Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2012 January 4

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January 4

The Indian Rupee Rising

The indian rupee keeps rising against the dollar. Would the Indians have to pay more for things like foods, rent, and airplane tickets in India? 99.245.83.28 (talk) 05:01, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Not necessarily, but it does mean that it will cost Indians more to import goods, and they will get less money for goods they export to the U.S. This may have an indirect effect on prices in India for some goods, especially those imported from the U.S. But it shouldn't, of itself, cause rent to go up. Of course, economic indicators are all interrelated, so the conditions leading to the rising rupee may also cause price increases you note. Such changes may not be directly caused by the currency situation, but rather both situations are part of the big pot of stew that is the global economy. --Jayron32 05:15, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I'm forever getting these things the wrong way round, but shouldn't something that harms exporters help importers? If I buy something in America for $1 worth £1, I'd have to sell it at £1 in Britain to make money; if $1 is now £0.50, I only have to sell it in Britain for £0.50. Does it depend on where the business is based? I imagine that India has large domestic importers, particularly with their restrictions on foreign ownership. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 09:10, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I am never sure if I've got "rising" or "falling" the right way around! That said... yes, in general. Who exactly benefits depends heavily on how the transaction is paid for. If an Indian firm used to sell a Rs. 4500 machine to a US buyer for $100 (the exchange rate one year back), then can sell it for Rs. 5300 now. If they sold to a US middleman in rupees, then they've stayed making Rs. 4500 but the middleman has made a profit of about fifteen dollars (since they have to spend fewer dollars now to buy those rupees). If manufacture price in rupees is fixed, and sale price in dollars is fixed, and you now get more rupees for a dollar, then someone will make a profit in this situation. One complicating factor is that India still has some currency controls, but I don't know how they'd affect this situation.

The immediate effect of changing rates is only going to affect imported goods; this may include some international flights, but is unlikely to include food prices directly, as <10% of India's food imports come from the US. (You can find more than you want to know about Indian imports/export figures here) That said, India is a major net importer of some goods which are usually traded in US dollars - oil & fuel alone represent 30% of Indian imports by value. If these are usually purchased on the global market in dollars, and each rupee now buys fewer dollars, you would indeed expect sharp rises in rupee costs for those goods. Shimgray | talk | 13:56, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

The rupee has actually been falling against the dollar, not rising (about 44 rupees per dollar in August; about 54 rupees per dollar in December). That will make anything imported cost more in terms of rupees. Looie496 (talk) 15:33, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Yes, the value of the rupee has been falling against the dollar (and against nearly all other currencies), so the "number of rupees to the dollar has been rising". Fortunately, everyone seems to have understood that the OP really meant "falling in value". See History of the rupee for values since 1952 when the rupee could buy ten times as many dollars. Dbfirs 08:49, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Who won?

Hey everyone. Given the results of Iowa's Republican primary tonight, CNN is reporting that the last Republican primary that was this close was a 1936 Alf Landon win in South Dakota. The problem is that our relevant articles on the subject, United States presidential election, 1936 and 1936 Republican National Convention, along with a prominent image, show that Warren Green won.

I think Landon actually won, but the Google's archival newspapers only have snippets of the paywalled sources. Can anyone confirm this so we can correct the articles? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 08:17, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Well, I found part of the confusion. This source claims Green beat another contender, William Borah, by 257 votes. I believe this is wrong based on a Google snippet of the Chicago Tribune (direct link). Can anyone access that? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 08:26, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

