Welcome to the humanities section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

Select a section:

WP:RD/H

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

How can I get my question answered?

Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
Note:
- We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
- We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
- We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
- We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

May 12

Confusing video of late Pope Francis (?)

Can somebody please explain this? 89.1.215.232 (talk) 22:43, 12 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What's to explain? People post all sorts of weird stuff on YouTube, and it isn't advisable to take it seriously. AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:39, 12 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@AndyTheGrump: But the footage actually appears authentic to me, not like AI-generated or something. 🤷‍♂️ 89.1.215.232 (talk) 11:27, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It would help if you could say what you find it confusing about it. It's obviously a video of the late Pope Francis conducting a church service towards the end of his life. What is so confusing about that? --Viennese Waltz 11:31, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Viennese Waltz: Certainly. Firstly, if it's really him, he would obviously be conducting an orthodox service wearing orthodox regalia, which would be totally unusual for a Roman Catholic priest. Telling by the surrounding priests all wearing masks, this must have been during the COVID crisis. Yet, I was unable to identify any pertinent coverage on such an event ever having actually taken place. Secondly, his posture doesn't look like him at all ... 89.1.215.232 (talk) 11:53, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like inside the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi. Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia is quite old and there is footage of him being supported by men wearing face masks (see e.g. this eurasianet.org article). I don't believe your clip is "authentic". ---Sluzzelin talk 12:09, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It may well be authentic, but it's clearly not Pope Francis in the video. Good job identifying the church and the likely subject. It looks like even the masked helpers in the video might be the exact same men as in the photo you found. The ceremony with the two candles they are performing may be part of the Orthodox Easter service, if I remember correctly. Fut.Perf. ☼ 12:21, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Quite obviously not Pope Francis, if for no other reason than Francis was much balder than that. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 12:23, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Exactly. The captions aside, if I had come across that video by chance, there's nothing in it that would have suggested to me that it's Pope Francis. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:26, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Having money instead of spending it

Have there ever been situations where the rich have had their way because of having money, not spending it? In other words, the money had just acted as some sort of catalyst, whomever the rich were trying to influence had not actually benefited from it. JIP | Talk 23:50, 12 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, this kind of thing happens all the time. Blackballing is one of the most popular examples. If you're not part of the club, you're not going to get anywhere in your respective field. If someone who is rich doesn't like you, they will pull strings in the background. In this respect, power and money are almost interchangeable. I was just watching Frontline's "The Man Who Knew", which is about FBI agent John P. O'Neill. He tried to stop 9/11 from happening, but the FBI fought him every step of the way. Viriditas (talk) 00:29, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

See also The Million Pound Note. Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:36, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Many defendants sued by a plaintiff with deep pockets choose to settle, even when they would almost certainly win in court, because they cannot afford the cost of a full-blown court case, including appeals. The rich party does not have to spend their money; it is sufficiently chilling to know that they could spend it. ‑‑Lambiam 10:49, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

At a certain mega-level of wealth, you stop having to spend money because people will do you favours in exchange for goodwill that they hope to cash in for better treatment in business, social or government deals. I think the best known example is Steve Jobs, who famously got paid a one dollar salary - of course, he also sat on a ton of Apple stock and got things like private planes as bonuses, but he mostly didn't need to actually spend his assets to maintain his lifestyle (I think a private yacht was his one big splurge). He was influential because he was cool, rich and controlled the fastest growing company on the planet. Smurrayinchester 09:33, 15 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

He was also mortal. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:35, 15 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 13

