Today I Learned #3: There's a wiki for everything!

[EgonSpengler]

Green is imo a strange color in a flag, and quite rare (at least outside of Africa). What is it supposed to symbolize?
Usually it would be the land/agriculture, then again you have Saudi.

Wikipedia cites the archived UNIA website:

• red: the blood that unites all people of Black African ancestry, and shed for liberation;
• black: black people whose existence as a nation, though not a nation-state, is affirmed by the existence of the flag; and
• green: the abundant natural wealth of Africa.

National flags that feature green, outside of Africa: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Grenada, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lithuania, the Maldives, Mexico, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, the Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Wales.

 

[Arakhor]

I believe that green is often used by Islamic countries, but I could be wrong on that.

 

[Josu]

I believe that green is often used by Islamic countries, but I could be wrong on that.

I read somewhere that it was Mohammed’s favorite color.

 

[Zardnaar]

Green is common on Islamic flags.

 

[Deadly Dog]

TWIL (this weekend I learned) that the red, black and green flag was designed by Marcus Garvey as a flag for the African diaspora. It's known as the Pan-African flag. It was approved by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (the UNIA) in 1920. I've seen this flag around here and there for years, hanging in a shop or something. I always thought it was a kind of unofficial flag for African-Americans, kind of like the LGBTQ rainbow flag. I guess I figured it was probably from the 1960s or early 70s. It turns out it's much older than that, and not strictly for African-Americans.

Browsing Wikipedia, Garvey and the UNIA were contemporaries of W.E.B. Dubois and the NAACP, though of course the latter is mainly concerned with African-American issues and politics. Where DuBois believed in integration, Garvey was a separatist. It's a bit simplistic, but I suppose you could correlate DuBois and Garvey with their 1960s counterparts, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Wikipedia notes that Garvey had an impact on Rastafarianism (he was Jamaican) and the (American) Nation of Islam. I should go find a book on this guy; pretty much all I know about him is what's at the top of his Wikipedia page.

Thanks for sharing. I'd head many years ago that the "rasta" colours were red black green and also gold for the mineral wealth of Africa, but I'd never heard Marcus Garvey's name connected to the flag.

What I do know about Marcus Garvey that may not be in Wikipedia is that it's a fine reggae tune from Burning Spear

 

[Deadly Dog]

TIL that a wind-powered cart capable of traveling downwind at velocities greater than windspeed does indeed exist, and does not break any laws of physics (whew!).

There's actually two videos about this, the first is linked in this follow-up video where he tries to explain it better.

 

[Samson]

Boats can do it, and have been for millennia.

 

[Deadly Dog]

Boats can do it, and have been for millennia.

Only by tacking against the wind, not when running with it. However, the forces involved in both the sailboat and the prop on the cart work the same, see the initial video with the sailboats corkscrewing around a cylinder.

 

[Samson]

TIL there exist "test" credit card numbers, that is intended for verifying integrations work correctly and when used will appear to work properly and produce a confirmation report as if it works, but won't process a payment.

Feel free to google for them and use them in scams or such. Depending on the scam you may have to look around for one that is not obviously repetitive, but against a computer any may work.

Also, TIL that students are more likely to fall for phishing scams if they know what they are:

In spring 2018, we delivered phishing attacks to 450 randomly selected students on three different days (1,350 students total) to examine user click rates and demographics among UMBC’s undergraduates.
Students who identified themselves as understanding the definition of phishing had a higher susceptibility than did their peers who were merely aware of phishing attacks, with both groups having a higher susceptibility than those with no knowledge of phishing.​

 

[H4run]

I believe that green is often used by Islamic countries, but I could be wrong on that.

True

I read somewhere that it was Mohammed’s favorite color.

The hadith are there, but weak narration, because there are much stronger narration that showed the Messenger prefer white colors for his clothes and garment. Green is mention to be the predominant color of paradise due to the immense floras/tree density, also there are verses that mentioned the dwellers use the color green for their garment and covers. The soul of the martyr/shaheed also reside in the heart of a green bird in paradise:

The souls, of the martyrs live in the bodies of green birds who have their nests in chandeliers hung from the throne of the Almighty. They eat the fruits of Paradise from wherever they like and then nestle in these chandeliers. Once their Lord cast a glance at them and said: Do ye want anything? They said: What more shall we desire? We eat the fruit of Paradise from wherever we like. Their Lord asked them the same question thrice. When they saw that they will continue to be asked and not left (without answering the question). they said: O Lord, we wish that Thou mayest return our souls to our bodies so that we may be slain in Thy way once again. When He (Allah) saw that they had no need, they were left. (Shahih Muslim)

So in short, it's associated with Paradise.

