Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities

Konrad Deubler translation

Would someone who reads German be able to check my article for Konrad Deubler against the German-language version? I translated the article from French, but that article is mostly a translation from German Wikipedia, and I don't want to be playing telephone; I also can't read the sources. Thanks so much! Kaspar Hauser (talk) 05:52, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

Why aren't you calling yourself by your user ID, Mafarkafut? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:32, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

@Baseball Bugs: It's like a screen name and an @, no? Kaspar Hauser (talk) 09:37, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

Like Kaspar the Friendly Host? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:52, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

See Kaspar Hauser (1812-1833), an enigmatic German youth who claimed to have spent his childhood confined in a cell, leading to conspiracy theories about dynastic intrigue. Alansplodge (talk) 12:12, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

A haunted Hauser. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:27, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

The books episode is confusing (if Deuser had sold these books, how could they be confiscated?). In the German version, which is much more elaborate, they were not confiscated. You can see Google's translation here. It is not perfect; the crime committed by a Religionsstörer, is translated as "persecution of religion". This cannot be correct. I think the crime is de:Störung der Religionsausübung, which means as much as "Disruption of religious practice".  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:19, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

When I read the article, I'm left with the impression that they seized the books from those who had purchased them. A greater problem with that bit of the article is its clearly non-neutral point of view, e.g. "the narrowness of the reigning ideas" against which he worked. Nyttend (talk) 18:52, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

It's questionable whether you should be adding articles to Wikipedia if you can't read the sources on which they are (supposedly) based. I know from my own recent work on French Napoleonic generals that French & German wikis are a lot less rigorous on sourcing and referencing than we are. Chuntuk (talk) 09:29, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

How does PBS work? Our article doesn't say much, and I'm left wondering why Trump hates it. I found this article, which explains the basic issue (PBS works well enough that Australians pay less for medicine than Americans do, so Trump thinks Americans pay for worldwide research), and some of its wording about Australia buying in bulk and having massive leverage (e.g. "drugmakers selling into Australia’s $19.3 billion Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme") really confuses me. Do chemists buy from suppliers and get some funding from Health, Disability and Ageing to help lower their costs, or does HD&A pay suppliers to charge chemists lower prices, or does HD&A do all the buying from suppliers and then they resell everything (at discounted prices) to the chemists, or what? Nyttend (talk) 10:50, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

If you need more information than the article Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme provides, the PBS website provides a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions and contacts. ~2026-16372-61 (talk) 11:41, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

I thought it was this PBS that Trump hated. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:42, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

Probably that too. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 12:39, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

Both the PBS website's FAQs and other aspects of the website talk about consumer-focused matters, e.g. what do you need to benefit from PBS when at the chemist and what is the Safety Net aspect; the only industry-focused elements are a few things such as "What do I need to do if the brand name of my PBS-listed product has changed". I'm curious about the basic process: how does the Commonwealth operate the programme itself? I can't find anything on this. Nyttend (talk) 18:49, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

I found a chart of the PBS process, in a book of technical English vocabulary. Looks like the pharmacist makes a claim after prescribing a covered item, and gets money back. For a somewhat less crappy source, here's How the phamaceutical benefits scheme began, a history. Once it gets past rambling about Bismark and streptomycin, we have Any Australian resident would be entitled, on presenting a doctor's prescription to a pharmacist, to be given the medicine at no charge: the pharmacist would be reimbursed by the government. The details of the current version of the scheme are presumably written somewhere in the National Health Act 1953, an exciting treasure hunt which I will save for later or for someone else.  Card Zero  (talk) 19:34, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

The "at no charge" bit is not correct. There's a co-payment, currently set at $25.00, or $7.70 for concession card holders. It's only after reaching the Safety Net threshold that scripts become free, until the end of the calendar year. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:34, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