Atlantic Business Magazine

Hello everyone. I recently wrote the article Atlantic Insight, and then decided to write about their subsidiary magazine of the time, Draft:Atlantic Business Magazine. I'm basically certain the Atlantic Business Magazine mentioned in this news article is the same one I'm writing about in the draft, but this magazine claims to be founded in 1989, and the one related to Atlantic Insight was founded in 1982. I can pretty well confirm they're the same company via records in the Registry of Joint Stock Companies, but that's not really an appropriate source to use. If anyone could pull up a good source that proves the connection, I'd appreciate it. Thanks, MediaKyle (talk) 11:16, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Other sources agree that a magazine named Atlantic Business was acquired by Lorimer in 1988.^[1] My impression is that there was a magazine named Atlantic Business, and a later one, perhaps its successor but nevertheless a different periodical, not a continuation, named Atlantic Business Magazine. While the older Atlantic Business was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia,^[2] the current Atlantic Business Magazine is based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. References to articles in the earlier magazine use a two-word name for the magazine.^[3] The volume number in "Atlantic Business, 7:3 (May 1988)" is consistent with a magazine founded in 1982. References to articles in the later magazine use a three-word name for the magazine, as does the magazine itself ("Founded in 1989, Atlantic Business Magazine is the longest publishing and most award-winning regional business magazine in Atlantic Canada."^[4]). The volume number in "Enachescu, M.E., 2004a. Doing business in the Atlantic offshore: Essential information every explorer needs to know. Atlantic Business Magazine, Volume 15, No 4, p. 12-22."^[5] is not consistent with a magazine founded in 1982.

The term "Atlantic Business" occurs in Canadian Bankruptcy Reports 1993,^[6] but we can't see if this refers to a magazine. ‑‑Lambiam 20:13, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot for this, I don't know how you do it. This is some good information. I may have to begrudgingly accept that they are separate publications... There's something weird about it for sure, though. Someday I'll have to track down the last copy of Atlantic Business and the first copy of Atlantic Business Magazine. MediaKyle (talk) 15:18, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 14

"Club 22", Bucharest

While in Bucharest last October, I took this photo. I haven't been able to find out anything about "Club 22". There are a few online mentions of an organization of that name that seems to be involved with commemorating the 1989 revolution, but I suspect that is coincidence. There were several signs with this name along an undoubtedly valuable tract of wooded land in the Primăverii neighborhood, enough land that it could fit at least half a dozen buildings, in one of the wealthiest parts of Bucharest. I've written up a bit more in the description of the linked photo (including more on the precise location); I'm wondering if there is anything at all notable here: if not Wikipedia-notable, whether this is at least a photo we should have on Commons. - Jmabel | Talk 20:33, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Romanian Wikipedia mentions that Vasile Emilian Cutean was the founder of the Association Club 22, and according to this article its HQ was located in the Primăverii neighborhood, and used to be Emil Bobu's house (Blvd Mircea Eliade 12). ---Sluzzelin talk 21:29, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Sluzzelin: that looks like a solid lead, thanks! - Jmabel | Talk 23:06, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There is a website https://club22buc.portalulrevolutiei.ro/ but it lacks content. DuncanHill (talk) 21:51, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yup, that is one of the trivial mentions online that I found. - Jmabel | Talk 23:06, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This section is resolved and can be archived. If you disagree, replace this template with your comment. Jmabel | Talk 23:31, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 16

Le Fanu and Shalken and Douw

Sheridan Le Fanu wrote "Strange Event in the Life of Shalken the Painter" in 1839, when he was 25. Would he have had the opportunity to see many, or any, of Godfried Schalcken's paintings by then? From our article on Le Fanu he doesn't seem to have travelled outside Ireland at this point, so were there any Shalcken's in Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland at the time that we know of? Also, I know Gerard Douw had a niece Anthonia van Tol, but did he have any others? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 00:14, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Le Fanu wrote the name of the painter as "Godfrey Schalken". Artcyclopedia does not list any Schalcken paintings in Irish museums.

"Velderkaust", reused by Le Fanu in The Wyvern Mystery, is not a plausible Dutch surname, so this niece is almost certainly entirely fictional. ‑‑Lambiam 10:32, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but did he have any other nieces? DuncanHill (talk) 08:12, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Genealogieonline.nl (not a reliable source) mentions another daughter, Marya van Tol, among Simon van Tol and Catharina Vechters's children, but I found no further information (or corroboration). ---Sluzzelin talk 10:12, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

More precisely, these were stepnieces, being daughters of Dou's older stepsister Trijntge (Catharina) Vechters.^[7] ‑‑Lambiam 12:37, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

