Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 June 9

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

June 9

Sarah Palin's Paul Revere Mistake

I have never studied US history before; can someone explain to me what was so funny about Sarah Palin's mix-up of the history of Paul Revere? I tried reading the Wikipedia articles on both Palin and Revere, but it doesn't mention where she went wrong. Could someone also explain what was wrong with her subsequent defense of her statement in the Fox new interview? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 00:18, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

IIRC, She conflated two elements of the story; his ride to warn that the British were coming, and his dissuading the British from continuing to Lexington when a church bell was heard (after Revere had been captured by the British), turning these into Revere riding along causing bells to be rung deliberately to warn off the British. I get the impression that Revere is firmly on the History 101 curriculum in US schools, and that you just don't get away with mangling the story like that. Didn't hear the fox interview, but if this quote is from it "You know what, I didn't mess up about Paul Revere ... I know my American history ... part of his ride was to warn the British, that were already there, that, 'Hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual private militia that we have'. He did warn the British." then that's a fail; his ride was not to warn off the British. He didn't intend to get captured by them or to communicate with them; but having been captured, he did his best to dissuade them from their advance, presumably to the advantage of the defenders of Lexington. cf. [1] --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:28, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

It's also due to Sarah Palin's history of dumb mistakes like this, and other flaky behavior, like quitting mid-term as Alaska governor, apparently just because she changed her mind. Dan Quayle and the second George Bush were similarly liable to making such goofs. Reagan made some similar mistakes, but, in his case, it may have been the early stages of Alzheimer's. It's interesting, though, that Republicans seem to be more prone to this type of mistake. StuRat (talk) 00:55, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

It remains to be seen if Palin's minor gaffe has the same kind of legs as Quayle's misspelling of "Potato", which got pretty well beaten to death over time. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:57, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Not a speaking mistake obviously but Gerald Ford got quite a ribbing over stumbling. Another Republican too... Dismas|^(talk) 01:01, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Some politicians have a special knack for the old "open-mouth-insert-foot" syndrome. It's also the case that once someone becomes known for mistakes of fact, the media start watching for them. Presumably she was making some point about America always defending itself, but that point was lost amidst the "hey, you messed up" hoopla. A story or historical reference should merely enhance a point, it shouldn't distract from it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:05, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Paul Revere's Ride is such a well-known story in the U.S. that botching it like Palin did makes her sound really stupid. Imagine a Canadian politician saying that Laura Secord warned the Americans, that Louis Riel founded New Brunswick or that Paul Henderson scored the winning goal to beat Czechoslovakia. -- 174.116.177.235 (talk) 01:10, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

It would be the Ricky Ricardo knowledge level: "All I know is that Columbus discovered Ohio in 1776." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:54, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I would also just add that the Tea Partiers like Palin have essentially made their image out to be the "true Americans" (white, non-intellectual, capitalist, etc.) who harken back to the ideals of the Founding Fathers and all that. (Even the name "Tea Party" is meant to invoke that.) The fact that they are generally dismally ignorant on the history of the Founding Fathers (or even on the contents of the Constitution that they claim to be strictly adhering to) makes them easy targets (and underscores the fact that their claims to being "true Americans" or anything like that are sheer bigoted nonsense). Great articles on this fact are all of the bits that Jill Lepore has written in The New Yorker, i.e. [2] and [3]. I suspect if Palin were botching other areas of US history poorly it would have less of this resonance to it. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:18, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Some old Americans learned to recite a poem "Listen my children, and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" by Longfellow. It was read to us in grade school. I was and am puzzled, since it says "one if by land and two if by sea" (with respect to the route the Brits would take when going to seize military goods stockpiled by the colonists. It refers to two lanterns in the church tower, yet the Brits marched to the target villages, shot a bunch of insurgents, and marched back, taking heavy casualties en route. Apparently somehow it was important to know they were starting their raid by crossing a body of water in boats. My class was confused by the poem. Edison (talk) 04:41, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

For some rare film footage of this glorious event, go to the 6:25 point of this clip:[4] Hopefully this will make things perfectly clear. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:57, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Important to register the underlying fact that Longfellow was out to write great poetry and not great history. The poem is an attempt at creating a national hero, and uses considerable poetic license, so should not be relied on for historical accuracy. Sam Blacketer (talk) 08:10, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Next thing you'll be telling us is that Washington did not whittle his wooden false teeth from cherrywood after his father had punched his teeth out. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:05, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I don't get too excited about what I assume is a copy-vio. But propose that we make it an instantly-bannable offense to link to a YouTube movie that's been stretched to the wrong aspect ratio! Such disrespect to such a classic piece of cinematography! APL (talk) 06:51, 14 June 2011 (UTC)