JackofOz, that's talking about how it was envisioned in 1944; it's not describing how the system works today. Nyttend (talk) 01:25, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. I guess I was confused about why we're digging into a law passed 73 years ago to find out how the scheme works today. This section of the PBS website may be of some assistance. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:51, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Very useful webpage. It keeps talking about payments that are made to chemists, so I'm left guessing that they buy drugs at standard cost from suppliers, sell them to Medicare card holders at a discount, and get paid a subsidy so that the discount makes sense financially. Now I'm even more confused why Trump cares — it sounds as if the Australian market as a whole buys drugs at basically the same cost (and the consumer cost is less, so consumers are more likely to fill prescriptions than in the US), so US manufacturers get paid the same as if the Commonwealth didn't subsidise much of the market. But then, it seems like part of Trump's strategy is intentionally being unpredictable and opaque. Nyttend (talk) 20:23, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

I can't speak for the Australian system, but New Zealand has something comparable (Pharmac) which it is well known that American pharmaceutical companies hate because it aggressively negotiates on the behalf of New Zealanders for medicines etc. This archive article (if the link works) has more info here https://web.archive.org/web/20231203214335/https://officialinformationact.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-salve-for-pharmaceutical-industries.html#!https://web.archive.org/web/20231203213652/https://officialinformationact.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-salve-for-pharmaceutical-industries.html Daveosaurus (talk) 06:26, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

Daveosaurus, thank you! The negotiating sounds particularly interesting for this question. We had to take our toddler to ED when visiting family in Hamilton a couple of years ago, and the physician wrote us a prescription for a big bottle of Pamol that was completely free. I guess this helps to explain how that can be possible. Is there an article about how taxes for your system work, comparable to Medicare levy for Australia? Nyttend (talk) 07:26, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

It's part of the general health budget (along with hospitals, public information campaigns, GP subsidies etc.) Since the most recent change of government there's been an extra levy added to all prescriptions (usually $5 but the last time I went to the pharmacy a prescription cost me $15) which is probably costing more for the paperwork for collecting it than it saves. Daveosaurus (talk) 07:49, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

First Latino lawyer in the United States

The article Dennis Chávez claims that he was the first Latino lawyer in the United States in 1920. This is backed up by a reference from the Tulsa County Bar Association. I find this hard to believe. Just wondering if there were any sources to categorically prove or disprove this claim. Hack (talk) 01:42, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Elfego Baca predates 1920. The Baca family was Latino/Hispanic. An argument can be made that New Mexico wasn't a state in the 1800s when much of it was granted to the Baca family, but it was American territory, and he was admitted into the BAR in 1894. This is not a claim he is the first - but it predates 1920. ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 12:02, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

And, like many lawyers, he had nine lives. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:21, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Walkabout

According to Australian Aboriginal culture a walkabout is a rite of passage journey during adolescence. However, our walkabout article is about something rather different (as indeed are dictionary definitions, not to mention the film of that title). I have always thought a walkabout was about aboriginals' rites of passage in learning survival skills, but I'm having difficulty find reliable sources or detailed information about this. Surely this isn't just a popular myth. Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:33, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

• Peterson, Nicolas (2004). "Myth of the "walkabout": movement in the Aboriginal domain". In Taylor, John; Bell, Martin (eds.). Population Mobility and Indigenous Peoples in Australasia and North America. Routledge.

The myth addressed here is that "walkabout" was based on some internal urge and travel for travel's sake. Peterson argues rather that mobility was part of identity, a social norm, and an economic necessity. But there is a small part addressing your question:

While movement to attend ceremonies remains common in remote Australia, one form of ceremonial movement in the Aboriginal domain is particularly significant. This is the central Australian initiation journey, which with access to vehicles since the late 1960s has increased in length and often in the numbers of people involved (Peterson 2000). According to customary practice, just prior to circumcision, boys were taken by their guardians on a journey to visit people in the region to gather them together for the actual ceremony. In the past this was done on foot over several months; today some initiation candidates, but not all, go off on a tour with their guardian using various forms of transport. While there is no specific evidence for the number of such journeys in any year it is probable, taking the vast central desert regions as a whole with its large number of small communities, that there would be half a dozen or so each year, although most journeys if not all would be substantially shorter than that described in the following case study.

Peterson 2000 is:

• Peterson, Nicolas (2000). "An expanding Aboriginal domain: mobility and the initiation journey". Oceania. 70 (3): 205–18. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.

