text:
Talk:Mothers, teachers concerned about leukemia deaths at California elementary school

 * Why "mothers" and not "parents"? Submarine 06:44, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Because there were no fathers at the meeting. NGerda 06:45, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

 * I get so pissed off at the way we allow our children to be poisoned and killed by polluting companies,cars and governments. We are all responsible for this outrage. It is so stupid that we still allow these polluters to operate in 2005. The fact the kids get hurt the most is what REALLY PISSES ME OFF!! Paulrevere2005 17:29, 28 May 2005 (UTC)

 * Now that you've written a story about it that is going to be read by many people via wikinews, why don't you have some type of direct action that readers can take--perhaps give the email of council members who need to know that ignoring health hazards is not acceptable. I'm not sure what exactly to have, but have something. 64.142.37.103 17:56, May 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * I'll include the emails at the end of the article. NGerda 18:01, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

This doesn't just happen in the Santa Ana area- and it doen't just happen to Hispanics. 192.138.56.34 11:40, May 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * I never said it did. NGerda 11:58, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

Original reporting
I attended the meeting on May 26, 2005 on behalf of Wikinews. All research not attributed to a source was compiled by me. NGerda 19:40, May 27, 2005 (UTC)

There is a common thread here..
Don't have the links available yet, but just as a starting point please check keywords such as "Norco" and "Wyle Labs". It is early Sept and I have just discovered these postings but here in Norco we have had similar 'clusters' of illness (all of which have been disavowed by those responsible for watchdogging our health..) and the folks here are starting to make progress. I say 'the folks' because I live in this city and work freelance for the traditional TV News media but they have shown little to NO interest in the story even though we now seem to be on the Superfund cleanup list.

JC

what about emf
the news stories state that the county checked the soil and water and found nothing.

but...did anyone check the EMF (electro-magnetic field) levels at the school, or in the neighborhood. inconclusive link, but high emf may be caused by nearby power wires, or floor heating coils used in some large facilities.


text:
Defense rests in Michael Jackson case

May 28, 2005

After a final piece of videotaped testimony from the accuser in the Michael Jackson case, the defense rested on Friday.

The interview was taped by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department on July 6, 2003. The contents of the tape mostly repeated earlier testimony given by the boy describing Michael Jackson's alleged acts of molestation. Judge Rodney S. Melville instructed the jurors "only to observe the demeanor, manner and attitude of the witness", and that the boy's "statements are not to be considered for the truth of the matter stated."

Closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday.

Related news

 * March 29, 2005: Past Jackson abuse claims to be used in court
 * March 11, 2005: Judge threatened Michael Jackson with jail
 * February 8, 2005: Michael Jackson pre-trial starts

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

title: Defense rests in Michael Jackson case


text:
User talk:68.226.2.5

Welcome
68.226.2.5, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:47, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:68.226.2.5


text:
User talk:216.173.207.11

Welcome
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title: User talk:216.173.207.11


text:
User talk:202.177.170.92

Welcome
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title: User talk:202.177.170.92


text:
User talk:129.177.17.125

Welcome
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title: User talk:129.177.17.125


text:
User talk:Pleonic

Welcome
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pleas source Image:EddieAlbert1a.jpg
please put the source of the image: Image:EddieAlbert1a.jpg. The image will be deleted if it isn't sourced. Bawolff ☺☻ 23:51, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Pleonic


text:
User talk:200.178.227.116

Welcome
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title: User talk:200.178.227.116


text:
User talk:Natterer's proxy

Welcome
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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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:48, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:Natterer's proxy


text:
User talk:68.248.231.250

Welcome
68.248.231.250, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:48, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:68.248.231.250


text:
User talk:70.34.5.128

Welcome
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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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:48, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:70.34.5.128


text:
User talk:67.140.194.126

Welcome
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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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:48, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:67.140.194.126


text:
User talk:198.107.54.39

Welcome
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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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:49, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:198.107.54.39


text: File:Ryanairlogo.png

title: File:Ryanairlogo.png


text:
Low fares airline, Ryanair celebrates twenty years in business

May 28, 2005 Irish low fares airline, Ryanair, this week celebrated its 20th birthday. Having reached the milestone, the airline promptly used the opportunity, as always, to sell seats; launching a massive 200,000 seat sale at 99p/99c a seat.

The airline was founded in 1985 by the Irish businessman, Dr Tony Ryan. It began its existence flying a small 15 seat aircraft between Waterford and London Gatwick with the small aim of breaking the duopoly on London-Ireland flights, held at that time by British Airways and Aer Lingus. Today however, the airline now flies to over 200 European destinations with its fleet of 84 Boeing 737's and is awaiting the arrival of a future 225 aircraft from Boeing.

The company today carries as much as 3m passengers a month (depending on the season) and has revealed it made a profit of €245m (USD$307,916,000) in the past year. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has stated that the airline will carry over 70m passengers annually within five years. The notoriously eccentric Mullingar man went on to tell the press "The very fact that a Mickey Mouse Irish airline can start in a field in Waterford 20 years ago and in 20 years overtake the world's self-styled, self proclaimed favourite airline is testament to the almost unstoppable demand for low airfare travel around Europe."

To demonstrate the huge drop in airfares over the last year, the company claimed while the price of a Ryanair seat had dropped from £99.99 in 1985 to 99p today, the price of a pint of beer had trebled and the average house price in England had increased by 500%.


text:
German Parliament votes yes on EU constitution; French referendum may vote no

May 28, 2005

Deutscher Bundesrat ratifiziert die EU-Verfassung Niemcy ratyfikowały konstytucję europejską


text:
User:ScarredSun~enwikinews/monobook.css

/* Wikinews CSS v0.9            */ /* Last update: 17th May UTC    */ /* - */ /* This skin works under Opera  */ /* and Gecko browsers. There are */ /* glitches under IE, and I'm   */ /* not sure about other browsers */ /* so if anyone could send me   */ /* screenshots of this layout on */ /* Mac and Linux browsers, it'd */ /* be appreciated. */ /* - */

/* If you want to use this skin in your CSS, just paste the following line in your monobook.css file: @import "http://pl.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedysta:Datrio/monobook.css&action=raw&ctype=text/css";

This will allow me to make changes in the skin, so that you won't have to manually update it in your monobook.css.