US state in lawsuit with foreign country

I just learnt about Principality of Monaco v. Mississippi, decided by SCOTUS in 1934. Are there any other incidents of foreign countries suing, or being sued by, a US state in US federal court? Mississippi seems to have argued against the suit on the constitutional grounds that states may not have relations with foreign countries without congressional consent (although I didn't see this being addressed by the court's opinion, which ruled for Mississippi on other grounds), and if other lawsuits of this sort have occurred, I'm left wondering if this constitutional provision has ever had an effect in those cases. Nyttend (talk) 02:42, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 17

US District Court for southern Florida on the Georgia border

The United States Post Office, Custom House, and Courthouse (Fernandina, Florida) was once the seat of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida before the Middle District was created. Surprising, since Fernandina Beach, Florida is in the state's extreme north, the district's original northern border was at the latitude of Charlotte Harbor, Florida — 400 km south of Fernandina Beach — and the article makes no mention of boundary amendments before the creation of the Middle District. Why would the court have met outside its jurisdiction — especially extremely outside its jurisdiction, not just a tiny bit over the border? Nyttend (talk) 06:54, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

A quote from a 1954 hearing before a subcommittee of the United States House Committee on Appropriations: "Court for the southern district is held at Fernandina, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Jacksonville, Key West, Miami, Ocala, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach." So Fernandina Beach was not the sole location. Our article David W. Dyer Federal Building and United States Courthouse (located in Miami) calls it "an historic United States Post Office and federal courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida" and states: "In 1926, a devastating hurricane decimated southern Florida, prompting Congress to appropriate more than $2 million for a new courthouse in Miami in 1928", and "When it opened [in 1932], the building housed all Miami-area federal agencies with the exception of the Weather Service. ... It was occupied by federal courts and various federal agencies until 2008."

The single source cited in our article on the Fernandina Beach building only refers to it as "Post Office and Custom House, built in 1910",^[8] not mentioning a function as courthouse. ‑‑Lambiam 00:28, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Fernandina Beach is in Nassau County, which until 1962 was in the Southern District of Florida, so the court location there was not outside of its district, notwithstanding that Nassau County, Florida is on the northern border of Florida. “Southern District,” in other words, was and is a misnomer, as you can see from the map of current district court boundaries at List of United States district and territorial courts#/media/File:US Court of Appeals and District Court map.svg. John M Baker (talk) 15:48, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

French graffiti style

There is a particular graffiti style which I have often seen in continental Europe: each word is hand-painted in blocky black capitals, on its own painted rectangle not shared with any other word. The rectangles are all the same colour. Like this:

I have never seen this in the UK, Ireland, or the US. Does the style have a name of its own? Is it found elsewhere? Marnanel (talk) 12:28, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Marnanel It appears to be on sheets of paper glued to the wall rather than graffiti. I suspect this is to avoid being accused of vandalism. Shantavira|^{feed me} 18:44, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

In Britain you'd still be accused of vandalism. Is there some French law permitting bill stickers for political purposes? DuncanHill (talk) 19:05, 17 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, there's a legitimate-looking poster pasted up right beside it, so it seems plausible. Matt Deres (talk) 00:12, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm fairly sure you are allowed to affix a poster to your own building, or else with the permission of the owner, so a political poster on a wall is not by itself unlawful. I'm also fairly sure that in many countries it is not unheard of that supporters of political parties put up election posters in ways that are not approved by the authorities. ‑‑Lambiam 00:36, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. And sometimes civic-minded citizens take matters into their own hands to remove such egregious offences. (The fact that the citizen in this case was the husband of the opponent of the candidate in the poster was an irrelevant coincidence.) -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:51, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If it's sheets of paper glued to the wall then it would be Street poster art. The paper may be stuck on with Wheatpaste, and "wheatpasting" is sometimes used as a term for flyposting like this. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 08:30, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 18

Possible degree mill?

