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March 22

Etiquette of eating sushi

I once saw a tv show (iirc it was an Australian Masterchef episode) where a Japanese sushi chef said it was completely acceptable to eat sushi with the fingers instead of chopsticks. However, when I mentioned this to various friends who I know are regular sushi consumers, many of them rejected the idea. Who is correct? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 10:30, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It may depend on the type of sushi. According to this source, "Most Japanese people eat sushi with their hands. Especially with nigiri sushi (single pieces of sushi with meat or fish on top of rice), it’s totally acceptable." Another source gives a more complicated rule: "Some Americans are surprised to learn that sushi is traditionally a finger food, eaten with one’s hands. Chopsticks aren’t necessary when eating maki rolls or nigiri (raw fish atop rice). However, sashimi—sliced raw fish—is eaten with chopsticks. How can you remember when to use chopsticks versus when to use your hands? Just think of it this way—touch the rice, not the fish. If there’s no rice to grab, use your chopsticks instead." (Touching nori with one's fingers is also not problematic.)  --Lambiam 13:38, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Lambiam, that was a wonderful way to summarise it. Kudoz! --Ouro (blah blah) 16:08, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks @Lambiam, I agree with @Ouro, it's an excellent answer. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 16:20, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I'd also add that in my experience it's a bit of a gender/class thing. If you're the kind of woman who has fancy salon nails and expensive handbags and your hobbies include "spa" and "shopping", you probably use chopsticks all the time. If you're extremely kawaii, same thing. If you're the kind of woman who says "thanks, it was 1000 yen at the resale shop" when someone compliments you on your jacket, or you're the kind who has fancy salon nails and expensive handbags but are projecting "I could kill you with mindbullets" energies, you're more likely to use your hands. I never really noticed a similar pattern for men. -- asilvering (talk) 18:34, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Guys just want to get the food, friend, fastest possible method. --Ouro (blah blah) 03:56, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
White folks have this hang-up where they assume that, because chopsticks are associated with Asian cuisines, that all Asian cuisine "should" get eaten with chopsticks or it's not "authentic". Similarly, Thai restaurants in NA almost always include chopsticks, despite not really being a Thai thing at all. Matt Deres (talk) 17:10, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
[citation needed]. I've never met anyone of any colour that thought all Asian food should be eaten with chopsticks. And if such ideas do exist, what makes you think they are exclusively held by "white folks"? Iapetus (talk) 10:10, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I wouldn't go as far as Matt Deres, but there's definitely a known faux pas where people assume the use of chopsticks when they're not normally used e.g. this infamous example from an Australian ad [1] [2] [3] Nil Einne (talk) 12:01, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Interesting enough, this article [4] claims one of the reasons The King and I (1956 film) was banned in Thailand was because of depictions of the king using chopsticks. I have no idea if this is accurate, I didn't find other sources which mention it and realistically there is no chance that film would not have been banned IMO. Nil Einne (talk) 12:36, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
[citation needed] Born25121642 (talk) 23:28, 26 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 23

End of the Battle of the Caribbean

Our article says it lasted until 1945 but this paper [5] from the US Naval Institute claims it ended in 1942. Which is correct? Ericoides (talk) 05:42, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Well, as you can see from the table I added to Battle of the Caribbean#Allied vessels, 336 Allied ships were lost in 1942, 35 in 1943 and 3 in 1944. You can draw your own conclusion. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:48, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, nicely ambiguous. Ericoides (talk) 13:04, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It's ambiguous because that's the nature of these sort of things. The boundaries are frequently not objective and vary from source to source. Your USNI paper sets the end in Nov 1942 because of the strategic shifts associated with Operation Torch (unsubstantiated -- did the German navy really have such a strategic shift then? If so, to what extent?) and because there were no sinkings cited in the region in Dec 1942. Our article cites roughly 85% of sinkings bu hulls and tonnage having occurred by the end of 1942, a German withdrawal of significant forces in Aug 1943 and notes Allied losses through July 1944 (all in the US Army source that informs Clarityfiend's numbers above). Antisubmarine patrols and activities no doubt continued until the cessation of hostilities in 1945. Any of the years 1942 - 1945 are accordingly reasonable answers for the question, depending on your preferred criteria. — Lomn 16:39, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Anyway this is a very good finding, and the ambiguity should well be reflected in the article. --KnightMove (talk) 12:14, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I've inserted an endnote on Commander Smith's alternative dates into the article. Ericoides (talk) 05:58, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 24

