Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 February 16

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February 16

Marian Ewurama Addy

In this picture [1] she seems to be wearing some sort of award or decoration (the cogwheel thing hanging in a ribbon), the sash seems to be part of it. Can someone tell me which award it is? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:29, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

It seems to be the Ghanese Order of the Volta, as shown here. --T*U (talk) 09:16, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Brilliant and thanks! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:11, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

My favorite west African order was the "Order of the Mosquito", established in Sierra Leone in 1973 (see this New York Times article). Not sure if it still exists -- I'm having trouble Googling other information on it, and it's not included in Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of Sierra Leone... AnonMoos (talk) 13:11, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Sadly, it does not seem to exist anymore, se list here of current orders etc. (Possibly it got malaria.) --T*U (talk) 13:33, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

The page you linked to does have a "Medal of the Mosquito", but not much info on it. AnonMoos (talk) 20:53, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

I scanned the list for "Order of" and did not see the "Medal of". Partial blindness, I guess. --T*U (talk) 21:02, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Trump doing more than anyone else

As we all know, nobody knows more than Trump does, on any topic. But on what occasions has Trump bragged in that style about other stuff than his knowledge? "Nobody has done more / has achieved more / owns more ... than I do?" So far, the only example apart from "knowing" is ""Nobody Has More Respect For Women Than I Do" --KnightMove (talk) 10:27, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

• This one comes to mind: Nobody has done more for black people. Well, in his typical modesty, he made a possible exception for Abe Lincoln on this occation. --T*U (talk) 10:45, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

  Here he repeats the claim: "I say the fact is that I've done more for the black community than any president since Abraham Lincoln. I say it, nobody can dispute it."  --Lambiam 11:39, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

• "This is my 500th. Day in Office and we have accomplished a lot — many believe more than any President in his first 500 days."^[2]  --Lambiam 11:42, 16 February 2022 (UTC)
• "Nobody has done more for Christianity or for evangelicals or for religion itself than I have."^[3]  --Lambiam 11:54, 16 February 2022 (UTC)
• "Probably nobody’s been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump. ... There is nobody been tougher on Russia."^[4]  --Lambiam 12:00, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

He has a term for it: Truthful hyperbole. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:02, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

At some point while he was still president, someone commented at the Teahouse (something like) "Trump has done more against the covid pandemic than any U.S. president in history!" True, but... Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:07, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

• "Also, nobody has done so much for Israel as I have, as you know. ... Nobody's done what I've done and I'm very happy to do it."^[5]  --Lambiam 12:12, 16 February 2022 (UTC)
• On foreign policy: "I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things. I know what I'm doing and I listen to a lot of people, I talk to a lot of people and at the appropriate time I'll tell you who the people are. But my primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff."^[6]  --Lambiam 12:15, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

• Okay, I'll bite. Whose brain does he have? Also, doesn't this belong on the Inhumanities reference desk? Clarityfiend (talk) 22:23, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

• Do we have a category called Category:Ultracrepidarians? No, apparently not. Pity. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:34, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

OK, but is he as smart as Ashurbanipal?

I, Ashurbanipal, king of the universe, on whom the gods have bestowed intelligence, who has acquired penetrating acumen for the most recondite details of scholarly erudition (none of my predecessors having any comprehension of such matters), I have placed these tablets for the future in the library at Nineveh for my life and for the well-being of my soul, to sustain the foundations of my royal name.

Iapetus (talk) 12:55, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

Well, someone for sure did their best not to place any tablets for the future. --T*U (talk) 15:45, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

Then there was Idi Amin, who bestowed upon himself the following set of titles:

• His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.

Note: "VC" stands for Victorious Cross, and "CBE" for Conqueror of the British Empire. The DSO and MC were meaningless claims to honours that were never awarded, and which, being British honours, would have stood in stark contrast to his supposedly having conquered that very empire. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:41, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

He also claimed to be King of Scotland. --Jayron32 13:20, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

• He is both the least anti-Semitic person that 'you’ve ever seen in your entire life', as well as:
• the least racist person you have ever interviewed --Mathglot (talk) 09:40, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

American Maps what reference would I consult to find the value of the commissioners map, a map issued in 1811?

WP:DENY
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
(moved from Wikipedia talk:Reference desk) O 24.244.23.28 (talk) 19:57, 16 February 2022 (UTC) Wikipedia article Commissioners' Plan of 1811... AnonMoos (talk) 20:56, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Buddhist revival movements in the Muslim world

Are there any Buddhist revival movements or missionary efforts in the Muslim world either contemporaneous or historical in regions that were formerly Buddhist like Central Asia but are now predominantly Muslim? 67.170.133.177 (talk) 23:03, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

According to "The Rise of the West" by William H. McNeill, Russian expansion into Siberia and what is today northern Kazakhstan, together with "the progress of Lamaism in the central and eastern steppe", caused various animal-herding peoples to lose contact with Islamic civilizations in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, so that "The cultural and religious vacuum thus created was duly filled by Tibetan Lamaism." Not sure exactly where this took place, but probably to the east and north of Lake Balkhash. People in parts of this area apparently became Muslim again later on, but Mongols and Kalmycks didn't... AnonMoos (talk) 00:38, 17 February 2022 (UTC)