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July 20

Churchill and the Legion d'honneur

With reference to the recent award of the Legion d'honneur to Keir Starmer which was stated to be a unique honour for a serving British prime minister, some have said that Winston was similarly honoured, although not when he was serving in that office. Our List of awards and honours received by Winston Churchill has no mention, although the French Wikipedia fr:Liste des distinctions de Winston Churchill does, albeit without a date or reference. So which is right, and if so, when and of what rank? Alansplodge (talk) 20:53, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Lloyd George got the grand cordon in 1920, while PM. DuncanHill (talk) 00:11, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Uk press coverage of this has been a tad silly - the Legion d'honneur has a range of classes, some very freely distributed indeed, & I'm sure other PMs have been awarded. Johnbod (talk) 00:28, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

He's not listed in the Léonore database of recipients, at least. This Guardian piece says it was 1958, but I wonder if they've got it confused with a different honour: on 6th November 1958, Churchill was awarded the Cross of the Order of Liberation. (It was presented in person by de Gaulle, who Churchill hadn't met since 1945; see pictures in The Listener and The Illustrated London News.) Adam Sampson (talk) 00:49, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

I found the GOM in Leonore. DuncanHill (talk) 01:00, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Curiously, the printed text "élevé à la dignité de Grand Officier" has been crossed out and been replaced by the handwritten text "nominé Chevalier" ("nominated Knight"). Next to mere knighthood being tantamount to an insult, mere nomination does not imply actual conferral.  ​‑‑Lambiam 03:21, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

From the Leonore document, Gladstone was nominated (and maybe appointed) Knight on 13 August 1859, nine years before he first became PM. The nomination was in his capacity as patron of the Société Française de Secours (French Aid Society) in London, rather than his political office (he became Chancellor of the Exchequer that year). Chuntuk (talk) 12:12, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

To return to Lloyd George. He is not findable in the Leonore database (which does admit, in French, that it is incomplete). He is however easily findable in The Times, Thursday, Jan. 15, 1920, Issue 42308, page 12, "News in Brief". "PRIME MINISTER'S HONOUR - Paris, Jan 14. The formal ceremony of conferring the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour on Mr. Lloyd George took place this afternoon, when M. William Martin, Chief of the Protocol, called at Claridge's Hotel and invested the Prime Minister with the decoration in the name of the President of the French Republic. - Reuter". DuncanHill (talk) 12:58, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks all; apparently English WP 1, French WP 0.  :-) Alansplodge (talk) 18:11, 23 July 2026 (UTC)

We still haven't got a definitive answer for Churchill. But how do we prove the negative? I emailed the BBC about their coverage, they have corrected their article with regard to "the first serving PM", but still have Churchill getting it. They say they got their copy from an agency. DuncanHill (talk) 18:52, 23 July 2026 (UTC)

July 22

RBI Master Directions

I am preparing a legal note on the 'Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy) Directions, 2025 (updated as on 1st July 2026)'.

Could anyone please suggest any secondary sources or interpretations that explain these Directions?

Thank you. Grotesquetruth (talk) 14:52, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

July 25

Proof of life

[1] I think conventionally if someone hasn't been seen in a while and there are doubts, you can call their local police and request a wellness check. Does that somehow not apply if the person is a US Senator? There is apparently significant uncertainty regarding one of them.[2] A bunch of statements have been released under his name, whose authenticity has been disputed by some. Question: is it that big a deal for Congress or the state governor to send some EMT's to go to the person's rehabilitation center, check for a pulse, and report what they find? This is just bizarre. Thanks. ~2026-41486-45 (talk) 20:28, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

