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March 11

Books about the post-WWI peace settlement by contemporary authors that were written during WWI?

Which books about the post-WWI peace settlement (predictions or proposals for it) were written by contemporary authors during WWI (in anticipation for the future, when WWI would have ended and there would need to be a crafting of the post-WWI peace settlement)? 172.56.186.238 (talk) 04:02, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

By far the most famous during-the-war statement about the principles of a future peace (though not a book) was Wilson's Fourteen Points, and the Wikipedia article has a lot about issues considered for a post-war settlement. Anyway, there was a limited ability to plan ahead, since it wasn't too clear that Germany was losing the war until the 1918 German spring offensive failed to land a knockout blow (just before that, Germany had removed Russia from the war in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). AnonMoos (talk) 06:43, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Friedrich Naumann, Mitteleuropa (1915). — Kpalion^(talk) 11:26, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Thanks; got any other examples? List all of the other ones that you can think of, please. 172.56.186.104 (talk) 00:44, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Although it was written after the peace was largely concluded, you might be interested in The Economic Consequences of the Peace. Matt's talk 16:50, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

You may find some of H. G. Wells's collections of essays and articles of interest, eg. In the Fourth Year, What is Coming?, War and the Future, The Idea of a League of Nations, etc. You should also look at the various nations published "War Aims", eg British War Aims by David Lloyd George. DuncanHill (talk) 17:17, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

Roman Dmowski, Problems of Central and Eastern Europe (1917). — Kpalion^(talk) 17:21, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

Write in candidates

In the few states that do not require registration of write in candidates, how do election officials know who the person is in the unlikely event they win? — THORNFIELD HALL ^(Talk) 07:37, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Are you using "states" as a synonym for "countries", or are you referring to subdivisions of a particular country? If the latter, which one out of the roughly 200 countries of the World? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.186.221 (talk) 08:53, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Not many of these roughly 200 countries of the World have (a) subdivisions referred to as "states"; (b) electoral systems regulated not nationally, but separately by these states; that (c) include, specifically, systems that allow write-in candidates.  --Lambiam 11:19, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

True, but for those of us without these facts pertaining to all countries at our fingertips, are we expected to check them for all 200, or to wait for the Querant to tell us which they meant? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.186.221 (talk) 23:18, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Experience tells me that the majority of people on the refdesk asking questions about unspecified countries mean the US. USAns are far more likely than most people to forget that the world is larger than their home country. This can be somewhat explained by the fact that they don't have to use a foreign language here, but I doubt that's the only reason. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:25, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Lambiam, see sovereign state. Many states, in this national sense, have elections that are handled by the state and not by subdivisions. Nyttend (talk) 23:16, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

If I point out that not many people have green hair, will you react by linking to Human hair colour and writing that many people have black hair?  --Lambiam 00:25, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

American states. — THORNFIELD HALL ^(Talk) 09:04, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

It is (IMO) a safe bet that such candidates will only win after a strong write-in campaign, which, to even stand a chance, must identify the candidate. This means that false claimants can easily be ruled out.  --Lambiam 11:28, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Rules will vary state-by-state. Our write-in candidate article links to the relevant rules. However, having had a quick search through the rules for New Hampshire, New Jersey and Oregon, I can't see any explicit rules on identifying the candidate.

If two identically-named individuals claimed to be the winner then it would probably be obvious whose claim was valid, as Lambian said, though I suspect it might end up going to court. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 11:37, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

(edit conflict) See Write-in candidate. I find American electoral law rather opaque. This website [1] suggests accessing your state election office's website and entering "write-in-candidate" in the search bar. There's a state-by-state guide at [2]. Two more detailed explanations from Pennsylvania: [3], [4]. 2A00:23D0:F66:7901:DB0:CE41:B3FB:AC2F (talk) 12:11, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

These more detailed explanations state that the Board of Elections will send a letter asking for confirmation to a write-in winner, but do not explain how the Board of Elections will decide which address to send the letter to in case of an undeclared write-in winner, who may even have namesakes.  --Lambiam 13:46, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

First Letter of Michael I Cerularius to Peter of Antioch

Hi there, where can I find a full text version of the First Letter (item #2) of Cerularius? If using Migne, please give the exact volume and page number AND a link to the exact page where the letter starts. Thank you! 64.231.206.241 (talk) 09:32, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

"Migne" = Patrologia Graeca.  --Lambiam 10:44, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Is this it? Volume 120, page 781–2: letter labeled Γ′.  --Lambiam 11:04, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

British MPs changing party

Lee "beautiful capital city" Anderson has now joined Reform UK. So many of those who voted him into office as a Tory MP may be a bit upset. But what can they do? What if he had defected to the Official Monster Raving Loony Party? Or to some other made-up crackpot party?? 205.239.40.3 (talk) 13:10, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

They can vote for someone else at the next election. Until then, they just have to be upset. Blueboar (talk) 13:24, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. Democracy in action. What's next, I wonder. What if he decides to join Hamas? 205.239.40.3 (talk) 13:27, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

He (or indeed any other Briton, MP or not, who did so) would almost certainly be charged with membership of a proscribed organisation contrary to section 11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000. The maximum sentence is 14 years' imprisonment. If he were convicted and sentenced to more than a year's imprisonment, he would automatically be disqualified from sitting as an MP under the Representation of the People Act 1981, and so would lose his seat. If he were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment of a year or less, he would be subject to the recall provisions of the Recall of MPs Act 2015; if a recall petition were successful, he would lose his seat. None of this, of course, is even remotely plausible. Proteus (Talk) 13:57, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes, because there's such a backlog in the criminal courts, there'd be a General Election before he even appeared. 205.239.40.3 (talk) 14:00, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

There tends to be a miraculous opening in the listings whenever a high-profile case needs to be heard. Make of that what you will. Proteus (Talk) 15:32, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

They can run in circles, scream and shout. Or they may rejoice, because they themselves too think Reform UK is the better party. Or they may regret he did not instead join the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. Or they may just shrug and go about their business.  --Lambiam 13:28, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

I think they only do running through fields of wheat.... 205.239.40.3 (talk) 13:33, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

In the British electoral system you elect an individual to represent the constituency at Westminster. Technically you don't vote for a party, though if a candidate wishes to align himself with a particular party that may help you to decide. Anderson is free to act as he sees fit in (hopefully) the best interests of the country and his constituency. As Blueboar said, the electorate can voice their opinion at the next election. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 15:48, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

In 2020 Anderson voted for Anthony Mangnall's Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill, which stated it was "clearly a breach of the spirit of the contract between ourselves and our constituents" to change political party. The legislation would have meant that any defecting MP would become subject to a recall petition. If it was successful, with at least 10 per cent of eligible voters having signed it, this would trigger a by-election. [5] 86.170.222.3 (talk) 17:25, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Such people can choose to remain in parliament and take their chances at the next election, or resign (it's not technically that in the UK, but the process produces an equivalent result) and cause a by-election. Then they are usually on the horns of a dilemma: on the one hand, face attacks from those who object to a member changing allegiances in mid-stream, contrary to the wishes of those who voted for them, and insist they resign immediately; or, on the other hand, face attacks from those who object to having their precious lives disrupted by having to vote in by-election ... except, they don't have to vote at all in the UK. In Australia, where voting is compulsory, these are the usual scenarios. Nobody wins. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:31, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Strewth! But then it is pretty hot down there, isn't it... Martinevans123 (talk) 20:02, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

There's an Official Monster Raving Loony Party in the US. Clarityfiend (talk) 20:49, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Meh… during his years in parliament, Winston Churchill changed party multiple times. It isn’t always a bad thing. Blueboar (talk) 21:08, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Whoah! He'd be well chuffed, I'm sure. "A seditious Middle Temple Lawyer" now "posing as a half-naked fakir".... Lee Anderson on Keir Starmer? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:24, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

See also Crossing the floor and List of elected British politicians who have changed party affiliation. Alansplodge (talk) 13:22, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Ranleigh, England

The Australian contralto Kate Rooney (later Kirkham) was reported in 1909 as saying she had some successes at Ranleigh:

"I have sung each year at Ranleigh for a long time now, and always thoroughly enjoyed the season there, it is so interesting to see the most important people in London in that way. Royalty is often there, the King of Spain is a member, and always goes to Ranleigh when he is in England, and nearly everyone else is a celebrity in his or her own way."

I can find no place or institution of similar name of the relevant period (1902 to 1908). Can anyone shed some light? I'm also stymied by vital dates for the lady in question. What I have so far is at User:Doug butler/Kate Rooney (singer). Doug butler (talk) 22:39, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Maybe Ranelagh Gardens (the article states that an alternate spelling is Ranleigh)? Clarityfiend (talk) 23:07, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

I thought that too, but that article seems to say it closed down a hundred years earlier Doug butler (talk) 23:16, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

(ec)"Ranleigh" is, of course, a good representation of the English pronunciation of Ranelagh. And we read in The Queenslander of 17th July 1909 that "For the seventh year in succession Miss Kate Rooney is now fulfilling her engagement during the "London season" as solo vocalist at Ranelagh Club, where her singing is received with the greatest enthusiasm. This engagement will occupy her time till the eve of her departure for Australia". DuncanHill (talk) 23:13, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

You've nailed it! Thank you. Doug butler (talk) 23:20, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

March 12

Afghan Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Turkemen: Emigration from Afghanistan?

