text:
User:Daniel Bush/Story preparation/Research-United States Department of Justice workers among government Wikipedia vandals

abandoned Investigation Previous research can be found at the discussion page of the article and the actual article itself. Research consists almost entirely of edits made since the discovery of Marty Meehan's staffers' edits.

Many links copied from Wikipedia code do not work because internal code is different at Wikinews. As stated on the talk page, edits were checked through the ARIN database, while the IPs themselves were gotten through a Wikipedia page that had already been researched through fellow users.

House of Representatives edits
On February 4, the same IP known to have been used by Marty Meehan and other congressmen's staffers was blocked for eight hours for "Repeated NPOV violations and introducing political spin to articles," as noted - If the above is not disputed, this article must not be abandoned. It sounds like enough "investigation" was indeed completed in order to arrive at some conclusion. -

in the block log. This was the third block on that IP address after the IP became known for its media attention, the first being a week long block that was lifted, and the second being a three hour block that expired. This one lasted eight hours.

The offending edits were to an article on Chris Shays, who, interestingly, cosponsored a bill with Marty Meehan that the ACLU said would infringe on the first amendment. All references to the bill and its criticism were removed.

A paragraph displaying three points of view was changed to display the most positive one.

"Shays is known by his supporters and the press as a "maverick" and "independent thinker", while conservative detractors regard him as a RINO ("Republican in name only"). Liberal detractors regard him as a false moderate who effects centrism through catch and release techniques."

was changed to

"A moderate Republican known for his independence, the New York Times hailed Shays, saying "...his record reflects a rare thoughtfulness and considerable independence....Legislators with the fearlessness and principles of Mr. Shays aren't easy to come by.""

They removed a paragraph relating to Chris Shays criticizing the Republican Party and a paragraph discussing relations to Dennis Hassert, which read "While Shays has criticized DeLay for hurting the Republican party's electoral chances, he is very close to Speaker Dennis Hastert. In June of 2005 Dennis Hastert helped Shays raise $70,000 at a country club event."

Senate edits
As seen here, the article on the Hamas was edited to give it a biased slant. This was made by the same IP address that had edited Joe Biden's article to give it a more positive spin. This was another Joe Biden edit. Both Biden edits were made more than half of a year before the recent discovery. Both were not caught by Wikipedia users.

I have discovered a method of finding what senators have edited what articles that follows a strict pattern. A typical Senate IP address appears as 156.33.x.y. X is the number a state would appear in a list of states when arranged in alphabetical order, multiplied by 2. The number will vary by one 50% of the time. A list of senators in the same order described here can be found at Wikipedia. This pattern was tested on senators Thomas Carper and Hillary Clinton, whose IP addresses were obtained in the automatic form letters sent to those who e-mail them, by Journowiki. Journowiki is another wiki that cooperates with Wikinews. Clinton's IP was 156.33.64.61 and Carper's was 156.33.16.59. Norm Coleman, at 156.33.46.3, and Frank Lautenberg, at 156.33.59.3, also fit this pattern.

This cannot be done with the House of Representatives IP addresses because they all funnel their edits through a proxy. At the present time I do not know who authored edits IPs coming from addresses over 100.y. Judd Gregg's IP block is 222, rather than 57 as would be in the pattern. No edits from the .57 block have been made. Both Larry Craig's and Bill Frist's IPs are given in the 203 block. Yet still, the 23 block belonging to Larry Craig's staffers updated his article, updating it with relevant information. Therefore I think edits from blocks higher than 100 may be just made from other places throughout the Senate building.

It can be determined through this pattern the edits to Joe Biden's article were made by his staffers. Senator Norman Coleman's edits have already been covered by the Associated Press, mirrored here, has already been covered, but for the record, the edits were , , and .

What follows is a further investigation into Wikipedia vandalism using the Senate IP address pattern.

The person that made this edit to Tom Coburn's article meets John McCain's staffers' IP block in the pattern. According to the contributions list, the same edit was done twice in different places in the article. John McCain's office was contacted by Amgine and they denied having made the contributions, and because the pattern has never been off so far for states, that would mean the edits may have come from Jon Kyl's staffers.

Carl Levin's block made these edits, which included saying Robert Byrd is 180 years old, a George W. Bush vandalism, and another Robert Byrd vandalism.

Senator Tom Harkin's block made this edit and another edit to Tom Harkin's article, removing paragraphs about controversy. Prior to engaging in editing, they tested by editing here and then reverting.

This edit was made by an IP block belonging to Conrad Burns's staffers in the Senate IP address pattern. They replaced the heading, "A Controversial Speaker," with "A Voice for the Farmer," removed the paragraph

 * On February 17, 1999, while at a meeting of the Montana Implement Dealers Association in Billings, Montana, Burns referred to Arabic people as "ragheads".

and a paragraph saying his detractors point out he has a legislative history of reducing Native American sovereignty. At first I thought the paragraph about using an ethnic slur may have been rightfully done because a Google search for Conrad Burns's name plus "ragheads" yeilded only 500 results, with many of them copied from Wikipedia, however it was finally confirmed when I came across a USA Today article.

According to the pattern, Senator John Ensign's staffers made this one word edit, introducing bias to a paragraph with a quote on Reid criticizing George W. Bush. The user reinserted the one word again after it had been removed in this edit, and a third time in this edit. A fourth edit was made here. Considering that that in some cases the block pattern is off by 1, the edit may come from Harry Reid's or Judd Gregg's staffers, but because Ensign and Gregg belong to opposite parties as Reid, who is Democratic Minority Leader, and therefore those staffers may be less likely to make those edits, there is a good chance Reid's staffers made those edits instead.