Puffin' Billy

Hello children everywhere! We all know the tune "Puffin' Billy" by Edward White was inspired by, and named after, a locomotive on the Isle of Wight. We also know that the loco wasn't the one in the Science Museum. So my question is - what loco was it? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 11:31, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'm skeptical about the citation in the Edward White article. See this: https://iwsteamrailway.co.uk/2022/10/whats-in-a-name/ There was never a loco officially named Puffin' Billy on Isle of Wight. 41.23.55.195 (talk) 12:46, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The tune is also not mentioned in the article. 41.23.55.195 (talk) 13:21, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Melbourne? Puffing Billy Railway? fiveby(zero) 16:04, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That might be wikigenisis Captain_Kangaroo#Theme song. Could it be in the sense of 'arness a puffin' Billy and not a specific locomotive? A puffin' billy is a bloomin' steamboat, That's what it is. fiveby(zero) 16:39, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It did strike me, between posting my question and now, that it could just be that White saw a puffing billy, or even that he was told, by some suitable rustic, "Arr zur, we do call 'ur the 'Puffin' Billy' we do" and it wasn't an official name at all. The 1996 album British Light Music Classics has the story of him being on holiday on the IoW, seeing some ancient steam trains, and one bearing the name "Puffin' Billy", so unless the author of the sleeve notes is a time traveller it cannot be wikigenesis. DuncanHill (talk) 00:19, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Another comprehensive (I cannot swear to "exhaustive") list of locomotives used on the Isle of Wight, here, also includes no officially named "Puffin(g) Billy". From the likely date, I suspect that White most likely saw an LSWR O2 class loco (designed in 1892 and common on the Island after WW2) and merely used what he knew to be a general nickname for old steam locos. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 5.64.160.67 (talk) 10:32, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Not helping much, but I this book as a small child c. 1960 (I'm not sure that the gollywog engine driver would be allowed nowadays). It seems to have been a near universal nickname for any steam engine. Alansplodge (talk) 10:36, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Shape of the 8 in a deck of playing cards

An 8 in cards has 3 rows of pips; the left and right rows each have 3 pips and the middle row has 2 pips. However, in some computer cards, only the 8 of diamonds looks like this; the other 8's have the arrangement of a 2x4 rectangle. Go to https://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2017/cmsc131/Spring17Proj5/playingCard.html and you'll see this. Is there any reason?? Georgia guy (talk) 14:44, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if this is the reason, but when the eight of diamonds is arranged in that 3·2·3 pattern the central negative space forms the numeral 8. It's especially noticeable when the diamonds have concave edges. Shells-shells (talk) 15:58, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Is there a reason this is thought to be specific to "computer" cards? One finds eights of diamonds also in a 2×4 pattern.[6]  --Lambiam 22:50, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I just checked three decks of standard playing cards from different manufacturers, plus a deck of Wizard cards. In every case all four 8's are 3-2-3. This pattern spaces the pips out nicely, but for the three suits whose pips are asymmetrical (i.e. all but diamonds), the pattern is asymmetrical because both pips in the middle row point the same way. If some decks use 2-2-2-2 4-4 for those suits, no doubt the reason is a desire for symmetry. --174.89.12.187 (talk) 11:12, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Do you suspect that the reason would be something that a reliable source would exist for us to direct you to?--Jayron32 18:17, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
By the way This search will confirm that the pattern of 3-2-3 is most common, but other patterns do exist, 4-4 is not unheard of. --Jayron32 18:23, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
All of my American playing cards are in 3-2-3 format. My European (French and Spanish) cards are in 4-4 format. It may be a cultural preference. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 16:49, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

District attorney

Can a district attorney charge people with federal offenses? I thought that federal charges were the US Attorney's job, and DA's dealt with state level stuff. Asking because of Alvin Bragg and Trump. I've read in a few places that the prospective charges against Trump are about federal election laws. So I'm confused. Thanks. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 18:23, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

