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I'm looking for information on where the money for the federal budget comes from. My understanding is that the majority comes from taxing the populace. What I'm looking for is, what percent of the US budget comes from what percent of the popuation. My suspicion is that a large portion of the money comes from a small portion of the people, but I have no data to back that up 192.136.22.4 ( talk) 00:20, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Can someone tell me what is going on in Lebanon regarding its upcoming election in June? Here some videos about it. Elections and candidates in Tripoli, Hariri and Syrians, Lebanese Army in Bekaa Valley, OTV: Al-Mustaqbal scandal about Shia and Sunni and Al-Mustaqbal thugs beating up Homentmen’s girls —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.64.53.139 ( talk) 01:42, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Does anyone know about the work, The History of the Nation, possibly printed in the early half of the 20th century? Several paintings have been noted to be published in it. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] However, I am unable to locate such a book on Worldcat or Google. Does anyone have information that pertain to this work? Jappalang ( talk) 02:27, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I was in Thailand a little while ago, and the symbolism behind the yellow shirts is obvious (Yellow is the King's color by an old tradition of birthdays and days of the week). Why the red shirts? SDY ( talk) 02:32, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Hi. I'm looking for a merchant who will sell me the old France-England royal standard flag, rather than the new royal standard, or the original three leopards alone. Does anybody here know of such a business? Maybe some theatre would sell one of these? Please be of some assistance. Thank you. Catterick ( talk) 08:13, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I don't mean to be rude...perhaps I should have specified that I am looking for these in flag form: Catterick ( talk) 08:33, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Why isn't St. George's Day celebrated in the States? Is it a Puritan, Yank Anglophobia, even though Yanks supposedly pride so much in their "pure Englishness"? After all, there are Highland festivals and St. Patrick's Day Parades, although admittedly much fewer signs of a Welsh presence. I don't know why. I've had a few heart-stopping moments when seeing the St. George flying over the Roanoke Colony museum and a few other historic places; even the old Union Jack without St. Patrick is a sight to see for sure. Catterick ( talk) 08:23, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
According to this http://boards.msn.com/thread.aspx?threadid=882128 the Tamahumara, who live in remote desert parts of Mexico, never get cancer, although this could be an urban myth since they do not make the news for the world's oldest people. The article linked from that link suggests they mostly eat some sort of maize dish that is prepared in water. Do the Tarahumara roast bake or fry their food very much? If not, then they would be exposed to very little acrylamide, which may be carcinogenic, and this might be the reason perhaps. I have read both the acrylamide and the Tara humara articles. 78.146.249.32 ( talk) 11:47, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
The question is "Do the Tarahumara roast bake or fry their food very much?" 89.242.147.172 ( talk) 10:46, 19 April 2009 (UTC)
If you were trasported back in time and forced to be a gladiator, which of the several types of gladiator would it be best to be regarding survival? 78.146.249.32 ( talk) 12:54, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Some friends and I were discussing the possibility of a pope converting to Islam, whether it would automatically terminate his papacy, what effect it would have on the church, etc. It got me thinking: has anything of that sort ever happened in reality? Has a religious authority ever converted suddenly to another religion? I vaguely recall a medieval Catholic bishop who converted to Islam, but Google has been useless. LANTZY TALK 13:26, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Hi. I was wondering if someone could help me find a bit of info I have been trying to get for a while.
I remember hearing a while ago about (what was described as) a famous study done during the Vietnam War. I think it was done at Columbia University, but don't hold me to that. It was about media bias, and consisted of showing the same clips of news coverage of the War to groups of pro- and anti-War students separately. They both thought that the coverage - the same clips - was biased against their cause.
I cannot for the life of me remember who did the study, and google searches have so far been fruitless. Does anyone know where I can find more info about the study? Thanks in advance, Batmanand | Talk 13:43, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Hello Wikipedia,
The 'Tax tea parties' are seemingly everywhere in the States (at least, they're all over Huffington Post, which is all I have to go on). Anyway, I get that culturally, Americans are less tolerant of tax than say, us brits, but I mean,seriously! No one likes paying tax but why do you guys loathe it so much? Wouldn't you like less crime, cleaner air etc? Is there something i'm just not getting, like a scandal of some sort that means the american government is forever percieved as untrustworthy? I'm not looking for a debate (although it sure would be fun!), but just some reasons why americans are thus. Thanks 212.183.134.209 ( talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:05, 17 April 2009 (UTC).