The block of Olympia Snowe vandalized the article on carrot cake here. The edit inserted the paragraph, "Carrot cake is the most liberal of all deserts. Hippies embraced carrot cake because it is a way to incorperate vegetables into desert. No true conservative enjoys carrot cake." However, the same IP removed anti-George W. Bush vandalism.

The block of Rick Santorum made the following edits:
 * Corrected an article for proper punctuation here.
 * Made this edit.
 * Removed a paragraph from the article on a controversy relating to Santorum's political views.

Two edits were made from an IP address higher than 100, this and this edit. I highly doubt a member of Congress would have done this, because Pages are high school juniors, and I think a Senate Page may have been involved. Other edits:

 *
 *
 *

Although not fitting the pattern, the IP block given in Senator Feinstein's e-mail made this edit to the article of Richard C. Blum, husband of Senator Feinstein and investment banker. While perhaps helpful in the first paragraph, which I haven't checked, the edit removed a paragraph relating to a scandal involving a possible conflict of interest between Feinstein and investments in Chinese businesses by her husband. Also removed was the sentence, "In 1992, Feinstein was fined $190,000 for failing to disclose that Blum had guaranteed nearly $3 million in loans to fund her 1999 bid for California governor." The edits were originally noted on Journowiki, where, upon looking at their listed IP address, it matched up with Feinstein's.

In total, the number of senators whose staff may have been vandalizing or introducing bias into Wikipedia articles numbers twelve. The supposed block of Senator Gordon Smith's staffers made this edit to Rambus.

Senator Feinstein's IP address was off from the pattern by 1. Senator Graham's was off by 1. Senator Isakson's was off by 1. Arlen Specter's and Tedd Kennedy's offices' blocks met the pattern perfectly. These may be due to changes in seniority, or other situations, but it demonstrates a severe need to get in contact with Senate offices before any writing can be done. The pattern is not being used as an absolute, but a guide on which offices to contact.

Positive edits
Many times the Senate has edited out bias, created articles, or reverted vandalism themselves. The same IP block supposedly belonging to Senator John Ensign's staffers created the article Click Back America. John Cornyn's staffer's supposed IP block created Washington's Tomb, and the supposed block of Robert Foster Bennett's staffers created and edited Robert Foster Bennett. A block that may belong to Senator Mark Pryor's staffers made very useful edits to Closed sessions of the United States Senate in November.

The offices of most senators mentioned here were contacted via voice mail by Amgine, but only McCain's and Levin's offices had replied by the next day.

Also, at first I was working under the theory that within individual states, senators with seniority were given the lowest numbered IP addresses, but I later discarded it because it varied too often, in favor of thinking that the IPs for states are probably randomly assigned.


text:
Category:Julian Colton (Wikinewsie)

__HIDDENCAT__ These are Wikinews articles where Julian Colton is the main contributor.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Category:Julian Colton (Wikinewsie)


text:
Sir Terry Wogan leaves BBC Radio 2 breakfast show

December 19, 2009

Sir Terry Wogan has presented his final BBC Radio 2 weekday breakfast show after hosting Wake Up To Wogan on the station for sixteen years. Wogan originally presented The Terry Wogan Show on the radio station between 1972 and 1984, in which his supporters were "Twits" — the Terry Wogan is Tops Society. Since Wake Up To Wogan commenced in 1993, the listeners were referred to as TOGs — Terry's Old Geezers/Gals. Now, after presenting the weekday breakfast show regularly for 16 years, Terry Wogan has left.

He first announced his departure from the show in September of this year. After playing "That'll Do" by the Black Dyke Mills Band, Wogan made his final speech at 0926 GMT. He proclaimed these words: "This is it, then. This is the day I have been dreading — the inevitable morning when you and I come to the parting of the ways, the last Wake Up To Wogan.

"It wasn't always thus. For the first 12 years it was the plain old Terry Wogan Show and you were all Twits, the Terry Wogan is Tops Society.  When I returned to the bosom of our family, it became Wake Up To Wogan and you all became TOGs, Terry's Old Geezers and Gals.  It's always been a source of enormous pride to me that you have come together in my name, that you are proud to call yourself my listeners, that you think of me as a friend, someone that you are close enough to laugh with, to poke fun at and occasionally, when the world seemed just a little too cruel, to shed a tear with.  And the years together with you have not only been a pleasure but a privilege.  You have allowed me to share your lives with you.  When you tell me how important I have been in your lives it's very moving.  You have been every bit as important in mine.  We have been though at least a couple of generations together, for many of you — your children, like mine, now have children of their own. And your support for Children In Need has been consistent and magnificent. You've baked the bakes, you've held the quizzes, you've sold the calendars, you've packed the CDs and the DVDs. You've answered the phones — always there when we've called on you, unheralded and unsung. And if anybody embodies the generous, warm spirit of this country it's you, my listeners.

"I am not going to pretend that this is not a sad day — you can probably hear it in my voice. I am going to miss the laughter and the fun of our mornings together.  I know you are going to welcome Chris Evans with the same generosity of spirit that you have always shown me.  So, I am going to miss you, until we are together again in February, have a happy Christmas.  Thank you, thank you for being my friend."