Why aren't Afghan Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Turkmen emigrating from Afghanistan and into their own nation-states (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) in large numbers? They would have a better quality of life there, both economically and in terms of personal freedoms (maybe with the possible exception of totalitarian Turkmenistan; both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while still dictatorships, are likely freer right now than Afghanistan is, which is oppressive as Hell ever since 2021 under the Deobandi-influenced Islamic fundamentalist Taliban). Is it because those countries don't want them moving over there? If so, why exactly? Existing high unemployment?

Kazakhstan accepted large numbers (around a million) of Oralman from other countries post-independence, but what made Kazakhstan unique in being willing to do this relative to southern Central Asia? 172.56.186.104 (talk) 00:48, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure that the "pull" factors are as strong as you think. Just because someone is ethnically X, it doesn't automatically follow that he wants to live in the country of X-stan. Uzbekistan was a semi-hellhole under Islam Karimov, and Turkmenistan is still kind of one today -- we have whole articles on Corruption in Uzbekistan and Corruption in Turkmenistan. And Tajikistan is a rather small country. AnonMoos (talk) 03:05, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes, Uzbekistan was a shithole under Karimov, but his successor Mirziyoyev appears to be making Uzbekistan better. Uzbekistan's Freedom in the World rating has significantly improved under Mirziyoyev, albeit from extraordinarily low levels. And Tajikistan's population density isn't that high. Granted, most of Tajikistan is mountainous, but surely Dushanbe is capable of massively increasing in size, no? (You are correct about Turkmenistan, though. It's much wealthier than Afghanistan but still a very totalitarian place. I mentioned this in my OP here.)

As for why someone from a particular ethnic group would want to live in their ethnic homeland, that's because this is how it has often happened throughout history, especially over the last couple of centuries. When the various national borders were being redrawn after WWI, they were often redrawn on ethnic lines, sometimes with plebiscites. The areas that didn't get plebiscites sometimes saw border revisions later on, such as the Sudetenland and (violently) Danzig. Putin regathered Crimea in 2014 on national self-determination grounds, which might be legit (certainly nowhere near 97% support at the time of this referendum, though) though there is no way of knowing for sure yet because the 2014 referendum there was almost certainly rigged. And there have been cases of diaspora immigration to the homeland: In addition to Kazakhstan, both Germany and Israel come to mind as having this on a huge scale. Granted, some of this immigration was likely for financial reasons, but this factor also applies here, or at least it should. 172.56.186.104 (talk) 04:49, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

There's also another very concrete way that southern Central Asia is better than Afghanistan: Women's rights. Southern Central Asian governments are nowhere near as oppressive towards women as the Taliban are, perhaps because Communism has instilled a sense of secularization in them. While most Afghans who care about women's rights would probably prefer to move to the West, one would think that southern Central Asia would be an attractive alternative destination for them if they can't actually enter the West--or at least would be if southern Central Asia will have its doors be open to Afghan immigrants, even only to those of their own titular nationalities (Turkmens, Uzbeks, and Tajiks). 172.56.186.104 (talk) 05:40, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Grandchildren of Jews in the Diaspora being raised Jewish

What percentage of grandchildren of Jews in the Diaspora are raised Jewish? Does anyone here have any data for this?

AFAIK, it appears likely that a majority/most of the ones who live in Israel identify as Jewish (even if they did not necessarily identify that way before they moved to Israel), but I'm curious about the ones who live in the Diaspora specifically here.

(For the source about how the ones in Israel identify, I made the relevant deduction based on this:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/even-among-its-advocates-changing-the-law-of-return-proves-trickier-than-expected/#:~:text=Rabbi%20Shmuel%20David%2C%20the%20chief,from%20the%20former%20Soviet%20Union.

"Elkin, Malinovsky, Rif and Belenky all noted that while Israelis of "no religion" may not be Jewish according to Jewish law, or halacha, they nevertheless consider themselves to be Jewish. Indeed, a survey by the One Million Lobby found that 94 percent of Russian-speaking Israelis said they identify as Jewish, even though only 74 percent said they are considered Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate.")

172.56.186.104 (talk) 00:59, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Do you mean "Raised in the knowledge that they are ethnically Jewish" or "Raised to follow Jewish religious beliefs and practices"? AnonMoos (talk) 02:42, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Either one. Especially if they are not raised in any other religion, such as Christianity. 172.56.186.104 (talk) 04:43, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Which Jewish diaspora are you referring to?  --Lambiam 10:02, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Korean War and Vietnam War draft registration cards for American men?

Do American men of military age during the Korean War and Vietnam War have draft registration cards comparable to those that American men of military age during both WWI and WWII have? 172.56.186.104 (talk) 01:41, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

I couldn't find anything in the "Selective Service System" article, but Draft-card burning wouldn't have been possible without it... AnonMoos (talk) 02:40, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Thanks; I wonder if the draft cards themselves looked similar to the WWI and WWII era US ones.

Fun fact: WWI and WWII era US draft cards are a great way to find a document from early on in one's life, or at least from the middle of one's life, that has a full date of birth for people who subsequently became supercentenarians or at least close to it and who don't have either birth records or baptismal records. US Census entries don't give full dates of birth, and before the 1970 US Census, only the 1900 US Census even gave a month of birth in addition to the birth year (exceptions for babies were made in earlier US Censuses). 172.56.186.104 (talk) 04:54, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

See File:DraftcardRenJuan.jpg for Vietnam and File:King,_Stoddard_WW1_draft_card.jpg for WWI RudolfRed (talk) 05:08, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

I already know what both WWI and WWII draft cards look like from FamilySearch.org. But if you also have a photo of a Korean War draft card, I'd like to please see it. 172.56.186.104 (talk) 05:13, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Here's Elvis's 1953 draft card [6] and here's a 1969 card: [7]. Abductive (reasoning) 07:44, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Korean War and Vietnam War draft cards don't list people's race like WWI and WWII draft cards do. Was this due to the US becoming less racist? 172.56.186.104 (talk) 07:53, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

The racist filth resisted: see Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces. Abductive (reasoning) 08:24, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

By the way, I think that File:King, Stoddard WW1 draft card.jpg is a document that would be kept in government files, and not the same thing as what a man would have carried around with him to show that he had registered (the "draft card" in the usual sense)... AnonMoos (talk) 19:13, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

A better image of a Vietnam era draft card is on Flickr (apologies, already posted above). Alansplodge (talk) 14:46, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

Afghan separatist movements?

Has Afghanistan ever had any serious separatist movements? I don't mean local warlords ruling over just a part of the country, but actual Afghan territories that want to secede from Afghanistan.

I'm wondering if had the Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition succeeded and Afghanistan entered World War I on the Central Powers side, the Entente Powers would have tried to support any separatist movements in Afghanistan similar to what they did with the Arab Revolt in the Ottoman Empire. 172.56.186.104 (talk) 04:59, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Afghanistan was kind of a buffer state between Russia and British India, which means that declaring war on both simultaneously would have been an extremely risky move... AnonMoos (talk) 10:06, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

It's perhaps worth remembering that in "a country" where local warlords ruling over parts is the norm, the people ruled by those warlords are less likely to think of the current officially appointed central government at all. And if you're unlikely to even recognize such form of higher power, the less you'll consider establishing one yourself. That said, Ahmad Shah Durrani did "break away" parts of what was what the British considered Afghanistan to form his own eponymous empire (which, despite the name, couldn't have succeeded without a broader social movement). InedibleHulk (talk) 14:39, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

The article Failed State nay be relevant. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 18:57, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

What's the average size of a current written national constitution?

Results are swamped by stuff like length in years instead of in verbosity and the average word count of a state in my country the US. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 23:42, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Figure it out yourself from List of national constitutions. This has a nice graph. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 15:46, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. I didn't know we had a list of word counts. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:10, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

That's why you should learn to better search for stuff yourself. I didn't know either until I searched for "length in words of national constitutions", and the very first results were a list of the word count of constitutions and the Wikipedia link I provided. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 17:37, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

I did "average length of a constitution", "average length of a national constitution", "average length of a national constitution in words" and "average length of a national constitution in characters" all without quotes which didn't work and still doesn't but your search term worked very well when I tried. Actually average length of a national constitution in "words" also works even though the same thing without quotes already has the word "words" in results but only about states (USA provinces). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:01, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

March 13

A question on Wikipedians and personal micro economics

What are the ways most full time Wikipedians balance pressures of their personal economic life and need to earn?

Whether these economic pressures in personal life are dealt with differently by Wikipedians in developed countries and developing countries?

Any particular surveys on this topic?