I don't think just any old Joe Schmo can request a wellness check on someone unless they're a close relative or otherwise have a close relationship. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:48, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Note that this is specific to the USA, where the case in question is ongoing. In the UK a mere friend can request a wellness check by the police on someone unheard from for some time and unresponsive to phone calls, etc. I have recent personal experience of this. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-41275-62 (talk) 00:16, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Anyone can request a check on anyone. Whether the agency to which the request is made will respond to it is another matter. The police may respond to a request by a neighbour living across the street, or by a UPS delivery driver. I don't think they'll go and check whether some patient in an ICU is alive and well, even if the request is made by their concerned spouse.  ​‑‑Lambiam 05:25, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Maybe in theory. But in America, at least, you would have to demonstrate a need to know. In general, if you were to call a hospital and ask about so-and-so, they would tell you they can't give out information on possible patients. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:33, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

"But in America, at least, you would have to demonstrate a need to know."  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:23, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Without their consent, Protected health information can only be given to the patient's authorized representatives. In solidarity, Aaron Liu (talk) 16:41, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Is this restriction documented somewhere?  ​‑‑Lambiam 19:46, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

The first thing that comes to mind is HIPAA. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:24, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

The "United States" section of the article I linked has all the receipts starting from its first sentence. In solidarity, Aaron Liu (talk) 15:01, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

There have to be circumstances under which providing information about a medical condition is perfectly fine. What I do find in the articled linked to is that obtaining information about a medical condition may, in some cases, breach HIPAA regulations. But I do not see an exposition of the criteria that determine when and with whom medical information can be shared.

If someone enters a hospital with a shot wound and dies there, I am fairly convinced the hospital is allowed to inform the investigating police officers of this death, even though they are not the deceased patient's authorized representatives.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:34, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

There's substantial public interest in knowing whether this dude is alive. If he's merely indisposed, we can all wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the job soon. But if he's dead, from what I gather, the Kentucky Secretary of State is required to schedule a special election to pick a replacement Senator, unless a certain deadline has passed which happens on August 3. A suspicious sort might imagine political operators deciding instead to put the body on ice until after August 3. So people have been asking for evidence one way or another. I wonder the House Speaker could ask the United States Capitol Police to do a wellness check. He might opt against doing so though, for similar political reasons to the above. ~2026-41533-46 (talk) 08:22, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Or those who need to know probably already know. They just aren't blabbing to the public about it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:24, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

I'd think that the people of Kentucky need to know, but it appears that even the Governor of Kentucky is kept in the dark.^[3]  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:34, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Or, being a politician, maybe the KY Guv is playing a game to try to force the issue. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:11, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

If the KY Gov knows, nothing stops him from speaking up. If the SoS knows that the person is dead, he has a duty to say so and schedule a special election, but since he's also a politician (of the same party as the Senator), he might keep quiet for the same reason the Senator's colleagues and family are not being forthcoming with answers. It's pretty clear that the Senator's party doesn't want a special election. IDK whether the opposing party wants one though. If they also don't, that could explain why they're keeping relatively quiet. ~2026-41758-01 (talk) 18:59, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Or maybe he's not buying into conspiracy theories. The only "official" information we have is that he's hospitalized. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:24, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Today's news says that Beshear has now communicated with the McConnell team asking for clarity on what's going on. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:23, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

The first I mentioned as needing to know were the people of Kentucky. Whatever games some big shots may be playing, it is obvious that the people of Kentucky are not in the know, so this reply is a distraction.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:38, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Theoretically, they've already been informed. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:30, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

They know what they've been told by McConnell's supporters (two photos and some written statements, but no audio, video, health checks from medical people, etc). But they want something more definite. This is from today and describes the situation I guess. Someone online called him a cruel name that was funny enough that I can't resist repeating it: Lich McConnell. ~2026-42187-04 (talk) 19:25, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Unless you can prove he's deceased, that's a BLP violation. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:26, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Readers not familiar with US politics should consult Mitch McConnell#June 2026–present hospitalization for context. Nyttend (talk) 12:01, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