After this speech, he played "The Party's Over" by the late Anthony Newley. Wogan will be replaced by Chris Evans, who currently hosts Chris Evans Drivetime every weekday evening, in January 2010.


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User talk:PiousBias

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  22:13, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:PiousBias


text:
Students raise record amounts of money during Christmas fundraiser at Benet Academy, Illinois

December 19, 2009

Students at Benet Academy in, Illinois, United States raised record amounts of money this year during their Christmas Drive fundraiser.

The annual two-week event is aimed at promoting the Christmas spirit in helping the poor and needy. Coordination of the fundraiser is a joint effort by the faculty and three students organizations—Student Government, (NHS), and Outreach. Donations from previous years have allowed Outreach to provide food and Christmas gifts to dozens of families during the holiday season. NHS in the past has provided blankets, winter gear, and toys to local families as well.

A semi-formal dance held on Dec. 5 kicked off the Christmas Drive this year. Two weeks of in-school fundraising efforts ensued, including several no-uniform days and Benet's traditional Penny Wars. In that four-day activity, the four grade levels competed against each other to see who can collect the most pennies. Nickels, dimes, and quarters were allowed but had negative value in the class total. The seniors won this contest, allowing them to have a no-uniform day on Dec. 11. Other activities such as bake sales and a beard-growing contest raised money as well.

During an all-school assembly on Friday, the last day of the drive, Student Government President Kyle Marinko announced that preliminary calculations put the amount of donations at US$53,392.82, a record for the school. Last year's drive collected approximately US$42,000. A final total has not been officially announced, since Student Government officials continue to count additional donations that have been received.


text: Talk:Sir Terry Wogan leaves BBC Radio 2 breakfast show


text:
Iraqi insurgents intercepted drone feeds using widely available software

December 19, 2009 United States defense officials acknowledged that Iraqi insurgents successfully intercepted live video feeds from U.S. MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles with widely available software. The story broke on Thursday in the Wall Street Journal with a defense official, anonymously, informing them it is an old problem, which has already been fixed.

The Journal says U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last year when they seized a Shi'ite militant's laptop containing drone video feeds.

Senior defense and intelligence officials say insurgents were able to take advantage of an unprotected communications link in the systems of the remotely-piloted aircraft. The insurgents used software that is available online and costs about $26.

While U.S. defense officials say the issue has been fixed, the Journal quoted senior intelligence officials as saying it was not yet clear if the problem had been completely resolved.

U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants had been able to take control of the drones. But the intercepted video feeds could show where the planes are operating.

The Journal also reported that U.S. drone feeds have also been intercepted in Afghanistan.

Officials say the U.S. government has known about a flaw in the drone communication system since the NATO intervention in Bosnia in the 1990s. At the time, the military assumed local adversaries would not know how to exploit it.

The report says fighters in Iraq used software programs such as one called "SkyGrabber" from the Russian company SkySoftware, which is designed to intercept data transmitted by satellite Internet.

The Journal quoted one of the program's developers, Andrew Solonikov, as saying it was designed to download legal content — such as music and video — and that it was never intended to intercept military data. Solonikov said in a email to the paper, "It was developed to intercept music, photos, video, programs and other content that other users download from the Internet — no military data or other commercial data, only free legal content."


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User talk:Tj111

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  02:09, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Solider Suprises Kids
In its current form, it isn't really a news story. News stories should answer the who what when where why, as well as being on a noteworthy event. Cheers. Bawolff ☺☻ 02:47, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Tj111


text:
Talk:Iraqi insurgents intercepted drone feeds using widely available software

Jan 2013
editprotected

Please change File:081131-F-7734Q-001.jpg to File:MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft.jpg. The image has been moved on Commons, and the redirect may not work well, or permanently. Thanks. Courcelles (talk) 02:06, 31 January 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ Thanks. --Pi zero (talk) 02:12, 31 January 2013 (UTC)


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User talk:Prem sharma~enwikinews

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  03:30, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Prem sharma. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Prem sharma~enwikinews that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:23, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:36, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Prem sharma~enwikinews


text:
Comments:China offers Africa financial aid including $10 billion in loans

China investing in Africa: Good or bad?
China is simply making these Nations in debt to them so they can leverage their oil reserves.

Someone's debt is another person's money, so of course, this will be seen as "aiding the global economy". They actually have enough food down in africa, but mose of it is sold off....to pay debt. 164.116.47.180 (talk) 16:24, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Disputed territories
Disputed territories map shown in the news article is incorrect. How come Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is shown as a disputed territory in yellow colour but not the Aksai Chin region in Jammu and Kashmir state of India? So I think map should be corrected.


text:
Talk:Students raise record amounts of money during Christmas fundraiser at Benet Academy, Illinois

