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title: User:AnOddName/monobook.css


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Jørn Utzon, Sydney Opera House architect, dies at the age of 90

November 30, 2008

Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House, has died at the age of 90. Mr Utzon died from a heart attack in his sleep at his home in Copenhagen.

"He had not been doing well these past few days, since Thursday. He had been undergoing a series of operations recently," Mr Utzon's son, Kim, told the Associated Press.

The first design for the Sydney Opera House was created by Utzon in 1957. Mr Utzon left Australia and returned to Denmark in 1966 due to disputes with the NSW government over cost blowouts and design differences. The building was finished 1973. Utzon never returned to Australia to see his building completed.

Relations between New South Wales and Utzon improved in the late 1990s and in 1999 the Sydney Opera House Trust asked for Mr Utzon to advise on changing the building's interior to match his original design.

Mr Utzon was awarded the Pritzker prize for architecture in 2003. The selectors said the Opera House was one of the most iconic buildings of the 20th century saying that Utzon's design "proves that the marvellous and seemingly impossible in architecture can be achieved".

Kim Williams, chairman of the Opera House Trust, said the building would dim the lights on its sails on Sunday as a sign of respect. Mr Williams said he had met Mr Utzon at his home in Denmark recently, where they shared emotions and tears.

"We spoke for 40 minutes and when we left, he embraced me and he whispered in my ear 'no tears'," he said.

"He hasn't been able to come back himself, but through his son he has been keeping up with all the developments here at the Opera House, really on a daily basis."

Premier of NSW Nathan Rees said NSW was "deeply saddened" by the death of Mr Utzon, who gave Australia a "masterpiece" which was now UNESCO World-Heritage listed.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Mr Utzon had left an impressive legacy.

"Joern Utzon was a visionary architect whose legacy includes one of the world's most spectacular and inspiring buildings, the Sydney Opera House," said the Prime Minister in a statement.

"Standing proudly on the edge of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House is one of the most internationally recognised symbols of our nation."

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


text:
Tourists struggle to escape as Bangkok airport blockades enter sixth day

November 30, 2008

With dire warnings that the number of stranded tourists in Thailand could rise as high as 300,000, thousands are attempting to leave the country via U-tapao airport in Rayong, around 150 km southeast of the capital Bangkok. The blockade of the two main international airports by People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters is now in its sixth day. Tensions continue to rise with a pro-government rally planned for today and police surrounding the main international airport, Suvarnabhumi.

With the old international airport, Don Mueang, still in PAD hands, the red-shirted pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) has supporters massing at the Bangkok city hall. A "Truth Today" talk show is planned for later on, although it is unclear if the fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra will feature. Organisers have indicated there are no plans to confront the PAD, but non-specific threats to act where the government has not done so have been made in the past.

Thailand's Prime Minister remains in Chiang Mai in the north of the country, having declared a state of emergency around the two besieged airports on Friday. The announcement prompted the PAD to move protesters inside terminal buildings and post volunteer guards. Moves by police yesterday to evict the protesters failed, and their vehicles were seized as they retreated. The police presence around the airport has been stepped up as today has gone on and Navy and Air Force personnel may be made available to assist in clearing the protesters.

Adding to calls from the army for the beleaguered People's Power Party (PPP) government to resign, the Thai Chamber of Commerce labelled the administration as incompetent and called for them to step down; some Chamber of Commerce members made the suggestion that businesses should cease paying taxes if the request is ignored.

The deepening three-month old political crisis continues to have significant economic impact on Thailand. Agriculture is hard hit because the export of fresh produce via air is usually routed through the Suvarnabhumi airport. No new tourists are entering the country; many nations have advised their citizens not to travel to Bangkok, and the repercussions in the tourist industry are expected to last well into 2009. A report in The Bangkok Post suggests that as many as one million in the industry could lose their jobs. In a press conference at the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat highlighted the plight of the hotel, tour, and restaurant trades - expected to be hardest hit in the wake of the crisis.

Police appear reluctant to make forceful moves to remove the protesters from the two airports, likely a consequence of their last clash with the anti-government PAD in October that saw two protesters killed and around 500 injured. Suggestions have been made that action is being deferred pending a decision by the country's constitutional court on the future of Prime Minister Somchai's PPP. The party may be outlawed this coming week in light of allegations of vote buying in the last general election. The court may face pressure from the pro-government UDD, their city hall rally is only minutes away from the court buildings. This means that they could surround the premises to protest the court moving to closing statements and a verdict on the fate of the parties in the ruling coalition.

The PAD demonstrators encamped at Government House saw another grenade attack on Saturday night. Fifty are reported injured in the attack, and separate explosions are reported at Sondhi Limthongkul's ASTV satellite TV station and the occupied Don Mueang airport.


text:
Talk:Riots in Nigeria kill nearly 400

Review
--Brian McNeil / talk 13:09, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Quote location
I moved the quote back down because it was creating a giant block of whitespace for me. It's not a big deal though, and I won't revert if anyone feels it necessary to change it back. I also think that this would probably have been a good article to use a horizontal infobox on:). Gopher65talk 14:44, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Riots in Nigeria kill nearly 400


text:
Wikinews' overview of the year 2008

December 31, 2008 Also try the 2008 World News Quiz of the year. What would you tell your grandchildren about 2008 if they asked you about it in, let's say, 20 years' time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2008, what would the question be? The year that markets collapsed, or perhaps the year that Obama became US president? Or the year Heath Ledger died?

Let's take a look at some of the important stories of 2008. Links to the original Wikinews articles are in all the titles.

=2008: the stories=

January 1: Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro
On the first day of 2008, at midnight, the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Malta, both small in the Mediterranean and former, adopted the euro as their official currency, less than four years after their accession to the European Union. Because Cyprus and Malta are in different, Cyprus adopted the euro one hour before Malta did. In both countries the euro was welcomed with outdoor celebrations, including a fireworks display in the Maltese capital of.

January 21: World stocks plunge on fears on US recession
Stock prices dropped sharply in Europe and Asia on January 21, with fears of economic problems in the United States causing some of the biggest single-day losses in recent years.

In Hong Kong, the fell 5.5 percent - its biggest fall since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Losses of between three and seven percent were recorded in India, China, Britain, France, Germany and Canada.

Although larger losses occurred later in the year, these falls were seen to be unusually large at the time.

February 1: Chad military clashes with rebels in N'djamena
Violence between Rebels and the Chadian military started in Chad on February 1 as rebel groups continued to advance on N'djamena, the capital of Chad. IRIN reported that the government of Chad responded to the move by the rebel groups by placing tanks across N'djamena.

February 2: French President marries model girlfriend
French radio station RTL announced that President Nicolas Sarkozy married his Italian girlfriend Carla Bruni at the Élysée Palace. Sarkozy was the first French President of the French Fifth Republic to marry during his office, after already becoming the first one to divorce.

February 6: Many killed in tornadoes across southern U.S.
Tornadoes were reported across the southern United States, with some sources saying as many as 48 have died. At least 69 tornadoes were reported to have taken place in just two days, most of which took place on the same day as US citizens were voting in caucuses and primaries on a day known as super Tuesday.

February 11: Rebels shoot East Timor president
, President of East Timor, was shot by rebel soldiers in an attack on his home near the capital of. As a result of the attack he underwent treatment at the 's intensive care unit in, Australia.

February 17: Over 80 Afghans killed by bombing in Kandahār
Witnesses reported that at least 80 people have died in a bombing in Afghanistan. The bombing took place in the Kandahar city area of the country, with early reports saying that took place in the Western areas of the city, which is in the South of Afghanistan. The Indonesia based news agency reported that the bombing took place during a dog fighting match.

February 17: Kosovo declares independence from Serbia
At 15:00 GMT today, Kosovo announced its independence from Serbia. Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi declared that Kosovo would become a democratic country and would respect the rights of all its communities. It is expected that several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and most members of the European Union, will recognise its independence on Monday. Serbia and Russia are against an independent Kosovo. Approximately 10% of Kosovars are of Serbian descent, the majority is Albanian.

February 19: Fidel Castro resigns as Cuban president
Fidel Castro, who was the Cuban president who seized power in a 1959 revolution, stated in a quote in Cuba's state-run newspaper  that when the meets on February 24 he "will not aspire to or accept... the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief."

March 2: Armenian President Kocharyan declares state of emergency
Armenian Robert Kocharyan declared a state of emergency in Armenia after policemen used tear gas and firearms to disperse protests over alleged fraud in last month's. At least eight persons were left dead in clashes between police and opposition.

March 3: Medvedev becomes Russian president-elect
Dmitry Medvedev, age 42, has won the presidential election in Russia and is expected to take office on May 7, 2008, replacing Vladimir Putin who has served two 4-year presidential terms since 2000. Medvedev has repeatedly promised to continue the political course of the current Russian government.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, human rights activist Vladimir Bukovsky, reformer Boris Nemtsov and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov were all prohibited from taking part in the election for various technicalities. The Russian media have focused heavily on Medvedev while giving little attention to the opposition candidates.

March 17: HMAS Sydney found
The final resting place of HMAS Sydney was found off Steep Point, Western Australia, 67 years after she was sunk by the Kormoran with the loss of all 645 crew.

March 19: Pakistan's parliament elects first female speaker
The of Pakistan elected  of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as its first female speaker, weeks after the general elections which ousted President Pervez Musharraf's party and gave the PPP the most seats in Parliament.

March 30: Zimbabwe opposition claims early victory in election
Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), released premature election results on March 30, which claimed a large victory for their presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai against incumbent Robert Mugabe.