The case study is a jilkaja journey of 2,250 kilometers involving 600 people. The jilkaja journey (documented from the 1962) seems to mostly describe the return trip, but jilkaja party might refer to the return trip itself or the circumcision ceremony at the end. fiveby(zero) 13:33, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

Do you want more sources along this line or are you specifically looking for: "rites of passage in learning survival skills"? The journal article discusses other ceremonial journeys but only jilkaja as an initiation. fiveby(zero) 13:37, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks @Fiveby that's very interesting. I'd still be interested to know whether there is a rite of passage in learning survival skills, as that seems to be the popular belief, at least in the UK. Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:30, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

Details of jilkaja walkabouts as part of youth initiation are here:

Population Mobility and Indigenous Peoples in Australasia and North America p. 230

Alansplodge (talk) 17:04, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

More in his journal article. jilkaja means "ceremonial traveler" in Warlpiri and the journey is one part of the kurdiji initiation. For boys 12-14 (more unreliably 10-16) it is an initiation into religious knowledge and married life. Seemingly intentionally painful with more procedures that the one mentioned. No indication of other journeys or anything to do with survival skills (except surviving the pain i guess). Only negative information so far, i would think Peterson would have known of anything and maybe would have addressed such a thing in either of those works. Maybe not tho he was focused on a larger myth and maybe Warlpiri formalized ceremonies. Might be a less formalized rite and outside Warlpiri culture. Seems Marshall's Walkabout was common secondary school reading in the UK, would have thought someone would have addressed this. fiveby(zero) 17:52, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

This was why the question of the girl’s sex had never interested the bush boy. Didn’t interest him now. For in his tribal timetable he had only arrived at the stage of walking alone: the stage immediately preceding the proving-of-manhood: the stage of the walkabout.
In the bush boy’s tribe every male who reached the age of thirteen or fourteen had to perform a walkabout — a selective test which weeded out and exterminated the weaker members of the tribe, and ensured that only the fittest survived to father children. This custom is not common to all Aboriginal tribes, but is confined to the Bindaboo, the most primitive and least-known of the Aboriginal groups who live among the water-holes of the Central and North Australian desert. The test consisted of journeying from one group of water-holes to another; a journey which invariably took some six to eight months and was made entirely unaided and alone. It was a test of mental and physical toughness far fairer — but no less stringent — than the Spartan exposure of new-born babies.

— Walkabout by James Vance Marshall

Bindibu expedition and Pintupi. Fred Myers' Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self doesn't seem to mention anything between going from a kipara (a bush bustard) to a yulpuru (seized for the circumcision ceremony) but will look more. Using the group of aborigine that was most unknown at the time is probably an indication of invention of Marshall's part, but who knows? fiveby(zero) 19:22, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

Long ago I read a debunking of that "Walkabout as a test of survival" concept. Instead, it was intended to allow time alone for contemplation and introspection, and to become more attuned to nature . Abductive (reasoning) 06:37, 25 March 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps Aboriginal culture is not monolithic, having room for a variety of cultural practices whose commonality is not the occasion that gives rise to them, but a prominent aspect of the form, involving a long journey. Trying to shoehorn all into a unified concept is then like visitors from outer space trying to define Festival in a way that captures the Bayreuth Festival, the Festival of Fools and the Lantern Festival.  ​‑‑Lambiam 07:53, 25 March 2026 (UTC)

Except 'walkabout' is a word in the space alien (Australian) language. Know that is not what you meant but it might be the wrong way to look at things: trying to define 'walkabout'. fiveby(zero) 15:02, 25 March 2026 (UTC)

It is not our business as reference desk responders to define terms, but the question is about, or implies, the issue of the meaning of the term walkabout, noting a discrepancy between how the term is treated in our articles Walkabout and Australian Aboriginal culture. Any responses must need consider that issue. Defining the term is the business of encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia, and of dictionaries, such as Wiktionary (as seen in its entry walkabout).  ​‑‑Lambiam 07:15, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Gotcha. I took the question as more along the lines of finding if there was a "rite of passage" among aboriginal cultures involving travel that we might connect to the term. I agree with your comment except that the metaphor is backwards: if we want to understand travel amongst aboriginal cultures we shouldn't approach as trying to define 'walkabout' but read Peterson and look at for instance Warlpiri:

• wapa+mi walk, move about
• wirlinyi day trip, excursion, 'hunting'
• yanjaki (manjiki) camping out
• wirlinyi going away from one's camp or sleeping quarters (ngurra) during the day and returning home to spend the night
• manjiki,yanjaki,wurramanji,ngurramangi going away from one's permanent camp (kirri,ngurra) for a temporary stay involving at least one overnight stay
• wurna travelling from one's camp to another place for some purpose, often for an extended time
• jijanu short visit to another person's camp (ngurra) typically to see someone and talk to that person

from this short primer. And jilkaja "ceremonial traveler. Normally men coming for sacred business." That dictionary does define manjiki as "walkabout, bush camp, holiday".