Original research notes
The following information is provided for compliance with Original reporting.
 * Explanation of Penny Wars
 * Each grade level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) has a designated bin to put money in
 * Each penny earns +1 point for the owner of the bin that it's in
 * Anything that isn't a penny earns negative points (nickel = -5, dime = -10, quarter = -25, $1 bill = -100 points, $5 bill = -500, etc)
 * On a designated day ("Dollar Day"), $1 bills are worth +100 points, $5 bills are worth +500, etc.
 * Students normally put cash earning positive points (pennies every day, bills on Dollar Day) in their class's bin, and they put cash earning negative points (nickels, dimes, and quarters every day, bills when it's not Dollar Day) in other classes' bins. A senior, for example, will probably drop a penny in the seniors' bin and a quarter in a different bin.
 * Competition lasts for four days (Monday to Thursday)
 * Class with the most points wins and is given a no-uniform day ("Slop Day") on the Friday after the contest. Seniors usually win.
 * Assembly in the Large Gym on Friday, December 18
 * Jenna McKeown, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia visited the school and watched the assembly. As she entered the gym, she immediately received a standing ovation.
 * SG Pres. Kyle Marinko danced in a leprechaun suit.
 * Mr. William Conley, an English teacher, won the award for being the teacher that raised the most money from his classes.
 * Avions with guys performed, and cheerleaders danced.
 * Beard-growing contest
 * Dance competition
 * Faculty vs. students basketball game. Faculty won.
 * SG Pres. Marinko announced preliminary total of $53,392.82 in donations, a record in the history of Benet's Christmas Drive. SG is still counting more money.
 * Entire student body sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Performance was filmed, and the video will be sent to the entire Benet community.

-- Benny the mascot (talk) 05:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

New category
editprotected Please add Category:DuPage County, Illinois. Benny the mascot (talk) 02:28, 13 February 2010 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Yes_check.svg|link=|alt=|16px]] Done — Gopher65talk 00:17, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Could someone please change Category:Culture and entertainment to Category:Christmas, please? Surf Dog (talk) 03:52, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
 * ✅ in line with Wikinews categorisation methods. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:14, 5 July 2012 (UTC)


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Copenhagen climate conference ends with "meaningful agreement"

December 19, 2009 President of the United States Barack Obama has announced that wealthy and developing nations have reached what he called a "meaningful agreement" at the UN Climate Change Conference. The announcement came in the final hours of two weeks of tough negotiations, but fell far short of what some had hoped for.

Agreement came late in the evening and after a day of intense negotiations.

President Obama announced what he called a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough. "For the first time in history all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change," he said.

Negotiations stalled amid differences over mitigation efforts by cutting greenhouse gas emissions; verification; and funding.

That formed the core of discussions, said Mr. Obama. "Throughout the day we worked with many countries to establish a new consensus around these three points, a consensus that will serve as a foundation for global action to confront the threat of climate change for years to come," he said.

Obama sat down with the leaders of developing countries at a multilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and South African President Jacob Zuma.

The agreement requires countries to list actions they will take to cut gas emissions by specific amounts and allows for verification.

Obama noted in his speech, "And that's where we agreed to list our national actions and commitments, to provide information on the implementation of these actions through national communications, with international consultations and analysis under clearly defined guidelines." Obama also added that the leaders "agreed to set a mitigation target to limit warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, and importantly, to take action to meet this objective consistent with science."

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, a Sudanese diplomat who acted on behalf of the Group of 77 of developing nations blasted the agreement and the 2 degree mark stating to reporters, "The developed countries have decided that damage to developing countries is acceptable." On the 2-degree mark he stated the mark would "result in massive devastation to Africa and small island states." Mr. Di-Aping and various representatives of the most most vulnerable countries wanted a target of 1.5 degrees.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called it a good first step, but said a binding treaty must follow. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also called it a first step and urged more action.

President Obama acknowledged that as well, saying this progress had not come easily, and alone is not enough. "Going forward we're going to have to build on the momentum that we've established here in Copenhagen to ensure that international action to significantly reduce emissions is sustained and sufficient over time. We've come a long way but we have much further to go," he said.

The agreement is a far cry from what environmentalists and developing nations had called for. They wanted a legally binding treaty with much more specific commitments.

Some environmental groups criticized the agreement. Kim Carstensen of the World Wildlife Fund spoke of a non-deal that is not fair and does not meet the demands of the developing world. "It's been cooked up by a number of big countries in a closed room, without any transparency, without any civil society engagement in this building (the conference), without much engagement of the vulnerable countries," she said.

Climate talks are to continue. Germany is to call a meeting on the issue in the coming months and a climate change summit is also expected to be held in Mexico within the coming year.


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US East Coast prepares for blizzard

December 19, 2009 Although the Winter Solstice is not for another couple of days, a major blizzard, potentially the most severe in years, is currently affecting the East Coast of the United States. What began as a low pressure system off the coast of Florida that resulted in widespread flash flooding is now on its way to the Northeast, where it is expected to dump over a foot of snow in many areas, such as in Washington, D.C., which was forecast to pick up as much as twenty inches of snow.

Despite the traveling frenzy of the ongoing holiday season, the impending inclement weather has prompted various regional airlines to already announce that many of their flights to and from various East Coast destinations in the storm's path — such as in the New York metropolitan area, where over ten inches of snow are predicted to fall — will likely be grounded, or severely delayed at best.

"It's going to be very challenging for people who weren't able to get out today to rebook on flights this week," said spokeswoman Tara Hamilton of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

As a result, blizzard watches and winter storm warnings have been issued all over the Northeast, from North Carolina to central and eastern New England. The National Weather Service warns that in some areas, "falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will in some areas lead to whiteout conditions[,] making travel extremely dangerous."

Some areas even declared snow emergencies, and strongly encouraged people not to travel and to remain at home. In Virginia, the National Guard rescued several hundred motorists who became stranded due to the heavy snows. A twenty-mile traffic backup on Interstate 81 miles was also reported. According to Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the state's Department of Emergency Management, around a hundred people were moved to shelters.