Regarding the "one if by land, two if by sea" line, it helps to know the historical geography of the Boston area. The sea route would have been very different than the land route and would have required the Patriots to mobilize in different places. The sea route involved a passage across the Charles River to Charlestown or Cambridge toward what is now Arlington, Massachusetts en route to Lexington. The land route would have meant marching along the narrow neck that connected the Shawmut Peninsula to Roxbury, and then along what are now Tremont and Harvard Streets to what was then the first bridge across the Charles River at the site of the present-day John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard University campus, from which the British would have continued up what is now Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge and Arlington to Lexington. I don't want to litter this page with a large map, but here is a link to a map showing the geography. Marco polo (talk) 15:38, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

If I'm reading your explanation correctly, "two if by sea" suggested a heightened urgency as the redcoats would be likely to get to their destination sooner. Is that correct? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:47, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Correct. And, in fact, they did go "by sea." Marco polo (talk) 15:49, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Close as it is to the ocean, is the Charles River saline? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:24, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Before the construction of the first Charles River Dam in 1912, the body of water that the British crossed, then known as the Back Bay, was a brackish tidal estuary. Of course, since then, much of the Back Bay has been filled in. The remnant body of water, now known as the Charles River Basin, has been fresh water since 1912. Marco polo (talk) 18:04, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

"Fresh water"? Actually layers including brackish water. The dam prevents more salt water from entering. If you fall in, they have to boil you for sanitary reasons. Doc Edgerton used sonar to map the basin -- he found a clear line between the fresh water and the salt water, a clear line betwen the salt water and a layer of muck, a clear line between that layer of much and a thicker layer of muck, and never did get any signal from a solid bottom. The "by land" referred to "Boston neck" which is a very narrow strip of land - now virtually occupied by BU. The Lexington church bell tolled from about 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. according to contemporary accounts. Dawes actually did more - Revere was caught and the Brits thought he was lying when he said 500 would meet them. Collect (talk) 18:28, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Just to correct the inaccuracies, the Boston Neck was nowhere near the present-day Boston University (BU). Instead, it followed the course of present-day Washington Street to Roxbury. Also, the water at the surface of the Charles River Estuary is certainly fresh today. It turns out that you are correct that in the deeper parts of the basin there is a salt wedge according to this study. Due to extensive efforts over the pst 30 years or so, the river is now clean enough most days to be safe for swimming (as it was at the time of Revere). Marco polo (talk) 19:54, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I recall how they had to tell us in history class that Dawes actually did more of the ride than Revere did, but the poem focused on Revere, who I guess had a more poetic name. And, yes, Boston proper was practically an island originally, with the "Back Bay" portion mostly filled in since. I think Fenway Park sits on landfill, for example. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:52, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Personally I believe that Sarah Palin purposely made her Paul Revere "mistake". I am no fan of Palin, but I think she's smarter than most people believe. After all, this "gaffe" has kept her name in the news and "any publicity is good publicity". I find it hard to believe that any adult American could possibly get the Paul Revere story wrong and as long as Palin is bringing attention to herself, she is making money. That being said, saying Republicans make more mistakes them Democrats is ludicrous. Just look at America's Vice President, Joe Biden. Possibly the most inept politician ever. It really is sad that people like thisare running America. Politicians are morons regardless of political viewpoints.--ChromeWire (talk) 19:20, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