Bookku (talk) 03:05, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s about 38-42 hour of work per week, and the rest (126-128) for other things. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 07:39, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

They collect data on Wikipedians' economic activity? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 08:13, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

There have been several surveys; see e.g. WP:Wikipedians. I did not find any studies that considered this topic or that collected information that allowed drawing relevant conclusions. How does one define "full time Wikipedian"? One global Wikipedia survey found that respondents to a questionnaire spend on average under four hours per week contributing to Wikipedia.^[8] Lack of time was reported by some respondents as a reason for not contributing more, but this is not clearly related to their time spent on earning an income. A study by the Wikimedia Foundation found that only 6% of Wikipedians contribute to Wikipedia for more than 4 hours on a daily basis.^[9] The oldest cohort was the most prolific, so there may be an effect of retirees contributing relatively more.  --Lambiam 08:22, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

Some thing like minimum 6-8 hours Wikipedia activity a day or more, I would consider almost full time. Bookku (talk) 09:51, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

But people don't punch in and out of Wikipedia, there are only timestamps. So, you might see me edit at 7:15 AM and again at 4:33 PM of the same day and you'd have no way of knowing whether I was on WP for two minutes total or nine hours total (and just spent a long time in the edit window, typing away). You're going to need something like an edit count, like an average of 100+ non-minor edits (that's five minutes per edit for eight hours) per day for X days or something along those lines. Then identify all those people and ask them all how much they make. Good luck with that. Matt Deres (talk) 15:40, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

Consider also that a good many Wikipedians are [per Lambiam above] doubtless retired (like myself), so the amount of time we spend on Wikipedia has no impact on our 'personal economic life', it's merely a matter of how we allocate our leisure activities. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.186 (talk) 22:43, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

I am a sample of one, whatever that is worth. I have been editing for nearly 15 years. I have been self employed for over 30 years and I used to travel extensively around Northen California doing construction related repair work, as well as business related paperwork from my home office. A bit over three years ago, I semi-retired and my oldest son now does the actual repairs and I just do an hour or two of sales and customer communications a day. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, I averaged about 6500 edits per year. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, I averaged about 11,000 edits a year. So, in my case, a dramatic reduction in time devoted to paying work led to a significant increase in Wikipedia editing. Cullen328 (talk) 20:18, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

1916 electoral districts in Warsaw?

I'm working of a draft on the 1916 municipal elections in Warsaw (Draft:1916 Warsaw election), held under German occupation. I've been able to triangulate most of the results, just few fixes remaining. Notably the electorate was divided into 6 curia with 15 seats each. But I can't get hold of the mapping of the electoral districts (which would be super interesting, as it would allow to give a snapshot of the economic and ethnic structure of the city at the time).

Basically I have 3 references:

• Goniec Poranny. 1916, no 317 p. 1 - June 27, 1916 - here there is a listing of the distribution of voters of Curia I, II, IV, V, VI across 52 electoral districts. Curia III doesn't seem to be divided by districts. But the number of Curia III voters match the later election results coverage.

Putting these numbers into a table, it looks like this (notably some totals don't add up):

Registered voters in Curia I, II, IV, V, VI by electoral district

District (Bezirk/Okrąg) Curia I Curia II Curia IV Curia V Curia VI Total of all 5 Curias Total as stated in Goniec Poranny Difference between totals 1 95 15 54 104 1425 1693 1694 -1 2 14 101 294 270 1363 2042 2169 -127 3 52 20 107 32 597 808 808 0 4 106 1 230 40 1335 1712 1712 0 5 73 24 355 102 1208 1762 1762 0 6 74 12 464 188 1477 2215 2215 0 7 95 16 312 123 1226 1772 1772 0 8 113 36 460 224 1546 2379 2379 0 9 58 7 139 12 801 1017 1017 0 10 94 56 1225 397 835 2607 2607 0 11 67 17 783 151 854 1872 1862 10 12 89 18 872 232 950 2161 2161 0 13 88 24 657 252 1683 2704 2704 0 14 34 1 99 16 848 998 998 0 15 52 4 233 74 976 1339 1335 4 16 44 3 124 20 917 1108 1108 0 17 117 12 281 133 1620 2163 2163 0 18 112 7 369 126 1276 1890 1890 0 19 69 5 214 42 999 1329 1329 0 20 146 21 508 227 1543 2445 2445 0 21 46 11 604 81 1084 1826 1826 0 22 85 12 379 53 1340 1869 1869 0 23 63 3 178 31 1043 1318 1318 0 24 109 49 669 244 1231 2302 2302 0 25 152 35 455 273 1508 2423 2423 0 26 132 42 411 209 1514 2308 2308 0 27 164 29 131 274 813 1411 1411 0 28 38 1 153 15 946 1153 1153 0 29 113 47 227 183 671 1241 1241 0 30 146 67 309 224 704 1450 1450 0 31 117 18 249 153 1314 1851 1851 0 32 157 47 334 388 1048 1974 1974 0 33 192 24 387 227 1194 2024 2024 0 34 89 81 226 130 521 1047 1047 0 35 151 65 536 157 1241 2150 2150 0 36 194 40 359 291 1295 2179 2169 10 37 150 40 268 268 853 1579 1579 0 38 27 4 75 23 623 752 752 0 39 102 2 223 44 1113 1484 1384 100 40 157 7 216 45 1070 1495 1495 0 41 110 10 481 84 1194 1879 2179 -300 42 73 1 63 10 489 636 636 0 43 186 6 350 1 1370 1913 1913 0 45 119 0 55 0 262 436 436 0 46 65 0 64 0 250 379 379 0 47 214 4 95 0 431 744 744 0 48 140 4 119 1 566 830 830 0 49 123 0 125 0 508 756 756 0 50 149 0 143 0 293 585 585 0 51 127 0 98 0 112 337 437 -100 52 172 1 88 0 325 586 586 0 Total of the 52 districts above 5454 1050 15850 6174 50405 78933 79337 -404 Total as stated in Goniec Poranny 5674 1283 16050 5794 51077 79878 79878 Difference between totals -220 -233 -200 380 -672 -945 -541

• Then we have Wybory do rady miejskiej in Kurjer Warszawski, July 16, 1916. p. 4, giving a district by district result of the vote in Curia VI. Notably there was no election in Curia I, II, IV, V as there has been a consensus pact of all parties on a single slate. So it was only in Curia III (Intellectuals, where no geographic division was made, rather the curia was divided into groups that all voted in same location July 10 or 11 or 12) and Curia VI (general population, i.e. the working class) where an election was held. Kurjer Warszawski gives result in 54 electoral districts. There seem to be some correlation with the list from Goniec Poranny, but the 2 lists are not matching.

Results in the 6th Curia election by electoral district

District List I (PPS-Frakcja) List II (SDKPiL) List III (Bund/PPS-Lewica) List IV (Folkists) List V (National Democracy) List VI (Assoc. Jewish Voters) Total 1 257 58 19 57 715 12 1,118 2 294 48 16 27 721 13 1,119 3 66 26 9 43 282 15 441 4 149 68 28 223 512 20 1,000 5 35 28 95 463 154 71 846 6 35 22 157 301 56 63 634 6-a 32 35 112 181 84 41 485 7 56 43 208 426 81 64 878 8 37 43 181 361 103 61 786 9 204 82 11 35 277 7 616 10 2 11 92 427 20 40 592 11 4 12 93 433 13 69 624 12 15 12 136 395 28 85 671 13 12 9 233 420 13 37 724 13-a 11 4 147 234 11 29 436 14 60 27 135 208 73 17 520 15 9 7 208 364 31 33 652 16 107 30 70 208 147 25 587 17 83 60 72 199 274 70 758 17-a 44 47 42 108 216 44 501 18 131 104 74 179 460 67 1,015 19 123 90 30 43 279 27 592 20 74 62 95 120 270 62 683 20-a 71 41 4 81 210 51 458 21 30 17 118 407 79 71 722 22 202 149 41 118 455 40 1,005 23 237 114 43 63 292 23 772 24 28 43 122 390 130 128 841 25 53 47 114 217 132 72 635 25-a 33 31 73 118 122 42 419 26 87 62 40 53 339 46 627 26-a 92 38 29 37 273 23 492 27 111 44 8 13 414 14 604 28 110 136 49 73 316 12 696 29 97 24 6 3 395 7 532 30 109 30 6 21 366 16 548 31 304 47 23 36 595 7 1,012 32 118 51 23 15 624 15 846 33 190 62 23 39 384 26 724 34 34 19 14 32 303 12 414 35 119 60 71 170 377 72 869 36 171 40 15 70 657 31 984 37 111 21 15 20 473 9 649 38 257 58 19 88 712 12 1,146 39 199 19 44 223 236 19 740 40 216 59 28 145 262 27 737 41 252 45 68 262 217 25 869 42 154 32 15 36 101 11 349 43 216 241 18 42 366 18 901 44 14 2 1 32 37 0 86 45 19 15 15 62 22 2 135 46 95 10 3 3 22 8 141 47 65 40 3 29 73 3 213 48 133 35 30 28 107 7 340

• Then we have this ordinance and as well as this, that instructs where and when Curia VI voters are supposed to vote. But the number of districts is far smaller than in the 2 tables above and doesn't seem to cover even all commissariats. The latter ordinance links commissariats to electoral districts, seems they are the old pre-commissariats mentioned as 1908-1916 on pl.wiki (https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podzia%C5%82_administracyjny_Warszawy).

