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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.^[1] 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."^[2] This fits with other estimates from around that period (1971: between 400 and 500 million Muslims^[3]; 1975: between 650 and 750 million Muslims^[4]; 1978: approximately 821 million Muslims^[5]).

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

[6] 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	[7]	Yes	6,081	68%
			No	2,904	32%
Peoples' Democratic Party	Centre-left to left-wing	[8]	Yes	2,520	63%
			No	1,463	37%
Republican People's Party	Centre-left	[9]	Yes	6,358	56%
			No	5,009	44%
All	N/A	[10]	Yes	22,590	44%
			No	28,184	56%
Felicity Party	Right-wing	[11]	Yes	1,089	39%
			No	1,686	61%
Justice and Development Party	Right-wing	[12]	Yes	5,321	38%
			No	8,680	62%
Good Party	Centre-right to right-wing	[13]	Yes	2,549	33%
			No	5,289	67%
Liberal Democratic Party	Centre	[14]	Yes	1,018	31%
			No	2,250	69%
Communist Party of Turkey	Far-left	[15]	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

Initiated via block evasion.
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
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 a renewed interest in 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.^[16][17][18]  --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 [19] 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. [20]); 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,^[21] with the sound delivered through a headphone.^[22]  --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)

12.116.29.106 -- Those hollow-tube systems were also used to connect the headsets used by airline passengers listening to in-flight entertainment, through at least the 1970s. But I don't think that the plastics that were used in airplane audio systems in the 1970s were commercially manufactured in 1937 (very little was then, except bakelite). AnonMoos (talk) 23:14, 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.[23] 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.^[24]— Preceding unsigned comment added by Lambiam (talk • contribs) 12:29, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes, the challengers are AHM, and the lower courts (possibly through "serious legal errors") decided that the challengers have standing. But, I mean, federal courts are supposed to be competent organizations whose job is to navigate legal questions of some subtlety. They might get a question wrong, just like a math proof accepted by a journal can have a serious error in the sense of a subtle but unfixable bug, but a math journal is unlikely to print a paper that flat out says on page 1 that 2+2=5. So my basic question is whether "does AHM have standing" is really a "research-level" legal question that a competent judge might decide incorrectly, or is it more like 2+2? As I see it, the possibilities are 1) it really is a complex question that the courts are hashing out; 2) it's really 2+2=4 that AHM has standing even though the FDA wishes otherwise, and the courts so far have affirmed that fact; 3) it's really 2+2=4 that AHM does not have standing, but through partisanship or incompetence, the lower courts decided 2+2=5 resulting in the mifepristone de-approval.

The Scotusblog article seems to make about the same argument as the CNN one. They are not being forceful about it but they seem to say "no standing" is obvious, based on seemingly absurd implications if standing exists. I had been wondering whether I'm missing something but I guess maybe the above is good enough, and courts really do sometimes do stupid things. Thanks. 174.160.238.145 (talk) 23:24, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

Even supreme courts sometimes issue supremely stupid rulings.  --Lambiam 09:36, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

That's because the human beings who spend their lives issuing judgements are sometimes lacking in judgement. Always judicial but not always judicious. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:05, 30 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)

(sigh) Yes, silly me. A. Parrot (talk) 18:49, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

So, what might be the thing in the right hand? A wine container maybe? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:40, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Presumably she's offering a libation. What we have is at Libation#Ancient Egypt.... AnonMoos (talk) 03:18, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

There could be in it a reference to the Nile god, who is holding a similar vessel, perhaps the same vessel, the same way, here. That statuette displays much less elegance however (it's dated later too). --Askedonty (talk) 07:21, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

A very similar libation vessel can be seen in this tablet where a priest is pouring out a liquid onto a lotus-shaped altar. A slightly different design of vessel is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Alansplodge (talk) 10:41, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

You can say that again, it's a silly and ugly chunk. The other vessel in the illustration is familiar from similar ones in hieroglyphs and pottery. Thank you! Temerarius (talk) 15:05, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

March 27

Petrie's statement 1920

What previously published item did Flinders Petrie declare a fake in "1920, pl. XXI, 46 K"? According to this bibliography https://www.jstor.org/stable/543795?read-now=1&seq=22#page_scan_tab_contents, that year we have "Le Musee de Louvre pendant la guerre", "Italy's protection of Art Treasures and monuments during the War," "Estudio de Arquelogia Cartaginesa. La Necropoli de Ibiza", "A brief Chronology of the Muhammedan Monuments of Egypt to AD 1517", "The Museum" with Margaret Talbot Jackson, The Evolution of the Dragon, with G Elliot Smith. I know there's also "Excavations at Lahun" in Ancient Egypt III in 1920, which has no plate XXI or any plate numbers. Temerarius (talk) 15:20, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

I only found that it must have been predynastic decorated ware (D-Ware).

“As decorated jars are well-appreciated objects on the antiquities market, it does not come as a surprise that they have regularly been falsified. Petrie (1929: pl. XXI, 46 K) noted that the decoration was faked on one of the vessels he had published (which however did not prevent the jar from showing up as an example of D-ware in recent publications, cf. el-Yakhi 1981: 78, fig. A 8). As decorated jars with human representation were particularly sought after they were of course even more likely to be faked.”

Stan Hendrickx, “Checklist of predynastic ‘Decorated’ pottery with human figures”, Cahiers Caribéens d’Egyptologie, 2002

---Sluzzelin talk 15:44, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Prince de Lambesc (1751-1825)

Initiated via block evasion.
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
He was a distant cousin of Queen Marie Antoinette. Are there any source about his reation for the deaths of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette? And about if he had supported their cause after left France in 1789? -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.115.160 (talk) 23:25, 27 March 2024 (UTC) Link: Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc. As I said before, the fact that he was a descendant of the House of Guise may have helped determine his royalism... AnonMoos (talk) 04:24, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

March 29

Ostracism

Could the Eponymous archon be named as the target in an Ostracism in ancient Athens?