April 6: Protests surround London Olympic torch relay
Around 25 arrests have been made by Metropolitan Police officers, during the 31 mile Olympic Torch relay in London, England. Demonstrators attempted to extinguish the flame using a fire extinguisher, and grab the torch from the hands of TV presenter Konnie Huq in Ladbroke Grove.

The next day, the Olympic torch went out three times while traveling through Paris, France. Olympic officials claim that this came as a result of actions by Pro-Tibetan protesters. It has been reported that the torch was extinguished, then put on a bus to keep it safe. The torch was extinguished one time by a Chinese official when the torch was in the hands of David Douillet, and one time due to technical problems.

April 27: Austrian man kept daughter prisoner in cellar for 24 years
Police in the Lower Austrian town of Amstetten have arrested a 73 year old man who is alleged to have kept his daughter, now aged 42, locked in the cellar of his house in Amstetten since 29th August 1984.

The man, identified by police as, is alleged to have started sexually abusing his daughter, named as Elisabeth Fritzl, when she was eleven years old, and to have subsequently fathered seven children by her. Rosemarie F. is said to have been unaware of her husbands' activities. The news has shocked Austria, recalling the case of who was kidnapped aged 10, and escaped after being held in a "dungeon" for eight years in 2006.

May 12: Large earthquake hits central China
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a magnitude 7.92 earthquake struck eastern Sichuan Province in China. The USGS first reported the quake to be a magnitude 7.8 which hit at 6:28:00 UTC. Officials stated that at least 10,000 may have been killed and local reports indicate over 10,000 injured.

May 16: Official Myanmar death toll increases to 78,000
On May 16, state run television in Myanmar reported that the death toll from the recent cyclone increased dramatically to 77,738. In addition to that, 55,917 people were still officially missing.

May 29: Monarchy abolished in Nepal
The Nepalese Constituent Assembly, elected on April 10, voted to abolish its country's monarchy, with a large majority supporting the vote in parliament.

June 3: Barack Obama effectively clinches Democratic nomination
Barack Obama has achieved enough Democratic Party delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination to become the Presidential candidate to face Republican Senator John McCain in the November 2008 United States elections. Obama will be the first black candidate ever to stand for the United States presidency with the backing of a major political party.

June 10: Plane crashes in Khartoum
A plane arriving in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, burst into flames after veering off the runway during a thunderstorm. Around 100 passengers and crew were feared dead after the incident, although the final death toll was significantly lower.

July 4: Íngrid Betancourt returns to France
Freed hostage Íngrid Betancourt arrived in France today, two days after being rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who had kept her captive in the Colombian jungle for more than six years.

"It's a completely hostile environment with dangerous animals," Betancourt said. "The most dangerous, of course, is man. Those men who were behind me with huge rifles, pushing me, telling me to walk, telling me to walk more quickly." She called on Sarkozy to continue working toward freeing the hostages who were left behind.

July 29: Alaska senator Ted Stevens indicted in corruption scandal
Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has been indicted by federal grand jury on seven criminal counts for making false statements in his Senate financial disclosure forms. The longest-serving Republican in the Senate, Stevens is the highest-profile politician ensnared in the surrounding  and its executives' attempts to influence politics.

August 7: NFL: Brett Favre traded to the New York Jets
, the National Football League's all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, victories, and consecutive games started for a quarterback was traded to the for a conditional draft pick in the. Favre, 38, had previously announced his retirement from the NFL in March but was reinstated after he voiced his intentions to return to play for the. Favre had previously played for the from 1992 to 2007. In 2008, Favre entered his 18th season in the NFL.

August 8: Russia joins South Ossetian war
The escalated as Russian forces were sent into the conflict on the Ossetian side. The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili announced the mobilization of reserve troops to withstand what he called "a large-scale military aggression" by Russia, and called Russia to stop the "bombardment of Georgian towns." The next day, Saakashvili declared a state of war.

By the end of the month, South Ossetia said it would join North Ossetia-Alania as a federal subject of Russia.

August 8: 2008 Olympic Games officially open
The 2008 Olympic Games commence in the in Beijing, China with 90,000 in attendance.

August 17: Beijing 2008: Michael Phelps wins eighth gold
American swimmer, 23, has set a new record for the most gold medals won in one Olympic games by winning his eighth gold medal of the 2008 Olympic games, beating the previous world record of seven that was set by in the , which took place in Munich, Germany.

August 20: Over one hundred die in Madrid plane crash
A passenger plane leaving from Madrid - Barajas Airport has crashed during take-off. 153 fatalities and 19 injuries have been reported amongst those who were on the aircraft. Flight JK5022, operated by Spanair, was destined for Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, when it skidded off the end of the runway in good weather at 14:45 local time. An engine of the aircraft is reported to have caught fire during the attempted takeoff.

August 30: Barack Obama accepts US presidential nomination from the Democratic Party
United States presidential candidate Barack Obama accepted the United States Democratic Party's nomination for president Thursday evening at in Denver, Colorado before a crowd estimated to be between 75,000 to 80,000 people.

September 3: Questions raised about McCain's choice of Palin, aides insist "thorough vetting" process
Questions were raised on how thoroughly the staff of United States Senator and Presidential nominee John McCain had examined the background of his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin before announcing that he had selected her on August 29. McCain's advisers insisted that Palin was "thoroughly vetted," a process that would have included a review of all financial and legal records as well as a criminal background check.

The questions arose amid controversy that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter Bristol was five months pregnant at the time and how Palin was possibly abusing her powers as Governor of Alaska in the scandal. McCain was aware of Bristol Palin's pregnancy before he asked her mother to join him on the ticket and reportedly did not see the pregnancy as a detriment to Governor Palin's selection as the vice presidential candidate.

McCain had reportedly met Palin only twice before her selection, and had his first face-to-face interview with her on August 28. McCain offered Palin the vice presidential spot just moments after their meeting concluded. The two appeared at a campaign rally event the following morning in Dayton, Ohio.

September 16: Large particle accelerators to explore the frontiers of physics
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that started preliminary experiments on September 10, 2008 in CERN, Geneva, and the planned International Linear Collider (ILC) will carry out a series of experiments in the future to validate the standard model of particle physics. The model predicts that Higgs boson particles gives mass to all fundamental particles and explains the existence of dark matter, or invisible matter in between galaxies.

The LHC is a 27 kilometer long circular high energy particle accelerator which took more than 20 years and USD $9 billion to build. In the next few weeks the machine will collide opposing beams of protons charged with approximately 7 TeV of energy resulting in cataclysmic conditions that will mimic the beginning of time, a re-creation of the Big Bang.

Later, the Large Hadron Collider was damaged and needed to be shut down for repairs. After that, CERN said that repairs to LHC particle accelerator would cost US$21 million.

September 22: Contaminated baby's milk induces wave of child illness in China
Almost 13,000 children in China have fallen sick in a wave of sickness caused by baby's milk contaminated with melamine. Most of the sickened children are infants two years or younger, and four children have died from the chemical so far.

In the milk incident, melamine was added to make the milk appear richer in protein. It caused an estimated 53,000 to become ill, mostly young children. The chemical can cause kidney stones and kidney failure.

The Chinese Health Ministry has stated that most of the tainted milk was produced by Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co.'s infant milk powder and have pulled several dairy products off the shelves of Chinese stores. Sanlu, Mengniu and Yili were among the largest brands recalled, and have been attempting to repair their damaged public image.

October 10: Dow Jones recovers hundreds of points, before losing them in minutes
Following a large fall at the start of the day, the has recovered by hundreds of points, with it climbing over 250 points again before dropping off to down 100 in just minutes.

October 21: Thousands flee renewed violence in Congo
Thousands of civilians fled their homes on Saturday amid fierce fighting between local militias and Tutsi-dominated rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission there.

Congolese Army Colonel Delphin Kahimbi said that "very violent attacks" had been reported, and that the fighting was between local militia known as Mai-Mai and rebels loyal to renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda. Major P.K. Tiwari, a military spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission, said the fighting "started early this morning and ended late this afternoon." Tiwari said it was not clear who had attacked first.

November 5: Barack Obama elected 44th President of the United States
The 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, 47, is projected to win at least 349 electoral votes, more than enough to clinch the Presidency of the United States. Obama is the first to be elected President in U.S. history. His Republican opponent, Arizona Senator John McCain, is projected to win at least 173 electoral votes. McCain has phoned Obama to concede the election. Obama officially became the President-elect when John McCain issued his concession speech shortly after 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

November 14: Eurozone now officially in recession
The is now officially in a recession, due to the recently released figures showing that, in the third quarter of 2008, the economy shrunk by 0.2%.

November 17: Somali pirates capture Saudi oil tanker
Pirates have seized control of the Sirius Star, a Saudi-owned oil tanker off the coast of Kenya and are steering her towards Somalia. The oil tanker was carrying over 2 million barrels of oil at the time of her capture, and was on her way to the United States via Cape Town. Reuters claimed that news of the attack raised crude oil prices around the world. The Sirius Star is the largest ship captured by pirates in the area to date. This also sets a record for the farthest from the shore that pirates have struck.

November 24: UN official: Gaza faces humanitarian catastrophe
Although Israel briefly lifted its blockade of crossings in the Gaza Strip today, United Nations (UN) officials warn that a further blockade could lead to dire consequences for some 750,000 Gazans who rely on UN food aid. Israel blockaded the Gaza Strip in early November, preventing access for UN aid workers and journalists.