So, I don't know if this topic fits this forum, but I'll just try anyways. Recently I wrote an article about this parliament member, and here it says that he received an M.B.A. John Luther University, Utah, 1992-1993. I tried to search about this university everywhere, and I can't find the named being mentioned alone, except its distance education program in Indonesia, the John Luther Institute of Management. I suspect that this university is a degree mill, but how do I know if this is true or not? Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 22:46, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I looked for "John Luther University" in both Newspapers.com and Google. Nothing. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:26, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I also could not find any papers published by faculty or students of the institute. Stanleykswong (talk) 06:41, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

A Google search for "John Luther Institute of Management" also draws a blank. BTW, I do not see what this ex-MP is notable for. ‑‑Lambiam 08:33, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Being an MP? (WP:NPOL): Politicians and judges who have held...national...have been members of legislative bodies at those levels. Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 08:40, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Jeromi Mikhael You don't say where that university is mentioned, but it is obviously an unreliable source, so ignore it. Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:35, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It's ref no. 1 in the article Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 08:41, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That reference's first use is for the statement "He received a degree in administrative sciences from the College of Administrative Sciences of the Institute of State Administration in 1991."

From websearching, this presumably refers to the Lembaga Administrasi Negara - LAN, variously translated as 'The Indonesian Institute of State Administration', 'National Institute of Public Administration Indonesia', etc.

Academic institutions in developing countries often collaborate with other such bodies overseas to teach and/or administrate and award particular qualifications. It may be that LAN has or had such an arrangement with this "John Luther Institute of Management", which does not necessarily speak to the nature or academic validity of the latter. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.170.37 (talk) 09:05, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I havent inserted the statement on his MBA because I think it's unreliable. Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 10:09, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I found another recipient, Riswansyah Djahri, apparently an ex-member of the DPD, being interviewed in Radar Lampung: "Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) John Luther University Sait [sic] Lake City, Utah, USA 1995". ‑‑Lambiam 08:54, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 19

Virgin Money's offer to buy Northern Rock - in 2007, then in 2011. Why the wait?

When Northern Rock collapsed and was nationalized back in 2007, the government sought a buyer. Virgin Group stepped forward with an offer in October 2007.

The government rejected that offer (and all other offers) at that point, and none of the suitors for the collapsed bank were offering to cover all of the bank's liabilities, which was the government's hope and goal.

Now, four years later, On 17 November 2011 the UK Government announced the sale of Northern Rock to... Virgin Money (part of the aforementioned Virgin Group) for £747 million. The deal went through.

My question is, did the U.K. government gain anything from the four year delay? If the best deal that could be obtained, would fail to cover all of Northern Rock's liabilities, why wait four years for a deal that had been offered and rejected back in 2007?

Did it take four years of government scrutiny to simply appreciate the inevitable reality of the situation? Or is there a different explanation?

@DOR (HK):, you're our resident economist; do you have any thoughts? Also @John M Baker: - you're our resident corporate lawyer. I know this isn't really a legal question; but I wonder if your corporate expertise can shed any light on this sort of situation. Others feel free to add their $0.02, of course. EDIT: Pinging also @John Z: and @Dragons flight: as you two have answered banking-related questions from me in the past. I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights on this. Eliyohub (talk) 12:36, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I can’t say that I am too familiar with the Northern Rock transaction, but obviously the situation in 2011 was very different from that in 2007, and there is nothing inherently surprising in the government making a different decision. The government always planned to sell Northern Rock at some point. It apparently believed in 2007 that temporary nationalization, with perceived governmental support, would be less costly than a sale to a third party. John M Baker (talk) 14:19, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

As well as the economic situation being very different, it was two different governments (one Labour, one mostly Conservative) with different views on the merits of nationalisation and privatisation.