Is there any source or anything that could link up the electoral districts with a map, a listing of addresses or at least a clear division of electoral districts per commissariats? Any input that would help putting pieces together would be appreciated. -- Soman (talk) 11:19, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

Soman -- You might have better luck asking somebody on Polish Wikipedia who has relevant knowledge. Unfortunately, Polish Wikipedia does not have a functioning "Embassy" page to encourage cross-language contacts, the way that many other Wikipedia language versions do, so I'm not sure where you'd start... AnonMoos (talk) 19:04, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

March 14

Sir Amedee Forestier?

I was recently working on Amédée Forestier, an article about a 19th-20th century artist, in which numerous sources denoted him as a "sir." However, nowhere was it mentioned that he was knighted, and the only order I found him in was the Royal Academy of Arts, and even then there were scant references for his membership. Is the Sir title necessary to the article if many sources use it or is it just a denotation that he was a member of the RA? Zemmiphobia007 (talk) 21:06, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

Membership of the RA does not grant the title "Sir". I can't find any evidence that he was ever knighted. The Times obituary calls him Mr (and doesn't mention the RA, which I would expect it to do if he actually was a member). I suspect the "Sir" is an error which has been reproduced. DuncanHill (talk) 21:25, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

The earliest mentions I could find of "Sir Amédée Forestier" were courtesy of the Smithsonian. For example, "sir+amédée+forestier"&dq="sir+amédée+forestier"&printsec=frontcover this 1950 Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. GalacticShoe (talk) 21:39, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

March 15

Cross-country reception of Scandinavian artists in Scandinavia

Is it reasonable to assume that Scandinavian artists are more famous and more adopted also in the respective other Scandinavian countries than in most of the rest of the world? My special interest at the moment: Is Edvard Grieg and his Peer Gynt probably more famous in Denmark and Sweden than in an average other European country? --KnightMove (talk) 07:31, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

• The site https://bachtrack.com allows searching for performances of composers / works in a frame of dates. Sample queries (Grieg, nothing else or Grieg plus Peer Gynt) indicate that performances are conducted in the major concert halls of Europe, the US, etc. I fail to notice any bias towards performances in Scandinavian / Nordic concert halls but multiple queries for "similar" composers, Jan Sibelius et all, are required. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 08:51, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

I think the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 is uniformly famous across Europe. Many people will at least know the melodies of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Morning Mood". I have no notion whether the full music, or Suite No. 2, are somewhat popular in Scandinavian countries, but they are not in most of Europe. The play is probably most popular in Norway, which holds an annual Peer Gynt Festival.  --Lambiam 09:29, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Another Scandinavian artist Jean Sibelius is seen as a national hero in his native Finland. his Finlandia has been suggested as the Finnish national anthem. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 10:31, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

True (I, a Brit, have visited his monument in Helsinki), but he is also very famous in the rest of Europe, with Finlandia and the Karelia Suite in particular being frequently played on UK radio and in live concerts during the last 60 years to my personal knowledge.

From my less-than-comprehensive knowledge of modern music, rock and pop groups from any particular Scandinavian country are often broadly well known in Scandinavia as a whole but more obscure outside it, although some occasionally break out into worldwide fame, such as ABBA and a-ha: my favourite band Nightwish, for example, has been described as one of the biggest selling group in Scandinavia (not just their native Finland), but remain fairly niche in the rest of the world. This however is anecdotal, I don't know where one would find reliable data. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.186.221 (talk) 11:37, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

I think that metal is fairly niche in most of the world, no matter where the band comes from. But Nightwish is pretty well-known in the Netherlands, even among the general public. That may have something to do with their current lead vocalist. Within the metal community, the Scandinavian bands are well known. PiusImpavidus (talk) 18:49, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Indeed, but Metal itself is reportedly less niche in Scandinavia than elsewhere. Further, Nightwish's prominence in the Netherlands outside the metal community only came about after Floor, in Nightwish from 2012, appeared in the 2019 season of the Dutch TV show Beste Zangers performing solo (well, with the show's house band) or dueting. Her less-metal solo shows (backed by the same Marcel Fisser Band) have also become very popular, so in a sense Nightwish is riding her Dutch coat-tails in the Netherlands. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.186.221 (talk) 23:55, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Grieg and Sibelius are both performed around the world, transcending national origin, but other major Scandinavian composers such as Niels Wilhelm Gade, Carl Nielsen and Hilding Rosenberg probably fit the OP's hypothesis better. I don't think it's a phenomenon unique to Scandinavia, however. Xuxl (talk) 13:02, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

The fame of classical composers (using the broadest sense), or at least knowledge of their existence and something of one of their works (among the general populace in English-speaking countries) is going to be skewed by their use in cartoons and other incidental uses. Grieg's Morning Mood gets used all the time in such stuff. Our article really only touches on the more noteworthy uses. In itself, that kind of thing maybe doesn't qualify as fame as you mean it, but if we're talking about the general public, we're talking about the difference between having some slight recognition and nothing whatsoever. Similarly, a high percentage of people will recognize Night on Bald Mountain from its use in Fantasia, but virtually all of those people will have no other knowledge about Modest Mussorgsky's existence. So, depending on your definition of "fame", you're likely going to need to account for that effect. Matt Deres (talk) 14:09, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

* I disagree. The general public is totally irrelevant to the scheduling of Grieg, Sibelius or any old masters of any art form. The general public is relevant to Hollywood, Amazon, Walmart and political elections where morons (statisticlaly 50%) participate and provide >>50% of the revenue. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 16:26, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

"Morning Mood" has become irrevocably associated with free-wheeling skylarks flying through majestic fjords with mist rising and lush greenery on all sides, yada yada. Yet Grieg wrote it to depict sunrise in a desert! -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:32, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

"The Danish National Symphony Orchestra is specialized in Scandinavian repertoire". [10] On Classic FM (UK), when Sibelius is played it's very often a recording by the DNSO.

Also: "In performance terms, the Bergen Philharmonic under Neeme Järvi are hard to beat, particularly in Scandinavian repertoire". [11] Alansplodge (talk) 21:36, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

March 16

United States: rape kit backlog

Are there estimates available for the financial expenditure that would be required to catch up on the backlog on testing rape kits? Rich (talk) 08:35, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

To estimate the cost, we would need to know how many untested rape kits are left. The article on the rape kit seems outdated, but states than nobody is certain how many kits are involved in the back log:

• "The actual number of untested rape kits is undefined as of 2015 because there is no nationwide system set up to keep track of the cases."
• "Conservative estimates indicate there are 200,000–400,000 untested rape kits in U.S. police departments, and large stockpiles of kits have been documented in over five dozen jurisdictions, sometimes totaling more than 10,000 untested rape kits in a single city."
• "A 2016 HuffPost report stated that it was not uncommon for labs to dispose of untested kits, sometimes illegally, in Colorado, Kentucky and North Carolina. As of 2016, no U.S. state provides a right to retain a rape kit until the expiration of the statute of limitations, and only six states and Washington, D.C., provide a right for the prompt testing of a kit."
• Naturally, American voters seem happy that at least 400,000 rape cases will never be solved. There is no effort to create nationwide standards. Dimadick (talk) 14:17, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

You made two rather poor jumps. First, you state that there is an estimate of 200,000 to 400,000 untested rape kits and then continue with there being at least 400,000. Using your estimate, there is at most 400,000 and at least 200,000. Then, you claim that with an untested rape kit, the rape will never be solved. Rapes were solved very often before the invention of rape kits and continue to be solved without the use of rape kits. That should factor into your statements. If a rape is solved before the rape kit is tested, why test the rape kit when there are others that need to be tested? 75.136.148.8 (talk) 19:58, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