He's enforcing state laws. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:51, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
As our own article on elections in the United States explains "All elections—federal, state, and local—are administered by the individual states, with many aspects of the system's operations delegated to the county or local level."--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 21:48, 24 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Which is also why it's a Fulton County prosecutor leading the case against Trump in the alleged election subversion in the state of Georgia. Xuxl (talk) 09:54, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In contrast to the classified documents situation, which is subject to federal law, hence the DOJ is pursuing it. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:31, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It is not only the classified status of some of the documents that is at issue, but the large-scale (alleged) theft of federal government property and the (alleged) making of false statements to federal agents, or the (alleged) inciting thereof.  --Lambiam 09:59, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
AFAIK, the Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal, the source of the case in question, is about Trump using campaign money to pay Daniels; in this case it could be prosecuted as a matter of fraud at the state level, without specific reference to any federal election laws broken. Money donated to Trump's campaign is not fungible with his own personal finances, and to use campaign money to pay a personal expense is akin to using corporate money to do the same. Every state has analogous laws on the books similar to U.S. federal campaign finance laws, which regulate what campaign funds can (and cannot) be used to do. This discusses some possible charges, such as"falsification of business records", which by itself is a misdemeanor, unless that falsification was done in furtherance of other crimes, at which point it could be a felony; in this case specifically the likely additional crime would be a violation of New York state campaign finance laws.--Jayron32 18:40, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 25

Thanks. Apokrif (talk) 21:52, 25 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As of 2 months ago, the trial was "adjourned last year with the court yet to reach a verdict. --Jayron32 18:26, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 26

USA: Drawing the line of a recession.

Is there a line drawn? Are we for example, half-way into a recession? 80% into a recession? And I believe during the 2008 recession, we did not know we were in a recession until 2009, do you think if we do hit a recession, we would essentially be a lot quicker to know we are in 1? 2601:249:8200:A640:C995:AE2C:6C25:CBE6 (talk) 02:38, 26 March 2023 (UTC).[reply]

Determining whether "we" (the USA?) are half-way, 80%, or 5% into a recession requires gazing into a crystal ball, and we do not answer requests for predictions. The definition of "recession" is, moreover, quite vague; at what level does a visible decline in economic activity become "significant" and how long is "more than a few months"? Some economists will call a decline a recession while others are adamant it did not rise (or sink) to that level. There may be some correlation with the political alignment of a pundit with the administration in the White House. Since we do not answer requests for opinions and debate either, I'm afraid you'll have to decide for yourself. The wisest is to wait until economic activity picks up again, and then classify the slump with the benefit of hindsight.  --Lambiam 13:11, 26 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
There's an old saying that recession is when you're out of work, and depression is when I'M out of work. Given the low unemployment rate at present, that does not appear to be a current indicator. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:56, 26 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
When there is a sudden decline in the size of the work force, as occurred in the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries, companies that cannot hire the people they need are forced to reduce their activities. This may have a snowballing effect: other companies may have sufficient personnel but cannot get their hands on sufficient materials for the production needed to meet demand. Overall, we'll then see a decline in economic activity. But at the same time the demand for workers is higher than the supply, so unemployment is low. I'm not saying that this is what we are seeing now, but economic stagnation and decline can in principle co-occur with a low unemployment rate; the two may have a common underlying cause.  --Lambiam 22:54, 26 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
From es:Recesión:
La opinión emitida por Julius Shiskin en un artículo publicado el 28 de agosto de 1975 en el diario New York Times en torno a dos trimestres consecutivos de caída como plazo definitorio para el término. 2
The ​NYT article says:
On the basis of a study of past recessions, Mr. Shiskin concludes that a current decline in aggregate economic activity would qualify as a recession if:
¶In terms of duration it lasts 9 months or longer as measured by a decline in nonfarm employment.
¶In terms of depth it includes a decline of at least 1.5 per cent in real gross national product that extends over at least two quarters (six months), and a rise in the unemployment rate of more than two points and to a level above 6 per cent.
¶In terms of diffusion; more than 75 per cent of all industries sustain declines in employment lasting six months or longer.
[...]
Mr. Shiskin notes that the simple two‐quarter‐decline‐in‐G.N.P. definition has some loopholes, but nonetheless has yielded about the same results in naming recessions as the more elaborate techniques of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
I have heard that the "technical definition" of recession is at leas two quarters of decline. I see that it is not so accepted actually. --Error (talk) 16:01, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 27

