Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 July 4

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July 4

Hamas and Hizbollah rockets and missiles and Tel Aviv

Alright, so all politics aside (seriously, none of that Israel-Palestine back and forth please), I want to know if this is true that both (or even just one) of these organisations have weapons that are capable of reaching the city of Tel Aviv and her suburbs from the territory they control. I am very worried for my girlfriend who lives just northeast of the city. If that is so, what sort of protection is there for people who have early warning? Bunkers and such. Where are they in Ramat HaSharon? Thanks for keeping things on topic, all . Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 15:32, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

You may want to read Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. Rocket and mortar attacks come from the Gaza strip (although apparently some rockets have been found in the West Bank). At most the rockets they have fired have a range of 25 miles or so, putting the southern suburbs of Tel Aviv on the very outer edge of their range. Ramat HaSharon is north of Tel Aviv, well out of range. In any case, the majority of attacks are on towns directly bordering Gaza. Rocket attacks are also way down from their peak in 2008 and the casualties are virtually non existent at the moment (one in the past two years). --Daniel 15:50, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

There's an interesting article on Hezbollah armed strength. It notes various rumours that Hezbollah holds more powerful weapons, which would be capable of hitting Tel Aviv, but no evidence for these (none have ever been used). Warofdreams talk 15:56, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Well I know about Hamas's recent exploits, I am more worried about the ones War is talking about, the stuff they (both Hamas and Hizbollah) haven't brought out yet and which would presumably be used in the next war where either party might be involved. Rockets hitting our digsite in an off-year is one thing, but the White City is another. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 16:11, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

The difficulty in answering the question is that such weapons, if they do indeed exist, are a well-kept secret. The Israeli government may have good information, but it also has good reason to talk up the capabilities of Hamas and Hezbollah; meanwhile, those groups have good reason to keep details of their actual weaponries secret. If Hezbollah have indeed held long-range missiles for some years, I find it surprising that they have never used them, but there may be tactical reasons of which I am unaware, or they might have acquired such missiles more recently. Warofdreams talk 15:44, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

In my non-expert opinion, I would think they didn't use them because they realised it would not be worth the sort of retribution Israel would bring if their main city was attacked. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 17:57, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

During the minor scuffle of July/August 2006 when the IDF crossed into southern Lebanon for a few weeks, Hezbollah was regularly firing missiles which came within 20 km of the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv. See this BBC article for the kind of reports I remember, and this one for a more worrying overview. Astronaut (talk) 15:42, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm really not liking that Zelzal-2 and its range and the proximity to Tel Aviv is worrisome. What sort of protection is there in Ramat haSharon? Are there bunkers and such? How is the missile defence system coming? I know that Iron Dome is up. What about the others? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | Say Shalom! 17:57, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

about the term "champenois"

Wikipedia refers to this as a language. I have heard that it can also mean "inferior champagne." Is this true ? <redacted> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.226.5.4 (talk) 16:48, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

"Champenois" simply means associated with Champagne. Among other things, it is applied to the local language, the local people, and the local still wine, which may be what you are thinking of. Warofdreams talk 16:53, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Well, for the method of wine production, the spelling "champenoise" is more common. Looie496 (talk) 18:53, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

It's a French adjective, so it is "champenois" if it is used to describe a "masculine" noun, "champenoise" for a feminine noun. Vin champenois, paysage champenois, méthode champenoise", "langue champenoise". Itsmejudith (talk) 07:14, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Méthode champenoise refers to wine made by the champagne method but that doesn't qualify as champagne because it's not from the Champagne region (see also Sparkling wine production#Traditional method). Some people consider it inferior, and some wines in that style can be nasty (e.g. cheap Cava), but it can be as good as champagne. --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:40, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Whether it "qualifies as champagne" (legally, anyway) depends on where you are. I think all through Europe, the name Champagne is geographically protected, but in the States it isn't (at least it didn't use to be; I think it's still not). As a practical matter, though, American sparkling wines from certain regions have started to gain enough cachet that they no longer want to be called Champagne. --Trovatore (talk) 08:54, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

To amplify this point, anything that is called Champagne on the label but which isn't from France is cheap stuff trying to trade on the name. It's probably not very good, and it almost certainly is not made by the Champagne method. (European winemakers are forbidden from engaging in this particular form of deceptive marketing, however U.S. producers are not bound by the same rules. Among other important names in French wine, Americans are also particularly apt to misuse the term Chablis for any number of inexpensive, generic, dry-ish white wines which may or may not have ever seen a Chardonnay grape.) Better-quality U.S. sparkling wines made using the Champagne method will bear their own brand's names, and may be described with méthode champenoise, méthode traditionelle, or second fermentation in the bottle in smaller type somewhere on the label. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:45, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Wishes to be an Active Volunteer Member in Human Right Affares

Good day to the entire crew of Human Right Activities of the UNO.I am Undaga Romaric a Cameroonian by nationality who have have the zeal to work for and help people because i hate seeing people suffer.Madam what i wish to know is that is there no way or possibility of being an activist of the UNO to assist in working and helping people.I also wish to know if there are any procedures.Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.202.197.211 (talk) 18:47, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia has no connection with the UNO. I don't know how to help you except to point you to the UN Human Rights site for Cameroon, here. Looie496 (talk) 19:02, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

pint glasses.

I have a pint glass that I have been told is eighty years old. this I doubt but it is at least thirty years old. It is shaped like a traditional Guiness glass, ie, slanted with the opening bigger than the base. The bottom half of the glass is heavily fluted (16 flutes) and the top half is clear. The clear part of the glass has a British standard pint mark, the word Pint is etched on and below this is a crown, below the crown is the letters G.R and below this is the number 478. On the opposite side of the glass also etched is the word Black above a prancing horse which in turn is above the word Aylestone. Any ideas as to the age? please.95.147.107.116 (talk) 18:49, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

An educated guess here, the GR I think refers to King George (which narrows it down a little). if it's George VI, the glass is at least 60 years old. The logo I think is from a pub "Black Horse" in Aylestone, which is a suburb of Leicester. Hope this helps. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:05, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

According to this page "The 478 indicates that it was given its weights and measures verification in St.Helens and were probably made at the Ravenhead glass factory. The GR is George VI who reigned from 1937-1952 so your glasses range from somewhere between those two dates. " So the 80 years old is quite likely. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:44, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

His reign actually commenced on 11 December 1936. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 23:20, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

The pub is still there, so you could try taking it back to the bar.--Shantavira|^{feed me}

I'm not convinced that GR is George VI. Pillar boxes from the reign of George V were marked "GR" since 80 years had elapsed since the previous George. However, George VI followed almost immediately after his father and HIS pillar boxes are marked GVIR to avoid any confusion. Wouldn't beer glasses follow the same rule? Alansplodge (talk) 21:20, 6 July 2011 (UTC)