If it is solved, and a man convicted,,or at least blamed if he is deceased, without testing the rape kit, there is a chance of the man having been wrongly convicted, and the actual rapist free to rape again, especially since it is suspicious that the State doesn't want to test and possibly exonerate the convicted man.Rich (talk) 03:11, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes but that's not the only reason. See for example [12] "which can be instrumental in identifying offenders in previously unsolved crimes, confirming identify in known-offender assaults, discovering serial rapists, and exonerating individuals wrongly accused" or [13] "While it is widely understood that rape kits collected in stranger assailant cases should be analyzed for DNA evidence, some in law enforcement do not understand the value of testing rape kits from known perpetrator cases. We believe these must also be tested. Research shows serial rapists are more prominent than previously known, and they assault both acquaintances and strangers. In other words, a known rapist in one case could be an unknown in another case." While some states allow the DNA to be taken of anyone arrested [14] [15] and I assume some others after conviction, which might mean anyone successfully prosecuted will already be in the system. But this will depend on the state and I'm guessing sometimes even the specific police department. (If the state only allows it rather than requires it, individual departments might have their own rules.) There might also be rules about how long the profile can be kept depending on whether they are convicted and the crime they're convicted of. I assume alleged offender DNA from a rape kit can be kept indefinitely perhaps with the only exception being if there's no dispute over identity and they're not convicted. Note also, the sources tend to concentrate on known offender rather than solved even without DNA evidence. This seems to be because of the difference in how they're treated, the decision whether to test the kit might happen quite early after all. But highlights an important point. It might be the alleged known offender is never prosecuted because it's felt a conviction is unlikely especially if the victim is uncooperative, and so they might never be arrested. I imagine depending on the particulars and the jurisdiction, this case might be marked as some variety of 'solved'. Yet in this case, unless the alleged offender was arrested for something else, their DNA is probably never entering the system. But if it turns out they did commit some other crime where they left the DNA, testing the kit might help solve this crime. Indeed, since in the US it seems to often be quite easy to get admission of other offences into court; it might even mean a successful prosecution in the case the kit is for despite the DNA not confirming anything about the case not already known. While this isn't mention in the earlier sources that I noticed, at least in NZ there's also considered to be possible value in testing the kit beyond DNA like looking for type of cells found depending on the specifics of the case. [16] Nil Einne (talk) 13:25, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Having a ballpark figure of the backlog of several hundred thousand, the next questions are how much does it cost to test each rape kit, and how long does it take? And how many additional facilities and additional personnel would be needed?Rich (talk) 03:14, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Looking at multiple resources, the cost is $500-$1500 per kit and processing time is 8-16 hours per kit. What is the budget in dollars and hours allotted to process the kits? 12.116.29.106 (talk) 18:40, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

China

One non-American source said recently that the Chinese government introduced the "policy of rational nutrition." Does it mean that there a famine in China and they need to conserve resources? Thanks, AboutFace 22 (talk) 14:24, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Why would it? Given the emergence of a large affluent middle class in China, it's much more likely that people have a problem with overeating and obesity, and the government is trying to control that (as many Western governments do, with limited success). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 21:53, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

The 2022 Chinese Dietary Guidelines navigated the main trends in Chinese dietary structures, which in the past decades, have shifted from plant-based or plant-forward diets to whole-food diets. Although traditional plant-based diets are rich in dietary fiber, they are often deficient in animal food, dairy products, and fruits. With the continuous transformation of dietary structure, residents in some areas consume too much meat (especially pork) and oils. A striking decline in the consumption of coarse grains can be observed. The transition may lead to imbalanced nutrient intake and an increasing incidence of some chronic diseases, such as hypertension.

China is implementing the national nutrition plan of action. Alansplodge (talk) 22:14, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

My personal interpretation is that dematerialization, including of currency could play a role: "The transcendental philosopher requires a way to positively define transcendental matter" (DEMATERIALIZATION AND IMMATERIALIZATION, A Disputable Strategy). On the other hand, "irrational nutrition" is a subject at large, with some of the sources focusing on human fertility: in Bulgaria,at the MIT. --Askedonty (talk) 23:13, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Europe & the Global South

I am seeking insights into the primary challenge currently faced by Europe that also affects countries in the global south. Could you provide information on this issue and its broader impact? Thank you. Grotesquetruth (talk) 17:34, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Global warming is certainly a candidate. --Wrongfilter (talk) 17:39, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

One perennial issue is the negative effects which EU-internal agricultural subsidies have on trade between EU countries and third-world countries. The Doha Development Round bogged down largely due to this issue... AnonMoos (talk) 12:10, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Romania leaking Operation Barbarossa

Romania in World War II says:

The new regime officially joined the Axis powers on 23 November 1940. As a member of the Axis, Romania joined the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) on 22 June 1941

I was watching this video[17] that seem to imply that Romania in 1940 was given some type of advance knowledge of a future invasion of the USSR.

1. Is this actually the case? Is there any surviving official communication or secret treaty protocol regarding this?

2. If true, did Romania or its leaders leak this information to any other nation? OptoFidelty (talk) 18:42, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

The Soviet Union attacked Romania before WWII and annexed Bessarabia, it makes it unlikely that Romanians had a motivation to help Stalin. However, the preparations for the invasion were widely known in countries bordering the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill had rather detailed information about Hitler's plans and he did warn Stalin. Stalin however, trusted Hitler more. Stalin also had information from his own Intelligence. German military planes flied over the Soviet territory. His own top military and Intelligence people warned him. Some German soldiers defected from the German Army and warned Soviet military intelligewnce. Stalin still did not believe anybody. He trusted Hitler. The country paid dearly for his mistakes. AboutFace 22 (talk) 20:36, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Churchill had access to Ultra information from Enigma decrypts, but was not about to inform Stalin of this. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 21:05, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Stalin was warned by the British (obviously not revealing the source) but he was convinced it was a cunning plot to get him to attack the Germans. See Stalin ignores warnings of invasion. Alansplodge (talk) 21:23, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Stalin received more than enough information from various sources (including his own spies) that his failure to take certain basic precautions (such as pulling Soviet troops away from the German-Soviet line of control, so that they would be less exposed to initial attacks) reflects highly negatively on him, as does the fact that he had some kind of nervous breakdown right after the attacks, which semi-immobilized the whole Soviet system (which Stalin had spent 15 years making sure was highly-centralized and dependent on his own personal will) at an extremely inopportune moment. I realize that many Soviet people underwent great suffering before the Soviet Union was able to push back the Nazis, but these facts, combined with the fact that Stalin sometimes fought WW2 in a kind of stupid manner which set very little value on human life, the Soviet Union's vicious maltreatment of returning Soviet soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war, and his various pre-1941 immoralities -- his huge purge of the Soviet army officer corps in 1937-1938, his invading and annexing the Baltics and a large part of Poland by agreement with Hitler and severely repressing the population there (the Katyn massacre and deporting significant fractions of the populations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to Central Asia or Siberia) -- all together means that today's Russian May 9th jingoistic chauvinism nauseates me... AnonMoos (talk) 19:56, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure Stalin trusted nobody, not Churchill, not Hitler, not his own generals. And a strategy that wasn't optimal for the Soviet Union wasn't necessarily bad for Stalin. Wasting soldiers' lives to prevent a military coup is a Russian habit that goes on even today.

Playing for time made sense, apart from the huge number of fatalities (that Stalin didn't care about). In the end, Stalin was highly successful: he remained in power until he died of natural causes and managed to expand his empire considerably. What else does a dictator want? PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:35, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

AboutFace 22, "The Soviet Union attacked Romania before WWII and annexed Bessarabia". I suppose you meant "before Barbarossa" as the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia took place in 1940. — Kpalion^(talk) 09:21, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

March 17

execute Napoleon in secret

I was watching this video[18] that seemed to suggest, at best as I can understand, that the biggest reason why Napoleon wasn't executed after his capture at Waterloo was that Britain feared news of his death would trigger conflict in continental Europe.

Britain also obviously didn't want him alive either, because he escaped exile once before and there's no way to 100% guarantee that he won't again.

Was there any consideration back then to execute him in secret? That seems like the obviously solution to satisfying the dual conditions of "dead Napoleon" and "no news of Napoleon's death".

Napoleon received plenty of visitors and mail in both Elba and Saint Helena. But Britain wasn't obligated to grant those special privileges to him. If Britain executed him in secret and pretended that he was alive and held in permanent solitary confinement, it could be years before news of his death reached the outside world. OptoFidelty (talk) 03:45, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Governments are generally reluctant to execute or assassinate defeated leaders of (current) rivals, in part because it sets a bad precedent (one day they might lose), and in part because yesterday's enemy may be desired as tomorrow's friend, and having killed someone admired by the other party might hinder this.

Of course, there have been theories that Britain (or someone) poisoned Napoleon, but this might just be down to his green wallpaper. Green dyes containing dangerous amounts of arsenic were commonly used in the 19th century, because nobody had realised how dangerous they were. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.186.221 (talk) 05:34, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

It's surprisingly hard to keep even small secrets in modern times. It was much harder to keep big secrets in early 19th century society. "Britain" was not a homogenous hive-mind, and an act like the execution of Napoleon would require a significant number of people to be involved - both on the decision level and during execution (pun noted ;-) of the plan. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:04, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

That's what I call a false pun, because the word is really the same. Once upon a time one did not execute a convict, one executed a sentence upon a convict. — For a machine intelligence, the supreme penalty is non-execution! —Tamfang (talk) 18:48, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

In choosing to surrender himself to the British, Napoleon addressed a note to the Prince Regent in which he asked "asylum at the hearth of the British people", placing himself "under the protection of their laws".^[19] The summary execution of a prisoner, without a fair trial, would have been considered murder also in early 19th-century Britain.  --Lambiam 13:05, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

The British Government hoped that in exile, Napoleon would be forgotten about rather than having a martyr's death. As Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies wrote to Wellington:

"There is much reason to hope that in a place from whence we propose excluding all neutrals, and with which there can be so little communication, Bonaparte’s existence will be soon forgotten". [20] Alansplodge (talk) 13:27, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

To be fair, if he was secretly executed, and the secret isn't out of the cat's bag, he wouldn't have died a martyr's death, as far as the world knows.