I pay taxes so the rich don't have to. DOR (HK) ( talk) 22:19, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Those were some really great answers -thanks guys! —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
212.183.134.208 (
talk)
14:21, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
It's not so much that we Americans see *our* government as untrustworthy - a lot of us (including myself) have a tendency not to trust *any* government. American right/libertarian views of government tend to range from 'a necessary evil/necessary for the military and police but not much else' to 'only what the free market can't do' (military/police/public works/big projects) to accepting *some* regulation of business but fighting it. Americans don't tend to see government as any more trustworthy than business (certainly I don't); is it different in Europe? Vultur ( talk) 02:50, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
What is 'Action Leather'? 96.53.149.117 ( talk) 16:32, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I have heard that if you get a speeding ticket, what you do is send in a check for a trivial amount more then you owe (I heard 10 cents). If you do that, they will not cash the check and you in essence will have gotten of without paying. This sound preposterous to me, but then there are stranger things in heaven and on earth right? Does anyone know if there is truth to this? 65.121.141.34 ( talk) 16:37, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Just realised that humanties harbours economics so apologies for also posting this in the maths section.
For my studies i need to use the von-Neumann Morgenstern utility function but i am not aware of its function form (i.e. a cobb douglas is Y=K^aL^b for example). I am not trying to get the answer to save me the work of doing so i am just trying to do background research.
Thank you very much for your time —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.163.232.191 ( talk) 16:59, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
My parents share a common great-grandmother. She married twice and had my mother's grandmother with one husband and my father's grandmother with another husband. What relation are my parents to each other (besides the obvious husband-wife)? What interesting inter-relationships does this create between my siblings and me and my parents and me? Also, is this common (in modern times) or would an occurrence like this be somewhat rare? 157.127.124.14 ( talk) 17:03, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Which nuns do never speak? I remember I heard something about nuns who live in silence all the time. Do you know what are they called? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Atacamadesert12 ( talk • contribs) 17:18, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I know most of them (including crew) were British... but do you have numbers? -- 201.254.83.172 ( talk) 20:33, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
What and when was the highest ever value of the FTSE 100 Index, and what and when was its lowest value since then? (It has recently gone above 4000 again - things are looking up). 78.149.114.51 ( talk) 20:49, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I was wondering why and how do we have the right to chose to bring somebody to life. By definition we impose the state of life to our children. Life can be good but can also be hard, or even unbearable. Is this ethical? Since we do not know how our childrens lives will develop, if they are gonna be born with congenital problems, if they will suffer from leukemia at their 3 and so ever, no matter how hard we try avoid anything bad from happening to them. Sure some of the mishaps in life will result from THEIR faults and they will be THEIR responsibility, some will still be just "bad luck", and will happen. If we make children and everything goes normal, no problem (under the hypothesis that "normal" means more good than bad things as our children perceive them, or at least in equal amount). But if we make a child and gets afflicted with misfortunes she is not willing to endure, then she can blame us because we sort of bet on her behalf by bringing her to the game called life... Some examples would be impoverished economies, hereditary disorders, periods of war or instability etc. But it can be generalized to almost all aspects of life. Since humans are the only species having full consciousness about themselves and their surroundings, and really know about the facts of reproduction while have effective means of contraception, is it ethical to make children? Based on which criteria? Why the fact that *I* "feel ready to be a parent" should affect someone on the most fundamental basis, his/her _existence_? And if I have that right, why can't I take that life -or any other life, since they could be my children- "back"? How can I have the right to chose to bring somebody to life, when that decision has to do with his/her very existence? And since I do have the right obviously, why shouldn't I kill somebody? It's just the reverse case, but the degree of influence over one's life is still the same! It only would be reasonable if we, a priori, take life as a good thing in general, but we all know that this is not always the case. Of course a negative answer on the ethical matter would have dire consequences for the survival of the human race, but I think it is a very fundamental topic because we do not discuss here the quality/meaning of life but it's existence itself. I am really interested in hearing your opinion on that and your suggestions of any relevant bibliography on the issue. The important question remains: "How ethical is to chose to bring someone to life?" Makischa ( talk) 22:09, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Driving someone to work does not guarantee death for them. Coming into this world, however, does guarantee death. When you have a child, there is no doubt that that child will die someday. Wrad ( talk) 23:16, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
This has all the earmarks of a debate, where Makischa appears to be more interested in challenging every statement than in an answer. If there is a specific answer (and I certainly don't have one) we could reference it. If not, perhaps this should be moved off the Ref Desk to a forum for such matters. // BL \\ ( talk) 00:05, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