For article work, trying to verify Australian Aboriginal culture's is a rite of passage journey during adolescence that looks to me like it is "just a popular myth" invented by Marshall for his novel and common in the UK because it was often secondary school reading. Have been unable to verify the article statement anyway. It would be nice to find Abductive's debunking.

The walkabout article needs work, beginning with a term dating to the pastoral era which might easily be confused with pastoral period as not everyone would be familiar with pastoralism in Australia. The word itself is Australian English (or pigdin according to some). It's initial use was to describe the travel behavior of aboriginals as aimless, based on an internal urge, and travel for travel's sake. A myth Peterson addresses in his chapter in Population Mobility. It's a fun word and English speakers can use it for purposes of their own such as the 'royal walkabout'. Note the ...the word originates within Aboriginal Australian culture and specifically refers to a traditional rite of passage practiced by young Aboriginal men. which i am thinking is just another myth. Not just the "rite of passage part" but I think it originated with Australians looking at Aboriginal Australian culture and getting it wrong.

Educators are using the term (see: walkabout education) and probably perpetuating the myths. I do not know the extent to which aboriginals today have appropriated the term for their own uses, it might be a fun word for them also. But we shouldn't approach trying to understand their earlier travel practices or describe them through use of 'walkabout'. Which i believe is along the lines of what you were stating with the backwards metaphor. fiveby(zero) 14:29, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Supermarket ¿??

wasn't there a sm retailer «BUDDY'S... DMc75771 (talk) 00:15, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes. There was but some more context might be helpful. A quick google search finds a Budd'ys Supermarket in Sacramento, California and an old Buddie's Supermarket in Fort Worth, Texas. Are either of those what you were thinking of? Eluchil404 (talk) 01:00, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Vacation days

Good afternoon everyone. When i go on vacation for two days and three nights, the first day i always feel kinda uncertain, but the second is awesome. Is it because i get used to the place more? ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 14:55, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

I assume you are asking if there are any sources (academic studies etc) about this? Blueboar (talk) 15:00, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

I am legitimately somewhat curious how you would even look this up. I found this article, though I am not sure of its reliability and it does not necessarily cover days after the first day. In conclusion, though, probably because on the first day you are settling in after traveling (which is boring, exhausting, and stressful) along with some other factors like jet lag. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 01:52, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

What does "uncreatin" mean? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:42, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Probably "uncertain". Beware sneaky keyboards. Clarityfiend (talk) 19:51, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

And lack of proofreading. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Baseball Bugs (talk • contribs) 19:56, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

It was just a typo. ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 22:47, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Are you ceratin you fixed it? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:51, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes, i did. ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 06:13, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

Whereas you, Bugs, are more likely carotine. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 08:17, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

19th-century Acts of UK Parliament and railways

A longstanding project has caused me to encounter gazillions of redirects along the lines of Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway Act 1846. Typically, these redirects go to a section of a railway article that discusses an Act of Parliament providing for the railway, dating from the middle third of the nineteenth century.

Why did so many of these companies seek Acts of Parliament? Were comparable acts equally common in other sectors of the economy? If not, why were railways different (was construction somehow illegal if a company didn't get legal authorisation?), and if it were equally common, did they represent a significant share of all enactments in this period? Nyttend (talk) 06:30, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