"Some folks have decided to stay in vehicles, others have been taken to shelters. We're definitely trying to keep people off the roads," Spieldenner said.

The inclement weather also cut off power to many people in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia; the MSNBC news agency reported that a total of 136,000 businesses and homes were without power in those three states.

In more northern regions, unusual levels of uncertainty in the cyclone's eventual track are making it difficult for forecasters to determine the exact conditions over the next couple days.

The snow is expected to taper off by Sunday evening for most locations, but another storm is possible next week.

title: US East Coast prepares for blizzard


text:
Talk:US East Coast prepares for blizzard

"Although it is not officially winter yet"....
 * Define starting of winter. Although the winter solctice has not yet occured, i think its safe to say its winter (traditioanlly, i think dec 25 = middle of winter, as opposed to start of winter). Bawolff ☺☻ 06:11, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Most articles/newscasts have said something similar about winter being two days away. I think it's arbitrary date that really has no meaning but alas most of the world probably disagrees with us. --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 10:56, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I've changed it to "winter solstice" to make it more clear. Tempodivalse [talk]  15:10, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Photos
I'll have some photos once it becomes light enough to actually take a photo. --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 10:57, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Hold on
Hold back on reviewing this for a bit, I have some info to add – Juliancolton  | Talk 14:21, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Okay, I was about to push the review button but saw your comment at the last second. :-) I'll see if I can round up some more East Coast contributors, perhaps we can do a collaborative OR with pictures, etc.? Tempodivalse [talk]  14:25, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * That's a good idea. The snow should be starting here any second, so I can do my share of reporting. – Juliancolton  | Talk 14:26, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Would anyone object to replacing the unrelated snowfall image with a satellite/radar shot of this system? – Juliancolton  | Talk 14:46, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Sounds good. Tempodivalse [talk]  14:47, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Found something even more informative, I think. – Juliancolton  | Talk 15:10, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

 * Tell me when you've finished adding stuff so I can review, as I'd like to get this story out soon. Tempodivalse [talk]  15:12, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm satisfied with this now. – Juliancolton  | Talk 15:16, 19 December 2009 (UTC)


text:
User talk:PSD27

Nice job
Excellent work on US TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot. Cirt (talk) 06:36, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks very much, I appreciate it. PSD27 (talk) 06:49, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Google & China
Just sent a text message to my contact with the EFF to see if they've any comment. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:58, 13 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Good. Thanks. PSD27 (talk) 16:59, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Behooven?
I'm curious about your ditransitive use of behoove — that is, involving two people and an object — which I've noticed in a couple of your articles (good articles, BTW). In my own experience, behoove is a transitive verb meaning, about as Wiktionary currently lists, that the subject of the verb is in the object's best interest. Usually expressed using a leading pronoun to defer the subject, "It behooves this person to do such-and-such". The ditransitive construction "This person behooved that person to do such-and-such" sounds very odd to me, although I'm certainly able to puzzle out the intended meaning. Any idea where you'd have picked up the ditransitive usage?

 * Curiosity aside (I admit to a hobbyist's interest in language), I recommend against the ditransitive behoove in WN articles since if it sounds awkward to me, that's a reasonably good predictor that it will sound awkward to some significant part of our readership. --Pi zero (talk) 13:45, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

 * I've heard and have been using the word "behooved" in said context for as long I can remember. But since you've been a contributor to Wikinews for much longer then I have, and you therefore probably have a better sense of the general sensibilities of our readership, I'll take your word for it and I will not use "behooved" in that form in an article again. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Sorry for any inconvenience and/or confusion this may have caused. PSD27 (talk) 21:26, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Re:US President Obama celebrates his first Martin Luther King Jr. Day while in office
Hmm, you raise a good point. I guess the article wasn't all "fluff" as I first thought. I was a little to quick to give it the proverbial bat. Cocoaguytalkcontribs‽ 01:53, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

(Please see the article talk page for the rest of this conversation)

Good work
Nice job on the article TV host Conan O'Brien accepts US$45 million settlement with NBC. One small point = "Circa" in image captions means around that time. You should just put the year itself, and stop using "circa..." Cheers, Cirt (talk) 23:45, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

 * Okay, will do. Thanks again. PSD27 (talk) 23:46, 21 January 2010 (UTC)
 * No worries. And my condolences on the recent news development above. :( Cheers, Cirt (talk) 23:49, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

UAH shooting
I guess we both did this story --SVTCobra 23:23, 12 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah. I'll merge mine into yours. Sorry about the mix-up. PSD27 (talk) 23:25, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Clinton leaving hospital
Could you please install an in-browser spell checker and fix the numerous typos/spelling errors in this article as well as change, as much as possible, to active voice? Words like "have", "has", and so are all passive voice – good news writing uses active voice as much as reasonably possible. You may want to review Strunk & White's publication on style; an online copy is available here. --Brian McNeil / talk 19:15, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

 * I would not describe 2-3 relatively minor errors as "numerous." However, regarding what you just told me about the passive voice, I will definitely look into that website as well as take into account what you said when writing articles in the future. Thanks for that advice. PSD27 (talk) 19:24, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

 * Well, it is - when you've been at this as long as me - annoying to hit edit on anything and get the spellchecker throwing in redlined stuff. In any case, I commend Strunk's to everyone. It is a very short book that really focuses on paring back your writing style and getting right to the point. --Brian McNeil / talk 19:46, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