For one possible philosophy designed to quell all qualms such as User:Makischa apparently feels, read the classic satirical novel Erewhon by Samuel Butler... AnonMoos ( talk) 03:46, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
Humanities desk | ||
---|---|---|
< April 16 | << Mar | April | May >> | April 18 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities 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. |
I'm looking for information on where the money for the federal budget comes from. My understanding is that the majority comes from taxing the populace. What I'm looking for is, what percent of the US budget comes from what percent of the popuation. My suspicion is that a large portion of the money comes from a small portion of the people, but I have no data to back that up 192.136.22.4 ( talk) 00:20, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Can someone tell me what is going on in Lebanon regarding its upcoming election in June? Here some videos about it. Elections and candidates in Tripoli, Hariri and Syrians, Lebanese Army in Bekaa Valley, OTV: Al-Mustaqbal scandal about Shia and Sunni and Al-Mustaqbal thugs beating up Homentmen’s girls —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.64.53.139 ( talk) 01:42, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Does anyone know about the work, The History of the Nation, possibly printed in the early half of the 20th century? Several paintings have been noted to be published in it. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] However, I am unable to locate such a book on Worldcat or Google. Does anyone have information that pertain to this work? Jappalang ( talk) 02:27, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I was in Thailand a little while ago, and the symbolism behind the yellow shirts is obvious (Yellow is the King's color by an old tradition of birthdays and days of the week). Why the red shirts? SDY ( talk) 02:32, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Hi. I'm looking for a merchant who will sell me the old France-England royal standard flag, rather than the new royal standard, or the original three leopards alone. Does anybody here know of such a business? Maybe some theatre would sell one of these? Please be of some assistance. Thank you. Catterick ( talk) 08:13, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I don't mean to be rude...perhaps I should have specified that I am looking for these in flag form: Catterick ( talk) 08:33, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Why isn't St. George's Day celebrated in the States? Is it a Puritan, Yank Anglophobia, even though Yanks supposedly pride so much in their "pure Englishness"? After all, there are Highland festivals and St. Patrick's Day Parades, although admittedly much fewer signs of a Welsh presence. I don't know why. I've had a few heart-stopping moments when seeing the St. George flying over the Roanoke Colony museum and a few other historic places; even the old Union Jack without St. Patrick is a sight to see for sure. Catterick ( talk) 08:23, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
According to this http://boards.msn.com/thread.aspx?threadid=882128 the Tamahumara, who live in remote desert parts of Mexico, never get cancer, although this could be an urban myth since they do not make the news for the world's oldest people. The article linked from that link suggests they mostly eat some sort of maize dish that is prepared in water. Do the Tarahumara roast bake or fry their food very much? If not, then they would be exposed to very little acrylamide, which may be carcinogenic, and this might be the reason perhaps. I have read both the acrylamide and the Tara humara articles. 78.146.249.32 ( talk) 11:47, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
The question is "Do the Tarahumara roast bake or fry their food very much?" 89.242.147.172 ( talk) 10:46, 19 April 2009 (UTC)
If you were trasported back in time and forced to be a gladiator, which of the several types of gladiator would it be best to be regarding survival? 78.146.249.32 ( talk) 12:54, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Some friends and I were discussing the possibility of a pope converting to Islam, whether it would automatically terminate his papacy, what effect it would have on the church, etc. It got me thinking: has anything of that sort ever happened in reality? Has a religious authority ever converted suddenly to another religion? I vaguely recall a medieval Catholic bishop who converted to Islam, but Google has been useless. LANTZY TALK 13:26, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Hi. I was wondering if someone could help me find a bit of info I have been trying to get for a while.
I remember hearing a while ago about (what was described as) a famous study done during the Vietnam War. I think it was done at Columbia University, but don't hold me to that. It was about media bias, and consisted of showing the same clips of news coverage of the War to groups of pro- and anti-War students separately. They both thought that the coverage - the same clips - was biased against their cause.
I cannot for the life of me remember who did the study, and google searches have so far been fruitless. Does anyone know where I can find more info about the study? Thanks in advance, Batmanand | Talk 13:43, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Hello Wikipedia,
The 'Tax tea parties' are seemingly everywhere in the States (at least, they're all over Huffington Post, which is all I have to go on). Anyway, I get that culturally, Americans are less tolerant of tax than say, us brits, but I mean,seriously! No one likes paying tax but why do you guys loathe it so much? Wouldn't you like less crime, cleaner air etc? Is there something i'm just not getting, like a scandal of some sort that means the american government is forever percieved as untrustworthy? I'm not looking for a debate (although it sure would be fun!), but just some reasons why americans are thus. Thanks 212.183.134.209 ( talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:05, 17 April 2009 (UTC).