July 26

Anecdota Americana

This is a real long shot, but can anyone find me reliable (or even vaguely reasonable) sources that discuss this series of books? If you search Google, the AI will tell you that it's a vintage humour anthology published in 1934 and followed by the New Anecdota Americana in 1944 (sourced to Reddit). If you check out the Internet Archive, you'll find a shocking number of books with that title, including the 1934 one Google knows about here. It has a publisher (Nesor) and a date (1934) and everything. No author given unfortunately, but that's not unusual for dirty joke books. There's also a version purportedly from 1927 (here) that also has a publisher (Humphrey Adams) and date (1927) and even an (presumably pseudonymous) author (J. Mortimer Hall). Unlike the 1934 version, this one is not expurgated. Many of the jokes are the "same", albeit often retold slightly. Another book from 1934 is called Anecdota Americana Second Series. It references the 1927 book and J. Mortimer Hall is now a PhD. Much later editions or offshoots from 1944 and 1968 and 1981 and more are also available with an account.
In short, what are these? Is the Nesor edition some kind of ripoff from the self-published 1927 edition? Who really collected it? Is there really a J. Mortimer Hall? As I said, it's not unusual for joke books to not have clear ownership, but this is ridiculous. Matt Deres (talk) 03:28, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Several copies on abebooks. Mentioned in a book on Scribd, here as "compiled by one William Passemon". DuncanHill (talk) 13:08, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

A interesting passage and it pointed out my inattentiveness (thank you!): the pages here clearly credit Passemon as compiler and J. Mortimer Hall as merely the preface writer (and drawings by Anton Erdman). But the 1934 "second series" omits Passemon entirely and certainly leaves the impression that it is the sole work of Hall. Matt Deres (talk) 13:37, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

This is, presumably, the Passemon 1934 version: "Anecdota Americana; Being, Explicitly, An Anthology Of Tales In The Vernacular; Collected By William Passemon, Preface By J. Mortimer Hall; Published by Humphrey Adams / The Association For The Asphyxiation Of Hypocrites, Boston, 1934", said to be a first edition.^[4] But some sellers give the publication date of apparently the same book (if you can judge a book by its cover) as 1927.^[5] There is also an Anecdota Americana with a salacious cover, showing imagery suggesting an ejaculating phallus.[6] No year info is given, but it is also said to be a first edition.^[7]

In 1934, collecting and publishing such jokes under one's own name would have sullied the reputation and might even have ended the career of many an esteemed, distinguished and reputable gentleman. This would at the same time have inhibited suing rip-offs for copyright infringement.  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:19, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

If that's a sample of quality of the jokes being told at that time, no wonder the period was known as "the great depression" Chuntuk (talk) 13:40, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

July 29

Clemenceau's hat

Clemenceau and hat

What kind of hat is Georges Clemenceau wearing here? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 02:07, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

See https://lionheartautographs.com/autographs/original-portrait-of-clemenceau-publisher-of-zolas-jaccuse/ - it's actually a custom make. Nanonic (talk) 03:27, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

According to that article, the designer (one Mlle. Jeanne Taty), based it on the French Army calot or forage cap; an example is shown here. Alansplodge (talk) 16:29, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Appointing an Australian premier

With the replacement of Jacinta Allan by Ben Carroll as Premier of Victoria, I'm left wondering — what's involved in the appointment of a new premier, whether here in Victoria or elsewhere? Let's imagine a situation like this one, where there's no question of which party/coalition has a majority, and no question who leads that party/coalition; I'm just wondering about the formalities. Does the governor just sign some paperwork, or is there a formal kissing hands-type ceremony, or is it somewhere in between? I didn't find anything online, but ChatGPT told me that the new premier must visit Government House, formally have an audience with the governor, take an oath of office, etc., but the whole situation is much less elaborate than a royal audience. But then, yesterday ChatGPT told me that bus services to Marysville didn't exist, so I know I can't trust it. Nyttend (talk) 04:50, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

ChatGPT got those formalities right. HiLo48 (talk) 06:11, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

@JackofOz: as a fellow Aussie, any insights on this? ~2026-42237-99 (talk) 02:00, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Comment on "much less elaborate than a royal audience": My impression - that's the best I can do, given that I've never been summoned to one - is that royal audiences are not elaborate at all. You turn up at the palace or wherever, get ushered in to the royal presence, shake hands, sit down, accept tea if offered, answer questions, then leave at the appropriate time.

