Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2008 February 6

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1 February 6

[edit] February 6

[edit] middle ages joustin

is it illegle to do joustin —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.128.151.152 (talk) 01:02, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

No! Clio the Muse (talk) 01:03, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

No, but trying to do so with sticks you made yourself and bicycles/unicycles/motorcycles/horses is very dangerous and will most likely result in someone getting hurt. bibliomaniac 1 5 01:21, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

It depends where you are. In Sweden, like in many countries, any type of physical assault is illegal. In Sweden though, it is also illegal to waive the right to not be assaulted; i.e. the act of waiving that right is not illegal, but the contract wherein you waive that right is of no legal value. You cannot sign away the right and thereby make it legal to physically assault you. Anyway, the reference desk is not intended as legal advise, so if you are planning to do it seek advise of a lawyer. Mr.K. (talk) 02:09, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Well, Wikipedia has at least 18 articles on Swedish boxers, so apparently you're still allowed to get your head bashed in for sporting purposes. However, jousting today often avoids bodily contact by having competitors try to spike inanimate objects rather than their competitors' heads. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 09:07, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Modern jousting is probably legal, but the question was about medieval jousting. BTW, professional boxing is illegal in Schweden since 1970. So, you are not allowed to get your head bashed too much.Mr.K. (talk) 13:55, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Jousting re-enactments are very popular forms of entertainment in a number of venues, especially in Renaissance Faires. Some dinner-theater venues even have jousting as part of the entertainment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WolfMoonHP (talk • contribs) 16:03, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Khutbah

Is there any Friday Khutbahs on prejudice and discrimination and the 71 major sins in Islam? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Don Mustafa (talk • contribs) 03:06, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] somali female dress

Hi there, I have a Somali wife and I wanted to buy some Somali dress for her, but I want to know the names of these dresses and where can I find them in Toronto? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Don Mustafa (talk • contribs) 03:14, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

i know almost nothing about this but maybe in somalia they wear "saris", as is the case in certain other africa countries...

Actually, when I google "somali sari" I get:

[1]

"Somali girls wearing Somali Guntino (sari), which has been widely used in southern Somalia."

So perhaps the term you're looking for is either Guntino or sari. I would Google "somali sari" and "somali guntino", and perhaps add Toronto to your search to find a local dealer... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.26 (talk) 11:06, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

There is a Somali Market at Rexdale Blvd & Martingrove in Etobicoke (Toronto) where you would find more than enough guntino. Goodluck65.95.108.207 (talk) 18:58, 5 March 2008 (UTC)—

[edit] John McCain

Is John McCain, the current US presidential candidate, related to the McCain Foods empire? I just Googled it and didn't come up with anything, so he obviously doesn't have close ties to McCain Foods. But is it possible he's a distant cousin or anything like that? Thanks in advance! --Grace (talk) 05:46, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Presumably not - McCain Foods Limited was founded in New Brunswick and John McCain is from Arizona, isn't he? Adam Bishop (talk) 07:11, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

I've never heard of McCain having any Canadian relatives, something the Canadian media would be sure to pick up on in their relentless drive to find a Canadian angle to anything happening anywhere in the world. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 09:02, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Dunseverick Castle

It depends what you mean by 'related'... Failing evil chances (such as cosmetic name changes and bars sinister), the two men are on the face of it both members of the Irish clan McCain, which is the branch of the Clan O'Cahan (or O'Kane) which claims descent from Manus O Cathain, killed at the Battle of Downpatrick, 1260. Their territory was in County Antrim from the 13th century, and in the 17th century their stronghold was at Dunseverick Castle. Xn4 14:32, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

We're all related at some point. Maybe the two are connected through this person. Clarityfiend (talk) 17:55, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Oh Clarityfiend, you've done it again. :) -- JackofOz (talk) 21:19, 6 February 2008 (UTC)]

Thank you, thank you. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:21, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] speeches

1 the principal of the college is retired so i want the farewell speech.