Exile and secret execution are two methods that equally accomplishes the goal of having him forgotten. OptoFidelty (talk) 17:42, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Apparently, the fallen Emperor was able to evoke a good deal of sympathy from the English people.^[21] Note that it was the British who declared war on France in 1803, not the other way around, not provoked by hostilities but by the fear of losing dominance.  --Lambiam 13:36, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

He died a natural death - the stomach cancer. He had severe stomach pains during the battle of the Waterloo. AboutFace 22 (talk) 03:19, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

True, but he claimed during his final months that the British were killing him (presumably by the unhealthiness of his accommodation), and significant traces of arsenic were later found in his hair, etc., though this was later shown to have existed since his childhood – arsenic was widely used in medicines as well as for other domestic purposes. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.213.188.170 (talk) 05:00, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

Chilean Naval Attaché in London

It has been said that as prime minister H. H. Asquith was so little interested in the press that he "habitually confused the editor of the Daily Express with the Chilean Naval Attaché". R. D. Blumenfeld was editor of the Express, but who was the Chilean Naval Attaché? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 13:37, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Do you have a source and a date for this quotation? --Viennese Waltz 14:36, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes. 'Asquith as Prime Minister', Cameron Hazlehurst, English Historical Review July 1970. Hazlehurst cites RDB’s Procession by Blumenfeld, published 1935, pp. 121-123. DuncanHill (talk) 14:47, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

In 1913-1914 it was Captain Alfredo Santander. —Simon Harley (Talk). 16:01, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

March 18

Should I quit this WeChat group?

"We don't answer requests for opinions..."
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Dear Wikipedians: I have been part of a WeChat group for the past five years. This WeChat group is unique in that it is anti-Chinese Communist Party (anti-CCP), yet its members and the entire WeChat group is a purely China-based WeChat group, located inside the Great Firewall of China. This WeChat group has been repeatedly shutdown by the Tencent censors (under CCP guidance), for 47 times so far, yet it is tenacious and always so-called "reincarnates" itself into the next version, and somehow was able to get back almost all its members to the reinvented group, of which I used to be a member. Throughout the entirety of Russo-Ukranian war, this WeChat group is also impeccable in its values, supporting Ukraine against Russian aggressors throughout. In October when the Israel-Hamas war broke out, this WeChat group is firmly on the side of the Palestinians, which is fine, as nearly all young high school and university students here in the Free World are also pro-Palestinian. But then as the Israel-Hamas war grind on, this WeChat group starts to become more and more extremist: it first changed its opposition to Hamas as a terrorist organization to that of veneration for Hamas as a group of freedom fighters fighting for the liberation of the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza. And now, this WeChat group is positing that Israelis have no right to live in the Palestinian area, let alone form the country of Israel, as this area has been the homeland of the native Arab Palestinians for the past two thousand years. This WeChat group states that if all Israeli Jews are not willing to pack up right now and get out of the geographic Palestine area and migrate somewhere else, then a genocide of all Israeli Jews is justified/warranted, killing off all Jews in the geographic Palestine area and returning the land to the oppressed Arab Palestinians who are the rightful owners. I know I should have quit this WeChat group a long time ago. But I have always hesitated because they are a group of people physically located in China fighting against CCP-perpetrated injustices in China at great personal risks to themselves, this is a quality that I truly admire. Plus their resolutely staunch stance against the Russians I also truly admire. And even their staunch support for the Palestinians I can empathize with because I know that they support the oppressed Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Concentration Camps in the same way they support the oppressed Palestinians. But now they have self-radicalized to a point where I can no longer feel comfortable staying on in this WeChat group. Also I live in North America and such radical contents now being exchanged in that WeChat group on a daily basis can bring me untold amount of trouble if it's ever discovered by the FBI/RCMP/CIA/CSIS one day. Therefore I am thinking of quitting this WeChat group now. It's still not an easy decision for me to make given the length of time I've spent in this WeChat group and how intimately I have come to know some of its members. Therefore I want to hear your opinions regarding this situation I'm facing right now. Many thanks, L33th4x0r (talk) 11:26, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

March 19

Academic background of Richard V. Weekes

Hi, I hope you guys are doing well!

I need information on the academic background of the editor Richard V. Weekes. He's the author of Muslim People: A World Ethnographic Survey; ISBN 9780837198804.

Tell me about the era he wrote in. I want to know more about him because I want to use his book as a ref for an addition on an already created Wiki article on a tribe from the Indian subcontinent. Your help will be much appreciated! Sir Calculus (talk) 08:52, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Not much to be found, really. There is a brief biography on the back of an Indian edition of his book on Pakistan, here (born in 1924, not much of an academic background, but he was with the US Information Service and other organisations). --Wrongfilter (talk) 10:11, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Richard V. Weekes was appointed Assistant Director of the Office of International Affairs of the University of Houston in 1966.^[22] Quoting from the announcement, "A graduate of Oberlin College and Columbia University, he has spent 15 years in international service. Prior to his arrival in Houston, he was Assistant Representative with the Ford Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. Other positions have included foreign correspondent for Time Magazine in London, press officer in Karachi, Pakistan, development officer in Turkey, and head of the Iran Foundation. He is author of Pakistan: The Birth and Growth of a Muslim Nation, published by Van Nostrand, 1965."

The first edition of the survey was published in 1978, so one may reasonably assume it took its definitive shape in the period 1975–7. The introduction starts with the sentence "There are more than 720 million Muslims in the world."^[23] This fits with other estimates from around that period (1971: between 400 and 500 million Muslims^[24]; 1975: between 650 and 750 million Muslims^[25]; 1978: approximately 821 million Muslims^[26]).

Using it as a source for a statement, it is important to identify not only the editor of the book, but also the author and title of the contribution that contains the specific content supporting the statement.  --Lambiam 12:20, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you @Lambiam, I really appreciate this! Regarding the specific contribution in the Survey, the author is Allen K. Jones (Allen Keith Jones), the title of the contribution is "Sindhis". The edition is 2nd. He has authored "Muslim politics and growth of the Muslim league in Sind, 1935 - 1941" and "Politics in Sindh, 1907-1940: Muslim identity and the demand for Pakistan". Sir Calculus (talk) 16:12, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Estimate of all war-related deaths in Gaza

Is there a reliable estimate anywhere of all deaths in Gaza related to the Israel-Hamas war, including starvation and disease as well as the deaths mentioned in that article? Is there a count of excess deaths? Kk.urban (talk) 16:53, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

See our article on Casualties of the Israel-Hamas war. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 17:54, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Would they be counting the deaths of people who died of normal causes like heart attacks or pneumonia? Kk.urban (talk) 00:53, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

The official stats of the ministries fully controlled by Hamas (Gaza Health Ministry, Gaza information ministry) are somewhat suspect, since they include close to 500 from the Al-Ahli hospital explosion, where almost certainly much fewer died, and often claim a rather low percentage of adult male deaths, among other reasons. In previous Gaza conflicts, there was some on-the-ground checking of casualty figures by groups independent of Hamas, but that doesn't exist now. AnonMoos (talk) 19:06, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

March 20

Llywelyn and Dafydd ap Gruffydd

Per Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, he's nicknamed Llywelyn the Last (Welsh: Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit. 'Llywelyn, Our Last Leader') , but Dafydd ap Gruffydd was seemingly the last native Prince of Wales, who also defended independence. Is it because Llywelyn had a longer reign so that he, rather than Dafydd, got the nickname of Last, or was there some other reason? 212.180.235.46 (talk) 08:58, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps because Llywelyn reigned for 36 years and spent much of them fighting against England with some success, while Dafydd spent much of his earlier life fighting against his brother Llywelyn in alliance with England, reigned for only 1 year, and his rapid defeat by England resulted in the end of his dynasty and the cessation of struggle for Welsh independence for over a century. Not a legacy to commemorate. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.241.39.117 (talk) 10:36, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Boeing whistleblower

[27] Who is the lady in the picture? Is she being photographed with an old flip phone? Does that mean the picture itself is probably quite old? Thanks. 2601:644:8501:AAF0:CFF0:11E3:F455:1D8C (talk) 10:17, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

That's a picture of the actress Tilda Swinton in the film Michael Clayton, which was about a corporate whistleblower. That's the only reason the person posting that tweet added the photo. Nothing to do with the Boeing case. --Viennese Waltz 10:34, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Thanks! I never would have figured that out. After reading the movie plot recap, I understand the innuendo now. 2601:644:8501:AAF0:CFF0:11E3:F455:1D8C (talk) 18:55, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Turkey

On isidewith.com's surveys, it shows that in Turkey, regarding the issue of net neutrality, far-left, right-wing, and centre-right tend to support it, while far-right, left-wing, and centre-left tend to oppose it. This is even harder to comprehend than when the far-left and far-right hold opposing views of centre-left to centre-right on something. What causes this phenomenon?

Question: Should internet service providers be allowed to speed up access to popular websites (that pay higher rates) at the expense of slowing down access to less popular websites (that pay lower rates)?