Visiting a state governor would be virtually identical to this. In the case of a new premier, there's an oath to be administered by the governor, and spoken and signed by the new premier. That's it. Well, the Governor may firstly ask the person whether they'd be willing to accept the role of premier - but that's nearly always a foregone conclusion in these circumstances. That piece of paper, and the official notice about the visit in the newspapers, constitute the complete official record of the occasion. There may be a photographer present for the oath swearing bit, but whether that video is the property of Government House or some private organisation like a TV station, I could not say.

We tend to expect some grand announcement of the new premier - but that's the media's job. As far as Government House is concerned, the baton has been handed on quietly without any fuss, and the governance of the state keeps calm and carries on. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:37, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

The elaborate part of the Buckingham Palace operation seems to be ushering the previous incumbent out of the back door, while the new boy or girl is welcomed at the front, without the twain meeting. Presumably this is so that there is a minimal time when the country lacks governance. Alansplodge (talk) 16:41, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

But this would depend on the reason for the previous one leaving office. I get the impression that the 2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK) was not a contest to overthrow Tony Blair (which would have been similar to what we had here last week) but a contest to replace him after he decided that he wanted to leave office, and that Blair was happy to have Brown succeed him, so I suppose it wouldn't have been uncomfortable for them to meet. Nyttend (talk) 07:50, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

July 30

Was Bruno Bettelheim really Bruno Bettelheim? asking for reports on speculation, not asking for

Enough already. The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

speculation. Could the actual Bruno Bettelheim have been murdered in Buchenwald and then someone stole his identity and emigrated to the United States? It would fit the character traits of the man we know as Bettelheim. Richard Pollak, among others, obviously didn't trust Bettelheim, or at least the man he knew as Bettelheim, and since he thought that man was such a liar, maybe he had private speculations in his notes and conversations that Bettelheim wasn't really him. Rich (talk) 00:37, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Who put this notion in your head? :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:58, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Myself Rich (talk) 01:12, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

So you're allowed to speculate, but we aren't? :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:18, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

I don't know, but I know that I am not allowed to ask for speculation.Rich (talk) 01:33, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Actually it might have been my ekxperience as a 5 year old in Princeton NJ, early 1960s when I was being dosed with Haldol(I didn't know until 45 years later. I alwayys wondered what was wrong with me, and the answer apparently was that doctors were recklessly and/or greedily making me very messed up). Anyway, having learned about it I've often puzzled over it since then because it didn't fit my comforting stereotype of kindly Jewish doctors from Europe. A few years ago it did ocur to me that they might have been Nazi doctors fleeing Germany under a cover of Jewish names and occupations, a cover few would suspect, since their actions do fit my stereotype of nazi doctors. But yesterday, I was reading about Bruno Bettelheim's alleged plagiarism and so I thought, why not so.e rascal fleeing Germany BEFORE the war with a Jewish name. Rich (talk) 01:31, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Note, I recommend hatting this thread as it is going nowhere fast. Rich, Frank Abagnale was a real person. If you haven't seen it, check out Catch Me If You Can. It's a fun film. Viriditas (talk) 02:13, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Let's let it go where it goes, if anywhere, before hatting it. Rich (talk) 02:40, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

If the 'Bettelheim' who arrived in New York in 1939, rejoining Bettelheim's previously emigrated wife Gina, was an imposter who replaced the 'real Bettelheim' in Buchenwald in 1938–9, why didn't Gina, married to Bettelheim from 1930, notice and/or say something? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-41275-62 (talk) 11:23, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

If he wasn't really Bettelheim, she didn't tell on him, but they didn't pretend any further relationship. Rich (talk) 13:23, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

It doesn't seem terribly likely on the face of it. What would the supposed impostor stand to gain from such a scheme? He wouldn't be able to use any of Bettelheim's connections without risking giving himself away, so why not just travel under his own name? One could, I suppose, imagine a Nazi trying to pass himself off as a concentration camp survivor in 1945, but not in 1939.