body { background: white !important; } h1, h2, h3 { border-bottom: 1px solid #B8D2F7; font-family: verdana; } h4, h5, h6 { font-family: verdana; } a { text-decoration: none; } ul { list-style-image: url("http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Bullet2.gif") !important; }

margin: 1em 0.5em; width: 11.2em; }
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top: 21px; }
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border: 1px solid #C1CDF7; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 0.5em; -moz-border-radius-topright: 0.5em; border-radius-topleft: 0.5em; border-radius-topright: 0.5em; } font: 10px verdana; font-weight: bold; background: #F1FAFF; border: 0; padding: 0 0.5em 0.3em; z-index: 3; } border: 1px solid #C1CDF7; } color: black; background: #CEDEFF; border: 1px solid #C1CDF7; }
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 * 1) p-nav h5, #p-search h5, #p-tb h5, #p-lang h5 {
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color: black; text-decoration: none; font: 11px verdana; } color: #555 !important; }
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color: black; text-decoration: none; }
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border-left: 4px solid #B9D4F1; border-bottom: 4px solid #B9D4F1; border-top: 4px solid #B9D4F1; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 1em; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 1em; border-radius-topleft: 1em; border-radius-bottomleft: 1em; top: 7px; }
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border-bottom: 4px solid #B9D4F1; border-top: 4px solid #B9D4F1; border-left: 4px solid #B9D4F1; margin: 2em 0 2em 13.5em; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 1em; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 1em; border-radius-topleft: 1em; border-radius-bottomleft: 1em; }
 * 1) footer {

background: #F1F8FE; border-bottom: 1px solid #C1CDF7; border-left: 1px solid #C1CDF7; float: right; padding-left: 0; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 2em; border-radius-bottomleft: 2em; height: 1.45em; } margin: 0; } padding: 0.5em; } background: #D4DEEA; }
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background: white; border: 1px solid #D4DEEA; }
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div.thumb div { background: #F1F8FE !important; border: 1px solid #C1CAF3 !important; }

/* Some misc. CSS hacks for the Polish Wikinews layout */ border-top: 1px solid #B8D2F7 !important; border-bottom: 1px solid #B8D2F7 !important; background: #F1F8FE !important; padding: 0; } background: white !important; }
 * 1) wn_header {
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color: #B4D0F8 !important; } color: black !important; }
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title: User:ScarredSun~enwikinews/monobook.css


text:
Wikinews:Free sources

You can obtain material from the public domain

Specially, you can get news from Creative Commons newspapers (see List of works available under a Creative Commons License).

title: Wikinews:Free sources


text:
Shared history textbook written by scholars from Japan, China, South Korea

May 28, 2005

Investigadors xinesos, coreans i japonesos publiquen junts un llibre de text d'història Investigadores chinos, coreanos y japoneses publican en conjunto un libro de texto de historia


text:
Actor Eddie Albert Dies at Age 99

May 28, 2005

Eddie Albert, well-known for his role as back-to-nature attorney Oliver Douglas in the surrealistic '60's TV series "Green Acres," has died at the age of 99.

Albert, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease in later years, succumbed to pneumonia on Thursday at his California home. His son Edward Albert was by his side at the time.

Although he gained his greatest fame in "Green Acres," Albert had a long movie, TV, and stage career stretching back to the 1930s. His first role came in 1938, playing opposite Ronald Reagan in the comedy "Brother Rat." He went on to co-star in such movies as "Roman Holiday" (1953), The Longest Day" (1962), and "The Longest Yard" (1974).

Mr. Albert was also a vigorous environmental and social activist, making many trips on behalf of UNICEF and helping found the Plaza de la Raza foundation in Los Angeles to assist poor Hispanic youth. He played a significant role in urging the US to ban DDT, which it did in 1972, and was instrumental in starting Earth Day.

Eddie Albert's most recent movie role was in 1995's "The Barefoot Executive."

title: Actor Eddie Albert Dies at Age 99


text:
Talk:Shared history textbook written by scholars from Japan, China, South Korea

Neither of the sources mention anything about, well, china's entire recent history being controversial? Interesting article.

Question:
Does anyone know the Chinese title of this book "History to Open the Future?" If so, could you list it in pin yin or Chinese characters please.

 * the Chinese title of this book is "东亚三国的近现代史", which means "the modern and contemporary history of the three countries in East Asia". The title "History to Open the Future?" is for Japanese and South Korean versions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.41.214.105 (talk) 11:04, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Questions:
What is the Japanese title? Who published it? Have any school's addopted it? If so what sort of schools? Where? Japan? China? Korea? Where can I buy the Japanese version?

If any of you guys find the answers before I do please let me know.

 * The title is "未来をひらく歴史" (「東アジア3国の近現代史」). The book is published by 株式會社高文研（ISBN 4-87498-341-3）. For more information, see the link here :
 * http://www.koubunken.co.jp/0350/0341.html213.41.214.105 11:13, 13 October 2008 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Actor Eddie Albert Dies at Age 99

Erm... 1908 - 2005 is 97 years, not 99. Error on AP's part, or error on IMDB's profile? --66.188.31.111 22:44, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
 * IMDB's profile is wrong. Just checked two sources, 1906 birth year. But great fact checking! Thanks! - Amgine/talk 22:48, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Now thats a great example of why wiki is better. → CGorman (Talk)  14:52, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Actor Eddie Albert Dies at Age 99


text:
Wikinews:2005/May/29

May 29, 2005

 * France votes no in EU referendum
 * Mobile ringtone tops the UK singles chart
 * Exit poll: 55% of French voters say no to EU constitution
 * Los Angeles firefighters battle Mt. Washington blaze
 * Lapp Plats becomes first firm to float on IEX
 * American Samoa asks again to be removed from U.N. colonies list
 * Corruption endangers Brazilian government
 * Citizen groups ask Congress to file formal "Resolution of Inquiry" against Bush
 * Shared history textbook written by scholars from Japan, China, South Korea
 * German Parliament votes yes on EU constitution; French referendum may vote no
 * Defense rests in Michael Jackson case

title: Wikinews:2005/May/29


text:
Citizen groups ask Congress to file formal "Resolution of Inquiry" against Bush

May 29, 2005

A coalition of citizen groups will ask Congress to file a formal "Resolution of Inquiry", the first necessary legal step to determine whether U.S. President Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The request, written by Boston constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz on behalf of the citizen groups, cites the Downing Street memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. The full text of the request is available here.

The request was written on behalf of several groups, including:
 * Veterans for Peace
 * Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
 * 911Citizens Watch
 * Democracy Rising
 * Code Pink
 * Global Exchange
 * Democrats.com
 * Velvet Revolution
 * Gold Star Families for Peace

And cites the possible grounds for impeachment:
 * ''"[The President] has not given [the Senate] full information, but has concealed important intelligence which he ought to have communicated, and by that means induced them to enter into measures injurious to their country, and which they would not have consented to had the true state of things been disclosed to them."

