Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 June 1

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

June 1

Trayvon and DXM (dextromethorphan)

Would the toxicology tests performed by Florida on Trayvon Martin have discovered DXM in his body (assuming he had DXM in his body)? --Kenatipo ^speak! 03:04, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

This question was asked on the Science desk. Shadowjams (talk) 20:04, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

That's right. I asked it here first and didn't get any answers. --Kenatipo ^speak! 23:36, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

usaf b36 crash at loring afb 1954 or 1955

I would like to know why I can't find any record of a b36 crash and burn, returning from a overhall test flight in a snow storm. It crashed between the runway and a taxi strip. All crew members survived. The plane belonged to the 8th AF 42nd bomb wing at Loring AFB Maine in 1954 or 1955.

Normally these test flights were to be performed in clear weather. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.187.229.42 (talk) 03:09, 1 June 2012 (UTC) minor reformat Richard Avery (talk) 06:44, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Try WT:MILHIST.--Wehwalt (talk) 14:34, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

After a lot of Googling, I found Yahoo Groups: Loring AFB. The first message on the linked page says: "...the B-36 that crashed at Loring. It happened on 3/05/55, wingtip hit a snowbank during landing, the crew all safe." A little more information is in the original message. Apparently, the book you need is Convair B-36: A Comprehensive History of America's "Big Stick" by Meyers K. Jacobsen and Scott Deaver. Hope this helps - at least you have a date now. Alansplodge (talk) 16:59, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

• [1] says it was 44-92030 that crashed on 5 March 1955 at Loring AFB when a wingtip hit snowbank during landing. Using the serial in Google you can get [2] which says the captain was Charles L Rockwood. I suspect because nobody was hurt and aircraft crashes were common in the 1950s then it doesnt feature that much in reports. MilborneOne (talk) 10:30, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

CLEPT Chemistry?

Hi, I was wondering if the CLEPT Exam covers material from General Chemistry 1 and 2 or just Chemistry 1. Thanks!

I don't know the answer but I think you mean CLEP with no T. As in College Level Examination Program. Dismas|^(talk) 04:02, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Here is a description of the exam: http://clep.collegeboard.org/exam/chemistry
And here is a better place to ask that question: http://www.degreeforum.net/
[User:Onthesolidrock|Onthesolidrock]] (talk) 15:47, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

Telephone numbers in Djibouti

Hello. Found some sites that says Djibouti telephone numbers have changed from 6 to 8 digits last March 2012. Hope someone could verify this. Thanks!
references: http://www.howtocallabroad.com/forums/topic/djibouti-telephone-numbering-changes , http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5482.htm

Antigravity3 (talk) 05:49, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

The supposed official website of Djibouti Telecom: http://www.adjib.dj/ doesn't seem to have an announcement of this, but many of the phone numbers displayed do indeed have 8 digits. Other sites seem to be down for long periods or poorly maintained (no big surprise for Africa in my experience) and often show 6 digit numbers. If you need to call someone, try the old 6 digit number first and if that doesn't work follow the rules outlined in your first link. Astronaut (talk) 16:38, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Brand New Bath Towels

Hi, Can anyone please explain why when a brand new bath towel is purchased, it never works until it has be washed and dried for the first time? What I mean by this is it will not dry you properly and absorb the moisture. If anyone can shed any light on this it would be appreciated Thanks Kieronj0 (talk) 07:46, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

My assumption is because fabric softener makes them feel extra soft, but also makes them less absorbent. I know this is why we don't use fabric softener on towels at home, but the assumption on my part is that manufacturers use it to make towels more appealling to customers. 86.167.12.64 (talk) 08:51, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Manufacturers use starch and wax when they weave towels, and new towels might still have them. See [3] Plus a fabric softener manufacturers use. [4] Oda Mari (talk) 09:21, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

The starch and wax is often added after weaving to protect the items from wrinkling and shop-soiling. The same is true for most washable clothing, bedding, and bath items: you're supposed to wash them before you use them first. --NellieBlyMobile (talk) 01:17, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

When and where, if ever, did Nixon say "I would have made a good Pope."?

If you type that phrase into Google, for instance, you can find lots of worthless (sourceless) assertions that it was said by him, but I don't see a one with any reliable attribution. If it was said, I'd be interested to know the context, as well (why, where, to whom). 20.137.18.53 (talk) 12:00, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Not terribly helpful, but I've found claims for the quote in two fairly sketchy sources. The first is Theibert, Philip R. How To Give A Damn Good Speech. Career Press, 1997. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 1 June 2012, and the second is Maza, Mike. "A look at recent self-help books." Dallas Morning News, The (TX) n.d.: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 1 June 2012, reviewing The Experts Speak, by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky (Villard paperback, $15). I'll continue to search, and if I come up with anything better, add it. --some jerk on the Internet (talk) 12:47, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I couldn't find anything other than refs to unscholarly books. If you're sufficiently interested, you could try contacting the Nixon Presidential Library. --Colapeninsula (talk) 12:50, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. Sent an email asking just because it didn't cost anything to do so. Not too much faith in the person on the other end of the email finding my email in the batch that probably comes in and having the time to put a whole lot of effort into digging into the question. Maybe, though. 20.137.18.53 (talk) 13:45, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Call them and ask to speak with an archivist. I've made four visits there for research, they are all well-informed.--Wehwalt (talk) 13:51, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