ISO country codes for Antarctica - reason

Why exactly does Antarctica have an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code (and related others)? In other words: What exactly is Antarctica from the viewpoint of the ISO to assign it country codes? --KnightMove (talk) 08:41, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The first sentence of our article ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is:
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard[1] published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest.
I have underlined what I think is the category that applies to Antarctica.  --Lambiam 09:49, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I see, thank you. Please can you give me a hint what would be best to be added as an explanation of Antarctica in brackets in Country codes: A? "Antarctica (special area of geographical interest)" sounds a bit clumsy. --KnightMove (talk) 10:15, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Probably nothing; the terminology used is likely to be different between ISO, ETU, NATO, FIPS, and any of the other organizations that have given a code for Antarctica. --Jayron32 13:23, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Guadalcanal's war deaths

All Japanese militaires killed, died of illness and starvation there until 9 February 1943 were buried somewhere in those islands or insted burned? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:54, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Peter Carl Fabergé

Was he remained loyal to the Romanov until his death? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:25, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

He was certainly not on the side of the Revolution. He fled the country during the Revolution, according to his Wikipedia article. --Jayron32 12:19, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Aizu clan

Who was the commander of the imperial unit who killed Nakano Takeko in 1868, and the one who won the battle of Aizu-Wakamatsu later? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:54, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Nagaoka

What was the US Army's air unit and their commander when they attacked Nagaoka in the night of 14 August 1945? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 10:54, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

According to Nagaoka, Niigata there was an airstrike on that city on 1 August 1945. Do you mean that one? --Jayron32 12:22, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.102.214 (talk) 13:06, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In which case, the Wikipedia article Bombing of Nagaoka mentions that the bombing was done by the 313th Air Division. The commander at the time, according to this page was Brigadier General John H. Davies, of whom there does not seem to be a Wikipedia article. I believe he is the John Hubert Davies noted Here. --Jayron32 13:20, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

C(K)ottbus

Großdeutsches Reich

I was looking at this 1944 edition of Stielers Hand-Atlas, were Cottbus is spelled Kottbus. Our article about the city doesn't mention a renaming of it during the Nazi era. It actually elaborates a little about its spelling (Until the beginning of the 20th century, the spelling of the city's name was disputed. In Berlin, the spelling "Kottbus" was preferred, and it is still used for the capital's Kottbusser Tor ("Cottbus Gate"), but locally the traditional spelling "Cottbus" (which defies standard German-language rules) was preferred, and it is now used in most circumstances) but it seems that the official name during WWII still had a C and not a K. So, is the map right and it was spelled Kottbus? Do you have any idea? 195.62.160.60 (talk) 11:27, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know whether the spelling with K was official at the time – usually, city names and spellings are set by the cities themselves. However, I notice that the map also spells Cochem (on the river Mosel between Koblenz and Trier) with a K, so there may have been some attempt (by the map makers?) to homogenise the C/K spellings. Historically, similar cases included Coblenz/Koblenz (K spelling official since 1926 according to the German WP article) and even de:Cöln/Köln (K spelling since 1919). In the case of Cottbus, the C spelling appears to have been adopted officially by the city in 1905 [7]. --Wrongfilter (talk) 12:16, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Yang Zhifa

Is the discoverer of the first emperor's mausoleum a communist? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.207.205.87 (talk) 15:55, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have reason to think that his political views are on record? Or do you just mean "does he conform to expected behaviour from citizens of the PRC?" ColinFine (talk) 16:32, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I doubt that there are publicly available sources documenting this. I assume that by "communist" you mean, "member of the Chinese Communist Party", which is not the same as being an adherent of the communist ideology. About 10% of China's adult population is a party member, so it appears more likely that Yang is among the 90% of non-members. When he was employed at the museum of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang he earned reportedly CNY 300 per month, which is the equivalent of about 1 or 2 euros per day. Somehow I think a party member would have had a higher salary.  --Lambiam 17:13, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
There is no real reason to believe that a member of the CCP would be paid more than a non-member for the same job. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 15:14, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Although 27% of CCP members are farmers like Yang [8], but whether he himself was or not seems to have escaped the notice of the internet. Alansplodge (talk) 12:16, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Guy goes into a pub, orders a bottle of whiskey, and pours himself a drink from it

Is that a thing? Serving whiskey (I mean liquor, not beer) in a pub? Story is set in 1970-era England if that matters. I know people drank more back then, but a whole bottle, set in front of you to drink on the spot? I'm bemused. It is important to the story that it is a bottle, because shortly afterwards he throws it at someone. Thanks. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 22:06, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