Bonifaz says that the official minutes of a secret US-UK meeting were the impetus for the request. Those minutes were recently leaked to The Sunday Times, and are popularly known as the "Downing Street memo" or alternatively the "smoking gun memo". In it, British intelligence MI-6 director Richard Dearlove said, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

The phrase "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." has been the center of attention in reports and discussions surrounding the memo. It has received this attention because critics of the Iraq war believe that it reaffirms their fundamental criticisms: that Bush's decision to go to war was not based on the intelligence, but, rather, intelligence was used selectively and exaggerated, while debunking intelligence was forcefully suppressed, for the sole purpose of rallying consent for the war, and that this was all done deliberately.

Bonifaz wrote: "The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people."

Some Republican congressmen who had voted for the war have since stated that they believe the war was a mistake. For example, Walter Jones, the coiner of the phrase "freedom fries", is now the most vociferous opponent on Capitol Hill. "If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong," he has stated, "Congress must be told the truth."

On May 26th, the group AfterDowningStreet.org launched a campaign to Congress to investigate whether President Bush committed impeachable offenses relating to the Iraq war.


text:
User:Kevin Baas

w:User:Kevin Baas • meta:User:Kevin Baas • n:User:Kevin Baas

/main page []

How does one write a brief?
To write a brief for an article, click on the "brief" link in the "This article is under development." box in the article, and write.

What does a brief include?
No images, no headers, just text. A one paragraph summary of the article.

What is a brief used for?

 * Main Page lead
 * Audio Wikinews Briefs
 * RSS feed summary (not yet implemented)

How are briefs used?
But you need not worry about any of this, just write the brief, and an experienced user will update the leads and handle the radio news briefs.
 * They are including in put in a main page lead, accessible via the Workspace -> "Update lead", by writting   or    in the respective lead page.
 * They are including in the News briefs by writting   in the respective brief page.
 * They are included in the RSS feeds automagically.

We, The People
I've read all the stuff about how WikiNews is basically regurgitating other news sources, and therefore can't really publish "news" insofar as it's not "new", but there is an advantage we can provide that other mediums (with a few exceptions, such as PBS and NPR) cannot: unbiased reporting. How? Because We, The People, decide what is "significant" and what is not, via the integrity of our own minds. All the media critics in the blogosphere and coffeeshops, of all political orientations, can get the unreported/underreported news reported, and the misleading/slanted news corrected, from the comfort of their own homes. We, The People, are the media, and so long as we deliberately function as such, noone can justly accuse WikiNews of being biased. (Biased in relation to whom? The People?  We ARE the People!)  That is an advantage that no other medium can provide; ''that is our unique and defining virtue. So there.'' :P

2005

 * June 5: AP Probe suggests Bolton manipulated Iraq inspections to favor War
 * June 5: Blog alliance forms over leaked Downing Street memo
 * All three leads at once!
 * June 2: Department of Defense denies federal funding to schools that ban military recruiting first lead on June 2/3
 * June 2: John Kerry criticizes news media, joins call for inquiry on Downing Street Memo second lead on June 2/3
 * June 3: UN dismisses first official over oil-for-food scandal third lead on June 2/3
 * June 1: $1,000 reward offered for answer from US President
 * May 30: UK and U.S. bombing raids against Iraq increased in 2002
 * May 30: Amnesty International urges investigations of top U.S. officials
 * May 29: Citizen groups ask Congress to file formal "Resolution of Inquiry" against Bush
 * May 14: Secret Downing Street Memo leaked

WikiNews Research Report

 * /WikiNews Research Report, May 2005

User Categories page

 * User Categories
 * Category:User categories

My WikiNews Dream list
m:Talk:DynamicPageList

Date Functionality
The following is primarily for DPL functionality
 * full date tag returns full date in month day, year format: such as
 * relative dates: absolute or relative dates can be specified: such as = yesterday, etc.
 * Date RANGES can be specified for DPLs
 * These ranges can be relative or absolute unbounded (5 days ago to present, or specific date to present)

Advanced Search tools
Like other news sites, people can search using a combination of filters: A search page?
 * via date range
 * via category
 * via keywords
 * include related articles

RSS feeds

 * generated summary: generated summaries (instead of the ugly raw code) in RSS feeds, done via:
 * Max character count
 * Max sentence count
 * Max para count
 * up to last para that is under all three maxes
 * Or, one can manually specify a summary by putting a summary in the article in remark tags
 * RSS feed page - an organized page for all of the RSS feeds
 * RSS feeds on categories - on certain category pages (such as "politics and conflicts"), RSS feeds would be listed at the bottom (w/the RSS icon)
 * sub feeds: separate category feeds for stage(published, developing, prepared...), region (us, uk,...)
 * calender

DPL (DynamicPageList)
crossed-off items have been implemented
 * notcategory: logical AND NOT with list items (example: notcategory: disputed)
 * sort by: (date, last change, categoryadd , *rating (see misc.)...)
 * primary and secondary criteria
 * order: (asc or desc)
 * style: (bulleted, numbered, none)
 * prefix: (none, date, *category (specified via a supercategory, "category:" is trimmed when displayed))
 * trimtemplates: don't list templates
 * trimcategories: don't list categories
 * suppresserrors: don't display errors
 * process date functionality (as above)
 * UserCat filters: Show or don't show categories in DPLs, according to categories that the viewing user is in. - this would be logic implemented in the DPL attributes

Conditional Processing

 * conditionally don't process (or show) a block if certain conditions are met:
 * DPL conditions: if a DPL query returns less than or more than a certain number of results
 * User categories: if the viewing reader is in or is not in a certain category

Miscellaneous

 * Editor Categories: Users would join categories for editing such as "politics and conflicts", "interviews", etc.
 * People can rate articles, like yahoo news
 * LivePageFeeds: updates w/out refreshing the browser
 * Live conditional processing

title: User:Kevin Baas


text:
American Samoa asks again to be removed from U.N. colonies list

 * The United Nations and Decolonization
 * Non-Self-Governing Territories Listed by the General Assembly in 2002
 * Special Committee Working Paper on American Samoa

May 29, 2005

American Samoa's government delivered another message to United Nations representatives asking to be removed from the U.N.'s list of world colonies. Commerce Department Deputy Director Lelei Peau was participating in a regional seminar held from May 17-19 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by the U.N. Decolonization Committee.

The U.N. has promoted decolonization since its founding, particularly since its Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples was adopted in 1960. In 1945, about one-third of the world's population lived in dependent, non-self governing Territories. Today the U.N. lists 16 remaining colonies with fewer than 2 million total people.

