Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 February 25

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February 25

Enrolling in Moderna's new clinical trial

How do you enroll in Moderna's new clinical trial of its booster that is designed to give more protection against the South African Covid variant — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.253.78.55 (talk) 02:18, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

I searched ClinicalTrials.gov by the drug name mRNA-1273.351, with the result No Studies found for: mRNA-1273.351. Other search attempts using Advance Search (e.g. "Condition or disease: COVID-19; Other terms: South-African", or "Location terms: NIAID") did not yield applicable results. Nothing either on NIAID's Clinical Trials page or on the Messenger RNA (mRNA) Vaccines page of the COVID-19 Prevention Network.  --Lambiam 08:35, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

Bruce Springsteen case

In November Bruce Springsteen was stopped by US national park police and charged with DWI, reckless driving, and illegal consumption of alcohol in the park. This week he was cleared of the first two charges as his blood alcohol level was much too low to support them. (He pleaded guilty to the third charge.) Considering that his blood alcohol level would have been measured at about the same time as he was arrested, how is it that it took 3 months before the first two charges were dismissed? Is this just an example of a malfunctioning justice system, or was there some legitimate reason to leave the charges in place? --142.112.149.107 (talk) 08:58, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

No comment on the DWI issue and to be clear, I don't really know much about this case or US federal traffic law. But in most jurisdictions, you don't need to be intoxicated for a reckless driving charge to be sustained. Nil Einne (talk) 10:43, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

I don't know if it was malfunctioning, that's up to the opinion of whoever is deciding what "functioning" means, but in terms of how it is supposed to happen; once charges are filed it takes time for case evidence to be reviewed and for hearings with judges to occur, and for charges to formally be dropped. Since Mr. Springsteen is not the only person in the system, it does take some time for each step in the process to occur. It just takes time for a case to get on a docket and for the hearing to happen and for the decisions to occur. --Jayron32 14:08, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

It takes time if a court has to be involved, but from what I see in fiction, if a prosecutor decides to drop charges, that can take place immediately. And in this case it seems to me that that should have happened as soon as the blood-alcohol reading came back. --142.112.149.107 (talk) 00:02, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

Fiction is a word that means "a story someone made up". I.E., not the truth. You should not look to fiction for how things really happen. Sometimes, fiction portrays some things accurately, but that should never be your expectation. --Jayron32 13:19, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

I know that, Jay! --142.112.149.107 (talk) 05:52, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

The point is that real life takes longer than is portrayed on TV shows and in books; many times the narrative has been compressed, either by not showing you the passage of time accurately (i.e. leaving out the 3 month wait for the process to work through) or by misrepresenting the actual process. In real life, charges can only be dropped officially at a proper hearing, and generally such hearings are heard chronologically; if there are older cases ahead of yours those will need to be dealt with first. A 3-month backlog doesn't seem all that unusual. --Jayron32 15:19, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Regarding payment of fees of academic year 2019-20

Hello madam, Please guide us......in this covid conditions schools are shut for whole year. Do we have to pay the library and gymkhana fees to the school? We have not utilised these facilities.

Thank you.

Regards Kirti — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2402:E280:3E00:2D09:647B:A9AB:1BFC:19E9 (talk) 13:35, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

I believe you are asking in the wrong place. This is an encyclopedia. You should contact whatever school this is about directly. JIP | Talk 14:15, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

Cap with blades

Hi,

(Sorry for my mistakes in English)

I sometimes see in American movies or cartoons people wearing a cap (baseball hat) with mini blades on top (like mini helicopter blades). It usually is a symbol of that person being stupid. The most common example is Ralf Wiggum from the Simpsons. My question is, how is it called and why is it considered as an accessory for stupid people? Is there an article about it? 59.153.254.82 (talk) 13:57, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

They appear to be called propeller beanies. DuncanHill (talk) 14:00, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

It's not that they are associated with stupidity (lack of intelligence), it is that they are associated with being socially awkward. Ralph Wiggum being both. --Jayron32 14:17, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

The illustration is poor, because beanies normally don't have bills. That thing is simply a baseball cap with a beanie-style propeller on top. The time frame of 1947 appears to be reasonably accurate, as the first reference to propeller beanies I found in Newspapers.com is from 1948. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:56, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

To behold the pre-Noogle original visor-less version, peruse this tragic story. Although the traditional SF-fan style did not have a star on front, but had the cap divided in differently coloured sections converging at the top, as seen here on the noggin of Prophet Ronald Weinland preparing for the Kingdom of God.  --Lambiam 07:32, 3 March 2021 (UTC)