2 the college elections are there and i am standing for post of general secretary so i want to convince the students to vote for me, i want the convincing speech. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.134.53.96 (talk) 12:44, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Sorry but I don't understand your first question. Are you asking for advice or help on writing a farewell speech for the principal? On your second question, if you're standing for office your speech should include things like your experience, how you think you are suited to the position, how you understand the students' problems, and so on. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 13:43, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ordinary life in the Third Reich

I'm beginning a study on on everyday life under dictatorship, and am particularly interested in how people lived under the Nazi regime. Was politics an essentail part of their life? A lot of people did not vote for Hitler, so how did they react? Were there ways of living that did not require conformity? How did the working classes, those who formerly voted for the Socialists or the Communists, adjust to a right-wing dictatorship? Thanks for any answers. 81.151.3.134 (talk) 13:22, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

There are a number of books on this subject. I'd get yourself to a reasonable library and see if they can supply any to you. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:11, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Also there was a show called Heimat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimat_(film) that is set around the 'everyday' life of a family during this period. I've not seen it but it is supposed to be good. ny156uk (talk) 17:23, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

It would help, 81.151, if you could get a hold of the survey carried out in the late 1940s and early 1950s by the Institut für Demaskopie (Public Opinion Institute), published as The Consequences of National Socialism. The conclusions are, perhaps, not entirely surprising. In the early period, from around 1933 to 1934, politics and external events had a major impact on people’s lives, as they did in the later period from 1943 to 1945. But the middle period is one of political quietism, when the most important things are work, family life and leisure. The fact is that most people tend, when they can, to live a sub-political life, concentrating on the arena of the personal. Dictatorship of the Nazi kind tends to cut off political life altogether, other than as a form of affirmation, making the private and the personal all the more significant. Even declared opponents of the Nazis were to look back on their Strength through Joy jaunts with a degree of fondness and nostalgia. Clio the Muse (talk) 01:13, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Guitar fret markings

Anyone know the origin of the placement of markings on the 3,5,7,9 and 12 fret of some guitars? I mean why not on 2,4,6,8,10,12 for instance?--79.76.249.43 (talk) 14:14, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

I poked around the internet to no avail looking for the history of these markings. The forerunner of the modern six-string guitar, the baroque guitar, seems to have had a heavily ornamented fretboard, sometimes with what look like arbitrarily placed markings to help the musician orient by eye. Its tunings varied, too, making the establishment of a convention for fret marks problematic. The marks on today's guitars have significance. The double dot at the twelfth fret shows where to produce an octave of the open string. The fifth fret is the perfect fourth of the open string and corresponds to the next string up (except G–B). The others are more or less scattered evenly in between, I think. The marks are not a necessary component of a guitar; my classical guitar has no marks at all. --Milkbreath (talk) 16:24, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

The 3, 5, 7 and 9 frets correspond with the white keys on the piano. Not every white key on the piano is marked on the guitar neck, btw. -- Saukkomies 15:42, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Each fret on the guitar keyboard represents a semitone. In the major scale the first to intervals are tones (0-2 and 2-4 on the neck) and the third is a semitone (4-5 on the neck). The next three are tones (5-7, 7-9 and 9-11) and the last is a semitone (11-12). Thus the dots at frets 3 and 5 don't correspond to white notes: they should be at 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 12. For a minor scale they would be at 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12. SaundersW (talk) 22:37, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Err, what? The white keys on a piano stay white the whole time; they don't change color based on what key you're playing in. The marked frets on a guitar sometimes end up being white keys (that is, part of the C major scale.) See this diagram for example. If they were on the frets you say, they wouldn't be all white keys- no string on a guitar in standard tuning is a C. The strings are E A D G B E. Friday (talk) 22:48, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

The intervals it marks are minor-third, fourth, fifth, sixth and octave. They're quite useful reference points, especially when you're learning. If you're improvising on a single string, for example, you can switch between any of those frets, and it will make a decent harmony for Western music. It also marks the pentatonic scale, I think. Steewi (talk) 00:38, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Oops - should have read the article first - it's not the pentatonic, closer to blues. Steewi (talk) 00:41, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

(indent) Don't be too hard on yourself, Steewi. After all, that's a pentatonic scale! Maybe not the major/minor standard ones, but it has five sounds.