November 26: Multiple extremist attacks in Mumbai, India kill dozens, injure hundreds
Scores of people have been killed, and many more wounded, in what appear to have been coordinated attacks by gunmen wielding automatic weapons and hand grenades. The attacks began around 10:30 p.m. IST in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Police reports indicate at least 80 deaths and a further 900 injured. More conservative estimates place the death toll at 78 with over 200 injured. According to television reports, a little-known group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility.

Sites of the attacks have been listed as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a hospital, a police station and at least three hotels, including Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower. The Marriott Hotel in Juhu has been attacked with gunfire, but details are sketchy. A restaurant, Leopold Cafe on Colaba Causeway was also attacked.

November 30: Tourists struggle to escape as Bangkok airport blockades enter sixth day
With dire warnings that the number of stranded tourists in Thailand could rise as high as 300,000, thousands are attempting to leave the country via U-tapao airport in Rayong, around 150 km southeast of the capital Bangkok. The blockade of the two main international airports by People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters is now in its sixth day. Tensions continue to rise with a pro-government rally planned for today and police surrounding the main international airport, Suvarnabhumi.

December 14: Iraqi journalist throws shoes at US president George Bush
An Iraqi journalist for an Egyptian Newspaper named Muntazer al-Zaidi was tackled by authorities after he threw his shoes at United States president George W. Bush during a press conference on Sunday in Baghdad.

Before throwing his shoes at Bush, the reporter stood up and said, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog!" The words were followed by the reporter's two shoes being thrown at Bush, who had to duck in order to avoid being hit with them.

In Arabic culture, hitting or throwing shoes at someone so the soles hit them is considered a great insult.

December 27: Israeli air strikes hit government compounds in Gaza
Israel has launched over 30 simultaneous missiles strikes on Hamas installations in Gaza City, causing heavy damage and claiming at least 220 lives. The attack was allegedly a retaliation against frequent Palestinian Qassam rocket and mortar fire on Israel's southern communities.

December 28: NFL: Packers defeat Lions 31–21, Lions become first team to finish season with 0-16 record
The defeated the  31–21 at  in, Wisconsin. The Lions made National Football League history not winning a single game in the. The Lions became the first franchise to finish a season without a victory since the NFL introduced a 16-game schedule in 1978. The Lions joined the as the modern NFL's only teams to finish a season without a victory or.

Related news

Wikinytts årskavalkade for 2008 Vuoden 2008 uutiskooste 維基新聞2008年大事回顧

title: Wikinews' overview of the year 2008


text:
Talk:Tourists struggle to escape as Bangkok airport blockades enter sixth day

The second source is producing a 404 Not Found error message at the moment so I cannot review. It is probably issue with the other website, but would you mind double checking the link is correct. Thanks, Anonymous101talk 14:08, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Works fine for me, may be a bit slow as is in Thailand, but that shouldn't cause a 404. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:16, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * All links work for me as well. Gopher65talk 15:51, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Grumble, grumble!
editprotected Trout whoever zapped the image off commons. --Brian McNeil / talk 17:59, 13 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I replaced it with File:Suvarnabhumi.jpg the wub "?!"  22:38, 6 January 2010 (UTC)


text:
India's Home Minister quits as first political fallout of Mumbai attacks

December 1, 2008

The Union Home Minister of India, Shivraj Patil, has resigned a day after the Mumbai attacks came to an end. Patil submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was later accepted by the President of India. It was the first political reverberation that was felt in the UPA-led government of India.

Finance Minister of India P. Chidambaram has been appointed the successor of Patil. Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh would be handling the finance ministry now. Chidambaram has earlier served in internal security under the administration of Rajiv Gandhi in late 1980s. On Sunday, an all-party meeting was also convened by the Prime Minister to discuss the Mumbai attacks and evolve a consensus within all political parties on how to combat terror.

Shivraj Patil was already facing stiff criticism from Indian media and India's main political opposition party (BJP). The key allies, such as Rashtriya Janata Dal of the ruling Indian National Congress, had already begun to raise voices for the home minister's resignation. The inefficiency of India's security and intelligence agencies to protect the people against a series of terror attacks in the past six months was one reason for Patil's resignation.

Patil's resignation comes after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met, in which Sonia Gandhi had made it clear by expressing unhappiness over the terrorist incidents taking place at regular intervals. The meeting was hostile towards Patil, as many other Union ministers spoke against him.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh had also come under fire in the meeting. Indian media agencies have reported that he would soon follow Patil and may have to resign under pressure. The Minister of State in the office of Prime Minister (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan is reported to become the chief minister if the Congress party high command decides to replace Deshmukh.

Patil was a former Speaker of Lok Sabha but had lost the 2004 parliamentary election from Latur constituency in Maharashtra. His proximity with Congress president Sonia Gandhi managed to get him elected to Rajya Sabha in July 2004. In 2007, Patil was a serious contender for the post of president after A P J Abdul Kalam retired.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is considering to stall the five-year old cease-fire with Pakistan and to end the dialogue process in order to send strong diplomatic signals.


text:
User talk:68.199.135.157

Welcome
Thanks for experimenting with Wikinews. Your test worked, and has now been reverted or removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles may disrupt the site's working and will be reverted quickly. , welcome to Wikinews! Please refrain from using content pages for testing. Here are a few good links for newcomers on how to edit Wikinews:

Our key policies - if you read anything, read these! Here a few pointers to help you get to know Wikinews: There are always things to do on Wikinews: By the way, you can sign your name on Talk pages using four tildes ( ~~~~ ), which produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the water cooler or to anyone on the Welcommittee, or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 20:21, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
 * Cite sources - everything in a Wikinews article must be sourced
 * Introduction - overview of the site
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 * Content guide - what's suitable for Wikinews
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 * Contents - the contents page.
 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
 * The front page lead articles often need updating
 * Developing stories need finishing and publishing
 * Discussions need your input
 * And of course, stories need writing!

title: User talk:68.199.135.157


text:
User talk:72.73.90.228

Welcome
Thanks for experimenting with Wikinews. Your test worked, and has now been reverted or removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles may disrupt the site's working and will be reverted quickly. , welcome to Wikinews! Please refrain from using content pages for testing. Here are a few good links for newcomers on how to edit Wikinews:

Our key policies - if you read anything, read these! Here a few pointers to help you get to know Wikinews: There are always things to do on Wikinews: By the way, you can sign your name on Talk pages using four tildes ( ~~~~ ), which produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the water cooler or to anyone on the Welcommittee, or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 20:22, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
 * Cite sources - everything in a Wikinews article must be sourced
 * Introduction - overview of the site
 * Writing an article - how to write and publish a complete article
 * Content guide - what's suitable for Wikinews
 * Style guide - how an article should look before publishing
 * Contents - the contents page.
 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
 * The front page lead articles often need updating
 * Developing stories need finishing and publishing
 * Discussions need your input
 * And of course, stories need writing!

title: User talk:72.73.90.228


text:
Portal talk:Central America

Name
Hiya, I suggest to change the portal name from Portal:Central America to Portal:Mexico and Central America, which will be more accurate than the actual one. Jcmenal (talk) 21:44, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Mexico is a country, not a geographic region spanning multiple countries. --Brian McNeil / talk 22:18, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Mexico is not a Central American nation and it is included in this portal. Most of the news or related stuff is about Mexico and just a few about Central America. See the spanish interwiki. Jcmenal (talk) 15:27, 30 November 2008 (PST)
 * Then the solution is not "Mexico and...", it is to remove articles that refer solely to Mexico from the category. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:31, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed, but some articles are protected.Jcmenal (talk) 23:42, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

title: Portal talk:Central America


text: User talk:Jcmenal

title: User talk:Jcmenal


text:
Space Shuttle Endeavour lands in California

December 1, 2008 🇺🇸 After windy and stormy conditions in Florida prevented its planned landing at Kennedy Space Center, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided to redirect the space shuttle Endeavour to California. It touched down successfully at Edwards Air Force Base at 1:25 p.m. local time, or 21:25, November 30, 2008 (UTC).

NASA normally prefers to land space shuttles at its home base, Kennedy Space Center. In this case, NASA will have to transfer Endeavour atop a jumbo jet from California to Florida at an estimated cost of US$1.8 million.

NASA had launched mission STS-126 on November 14 with eight astronauts led by Commander Christopher J. Ferguson. The mission was intended to make improvements to the International Space Station, including a new bathroom, sleeping quarters, and urine recycling system. The crew also successfully cleared metal shavings from a jammed solar wing rotary joint, which had affected energy production.

Upon the landing, Mission Control radioed, "Welcome back. That was a great way to finish a fantastic flight."

"And we're happy to be here in California," replied Ferguson.


text:
Talk:130,000 farmers protest in Mexico against NAFTA

Please remove Category:Central America.Jcmenal (talk) 23:47, 30 November 2008 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Mexican opposition party elects new leader

Please remove Category:Central America.


text:
Minyama residents promise to keep fighting to stop McDonald's development

December 2, 2008

Residents in Minyama, on Queensland, Australia's Sunshine Coast, have vowed to keep fighting the development of a 24-hour McDonald's on Nicklin Way. Last week, Sunshine Coast Regional Council officers recommended that construction be given the go ahead.

Councillor Chris Thompson, who represents Division 4 in the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, has said that he will recommend that it be rejected at the general committee meeting.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only councillor who already has a 24-hour McDonald's in my division," Councillor Thompson said, “we have enough issues with that one, and this is overkill.”

The 24-hour McDonald's in Councillor Thompson's division, in Mooloolaba, is part of a larger complex and does not back onto residential premises.