It gave them the rights to seek compulsory purchase of land from the landowners, to override any property rights (so they could demolish, dig, tunnel if they needed to). These so called 'Private Acts' were also used for building the Canals, founding Universities and even forming Limited Companies. Nanonic (talk) 08:21, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes, before the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844, says WP, "incorporation was possible only by royal charter or private act and was limited owing to Parliament's protection of the privileges and advantages thereby granted. As a result, many businesses came to be operated as unincorporated associations, with possibly thousands of members. Any consequent litigation had to be carried out in the joint names of all the members and was almost impossibly cumbersome. Parliament would sometimes grant a private act to allow an individual to represent the whole in legal proceedings, but that was a narrow and necessarily costly expedient, which was allowed only to established companies." Railways continued to need individual acts for the reasons Nanonic gives, and also I think to give them the right to impose wide-ranging byelaws once the line was operating. Johnbod (talk) 16:26, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

It's been the norm to authorise large UK infrastructure projects that involve lots of compulsory purchase through individual laws. That kind of big project is rare, so it's hard to exactly say it's still continuing, but some fairly recent examples are High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017, Crossrail Act 2008 and Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996. Blythwood (talk) 15:24, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

Another example were the inclosure acts, enabling the breaking-up and cultivation of open land and extinguishing rights of common, such as grazing and collecting firwood, held by local people. They legislation was drawn up on a case-by-case basis; "between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts enclosing public land were passed". Alansplodge (talk) 17:29, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

There was an example in Australia where a homeowner refused to sell their house, even after it was offered for millions of dollars. In the end, the homeowner was surrounded by new houses. I don't think it was a CPO (or whatever its called in Australia) because the developers gave up on trying to force the homeowner to vacate the property.

This is an example of what, exactly? Johnbod (talk) 18:21, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Back to UK. Crossrail and HS2 are some of the largest railway construction projects in Europe, both involving London. Phase 2a of HS2 between Handsacre and Crewe was given a royal assent in 2021, before the rest of phase 2 was cancelled in 2023 (the Leeds leg was cancelled two years earlier). Now its only going between London and Birmingham/Handsacre which alleviates pressure slightly on the southern WCML, but slows all trains in the North, due to mixing slow and fast passenger trains and freight trains, as well as various conflict points, especially the Colwich Junction, turning the WCML into the M25. I wonder what happens to the homeowners who had to vacate their house on the now-cancelled stretches. JuniperChill (talk) 17:34, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

They get compensation, of course, though of course they complain it isn't enough, the French being supposedly more generous in such cases. Johnbod (talk) 01:31, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Johnbod, why would they need Parliament's authority before creating bye-laws? Even without that authority, couldn't the company's executives tell everyone else "here's our policy, and you will be disciplined or sacked if you violate it"? And JuniperChill, are you thinking of this incident in western Sydney? In capitals and in regional towns where they built heaps of new houses, median prices are approaching $1 million for an ordinary house, so even if you didn't mean the thing I found, "millions of dollars" wouldn't necessarily mean an exceptional situation. Nyttend (talk) 01:20, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Bye-laws apply to anyone, not just employees. A railway bye-law may make it an offence punishable by a fine to trespass on railway property, or to pull the communication cord without good reason. They are as much law as laws made by Parliament are. You can read current railway bye-laws here. DuncanHill (talk) 01:46, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

They can only define certain acts as punishable offences because the authority to do so that has been delegated by law. A commercial organization can draw up a bye-law provision that customers must not wear sandals, but it cannot make this an offence in a legal sense.  ​‑‑Lambiam 02:44, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

I don't think you understand what a bye-law is. A bye-law is law. It is made under powers granted by parliament (and in the past by royal charter). A company making a rule like your sandal example is not making a bye law. One of the functions of the Railway Acts asked about was to grant the railway companies the power to make bye-laws. DuncanHill (talk) 07:57, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes, exactly. Johnbod (talk) 18:21, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Interesting; I was unaware that the US usage differed from the rest of the world. To me, the by-laws (note the spelling difference) are the internal regulations, like how the company operates. I assumed that trespassing on railway property would be enforced like trespassing on anyone else's property, and "no sandals" would be enforced by management requiring you to leave the premises, at the pain of summoning the police to expel you if you refused to comply, or even to arrest you (again for trespassing) if you still refused. Nyttend (talk) 01:16, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Trespass to land is generally only a tort, at least in the UK, thus a civil matter, and the police won't arrest, or indeed do anything much at all. Some kinds of aggravated trespass are criminal, and the trend is to expand these. Of course there are often other laws they can get you on. I'm not sure US law is all that different. Johnbod (talk) 14:40, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