That clip of Joe Biden telling a racist joke doesn't show a lack of intelligence on his part, just a lack of political correctness. StuRat (talk) 21:14, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Have to mostly agree with StuRat here. Biden may be an inept politician if he says things which annoy enough people to significantly reduce his chances of being elected (or working with others), but it doesn't make him unintelligent or uninformed, just a crap politician (and if he's really racist, a crap human in my books). What people talking about Republicans here, accurate or not, appears to be about them making comments which suggest they are one or both of those rather then just a crap politician or human. I don't know enough about Biden to say if he falls into this category but the clip isn't it. Also, I don't know whether Palin's slipup was intentional or not but I admit I personally don't find it surprising someone who thinks Montreal is in France (and doesn't seem to know who the PM of Canada is) despite touting Alaska's closeness to Canada as part of their foreign policy experience would really be that ill-informed. Nil Einne (talk) 12:32, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, I think you have to be a special kind of stupid to be racist, and an even deeper kind of stupid to think it's a good idea to advertise your stupidity in that regard, especially if you want to be taken seriously. To make this 'joke' in front of a news crew, directly to an Indian-American activist? Clearly reflects very poorly on his intelligence. Even if you somehow think it is only 'political correctness' not to make racist jokes, if your are in politics then political correctness is the relevant correctness! If you can't get your head around race being a cultural construct, if you can't even get your head around not saying racist things to people who are highly likely to find them offensive (at least when there are cameras there!), then that does make you unintelligent in a way directly related to your ability to run a country. 86.161.212.100 (talk) 13:21, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Well I already said someone who says things liable to reduce people's support for him or ability to work with him is a crap politician. But that's a different issue from the one we were discussing which was stupidity or a low level of knowledge among some politicians. And the problem of course with many racists is not that they don't understand they shouldn't say racist things, it's that they don't understand when what they are saying is racist because they have a warped perspective. And I wouldn't call racists inherently stupid or ill-informed though except in an abstract sense. In fact I would say to underestimate the intelligence and knowledge of many racists is very harmful as history has shown many times over the most extreme of which was perhaps slavery and the holocaust.

In terms of Biden, so far all we have is a dumb comment which may indicate some level of racism and lack of thinking but which taken in isolation doesn't seem to indicate an extreme inability to run a country. This compares with several other prominent people we have discussed who have repeatedly shown an apparent lack of knowledge and to be blunt intelligence which calls in to question their ability to run a country. Again I don't know much about American politics but from what I've seen this does seem to happen more often among Republicans. For example when it comes to 2008 candidates I believe about half at some stage indicated that they were too stupid to understand basic science (accept evolution) and this included one prominent medical doctor who seems to have a lot of popularity on the internet. There are of course people on the other side who show similar flaws whether about that or a variety of other things like vaccines, DHMO, etc but in the US this doesn't seem to be so common among prominent Democrats from what I've seen.

Of course it's also a bad idea to underestimate even those people who do appear to lack knowledge etc, a comment often made about the former president.

Nil Einne (talk) 18:51, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Their being morons doesn't explain how they get elected, although I do have a theory: In general, Americans don't want their politicians to be any smarter than they are. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:26, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Possibly, but as long as they have a good speech writer, politicians can easily sound smart.--ChromeWire (talk) 19:59, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

And obviously not all politicians are unintelligent, but pretty much all are selfish and concerned only with themselves. This is sorta getting off topic though.--ChromeWire (talk) 20:03, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

For the average modern student hearing the Longfellow or other account, if the signal was "1 if by land and 2 if by sea" and the signal was "2 lanterns," an amphibious landing by marines would have been expected, rather than a long march following a very short boat ride across a river. I doubt that the implications of the famous signal were explained to very many young students of American history. The whole account generates a bug "Huh?" "By land" or "by sea" merely means that they march into Concord at different times the next morning. This could have obviously been offset by altering the hour the expedition kicked off from Boston. How would that affect the preparations by the local inept but courageous militias who sought to defend the Concord powder magazine from seizure? The Brits still marched in and kicked ass. Edison (talk) 03:30, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

What's interesting is that one of Palin's competitors, Newt Gingrich, actually has a PhD in history. It doesn't seem like it's winning him much support though. Qrsdogg (talk) 18:05, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

My theory (as to why many Republican politicians seem dumb) is that there is an anti-intellectual movement within the Republican constituency, and particularly the Tea Party movement, which results in them voting for and otherwise uplifting anti-intellectual candidates, like Palin. Had she been a Democrat, she likely never would have been elected as a governor, much less been picked as VP candidate, and would still be an unknown mayor in a small Alaska town (if that). Similarly, intellectual candidates don't tend to do very well in the Republican Party, especially since the formation of the Tea Party. This does bring up the possibility that some Republicans merely pretend to be stupid, to appeal to their base, although this might turn off the rest of the voters. StuRat (talk) 00:32, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

edp

which type of training should provide by edp? & for whom? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Priyaprpala (talk • contribs) 01:50, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

My guess is that "edp" means electronic data processing, although our disambig page EDP lists half a dozen other meanings as well. Looie496 (talk) 02:08, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

The OP may be asking about Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) training institute. These meeting proceedings at Bhubaneswar mention that UCO Bank will set up an EDP training institute. Use Google to search for more information after entering in full the EDP that you mean. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 19:39, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

charges for hysteroscopy surgery in mumbai

DEAR SIR/MADAM

I'M MANOJ MAYEKAR AND I WANNA ADVICE ON hysteroscopy surgery & COST FOR IT. WAHAT ARE THE CHARGES FOR THIS SURGERY.