“I would have thought that the anti-social elements in society do not observe fixed days and hours,” protest group spokesman John Meyer-Gleaves said.

“And council says the problem associated with increased vehicle noise has been addressed by stating that parking will be in the front of the building.

“But all [drive-through] traffic goes around the back of the building and will impact on the residents of Chelsea Crescent.”

Local member of federal parliament Peter Slipper was emailed for comment but has yet to reply.


text:
Wikinews Shorts: December 1, 2008

150 beached whales die
Approximately 150 whales have died after being beached in a remote coastal area of Australia's Tasmania island state. They were discovered on Saturday. Many of the whales had been badly cut by jagged rocks lying on the shore.

Rescuers managed to save a pod of thirty whales that were trapped in shallow reefs by shepherding them out to the open sea by boat.

Last week another 60 whales were also stranded on another part of the island.

Sources

Gunmen kill 8 at Mexican restaurant
A group of at least twelve gunmen have murdered eight people at a seafood restaurant in, Mexico, a city along the border with the United States.

According to state prosecutor's office spokesman Alejandro Pariente, the gunmen arrived at the restaurant in three separate cars, approached a group of people, and started shooting. Pariente added that no arrests were made.

Juárez has seen escalating levels of violence this year, mostly connected to the illegal drug industry.

Sources

PD-L takes lead in Romanian elections
The (PD-L) claimed victory in the first nationwide Romanian national elections since the country joined the European Union. With 71% counted, the PD-L has 33% of the vote.

Preliminary results suggest that the obtained approximately 32% of the vote, while the  received 18%. Voter turnout in the election was about 39%.

The results are not yet official.

Sources

title: Wikinews Shorts: December 1, 2008


text:
User:RudolfSimon

Please see my profile in the German Wikipedia

de:Benutzer:RudolfSimon id:Pengguna:RudolfSimon ms:Pengguna:RudolfSimon es:Usuario:RudolfSimon fr:Utilisateur:RudolfSimon it:Utente:RudolfSimon nl:Gebruiker:RudolfSimon eo:Vikipediisto:RudolfSimon simple:User:RudolfSimon pt:Usuário:RudolfSimon zh:User:RudolfSimon

title: User:RudolfSimon


text:
User talk:RudolfSimon

♪ Tempo Di  Valse ♪ 00:29, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:RudolfSimon


text:
Comments:NTSB continues investigation of near-collision in Pennsylvania, United States

comments
i belive that this was the controllers fault

he didn't ask the cessna if was off runway, and cleared the mesa plane to takeoff before it was even safe.


text: Talk:Space Shuttle Endeavour lands in California


title: File:1December2008.pdf


text:
Talk:Minyama residents promise to keep fighting to stop McDonald's development

Original Research notes
Mooloolaba McDonalds -> 24hr -> in larger complex -> has drive through -> licenced premises nearby (ie bowling club, pub etc) -> road each side

--RockerballAustralia (talk) 02:11, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Email to Peter Slipper
Subject: 	24 hour McDonalds in Minyama Sender: 	Patrick Gillett add Recipient: 	Peter.Slipper.MP@aph.gov.au add Date: 	Today 09:47

Mr Slipper I am currently writing an article on Wikinews (http://en.wikinews.org) about the proposed 24 hour McDonalds at Minyama. I would like to get your thoughts on the proposal for said article. -- Patrick Gillett Media, Australian Rockerball Editor/Journalist 1st XV News --RockerballAustralia (talk) 03:46, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

What part of this is an interview?
Since Peter Slipper failed to respond to the e-mail, I don't see how this is an interview. And for copy-editing it's "McDonald's" and not "McDonalds". --SVTCobra 00:40, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Title and country name
I'll note that while I was pretty sure that Queensland was part of Australia, I wasn't complete certain. I can't name the provinces (states?) of Mexico either, or the regions of India, or the provinces of China. I can name most of the countries (even the ridiculously small ones), and most of the capitals of those countries, but provinces and states... no. So why is the country name not given?

Also please do not use local names in the title! "Minyama" is completely meaningless to virtually everyone on the planet! I suspect that even most Australians don't know where that is, or much care to know. Personally I certainly can't name every small town in Canada. According to Wikipedia (and it was mislinked, btw) it has a population of 2,544 people. Unless it is a big city (a BIG city), use the country name. This title should have been something along the lines of "Residents of Australian town (village? suburb?) promise to keep fighting McDonald's development". I'm not big on local micro-news as it is, but if people are going to write it at least remember that it has to be understandable by an international audience.

Even if the person writing the article didn't realize this, those who reviewed it should have. It's post publication, and I really hate changing titles post publication unless there is no choice (especially now with googlenews), so all I'm going to do is add in the country name in the article and fix the wikilink. Gopher65talk 04:14, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Also, this was published with a large number of very obvious spelling errors. Gopher65talk 04:22, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Typo in headline: developement -> development
GeorgeII (talk) 16:32, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Realized I could rename/move it myself, though it needs to be sighted. I'm correcting double redirects now. If someone posts a comment/creates the comment page before the sight, it'll have to be moved also. GeorgeII (talk) 16:38, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

The comments page was previously created. It's been moved. Dbl redirects redirected. Hopefully I did everything right. GeorgeII (talk) 16:43, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


text: User talk:Syed

title: User talk:Syed


text:
Vodafone begins 3G activation, services in NSW fail

December 1, 2008

Customers of Vodafone Australia in New South Wales, Australia have had issues with their service today as Vodafone activates its 3G network. Customers in NSW have had intermittent issues since 8:00 AM AEDT (2100 UTC). At 7:30 PM, Vodafone was yet to advise an ETA on a resolution.

Customers report a range of issues such as intermittent loss of reception, voice calls where no voice can be heard and the inability to access mobile internet and picture messaging.

Ahmed Mazloum, a spokesman for Vodafone, told Wikinews that the issues have been caused by the activation of Vodafone's 3G network.

"We have commenced switching on 3G on the network and this has caused an unforeseen issue with around ninety percent of the network in New South Wales," said Mazloum.

"We are aware customers may be frustrated with their lack of service, but they can be assured that Vodafone will be working around the clock until services are returned to normal."

In December 2007, it was revealed that Vodafone would commence a program to rollout 3G to 95% of the Australian population by December 2008. Vodafone's current 3G network is only active in capital cities and its 2G network covers 93% of the Australian population.


text:
Talk:Vodafone begins 3G activation, services in NSW fail

Original reporting
I have spoken to a number of people who I know have Vodafone services who report they are having issues in NSW. I also called Vodafone and spoke to Ahmed Mazloum.

"Hi, I am Nathan Carter, a writer who publishes his work on Wikinews. Can you provide us with information about the network outage in New South Wales?"

 * Ahmed Mazloum: "What would you like to know about it?"

"What is the cause of the problem and how many customers are affected?"
 * Ahmed Mazloum: "We have commenced switching on 3G on the network and this has caused an unforeseen issue with around ninety percent of the network in New South Wales".

"Has this issue been occurring since early today?"
 * Ahmed Mazloum: "I am not sure of that".

"Is there an estimated time when things should be back to normal?"
 * Ahmed Mazloum:"We are aware customers may be frustrated with their lack of service, but they can be assured that Vodafone will be working around the clock until services are returned to normal".

"Thankyou for your time"

- Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 08:55, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

We are the first
Just did a quick look around the major news outlets in Australia and we are the first to report on this. WOOHOO - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 08:59, 1 December 2008 (UTC)


text:
Comments:India's Home Minister quits as first political fallout of Mumbai attacks

why resignation only ?
After the horrible terrorist attack in Mumbai the Home Minister of India Sivraj Patil has got time to resign from the cabinet. During his home ministership this is not the first act of terrorism in India. He serving the country as the Home Minister for more than four years. Patil is a total failure. So many incidents of terrorist attack had occured in different parts of this country causing death of thousands of innocent people including the foreigners. But his sense did not act so far. After the latest Mumbai incident actually Patil was forced to resign. So unshameful he is. In my opinion Patil should be arrested. He should be suspended from the ruling Congress party. And why not ? Patil had been the Home Minister. In lieu of that he was having a monthly salary. He was provided with Z category security arrangement. He had been enjoying all sorts of advantages and opportunities. In return what he had done for the safety and security measures of the people of India. Actually nothing. And not only this good for nothing Home Minister, the entire government at the centre and the state government of Maharastra should resign. It is really shameful that these politicians are still in power.