Party	Political position	Links	Choice	Votes	%
Nationalist Movement Party	Far-right	[28]	Yes	6,081	68%
			No	2,904	32%
Peoples' Democratic Party	Centre-left to left-wing	[29]	Yes	2,520	63%
			No	1,463	37%
Republican People's Party	Centre-left	[30]	Yes	6,358	56%
			No	5,009	44%
All	N/A	[31]	Yes	22,590	44%
			No	28,184	56%
Felicity Party	Right-wing	[32]	Yes	1,089	39%
			No	1,686	61%
Justice and Development Party	Right-wing	[33]	Yes	5,321	38%
			No	8,680	62%
Good Party	Centre-right to right-wing	[34]	Yes	2,549	33%
			No	5,289	67%
Liberal Democratic Party	Centre	[35]	Yes	1,018	31%
			No	2,250	69%
Communist Party of Turkey	Far-left	[36]	Yes	1,513	24%
			No	4,773	76%

--Vupes (talk) 14:23, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

I think you've got things reversed. The question as posed would seem to be the opposite of Net neutrality. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:00, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

According to the reported poll results, the fans of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party favour abolishing net neutrality, so the OP correctly identifies far-right as opposing net neutrality.  --Lambiam 11:02, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

The problem being that the long-winded question is actually asking "Do you oppose net neutrality?" Hence a Yes means they oppose it and a No means they support it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:50, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure how much glib labels such as "left" and "right" really explain in Turkey. Traditionally (up through at least the 1980s) the "right" was hard-core Turkish nationalist (sometimes irredentist), and strongly supportive of the military, and of Ataturk's secular legacy, and sometimes contemptuous of democracy, while the strongest faction on the left were Communists supported by Kurds. Now both those ideological orientations have been weakened to almost political insignificance, and Erdogan's quasi-dictatorship, supported by his Islamic Justice and Development Party dominates the scene. Many of the remaining factions are probably concerned more with the realities of the current situation in Turkey than with European political abstractions such as "social democracy" or whatever. AnonMoos (talk) 20:58, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

These polls do not reflect the positions of the parties, but of visitors of the website iSideWith.com who choose to do the website's 2024 Political Quiz for Turkey and report to identify most with these parties. There is a potential selection bias in many respects; there is no guarantee the outcome is representative of the people who vote for these parties. There is an axis socially conservative — socially progressive and there is an axis economically conservative — economically progressive. These do not align in Turkey, making it hard to position political identifications on a one-dimensional scale.  --Lambiam 10:33, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

The poll also asks respondents to report identification with (overlapping) ideologies. This paints a somewhat different picture:

    Ideology               Yes  No 
    -------------------------------
    Right                  64%  36%
    Islamic Democracy      48%  52%
    Social Conservatism    48%  52%
    National Conservatism  47%  53%
    Social Democracy       46%  54%
    Pro-Europeanism        46%  54%
    Right-Wing Populism    43%  48%
    Left                   42%  58%
    Authoritarian          40%  60%

In view of this, the reported 63% support by fans of the Peoples' Democratic Party is somewhat surprising; those who'd use the Internet will mostly not self-identify as "right": they tend to be relatively young, well-educated and socially progressive. What unites them is more their opposition to the prevailing authoritarianism than any coherent ideology. Socially more liberal, they are otherwise all over the place, also dependent on whether they are or are not self-employed.  --Lambiam 11:24, 21 March 2024‎ (UTC)

March 21

French Guards Regiment

Is there some source about the name of their soldier killed amoung the mob by Lambesc's dragons on July 12, 1789? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.56.172.99 (talk) 12:17, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

The only such name we've been given to know is that of a supposed pedlar François Pépin ( suffering a wound in the ankle: The Revolution Begins). He is said to have died consequently. Reports with regard to a member of the Gardes are from several witness accounts in the ulterior trial ( Pièces du procès(1), the original, integrale, (2) ) which runned from October 1789 until July 1790:

David Etienne Rouillé de l'Etang, Secretaire du Roy a vu apporter un soldat aux gardes blessé d'un coup de pied de cheval p.14 ( November 18) . P.46: Poursin de Grandchamp says the same. Bankers Vandeniver and Boscary each report a conversation they heard naming some victims. Other witnesses allow to understand that a fusillade was fired, involving 50 to 150 muskets but without leading to casualties, quite probably some pistols were also discharged into the windows of places were people of negligible rank had been loudly drinking liquors - if those were hurt and shot they preferred not to be brought into the light in consequence apparently. --Askedonty (talk) 16:52, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

A literary incident at an OPEC meeting in the 1980s.

Since there's no History Reference Desk I'm asking here. Is this the appropriate desk?

Anyway, here's my question:

During an OPEC meeting in the 1980s an Arab delegate (who happened to also be a competent poet in Arabic, but I don't remember if he was a Saudi, or a Koweiti, or an Emirati, or even something else) wrote a short poem that was mocking a Nigerian delegate who was speaking at the same time, and his boring speech? The poem was written at the very same time that the meeting was going on. I think it was in the 1980s but I'm not absolutely sure. Could've been the 1970s or the 1990s but no earlier or later than that.

Then, I don't remember how (maybe the piece of paper that poem had been written on was gotten hold of by someone) the poem was leaked to the BBC or some other news organization and it even appeared in print (most likely in translation) in some print outlets in the West. Needless to say that little poem made for some un-diplomatic noise. The Nigerians didn't display much sense of humor at that particular time.

I don't remember where and when I saw a mention of this incident (could've been in a book, or it could've been in a radio or television program) and I couldn't find any trace of it using the usual methods of search. Are there newspapers archives on the net that are accessible and searchable?

If you can find anything about this incident that'd be great. I'm particularly interested in the name of the Arab delegate who wrote the poem, particularly if he happened to be a Saudi. I know that several people who occupied significant political positions in Saudi Arabia were also published poets and I was wondering if this was one of them.

Thanks. 178.51.93.5 (talk) 18:55, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

Probably Mana Al Otaiba (though not "a Saudi"), 1983, see "OPEC Bard; An Oil Minister's Poem Stole the Show". ---Sluzzelin talk 19:16, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes I'm 99% certain it's the guy, even though the New York Times wouldn't let me view the whole article. Thanks a lot. Incidentally, I wonder why that anecdote was not included in Mana Al Otaiba's article. Wikipedia policy? 178.51.93.5 (talk) 19:06, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Only in the sense that Wikipedia being a work in progress and thus never perfect is part of our editing policy. I can't see any reason, at first glance, not to include this information, provided it is reliably sourced and also embedded in context (beyond just telling the anecdote). I couldn't see any discussions on the article's talk page about including the OPEC poem or not, nor did I see anyone trying to add it to the article and then get reverted. ---Sluzzelin talk 11:44, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

March 22

Origin of the family name HALEF

Hello everyone. I am looking for sources that prove that the name Halef is widespread within the Aramaic/Assyrian/Syriac people, whose origin is the Tur Abdin. To our knowledge, the origin of the name is traced back to the Halaf/Halef culture (see Tell Halaf). It is not correct that the name is only of Arabic origin. The sources are intended to supplement/correct the Wikipedia article "Halef". Utpo (talk) 08:46, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

Is your intention to create a Wikipedia article on the name Halef? Please read Help:Your first article. Your first concern should be to find sources that establish the topic is notable.  --Lambiam 11:03, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

There is already an existing article in german.

I want to add more/other information, but I dont find the sources as I mendioned before.

Also I dont think that the sources which were used in the existing article are working and meaningful. Utpo (talk) 11:14, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

The German page Halef is not an article but a disambiguation page. It seems to relate the name to Arabic خلف, with an initial خ (usually transliterated in English as ⟨kh⟩), instead of the name حلف found in Tell Halaf.  --Lambiam 11:51, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

Utpo -- The modern names of prehistoric cultures (Mohenjo-Daro, Natufian, Çatalhöyük etc) are almost never what the people in those cultures would have called themselves. AnonMoos (talk) 12:09, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

Can I delete this topic which I opened? Utpo (talk) 12:48, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

You can strike-through your own comments, but it isn't usually permitted to delete other people's on-topic comments on a discussion page which is not in your personal userspace, unless they agree... AnonMoos (talk) 13:03, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

Indeed, the Halaf culture is named after the archaeological site Tell Halaf, which is a relatively young name. An earlier name is Guzana, recorded as גּוֹזָ֖ן‎ (Gozan) in the Bible (in 2 Kings 17:6 and 18:11).  --Lambiam 20:57, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

As opposed to the name of Bethlehem, which has remained similar in form for the last 3,300 years or more (with some relatively minor pronunciation variations), but whose meaning has changed from "Temple of the god Lahmu" (Canaanite) to "House of bread" (Hebrew) to "House of meat" (Arabic). AnonMoos (talk) 10:29, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Arthur Adam

Are there some sources about his full life? -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.40.232.112 (talk) 10:19, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

All that can be said is that if there were, they should be easy to find by now. There was a great fuss around Arthur Adam's 1944 account to Martin Borman because of of a renewed interest into the person of Claus von Stauffenberg, a few years ago. Maybe take a look into that other account for some new line of research ? --Askedonty (talk) 14:59, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