I pay taxes so the rich don't have to. DOR (HK) ( talk) 22:19, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Those were some really great answers -thanks guys! —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
212.183.134.208 (
talk)
14:21, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
It's not so much that we Americans see *our* government as untrustworthy - a lot of us (including myself) have a tendency not to trust *any* government. American right/libertarian views of government tend to range from 'a necessary evil/necessary for the military and police but not much else' to 'only what the free market can't do' (military/police/public works/big projects) to accepting *some* regulation of business but fighting it. Americans don't tend to see government as any more trustworthy than business (certainly I don't); is it different in Europe? Vultur ( talk) 02:50, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
What is 'Action Leather'? 96.53.149.117 ( talk) 16:32, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I have heard that if you get a speeding ticket, what you do is send in a check for a trivial amount more then you owe (I heard 10 cents). If you do that, they will not cash the check and you in essence will have gotten of without paying. This sound preposterous to me, but then there are stranger things in heaven and on earth right? Does anyone know if there is truth to this? 65.121.141.34 ( talk) 16:37, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Just realised that humanties harbours economics so apologies for also posting this in the maths section.
For my studies i need to use the von-Neumann Morgenstern utility function but i am not aware of its function form (i.e. a cobb douglas is Y=K^aL^b for example). I am not trying to get the answer to save me the work of doing so i am just trying to do background research.
Thank you very much for your time —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.163.232.191 ( talk) 16:59, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
My parents share a common great-grandmother. She married twice and had my mother's grandmother with one husband and my father's grandmother with another husband. What relation are my parents to each other (besides the obvious husband-wife)? What interesting inter-relationships does this create between my siblings and me and my parents and me? Also, is this common (in modern times) or would an occurrence like this be somewhat rare? 157.127.124.14 ( talk) 17:03, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Which nuns do never speak? I remember I heard something about nuns who live in silence all the time. Do you know what are they called? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Atacamadesert12 ( talk • contribs) 17:18, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I know most of them (including crew) were British... but do you have numbers? -- 201.254.83.172 ( talk) 20:33, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
What and when was the highest ever value of the FTSE 100 Index, and what and when was its lowest value since then? (It has recently gone above 4000 again - things are looking up). 78.149.114.51 ( talk) 20:49, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I was wondering why and how do we have the right to chose to bring somebody to life. By definition we impose the state of life to our children. Life can be good but can also be hard, or even unbearable. Is this ethical? Since we do not know how our childrens lives will develop, if they are gonna be born with congenital problems, if they will suffer from leukemia at their 3 and so ever, no matter how hard we try avoid anything bad from happening to them. Sure some of the mishaps in life will result from THEIR faults and they will be THEIR responsibility, some will still be just "bad luck", and will happen. If we make children and everything goes normal, no problem (under the hypothesis that "normal" means more good than bad things as our children perceive them, or at least in equal amount). But if we make a child and gets afflicted with misfortunes she is not willing to endure, then she can blame us because we sort of bet on her behalf by bringing her to the game called life... Some examples would be impoverished economies, hereditary disorders, periods of war or instability etc. But it can be generalized to almost all aspects of life. Since humans are the only species having full consciousness about themselves and their surroundings, and really know about the facts of reproduction while have effective means of contraception, is it ethical to make children? Based on which criteria? Why the fact that *I* "feel ready to be a parent" should affect someone on the most fundamental basis, his/her _existence_? And if I have that right, why can't I take that life -or any other life, since they could be my children- "back"? How can I have the right to chose to bring somebody to life, when that decision has to do with his/her very existence? And since I do have the right obviously, why shouldn't I kill somebody? It's just the reverse case, but the degree of influence over one's life is still the same! It only would be reasonable if we, a priori, take life as a good thing in general, but we all know that this is not always the case. Of course a negative answer on the ethical matter would have dire consequences for the survival of the human race, but I think it is a very fundamental topic because we do not discuss here the quality/meaning of life but it's existence itself. I am really interested in hearing your opinion on that and your suggestions of any relevant bibliography on the issue. The important question remains: "How ethical is to chose to bring someone to life?" Makischa ( talk) 22:09, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
Driving someone to work does not guarantee death for them. Coming into this world, however, does guarantee death. When you have a child, there is no doubt that that child will die someday. Wrad ( talk) 23:16, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
This has all the earmarks of a debate, where Makischa appears to be more interested in challenging every statement than in an answer. If there is a specific answer (and I certainly don't have one) we could reference it. If not, perhaps this should be moved off the Ref Desk to a forum for such matters. // BL \\ ( talk) 00:05, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
For one possible philosophy designed to quell all qualms such as User:Makischa apparently feels, read the classic satirical novel Erewhon by Samuel Butler... AnonMoos ( talk) 03:46, 18 April 2009 (UTC)