And if your only evidence is the man's negative personality traits, that doesn't mean he has to be a Nazi in disguise. He could just be a Jewish guy with the same traits. People are just people. Chuntuk (talk) 13:54, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

August 1

Decelerating history

Is there an idea or well known examples of a historical topic where the interesting events are near the beginning, and then it's mostly just stuff playing out routinely? As an extreme example, The First Three Minutes is about the early history of the universe, from the big bang til 3 minutes later. After that, stuff was roughly like it is now. Some fiction writers have dated the Star Wars saga (a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away) to around 5 billion years ago, when the universe was around 2/3 of its present age. I'm specifically looking for the idea that stuff gets less important or interesting as time passes. Obviously that will be false for a lot of topics, like the history of mathematics goes back 1000s of years but most of the good parts are in the past century. Thanks. ~2026-42295-00 (talk) 06:23, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

You're not going to like this answer, but I suspect the entire idea you propose is flawed and culture bound. I say this because when you study history closely, things are always interesting, even when we say they are not. There was even a book about this that came out last year but I can't remember the name. Anyway, I'm instead taken with the edge of chaos. The most interesting events don't necessarily happen at the beginning. They happen whenever a system is balanced between rigid order and complete disorder. This could be why you get periods of stability and upheaval all the time. This doesn't need to happen at the so-called "beginning". And maybe there isn't really a beginning in the first place; as a matter of perspective, that's just a story we like to tell ourselves to make things make sense. From this point of view, forget about beginnings and endings. There is no unique beginning, there are many, endlessly occurring. Whenever order becomes disordered the cycle begins again and again. You can see this happening now around you. Things are stable at first, then they tend to get rigid, followed by a crisis of some kind. Then you get innovation and the cycle repeats itself. And don't forget about the Copernican principle: don't assume your location in space or time is special. Viriditas (talk) 07:07, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

The present time is typically chaotic or worse. The past is in the past. I think this quote is attributed to Lincoln: "The quiet past is inadequate to the stormy present." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:04, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

And attributed rightly, though more fully "The dogmas of the quiet past...". --Antiquary (talk) 08:16, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Isn't this supposed to have happened whenever you see a history book talking about a revolution at a particular time?

Anyway, in the understanding of the world by humans, I think of the early 20th century this way. Ever since the understanding of quantum mechanics reached a critical point in the 1920s, nothing has changed the worldview as much on a fundamental level (even though it took decades to understand some consequences of the formalism, like Bell's theorem only in 1964). Icek~enwiki (talk) 16:55, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Official name

Hello, I wanted to ask what the official name of the Mayan underground city was [8]? I didn't find it. Vyacheslav84 (talk) 17:52, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

I'm guessing you found this report referenced in our article Maya cave sites.

For interest, there is another slightly more detailed report on the same discovery Here. Such sites were portals to the Mayan underworld Xibalba, a name which has been applied to part of a different cave system, the Chiquibul Cave System.

The underground complex in question is near a village called called Tzibichen or Tahtzibichen, itself near the city of Mérida, Yucatán (we have a further article on the city, Timeline of Mérida, Yucatán), but I have not been able to find an official name for it, despite searching on the name of the lead archaeologist Guillermo de Anda (aka Guillermo de Anda Alanis).