PLEASE UPDATE ME WITH THIS ITS VERY URGENT.

THANKS

MANOJ MAYEKAR <phone number removed>. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Manoj8255 (talk • contribs) 08:46, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

We can't answer this. Try and contact a doctor or hospital. I removed what was probably a phone number, as personal details shouldn't be included in questions on this page. --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:56, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

We cannot offer medical advice. Please see the medical disclaimer, and contact an appropriate medical professional.

I don't have the answer but I fail to see how asking the price for a medical proceedure could be deemed medical advice. Googlemeister (talk) 14:50, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

He didn't just ask for the cost, he asked for "ADVICE ON hysteroscopy surgery". We do have an article on hysteroscopy, for what it's worth. Anyone treating wikipedia as medical gospel should have their head examined. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:02, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

As others have said, we cannot offer advice. This site offers information on costs. Marco polo (talk) 15:23, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

It is interesting isn't it, with more and more of India coming online, we have more of the weirdest requests on our various ref desks. Did the same happened on various forums when the majority of Americans first came online? I can't remember so many questions being so frequently addressed to a completely invalid audience. --Lgriot (talk) 10:10, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Memory fades with time. We've been living in the Eternal September since 1993. (I'll also note that many of the 'weirder' questions are probably coming from people for whom English is not their first language. I wouldn't be surprised if there were language and culture barriers to a precise understanding of what we do here at the Ref Desk, or for that matter in extracting information from what is still a predominantly English-speaking wider web.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:02, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

A further problem is that an OP may not even be asking what he thinks he's asking. The only "surgical" part of a hysteroscopy, if I'm reading the article right, is the taking of tissue samples for biopsies. I expect that's a rather less expensive procedure than a hysterectomy would be, and for all we know, that might be what he was actually trying to ask about. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:20, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

What date was Thanksgiving 1921?

What date was Thanksgiving Day of 1921?--Doug Coldwell ^talk 14:55, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Unless something was done differently in 1921 than normal, the 4th Thursday of November fell on the 24th and that would have been Thanksgiving Day.[5] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:00, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Bugsie for the date!

Now IF a person in December of 1921 said a certain car was last used last spring in the Independence Day parade of a certain town - what date would that be?--Doug Coldwell ^talk 15:15, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

(ec)There's actually an interesting history of the date of Thanksgiving in Thanksgiving (United States). It actually turns out that the 4th Thursday in November has only been the date of Thanksgiving since 1942. From 1863 (when it became an annual event) until 1938, the date was the final Thursday in November (which differs from current usage for Novembers with 5 Thursdays - note that November 1921 only had four Thursdays, so the 24th would still be the day). 1939-1941 are a bit strange in that they had Thanksgiving on the second to last Thursday in the month (which was the 4th Thursday for 1939). - All of this assumes we're talking US terms. If we're talking about Thanksgiving (Canada), it has been the second Monday in October since 1957. It moved around a bit from 1879 (when it became an annual event) to 1957, but 1921-1930, it was on a Monday near Armistice Day, which for 1921 was Monday, Nov. 8th [6]. -- 174.31.219.218 (talk) 15:26, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I think Doug is American, but he could clear that up for us. The attempt to move Thanksgiving to the third Thursday was FDR's effort to increase the length of the Christmas shopping season, as people tended not to do serious shopping until after Turkey Day (which is actually still the case, and is still a problem for merchants when T-Day falls late in the month). That idea, while visionary, was also ridiculed as "Franksgiving". If you've ever seen 1942's Holiday Inn (film), there's a cute visual reference to it. Each holiday has a short animated sequence of a calendar. When they get to November, they show a turkey jumping back and forth between two different Thursdays, and finally shrugging its shoulders in confusion. I'm sure that drew a big laugh in 1942, and probably is over the heads of most viewers now. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:41, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, Doug is American (from the United States). I therefore assume Independence Day is the 4th of July. However the newspaper reads the following referring to a certain automobile: It was used last in the great Independence day parade in Milwaukee last spring. I would think July is in the summer. Perhaps someone can clear this up?--Doug Coldwell ^talk 15:58, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