 * I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks again. PSD27 (talk) 19:48, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

Template:Editing
You might want to stick editing on your article. That'd make it nice and obvious. None of us use that nearly enough. Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 19:22, 18 February 2010

 * Perfect, that was the exact template I was looking for. Thanks. PSD27 (talk) 19:27, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Copyedits
Just a random comment, thanks for spotting this. I always get confused about what demonym to use when referring to "Niger". :-) Cheers and happy editing, Tempodivalse [talk]  16:25, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Congratulations to our newest editor!
I have promoted you to the Editor class, as I feel you can be trusted to mark revisions of articles as sighted (review). Please take a moment to read: If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask for help on my talk page, and thank you for contributing to Wikinews! Tempodivalse [talk]  15:38, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Flagged revisions
 * Reviewing articles
 * Peer review
 * Review
 * Reviewed article version
 * Flagged Revisions extension information, on MediaWiki

 * Thank you very much for your support! I deeply appreciate it. I won't let you down. PSD27 (talk) 19:39, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Note
Just a heads-up, in case you're interested, I've replied to one of your failed article reviews. Cheers, Tempodivalse [talk]  03:08, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

Edit to anon user page
Out of curiosity, what is about? Bawolff ☺☻ 22:24, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
 * This IP attempted to review an article. I posted that there as a further clarification so that the article's author or any other user would not be confused. PSD27 (talk) 22:27, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh ok. Makes sense. Bawolff ☺☻ 22:28, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

"Vandalism"
I edited the talk page of http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Glenbard_East_defeated_by_Benet_Academy_in_Illinois_basketball_sectional because of serious doubts about the newsworthiness of a local school sports article and then got charged and warned with vandalism. Am I to understand that whenever my local school happens to have a game that results in some kind of score, I'm entitled to consider it newsworthy enough to report it to the whole world and post it on the Main Page of Wikipedia?

I apologize for any inconvenience.

216.237.232.178 (talk) 02:23, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

 * I do not necessarily disagree with you as it pertains to the newsworthiness of said article. I'd venture to say you may be right. However, while you could and should have constructively made your point in the form of a comment on the talk page, you instead chose to impulsively tamper with the reviewing template. It was at that point in which you crossed the line into vandalism. PSD27 (talk) 03:09, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Ah. Alright, thank you for the clarification. 216.237.232.178 (talk) 16:08, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

privs
'''Note! Your privileges on English Wikinews have been reduced.'''
 * Under the Privilege expiry policy (enacted October 13, 2012) the rights held by your user account have been reduced due to inactivity, or lack of privilege use.

 * Point 4 of the Privilege expiry policy provides for fast-tracking reacquisition of privileges. We all understand that real-life commitments can severely curtail the level of commitment you can give to Wikinews; the privilege reduction is in no way intended as a reflection on your past work, or to imply you are unwelcome. The aim in curtailing privileges is to address security risks, and concern that a long period of inactivity means you may not be up-to-date with current policy and practices.

--Pi zero (talk) 21:57, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:PSD27


text:
Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Jones dies at age 90

December 19, 2009

Jennifer Jones, leading lady in two dozen Hollywood pictures and an Academy Award winner for her first major film, 1943's The Song of Bernadette, died Thursday at her home in Malibu, California. She was 90.

Born Phyllis Lee Isley in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 2, 1919, her pursuit of fame as an actress took her to New York City at the age of 19, leaving for Hollywood one year later. She changed her name to Jennifer Jones while testing for a part in a David O. Selznick movie; in 1949, Selznick, who produced Gone with the Wind, would become her second and perhaps highest-profile husband.

Jones broke into dramatic film roles in 1943 as the lead in The Song of Bernadette, a movie about a nun who saw visions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France in 1858. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for the role, and became a star well in-demand, earning Academy Award nominations the next three years in a row for the films Since You Went Away, Love Letters and Duel in the Sun.

Jones was a popular movie actress well into the 1950s. She starred as a Eurasian doctor, Han Suyin, in the 1955 film Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, earning her a fifth and final Academy Award nomination. After a well-received turn in a film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms in 1957, she started to take on fewer and fewer movie roles. She would make her final on-camera appearance in the 1974 disaster movie The Towering Inferno.

Jones was married three times and was survived by one of her three children, Robert Walker, Jr., from her first marriage to Robert Walker. She married for a third and final time in 1971 to industrialist Norton Simon, six years after the death of her second husband David O. Selznick. The couple's collection of South Asian art, acquired while living in India, is now showcased in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. Jones was an active force behind the operations of the museum, serving as chairman from Simon's death in 1993 to 2003, and as trustee emeritus until her own death.


text: Talk:Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Jones dies at age 90


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Talk:Copenhagen climate conference ends with "meaningful agreement"

NewsTrust
I went ahead and bunged this on NewsTrust. You're on the main page! Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 13:09, 19 December 2009 (UTC)


text:
Comments:Copenhagen climate conference ends with "meaningful agreement"

How do you feel about the outcome of the conference?
thanks from Austria.