A possible avenue of enquiry might be to contact a museum, university or research institution in Mérida (see its article, several mentioned there have their own articles). Hope this helps. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-41275-62 (talk) 22:53, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

OK, thank you!--Vyacheslav84 (talk) 07:54, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

copyright of the us declaration of independence

What was the copyright recognition of the US Declaration of Indepencence in England when it was first created? Would it have been in the public domain from the outset? How long was it copyrighted under US law? 781h (talk) 19:57, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

At the time, importing foreign works into Great Britain was prohibited. More importantly, copyright was only granted to printed books.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:04, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

The news and text of the Declaration of Independence reached England by mid-August 1776. In the newly United States, the text had been printed in over 30 newspapers in the span of a month. In Great Britain and Ireland, the Declaration was printed in still more newspapers, from London to Dublin, from Edinburgh to Canterbury. The majority of British newspaper printings of the Declaration of Independence look similar to the American printings. But some censored the text, even going so far as to change words or only excerpt certain portions.

Unsullied by Falsehood: The Present ---- of G---- B------ from the Harvard Declaration Resources Project. Alansplodge (talk) 16:24, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

You may be interested in this handwritten copy of the Declaration that was copied by Vice‑Admiral Molyneux Shuldham and sent off to London on 10 July 1776.

And this copy of the Declaration which was presented in the House of Lords at Westminster on 20 January 1778.

Also this copy, one of only eleven known examples of the "Exeter Broadside" which was recently discovered in the British National Archives, having been captured from an American brig by HMS Raisonnable and brought to Plymouth (the one in England) in January 1777. Alansplodge (talk) 16:24, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Assuming the founding fathers wanted this to be widely distributed, wouldn't copyrighting it have been counterproductive? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:33, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

You might want to look into whether a copyright notice were required in English-and-Welsh law at the time. Lambiam has an interesting point, although that would be a non-copyright restriction. Nyttend (talk) 07:45, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Why was Loyd "Budget"?

Why was Charles Loyd nicknamed "Budget"? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 20:20, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Dubious but - "Second to None - The Coldstream Guards 1650-2000"[9] pg 46 "So called because he joined the regiment in 1910, the year of Lloyd George's Budget. Nanonic (talk) 22:07, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

@Nanonic: Thanks - sounds reasonable. DuncanHill (talk) 13:47, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

August 2

Morality of non-combatants in a war of aggression

Have there been any answers by philosophers and theologians to the issue of morality of some non-combatants helping the offending side in a war of aggression (such as medics in the Wehrmacht)? The crux is apparently saving a human life vs. facilitating a return of any such soldier to kill the defending side and/or inflict injuries that are treated by medics of that defending side, creating a vicious circle where Hippocratic Oath or Declaration of Geneva become controversial. A particular aspect of it is that a medic of a defending side may treat a person who suffered because of an enemy soldier, brought back to the frontline by enemy's medic. The same generally applies to the offending side's firefighters, workers of military factories, priests, engineers, etc. Brandmeister ^talk 21:12, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

A place to start might be our Conscientious objector article. In Britain, some of those refused combat roles but were willing to serve in auxilliary roles such as the Friends' Ambulance Unit, while others eschewed anything war related. Alansplodge (talk) 12:08, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Our article Killing baby Hitler suggests you may want to consider deontological, consequentialist, and utilitarian approaches to your question. Basically, you pays your money and you takes your choice. DuncanHill (talk) 12:33, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

August 3

1764 RSA art awards

We read:

April 16th, 1764.—Wednesday Evening last the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c, adjudged the first Premium of fifty Guineas, for the best Landscape, to Mr. Barratt, a celebrated painter from Dublin; the second of twenty-five, to Mr. Bond of Birmingham; and the third of fifteen to Mr. Stewart, of London.

Who were the three artists? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:46, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

George Barret Sr. was a celebrated painter from Dublin, Daniel Bond was from Birmingham. DuncanHill (talk) 17:52, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Quick work, thank you. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:54, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

I think Charles Stewart was Charles Steuart, see also here. DuncanHill (talk) 17:58, 3 August 2026 (UTC)