It means they got it wrong, one way or another. Is that item online somewhere? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:02, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Right, I agree with you. They probably meant ...in Milwaukee last summer. Article not online. It is from the West Allis Star of Dec 1, 1921.--Doug Coldwell ^talk 16:13, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

On October 31, 1921, President Harding proclaimed November 24 as Thanksgiving Day, per the New York Times archive. In that era, it was apparently something that just happened by Presidential proclamation. Harding in a fit of madness could have alternatively proclaimed July 17, 1921 or any other date as " A day of Thanksgiving" had the mood struck him. Edison (talk) 18:46, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Comparing Images

Me and my sister have a hobby of collecting images from the internet. Our collection has grown over the years, and a few days back, I found that some of mine were missing, or corrupt, and some had gotten accidentally deleted. I copied the entire folder from my sister again, but I found that she'd renamed all of the pics in the fashion "Fullmetal (1)", "Fullmetal (2)", and so on, while I'd kept the original file names. So now, although I have the files I lost, I also have lots of repetitive files (double copies of the files we had in common) with just different names. It's tedious going through all of them and deleting the duplicates, so I was wondering if there is any software that'll detect the repetitions for me instead. Thanks in advance. 117.194.245.234 (talk) 17:04, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Locate32 is a powerful search tool. Once installed, update the database and search within the folder(s) for '(2)', '(3)', etc... Meph^talk 17:09, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

CloneSpy is a free duplicate file tool, one apparently without malware. Meph^talk 17:15, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

One hint is to sort them based on file size (assuming the images are compressed). Compressed images will each have slightly different sizes, even if they contain the same number of pixels. Therefore, only identical pictures will have exactly the same size (with occasional rare coincidences). This method doesn't work if the pictures have been edited or saved in different formats. StuRat (talk) 21:01, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

If the two sets of pictures are in different directories or directory trees, then it will be easy to remove duplicates automatically using either Duplicate Cleaner http://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/content/duplicate-cleaner or Visipics http://www.visipics.info Both are freeware. Visipics can also remove similar images but is slower. 92.24.129.68 (talk) 21:09, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Why are some roads in England called 'racecourse' even though there has never been a racecourse there?

I have come across a few roads in Leicestershire that on various maps are labelled 'racecourse', e.g. 'Leicester Road Racecourse' in Mountsorrel and 'Leicester Road Racecourse' in Anstey. Both roads are commonly knows simply as 'Leicester Road' and the 'racecourse' part only seems to appear on maps and gazetteers. Can anyone explain why these roads are so named? Both roads join on to A-roads, so I suspect that it may be related to that. Thanks.--Michig (talk) 17:08, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Leicester's racecourse is near the centre of the city, and those two roads, in Anstey and Mountsorrel, both point in that direction. Logical, but not very interesting. Meph^talk 17:28, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

To be more specific, the Mountsorrel road leads into A6 and onto Leicester city centre, while the Anstey road eventually becomes the A5630. Meph^talk 17:31, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm sure it has nothing to do with Leicester Racecourse, which is on the other side of the city.--Michig (talk) 17:34, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

The article says that 2-mile racecourse opened in 1773. What would the city have looked like at that time? Maybe those roads' names don't make a lot of sense now, but they might have in 1773. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:03, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Both roads are approaches to busy dual carriageways. I somewhat suspect that the names are ironic references to the way commuters treat these approach roads. Marco polo (talk) 18:13, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I could see that, colloquially. But on published maps? Very strange. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:42, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

This site says that the racecourse moved to Oadby in 1880, and the old racecourse became Victoria Park. This could explain why there are roads referring to "racecourse" which are nowhere near the modern racecourse. It is also possible that reference to "racecourse" might refer to point-to-point racing. As there is a very active hunt in the area (Quorn), this might prove to be the case. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:03, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

