Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2019 May 30

= May 30 =

US government : orders of succession
Every US government department has an order of succession in case its Secretary leaves post suddenly. The tops of these lists tend to make good sense (Deputy Secretary, then Assistant Secretary etc) - but then the posts seem to get a little more random. Eg United_States_Secretary_of_Health_and_Human_Services includes the Director of the Atlanta office, but no other regional directors: and this was a 2008 Executive Order so it's not like it's based on a personal relationship that Trump has with the office-holder. United_States_Secretary_of_Agriculture features the Farm Service Agency directors for California, Iowa and Kansas. Similarly United_States_Secretary_of_Transportation featuers two regional directors of the FAA but not others. United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior features one regional solicitor but not others.

What is behind the ordering of these lists? (Not these specific ones, but more generally, how are these choices made?) Amisom (talk) 19:35, 30 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Just a guess here but maybe it's not far off... The Health and Human Services Atlanta tie-in might have something to do with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention being headquartered in Atlanta. Thus there might be more experienced people there? Like I said, just a guess.  † dismas †|(talk) 21:31, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 is relevant. It looks like before that, Cabinet departments didn't even have succession plans. It is likely that not a tremendous amount of effort goes into them, because past the first few spots they are very unlikely to ever be necessary. The aforementioned Act also gives the President the power to move people from one Senate–confirmed position to another without Senate approval, a power the current President has used more than predecessors. In the case of the USDA, almost certainly the given states were chosen because they have large agricultural industries. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 01:43, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Many of those posts are probably due to the person in question being in charge of one of the larger areas within the department. Another possibility is picking personnel who would be experienced enough to take over in the event of catastrophe but who would not be likely to have been eliminated in said catastrophe. For example, FAA regional directors in New York, California, Texas, Illinois, and Massachussetts would be more vulnerable to initial attacks by hostile powers as they are in or near probable first round targets. --Khajidha (talk) 13:14, 31 May 2019 (UTC)


 * A lot of this is academic anyways. If there top 10 administrators of any particular Federal agency have all been incapacitated, we're probably all fucked.  I'm having a hard time imagining an actual scenario when this is a necessary thing.  -- Jayron 32 14:16, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Very true.--Khajidha (talk) 16:33, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

Greek mythological figures in a drawing
In this image, as far as I've been able to figure, Tantalus is the person the left in the water(?), Sisyphus is the one holding the rock, and Ixion is tied to the wheel. Who's turning the wheel? Some unnamed sinner? Or...? Thanks, † dismas †|(talk) 20:27, 30 May 2019 (UTC) EDIT: If you can view the image, I got the link for it from this page where the image is linked from the Final Jeopardy question. † dismas †|(talk) 23:47, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
 * I can't view that page; Firefox says it is not redirecting properly. Since you've linked the article, I assume you read that Hermes is the one who bound Ixion - could it be him? Matt Deres (talk) 22:21, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
 * I've updated my question with a link to the page that I got the image link from.
 * I considered that it was Hermes but didn't know why he would also be damned to turn Ixion on the wheel forever. † dismas †|(talk) 23:47, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Probably Ixion. The figure turning the wheel appears to be female; it is perhaps one of the Furies, whom Virgil describes as tormenting some of the victims in Tartarus. -- Elphion (talk) 02:18, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's not Hermes; even forgetting the breasts (Hermes did have some associations with hermaphroditism, though it's usually associated with his kid), the figure doesn't have any of the symbols associated with him. Matt Deres (talk) 12:50, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
 * She lacks the usual snakes and wings associated with furies, and the idea that one of them would actually work in hell, as this female figure, doesnt make sense to me. I dont know any female cursed in hell for her deed, and none of ixion's female associate is said to somehow share his punishment. Also, the wheel is said to be self moving, and AFAIK only Sisyphus is cursed to some kind of work. So my guess is ″some unnamed sinner″ Gem fr (talk) 19:10, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, all. † dismas †|(talk) 12:07, 3 June 2019 (UTC)