That appears to be the case for the Commonwealth concept. In the US the term is used more generally. In either case, the control such bye-laws can exert with legal force is limited.  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:28, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes, I was thinking about that specific scenario. Its just that I commented what I remember in my head without searching. I didn't think that its not common for house prices to be a million these days (and that the linked article says the median house prices in Quackers Hill is $1.1m) and that 1 GBP is 1.9 AUD. Also, that property (with all that grass) is so large that it would be worth like $10m so I see why the developers wanted to buy the land for $60 million dollars. JuniperChill (talk) 16:16, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Cursive Plus Sign

I'm looking for a font that has a cursive plus sign used informally to mean "and". ```` Ifyoucrydon'tlose (talk) 14:16, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

While I had no luck finding it in a font, our article Ampersand has another handwritten version, shown here to the left.

Another version can be found here, neat enough to be used in print, but again not a character of a specific font.  ​‑‑Lambiam 19:14, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. How can I add a caption to my drawing? Ifyoucrydon'tlose (talk) 19:24, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

When the drawing is included in a section on Wikipedia, like here? Open the section containing the drawing in an editor and replace the current text of the caption ("Your caption here") by your caption of choice. Or do you want the caption to be part of the image? Then you need to use an external application, a graphics editor.  ​‑‑Lambiam 02:31, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

I went to Wikipedia Commons, did a search for "Cursive Plus Sign", clicked on my drawing, clicked on "More Details", clicked the "Edit" button and changed the caption from "A common sign that is found in informal writing that means 'and'." to "Cursive Plus Sign".

However, I see that the drawing in our discussion here still has a caption "Your Caption Here"! Ifyoucrydon'tlose (talk) 09:27, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

That caption is now in the wikitext of this Wikipedia page; it does not get changed by the change on Wikimedia Commons. Future users, on clicking "

W

Use this file

", will see the wikitext "[[File:Cursive Plus Sign.jpg|thumb|Cursive Plus Sign]]" for use as a thumbnail.  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:41, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! ~2026-19813-99 (talk) 14:03, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

The reasons why Trump’s interference failed to bring about a change of government

The fact that Trump failed to bring about regime change in Venezuela by capturing Maduro or in Iran by killing Khomeini—can this be attributed to the fact that Venezuela and Iran are effectively oligarchies, and thus the death of a leader does not trigger instability? Would such actions have been more successful if both countries were led by charismatic leaders?--~2026-20181-11 (talk) 10:08, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Too early to tell. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:34, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

I believe what you're trying to refer to is what's called a personalist autocracy. And the answer is no, Iran and Venezuela were/are not that type of government, where a single point of failure can lead to the total dissolution of the government. Most countries have an order of succession precisely to avoid government collapse in the event of a leader dying. In contrast, consider governments that did have a single point of failure, such as the First French Empire, or any other governments that came and went with a single leader whose vision or guiding principles could not persist after his/her death. As far as the actions being "more successful" if Iran and Venezuela were of that type, that would require a measure of success (removal of the government, avoiding a civil war, peaceful transfer of power, ?). JasonMacker (talk) 16:31, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

If the purpose of the "military actions" is to change a regime from being unwilling to being willing to surrender the nation's oil to the US, in the case of Venezuela this action has succeeded in bringing about this regime change.  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:28, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

Similarly, if a mugger threatens me with a knife, I will probably be "willing" to surrender the contents of my wallet. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 12:13, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

The question behind this thread thread assumes that Trump’s goal was “regime change”… He may have different goals that he thinks can be achieved by a change in leadership within existing regimes. As noted: time will tell. Blueboar (talk) 14:03, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

It also assumes that Trump (as with any other President) actually intends to do anything at all other than play the role of public focus while those in power operate off camera. DNA wasn't really joking when he said the primary function of the President is not to wield power. ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 11:17, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

This. Peter Thiel and a few others are running the White House from their keyboards. Democracy is dead. Viriditas (talk) 19:29, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Gabriel Holland, clockmaker and mine owner?

I have a near-complete article at User:Pigsonthewing/Gabriel Holland, and would like to sanity check that the clockmaker and mine owner are one and the same (that the clockmaker made a model of a mine pumping engine supports the connection), and not father and son, or some other relation.