The old racecourse was on Victoria Park which is also on the other side of the city, and I don't think these names have anything to do with racing horses. The one in Anstey is a new stretch of the Leicester Road built when the A46 Leicester Western Bypass was built, and there has never been a racecourse of any kind there. Having worked with highways staff in the past, I doubt that irony had anything to do with it either (although who ever designed the nearby A46 roundabout appeared to be taking the proverbial).--Michig (talk) 19:21, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

I suspect that if you could find a map from a century or two ago, it might make more sense. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:24, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

In what way? On maps as far back as 1834 there are no racecourses in the areas of these roads. The 'racecourse' part appears to be a recent addition.--Michig (talk) 19:33, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Who names roads in England? Is it really the staff at the highway department? Here in the States, it would be the local city or county council, who (at least in the States) might just be up for a little humor. Marco polo (talk) 19:38, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

That's a good question, and it anticipates mine: Since no one here seems to know that answer, has the OP contacted city officials and inquired about it? They might know, or they might know who would know. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:40, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

In these cases, both roads have been called Leicester Road for many years since they were the routes towards Leicester. The Leicester Road in Anstey only ran from the Nook (the roundabout to the north-west) to Gynsill Lane. East of that it was named Gorse Hill then Anstey Lane. The new road named Leicester Road Racecourse (or Leicester Road (racecourse) in some places) has only existed for around ten years. It was laid through a ridge and furrow farm field, which could not have ever had a racecourse on it. Seriously, I don't think this has anything whatsoever to do with racing horses. I'll make some enquiries with people I know who work in the highways area - I had assumed this was going to be something people would know, but thanks for the suggestions. If I get an answer I'll add it here.--Michig (talk) 19:49, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

The libraries in Mountsorrel (01163 055892) and Anstey are also possible sources of information. Meph^talk 20:40, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Is this one of those "park in a driveway and drive on a parkway" sort of things? Road names in many English speaking areas can be just about anything, and while conventions exist for certain names to have certain meanings (for example, in some places people expect all turnpikes to be limited access toll highways, while in others you can find two-lane country roads named "turnpike".) Calling a road a "racecourse" seems kinda weird, but at least you drive a car on a racecourse. The town of Apex, North Carolina as a road called the "Apex Peakway", and as far as I know, its the only Peakway in the world. Names are nothing more than arbitrary identifiers. If we called the road "Fred" and everyone else did, who cares? --Jayron32 20:23, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

This entire discussion is predicated on the assumption that the OP's finding is actually true. I dont know if Michig is local and knows the area but the only evidence provided for these unlikely road names is Google Maps. I have looked on that site at the Anstey and Mountsorrel examples and both show the name "Leicester Road Racecourse" on a portion of road leading to a major intersection. It may be that stretch has no official name, in which case Google Maps (or their supplier) frequently puts nonsense text like this as a name. Bing and Michelin don't show that name so I would want to know more about the OP's plural "maps and gazetteers." Otherwise it's an artefact of the Google. Sussexonian (talk) 21:49, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

In fact, both Bing and Mapquest agree on showing the stretch near Anstey as "Leicester Rd." and the stretch near Mountsorrel as "Loughborough Rd." So this odd name does seem to be specific to Google. Marco polo (talk) 01:37, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

The 'racecourse' part also appears on bus timetables, e.g. searching using the traveline website, so no, it isn't specific to Google. I kind of wish I hadn't asked now.--Michig (talk) 05:36, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

It's a fascinating question, but I don't know Leicester and have no idea of the answer. To answer Bugs' point more generally, names of new roads in the UK are often suggested by the developers, but have to be agreed by the local authority - there's an article here. Older road names just emerged locally over time, for all sorts of odd (or not) reasons. Ghmyrtle (talk) 06:39, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Maybe try asking contributors to the Anstey and Mountsorrel articles, who have might have better local knowledge.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:46, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

It really looks like a bug in Google Maps (or corrupt data). Searching for "Leicester Road Racecourse" gives no fewer than ten results, not all of them in Leicester; but as far as I can see not one of these names appears in the Philip's Street Atlas of Leicestershire that I have to hand. Furthermore, substituting other towns (I tried 'Derby' and 'Nottingham') gave no results of this form. (Trying "Rugby Road Racecourse" gave me two of the Leicester ones). --ColinFine (talk) 18:06, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Copyright traps? Shimgray | talk | 09:32, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

Name of tiny island

What is the tiny island located at 23°3'37.96"N 161°55'16.66"W called? Is it too small to have a recognized name? Horselover Frost (talk · edits) 21:14, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