PS: WP:ENGVAR would suggest we should be offering our two penn'orth rather than $0.02 ;) AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:03, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If the ‘’best’’ deal was the one offered in 2007, AND WE KNEW IT AT THE TIME, then we can draw conclusions about what might be gained by waiting. What we knew at the time was (a) a buyer was needed; (b) said buyer would ideally cover all of the banks STILL UNKNOWN liabilities; and (c) said buyer would be politically, legally, morally, etc, etc, acceptable. Based on what we know today, there is very little to gain (in the Wikipedia milieu) by speculating as to why a decision was made later, rather than earlier. DOR (ex-HK) (talk)

Two ministers in 1964

In Wilson, Harold. "William Ewart Gladstone". A Prime Minister on Prime Ministers. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson and Michael Joseph. p. 110. ISBN 0-718-11625-9. we read "When the Labour Government was formed in 1964 , two new ministers met outside the Cabinet room, exchanged jobs, and came back to tell the Prime Minister, who told them to go to the departments to which they had been allocated. Within a week both were saying how glad they were to be where they had been sent." Who were those two ministers? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 20:17, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly Richard Crossman who had been Shadow Education Secretary but was given the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, and Michael Stewart who had shadowed housing but was given the education portfolio. See Constitutional Practice: The Foundations of British Government (p. 181). A copy of Crossman's Diaries of a Cabinet Minister might shed more light. Alansplodge (talk) 17:25, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think you've got it. "In 1964 Wilson sent Crossman to Housing and Local Government and Stewart to Education. They had held the reverse portfolios in opposition and asked Wilson to give them their old responsibilities back. He refused." [9] --Antiquary (talk) 19:05, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Alansplodge: and @Antiquary: Thank you both, I had Crossman in the back of my mind when I read it. Stewart is rather a forgotten figure nowadays. DuncanHill (talk) 20:53, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 21

Ralph Adams Cram

According to Blair, David (2002). Gothic Short Stories. Ware: Wordsworth Editions. p. 242. ISBN 1-84022-425-8. in 1919 Ralph Adams Cram "wrote a preface to a book devoted to claiming that the Great War had been predicted in the 'automatic writings' of mediums". I would be grateful to know what that book was. Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 00:09, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@DuncanHill: The Hill of Vision by Frederick Bligh Bond. Zacwill (talk) 00:35, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 09:45, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If Arabs ran the Barbary slave trade, is the Barbary slave trade an Arab slave trade?

If Maghrebi Arabs were involved in the Barbary slave trade, would the Barbary slave trade be part of the broader Arab slave trade. 2A0A:EF40:13B6:7201:982F:AB47:AFFC:9E7 (talk) 19:49, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That would depend on what the sources say. My understanding is that the Barbary slave trade involved maritime routes, where capture occurred within a day's march of the coastline in the Mediterranean or the Atlantic. Those captured being principally Christians. Those involved in this trade were not only Arabs, but people of many ethnicities including Berbers, Turks Italians, Dutch, English, Albanians and Greeks, all nominally serving the Ottomans. The Arab slave trade usually refers to the enslaving of subsaharan people, and trafficking them either over long distances by land or through the Indian ocean. However, there are many books on these topics, and it would be necessary to read several of them and decide how fair they consider the two phenomena to be separate.Boynamedsue (talk) 22:09, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Home Secretaries and Royal births

According to Jenkins, Roy (1999). "Sir John Simon". The Chancellors. London: Papermac. ISBN 0333730585. "When the present Duke of Kent was born in 1935 he was one of the last Home Secretaries to attend a royal accouchement". Now, Edward was the son of a younger son of the monarch at the time. I would like to know 1) what level of closeness to the monarch was regarded as needing a Home Secretary in attendance (eg, only direct descendants? grand-children but not great-grandchildren? etc), and 2) who WAS the last Home Secretary to attend such an event? Also, were there any occasions when an alternative minister performed the duty?Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 21:23, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you trust some gal named Marilyn it was a government minister(s) after the Warming Pan Baby up to Edward VIII when it became Home Secretary, the last Simon for Princess Alexandra. fiveby(zero) 03:31, 22 May 2025 (UTC) Some guy named Charlie confirms. fiveby(zero) 03:46, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Fiveby: Thanks, I found the probably more reliable London Gazette had this to say:

From 1894, home secretaries were required to attend royal births for reasons of verification – to ensure that the baby and potential heir to the throne was a descendent of the monarch, and not an imposter. Previous to this, the royal birth room would have been even more crowded with privy councillors and ministers (along with medical practitioners and ladies-in-waiting, among others).