Considering that extinction is the most stupid thing a species can do, the wavering not only of the politicians, but also of us the people is strange. Why for instance is this news not on the main page of Wikipedia?! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.69.41.28 (talk) 17:14, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Not everyone buys that Climate Change is caused by humans or is something that humans can control, regardless of the cause. Has climate changed before? Yes. Has it changed quickly before? Yes. Were humans around for all of the changes before? No. Has ice always been on the continents before? No. Have the glaciers melted before? Yes. Have humans historically flourished more under warmer climates then colder climates? Yes. The proposals of action scare me much more than the dire predictions (which I don't really believe anyway). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.238.52.78 (talk) 06:04, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Alternative or state written news?
Why is a project supposedly offering an alternative to commercial media publishing a COP15 sum-up based on the following sources: State Department Radio (VoA), White House, and New York Times? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.173.17 (talk) 21:51, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Could be much better
You can also read this http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18309-copenhagen-chaos-sets-world-on-track-for-35-c.html?full=true&print=true I understand, that acting together is difficult, and hope, that each country separately will be able to cut emissions quicker than international treaties suggest. Right now this mess with leaked emails confused the talks. Besides, nobody wants to feel himself like being under the US and breaking economy for "unproven" scientific "conjecture". And some nations get money from exporting oil and don't like the idea that fossil fuels can be used only for plastic (and even here plant-made plastic tries to interfere). Wikiwide (talk) 03:25, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

*sigh*
So long as industry comes first, nothing will get done. Period. 164.116.47.180 (talk) 16:03, 15 January 2010 (UTC)


text:
Comments:Students raise record amounts of money during Christmas fundraiser at Benet Academy, Illinois

Well done, guys Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 13:29, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Benet Academy
This is the second story I've seen about Benet Academy in Nowhere, Illinois. Why is this important? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.187.183.185 (talk) 20:01, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * There are over 3 million wikipedia articles that you probably don't care about. Should we stop writing them as well? Benny the mascot (talk) 20:47, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

 * There is something endearing about the way local news is acceptable and can show up alongside agreements of global importance. If we get a flood we will come down harshly but until then, the unofficial test is to compare it to a minor car crash. US$53,392.82 is above the impact of such a smash, so it is considered newsworthy. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 20:50, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * It's a private school where tuition is like $8,000 a year. Raising $53,000 is not exactly the world's biggest feat all things considered. Mike Halterman (talk) 22:31, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Eh, I think this one is sort of borderline as far as newsworthiness is concerned, depending on your criteria for what is "newsworthy" this may or may not fit the bill. US$53k isn't a great amount of money, but the story seems relevant enough/significant to quite a few people. Tempodivalse [talk]  22:52, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
 * At least the student body managed to set a new record, so that should make this event somewhat more newsworthy. Remember that this is a fundraising effort run by students, who really don't earn that much money. Therefore, $53K can be considered a large amount of donations from a population of 1,300 teenagers who donate an average of $40 each. Benny the mascot (talk) 23:00, 19 December 2009 (UTC)


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London court jails man for killing wife with remote control

December 19, 2009

A man from London, England has been sentenced to three years in prison after killing his wife by hitting her in the head with a television remote control. The trial was held in the Old Bailey, a famous court in London.

The court heard how 46-year-old electrical engineer Paul Harvey was arguing with 48-year-old American wife Gloria Laguna on topics relating to the man's step-daughter's education and his former wife. At the time, both husband and wife had consumed alcohol and cocaine. When Paul threw the remote control, which weighed 160 grams, at Gloria, neither were aware of the fact that Gloria suffered from an extremely rare health condition which meant that an artery in her neck was weak. The remote control hit the area, causing Gloria to have a large brain haemorrhage. Paul attempted to give his wife the kiss of life, however he was unsuccessful and she later died from her injuries. Paul pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March of this year.

Johnathan Goldberg QC, who was defending Paul Harvey, said: "All he did was throw the remote control in her direction. By a fluke chance, maybe the same as, in a different context, winning the lottery, it landed on the exact spot where she had a weakness. He loved this woman very much. She was obviously a very fine woman who gave up her work for him. He is deeply ashamed and remorseful at the death of his wife at his hand."

Prosecuting was Richard Whittam QC. He said: "It would only have required a trivial incident to cause her death."

When sentencing Mr. Harvey, Judge Giles Forrester spoke to him. "You killed your wife, who was rightly been described by your counsel as a fine woman," he said. "You have this streak of anger and violence within your character that does surface from time to time."


text:
User talk:Brenda Wyatt

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  14:11, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Brenda Wyatt


text:
Comments:Sir Terry Wogan leaves BBC Radio 2 breakfast show

Terry Wogan, the end of an era.
The end of an era. I wonder if he had decided 'enough was enough' the way things are going at BBC Radio 2.

For instance, what was wrong with Mo Dutta's Saturday morning show? It was just right for very early on a Saturday morning, with a little humour and gentle banter, not to mention a littly sarcasm. So he has been replaced by Zoe Ball! I can't stand her shreiking voice and stupid chatter. Needless to say, I don't listen anymore.

So Terry, I will certainly miss you, what will I do on Christmas Day, who on earth will they put on instead? Anyway, enjoy your lie-ins and I will check back for your new show in February.

Sincerely, Cathy Joy. (Now of Pennsylvania, U.S.A)

I have listened to Terry for so many years and I proudly move my TOG car sticker from car to car, it's hard to imagine not being able to know he is going to be in your home in morning to cheer and ispire us. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.26.122.149 (talk) 20:41, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Your new presenter for Terry's program really needs elocution lessons. When you are busy in the morning you could clearly hear Terry, but with Chris Evans he talks too fast, swallows half his words and plays horrible music. Wherever you got him from he is well over paid. We are switching off BBC2 until you sort yourselves out............Since Evans has been away you have had an excellent presenter with Richard Allinson. Keep him is what I say! Linda W.


text:
User talk:Cathyjoy

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  14:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Cathyjoy


text:
Second day of snow in UK, disruption continues

December 21, 2009 A second day of winter weather and snow has caused further disruption in the UK. At 15:13 GMT last Saturday, one Wikinews contributor in West Lothian described the conditions there as 'white-out', although later conditions were reported to have improved.