(just for reference) Here's a coord link for that location 23°3′37″N 161°55′16″W -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 21:18, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Nihoa -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 21:20, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

1981 Galician Parliament

I was wondering if anybody can give me a link to a site which shows the composition of the 1981 Galician Parliament, thanks. Mo ainm~Talk 21:17, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Here's my first chance of linking to Galician Wikipedia. They have a page on the Galician parliament which gives a breakdown by party and a list of the main officeholders. --Antiquary (talk) 21:46, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

There's also a complete list of the deputies by party at the Galician parliament's official website. --Antiquary (talk) 18:22, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

"IDP" on prescriptions

On (medical) prescriptions, what does "IDP" (with a check-box attached) stand for?TMCk (talk) 23:15, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Most likely "Initial Dose Period" - consult your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions regarding medication you have been prescribed, we cannot offer actual medical advice. Exxolon (talk) 00:16, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

First of all, thank you for your answer. I'm not looking for medical advise here, just want to know what these letters stand for and "initial dose period" is more than unlikely (unless the doc was dreaming of course) It's pre-printed so that doesn't apply of course. Here is a sample image of how it looks like on the prescription that might help in finding the answer: [7]. Again, thanks for the reply but I'm sure it means something else. Cheers, TMCk (talk) 00:22, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
BTW, it's a note to the pharmacist so it has really nothing to do with medical help here ;)TMCk (talk) 00:27, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

My answer comes from http://www.medilexicon.com/ - you could try entering IDP there and see if any of the other answers make more sense, but that seemed the most likely to my mind. Exxolon (talk) 00:29, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. I'll try that.TMCk (talk) 00:32, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, seems like nothing really does mach unless my doc screwed up and checked the box on the wrong prescription (I got two of them) :) TMCk (talk) 00:39, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

It might mean indigent drug program. I got the idea from here. There is a short piece on them her. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 08:13, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

• I think you're spot-on with your guess. Will confirm when I filled my PRX. Thanks a bunch! TMCk (talk) 12:58, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

• Rather than guessing and/or going to the internet, I would have called the pharmacist, which surely would have been faster as well as more likely to be accurate. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:52, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

But nowhere near as much fun as the reference desk. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 13:58, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I sure don't make phone calls while not on meds. Maybe next time I ask Bugsy to make the call for me? :)
BTW, there is always another way to find things out so we could close this and other help desks ;) TMCk (talk) 14:12, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

You indicated several times here that you were on this med, so the logical thing to do would have been to call your pharmacist, if you really needed the correct answer. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:15, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Does that mean you wouldn't make that call for me?  :(
And no, I wasn't on the med I need to make calls. I can write though, as you can see :) TMCk (talk) 14:24, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
And no, I didn't really needed the correct answer, I merely wanted to find out before I'll see my friendly pharmacist.TMCk (talk) 14:26, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Sure I would, if it's a local call. :) Why would you want to "find out before" talking to the pharmacist? Are you sure that med isn't interfering with your logic circuits in some way? :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:33, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for offering to call but it isn't a local one. And why are you trying to make me feel soooo mentally challenged you bad bad wabbit you... :( TMCk (talk) 14:41, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

It's not you in particular. I'm just trying to figure out why some editors take the "Rube Goldberg" approach to finding out information. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:45, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Maybe because I didn't have liquor to stimulate my brain cells (I would like to have your liquor soaked carrots, yummy). That reminds me, it's time for brunch & liquor with the finishing touch of a pill cocktail :) TMCk (talk) 14:52, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Meds and alcohol, eh? Very good. Be sure and get back to us when you emerge from the resulting coma. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:08, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Must............ not............fall.............asleep!........ Must.........finish..........liquor........first!....... Need....... more...... pills! :)) ....... TMCk (talk) 16:33, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Bugs, TMCk has some stuff at the end of his/her page that may be helpful in this situation Nil Einne (talk) 18:17, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Uhm, you're not suggesting that..... No, you wouldn't or would you? :)) TMCk (talk) 18:29, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

It might also help if you told what part of the world you live in. Different countries have different medical prescription forms. Some of the checkboxes (at least on the prescriptions here) are related to social insurance constructs, so they must vary depending on the country. – b_jonas 21:26, 11 June 2011 (UTC)