A New York Times abstract that speaks of Landon vs. Borah in South Dakota is here (sorry, I don't have access to the full text). From snippets in Google Books it looks like Green may have led a slate of delegates who were seen as favorable to Landon. I get the impression that primaries in those days were often more about choosing groups of delegates than voting for a specific candidate.--Cam (talk) 01:58, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Okay, here is a free link (Telegraph-Herald of Dubuque, Iowa, April 3, 1936, p. 16). A delegate slate "instructed for Borah" was led by Senator Peter Norbeck. Another slate led by Green was "uninstructed" but "widely advertis[ed]" its support for Landon. Landon "did not wish to sign the necessary endorsement for an instructed group."--Cam (talk) 02:13, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

the Government of Canada as a contractor to the US government

I was reading the list of the Top 100 US Federal Contractors, and noticed that the government of Canada is the 25th largest contractor. Since this is the only government on the list, I got a little curious. What kind of services does the US government by from their Canadian counterpart? /Marxmax (talk) 12:29, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Some possibilities : Probably mainly security and military issues (such as North American Aerospace Defense Command radars located in northern Canada). Also Saint Lawrence Seaway management is mostly operated by a canadian federal agency, but USA is the main user of it. Dhatier (talk) 15:43, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Health care services. Americans without one get treated by their amiable Canadian Government. 88.9.109.182 (talk) 01:33, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I don't think so... The Mark of the Beast (talk) 05:01, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

No. Health care is a provincial, not a federal responsability. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dhatier (talk • contribs) 20:50, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

A simple search for 'government of canada us federal contractor' finds [1]. From there the obvious search is 'Canadian Commercial Corporation' which comes across our article and their website and also [2] & [3].

All of these combined suggest it's largely in the area of defence. Notably from our article

The U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulation requires that all American defence-related purchases from Canada valued over $100,000 must be facilitated by the CCC

The Plougshares ref says

Since 1956 the CCC has been responsible for the US-Canada Defence Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA), which has established a kind of free trade in military goods between the two states. US federal regulations require all Pentagon orders in Canada worth more than $100,000 (US) to be placed with the CCC as the prime contractor (CCC 2011).

A search for 'US-Canada Defence Production Sharing Agreement' leads to our article which I linked above which says

The Defence Production Sharing Agreement is a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Canada that aims to balance the amount of military cross-border buying in order to avoid trade imbalances. Since its signing in 1956, it has led to a number of US companies sending military production to Canada in order to "offset" Canadian purchases of US military equipment

Nil Einne (talk) 07:26, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Abe Lincoln's haircut

This 19th century gentleman has lost his hat in a tragic accident that also took his young hairdresser's life.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 14:48, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

After reading through articles about Abraham Lincoln, I'm struck by the haphazard, homespun look of his hair - as if he cut it himself. Is there anything written about it? In articles about his health & physical appearance there's no mention, but it did give him a distinctive "look" & I couldn't find any comment or description, so I'm curious now. (By the way, I couldn't find anything about his beard which he grew much later in his career.) Manytexts (talk) 12:51, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

There's a story that some young girl wrote to him and told him he would be more handsome with a beard. Regarding hair, take a look at any photos of men in that era, and you'll find that oftentimes there was not a lot of attention paid to grooming. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:03, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

You might expect that Honest Abe cut his own hair, and did not travel with a personal barber like today's hairboy politicians, but Abe did have a personal valet/barber, William H. Johnson, who even travelled with him when he took the train to give the Gettysburg Address. Google book results list about a half dozen other men who were also said to have been "Lincoln's barber." A famous politician's barber , like Robert E. Lee's barber, gained the opportunity to sell supposed "locks of the great man's hair" to admirers. A lock of Lincoln's hair can sell today for upwards of $1,500. Edison (talk) 14:44, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

The Romantic movement dictated that 19th century men's hair should be fashionably unkempt. Think tall, dark, mysterious, wind-whipped hair and clothes - generally ambiguously insane. :D Or maybe they just ran out of whigs.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 14:47, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

He had a genetic disorder, which caused him a physical disfigurement. He tried to hide his disfigurement by disguise, and only showing his best side in a portrait or photo. Perhaps he used his hair to disguise some disfigurement. Plasmic Physics (talk) 00:11, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

It's not known that he had any genetic disorder; there has been speculation that he suffered from Marfan's syndrome, but there's no consensus that he actually did, and there's been no genetic testing to support or disprove the speculation. I believe that at least recently, it's thought unlikely. - Nunh-huh 01:25, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

