there were not gender mixed aristocratic social life such as in 18th-century Europe, with balls and other events were men and women regularly socialized with each other. My question is: exactly how strict was this? Was socializing with men outside of the family really non existent for a Chinese upper class woman in the 18th-century? Was there really no social occasion were the genders would mingle in aristocratic social life? Was there no gender mixed banquets, parties or religious ceremonies, when it was socially accepted for non-related men and women from the same social class to meet each other? Thank you.--Aciram (talk) 20:36, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

At least according to literary stereotypes, major festivals provided an opportunity for otherwise cloistered upper class young ladies to meet young men. For example, in romance literature of that era, the Lantern Festival is often where the young lovers first meet, because it was socially acceptable for young ladies to walk out on the evening to see the lanterns. Major religious festivals often involved "temple markets" or fêtes around the temple, where a devout young lady returning from prayers might meet a young man. In the spring time, the viewing of peach blossoms (or some other flower) could also take young women and young men to the same monastery garden or a private garden which is accessible to visitors. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 21:07, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Thank you very much for an interesting reply, PalaceGuard008. So, there was no social interaction of this kind at home? Women and men did not mix at the banquets at parties, not even at the royal court? Banquets are mentioned at the Imperial court, both for women and men, but perhaps they were separate ones?--Aciram (talk) 02:35, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Traditionally banquets had separate rooms for males and females - this was the case for wedding banquets for the upper classes, and it was the case for the imperial household as well. Even on a social visit a male visitor is not supposed to see the female members of the household unless he is a relative. Whether a very close friend, say, would also see the female members, I'm not sure.--PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 13:17, 15 July 2016 (UTC)

Central Heating Boilers in South Sudan

According to http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/ssd/, South Sudan imports $1.71k worth of central heating boilers from Uganda. Why would such a hot country want central heating boilers? --Cabinetto-Polo (talk) 21:40, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

South Sudan#Climate puts the low average temp at 20°C (68°F). While that might be acceptable, although on the chilly side when bathing, that's only the average low. The extremes could be quite a bit worse. Also note that $1,710 could be a single boiler, so it's not exactly a huge quantity. Maybe it's for a single hotel that wants to provide warm bathwater for it's guests. StuRat (talk) 21:53, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

South Sudan does have mountains; Geography of South Sudan#Topography mentions the Imatong Mountains. Whether any of these have sufficiently sophisticated structures that they could have boilers I don't know. As StuRat has mentioned, the dollar value is very low so it doesn't take much and I'm not sure how reliable such low figures are anyway. If central heating boilers are used to heat water for human use then it seems even less surprising. It's hardly uncommon in KL to have heated water and I don't see a reason for things to be different in South Sudan due to climate. (Due to the different social and economic situation, sure.) Nil Einne (talk) 06:30, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

What is KL? --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 08:34, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 194.66.226.95 (talk) 09:16, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

Yes sorry for the confusion. Nil Einne (talk) 09:34, 12 July 2016 (UTC)