The Ostracism article states that "any citizen could be expelled", so seems like the answer is "Yes".

But I'm not super familiar with the definition of a "citizen" in ancient Athens, so I'm not 100% sure whether the eponymous archon is off limits or not. OptoFidelty (talk) 05:05, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

There is a (german) large enzyclodedia "Der Große Pauly" which might be able to answer this question.--Ralfdetlef (talk) 13:53, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

What role have anti-Assad factional Baathists played in the Syrian civil war?

For example, the Michel Aflaq faction and the Salah Jadid faction. DJCPRN (talk) 12:57, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure what "Michel Aflaq faction" would mean; many Ba`th groups claim his legacy, though he was kind of an Iraq regime figurehead during the last two decades of his life. The Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party apparently continues the Salah Jadid legacy... AnonMoos (talk) 04:07, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

The Michel Aflaq faction would be the Iraqi-dominated Baath Party. I have no refs or sources, but I strongly doubt the Syrian wing of the Saddam-led Baath Party had any role in the war as such. --Soman (talk) 13:15, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

March 30

Asexuality and politics

Besides unsuccessful candidates George Norman and Joe Parrish, have there been other openly asexual politicians who have served in any public office or at least expressed interest in getting into politics, or do asexuals just seem further from purportedly taking over the world than other LGBTQI+ demographics at the moment? – MrPersonHumanGuy (talk) 23:19, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

While our article on asexuality doesn't seem to overview a political movement, I can find two bits of literature that might shed light on why: Catri 2021 review suggests that there's still no clear definition of asexuality, within the community or academia, which would present some difficulties forming an identity-based political bloc. Meanwhile Ceranowski & Milks 2024 Part II (you can find individual chapter pdfs on Google Scholar; here's the intro chapter) suggests that any meaningful asexual political movement is so far given only in theoretical terms (say in terms of bloc, issues, and goals).

All this combined with (per ibid) apathy or mixed feelings at best within the LGBT community, and general population, to the relevance of asexuality (should it be defined), and I don't know if a pragmatic politician would see anything but downsides in publicly identifying as such. SamuelRiv (talk) 00:21, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

March 31

A poet called Harry at The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream

There's a documentary on television about The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream. They mentioned a poet called Harry something, who had taken too much speed and had trouble reciting his poems. Unfortunately I missed his surname, and he doesn't seem to be mentioned in the article I linked. Who was he? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 02:14, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Harry Fainlight --Viennese Waltz 05:49, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you - they must have been talking about the International Poetry Incarnation. I have a horribly heavy cold and tend to drift off at moments. DuncanHill (talk) 12:04, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Provinces of the Yuan dynasty

I'd like to find a resource showing the differences between the ancient Yuan provinces and the present Chinese provinces. Differences in the sense of the areas they covered. For example the Henan Jiangbei province encompassed modern Henan, northern Jiangsu, and part of Anhui, but it is not specified exactly what parts of Jiangsu and Anhui were included. The ideal would be maps with both the old and new provinces superimposed. Do you have any idea? Thank you! 82.58.19.207 (talk) 10:45, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Your best bet is likely to be the National Palace Museum's library in Taipei, Taiwan (<https://www.npm.gov.tw/?l=2>). DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 23:31, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Mussolini and Francis of Assisi

I've read that the former parish priest of Predappio (Mussolini's birthplace) said that there was "an American historian" who compared Mussolini to Francis of Assisi. Is it true? Who was he?-- Carnby (talk) 18:58, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

It seems that the comparison of Mussolini to Francis of Assisi may have actually been made as far back as during Mussolini's time. Not American, but the Australian historian R. J. B. Bosworth wrote in his 2014 book on Mussolini that "reverent readers learned from one priest... that Mussolini was a sort of re-born St Francis of Assisi." GalacticShoe (talk) 20:40, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

For some reason, Google Books no longer gives me the option to preview the particular page, but I do remember the main citation for the paragraph being no. 145, which upon looking further into the book, appears to be luckily freely previewable. Citation 145 states that "for Mussolini's own account of these events and those that followed, see his Storia di un anno, pp. 301-444. Not sure if this account includes any mention of St. Francis, but it might be worth checking. GalacticShoe (talk) 21:06, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Mabel Berezin, who is an American sociologist, wrote in her 1997 book that "Mussolini would charm the crowds as St Francis of Assisi charmed the birds and the animals." At the same time, that sentence comes with a footnote that explicitly cites Herbert Schneider's 1928 book Making the Fascist State as talking more about the Fascist appropriation of St Francis. It's possible that the priest may be talking about Schneider, who was an American philosophy professor and religious studies scholar, but at the same time it would seem that Schneider is talking about comparisons that the Fascists themselves created. GalacticShoe (talk) 20:49, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Was the corpse of Francis of Assisi hung by its heels in a public place? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:10, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

Perceiving the G rating as meaning "kids only"

The Wikipedia article on the MPAA film rating system says that G officially means everyone is admitted. However, it also says that in practice the "G" rating limits a movie's audience as if its meaning were that the movie is just for children. Any reason?? Georgia guy (talk) 21:43, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

What's the article's source for that claim, if any? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:08, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

I don't see such a statement in the article. However, I consider the claim to be obviously true. --142.112.220.50 (talk) 04:16, 1 April 2024 (UTC)