Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 October 29

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October 29

2011 Thailand floods

Im heading to Thailand in November but I havent heard anything about wheather trips should be cancelled or rescheduled. Is it safe to travel to Thailand? Portillo (talk) 00:16, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

According to this article, the U.S. State Department (foreign ministry) advises avoiding travel to Bangkok and other areas threatened by flooding. However, as the article points out, some areas of Thailand, including some popular tourist destinations, are not affected by the flooding, and the main international airport remains open. On the other hand, the main international airport is on the outskirts of Bangkok, and according to this article, there are concerns that flooding might overwhelm the airport. Marco polo (talk) 01:19, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

It sounds like you may be from Australia, in that case your government's advisory is here [1]. It seems none of the areas are 'do not travel' due to the flooding at this time, only places affected by the South Thailand insurgency but flood affected areas including Bangkok (except for the main airport) are 'Reconsider your need to travel'. If you have one, you may want to contact your travel agent (or check their webpage). Ditto if you have travel insurance, you may want to check their webpage or contact them to see how your coverage is affected. This could also provide advice on whether you should amend or cancel your trip, and whether it will cost you. Also make sure they have contact info so can contact you if the need arises. If you haven't travel insurance yet, be aware any travel insurance you get now probably isn't going to cover travel to the affected areas. E.g. [2] [3] [4] [5]. (For Australia it sounds like the cut off date was 10 or 11 October.) From what I read, even if you have travel insurance and your plan was to travel to the affected areas, if it's far away enough in November you may not be able to cancel your trip at the current time and be covered for cancellation expenses but you'd need to check with your insurer for the specifics that apply to you. Nil Einne (talk) 06:47, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Portillo (talk) 07:03, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Anyone aware of 'The Theory of Dissimilar Sub-consciousness in Molecules' by Nin Ka Umpup, Rahenar, Adishon?

WP:DNFTT
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
1. Do you agree that if there was disharmony in the universe it would not be able to exist and self distruct. I will tell you why - in disharmony there would be contending pulls in many dis-similiar directions, as propagated by Danny Rahenar (Einstein's student) in his rejoinder to the string theory of evolution. Thus causing a fission like situation - breaking it up, not dis-similiar to an atomic fission. This is very unlike the fusion imploding as seen in a hydrogen nuclear energy. 2. In his theory - Atomic theory of sub consciousness - the great American Chinese scientist (Mr. Nin ka Umpup ) from Univ. Of California - San Deigo , has proved that in every molecule there remain some atoms, who sub consciously can behave unlike there main properties as atrributed to them. Now bringing both the above theories together another Scientist - Ms. A. Adishon - has actually added both the hteory of Rahenar and Umpup - and proved that a person when they die should actually cease to exist or go to hell or heaven (whatever are your Believes) but if the person has had a disharmonious life like the atoms in Mr. Rahenar's theory then the behave subconsciuosly ant do not cease to exist. And to avoid a streching the universe string as the string theory, these people remain witihn realms of earth atmosphers. This is commonly what unscietific people call ghosts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.196.251 (talk) 08:30, 29 October 2011 (UTC) You have answered the only question you asked. We're here to provide references, not our own opinions, or our agreements or disagreements with propositions you choose to offer. If you have any actual questions that require references, please ask. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 09:33, 29 October 2011 (UTC) Ozian Jack is quite right. Yet we could ask what exactly "disharmony" is supposed to mean. Since I see everything through musical metaphors, the term immediately makes me think of Consonance and dissonance. And I can't help but note that our harmony page is about simultaneous pitches, and also that, musically speaking, once you have harmony, the existence of dissonance is unavoidable. And as I can't imagine "disharmony" meaning anything other than dissonance, I might conclude that disharmony and harmony are two sides of the same coin, if I were to respond to this non-question. I might also say that if you want to get scientificky, our pages Harmonic oscillator, resonance, harmonic, and anharmonicity might be of interest. I might also note the relationship between string theory and vibrating strings. Pfly (talk) 09:59, 29 October 2011 (UTC) Also not answering, but many musicians have reflected that there's just as much music in the rests and pauses between the notes as in the notes themselves. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 10:07, 29 October 2011 (UTC) Who's the Nin ka Umpup? WP:DNFTT. Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:12, 29 October 2011 (UTC) Adishan also = addition. Not sure what "Rahenar" is, except a near palindrome. Well, you've got to admire the really creative ones, anyway. Adam Bishop (talk) 11:37, 29 October 2011 (UTC) (answering the question) No, I don't agree. Dbfirs 12:03, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Freemdom of information act/

Question (1) Can a private citizen for file for ( Freedom Of Information Act.)? Question (2) If so how and where if its a County and or a Township ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.57.131.223 (talk) 12:04, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

1. Assuming you are talking about the FOIA in the United States, yes — and it's very common.

2. Well, this gets tricky. FOIA is a federal act — it doesn't apply to state governments, much less municipal ones. This page lists state-by-state FOIA equivalents.

This page and the other one I linked to are great resources for learning how to use FOI laws, how to submit requests, what to expect back. It's not hard, but there is a specific form of the letter that you'll need to write in order to get successful replies. You should also be aware that there are lots of exemptions for various federal and state laws, and you may not be able to get what you want. But all they can do is say no, so it's always worth a try. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:14, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Polished cotton

Wahts the difference between polished cotton and ordinary cotton?--92.28.78.220 (talk) 13:53, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

According to web resources, it's cotton that has been made shiny, either by chemical treatment or by interweaving with satin. Looie496 (talk) 15:00, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

So are shirts made fronm polished cotton usually more expensive than the plain cotton ones?--78.150.226.155 (talk) 19:16, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Bokassa family - farflung French citizens

According to our article on Bokassa, the dictator of Central African Republic, as a young man:

saw some combat during the First Indochina War before his tour of duty ended in March 1953....During his stay in Indochina, he married a 17-year-old Vietnamese girl named Nguyen Thi Hué. After Hué bore him a daughter, Bokassa had the child registered as a French national. Bokassa left Indochina without his wife and child, as he believed he would return for another tour of duty in the near future.

Does anyone know what happened to them? BrainyBabe (talk) 20:01, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Lots of interesting information in this transcript of an article in the New African. As of 2008, they were running two Vietnamese restaurants in France. Warofdreams talk 16:56, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you! BrainyBabe (talk) 13:18, 4 November 2011 (UTC)