American Samoa is asking to be removed from that list, on the grounds that it wishes to remain a freely associated territory of the United States. Its position has remained unchanged since the Lieutenant Governor first asked to be removed from the list in 1993.

"The position of the people of American Samoa, and its duly elected legislative representatives and government officials is that the current status of the Territory and the United States government is the desired relationship we wish to have," said Governor Togiola T. A. Tulafono last year. His message was delivered to the U.N. Decolonization Committee in their regional seminar held in the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea.

"It has been a partnership that has aided both our peoples and the bonds of friendship between us are strong. We ask again that American Samoa be delisted as a 'colony' of the United States," said the governor's message.

The United States position, expressed to the U.N. General Assembly in 2003, is that its remaining territories are already in large measure self-governing. These territories should be able to choose whether to be independent states as "equal and sovereign partners" of the United States, or remain integrated within the United States.

The legislature of American Samoa, called the Fono, has approved a Future Political Status Commission to study public opinion on possibly becoming a commonwealth or freely associated state.


text:
Los Angeles firefighters battle Mt. Washington blaze

May 29, 2005

Saturday evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m. PST on Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, California, a brush fire broke out on the southwestern side of the hill.

Firefighters were on the scene by 8:30 p.m. with fire trucks, paramedic units, surveillance helicopters, and water-equipped helicopters. Two fire trucks blasted water at the blaze from higher up on the mountain, while every minute or so, a water-equipped helicopter would swoop down over the flames and release its payload. At the top of the hill, there were five fire trucks and one paramedic unit; the three main entrances to the mountain were barricaded off by fire trucks.

By approximately 9:15 p.m., the flame was entirely extinguished, thanks mainly to the water-equipped helicopters. Firefighters were offering bystanders bottles of water and Gatorade to help combat the effects of standing near an open flame.


text:
Talk:Los Angeles firefighters battle Mt. Washington blaze

Should the reference to PST be PDT (pacific daylight time)? - McCart42 11:36, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * It was at night.


text:
User talk:83.70.41.137

Welcome
83.70.41.137, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:49, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:83.70.41.137


text:
User talk:68.248.229.146

Welcome
68.248.229.146, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:49, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
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title: User talk:68.248.229.146


text:
User talk:68.77.241.246

Welcome
68.77.241.246, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:49, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
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title: User talk:68.77.241.246


text:
User talk:200.211.161.177

Welcome
200.211.161.177, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:49, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:200.211.161.177


text:
User talk:WikiFan05

Welcome
WikiFan05, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:49, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
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title: User talk:WikiFan05


text:
User talk:192.138.56.34

Welcome
192.138.56.34, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:50, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
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 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
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title: User talk:192.138.56.34


text:
User talk:84.121.1.211

Welcome
84.121.1.211, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:50, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:84.121.1.211


text:
User talk:64.142.37.103

Welcome
64.142.37.103, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  14:50, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:64.142.37.103


text:
Class of 9/11 graduates West Point

May 30, 2005 This year's West Point class of U.S. Army cadets graduated on Sunday and were commissioned as Second Lieutenants. Known as the "Class of 9/11", they joined West Point just weeks before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and decided to stay.

General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that this class is "one of the few since the early days of the Vietnam War who came to West Point in peace time, saw the nation transition to war and chose to stay, knowing you would raise your right hand and take an oath and swear to defend the constitution of a nation that was still at war."

By coincidence, there are 911 students in the class. Within a year from now, about 70% of them are expected to be serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

title: Class of 9/11 graduates West Point


text:
User talk:213.142.200.101

Welcome
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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! → CGorman (Talk)  17:18, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:213.142.200.101


text:
User talk:70.34.13.179

Welcome
70.34.13.179, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  17:18, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
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 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
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title: User talk:70.34.13.179


text:
Lapp Plats becomes first firm to float on IEX

May 29, 2005

A little-known mining company, Lapp Plats, has become the first company to list on Ireland's newly created Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX). The firm has also applied to be listed on London's flourishing Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Lapp Plats' admission to the exchange brings to nine the total number of firms listed on the IEX - the other eight were all previously listed on the Exploration Securities Market, which was the precursor to the IEX.

At present Lapp Plats is involved in platinum and nickel exploration; but intends to broaden its interests into to other areas such as minerals, other metals, oil and gas.


text:
User talk:24.4.125.147

Welcome
24.4.125.147, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  20:03, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
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 * Introduction - overview of the site
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 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
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 * And of course, stories need writing!

title: User talk:24.4.125.147


text:
Exit poll: 55% of French voters say no to EU constitution

May 29, 2005 The first exit poll, just published, has shown that 55% of French voters have rejected the new proposed European Constitution. The result which was quoted on French national TV confirms widespread speculation among political commentators that France would say no by a considerable margin - opinion polls before the vote showed 56% were against the constitution.

It is believed that a significant majority of Frances 42m eligible voters have exercised their right to vote. Turnout is thought to have exceeded 70%. Polling ended at the 55,000 polling stations across the country 8pm, except in Paris and Lyon where voting finished at 10pm.


text:
User talk:172.154.149.18

Welcome
172.154.149.18, welcome to Wikinews! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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! → CGorman (Talk)  20:17, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:172.154.149.18


text:
Mobile ringtone tops the UK singles chart

May 29, 2005 In a true sign of the times, a mobile phone ringtone has topped the UK singles chart. The Crazy Frog ringtone, long marketed to children and teenagers was last week launched as a single - and promptly proved more popular than both Coldplay's comeback release, Speed of Sound and last weeks number one by Oasis.

The song, if it can be called that, is a variation of the hugely popular Crazy Frog ringtone remixed with Axel F - the theme tune from the 1980s film Beverly Hills Cop which starred Eddie Murphy.

The Crazy Frog ringtone has been marketed in Britain, and throughout Europe, by German firm Jamster! It is primarily marketed by multiple TV adverts on music channels which are targeted at teenagers and kids.


text: File:Crazy Frog.png

title: File:Crazy Frog.png


text:
Talk:American Samoa asks again to be removed from U.N. colonies list

I removed the following because the "Fono" is the legislature of Samoa (Formerly Western Samoa), NOT American Samoa. Thanx.

The legislature of American Samoa, called the Fono, has approved a Future Political Status Commission to study public opinion on possibly becoming a commonwealth or freely associated state.