Nabendu Guha Kolkata 01-12-2008

Comments from feedback form - "PLEASE GIVE WHAT IS ASKED"
PLEASE GIVE WHAT IS ASKED —117.199.163.48 (talk) 11:13, 6 August 2010 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Bjornengelhardt

Welcome
DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 11:23, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

File:Slingers16Dec08.jpg
Hi there. This file has been tagged for speedy deletion, because it does not provide any copyright information. If you took this photo yourself, we would request that you release it under a suitable free license - for example,. To do so, go to the image page, click on the "edit" tab up the top, and add. If you did not take the photograph, then you will need to contact the photographer to get them to release it under such a license, or else include information on the source of the photograph, and a fair use rationale explaining why the photograph can be used. If you cannot do this, then the image will be deleted shortly. Thank you, Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 23:56, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Are you sure you took the photo yourself (and didn't get it from another website or somebody). I don't mean to be overly-suspicious, but the image does not have any metadata with it, which is unusual for a photo taken directly by a user. Bawolff ☺☻ 11:16, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I received your email - I was just being overly suspicious of image, ignore my previous comments about the image. Bawolff ☺☻ 23:57, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Xxxx wins Singapore Supermoto Challenge
Hi there - I changed develop into prepared on Xxxx wins Singapore Supermoto Challenge as it looks like the article is for an event that has not happened yet. Thanks, Bawolff ☺☻ 02:35, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Old news
I'm afraid another user has tagged Australia win thriller third cricket test against South Africa for deletion. It is really old for wikinews, but there is a good article at Wikipedia: w:South African cricket team in Australia in 2008-09 that could do with extra work (and some photos at Wikimedia Commons commons:Category:Third Test, Australia vs. South Africa 2008–09). --InfantGorilla (talk) 20:19, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks & some questions
[copied from my talk]

Thanks for you help on some of my articles to date.....i must admit i question some people views but that is the wonder of such a public forum and community....maybe im just more used to writing editorial for commercial publications where the more one sides the better :)

Seriously....appreciate the help

I have an article in development / prepare that i want to delete....what is the magic command in wiki for "delete sesame"
 * Your welcome - I'm happy to help where I can. The magic delete code varies depending on the reason (reason, dr, abandoned, minimal). If its your article, you can use, which puts it on the list of articles to be speedily deleted, where it should be deleted pretty fast. Bawolff ☺☻ 06:14, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

You've been AR'd
Congrats. -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 06:34, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

E-mail
If you don't want to use your own e-mail address, you can ask Brian McNeil about getting an address at wikinewsie.org. Cheers, --SVTCobra 11:59, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Signing your posts
Hi Bjornendgelhart! Just a friendly reminder, please remember to sign your comments on talk pages. I noticed some of your recent posts were missing a signature. Thanks and cheers. Tempodivalse [talk]  02:48, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

??
You still around?? --Bddpaux (talk) 15:11, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Well, I'm going to take the liberty of removing the 'accredited' graphic from your user page. --Bddpaux (talk) 16:20, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

title: User talk:Bjornengelhardt


text: Talk:India's Home Minister quits as first political fallout of Mumbai attacks


text:
Comments:Space Shuttle Endeavour lands in California

Space sucks.... (other person: you suck)

sweet
cool! i didnt know that the endeavour had already landed! now i know! thanks, guys!


text: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 1, 2008

title: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 1, 2008


text:
Comments:Riots in Nigeria kill nearly 400

So all that the president can say is that he is "very sad"? How about "horrified"?--131.109.1.48 17:32, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

PDP as a "Christian" party
The article states that the PDP is a Christian party, a statement that is provably false, as the current president of the country is a Muslim PDP member, as are several other PDP politicians and officials. The issue isn't as cut and dry as some would like to make it. It would be better to qualify the statement by saying that the PDP is "predominantly Christian", or gains its support primarily from Christian areas and groups. Rjhatl (talk) 14:35, 4 December 2008 (UTC)


text:
British charities form fund recovery group

December 1, 2008 A group of 26 British charities have formed a group to lobby the government to provide them with the funds that they lost during the collapse of Icelandic banks. The group, called Save Our Savings, will in addition to lobbying the government will also lobby the creditors of the fallen banks.

The chief executive of Cats Protection and Naomi House, Peter Hepburn and Khalid Aziz, are acting as spokespeople for the group.

"Naomi House has been campaigning for the safe return of our funds since October, and we are not giving up until they are returned in full," stated Aziz. "The £5.7million we have at risk has been donated by our supporters in the local communities we serve. We owe it to them and the families who use Naomi House to keep up the pressure on the administrators and the Government to ensure that this is done as soon as possible."

"The team at Naomi House has been working with Cats Protection to secure a place on the Creditors Committee; success will give the hospice a voice during the administration process," he continued. "Forming the action group, Save Our Savings, will help to achieve this, and by working together, we increase our chances of representation."


text:
Portal:Wisconsin/Wikipedia

 category=published category=Wisconsin count=5 notcategory=disputed suppresserrors=true ordermethod=categoryadd addfirstcategorydate=true addcategorydatefirst=true

title: Portal:Wisconsin/Wikipedia


text:
User talk:Lx 121

Welcome
DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 19:24, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Lx 121


text:
User:Lx 121

Welcome to my page :)

title: User:Lx 121


text:
Hillary Clinton nominated as US Secretary of State

December 1, 2008 🇺🇸 United States President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his former presidential opponent, junior New York Senator Hillary Clinton, to be his next Secretary of State. Obama made his announcement in a press conference in a Chicago, Illinois hotel, where he also named the rest of his 'security' cabinet.

"I think she is going to be an outstanding secretary of state. And if I didn't believe that I wouldn't have offered her the job and if she didn't believe that I was equipped to lead this nation at this difficult time, she would not have accepted," said Obama. "Hillary's appointment is a sign to friend and foe of the seriousness of my commitment to renew American diplomacy and restore our alliances."

Clinton promised to give the job "her all", saying that "the American people have demanded not just a new direction at home, but a new effort to renew America's standing in the world as a force for positive change."

Before Obama would make the nomination, former President Bill Clinton had to agree to release information about the donors to his foundations. He has also agreed to disclose his sources of income to the United States Department of State and the White House.

Obama also named the rest of his security cabinet, confirming that he will continue with the current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. Obama also confirmed that retired U.S. Marine Corps general James L. Jones will be his next national security adviser and Susan Rice will be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

All of the nominations will require confirmation by the Senate, once Obama takes office as President.


text: Talk:Hillary Clinton nominated as US Secretary of State


text:
Wikinews Shorts: December 2, 2008

Brazil announces plan to curb deforestation
Brazil announced a plan to slow deforestation rates in the Amazon Rainforest by seventy percent over the next ten years.

This comes after a call for international funding to stop further deforestation of the rainforest. The plan will aim to reduce the clearing of the Amazon, which is the world's largest rainforest, to 5,850 square kilometres by 2018, half of the current rate.

This year, the deforestation rate went up after falling for the last four years.

Sources

Pound sterling plunges against US dollar
The British pound sterling was down 5.2 cents to US$1.486, its biggest single-day percentage point fall since the United Kingdom left the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1992.

The pound was also three and a half cents lower against the euro, at 0.851 pounds. The FTSE 100 index fell 5.2% on Monday, further exacerbating problems.

Sources

Unpaid Zimbabwean soldiers run amok in Harare
Soldiers in Zimbabwe got fed up after waiting in line at a bank in the capital of Harare. Due to rampant hyperinflation (the latest count has reached 231,000,000% annually), banks often have a shortage of cash and what they have is rationed out. Often the amount that is permitted to be withdrawn cannot even pay for a loaf of bread at the street markets.

After waiting all day in line at the bank, the soldiers and other customers attacked money changers and stole cash. Initially, city police stood by, but eventually broke up the rampage with tear gas.

Sources

Dow drops 680 points
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 679.95 points (7.70%) Monday, its fourth worst drop in history, to close at 8,149.09. The drop marked the end of a five-day rally that began last week.

According to Chuck Widger of Brinker Capital, "this is just another episode in a long story and the story is all about recession and the question is how long and how deep. We're going to have continuing volatility until investors have better visibility."

On the same day, the NASDAQ Composite lost 8.95%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.93%.

Sources

Election in Romania expected to lead to intense negotiations
The legislative election in Romania has left the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) separated by less than one percent after all votes were counted.

The Central Electoral Office says SPD won about 33.6 percent of the vote and PD-L got just under 33 percent. The National Liberal Party (PNL) was third with 18.6 percent. All votes have been counted but the official results are not expected until the end of next week.

Analysts expect both SPD and PD-L to seek the support of PNL to form a coalition government. Current Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu is a member of PNL.

Meanwhile, President Traian Băsescu, who has no official party association, is known to support PD-L. The President is not required to nominate a Prime Minister from the winning party.

Sources

title: Wikinews Shorts: December 2, 2008


text: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 2, 2008

title: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 2, 2008


text:
User:Mindy~enwikinews

Hello. Im Mindy (Melinda Gabrielle, or MDCCCXLVIII from Wikipedia and the sister of Martha Erin-or Marthaerin1888/Marthaerin1812/Marthajoan1812). On Wikipedia we were blocked indef for shared accounts and meatpuppetry/sockpuppets. We're trying to rebuild ourselves on other Wiki Projects before we return to Wikipedia. We are at Univ of Wisconsin La Crosse, attending until around 2012. We are from eastern Minnesota/western Wisconsin. We carry the passion for editing and to make novel or book materials and create strong novels & books.

title: User:Mindy~enwikinews


text:
User talk:Mindy~enwikinews

Hello
Well, thanks for being upfront about your problems at Wikipedia. If you follow the style guide and other Wikinews policies, I don't foresee a problem. --SVTCobra 01:19, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

2008 in review
We are already preparing for this; please see Story preparation/Wikinews' overview of the year 2008. Cheers, --SVTCobra 01:31, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Answers to your question
Welcome! You were asking how to write good articles. Here are links to a few pages that might give you some answers to your questions:

 * Writing an article
 * Neutral point of view
 * Content guide

Also, this page is a good place to ask questions if you need help or get stuck. Best, ♪ Tempo Di  Valse ♪ 01:42, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

This is not Wikipedia
Please refrain from bringing issues from Wikipedia to Wikinews diff. Cheers, --SVTCobra 02:05, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Re: Redirect
No problem! :) --TUFKAAP (talk) 16:14, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

College Duties/Not Decided
I apologize about my extended absences on Wikinews. College duties at University of Wisconsin from La Crosse and inability for making proper decisions on which Wikinews articles to edit are really holding me up. Please be patient. Mindy (talk) 04:42, 7 December 2008 (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 Mindy. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Mindy~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 23:21, 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) 06:34, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Mindy~enwikinews


text:
Comments:Hillary Clinton nominated as US Secretary of State

I hear a lot of far left liberals are mad at Obama for changing his view on Iraq and picking Centralist for his cabinet?--KDP3 (talk) 01:04, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Constitutionally pay raise may have to be posponed
In the past a senate decision to increase the pay for US SoS upon the appointment of a senator who voted on this increase was not able to benefit from it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_One_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_6:_Compensation.2C_privilege.2C_restriction_on_holding_civil_office —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.177.229.49 (talk) 03:58, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


text:
Comments:Thai PAD protest leader arrested while voting

PAD Terrorist
Shut the airport traffic down by PAD is the most ridiculous idea.


text:
Arrest made in Jennifer Hudson family killings

December 2, 2008 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois police arrested William Balfour, the estranged brother-in-law of Oscar-winning American actress and singer Jennifer Hudson, on Monday, multiple media outlets reported. Balfour is expected to be charged with three counts of murder for the slayings of three of Hudson's relatives in October.