Back to the OP's question, let's think of what we could demand from a marking system. I guess we could require:

That the system be able to give orientations about the relative height on the fretboard.
If possible, that the marks be located in certain natural/topical/focal positions.

The traditional system fulfils these two demands. On one hand, it has certain symmetry/assymetry balance so as to serve for the first objective. Cf. the second system described by the OP: How on Earth could a fast (¿!) player know if (s)he's playing on the 6th or the 8th fret? Finally, all traditional marks are located ap. over 5 nodes. Marks 5th, 7th and 12th stand for the perfect fourth, fifth and octave of the base sound, and appear over the nodes for the 4th, 3rd and 2nd harmonics, respectively. Mark 3th stands over the 7th (weird) harmonic's node, and mark 9th is near an alternative node for the 5th harmonic. Pallida Mors 02:47, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Social Security Benefits

Can my spouse, at age 62, begin drawing benefits based on my work history if I my only 60?

B. Warren Rosser

email removed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.52.180.252 (talk) 14:49, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Where are you located? The answer is likely to be jurisdictional. ៛ Bielle (talk) 16:45, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

I think we can presume that "Social Security" refers to the U.S. Federal program, in which there is only one jurisdiction, with one set of (incredibly complicated) rules for all. In which case, "a spouse cannot begin receiving benefits until the [Social Security] number holder is receiving benefits." [2]. - Nunh-huh 00:02, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fundamentalists vs. Evangelicals

Our article on Bruce Metzger says he was criticized by "some Christian fundamentalists (but not most evangelicals)". The two links in the quote don't make the distinction terribly clear, so I'm asking here: what (in the context of Protestant Christianity) is the difference between fundamentalists and evangelicals? —An gr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 14:53, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

In the US the terms are often considered pretty close in meaning (here we seem to have more than our share of religious fanatics.) Evangelicals are specifically into evangelizing- that is, going out and spreading the word. They're also into having personal experiences of God. Fundamentalism mainly means being a conservative Christian, probably leaning heavily toward biblical literalism. Friday (talk) 14:59, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Hmm... I guess there's nothing preventing a Christian Leftist practitioner of higher criticism from being into evangelizing and having personal experiences of God, so could such a person be described as an Evangelical? —An gr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 15:09, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Fundamentalism is often associated with Charismatic movement and Pentecostalism while the "Evangelical" term is more associated with the Neo-evangelicalism reponse to fundamentalism. Rmhermen (talk) 15:21, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Most, but not all fundamentalists are evangelicals. Some, but not all evangelicals are fundamentalists. Neo-evangelicals, for example, are non-fundamentalist evangelicals. There is overlap but not identity. Marco polo (talk) 17:33, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Okay; can you expand on what the difference is between them? Or did Friday already say everything that needs to be said on the issue? —An gr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 18:39, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Friday is mildly confusing two terms: evangelical and evangelise. Evangelicals, while they do tend to evangelise, are named from the "Evangels" or, in other words, the gospels, from which they purport to take their beliefs without any dilution. They are also very fond of the writings of Paul, particularly the letter to the Romans. However they tend to have a a particular set of exegetical authors on whose writing they depend (eg John Stott). Fundamentalists also take the New Testament very seriously, but their emphasis can fall more heavily on the Apocalypse as well as Paul's rules for living. (Curiously I have never come across an Evangelical nor a Fundamentalist who takes the clear prohibition on eating meat with blood in it as per Acts 21:25 as seriously as the oblique reference to sodomy in Romans.) Anyway, Evangelicals tend to be a bit more inclined to the use of reason in their exegesis than Fundamentalists. SaundersW (talk) 22:24, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Just for some examples of evangelicals whose views and focus sharply contrast with those of mainstream American fundamentalism, there is Tony Campolo, leader of the Red-Letter Christians and also Jim Wallis (Both somewhat recently featured on the Colbert Report and Daily show, respectively). -- Azi Like a Fox (talk) 05:30, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