68.39.174.150 21:50, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

I readded the information, since it was correct and also agrees with the usage in the source article. American Samoa also has a Fono. I changed the link to point to the American Samoa page where the Fono can be seen. DouglasGreen 00:14, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)


text:
Talk:British lecturers meet to vote on Israeli academic boycott

This article has been in development for so long that its already old news. I think it was ready even before AUT's vote.. now its just raising dust. TiB 21:54, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

I hoped someone with the time might add in more detail about the background and I wasn't too sure whether I should put it into 'finished' myself - I guess I should have done... I'll go and explore how to... ClareWhite 14:13, 31 May 2005 (UTC)


text:
France votes no in EU referendum

May 29, 2005 In a result predicted by polls, a 54.87% majority of French voters voted non in Sunday's European Constitution referendum. Of France's 42 million eligible voters, over 70% turned out at the 55 thousand polling stations across the country, which were open from 8:00 to 20:00 on Sunday (except in Paris and Lyon where voting finished at 22:00, and French oversea possessions and other polling centers in the Americas, which voted on Saturday in order not to have them vote when the results are already known). A 70% turnout is very large compared to Spain 42%.

The result comes as no surprise to European political commentators as opinion polls had consistently suggested that the "No" camp was on course for a strong victory. Indeed, the last opinion poll before the actual referendum suggested a 56% win for the "No" camp.

The treaty was supported by all 3 major political parties (center-left PS, center-right UMP, center-right UDF), though a significant minority of the PS, and some in the UMP, chose to oppose it.

It was opposed by the French Communist Party, as well as Trotskyite movements such as the Revolutionary Communist League, other far-left movements such as the Party of the Workers, parts of the Socialist party, parts of The Greens some members of UMP, and the nationalist National Front.

According to polls, the vast majority of blue collar workers, farmers and other categories threatened by globalization and international concurrence voted against the treaty. The urban, better educated or richer population voted in favor.

Some supporters of the "No" camp have argued that the mainstream media was biased in favor of the "yes" cause, and this was supported by some analyses of times awarded by television to both camps. However, the "no" camp also waged an aggressive campaign, with the walls of major cities being plastered with posters linking the EU Constitution and the European Union to all kind of social ills, such as high unemployment.

You can read the entire proposed European Constitution at Wikisource

Polls
According to polls collected by TNS-Sofres, the largest polling company in France, voters gave the following reasons for voting no:
 * 46% -- feared that unemployment would worsen under the constitution
 * 40% -- were discontent with the current situation in France
 * 35% -- believed a no would permit the constitution to be renegotiated
 * 34% -- found the constitution too economically liberal and difficult to understand
 * 19% -- thought the constitution threatened the identity of France
 * 18% -- wanted to prevent the entry of Turkey to the EU
 * 12% -- followed certain political leaders who asked them to vote no.

Note, however, that such polls offer only a limited number of answers and may thus misrepresent the actual motives of the people.

Arguments of the "No" vote
Proponents of the "No" vote, both on the left and right, argued that the proposed constitution enshrined what they claim is an undemocratic Europe, with much of the responsibilities granted to a body of unelected political appointees, the European Commission and not enough checks and balances. They also point out that it vests much legislative power in the European Council, representing the executives of the various countries; this is seen as a bad arrangement with respect to Separation of powers. While the treaty adds supplemental powers for the directly elected European Parliament, many opponents, particularly on the left, consider that they are still insufficient in order to provide checks and balances.

Much criticism was directed at the length of the proposed Constitution. The real treaty submitted to French voters is about 80 pages long, which many argue is too long and complex for a constitution. It is followed by 100 pages of appendices, declarations and protocols, some of them dealing with matters such as oil refining in the Dutch West Indies or specific nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe.

Opponents of the treaty argue that the proposed constitution will largely hamstring the French government and prevent it from leading its own policies in matters as diverse as social services or foreign policy.

Much of the opposition was targeted at Part III of the proposed constitution, which sets the policies of the European Union. Opponents point out that the constitutions of most countries, including France, do not specify policies explicitly, except for a limited number of fundamental rights, but rather are limited to specifying the core principles and procedures of how governmental institutions work. Part III, they argued, sets in stone a number of economic and social choices, while these should be a matter of political choice depending on democratic votes.

Both left-wing and right-wing opponents consider that some of these policies, already applied and enforced by the European Union, are disastrous for France's economy and society as well as European's economy and society. One primary target is the free trade policies with countries having less expensive workforce and social protection, which, they argue, drive French workers out of work (2.7 million French people are out of work).

This was recently exemplified by the so-called "Bolkestein directive", which would have enabled service providers in the European Union to work anywhere in the union according to the legislation and social practices of their own country, not of the country where they'd work: this was caricatured as the example of the "Polish plumber" coming to work for a meager fraction of what French plumbers demand.

Much is made of délocalisations — that is, the transferring of industries and, now, services to countries with lower production costs, depriving French workers of jobs at a time when unemployment is high.

As a consequence, both left-wing and right-wing opponents of the treaty and of current and proposed European Union policies argue in favor of some sort of protectionism.

In the field of international relations, many opponents contend that the proposed constitution would make the European Union largely subservient to NATO, an institution dominated by the United States of America.

A factor in the opposition to the constitution is the recent enlargement of the European Union, a major move which was not approved by a referendum. Opponents consider that open border concurrence with much poorer economies is bad for French economy; many express uneasiness at subsidizing and collaborating with governments that they consider subservient to the interests of the United States, such as Poland's (Poland chose to buy warplanes from the United States after receiving some European Union subsidies, a movement which resulted in many questioning the financial and diplomatic priorities of their government).

Finally, many seized the occasion to express their discontent at France's political elite and to president Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government. While unemployment had receded under the rule of center-left former prime minister Lionel Jospin, it has climbed against under Raffarin's administration despite his and Chirac's promises.

Left-wing arguments
Much opposition was directed towards what many on the Left consider the "ultra-liberal" character of the Constitution: that is, they argue, the proposed constitution makes permanent economic policies which they consider disastrous for French society:
 * the destruction of public services, with forced scaling-down and privatization (some groups tied the closure of post offices to the European Union);
 * the vesting of much power in the European Central Bank, governed by political appointees, with the sole goal of ensuring the stability of the markets whereas, opponents argue, a major objective should be the reduction of unemployment
 * the encouragement of fiscal and "social dumping", whereby companies relocate themselves to the countries with the lowest standards of social services.

Left wing opponents, they say, want Europe, but another Europe, which, in their view, would put the concerns of common people before those of financial markets and the wealthy. They contend that free market capitalism, which they consider enforced by the constitution, destroys lives and benefits the financial establishment, but not the average worker. They argue that open trade and concurrence encourages unemployment in France.