In the 1970s, a pub would have an on-licence permitting sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises. The quantity served should be such that it could reasonably be consumed on-premise; also, it is not allowed to serve intoxicated patrons, which they would be after consuming half a bottle of whiskey. The pub could additionally have an off-licence permitting the sales of unopened bottles of alcoholic drinks to be consumed off-premise. (Since then the licencing laws have changed, but I think the currrent situation is not materially different.) I don't know how a typical publican would handle a customer buying a bottle of whiskey for off-premise consumption who opens it and starts consuming it on the spot, but condoning it might cost them their licence.  --Lambiam 22:50, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Serving whisky in a pub would not have been in the least unusual. It would have been, and still is, extremely, I would even say extraordinarily, unusual for a pub to serve a whole bottle of spirits. I can't say I have ever seen it. At the time spirits would have been dispensed from optics, 1/6th of a gill in England, 1/5th in Scotland. One wouldn't normally ask for "a whisky" either, you'd either ask for a Scotch or ask for a specific whisky by name (There's an old Scottish saying, "there is no such thing as a large whisky in England). A "large one" would be a double (i.e. two measures). Respectable pubs would be unlikely to dispense a treble unless they knew you. DuncanHill (talk) 23:57, 27 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks all. The story uses the spelling "color" in a few places, so I guess the author was American and thinking a little too hopefully about UK drinking customs. It actually didn't describe the ordering of the bottle, so idk what kind of whiskey was requested. The story began with the fight breaking out when the character already had the bottle (so he uses it as a weapon). I'm reminded of the wisdom that instead of a frontal lobotomy, I'd rather have a bottle in front of me. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 00:18, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In fact I just checked the story again and the guy doesn't actually throw the bottle, but rather, he smashes it into the face of one of his opponents. He is questioned by the police afterwards, who ask how he defended himself. He missed the chance to say (referring to joke above), "I performed a frontal lobotomy using the bottle in front of me". Oh well. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 00:37, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That at least is a thing that sometimes happens less-salubrious British pubs. The Wikipedia article Glassing refers, although usually called "bottling" in British English. Alansplodge (talk) 12:22, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Heh, attacking someone with a bottle is a staple of bar fight scenes in movies, but I didn't realize that the practice had a name. TIL. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 22:09, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  • Just as a side note, the practice may have been unknown in 1970s era Britain, but it is known in the U.S., where it is called Bottle service. --Jayron32 11:56, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 28

36mo

Why is there no 36mo paper size?? Georgia guy (talk) 01:13, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

If that existed, what would it be? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:42, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
See Book_size#Common_formats_and_sizes. 36mo might be awkward in terms of the cuts and folds required, or the close to square small book that you would end up with. Hmm. These sizes may be an artisan thing by now anyway. Bigger print runs would be done on web presses. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:C255 (talk) 03:23, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It is not that it never existed (see here, p. 224); it was just rarely used, being only minimally smaller than 32mo, which was much more convenient to produce.  --Lambiam 08:39, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Political parties

Question I've had when working on some political articles is trying to find the party of elected officials from quite a few years back. For example, the Mississippi State Treasurer has been held by numerous people, but trying to find the party is always a bit tricky. Any standard formula to approaching this problem or does it just rely on digging through newspapers and books to find some mention of it? PoliticsIsExciting (talk) 03:58, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I fear it requires virtual legwork, or perhaps real armwork flipping through dusty ledgers. Voices whisper that in times bygone voters sometimes cared more about the qualities of a candidate than their allegiance to a party line, so there may even be cases where the candidate's party (if any; an independent candidate is not a candidate for the Independent Party) has not been recorded.  --Lambiam 08:49, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Also, not all elections are partisan. While Ballotpedia lists the election of Mississippi's treasurer as a partisan one, I don't know if it has always been that way and other elections that User:PoliticsIsExciting might work on could easily be non-partisan. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 09:49, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

What is "Shakti Vahini"?