I think for everyday purposes in the US, evangelical means "religiously conservative Protestant", and fundamentalist means "religiously conservative Protestant with a very central belief in Biblical literalism".--Pharos (talk) 05:43, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Van Gogh PowerPoint Presentation

Recently, I received a PowerPoint Presentation in an e-mail.

The presentation file name was: 7385-vangogh.pps

The presentation is set to music, the Don McLean sone, "Starry, Starry Night"

This is, beyond doubt, the best thing I have ever seen in PowerPoint. This brings me to my question:

Who made this presentation? I don't see any author's name. --- Will Willis —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.209.101.136 (talk) 15:50, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

This google search indicates it may be Cynthia J. Rider (3rd link). However, she may have lifted it from somewhere else. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:55, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

That proves also what a lousy invention PowerPoint is. The images and the song don't always match. Doing it with Adobe Flash would resolve such kind of problems. Anyway, nice song, nice images. Mr.K. (talk) 13:59, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 2 questions ...

Question 1- Im not pretty sure about this but has there been a coding system invented before ? ( Look below ) A=1 B=2 to writte baba ( meaning father in turkish ) IoIo ... if it needs further explanation .... to write baba in a coded style i took the first letter of the number (In turkish ) and wrote (I) then i took the english letter in the number for A which is one ... please tell me ıf thıs system has been ınvented before ? emaıl me at email removed

Question 2 - Well im currently working on a book im hoping to publish it ... and my questıon ıs whether ı can use the names lıke urukhaı or dwarf ın my book please emaıl me ... agaın ... from the adress above —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.229.117.166 (talk) 16:14, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

1. As a coding system it's just a simple substitution cipher. They aren't worth a damn, cryptographically speaking.

2. Well, the names themselves don't mean a whole lot but if you are basing a lot of your work on the Tolkien universe you run a chance of having copyright problems, yes. The law for this is not, however, clear cut—knowing whether or not some creation of yours would legally qualify as a derivative work would require actual legal advice (who knew more about your work, as well), and even then the final arbitration would have to be decided in a court. In any case, Uru-khai are exclusively a creation of Tolkien and thus much more problematic than Dwarves, which are derived from Norse mythology. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 17:08, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Expanding on question 1, your proposed cipher is not reversible. I don't know my Turkish numbers, but I'll discuss the English side of the problem (which is quite enough to sink the theory). Your English-number translation table begins with:

A -> O(ne)
B -> T(wo)
C -> T(hree)

...and there's our problem. When I see an encoded message with a "T" in the English number position, how do I know if it's a "B" or a "C"? Finishing out the table, a cryptotext "T" can be any of {B,C,J,L,M,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z}. That's a lot of ambiguity. So in addition to the underlying problems of a substitution cipher, you can't decipher your message. While one-way functions are themselves vital to cryptography (usually in the form of hash functions), the mapping fails the need to avoid hash collisions and the one-to-one substitution fails the requirement for an avalanche effect. — Lomn 20:23, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] sociology help

Can anyone please tell us any movie (which must be critically acclaimed) based on SOCIOLOGICAL issues such as

racism culture division of social classes —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.128.4.231 (talk) 16:16, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

To Kill a Mockingbird (film), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, to name but two. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:20, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

I would concur with Tagishsimon - that I'd say that "To Kill a Mockingbird" would really be a perfect match for your criteria. -- Saukkomies 15:46, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Twelve Angry Men and Brokeback Mountain to name two others. ៛ Bielle (talk) 16:40, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Anything by Spike Lee? (I think Bamboozled is brilliant, but I know I'm in a minority there.) --24.147.69.31 (talk) 17:10, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Rebel Without a Cause and On the Waterfront, to give you two more. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:12, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