OK, maybe not a genetic disorder, but he certainly had an unusual physique, his face was also somewhat skewed. He had little quirks to hide that fact pretty well. Plasmic Physics (talk) 02:04, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

So did he have the long unruly hair and wear the stovepipe hat to hide a pointy head, or what? Has anyone reported on the shape of his cranium, as seen when his coffin was opened in the early 20th century, before its final move to the tomb in Illinois? Edison (talk) 05:34, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

He wore the hat in public to hide his ears, which were positioned, each at a noticeably different height. Plasmic Physics (talk) 06:26, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks all for your helpful comments – shows how delicate a subject is public appearance, even to coding one's head as a "real man" or not. Especially that. Manytexts (talk) 02:44, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

pre-1973 local elections in the United Kingdom

I've been creating pages on the 1960-1973 results (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Council_elections_in_Sheffield) in the local elections for Sheffield, but I'm unsure whether they're to go in the Sheffield local elections (ie affixed at the top of the current list spanning from 1973 to date), or whether they're something separate, and whilst be included on the page, should be in a different section given the significant reorganisation. The trouble is I can't find many pre-73 local election results on Wikipedia - beyond London, which has a different setup - to reference. Also what's the accurate way to call these elections? I've been titling them as council elections but I'm starting to think they should be titled municipal elections or something else instead? Thanks. HeadlightMorning (talk) 13:26, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

You are right that there are not many pages of detailed council election results before the 1973-4 changes, I think in general contributors have used that date as a suitable starting date and there are not many people interested in adding such historical data. Having said that I can see you have created detailed pages for each year. The Sheffield council pre 1974 was a different body of course, and to answer your question I would not think it right to refer to the pre-1974 elections on the Sheffield local elections page which is clearly about the Metropolitan council created in 73/4. You may want to ask for advice at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Politics_of_the_United_Kingdom. Sussexonian (talk) 21:55, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I would say "same page, different section" for Sheffield and those cities/boroughs which were recognisably the same place after 1973 (albeit with somewhat different boundaries and functions). Unlike, say, Kirklees and Sefton where several old boroughs were amalgamated to form one new authority, where a new page would be necessary. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.239.226 (talk) 01:33, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Ismieal Muhsin

I am wondering why there aren't any pages in Wikipedia about him, he is a politician? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 111.68.125.174 (talk) 14:12, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

If he's notable and you have some valid sources, you could write an article. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:18, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

He is apparently the Iraqi ambassador to Indonesia. It is very difficult to find any further information about him from English language sources. Looie496 (talk) 15:25, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

If the name is from Arabic إسماعيل, that would be a rather unusual spelling (see Ismail (name))... AnonMoos (talk) 16:56, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Note also that the OP geolocates to Indonesia, so I'm pretty sure I have the right guy. The English version of the embassy's web page spells his name Ismieal. Looie496 (talk) 17:12, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Yes his Arabic name (from this page) is اسماعيل شفيق محسن --Cam (talk) 01:34, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Hindu Gurungs

Hi,

Gurung people says that about 30% of Gurungs are Hindus but the link given as a source is dead. Are there other sources on the topic? I only found a few webpages which said that Gurungs where Buddhists who borrowed some religious practices form Hinduism, which is not the same as being Hindu. Apokrif (talk) 15:30, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. Apokrif (talk) 15:30, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

I found a mention of Hindu Gurungs on this site (but I can't find where the footnote is): [4] Apokrif (talk) 16:12, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

The Internet Archive has preserved that dead link here but I don't know if we can use archived links as citations.--Cam (talk) 01:26, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Legal successorship - Kingdom of Italy and the Republic of Italy

Inn relation to other states, I've seen a formal document that confirms that any new state will honor the obligations and international treaty obligations of the former. Could anyone point me to such a declaration, or a converse one, in the case of the Kingdom of Italy becoming the Republic of Italy? Thanks, Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 16:57, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Italy voted in the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946 to adopt a new constitution, and the 1947 constitution specifies the basis of Italy's foreign relations. As far as I can see only articles 10 and 11 cover foreign policy, and then in very general terms.[5] The Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947 established Italy's new international relations in more detail; it should be online somewhere. On the one hand, the new republic would self-evidently be a successor, just as the various iterations of France remained with their many different constitutions, but on the other hand Italy wished to repudiate Mussolini's policies and the documents set out a completely new foreign policy. --Colapeninsula (talk) 22:45, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Book recommendations