They argue, bluntly, that the constitution is the constitution of right-winger Chirac and MEDEF, the union of larger French private employers. MEDEF, due to its current leader Ernest-Antoine Seillière, is very unpopular among the left.

Left-wing opponents argued that the Charter of rights included in the constitution was largely indicative, not prescriptive. They questioned the say that other members of the union may have in matters such as the right to abortion and the separation of Church and State, which they consider threatened by certain governments from Catholic countries, which, during the negotiation of the treaties, had insisted on adding references to the Christian heritage of Europe.

Another argument from the left was that the Constitution called for member states to strengthen their military forces. Opponents argue that this would be wasteful spending, would result in an arm race with the United States, China and others, and would result in wars and more instability.

Many leaders of the opposition to the "No" also simply called for a blow to Chirac.

Right-wing arguments
Many right-wing opponents argue that Turkey, which has applied for European Union membership, should not become a member, and that acceptance of the Constitution would pave the way for this. They point out that the new Eastern European members, whose joining many of them opposed, were accepted without a referendum; they also point out that Turkey is for the most part not located in Europe, but in the Middle-East, and that it borders countries such as Iran and Iraq.

In addition, many supporters of the right-wing are opposed to a union with countries whose culture they consider too far from France, and are concerned about unchecked immigration from these. They also consider that the direction the European Union is heading will only reinforce unchecked immigration from poor Muslim countries, which they think is bad socially and economically for Europe. This point of view is disputed by many economists, who point out that due to aging of France and other European countries increasing immigration is the only viable option for boosting the existing economies.

Such arguments are likely not to have much impact on many French voters. The results of this referendum, as well as those of the 2002 presidential election, show some deep distrust of the population for the political class as well as for "experts". There is high skepticism against economists and politicians who promote what they consider to be necessary reforms, whereas despite those reforms unemployment has remained high and standards of living have lessened for many.

Arguments of the "YES" vote
Supporters of the proposed European Constitution contend that it is a marked improvement over preceding treaties governing the European Union. They point out that it gives increased powers to the directly elected European Parliament compared to the politically appointed European Commission and European Council. They also point out that it gives a right of petition to European citizens, which they contend is a marked democratic advance. Opponents point out that this right may be exercised only with strict conditions (1,000,000 signatures from a "significant" number of countries) and with uncertain consequences. Furthermore, they point out that the basic undemocratic handling and procedures followed for the legislative enactment of laws are kept in place, and that neither the EC or the counsel of ministers have been internally made more democratic.

Proponents of the constitution consider that these improvements make the European Union markedly more democratic than it was before, while opponents may be of the opinion that something which is better then extremely bad, is still no good, and consider a no-vote a chance to come up with something better. Some supporters of the constitution contend that certain European measures that many consider ill-advised (such as the Bolkestein directive or the directive on software patents) would not have been adopted if the stronger checks and balances provided for by the constitution had been implemented, but there is little actual basis to support such a claim.

Part II of the proposed European Constitution is a Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This charter lists a number of human rights, such as the prohibition of torture, the prohibition of the death penalty, etc., and reinstates that the Union follows the Council of Europe's (COE) European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). All members of the European Union must belong to the COE and accept ECHR jurisdiction. Proponents of the constitution consider that this reinstatement of human rights is of great import, especially with respect to recent new members, which may not have much of a tradition of democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Proponents of the constitution dispel the accusation that the constitution is ultra-libéral (i.e. supports unfettered free market and prohibits social policies in member countries). They contend that these dispositions are not new, and were already to be found in the 1957 Treaty of Rome. They point out that unbiased concurrence is a the heart of European policies since the beginnings of the European Economic Community.

They contend that, for a large part, the proposed constitution is just the consolidation of the preceding treaties governing the European Union into a single document.

They admit out that the Constitution, like all works designed by a committee out of compromise, may be bulky. However, they point out, France cannot expect to force its choices on other countries. While some French parties may have preferred that the constitution contains more "social" dispositions, such social dispositions would be opposed by countries such as the United Kingdom, and there is little hope that any renegotiation would get them accepted. French Citizens, they claim, should be ready to accept an imperfect text.

Some supporters say that refusing the constitution will diminish the clout of France in European institutions and may make it more difficult in the future to have its interests be taken into account at that level.

Some right-wing supporters of the treaty contend that the European Union is a necessary force in order to push what they consider to be necessary reforms upon France.

Supporters of the treaty point out that the question of the constitution is disconnected from that of the accession of Turkey. President Chirac has pledged that the accession of Turkey would be put to a referendum before French voters (the accession treaty of former Eastern Bloc countries was ratified by the French Parliament without a referendum).

Finally, supporters of the proposed Constitution point out that this referendum is about the ratification of a treaty, and is not a plebiscite on the actions of president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, both of which are deeply unpopular.

title: France votes no in EU referendum


text:
Huge Gay Pride parade held in Brazil

May 30, 2005

In what may possibly be the largest Gay Pride parade in the world, hundreds of thousands of people marched along the streets of São Paulo, Brazil today in the Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo. Many marchers were demanding the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Brazil is the largest Roman Catholic country on Earth, and the Roman Catholic Church has consistently opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country. The National Congress of Brazil has debated legalization for 10 years, and such civil marriages are currently only legal in Rio Grande do Sul. The original bill was drafted by former mayor of São Paulo, Marta Suplicy. The proposed legislation, after being amended, is now in the hands of Roberto Jefferson. Protesters hope to collect a petition of 1.2 million signatures to present to the National Congress in November.

People carrying flags and banners, some dressed in lavish carnival costumes, walked and danced in the ninth annual Gay Pride parade, stretching for 3.5 kilometres along Avenida Paulista. Traffic was diverted throughout most of the city, and drinks and snacks vendors took advantage of the barriers across many streets. Prominent people joining the parade were the actor Sergio Mamberti, representing the Culture Minister Gilberto Gil, and senator Eduardo Suplicy.

Organizers stated that 2.5 million people attended, and police stated that there were 1.9 million — figures which would make the event the largest of its kind in the world — including 700,000 visitors from other cities and countries. This was an increase from 2004, when police stated that 1.5 million people attended.

title: Huge Gay Pride parade held in Brazil


text:
Chicken that crossed road let off fine by California court

May 30, 2005

The $54 fine incurred by the owners of a chicken in Johannesburg, California, has been thrown out of court.

The owners, Linc and Helena Moore, had been complaining to the local authorities about children riding bicycles in the middle of the road and their neighbours' dogs running around, and assert that as a consequence when their chicken escaped and wandered onto the road "it became a huge issue". They were fined $54 on March 26, 2005.