"We have obtained an arrest warrant for William Balfour. He was released to Chicago detectives," Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond told Reuters.

Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29 were found dead in Donerson's home on October 24 and the body of Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King was found four days later in a stolen SUV. A handgun police say is tied to the case was found nearby, but Reuters reports that Bond did not comment on any evidence in the case.

The Associated Press reports that police took Balfour into custody on Oct. 24 and held him for 48 before the Illinois Department of Corrections took possession of him on an alleged parole violation. Balfour previously served nearly seven years for a 1999 conviction attempted murder, vehicular hijacking, and possessing a stolen vehicle. CNN reports he was out of jail on parole at the time of the shootings.

Balfour's mother, Michelle Davis-Balfour, spoke to the press Monday night, saying she thought that there was no case against her son.

"If they found gun powder on his hands, you got a case; if they found a gun on him, he had a case; if they found a fingerprint on the truck that he did this, you got a case; but they don't have nothing," Davis-Balfour said, according to the Associated Press. She also said: "My son did not do this. I am sick of this. They need to focus on somebody else."

Davis-Balfour also accused at least one witness of lying while providing an alibi for his son, saying he was with one of three girls friends when the killings happened.

"He was with Diana that night and with Kate in the morning," she said, according to CNN.

Attorney for Balfour, Josh Kutnick, told CNN that his client is innocent. "He believes when the evidence comes out, he will be found not guilty," Kutnick told CNN.

Hudson became famous in 2004 when she was one of the finalists on the third season of the American hit television show American Idol. She later won multiple awards for her role in the 2006 motion picture Dreamgirls.


text:
User talk:Anti George Walker Bush

(moved from User page -- Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 03:55, 2 December 2008 (UTC)) Hi and welcome to Wikinews. Your username is unacceptable as it can cause offense and I would highly recommend changing it. You may create a new account or ask to be renamed. If you use your current username, you are very likely to be blocked. Thank you. --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 22:25, 1 December 2008 (UTC) --Brian McNeil / talk 06:32, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Anti George Walker Bush


text:
Local council in Australia rejects McDonald's development plan

December 3, 2008

The development application for a McDonald's restaurant at Minyama, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in Australia, has been rejected by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

"We knocked back a Hungry Jack’s on Nicklin Way because of the nuisance code," said divisional councilor Chris Thompson. "We already have a 24-hour McDonald’s at Mooloolaba, only one kilometre away, and there are already [anti-social] issues at that site." Local residents previously vowed to fight any McDonald's development at the proposed site due to the risk of anti-social behavior. Protest group spokesman John Meyer-Gleaves was "over the moon".

"It’s not often you knock Maccas [McDonald's] over," he said.

Mayor Bob Abbot said Minyama was in some ways more suitable than Mooloolaba. However, he was concerned about the proximity to a residential estate.

The rejection is expected to be ratified at an ordinary meeting of the council on Thursday.

"It needs to be endorsed or ratified by council at its ordinary meeting on Thursday and then it will become a statutory decision of council," Chris Thompson said. "I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome."


text: User:K50 Dude

title: User:K50 Dude


title: File:2December2008.pdf


text:
Talk:Wikinews' overview of the year 2008

September 27, 2008: Hawthorn wins 2008 AFL Grand Final
not sure whether this event is notable enough for inclusion. Anonymous101talk 08:00, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * and the same applies for "September 7: Papua New Guinea wins Australian rules football International Cup" Anonymous101talk 08:01, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

 * I withdrw my objection, it won't cause any harm and, I'm sure, to some people it is important. Anonymous101talk 16:12, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Notability
I think this article should be pruned from un-notable events before publication. Imho, the following are quite unexciting and unworthy of remembering from a global perspective:

*January 23: Iraq removes Saddam references from flag *November 4: Viewed wins the 2008 Melbourne Cup
 * September 13: Los Angeles commuter train collides with freight train; over two dozen killed
 * January 1: Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro
 * April 28: Two trains collide in China killing dozens and injuring hundreds
 * June 4: Apache pipeline fire - Varanus Island, Western Australia
 * September 27: Hawthorn wins 2008 AFL Grand Final
 * September 7: Papua New Guinea wins Australian rules football International Cup
 * December 28: NFL: Packers defeat Lions 31–21, Lions become first team to finish season with 0-16 record

I don't want to wine about sports, it's just not world news unless it's the Olympics or similar. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 22:28, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't want to start a major argument here, but there is too much emphasis that English Wikinews must be global. There has to be allowances for events that are major in English-speaking countries. If there was an article about Serie A on Italian Wikinews, I don't think anyone would complain that it shouldn't be there because it isn't "world news". That being said, the above list could still be pruned. --SVTCobra 00:22, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree, local news is important too. I've removed two which are total non-events, imho. Please suggest which ones you would remove or keep. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 18:42, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

My opinion:

 * September 13: Los Angeles commuter train collides with freight train; over two dozen killed - ❌
 * January 1: Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro - ✅
 * April 28: Two trains collide in China killing dozens and injuring hundreds - ❌
 * June 4: Apache pipeline fire - Varanus Island, Western Australia - ❌
 * September 27: Hawthorn wins 2008 AFL Grand Final - ❌
 * September 7: Papua New Guinea wins Australian rules football International Cup - ❌
 * December 28: NFL: Packers defeat Lions 31–21, Lions become first team to finish season with 0-16 record - ❌

Thanks, Anonymous101talk 18:45, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

 * If you ask me, I think stories about the trains in Los Angeles and China in which dozens/hundreds of people died is important. You should be ashamed Anonymous101 for saying that innocent people dying is "not [an] important event". Oh wait, I guess Heath Ledger's death (like the introduction in the article says) is important because he was a celebrity and made millions of dollars. That is beyond hypocritical.
 * No, I am not saying it is not important, I am saying it is not important historically. So it is very sad when hundreds die, but in 20 years no one but people affected by the incident will remember it, while the ones I consider to be important at the very least affect whole countries. Anonymous101talk 08:47, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

As for the stories about the NFL, it's important if you're an American. The NFL is America's Game and that's silly to say that a HISTORICally bad team in the Lions or a HISTORICally great player like Brett Favre is not important. Is it just me or does Wikinews have a bunch of non-Americans that don't like sports as the main editors? This is a free-information source, right? Maybe you guys can learn something about American football. These events are important. Every American man that loves football will tell you the Lions are terrible and that Brett Favre is like the Babe Ruth of football. Do you guys know who Babe Ruth was?
 * Oh my god! You haven't worked out some of us are Europeans! American football is not an international sport. There are more countries take part in cricket at an international level. By that yardstick, the NFL is parochial and not relevant on an international level. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:57, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah since Cricket is such a manly sport. I'll be sure to find 100 million people in America that want to watch a championship Cricket game. Oh wait, I guess that's why Super Bowl Sunday is the most watched sporting event in America. It's pastime. I think that's relevant.

Review

 * Valid concerns, I will try to address this. Anonymous101talk 09:05, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Should we put every single category for every single event mentioned in this article? Bawolff ☺☻ 11:38, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * No. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 18:33, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

News should be more general
Hi

I think that some news listed here are not important enough to be listed here but reminds a more important news. For example, instead of talking about Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals, we should talk about the Beijing Olympics in general (first olympics in China, a lot of money spent, first games won by China, etc). Instead of talking about the fact that the Dow Jones lost points on October 10th, we should talk about the global economic crisis and the impact on world stock markets. We don't care if Dow Jones lost 200 points in one day. We care that all major stock markets lost 50% in one year). I think that would make a more interesting 2008 review.

mentioned time zones not interesting
Cyprus time zones are not notable for annual news and should be removed.


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User talk:69.4.5.105

--Brian McNeil / talk 12:05, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:69.4.5.105


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Template:Checkuserblock

Usage: {{checkuserblock|comments (optional)|sig= ~ (optional)}}

Important: Only use sig= ~  if you wish to sign the default blocking notice when used on a talk page. Remember that signatures are not substituted in the block reason field.

title: Template:Checkuserblock


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Comments:Vodafone begins 3G activation, services in NSW fail

I don't think this story is accurate - who is Mazloum?

I would Really like to know who is ahmed mazloum that stated the above since I am Ahmed Mazloum and i never made that comment.

It would be really great to meet my clone!!