Shakti Vahini is mentioned in several articles but has no page. From the context I gather that it is either a woman's rights movement or a general movement for rights, and has bought a number of key legal cases to court in India. Q Chris (talk) 08:22, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

G**gle brings up https://shaktivahini.org/. It is an NGO, and their motto is "Strengthening Women & Child Rights in India". The "About Us" section should have more. --Wrongfilter (talk) 08:44, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Some independent descriptions in newspaper articles: "Shakti Vahini, an organisation which strives to protect Indian women and children from abuse and violence of any kind"[9] — "From working with women with HIV/AIDS to fighting organised crimes like human trafficking, honour killing and violence against women, Shakti Vahini was involved in diverse services that took up the cause of women who had been abused, trafficked, attacked, or enslaved."[10] — "The US Consulate in Kolkata in collaboration with the NGO Shakti Vahini is fighting human trafficking using Swayam Siddha model that allows a holistic approach by including police and educational institutions."[11] — "Vital Voices, which was started by Hillary Clinton in 1997, upholds Shakti Vahini as a glowing example of how a group of men can — and should — work on women’s issues. ... Vital Voices is also holding Shakti Vahini up as a model NGO, one that addresses legal, advocacy and rescue missions simultaneously. ... Over the past decade, Shakti Vahini has rescued more than 2,000 people, 70 percent of whom were children. It has responded to more than 600 victims of honor killings, which are becoming more common in the northern provinces."[12] It appears that there is enough in-depth coverage in reliable sources for a Wikipedia article. BTW, the Hindi rendering of the name is शक्ति वाहिनी.  --Lambiam 09:41, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Q Chris @Lambiam Thanks for suggesting article. The organization appears to have enough RS like 1 2 3 coverage to have an article about and I would take that up.
@Q Chris Most mentions in Wikipedia articles are about a court case ruling named Shakti Vahini v. Union of India (2018). The case is though about right to choice in marriage in general, WP article Recognition of same-sex unions in India section seem to cover it. I suppose their would be multiple Indian court rulings deserved to be covered in the article Weddings in India. Bookku (talk) 11:39, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Btw as of now title Marriage in India gets redirected to Weddings in India which narrows the scope of the article. I will need to discuss the issue on article t/p first. Bookku (talk) 11:51, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
We have separate articles for Marriage in ancient Rome and for Weddings in ancient Rome, as well as two articles Marriage in the United States and Marriage in Canada next to Weddings in the United States and Canada, so it is reasonable to have two separate articles for India as well, each referring to the other in their "See also" sections. I'd say, be bold and replace the redirect by an article on the legal, social and religious aspects of the institution, leaving wedding traditions and celebrations to the other title.  --Lambiam 13:04, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Many thanks for helpful information. Bookku (talk) 06:24, 29 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Who was Colonel Schuster?

According to our article on the Trade Facilities Acts one of the members of the Trade Facilities Committee was a Colonel Schuster. Who was he? I suspect George Schuster, but have so far been unable to obtain a definitive answer. Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 21:16, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hansard for 2 March 1945 has the following from here, at 12:07 pm Sir George Schuster replies "Perhaps I ought to explain to the Committee that I have certain special reasons for speaking in this Debate. I happen to be a director of one of the "Big Five" banks, and a director of one of the insurance companies, so I can speak as one of the toads under the harrow, and give the toad's-eye view. Then the hon. Member for South Croydon (Sir H. Williams) referred to the Trade Facilities Act, and I happen to have been one of the original three members of the committee set up after the last war, under that Act". Mikenorton (talk) 21:34, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That's excellent, many thanks. DuncanHill (talk) 21:58, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

March 29

Looking for a paper that I think ChatGPT has invented

I was experimenting with ChatGPT for the first time and asked it to research a particular aspect of finance (whether there is a link between how often investors check their portfolios and their performance). ChatGPT gave a very convincing response including several citations to academic papers. The trouble is that I think it made them all up. One example was "Christophe Faugère and Julien Pénasse, (2017). The more we know, the less we think we know: The role of information acquisition in decision making. The Journal of Behavioral Finance, 18(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427560.2017.1273352". Faugere and Penasse exist but the link is dead, and that particular issue of the Journal of Behavioral Finance appears to have a completely different article on the cited pages. Googling showed no sign of this paper either. I'm aware that ChatGPT often makes stuff up but I didn't know it invented scholarly papers complete with fake citations. Is it possible that this article does exist and I'm just looking in the wrong place? Thanks for your help. --195.206.172.158 (talk) 09:16, 29 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

ChatGPT certainly does make up citations. Here is just one of the hits I get from searching for "ChatGPT inventing citations". The bot simply learns what things have gone together: it has no knowledge or understanding of the scope of an item that needs to be kept together (i.e. that a whole citation must be treated as an unalterable object). ColinFine (talk) 09:49, 29 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]