Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 November 5
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November 5
editTechnical question
editHello, if Al Gore had won the election in 2000, would his VP Joe Lieberman as an observant Orthodox Jew normally have been sworn in the following January 20, 2001? I ask this question because that day fell on the Sabbath, was it the Jewish Sabbath? Thank you very much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.96.198 (talk) 17:05, 5 November 2021 (UTC)
- We can't make projections or predictions based on counterfactuals (see instructions at the top of the page which says "We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate." However, we can direct you to facts about things that did happen in the past. The first day of Zachary Taylor's presidential term was scheduled to begin on March 4, 1849, a Sunday. Because of his faith, his inauguration was moved back to March 5. This led to the (apocryphal legend) that David Rice Atchison served as President for one day. This was the second time it occurred, the first time was the Second inauguration of James Monroe, however being that Monroe was the sitting president who had been re-elected, this delay was inconsequential. There was also the Inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Second inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, the Second inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan, and the Second inauguration of Barack Obama all of which were held one day late for religious reasons. There's also the special case of the Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which was held technically almost 2 months early due to the moving of the start of the Presidential term pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. --Jayron32 17:18, 5 November 2021 (UTC)
- Er, in what way does that constitute being "technically almost 2 months early"? The event was on the constitutionally specified date. --184.145.50.17 (talk) 20:26, 5 November 2021 (UTC)
- You're correct, it was just 2 months earlier than all the prior inauguration dates. --Jayron32 22:41, 7 November 2021 (UTC)
- I suspect some reasonably well sourced answers to this question can be found with some web searches if anyone wants to bother (I don't). I do remember a joke campaign slogan of Gore-Lieberman that went "We'll work for you 24/6!". 2601:648:8202:350:0:0:0:D4A (talk) 22:39, 5 November 2021 (UTC)
- Er, in what way does that constitute being "technically almost 2 months early"? The event was on the constitutionally specified date. --184.145.50.17 (talk) 20:26, 5 November 2021 (UTC)
There is no constitutional requirement for the Vice President to be sworn in; it is merely a convention, and postponing the ceremony by a day has no constitutional implications.The issue is more interesting if the President-elect observes a religion that prohibits their taking an oath on the day of the week on which their term begins. I do not think a written or unwritten law can override the rules specified in the US Constitution. Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment states:The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January [...]; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Article 2, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Constitution states:Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:— [...]
. So the term of the President-elect begins at noon on January 20, whether sworn in or nor, but they cannot execute (the powers of) the office before having been administered the oath. Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment states:If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified
. Here we get room for interpretation: does "fail to qualify" include failure to take the constitutionally required oath? If it does, the VP is, for the time, acting President. Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to take an oath on any day. However, an affirmation may be substituted, replacing "I do solemnly swear that ..." by "I do solemnly affirm that ...". --Lambiam 09:46, 6 November 2021 (UTC)- The VP is an executive officer of the US; therefore Article 6, Clause 3, of the US constitution requires him/her to take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. It just doesn't require an oath or affirmation that's specific to the vice-presidency, analogous to the presidential one. --184.145.50.17 (talk) 04:45, 7 November 2021 (UTC)
Technical info concerning electronic organs
editOP seeking debate |
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
After binging the archives of this fine reference desk, I have seen items about electronic organs, their technical capabilities and their costs. However, I didn’t see anything that gave me the right info. At least one question was poorly worded and a bit unclear. Therefore, I would like to ask what I wish to ask clearly and carefully. I do not wish for economic or business information, as that will be of no use to me. I know there is a temptation to talk about pricing strategy and the laws of consumer demand, but what I seek is technical specifications and other such matters of a mechanical and computational variety. Obviously there will be underlying technical factors for price, for such would cause people, whether they realise it, to consider such prices to be reasonable. What I would like to know is: from a mechanical and computational point of view, what is that makes a Lowrey or a Wersi organ so expansive to purchase even second hand? It is to be noted that a Lowrey instrument will be around £3,000 to £18,000, and a Wersi instrument will be about £7,000 to £35,000. It is my understanding, as a technical student, that these organs will use a fairly normal CPU and operating system such as Windows XP or a Linux version. The computational power is not unreasonable for these instruments, but unlikely to surpass that which my £750 gaming laptop can put out. In terms of mechanics, I see that the instruments have ornate wood or metal casework, with pedalboards and benches, and this will add to the costs, but do see that a piano bench or organ bench can be had for perhaps £150. The features that these instruments boast are most likely quite impressive, but I do find that I can get a £600 musical keyboard that has most of them. I therefore wonder what I am missing here, and why it is that two musical instruments with roughly the same feature set can have vastly different prices? I do appreciate the likelihood that Lowrey and Wersi are possibly the organ equivalent of luxury brands such as Rolls Royce or Rolex, but why price out poorer folks like me, who would like to get a foothold in the organ market? I say this because, I feel that these organ builders are a bit too elitist and are therefore robbing themselves of potential income and business that could occur if bargain basement prices were to be used. I note that many more potential organists could arise if they could afford instruments, for I have a desire for our breed to be significantly enlarged. Yes, I am aware of the facts that these builders may have advantageous warranty and repair systems, but everyone has that these days. I will now close by saying that I want to justify such organs, and I want to see why they would be considered more expensive that my patented alternative of stacking two £600 keyboards on top of one another, connecting to a £750 laptop containing midi software and organ sound banks, and also running the whole thing through a amplifier and loudspeakers of some sort. I reckon this setup could be had for as little as £5,000. Yes the organ has the convenience of taking all those things and placing them in one unit, but that shouldn’t make that much of a difference to the price of it all. Yes, the Wersi and Lowrey are artistic, and only use the best materials, and design fancy casework, but I can’t see £30,000 of material value here. I hope to get insight in this post, I await your input, 2A00:23C5:B22E:7001:5019:6B33:2AF6:E1DD (talk) 23:52, 5 November 2021 (UTC)
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