text:
User talk:91.75.70.162

well i gave answers to your comments, please read the article again and check the opinions on it The actual behind the scene article is under process and review

title: User talk:91.75.70.162


text:
User:Chpfeiffer

 * Babel
 * de-N Dieser Benutzer spricht Deutsch als Muttersprache.
 * en-3 This user is able to contribute with an advanced level of English.

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

title: User:Chpfeiffer


text:
Comments:Cyprus detains weapon-laden ship

Lovely.--66.229.21.217 19:04, 1 February 2009 (UTC)


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National Guard mobilized in Kentucky ice storm aftermath

February 1, 2009

Kentucky's National Guard have been mobilized in the aftermath of what the governor called "the biggest natural disaster that this state has ever experienced".

An ice storm hit the U.S. state on Tuesday 27 January, bringing down power lines, freezing mains water supplies, bringing down trees and killing at least seven. More than 500,000 homes and business in the state remain without power, with utilities warning that it may take two weeks to restore supplies. State officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been issuing generators to the most vulnerable.

The National Guard are visiting homes in Kentucky to check that residents are well. At Murray State University the campus lost power and the water was turned off to stop pipes bursting. Students were moved to shelters. The state of Tennessee was also affected, with 265 people staying in shelters.

States of emergency have been declared in 92 of Kentucky's 120 counties, leading Governor Steve Beshear to call FEMA for assistance. FEMA aid is available to states that have suffered for damages and extraordinary costs above $7.4 million.

Ice storms are caused when a layer of warm air is caught between two layers of cold air. Water in the frozen layer is melted by the warmer layer but is then reduced to below freezing by the second cold layer. It falls as water, but freezes on contact with the ground, power lines and trees, leading to a build up of ice.


text:
User talk:Chickenweed

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) 19:15, 1 February 2009 (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:Chickenweed


text:
15 killed and 22 injured after fire in Chinese bar

February 1, 2009 A fire at a bar in Changle, China has killed 15 people and injured 22 others. It was triggered by a group of ten celebrating a birthday who set off fireworks shortly before midnight.

A firework set light to the ceiling of the Latin-style bar at 11:55 pm. Within minutes the 198-square meter structure was fully alight, with the fire brigade receiving a call shortly after midnight on Sunday morning.

By 12:20 am the fire had been extinguished and rescuers found 35 people within the ruins, fifteen of whom were declared dead at the scene. The bar, which is on Zhenghe Road, was cordoned off by police and an investigation has been launched.

Most of the injured were suffering from smoke inhalation, burns to their heads and limbs or both. Changle City Hospital, which is a kilometer from the bar, provided first aid and the wounded were then transported to three other hospitals within the provincial capital Fuzhou.


text:
Yahoo announces closure of Briefcase

February 3, 2009 Yahoo!'snasdaq: YHOO Briefcase service is to be closed after ten years.

The directory-cum-internet portal's Briefcase, which offers 30mb of online storage of files up to 5mb, is to be shut down on March 30. Data not retrieved before then will be deleted.

Usage of the service has declined in recent years and has been superseded by other companies' offers. Google has plans for a GDrive service, whilst Microsoft's Live Mesh is now in beta. now has unlimited storage, as do paid accounts with the Yahoo!-owned photo- and video-sharing site. A spokesperson for Yahoo! said that "[d]iscontinuing the service will allow us to focus our efforts on more broadly used products".

Yahoo has been losing market value since Microsoft's deal to buy the company fell through in May 2008 and the company has reduced staff. Yahoo! still dominates the market for display adverts but this market is shrinking against targeted search adverts, where Google dominates.

title: Yahoo announces closure of Briefcase


text:
Israeli military launches airstrikes into Gaza Strip

February 1, 2009

The Israeli military launched at least six airstrikes into the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rockets that were fired into Southern Israel by members of Hamas earlier in the day. Among the targets hit were a police station and other sites in the city of Rafah, believed to be tunnel locations. Small arms fire has also been reported. No one was injured or killed in the strikes.

"In response to rocket and mortar fire today, the air force has attacked a number of targets in the (Gaza) Strip, including six tunnels and a Hamas position," said the Israeli military in a statement to the press.

At least 13 mortar shells and three Qassam rockets were fired into Southern Israel Sunday night, four landing in Sha'ar HaNegev where two IDF soldiers and one civilian were injured. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, stated just before the airstrikes that the attacks would cause a military response.