 

[Arakhor]

I'm really not surprised that a desert people would associate green with Paradise.

 

[Birdjaguar]

TIL:
Why Cleveland Called Its Baseball Team the Indians

“Cleveland Drops the Ball,” writes Bert Stratton (op-ed, July 26). It has also dropped historical accuracy. Cleveland’s baseball team has played under several names. After 1903 it became the Naps, so called for hall-of famer Napoleon Lajoie. He left the team in 1914 and the Naps could hardly be named for a player on another team. Owner Charles Somers talked with local sportswriters, who offered the name Indians, in honor of former player Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Native American from Maine.

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorialized on Jan. 18, 1915: “Many years ago there was an Indian named Sockalexis who was the star player of the Cleveland baseball club. As a batter, fielder and base runner he was a marvel. Sockalexis so outshone his teammates that he naturally came to be regarded as the whole team. The fans throughout the country began to call the Clevelanders ‘the Indians.’ It was an honorable name, and while it stuck the team made an excellent record. It has now been decided to revive this name.”

Many people cannot accept that a team would name itself in honor of a Native

American. How woke is that?

RICHARD J. MCGOWAN

Green Bay, Wis.

 

[Arakhor]

That was 100 years ago. People change, Harold.

 

[amadeus]

I just read there were 500,000 Greeks in the Russian Empire before the 1917 revolution; those that stayed in the country afterwards were later targeted by the NKVD under Stalin.

I had no idea there were so many! Not surprisingly, most were around the Black Sea region.

 

[Kyriakos]

I just read there were 500,000 Greeks in the Russian Empire before the 1917 revolution; those that stayed in the country afterwards were later targeted by the NKVD under Stalin.

I had no idea there were so many! Not surprisingly, most were around the Black Sea region.

Greece took part, invited by Anglo-France, in the operations to support the Whites in Crimea. That happened in 1919. Stalin purged virtually the entire greek community in the Crimea, which was very notable (after all, the greek independence movement was organized originally by greeks in the coastal cities there).

 

[amadeus]

Greece took part, invited by Anglo-France, in the operations to support the Whites in Crimea. That happened in 1919. Stalin purged virtually the entire greek community in the Crimea, which was very notable (after all, the greek independence movement was organized originally by greeks in the coastal cities there).

I expected you to chime in!

I would have thought Greek independence (1823 ...?) would have drawn more emigration, but there’s probably 100 historical or political factors of which I am acutely unaware.

 

[Berzerker]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-fruit-compound-potential-parkinson-disease.html

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have added to evidence that the compound farnesol, found naturally in herbs, and berries and other fruits, prevents and reverses brain damage linked to Parkinson's disease in mouse studies.

The compound, used in flavorings and perfume-making, can prevent the loss of neurons that produce dopamine in the brains of mice by deactivating PARIS, a key protein involved in the disease's progression. Loss of such neurons affects movement and cognition, leading to hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease such as tremors, muscle rigidity, confusion and dementia. Farnesol's ability to block PARIS, say the researchers, could guide development of new Parkinson's disease interventions that specifically target this protein.

"Our experiments showed that farnesol both significantly prevented the loss of dopamine neurons and reversed behavioral deficits in mice, indicating its promise as a potential drug treatment to prevent Parkinson's disease,"

 

[Birdjaguar]

That was 100 years ago. People change, Harold.

People change, but facts don't. I guess we could reexamine the sinking of the Titanic and find that it was not a tragedy, but a just result of white aristocratic arrogance.

 

[Broken_Erika]

People change, but facts don't. I guess we could reexamine the sinking of the Titanic and find that it was not a tragedy, but a just result of white aristocratic arrogance.

In a way it kinda was.....

 

[Birdjaguar]

In a way it kinda was.....

No it wasn't. A confident captain ran into an unexpected iceberg and a ship with too few lifeboats sank. Hundreds died.