I only have one - A Raisin in the Sun (film) --LarryMac | Talk 17:13, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

In the Heat of the Night. Deor (talk) 17:17, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Before we get into a 5-page list, the shorter version would be "What critically acclaimed movie was NOT based on sociological issues?". I am having a hard time coming up with a name. ៛ Bielle (talk) 17:21, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein? Films about human situations are bound to stray into sociological territory, by the very nature of sociology. But if you scan through, for instance, the National Film Registry list, you'd judge some to be very much more obviously about major sociological themes than others. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:28, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Everybody knows that film is about two homosexual lovers—one tragically obese, one tragically undernourished—and their difficulties of finding acceptance in modern society, represented as a freakish un-dead monster. It's one of the most touchingly socially relevant films I've ever seen. (sniff) --24.147.69.31 (talk) 22:57, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

This page (http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/brym/SocAtMovies.html) seems to be about 'sociology at the movies' and has a list of movies - quite interesting to be honest. ny156uk (talk) 18:35, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

For a rather harrowing film about modern Maori (cultural/poverty problems, racism, how the traditional society has fallen in the modern world / finding traditional pride in a changed world etc) how about Once Were Warriors (film). Gwinva (talk) 18:59, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

There are many interesting choices if you want to get away from some of the big budget, self-important Hollywood "message" movies that first come to mind, especially if you don't want to subject yourself to stuff like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner again. Some good, random choices: Dawn of the Dead, Two-Lane Blacktop, The 400 Blows. —Kevin Myers 21:23, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

British film maker Ken Loach specialises in films with social issues. Julia Rossi (talk) 22:46, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies is a beauty. -- JackofOz (talk) 00:10, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Reefer Madness. --Wetman (talk) 02:55, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

In the one sociology course I took in college our teacher showed us The Breakfast Club, so that has to be the right answer. Azi Like a Fox (talk) 05:11, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Many of the best films deal with racial, sociological, or other controversial issues, so you can take your pick. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Emery (talk • contribs) 00:19, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] When does Virginia get to vote in the Primary elections?

^topic 64.236.121.129 (talk) 19:16, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

United_States_presidential_election,_2008_timeline#The_rest_of_February_2008. Corvus cornix_talk 19:39, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Peloponnesian War

What is the significance of the Peloponesian War in Greek and world history? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fog on the Tyne (talk • contribs) 19:17, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

See Peloponnesian War. -- kainaw ™ 19:44, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

The article really only mentions the significance of the war for ancient Greek history. As for world history in the narrow sense, it had a limited impact. In fact, it merely reconfigured power relations among the city-states of Greece. One could make a case that the war had a world-historical impact in that it prevented the Athenian empire from growing in power and becoming a true empire that might unite Greece, prevent the rise of Macedon, and potentially dominate the Mediterranean world. More broadly, students of history have drawn many lessons from the history of this war, one of the first conflicts extensively documented in the historical record. As the article suggests, one such lesson is that democracy is no guarantee of strength or power. Another possible lesson is that a powerful state, or hegemon, may overextend itself. By making excessive demands and asserting dominance over less powerful states, the hegemon risks sparking resentment. States chafing under the hegemon's dominance may form alliances against it and successfully challenge its power. Napoleonic France is one example of a state that suffered a fate similar to that of Athens (though I hesitate to compare Georgian Britain with Sparta). Marco polo (talk) 21:29, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

If for no other reason the war is significant in giving us, in the work of Thucydides, the first detailed account of the operation and inter-play of military strategy and high politics in history. Beyond that, it weakened both the victor-Sparta-and the loser-Athens-creating just the right circumstances for the rise of Macedonia, and the future emergence of Alexander the Great. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:42, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] interaction between humans

if no love 100% none whats so ever shown or given and abused severly how does this person interact with society

