User talk:Ptah, the El Daoud/Archive 1

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Hello, Ptah, the El Daoud, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

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Image:Ptah, the El Daoud (Alice Coltrane).jpg

Hello Ptah, the El Daoud, an automated process has found an image or media file tagged as nonfree media, such as fair use. The image (Image:Ptah, the El Daoud (Alice Coltrane).jpg) was found at the following location: User:Ptah, the El Daoud. This image or media will be removed per statement number 9 of our non-free content policy. The image or media will be replaced with Image:NonFreeImageRemoved.svg , so your formatting of your userpage should be fine. The image that was replaced will not be automatically deleted, but it could be deleted at a later date. Articles using the same image should not be affected by my edits. I ask you to please not readd the image to your userpage and could consider finding a replacement image licensed under either the Creative Commons or GFDL license or released to the public domain. Thanks for your attention and cooperation. User:Gnome (Bot)-talk 05:48, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

List of political parties in North America by country

Hi. I see you added Central American countries to the North American page (countries beyond Canada, the U.S., and Mexico). For your reference, the "main page" (List of political parties by United Nations geoscheme) lists a seperate page for Central American nations. That page, however, has not been created. Might I suggest the countries you added be moved to that newly create page? Best --CPAScott 17:24, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you may! Consider it done. --(Ptah, the El Daoud 20:01, 18 May 2007 (UTC))

Glafkos Klerides article

Hi, I am new to this, so I hope this is the proper way to address someone.

I had modified the Glafkos Klerides article so that it doesn't read "... in which Nikos Sampson overthrew the democractically elected Makarios,...". It is my understanding that Nikos Sampson was not the coup leader but was chosen ( as a person of last resort) to assume leadership after all other people contacted (including Clerides) refused to do so.

So, I my view, the expression "Sampson overthrew.." is wrong. If you agree with the above, I would like to change that phrase.

Regards, Kostas papadopoulos

You are correct. I have rewritten the passage to state: "Cyprus became independent in 1960, and Clerides gained political power as a member of the United Democratic Party. Following the July 15, 1974 coup d'état in which EOKA-B, a Greek Cypriot pro-enosis paramilitary organisation, overthrew the democratically elected Makarios and installed Nikos Sampson as a President with dictatorial powers, Turkey invaded Northern Cyprus." It's a bit wordy, but all of the information is pertinent. Let me know what you think... --(Ptah, the El Daoud 02:17, 21 May 2007 (UTC))

Looks fine to me. Thanks (Kostas papadopoulos 13:04, 21 May 2007 (UTC))

edit conflict

Sorry we had an edit conflict on the lede of "Irish neutrality ..." Yup, agree with the quotes. I was thinking maybe they could go in a section on wider historical debate of the topic? --sony-youth^pléigh 01:16, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I revised your recent edits. Correct and edit the new text as you see fit... I will be sure to respond/revise if I feel the need. As I stated in the edit summary, I have no problem with the quotes being reinstated elsewhere, but I'm not particularly interested in establishing a new section or sub-section. Place them wherever you see fit. --(Ptah, the El Daoud 04:25, 27 May 2007 (UTC))

Re: god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Considering the long series of edits and reverts concerning this title in the Christopher Hitchens article, would it be appropriate to add a hidden text message, briefly explaining why the title should be left as it is? My concern is that there has been little discussion of this issue on the talk page, other than an anonymous user (who has admitted using different IPs) and myself. That discussion has not been very helpful, either, I must admit. Is there consensus for the lowercase letters? I think some of the edits on the part of anonymous users have been in good faith, simply, as they see it, correcting some typos. If there is consensus for the title to be left as it is, a message in hidden text might do the trick for dissuading further changes. I would like very much to know your thoughts on this matter. Thank you. ---Cathal 18:52, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Aesthetically, I prefer the title that you propose (indeed, I tried to stop the edit war by inserting sic after the title), but Twelve books, Slate, The New York Times book review and Amazon all appear to support one of the two traditional forms of capitalization. Of course, given Hitchens' distaste for blind submission to tradition, it's anyone's guess which form of the title he prefers... If you can find an article in which Hitchens states the name of his book (in the form in which we both prefer it to be stated), that will end the discussion. Without a citation, I don't believe that a hidden message will do any good at all unless a significant number of individuals enter the debate and support your argument. --(Ptah, the El Daoud 23:45, 28 May 2007 (UTC))

I will look around and see if I can find some kind of reference. The thought crossed my mind today to just call him and ask him if the lowercase letters were his intention, or just an aesthetic choice made by his publisher, but decided against it. Frankly, even if I did call him, the conversation would not be "admissable" (so to speak) under Wikipedia's rules as any kind of verification. Hell, I could say I did call him, and it would not mean a damn thing. So, a reference hunting I go... ---Cathal 03:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like a plan. I'll keep an eye out for a suitable reference, but it will be a day or two before I have the time to launch a serious effort to find a citation... Let me know if you have any luck. --(Ptah, the El Daoud 05:03, 29 May 2007 (UTC))

Dear Ptah, the El Doud (my Muslim name is Mahdi bin Doud!)

thank you for decapitalizing the 'god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" page as per Mssr. Hitchens exact title of his book, I would have done it myself had I known how to at the time.

It is interesting that the small 'g' is by common consensus indicating an indefinite 'god' ie one of many 'gods' in a polytheistic belief system.. for eg in Hinduism: monkey god, elephant god etc

It is not the letter or the meaning used, for eg as in the Arabic, الله "Al Lah" (lit:'The' God) a definite noun denoting only one, accented by the definite article "ال" 'the'

As such Mr. Hitchens, very amusingly by 'coincidence' as some would call it, is denoting by this letter & word, unwittingly, another 'god' in his exact title.

Since that is the title published, the wiki article refers to the book of the same name, there indeed should be no difference.

Peace

Enthogenesis 15:35, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Enthogenesis, I tend to view the lowercase 'g' as indicative of the very concept of god, i.e. "(the concept and adulation of any particular) god is not Great." Regardless, I am glad to see that the advocates of "god is not Great" are growing in number! wa `Alaykum As-Salām --(Ptah, the El Daoud 01:50, 30 May 2007 (UTC))

PS - You can blame the repetitive article in my user name on Alice Coltrane. She made some fantastic records in her day (indeed, my user name is based off of one), but it would have done her a little good to consult with an Egyptologist (or any speaker of Arabic, for that matter) before she formally released her record! --(Ptah, the El Daoud 02:04, 30 May 2007 (UTC))

"piss-ant-brain"

I really had to pause when I saw that one! I've certainly been insulted on Wikipedia before---recently, I've been a cocksucker---but that one gets points for creativity. Mr. Anonymous User is a real corker. ---Cathal 04:10, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

I was shocked. It sounds like the kind of "damnable" phrase I would have pulled out of my ass when I went to elementary school. We're either dealing with a precocious youth here or a College Republican. --(Ptah, the El Daoud 04:49, 2 June 2007 (UTC))

We're either dealing with a precocious youth here or a College Republican. There's a difference? He's certainly got the opinionated self-righteousness of a College Republican. ---Cathal 05:10, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Oh, there most certainly is! There is hope for the precocious. --(Ptah, the El Daoud 06:10, 2 June 2007 (UTC))