I'm looking for books where the main character is in love with a woman he can never have (but not necessarily because he's poor and she's rich or something like that, or because they love each other while their families are at war :P), and keeps on loving her throughout the novel, even though the love is never, or almost never, requited (but it also doesn't necessarily have to be about unrequited love). I loved Great Expectations, but I dislike the idea of Love in the Time of Cholera, where the guy sleeps with a lot of women while loving yet another one (just to give you an idea of what I like and dislike). Thanks in advance! 109.97.173.232 (talk) 18:37, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Wuthering Heights and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Way We Live Now and Far From the Madding Crowd for a major (but not main) character. Clarityfiend (talk) 20:12, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

James Branch Cabell wrote a novel "Domnei" somewhat specifically about the ramifications of this theme. In ancient times, the Aethiopica was somwhat well known. AnonMoos (talk) 23:19, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

The Dancers at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock: "a story of Jherek Carnelian, who did not know the meaning of morality, and Mrs. Amelia Underwood, who knew everything about it". --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:26, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell meets this criteria handily, and is an excellent, fascinating, exciting (recently published) book at that. I'm a big fan of it. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:55, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? -- 140.142.20.101 (talk) 01:18, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald explores similar themes as Dickens of wealth and social class. This is somewhat altered because it is from an American perspective which includes the American Dream. A short story by Fitzgerald called Winter Dreams is similar in this respect as well. There is also the unrequited love of Don Quixote for his Dulcinea. In that book, there is a reference to Pyramus and Thisbe which is the inspiration of quite a few tragic love stories. In the allusions section of that article are mentioned The Count of Monte Cristo, which is probably the most exciting of unrequited loves stories due to the swashbuckling. Edmond Dantes's fiancé Mercedes marries his sworn enemy and later goes into seclusion. Edith Wharton is also mentioned. She wrote a number of books with similar themes. The Age of Innocence won the Pulitzer prize. Like Dickens, Wharton and Fitzgerald wrote about social class extensively among their novels. The concept of social class and station as inhibiting people from getting together is also a theme of courtly love. Classics concerning courtly love will have similar themes but a different perspective. 24.38.31.81 (talk) 15:08, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Dantes didn't get a Mercedes; he probably had to settle for some Rolls. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:49, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

The Franklin's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer and any decent retelling of the King Arthur story. --Dweller (talk) 15:31, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

The obvious: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. -- Obsidi♠n Soul 15:35, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Not a book, but Cyrano de Bergerac got beaten out by ... a nose. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:40, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Short Story The Sweet, Sad Queen of the Grazing Isles in Pohlstars by Frederik Pohl. Dru of Id (talk) 19:12, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

That reminds me, The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey RIP :( is a particularly romantic piece of science fiction, heh.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 14:08, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Indian architecture

Undertaking some semi-extra-curricular studies as part of my Architecture degree, I have an interest in studying old indian architecture, historic buildings in and around India, with a particular interest in how the designers managed to maintain a comfortable temperature, appropriate lighting levels, a good supply of fresh air and other internal environmental conditions without being able to use artificial lights, air conditioning or other mechanical devices. Specfically, I would be most interested in links to information on specific buildings that have addressed these issues.

79.66.109.13 (talk) 22:10, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

How do you define "old"? Blueboar (talk) 15:32, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Older than air conditioning and electric lights and fans. Perhaps before the 19th century, and not anything designed along British colonial styles, though I guess I would be most interested in pre-Mughul era stuff. 79.66.96.194 (talk) 16:04, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I found Traditional Indian architecture - The future solar buildings. Alansplodge (talk) 18:19, 5 January 2012 (UTC)