It helps us all at the reference desk if you can phrase your questions carefully, so that we might understand exactly what you are asking. Are you wanting to know about extreme cases of child neglect? If so, Feral child is a good place to start. There are specific children linked, including Susan M. Wiley, who spent 13 years tied to a chair or bed. Child abuse offers a more general overview. Gwinva (talk) 22:53, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

It would change depending on every single case of this occurring. Some may react by being extremely timid/shy and very untrusting of others, some may react by trying extremely hard to be liked/loved willing to give someone everything in return for love. You might be interested in reading about the psychological effects of abuse (http://www.lisadunningmft.com/psychological_effects_child_abuse.htm) for example, which whilst focussing on child-abuse is indicative of the wide array of reactions individuals can have having had to experience these terrible situations. 22:58, 6 February 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ny156uk (talk • contribs)

[edit] Burma dictatorship

why has militry dictatorship in burma survivd so long? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.42.105.66 (talk) 21:11, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

The simple answer is that the military government of Burma, known as the SPDC has maintained a monopoly of violence within Burma. The SPDC maintains iron discipline over the army with an atmosphere of fear and harsh punishments against any soldiers who challenge the leadership. The army in turn brutally represses any opposition among the civilian population. The SPDC has been aided and abetted by its neighbors and major trading partners, especially China and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who have refused to impose effective sanctions for fear of jeopardizing profitable trade with Burma. Marco polo (talk) 21:40, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

If I am to look for a long term perspective on your question, 217.42, I would have to say that Burma shows the very same structural factors that have served to weaken democracy in Pakistan, on the other side of the Indian Subcontinent: it has a strong military tradition, a fairly weak civil society, and a fear of national disintegration. The situation in Burma is further complicated by a fear of outside intervention.

Remember, too, that Burma did not gain its independence by the same political process at work in India and Pakistan. Rather, it emerged as a result of the war against Japanese occupation, involving local Burmese as well as Allied forces. This mean that the significant leaders who emerged in 1945 all had a military, rather than a civilian background. It's one of history's ironies that the greatest of these leaders, Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the voice of the democratic opposition, is also the iconic figure who has helped sustain the special place of the military in Burmese politics

This has also been supported, as I have said, by the relative weakness of civil society. During the days of British rule the native Burmese played very little part in managing day to day affairs, with administrators being recruited from among colonial Britons or Indians. Excluded from the civil service, the ethnic Burmese nevertheless formed an important part of the police and the army. Although an embryonic native middle-class was beginning to emerge in the course of the early twentieth century, it was almost completely wiped out in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Fear of national disintegration has roots in the early evolution of the Burmese state. In the two hundred years prior to the advent of the British in the 1820s, the Burmese kings had expanded their control out of the lowlands into areas inhabited by different ethnic and linguistic groups. The Shan, the Karen, the Arakanese, the Mon, the Chin, the Karenni and the Kachin, all non-Burmese speaking, now make up approximately one third of the total population, occupying two-thirds of the national territory. Fears that these centrifugal forces will destroy the integrity of the nation have been fueled by the long-standing insurgencies of the Shan and the Karen. The opportunity this might provide for foreign intervention has strengthened the army's sense of paranoia, creating a siege mentality and a persistent mood of xenophobia amongst the generals. As far as the military is concerned it is they who are the guardians of the nation, the one guarantee that Burma will survive as a unitary state. Clio the Muse (talk) 00:26, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Name of Short Story

I'm trying to remember the name of an Irish short story about a woman who lives her life as a man. Help please! Alan Key (talk) 21:20, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Joowanah McMan? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.72.147 (talk) 22:30, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Alan, I think this has to be Albert Nobbs, by George Moore. It appears in Celibate Lives, a collection of stories first published in 1927. Clio the Muse (talk) 23:44, 6 February 2008 (UTC)