Regards, Ahmed Mazloum +20105017077


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Thai PM barred from politics, three parties dissolved

December 2, 2008

Today's ruling from Thailand's Constitutional Court sees the Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, removed from office, barred from politics, and the People's Power Party (PPP) dissolved. The allegations leading to this were of vote buying in the last election.

The decision has already eased tension in the country, with the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) announcing they will end their siege of Bangkok's two main international airports. Red-shirted pro-government protesters were dismayed at the court's decision. Initially they blockaded the Constitutional Court buildings to try and prevent the case being heard; following its relocation they moved on to the Administrative Court to protest a decision they claim is anti-democratic.

In addition to the PPP being disbanded and outlawed, two other parties in the ruling coalition were found guilty. The Chart Thai and Matchimathipataya parties were also outlawed and, between the three parties, 109 members barred from all involvement in the electoral process - including the right to vote. Among those disenfranchised were three ex-Prime Ministers. Those remaining from the executive of the outlawed parties have stated their intention to reform under a new name and attempt to continue in government.

Prior to the PAD announcing that their airport blockades would end, another grenade attack at one of the airports killed one and injured around 20 other protesters. Yesterday saw the PAD announce plans to abandon the Government House compound they have occupied since August. Following numerous grenade attacks on their encampment there, they elected to move to the airport protest sites and leave what has become a regular target; it is expected to take until Thursday to remove all belongings accumulated at the key site since the August invasion.

Somchai, brother-in-law to the fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, has been a target of the PAD since he assumed the office following his predecessor being ousted over a conflict of interest issue. The PPP and Somchai are seen as a proxy for Thaksin and his banned Thai Rak Thai party, which the military overthrew in a bloodless coup in 2006.


text: Talk:Arrest made in Jennifer Hudson family killings


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Talk:Thai PM barred from politics, three parties dissolved

image
This image is up for deletion on Commons. It's okay for Wikinews though (crown copyright). --Brian McNeil / talk 18:22, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


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Obama's transition website 'frees the content'

December 2, 2008

In a move to open up government and embrace modern thinking on copyright, U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team website, Change.gov, has adopted the Creative Commons licenses for all content and user contributions. This will allow anyone to take material from the site and reuse it, without any concern that they may be violating copyright.

"This is great news and a encouraging sign that the new administration has a clear sense of the importance of openness in government and on the web. The embrace of Creative Commons licensing on Change.gov is consistent with earlier support by both Obama and John McCain for the idea of 'open debates'," said Creative Commons in a statement posted on their website.

Those making reuse of the site's content are only obliged to attribute it, per the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported licence. The 'right to remix' the new license extends is not restricted to text; videos are included and the site now provides links to download copies of clips for this purpose.

In addition to the new license, Change.gov has introduced open forums for the discussion of items that concern the electorate. According to Computerworld, unlike the blogs used by some government departments, posts appear unfiltered and a scoring and ranking system is employed. One of the high-traffic early discussion threads is soliciting public input on healthcare worries.

Official works of federal government employees are all in the public domain. Despite the ".gov" web address, the site is run by the "Obama-Biden Transition Project" charity.

Creative Commons licenses are encouraged on popular photo sharing website Flickr, and are the only applicable licenses on Wikinews.


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Talk:Jørn Utzon, Sydney Opera House architect, dies at the age of 90

Review
Where's the review?--SVTCobra 13:52, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Good question. --Brian McNeil / talk 14:12, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Sorry about that, here it is:

♪ Tempo Di  Valse ♪ 19:13, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Category
Please add to Category:Architecture. Thanks. —Elekhh (talk) 20:53, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
 * ✅ --Alexandr Dmitri (talk) 22:07, 15 August 2010 (UTC)


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Comments:Minyama residents promise to keep fighting to stop McDonald's development

I really don't think it matters at all. Sure, McDonalds isn't good for you; but eating it is a choice the residents have to make, not anyone else, even if it's the minority that eat there. If they trully think it's bad, and the mass majority of residents trully wont get any use out of it, then let them build it and it should go away after they recieve a distinct lack of customers. However if they do recieve customers, then it's those customers rights to enjoy it.

If you don't like it, don't eat there. That simple. People need to stop making decisions for others.

No, mcdonald's is a plague. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.88.58.186 (talk) 18:08, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

absoloutely not!
Those who want McDonald's food can purchase the items during "regular business hours" so I think the issue here are the noise, congestion, and traffic in the middle of the night. It is not clear if the objection is to the building of a McDonald's, or just the objection that it will be open 24 hours. In most cities there are zoning ordinances keeping businesses away from residential areas for just the reasons of the dsruptions caused. I say it's up to the residents nearby to aprove the construction or not. Those who "need" McDonald's, can build it near their house! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.91.18.134 (talk) 20:44, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Ah needz MacDonaldz! Send cheezburgerz stat! :-P --Brian McNeil / talk 20:49, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

-As someone who works at night, I think restaurants should be open during the hours they feel like. I hate having no restaurants open during my work shifts, from 23h to 8h. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.20.35.116 (talk) 12:49, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

A No for mcdonalds
I believe that if they do not want the mcdonalds there, it should be left without. Becuase of the extra traffic in the community, but not to mention the rise of crime that could occur with this mcdonalds... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.70.34.240 (talk) 23:06, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * At 1am the dummies in the McDonald's outside seating area come to life and a six-foot tall Ronald McDonald goes car surfing. lol. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:14, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Im working there... Its a great employment opportunity for the kids/young adults that live locally to the area


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Talk:Obama's transition website 'frees the content'

Concerns from the comments page
There seem to be some concerns at the comments page that content on change.gov ought to be PD-USGov. It seems reasonable as the change website is .gov which is only issued by the federal government. If change.gov is tagged CC-BY-3.0 with attribution required, then it is more restrictive than public domain which has no such restrictions. --SVTCobra 00:37, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Change.gov is not run by the federal government, but by the Obama-Biden Transition Project, a 501(c)4 non-profit organization. Its content is not in the public domain. --+Deprifry+ 12:46, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Covered in the article, now. --  Zanimum (talk) 15:04, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Ok, but now you've started another point of contention. You wrote, "they are required to release their creations under any free license." Where do you get that idea? Or is it a typo? --SVTCobra 15:21, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Wherever he got the idea, it's wrong. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:51, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I was just thinking the same thing. Never heard of that before. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 16:55, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Mention of wikinews?
I'm concerned that we mention wikinews in the text this way. We are not the most prominent example of an organization using the CC license and it seems needless self-referential. JoshuaZ (talk) 03:27, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

 * I've moved it to the end, and mentioned Flickr as well. I think that it is justified to have it mentioned, such a self-reference wouldn't be out of place in other media outlets (not that most other outlets use free licenses, but if they did), but placing it front and center isn't justified. --  Zanimum (talk) 14:59, 3 December 2008 (UTC)


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Comments:Obama's transition website 'frees the content'

He chose the less restrictive Creative Commons license. Such choices should be done much more by every people. It's great! Diti (talk to the penguin) 16:16, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Awesome :) 24.30.16.34 16:42, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Publicity stunt! It should be PD!
Obama has a federal budget for his transition team, making the members of the team federal employees. As such, anything they produce should be Public Domain per the copyright status of work by the U.S. government. And Wikinews fell for it, hook line and sinker. Obama's own campaign manager couldn't have written anything more glorifying of Obama than this fluff piece. --216.75.93.110 18:32, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

 * I wouldn't be quite so harsh - it's valuable insofar as CC-BY applies to comments and submissions. But if they get federal funding, I believe you're right that it should be PD. I just blogged on this, but wasn't sure whether they were federal employees yet: Obama, transition and public domain. --Chriswaterguy (talk) 18:46, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * No, they are not federal employees. --Brian McNeil / talk 18:49, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes they are! See http://directory.presidentialtransition.gov/ --216.75.93.110 18:57, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * PROVIDED the administrator (Obama) wants it as such. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 19:43, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Where do you get the notion that Obama is entitled to degrade Title 15 of the United States Code? --216.75.93.110 19:48, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Says copy-right...He, and anything authorized by him, has the right to be copyrighted to the highest level as he sees fit. He is the author of said material so he can do what he wants with it. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 20:01, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * You obviously don't understand the law covering federal employees. Please read copyright status of work by the U.S. government if you are interested in learning. --216.75.93.110 20:11, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * You do not understand. If he write a letter to someone, then its HIS work. He can release it as such, or not at all, regardless of what he is an employee of. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 00:47, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * We're not talking about a personal letter - we're talking about work that is done as part of their jobs with the federal govt. At face value, that makes it public domain. I'm not aware of any relevant exceptions, though I may be missing something. --Chriswaterguy (talk) 06:59, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

I think what they're saying is that if the website is federally funded, then it is federal property. If DC Comics pays you to draw Batman, they also have you sign an agreement saying that they own your drawing of Batman when it's finished. Same concept, except here it's a pre-established legal matter that as a federally funded employee, his official work will be public domain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.31.21.15 (talk) 02:31, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I recall some mention that Obama was looking to do additional funding to pay for the transition process (some joke about looking for the same amount as the WMF fundraiser), so it may not be as straightforward as saying, "the taxpayer is footing the bill, it should be PD".
 * In any case, my personal opinion is that this CC license has some advantages over 'naked' PD. Anyone reusing your content must say where they got it, which means that, although they could use a non-derivative license on their material, you'd still get told the original source so you could make a competing work. With PD there is no need to credit the source, so you can be left with something closed off that you have no clue on what material you may make use of. Of course, the obvious examples like NASA generally get credit as the photos and other goodies they release are the news item. However, there's nothing to stop you making up a website with loads of the PD Hubble photos and simply not bother saying where you got them.
 * One point also to note is that this impacts their discussions. They're saying, "you post here, it's CC-BY", I don't know if any of the other .gov sites that have blogs and so apply such terms to members of the public. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:37, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * In that case you should check the USA Gov blog. But there are also other's. The TSA has a blog as does the Library of Congress. There are probably many others. As an interesting tidbit, both NASA and the GSA have sites that are wiki-like collaborative environments. --216.75.93.110 13:38, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Let's end this, shall we? "Change.gov is not run by the federal government, but by the Obama-Biden Transition Project, a 501(c)4 non-profit organization. Its content is not in the public domain. --+Deprifry+ 12:46, 3 December 2008 (UTC)"

 * --Brian McNeil / talk 14:47, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I was just going to add this reliable source which says this about transition teams: "These teams are provided for in law (3 U.S.C. 102) and are supported by appropriated funds, although they are not federal agencies." That basically proves that "change.gov" is not a federal agency or a website thereof. Assuming that the people who work there are paid by the team and not directly by the government (a reasonable assumption) this should bypass 15 U.S.C. § 290e and the work may not necessarily be PD. --SVTCobra 15:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Open debates?
Since when does either party support 'Open Debates.'