March 23

museum to swizzle sticks

There may be swizzle stick collectors somewhere in the USA or the world. But I saw on the Internet a few of them are planning to open a museum to the aforementioned artifacts. Could that be true? Anyone know?2603:7000:8641:810E:9CFC:40DC:EDEC:79EB (talk) 01:04, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

As the Buddha once said, "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet." Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:59, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

It doesn't take much to open a museum. Clean out your garage, put some objects for display on shelves and pedestals and put a sign saying MUSEUM over the garage door.^[37][38][39]  --Lambiam 13:33, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

And a setup to collect admission charges. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:51, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Well, there seems to be a Penis Museum in Iceland. Given the climes of this island, it may not be an outstanding cultural climax for visitations. For all I know, they don´t even charge admission but collect emissions. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:57, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

The "Museum of Natural and Artificial Ephemerata" in Austin, Texas has achieved a degree of fame (especially locally), though in some of its incarnations I'm not sure that there was even a dedicated garage -- just stuff on the walls in the rooms of a home where a couple lived. (It's mentioned in the Marc Israel and List of museums in Central Texas articles, and was featured on the "Daytripper" public television show.) A swizzle stick was a vital clue in the book "Ghost Hunter" by Jayne Castle. Maybe the International Swizzle Sticks Collector Association mentioned on the Wikipedia "swizzle stick" article would know about museum plans... AnonMoos (talk) 17:01, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

A projected swizzle stick museum in LA is planned by one Pam Ashlund who is also the founder of the The Swizzle Stick Collectors Club, which "was a continuation of an historic organization, the International Swizzle Stick Collectors Association (I.S.S.C.A.)". Alansplodge (talk) 19:30, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

The Civet Cat

This British Museum catalogue entry refers to "The Civet Cat", with addresses in London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and more, in the 19th century. eBay has examples of trade tokens giving it as an address, also.

What was it? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:05, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

One, at a London address was a pub in 1900.
Sleigh (talk) 20:16, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Google gives lots of hits for the Bristol one being a herbalist/perfumery. Probably linked to Civet (perfumery). Nanonic (talk) 20:25, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Kendall & Son, Manufacturers and Importers of perfumes. At the Civet Cat. It means Kendall & Sons shops had a Civet Cat as a sign. A bit like John Lane publishing "at the Bodley Head". DuncanHill (talk) 22:33, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Apologies, all - I have now added the link to the catalogue entry, in my original post. Note the reference to "various branches of The Civet Cat" Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:59, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

The name appears to have been At the Civet Cat, four words. See e.g. here for the Birmingham branch. It shows that they did sell, next to perfumes, also French fancy articles, artificial flowers, beads, fans, jewellery, fancy cutlery, bracelets &c of the most novel patterns. Italian, German, French & English toys &c.

Unlike Nanonic, I do not get many ghits for the Bristol branch. I get only one, which is to the issue of The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post of 11 February 1837. It is behind a paywall, but the hit apparently concerns an ad for a sales (of perfumes?) occasioned by Kendall & Son saying farewell to retail. This is what I managed to wring out and reconstruct (with some uncertainty) from the OCR'ed text:

At the CIVET CAT, 43, WINE-STREET, Bristol. To be offered in Lots suitable to Purchasers at Prices infinitely lower than they can possibly come into the possession of either manufacturer or importer, and affords an opportunity to the Public of possessing articles of real excellence on such terms as may never occur again. Kendall & Son, in retiring altogether from the Retail in Bristol in consequence of having taken an extensive Whole??? ??? in the ??? of Germany, which will require the constant residence of one, and the active co-operation of others, of their firm, cannot do so without expressing their warmest gratitude to their numerous Friends and Customers for the ample support which they have ever received.

 --Lambiam 07:46, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

March 25

The facade of San Giacomo di Rialto, Venice

A couple of late 18th-century paintings by Canaletto and Giovanni Battista Brustolon show San Giacomo di Rialto having a facade in the late 18th century rather similar to that of the modern day iteration of the church, albeit with some minor differences in design. However, a couple of drawings by Giacomo Guardi, presumably either later in the 18th century or in the early 19th century, depict a clock with a square frame. A couple photos and a drawing from the early 1900s confirm a similar clock design, and a bottom window replaced with a decorative painting, persisting into the 20th century. Is there any documentary evidence for how/when the facade designs were changed? GalacticShoe (talk) 07:11, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

The only thing I found is a sentence in the French article that says the clock was modified in hte 18th century, and put back in place at the beginning of the 20th century (Cette horloge, réformée au XVIIIe siècle a été restaurée et remise en place au début du XXe siècle). The reference given is "Lo Stradario Di Venezia; Guida anagrafico-toponomastica illustrata e curiosità storico artistiche di Venezia Volume II p.562". I can't find that work on google books. --Wrongfilter (talk) 12:53, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

This is an excellent starting point, thank you very much! GalacticShoe (talk) 17:16, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

A Google Books listing at [40] indicates that the second volume, focusing on the sestieri of San Polo, Santa Croce, and Dorsoduro + Giudecca, was written by Piero Pazzi in 2001, but other than that I can't find any information about the book. Chances are that it's probably rather obscure. GalacticShoe (talk) 17:25, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Lottery annuities and interest rates

As MegaMillions and Powerball jackpots increase, I'm trying to find the interest rate implied by the annuity payouts, but no one specifies it. I assume that it depends on the day the jackpot is won. Is it possible to obtain a good approximation by looking at the yield curve?

The best I can find is that a source, without attribution, says that the lump sum figure is invested in Treasuries to enable a payout that increases by 5% a year. Is that so? Do they buy a bond ladder spanning years 2-30? I don't suppose there's a rule of thumb for figuring the implied interest rate?

Thank you. Imagine Reason (talk) 13:03, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

B.T.H. system for the deaf

Opening notice for the Tatler Cinema, 19 March 1937

I understand the B.T.H. (British Thomson-Houston) system for sound movies (e.g. [41]); but what is the "B.T.H. system for the deaf", referred to in the 1937 advert, above? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:27, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

Apparently a deaf-aid amplifier,^[42] with the sound delivered through a headphone.^[43]  --Lambiam 21:52, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

It is very likely the same design as the GEC system I worked on in the early 70s. A system of hard plastic or metal tubing went from a distribution center to each seat. The distribution center had small speakers that produced sound that was pushed through the tubes (in stereo, one right tube and one left tube). If you put your each next to the two holes in your seat's armrest, you could hear it. But, to be effective, you plugged in headphones, which were just tube extenders that let the sound continue from the armrest to your ears. I know it sounds a bit silly, but it was very cheap and effective. The only maintenance I did was replacing dented or cracked tubing and removing gum and whatnot from the armrest holes. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 17:49, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Legal standing

Question relates to FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. I don't follow this issue closely and I try to stay away from abortion politics, so please forgive errors in my summary. But basically AHM is a group of anti-abortion doctors who, while they don't prescribe mifepristone themselves, say they have had their medical practices burdened by having to treat patients who suffered complications from taking mifepristone that they got elsewhere. Therefore they sued to mifepristone's FDA approval withdrawn/modified. At issue (among other things) is whether they have standing to sue.[44] Two lower courts have said yes, but it is still being contested, with some counter-arguments quoted in the linked CNN article.

My question is basically how this question about standing got to SCOTUS at all. Is it not a "law 101" question rather than a SCOTUS question? Are there analogous cases? E.g. can doctors who treat injuries from lawn darts or motorcycle crashes sue to get those products banned, because of the extra work they create for the doctors? Similarly from home repair workers who have to fix indoor flooding from portable washing machines spilling water on the floor? Is this case special because it's about the politically charged topic of abortion? IANAL and IDK whether AHM does or doesn't have standing, but I'd thought this would be a question that someone with actual legal training should be able to answer in about 2 seconds rather than dragging it through years of litigation. Thanks. 174.160.238.145 (talk) 23:39, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

I asked a similar question quite some time ago, and the answer is basically that standing to sue is a complicated issue, as illustrated by the conflicting lower court rulings. That's why the Supreme Court needs to sort it out. RudolfRed (talk) 00:45, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

I don't think the lower courts are in conflict in this case. The district court and the circuit court both said AHM has standing. But, their opponents have been painting the judges involved as right wing zealots, who decided as they did for political reasons. Anyway, thanks. The wikipedia article about the csae doesn't mention this question, and I don't feel qualified to update it, unfortunately. 174.160.238.145 (talk) 01:24, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

The petition by the DOJ, on behalf of the FDA, argues that the lower courts made "serious legal errors", which is a reason for which the Supreme Court may grant to hear the case. For one thing, the Court has to decide whether the challengers had standing.^[45]— Preceding unsigned comment added by Lambiam (talk • contribs) 12:29, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

March 26

Egyptian pipe item

Is this some kind of pipe she's holding? Temerarius (talk) 15:40, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

The object in the right hand is an incense burner, with the outward end shaped like an arm and the other end shaped like a falcon head. You can see similar burners in the Commons category here. A. Parrot (talk) 15:55, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Left hand, yes? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:25, 26 March 2024 (UTC)