That sounds rather dubious to me, given that Nixon was a Quaker. I agree, contact the library. I've done much of the Nixon work on Wikipedia and I've never run across that quote.--Wehwalt (talk) 12:56, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

That's very surprising, Wehwalt. We must move in different reading circles, because I've been hearing it for years. I'm sure it wasn't the first time I ever heard it, but the first evidence I have is from The Guinness Dictionary of Regrettable Quotations (1995). It's there on p. 25, dated to 1980, which squares with Mr. 98 below. None of the quotes in the book are sourced, and the editor does acknowledge in the foreword ("The Art of Regrettability") that some of them are apocryphal. But that aside, Guinness is not usually interested in putting its name to things that are just not true. Then, there's Advanced Banter: The QI Book of Quotations (2008). Again, no source, not even a date this time. The authors make no exact claim that all the quotes are true; the closest they come is "every quote has fought to justify its inclusion here". -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 21:04, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Not one I've run into, so true or false I shall be educated, and gladly learn, and gladly teach.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:24, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

A Quaker might reasonably imagine that a Quaker Pope is just what the Roman Church needs. —Tamfang (talk) 18:01, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Doing a newspaper search in ProQuest and LexisNexis, the earliest attribution I've seen is from a Washington Post article from 1980, but it doesn't source it whatsoever (it doesn't say when or where he alleged said it). Just throwing that out there. On Google Books, I've found a reference from a book that was apparently published in 1976 and another in 1975 (though Google Books can be bad about dates), and Google Books also points me towards the Memoirs of Richard Nixon, though it does so without any preview so I can't tell if it's actually in the book or not. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:01, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Page number?--Wehwalt (talk) 13:05, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

It doesn't give one. But it's interesting that it comes up when you search for "would have made a good pope" (without any Nixon references). I don't really understand how their book-searching algorithm works. It also brings up Adam Bede which does not appear to contain the phrase. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:03, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Maybe if a lot of websites lyingly say "phrase X is in book Y! It really is!" then the search algorithm can correlate phrase X with book Y by its title being recognized as the book in Google Books. Kind of like "Google bombing" for books. 20.137.18.53 (talk) 15:13, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I have access to The Memoirs of Richard Nixon and took a look through it; if the quote is in there, it's not indexed, and the book is a thousand-odd pages, so not easily skimmed. this New York Magazinearticle by Gloria Steinem says "Joe Kraft contributed Nixon’s comment that 'I would have made a good Pope,'" but it sounds like it was during a story-swapping session, not a cited quote, or even something Kraft got directly from Nixon's mouth. American Government: Historical, Popular, and Global Perspectives, by Kenneth Dautrich and David Yalof (2009, Cengage Learning) has the quote (p. 219), but cites The 267 Stupidest Things Republicans Ever Said (2000, Three Rivers Press), which I consider a not-so-terrific source, and there's no discussion of the quote; it's just presented as one of "the more notable gaffes spoken by recent presidents." --some jerk on the Internet (talk) 13:29, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I also own the book and have no plans to leaf through it. Possibly it's a quote from one of the tapes, but I'd want to hear it to believe it. I strongly suspect that Nixon, even if he said it, would not have put it in a memoir which he hoped would rehabilitate his image.--Wehwalt (talk) 13:45, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I just emailed the Nixon Library. I will share any information they provide as soon as I get a response. --some jerk on the Internet (talk) 13:54, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

That's two emails within a few hours today on this question :) 20.137.18.53 (talk) 14:06, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Whoops; didn't catch that you'd emailed them already. Well, another one can't hurt. I also also shot an email to nixontapes.org to see if they know anything about it. --some jerk on the Internet (talk) 14:25, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Update: Luke Nichter from nixontapes.org just emailed back and says that he does not recall ever hearing it, and he's listened to virtually all the currently available tapes. He says that doesn't mean Nixon didn't say it, just that he can't recall ever hearing it. --some jerk on the Internet (talk) 14:46, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

In the Ironwoood Daily Globe, October 30, 1982, Page 2 there is an article entitled "Nixon: 'I would have made a good Pope'" by Dennis McCann, which attributes where the newspaper got the quote to Robert Byrne's book, The 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said (which is not available in even snippet view on Google Books). I have found nine other newspaper stories using the quote, but four of them are to a Liz Smith syndicated column (see e.g. Chicago Daily Herald, May 6, 1994, Section 6 page 4: "In his spare time, Nixon kept up with the gossip") and a few others are all duplicates from the same date in different newspaper of a quotation column that has no attribution. I can email a few pdfs if you want them. Pure coincidence but I am intimately familiar with Byrne, him being one of the most well known writers of Pool and Billiards manuals and related works where I concentrate most of my article writing efforts.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:38, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I don't think we need it, we're looking for the primary source which will take this out of the "urban legend" category. If there's no reply from the Nixon Library, I'll email my contacts there, but I'd rather wait to do that.--Wehwalt (talk) 15:47, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

But looking at that book may give you the source. Specifically, it may not attribute or it may say exactly where he got the quote from.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:15, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

No response to my email. 20.137.18.53 (talk) 11:41, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Jump jim crow, a minstrel show tune, its melody

submtted by brooke westover — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.221.160.226 (talk) 18:18, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

What is the question? Shadowjams (talk) 20:03, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Here's someone performing it on YouTube, and here's a PDF of sheet music. Deor (talk) 20:27, 1 June 2012 (UTC)