Third party candidates were threatened with arrest if they merely approached the vicinity of the presidential debates.

What a joke. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.31.21.15 (talk) 20:38, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Finally.....transparency!!!
For the two years leading up to the November 4, 2008 election candidates spoke of the need for special interest / lobbyists to no longer get benefits in Washington on Capitol Hill and that is was time to give the American people access where they had been denied before. This step by the Obama/Biden transition team shows that actions and words can go hand and hand if candidates stick to their promises. Before watching this past campaign, it was hard to even find my political pulse because I had just about written off Washington politics. All it was to me was members of the elite and well to do throwing around their political influence. The huge disconnect was how their decisions would affect the American public and other dealings around the world. The US spent alot of time and energy building itself up into the shining example of leadership, honor, courage and fortitude around the globe throughout history and with the misguided decisions of a select few, that respect and admiration disappeared.

President-Elect Obama, you have my ear back and I will be watching closely because it all sounded inspiring and good when you wanted to win over the American people. Now its your time and your job to put us back into the status we once owned.

-Brett Wallette —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.224.117.108 (talk) 17:05, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

This is welcome news. for a long time we have heard American presidents talk about democracy and trnsparence without realy seeing that materialising. With this new happening, we are going to see a lot of innovative ideas brought to the attention of the powers that be. All that needs to be said now is congraturations Obama for your unfettered courage.


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Wikinews:Dynamic quiz/quiz/2009/01

Welcome to the Wikinews World News Quiz of the year, giving you a chance to test your knowledge on this year's news. Once you have completed the quiz, why not take a look at Wikinews' overview of the year 2008 to read the articles behind the answers.

Last Updated: December 31, 2008

title: Wikinews:Dynamic quiz/quiz/2009/01


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Comments:Thai PM barred from politics, three parties dissolved

= Should those not disbarred hold a general election or, as reported, try to carry on in government? =


text:
User:Chriswaterguy

Co-founder of Appropedia, the sustainability wiki.

Very enthusiastic about promoting open news. I can't do everything, so I'm focused on Appropedia... but I have a cunning plan.

title: User:Chriswaterguy


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User talk:Chriswaterguy

♪ Tempo Di  Valse ♪ 19:00, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Re: Feed body
I have posted a reply on my talk page (User talk:Zachary). (→ Zachary ) 05:03, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Chriswaterguy


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Talk:Russian spy deported out of Canada

Maybe note that on shortwave, Numbers stations are thought to be used by spies? --Philip Laurence (talk) 19:49, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Russian spy deported out of Canada


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User talk:PeeKoo

Welcome
--Brian McNeil / talk 20:46, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Welcome back. --InfantGorilla (talk) 16:26, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:PeeKoo


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Number of Zimbabwe cholera deaths nears 500

December 2, 2008 A cholera outbreak in the African country of Zimbabwe has killed almost 500 people since August, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO said that the outbreak affected most areas of the country, and that some remote areas had seen fatality rates increase by as much as 30%. Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health reported 484 deaths from 11,735 cases since the outbreak began.

Zimbabwe has had annual outbreaks of cholera for nearly a decade, but this one was the most far-reaching. A report by the WHO stated that the last large outbreak was in 1992, with 3,000 cases recorded. Cholera is frequently spread by contaminated, untreated water. The spread of the disease was expedited by the collapse of Zimbabwe's health and sanitation systems; state media reported that most of Harare has been left without water after the city ran out of chemicals for its treatment plant. A resident of Mabvuku, a suburb located east of Harare, told APTV that electricity is not available most of the time, so water is consumed without being boiled first.

The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said that there have been cases of cholera reported in areas of Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa that border Zimbabwe, indicating the sub-regional threat of the outbreak. The South African ministry of health confirmed that they had 160 incidents of cholera reported, as well as three deaths.

The European Commission said that it was providing €9 million (US$11.4 million) in funds to assist Zimbabwe with the crisis. "I'm shocked at the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and call upon the authorities there to respond quickly to this cholera outbreak by allowing full assistance from international humanitarians and regional partners," said the commissioner responsible for the European Union's humanitarian aid, Louis Michel.

Other agencies providing aid to the country include the United Nations Children's Fund, the WHO, and Doctors Without Borders.


text: User talk:Martin H.

title: User talk:Martin H.


text: User talk:WarX

title: User talk:WarX


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Talk:Number of Zimbabwe cholera deaths nears 500

Review
--Brian McNeil / talk 21:23, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


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Talk:Local council in Australia rejects McDonald's development plan

Title
"knocked back" is a colloquialism many will not understand. --Brian McNeil / talk 21:29, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


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Wikinews Shorts: December 3, 2008

British Airways considers possible merger with Qantas
British Airways, the flag carrier of the United Kingdom, has stated that it is considering a possible merger with the Australian airline Qantas Airways.

In a statement, British Airways said that, if done, the merger will create a dual-listed company in London and Australia. It also added that there was "no guarantee that any transaction will be forthcoming."

Shares in British Airways rose 14% higher after the news on Tuesday. Qantas shares rose as much as 9.3 percent on Wednesday.

Sources

United States newspapers see record drop in advert sales
According to figures released by the Newspaper Association of America on Tuesday, newspapers in the United States saw a record 18% drop in advertising revenue in the third quarter of this year.

It said that total print advert revenue dropped to US$8.2 billion from $10.2 billion in quarter a year ago.

Revenue from ads online also fell 3 percent to just under $750 million from $773 million the previous year.

Sources

Venice hit by flood
Venice, Italy suffered from its worst floods in 22 years on Monday.

Water stood more than 150 centimetres deep before it began to recede. According to city officials, the tide peaked at 61 inches, 21 inches past the 40-inch flood mark, as heavy winds pushed the sea into the city.

Alarms were set off at half past six in the morning to alert residents, however, many people were still taken by surprise, as the authorities had not predicted such a high level of water.

This is Venice's fourth highest tide since the city started keeping records in 1872. The record was 76 inches, set in 1966.

Sources

title: Wikinews Shorts: December 3, 2008


text: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 3, 2008

title: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 3, 2008


text: User talk:78.46.86.16

title: User talk:78.46.86.16


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Republican Senator from Georgia wins run-off election

December 3, 2008

United States Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss won reelection over Democrat Jim Martin in the state of Georgia in a run-off election on Tuesday, taking 57.5% of the popular vote to Martin's 42.5%. The run-off occurred because neither Martin nor Chambliss received a majority in the general election in November.

"People all around the world truly had their eyes on Georgia, and you have delivered tonight a strong message to the world that conservative Georgian values matter," Saxby Chambliss said in his victory speech. "Now comes the hard work."

"Tonight, the voters of Georgia have spoken," Jim Martin said in his concession speech. "I accept the decision that has been made."

The election was widely watched because a win by Martin would have been crucial for the Democrats to achieve a supermajority in the Senate allowing them to terminate filibusters. Under the rules of the United States Senate, senators can prolong debate indefinitely unless 60 out of the 100 senators vote to close the matter.

Without Martin, the Democrats will have 59 or 58 senators. The exact number depends upon an ongoing recount in Minnesota between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken.

In the past, filibusters have frequently involved coalitions of senators, and votes to stop filibusters have rarely been precisely along party lines.

The contest between Martin and Chambliss featured heavy involvement by major politicians and celebrities. Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin campaigned for Chambliss, while former President Bill Clinton and the rapper Ludacris campaigned for Martin.


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Talk:Republican Senator from Georgia wins run-off election

Please help
Please help develop this article. I will return some time tomorrow, I hope, to see this through. Tagging the article as minimal is not considered help. --SVTCobra 03:14, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, everyone, for getting this article done. Cheers, --SVTCobra 15:14, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

MOS issues
Just two things:

1. In the title, should senate be capitalized, the proper noun would be US Senate or United States Senate, not senate. Furthermore, the George Senate part could confuse readers with the Georgia State Senate.

2. Would "Republican" be better than "Republicans" in the title? I think it's technically a bit more correct.

Those are just my thoughts though. —Calebrw (talk) 14:26, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

 * What do you think of the new title? --SVTCobra 15:13, 3 December 2008 (UTC)


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Wikinews:WikiBureau/Japan

Shigekatsu Ihara

title: Wikinews:WikiBureau/Japan