Under the California state code, livestock is banned from highways, but not domestic animals. The fine was dismissed when Henry Mosier, the public defence lawyer for the couple, argued that the chicken was not livestock but a domesticated animal. The chicken also has an unalienable right to "get to the other side".

The Kern County Sheriff's Department has denied the allegation that the couple were fined because of their complaints, and the couple are seeking legal assistance for filing harassment charges against the department.


text:
User talk:Jkris97~enwikinews

I'm very interested to hear that Steve contacted you, since I do not see this in his notes. (Although I have done only a cursory examination of those in a hurry to respond to this.) I believe this is a breach of the original reporting guidelines; negative evidence is just as valuable as positive.

Thank you very much for bringing this up. It must be looked into, and addressed, if Wikinews is going to continue to develop.

- Amgine/talk 03:53, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

Comments
I've made a reply to your comments on the talk page of the piano man article. → CGorman (Talk)  21:33, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

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Hello,

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title: User talk:Jkris97~enwikinews


text:
User:HKT~enwikinews

Hello.

title: User:HKT~enwikinews


text:
User talk:HKT~enwikinews

Hope you enjoy Wikinews, and become a regular reader/editor/contributor! - Amgine/talk 03:58, 30 May 2005 (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 HKT. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name HKT~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.

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Wikinews:2005/May/30

May 30, 2005

 * Polish writer Tomasz Pacyński dies
 * UK and U.S. bombing raids against Iraq increased in 2002
 * Amnesty International urges international investigations of top U.S. officials
 * Huge Gay Pride parade held in Brazil
 * Class of 9/11 graduates West Point

title: Wikinews:2005/May/30


text:
Talk:Chicken that crossed road let off fine by California court

California law
The offence almost certainly wasn't jaywalking. That's just the Ridgecrest Daily Independent being whimsical, I suspect. I've searched the California State Code, but turned up nothing, even though a second source says that the misdemeanour is included in the Food and Agriculture Code. I'd like to be able to hyperlink directly to the relevant portion of the CSC. Uncle G 04:21, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

The story won't die
The chicken was not fined; the owners were fined. If people insist on reporting this story, at least don't be coy with the headlne like all the other MSM sources try to do.

Here's what happened: someones chicken got out and was on the road. They got fined. Then they got off. Someone i know the other day got a speeding ticket, went to court and got the fine reduced. I'll be posting an article on that real soon now.

 * This is only news because it's the punchline to an old cliche.


text:
UK and U.S. bombing raids against Iraq increased in 2002

May 30, 2005

New information surfaced on Saturday, 28 May, that suggest that the US and UK increased air strikes against Iraq in mid 2002. The Ministry of Defence figures, provided in response to a question from Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, show that allied aircraft doubled the rate at which they were dropping bombs on Iraq beginning in May of 2002.

This apparent escalation in the number and intensity of air strikes was initiated prior to the passage of UN Resolution 1441 in November 2002 and prior to the US Congress authorizing the use of force against Iraq in October 2002. Critics claim that this was an attempt to provoke Saddam Hussein or soften his military infrastructure in preparation for a more comprehensive military campaign, and that it reaffirms their assertions that the Bush administrations was determined to go to war long before the official decision was made.

In August 2002, allied commander Tommy Franks admitted that this operation was designed to "degrade" Iraqi air defences in the same way as the air attacks that began the 1991 Gulf war, but according to legal guidance appended to the Downing Street memo (dated 23 July 2002) the allied aircraft were only "entitled to use force in self-defence where such a use of force is a necessary and proportionate response to actual or imminent attack from Iraqi ground systems".

According to military documents shown to the Sunday Express in 2002, the Allies invaded Iraq from Turkey on August 8th, 2002, after an air strike on the 6th that took out a crucial air defence system.

Pentagon officials initially denied there had been any military action or incursion, but when challenged with specific military details a spokesman called back two hours later issuing the terse statement: "We can't comment on current or future operations."

The evidence seems to corroborate information in the Downing Street memo:

 * "''CDS said that military planners would brief CENTCOM on 1-2 August, Rumsfeld on 3 August and Bush on 4 August.

 * ''The two broad US options were:

 * ''(a) Generated Start. A slow build-up of 250,000 US troops, a short (72 hour) air campaign, then a move up to Baghdad from the south. Lead time of 90 days (30 days preparation plus 60 days deployment to Kuwait).

 * ''(b) Running Start. Use forces already in theatre (3 x 6,000), continuous air campaign, initiated by an Iraqi casus belli. Total lead time of 60 days with the air campaign beginning even earlier. A hazardous option.

 * ''The US saw the UK (and Kuwait) as essential, with basing in Diego Garcia and Cyprus critical for either option. Turkey and other Gulf states were also important, but less vital. The three main options for UK involvement were:

 * ''(i) Basing in Diego Garcia and Cyprus, plus three SF squadrons.

 * ''(ii) As above, with maritime and air assets in addition.

 * ''(iii) As above, plus a land contribution of up to 40,000, perhaps with a discrete role in Northern Iraq entering from Turkey, tying down two Iraqi divisions.

 * ''The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections."

In light of these revelations, Representative John Conyers has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield. A draft of the letter is available here.

In Conyer's draft, he states:
 * ''"The allegations and factual assertions made in the May 29 London Times are in many respects just as serious as those made in the earlier article. If true, these assertions indicate that not only had our nation secretly and perhaps illegally agreed to go to war by the summer of 2002, but that we had gone on to take specific and tangible military actions before asking Congress or the United Nations for authority."

 * ''Thus, while there is considerable doubt as to whether the U.S. had authority to invade Iraq, given, among other things, the failure of the U.N. to issue a follow-up resolution to the November 8, 2002 Resolution 1441, it would seem that the act of engaging in military action via stepped up bombing raids that were not in response to an actual or imminent threat before our government asked for military authority would be even more problematic from a legal as well as a moral perspective.

 * ''As a result of these new disclosures, I would ask that you respond as promptly as possible to the following questions:

 * ''1) Did the RAF and the United States military increase the rate that they were dropping bombs in Iraq in 2002? If so, what was the extent and timing of the increase?

 * ''2) What was the justification for any such increase in the rate of bombing in Iraq at this time? Was this justification reviewed by legal authorities in the U.S.?

 * ''3) To the best of your knowledge, was there any agreement with any representative of the British government to engage in military action in Iraq before authority was sought from the Congress or the U.N.? If so, what was the nature of the agreement?