Holland was active in 1742 in Coventry and 1760 in Swannington, Leicestershire, England, and dead by September 1761.

Can anyone assist, please? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 14:31, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Kentish Gazette - Wednesday 27 January 1773. under "Bankrupts, Dividends to be paid" Page 3, Column 2, "Gabriel Holland, late of Swanington, in the county of Leiceſter, coal maſter; on the 15th of February, at ten in the forenoon, (and not on the 28th inſtant, as before advertiſed) at Guildhall, London". DuncanHill (talk) 14:49, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

But hold your horses! I find in the Derby Mercury - Thursday 29 December 1786 a similar notice for Gabriel Holland, of Swainington, Lincs, to pay dividend at the Guildhall on the 21 January. Hummm. DuncanHill (talk) 14:55, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Oh, could this be his estate paying off? I don't know what happened to bankrupt's debts in the 18th century, did they die with them? DuncanHill (talk) 14:56, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Ok, the earliest BNA mention I can find is Aris's Birmingham Gazette - Monday 15 November 1742 reporting on his miniature noble and useful engine, and placing him in Coventy. Then nothing till the 1760s when he is alive and bankrupt and appearing at the Guildhall to pay his creditors, which he seems to carry on doing well into the 1770s. DuncanHill (talk) 15:06, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

As I wrote in the article, "By September 1761 he was listed as "deceased". Bankruptcy proceedings were continuing as late as April 1786." (He also predeceased his mother-in-law, who died in 1762.) The Gazette has a dozen or so entries about his bankruptcy, both pre- and posthumous. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:09, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Well his occupation changes in the 1770s. But that really is all there is, reports of payments to creditors until the final dividend is paid in 1786. DuncanHill (talk) 15:18, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

He gets a mention in The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester (1804) p. 1125, describing his financial difficulties. Not sure if this helps. Alansplodge (talk) 20:15, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Also this "snippet view" from The Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield: 1200-1900 (1984) pp. 135-136:

[missing text]...suffered considerably from the combined effects of certain technical difficulties experienced in working the coal and from the inept management of the leading colliery proprietor. In October 1751, having decided to withdraw from the industry, William Newarke reached an agreement with Gabriel Holland , a Coventry watchmaker , whereby the latter agreed to take-over the remaining ten and a half years of the lease with the hospital.

And a another snippet from The British Coalmining Industry: Retrospect and Prospect (1977) p. 51:

...Wilkins prospered sufficiently to buy his way into the landed gentry. After his death, Swannington was worked by his former agent, William Newarke in partnership with Christopher Cooke, a maltster, who provided capital. In 1751, they sold the reversion of the lease (10 1⁄2 years) to a Coventry watchmaker, Gabriel Holland, for £ 618: £200 to Newarke and £418 to Cooke. The low price should have been a warning to Holland; but he did not heed it. Finding that all the easily-worked coal was approaching exhaustion, he had no option but to sink to deeper seams. Heavy expenditure on sinking and new engines could only be justified by extensive underground working entailing further investment on rails, for example. This was one of the earliest East Midland mines to have rails underground. Holland borrowed from an Ashby lawyer, Isaac Dawson, and incurred heavy liabilities to trade creditors. By the time that all his involuntary developments were completed, his lease was virtually due for renewal and he was unable to raise further funds. The prosperous watchmaker had become an indigent ex-coalowner.

Alansplodge (talk) 20:34, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

That's the link I was looking for; and more besides. Thank you.

Can anyone assist with birth/baptism dates, and parents? Or burial? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:44, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

A second attempt has wrung out another tantalising snippet from The Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield, p. 138:

...prevent Boultbee from taking posession of the colliery. Holland brought an action against him and assured a friend that the 'Lord Chancellor looks upon the sail [sic] of my estate to Boltby as a fradulent one, the more so as he in time past bid £6,500 and will not determine it but by bill and answer'. The dispute continued despite Holland's death shortly afterwards, for Isaac Dawson and Richard Holland offered to pay the Assignees £ 7,000 for the colliery. The latter spent many frustrating months endeavouring to obtain an adequate deposit from Dawson but by March 1762 he too was in serious...