As for the Warming Pan baby:

This Day between Nine and Ten in the morning the QUEEN was safely delivered of a PRINCE at St James’s, his Majesty, the Queen Dowager, most of the Lords of the Privy Council, and Divers Ladies of Quality being present

For the future Edward VIII

ON Saturday, the 23rd instant, at ten o'clock P.M., Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York was safely delivered of a Prince. Their Royal Highnesses The Princess of Wales, The Duchess of Teck, and The Duke of York were present. Mr. Secretary Asquith was also present

And the last Home Secretary was Simon, for Princess Alexandra. DuncanHill (talk) 12:07, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 22

Seeking 29 April, 1993 edition of Jakarta Post

Anyone knows where I could find this edition? This is a source cited in Adam Schwarz's A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s. — 王桁霽 (talk) 06:51, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Can you access any of these libraries? AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 09:57, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@王桁霽: The best place to try is the Resource Exchange. DuncanHill (talk) 10:11, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9780813388816

https://www.amazon.com/Nation-Waiting-Indonesia-1990s/dp/0813388813 Stanleykswong (talk) 11:54, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

sanitation

history of sanitation 82.4.170.5 (talk) 14:02, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

history of sanitation. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 14:12, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think that's the first occasion in my 20+ years at the Ref Desks where the answer is identical to the question. This is a model of perfection we should all aspire to. Well done, AlmostReadytoFly.-- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:07, 25 May 2025 (UTC) [reply]

May 23

Looking for a specific Bible . . .

I have seen some people with the Quran, and they would have a digital copy of the Quran, and basically, they can see the Quranic Arabic version and translated version at the same time. I also like how they look into Tafsir too. I want something like this for the Bible. Something that will show the original language and translated language side by side, even though I can't read the dead languages, but a recitation of the biblical text would be nice even if I don't understand a word, also accompanied with scholarly exegesis just so I know what the piece of old text means. Yrotarobal (talk) 21:51, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Good luck finding an official original language Bible. But I googled "bible in hebrew with english translation", as an example, and found various things, typically called "Interlinear Bible". Maybe one or more of those items could help. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:05, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure whether or not its publications have parallel text as you desire, but you might be interested in the ongoing work of the Original Bible Project. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.154.147 (talk) 00:40, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks guys. I went searching for "Interlinear Bible" and found it. Cool. Exactly what I wanted. Reading the English translation feels like I am reading backwards. The translation helps though. I like the original text and the transliteration, but I can't make use of the transliteration because I still can't pronounce it. What does it sound like? Is there an audio recording somewhere of the Bible and the Christian New Testament books? How do I read the Hebrew abjad and Koine Greek alphabet? Do I just use the modern Hebrew abjad to pronounce the biblical Hebrew words, like how Chinese people use the modern pronunciation to pronounce Classical Chinese texts because the Chinese logograms themselves don't preserve sound that well? And what about the medieval Latin version of the Bible? Say, why are Christians less tied to the original languages? I have taken a look at Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Chinese people, and the peoples all seem to have direct access to the original writing and modern translation. But for Western European Christians, the original writing of Koine Greek gets replaced by Latin, which gets replaced by regional vernaculars? What about Greek Christians? Do the modern Greeks read the Bible's New Testament in the older Greek and modern Greek side by side? And in the New Testament, there are references to Greek gods like Hades, Zeus and Hermes. Is this reflective of ancient and modern Greek society, merging the Greek cosmology of the world with the Hebrew cosmology of the world? Yrotarobal (talk) 13:48, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

See for some information Biblical Hebrew § Phonology. This is a reconstruction; also, there was both synchronic variation (dialects) and diachronic variation (through evolution of the language and its pronunciation). People reciting from the Tanakh will generally use the Modern Hebrew phonology, or if they are Yiddish speakers be influenced by the very different Yiddish phonology, but if they are historically minded they may make an effort to approximate the Tiberian Hebrew pronunciation. ‑‑Lambiam 21:22, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Now, I need to find an audio recording of reciting from the Tanakh so then I can follow along as I read. Yrotarobal (talk) 22:16, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

May 26