 * ''In connection with all of the above questions, please provide me with any memorandum, notes, minutes, documents, phone and other records, e-mails, computer files (including back-up records) or other material of any kind or nature concerning or relating thereto in the possession or accessible by the Department of Defense."


text:
Amnesty International urges investigations of top U.S. officials

May 30, 2005


text:
Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/Transcripts/May 30, 2005

Audio Wikinews transcript – 2005 05 30 – 0630 UTC
As reported by Nicholas Gerda

May 30, 2005. This is Wikinews.

Lead Story
France votes no in EU referendum In a result expected by many, a 54.87% majority of French voters voted non in Sunday's European Constitution referendum. Of France's 42 million eligible voters, over 70% turned out at the 55 thousand polling stations across the country, which were open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday (except in Paris and Lyon where voting finished at 10 p.m.).

Results

According to polls collected by Sofres, the largest polling organization in France, voters gave the following reasons for voting no: 46% -- Unemployment 40% -- Fed up with the current government 35% -- Constitution should be renegotiated 34% -- Constitution is too economically liberal 34% -- Constitution threatens French identity

The result comes as no surprise to European political commentators as opinion polls had consistently suggested that the "No" camp was on course for a strong victory. Indeed, the last opinion poll before the actual referendum suggested a 56% win for the "No" camp. You can read the entire proposed European Constitution at Wikisource.

Headlines
American Samoa asks again to be removed from U.N. colonies list American Samoa's government delivered another message to United Nations representatives asking to be removed from the U.N.'s list of world colonies. Commerce Department Deputy Director Lelei Peau was participating in a regional seminar held from May 17-19 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by the U.N. Decolonization Committee. The U.N. has promoted decolonization since its founding, particularly since its Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples was adopted in 1960. In 1945, about one-third of the world's population lived in dependent, non-self governing Territories. Today the U.N. lists 16 remaining colonies with fewer than 2 million total people. American Samoa is asking to be removed from that list, on the grounds that it wishes to remain a freely associated territory of the United States. Its position has remained unchanged since the Lieutenant Governor first asked to be removed from the list in 1993. "The position of the people of American Samoa, and its duly elected legislative representatives and government officials is that the current status of the Territory and the United States government is the desired relationship we wish to have," said Governor Togiola T. A. Tulafono last year. His message was delivered to the U.N. Decolonization Committee in their regional seminar held in the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea."It has been a partnership that has aided both our peoples and the bonds of friendship between us are strong. We ask again that American Samoa be delisted as a 'colony' of the United States," said the governor's message.The United States position, expressed to the U.N. General Assembly in 2003, is that its remaining territories are already in large measure self-governing. These territories should be able to choose whether to be independent states as "equal and sovereign partners" of the United States, or remain integrated within the United States.

Citizen groups ask Congress to file formal "Resolution of Inquiry" against Bush A coalition of citizen groups will ask Congress to file a formal "Resolution of Inquiry", the first necessary legal step to determine whether U.S. President Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The request, written by Boston constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz on behalf of the citizen groups, cites the Downing Street memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. The request was written on behalf of several groups, including: Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), 911Citizens Watch, Democracy Rising, Code Pink, Global Exchange, Democrats.com, Velvet Revolution, and Gold Star Families for Peace. It cites the possible grounds for impeachment: "[The President] has not given [the Senate] full information, but has concealed important intelligence which he ought to have communicated, and by that means induced them to enter into measures injurious to their country, and which they would not have consented to had the true state of things been disclosed to them." Bonifaz says that the official minutes of a secret US-UK meeting were the impetus for the request. Those minutes were recently leaked to The Sunday Times, and are popularly known as the "Downing Street memo" or alternatively the "smoking gun memo". In it, British intelligence MI-6 director Richard Dearlove said, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." The phrase "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." has been the center of attention in reports and discussions surrounding the memo. It has received this attention because critics of the Iraq war believe that it reaffirms their fundamental criticisms: that Bush's decision to go to war was not based on the intelligence, but, rather, intelligence was used selectively and exaggerated, while debunking intelligence was forcefully suppressed, for the sole purpose of rallying consent for the war, and that this was all done deliberately. Bonifaz wrote: "The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people." Some Republican congressmen who had voted for the war have since stated that they believe the war was a mistake. For example, Walter Jones, the coiner of the phrase "freedom fries", is now the most vociferous opponent on Capitol Hill. "If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong," he has stated, "Congress must be told the truth." On May 26th, the group AfterDowningStreet.org launched a campaign to Congress to investigate whether President Bush committed impeachable offenses relating to the Iraq war.

Los Angeles firefighters battle Mt. Washington blaze Saturday evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m. PST on Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, California, a brush fire broke out on the southwestern side of the hill. Firefighters were on the scene by 8:30 p.m. with fire trucks, paramedic units, surveillance helicopters, and water-equipped helicopters. Two fire trucks blasted water at the blaze from higher up on the mountain, while every minute or so, a water-equipped helicopter would swoop down over the flames and release its payload. At the top of the hill, there were five fire trucks and one paramedic unit; the three main entrances to the mountain were barricaded off by fire trucks. By approximately 9:15 p.m., the flame was entirely extinguished, thanks mainly to the water-equipped helicopters. Firefighters were offering bystanders bottles of water and Gatorade to help combat the effects of standing near an open flame.

Wikipedia Current Events

 * Voters in France reject the European Union's constitutional treaty in a referendum on ratification.
 * Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object, has entered the heliosheath and is on the verge of leaving the solar system and entering the interstellar medium.
 * The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the world's second longest oil pipeline, is opened in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Today in History provided by Wikipedia
May 30 is Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day in Fiji, and Memorial Day in the United States

 * 1431 - Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.
 * 1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were decisively defeated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.
 * 1536 - Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two queen consorts.
 * 1911 - The first Indianapolis 500 open-wheel automobile race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.
 * 1967 - Chief Emeka Ojukwu took office as the first President of Biafra, a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria.

Today's fact provided by Wikipedia
Nippon Steel Corporation, the Japanese steelmaking giant, once ventured into mushroom cultivation in an earnest bid to avoid layoffs.

Thank you for joining us for today's segment. Join us again tomorrow for more headlines, news, facts, and anniversaries; and on Wednesday, we will have our very first Special Report.

I'm Nicholas Gerda.

If you wish to contact the staff of this broadcast, please send an email to audiowikinews@gmail.com. If you wish to contribute to Wikinews, please visit www.wikinews.org, or call (206) 339-WIKI, that's (206) 339-8454. All content of Wikinews is in the public domain. Wikinews is a nonprofit independent news site run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.