A footnote on page 156 says: "Richard Holland who was also a Coventry watchmaker, was probably the son or brother of Gabriel".

That's all my Googling skills could extract. If you live in or near Leicestershire, you might find a copy through the library service? Alansplodge (talk) 22:44, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Very helpful, thank you. You're seeing more in snippets than I (in the UK) am; even if I follow your links. May I ask which country you are in? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 09:39, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm in the UK too. Giving away one of the arcane arts of Google-fu, the trick is this; once you find a relevant snippet, copy the final part of the text into the Google Books searchbar "in speech marks", and with luck, another part of the text appears in the search results. You can repeat this several times before you reach the limit of what Google is prepared to show you. Good hunting. Alansplodge (talk) 10:55, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

Bankruptcy in England in 1760

In :

Whereas the acting commissioners in the Commission of Bankrupt awarded against Gabriel Holland, of Swanington in the County of Leicester, coal master, dealer and chapman, have certified to the Right Hon. Lord Henley, Baron of Grainge, Keeper of the Great Seal of Great Britain, that the said Gabriel Holland hath in all things conformed himself according to the directions of the several Acts of Parliament made concerning bankrupts; this is to give Notice, that by virtue of an act passed in the fifth year of His late Majesty's reign, his certificate will be allowed and confirmed as the said act directs, unless cause be shewn to the contrary on or before the 13th of January next.

What does "his certificate will be allowed and confirmed" mean? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:52, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

I found A Treatise on the Law of Evidence as Administered in England and Ireland (1897) p. 1157, which although it refers to later acts of Parliament, seems to fit this case:

The order of discharge of a bankrupt, which the Court of Bankruptcy is, under certain circumstances, empowered to grant, operates as a discharge of the bankrupt from all debts provable in bankruptcy, save as otherwise provided by the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, and, moreover, it will be "conclusive evidence of the bankruptcy, and of the validity of the proceedings thereon." When an order of discharge has been granted, the court, if it thinks fit, may award to the bankrupt "a certificate to the effect that his bankruptcy was caused by misfortune without any misconduct on his part;" and this certificate will remove the disqualifications to which he would otherwise be subjected under sect. 32 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883.

Alansplodge (talk) 11:19, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

John Glenn quotation

There is a quotation widely attributed to John Glenn, the American astronaut, on the lines of "I guess the question I'm asked the most often is: "When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?" Well, the answer to that one is easy. I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract." I've heard, or read, variations involving high explosives, rocket fuel, and the like, but the gist is the same. What I haven't been able to find is a reliable source. Can anyone provide one? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 00:20, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Quote Investigator has an article on the subject and has concluded that the speaker was probably Walter Schirra, who in 1962 was quoted as having said, “Every time I climb up on the couch I say to myself — just think, Wally, everything that makes this thing go was supplied by the lowest bidder.” Quote Investigator is self-published, but it is compiled by an editor who is a published authority and should qualify as a subject matter expert. John M Baker (talk) 04:37, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Adam and Eve

Did the children of Adam and Eve commit incest? Loksha (talk) 05:34, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

No. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:46, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Yes, but god didn't mind. DuncanHill (talk) 08:13, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

It wasn't a crime at the time. (Lawyers, one of the ten plagues of Egypt, hadn't been invented yet.) Clarityfiend (talk) 12:15, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

There's also the question of which of the two contradictory creation stories in Genesis you buy into. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:41, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Also, one would assume, from the Biblical narrative in Genesis 2, that Adam and his wife were the only humans not born from a mother. But Genesis does not explicitly state anything that implies Cain's wife was not created de novo by God to also help him to a helper.  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:20, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Mother of Abraham / goat-nurse of Zeus

Hello, per RS, , last line, connections have been made between Amalthea (a nymph/goat who nursed Zeus/Jupiter) and Amathlai (mother of Abraham); interesting, but I keep running into Wikipedia:Fringe theories; per the footnote on p.11 of this, there may be a related early enough source that could be included as an historic notion rather than a modern theory; I cannot find the original source, can anyone else? Thank you, Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 15:38, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

The passage by Beer can be seen here, starting on the 8th line from the bottom of the page.  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:35, 3 April 2026 (UTC)