Forecasters had indicated further snow in Scotland later into Saturday evening, with some higher ground experiencing as much as 15 centimetres into Sunday. Heavy snow for parts of Northern England had also been forecast.

In South of England the wintry weather has also affected cross channel services, with Operation Stack being brought into effect due to issues at the Port of Calais. Eurostar and Channel tunnel services were also disrupted for an extended period, when trains broke down temporarily stranding at least 2000 passengers according to both BBC and Guardian reports. The cause is still under investigation, but it has been suggested, temperatures changes on entering the Channel tunnel may have been responsible.

Traffic around both Dover and Folkstone was reported as heavy, with Chief Superintendent Matthew Nix(Kent police) making an appeal for "[...]  everyone to consider whether their journey is really necessary. Because of the problems with the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Calais, it will take a considerable time to clear the backlog [...]"

In addition to transport disruption, a number of sports have been affected. At least twenty football fixtures across the UK have been postponed, with some rugby matches also affected. Race meetings at Haydock, Newcastle were cancelled due to the conditions, a planned meet at Ascot having been abandoned earlier. A National Hunt meeting at Carlisle yesterday was also abandoned.


text:
User:PSD27

User Information
User Name: PSD27

Status: Editor

Edit Count: 1100+

Primary IP Address: 71.249.25.132

Location: New York City

Articles I Created

 * US East Coast prepares for blizzard
 * Giant tuna sold for $177,000 at Japanese fish market
 * With US mid-term elections fast approaching, three prominent Democrats announce retirement
 * Japanese survivor of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings dies, aged 93
 * UN pulls out of southern Somalia
 * Arrest made in Newark Airport security breach
 * US Vice President Biden's mother dies, aged 92
 * TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot
 * Google may shut down Chinese operations due to censorship and cyber attacks
 * Ugandan president distances himself from anti-gay bill
 * Cocaine found at Kennedy Space Center
 * Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson under fire for remarks about earthquake in Haiti
 * Seven killed in Kenyan protest for radical Islamic cleric
 * Highway billboard gives Moscow drivers an unexpected show
 * US President Obama celebrates his first Martin Luther King Jr. Day while in office
 * According to UN report, bribes cost Afghans US$2.5 billion per year
 * 67th Annual Golden Globe Award highlights
 * Eight killed in Virginia shooting, suspect surrenders
 * TV host Conan O'Brien accepts US$45 million settlement with NBC
 * Bomb scare aboard plane caused by harmless prayer box
 * Russian journalist beaten by police officer dies
 * Somali pirates threaten to kill British hostages in days
 * Swiss court rules in favor of American account holder
 * Three shot dead at University of Alabama in Huntsville
 * Georgian Olympian luge competitor dies in training accident
 * Bill Clinton leaves hospital following heart procedure
 * American bandleader Kevin Eubanks to leave 'Tonight Show'
 * Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik sentenced to four years in prison
 * Facebook takes down groups supporting Austin crash pilot
 * Former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig dies at age 85
 * Wikipedia and sister projects back online after server failure

title: User:PSD27


text:
User talk:El Ington

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  17:32, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:El Ington


text:
NASA flyby of Saturn moon Titan produces first image of liquid on another world

December 19, 2009

NASA have revealed that a flyby of its probe Cassini past Titan, a moon of Saturn, has produced a historic image: the first photograph showing liquid on a world other than our own.

The picture shows a "specular reflection" from an extremely smooth surface, in this case a liquid. Cassini has been trying to spot one since arriving in 2004, and in 2008 used infrared data to prove that there were liquid methane lakes down there. The northern hemisphere has only been visible since August 2009, as before then it was covered by winter weather. Most of Titan's lakes are in the north.

"This one image communicates so much about Titan — thick atmosphere, surface lakes and an otherworldliness. It’s an unsettling combination of strangeness yet similarity to Earth," said Bob Pappalardo, a Cassini scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Titan's atmosphere is, like Earth's, mainly nitrogen, but temperatures on the icy world are around -180°C. This reduces the prospect of life, although the presence of liquid does increase the likelihood.

The lake seen in the photograph is called Kraken Mare, and at 150,000 square miles (400,000 square kilometers), it isn't the largest basin on north Titan, but it is bigger than the Earth's biggest lake, the Caspian Sea.

Ralf Jaumann, another Cassini scientist, spoke of the team's hopes for the future. "Next, we want to find out more about Titan's liquid. Do we have some kind of weather there? Do we have changes with seasons? Does it rain? How does the liquid methane run across the surface?"

A team of scientists are due to propose to NASA that the agency drop a boat into a Titan lake, with Kraken Mare and the similarly sized Ligeia Mare being hot candidates. The Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) is projected to be relatively low-cost at US$400 million and would investigate the composition, density and shape of a Titan lake. If launched in 2016 it could arrive in 2023 and spend several years floating on the moon. However, several other projects are also keen to get themselves the next opportunity NASA is offering for the launch of a new project other than its own.