"The cabinet's position from the first moment was that if the south's residents are fired on, our response will naturally be disproportionate," said Olmert to reporters.

Hamas had earlier called the threats by Israel a way to "find false pretexts to increase its aggression against the people" of the Strip. Hamas had said they were not responsible for the rocket fire. Smaller previously unknown groups are saying to be taking responsibility, but Israel says that they hold Hamas responsible for any rocket attacks into Israel from the Strip.

Earlier the IDF reportedly made phone calls, using a recorded message, to warn residents in Gaza of the airstrikes and told them to evacuate immediately. "All those residing near a terror hub, a tunnel or a weapons cache must leave the area immediately," said the message.


text:
Talk:Israeli military launches airstrikes into Gaza Strip

Don't use "Militants"
We don't call the soldiers of Israel's army militants, so we wont call members of Hamas (the Palestinian army) militants either. Militants is a very POV word, unfortunately used by U.S media to the extreme, but I guarantee press from the non-aligned countries wouldn't use the word militants to describe members of Palestine's army. Furthermore Hamas was elected in a democratic election, and whoever said that the UN recognizes them as a terrorist organization I'd like to see a source because I seriously doubt that statement.Soapy (talk) 23:38, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Israel's army isn't on any accepted terrorist watch list...yet. This list is adopted by more than the U.S. The U.N. has their own definition of it:

"By the unanimous adoption of resolution 1566 (2004), the Council recalled that criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror, or compel a government or international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act which contravened terrorism-related conventions and protocols, were not justifiable for any reason –- whether of a political, philosophical ideological, racial, ethnic or religious nature. Security council acts unanimously to adopt resolution strongly condemning terrorism as one of most serious threats to peace"

 * As you recall, Hamas has captured, kidnapped, held hostage and killed Israeli soldiers. Not to mention foreign journalists. They have used those individuals for ransom and also an attempt to compel the Israeli government to meet their demands. They also have fired rockets, just today, into Israel for what reason? Israel was not firing on Hamas until after the rockets were fired. Legally elected or not, that does not mean they are not a terrorist organization. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 02:29, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Hahah and then you should recall that according to Israeli human rights group Btheselim Israel holds 9,000 Palestinians prisoners, 1,000 of which have not been officially charged, the prisoners are subject to torture and torture was officially legalised in Israel in the 1990's although it is outlawed today it is still practiced. As for claiming self-defence for the rocket attacks there is very little to support this claim seeing as Palestine is occupied territory and Israel cannot claim self-defence in this territory anymore than the Nazis could claim self-defence in occupied France or Greece against the, what the Nazis called, "terrorist" resistance.  Furthermore there was a ceasefire set up in June of last year to end Israeli bombings in Gaza and Hamas rocket fire, Hamas observed the ceasefire, Israel refused to acknowledge it maintaining its illegal blockades which were to be dismantled under the ceasefire.  Even so Hamas maintained their end of the bargain although the other party (Israel) refused to then, finally Israel couldn't wait to provoke Hamas any longer so on November 4th they bombed Gaza killing 6 members of Hamas.  Hamas then asked to renew the ceasefire, Israel rejected it and continued to bomb Gaza... By your standards who is the terrorist?  Who should we call the militants? Soapy (talk) 02:43, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Present some official documents to say otherwise. Until then as it stands they are a terrorist organization. If anything, the above statement suggests you are the one with the POV. But whatever. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 02:58, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry if I had to point out your hypocrisy, but here's Israeli human rights group btselem report on prisoners,http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Detainees_and_Prisoners.asp, here's the details of the nov. 4th raid http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians...also here's a b'tselem report on the Israeli policy of fatal arrests http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/200505_Take_No_Prisoners.asp
 * And those are official state/nation/UN/etc recognized documents? DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 03:31, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Correct me if I am wrong. But isn't Israel part of the UN? DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 03:32, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * The UN statement didn't say that Hamas was a terrorist group...I don't understand your argument and frankly this isn't the place to argue, I think I've made my point that calling members of Hamas is POV Soapy (talk) 03:54, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * May have made a point yes, but I have given you ample proof that they are a terrorist organization. So whether you want to accept that or not, is up to you. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 03:56, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Wikitionary for militant says:
 * aggressive or combative
 * fighting or warlike; belligerent
 * That sounds about right to me. Just because major media uses it in a POV term, doesn't make it wrong.  Kinda like negro, yes, it might be not polite to use, but the word still means "Black". -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 04:03, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Haha alright it's fine to call them militants SO LONG AS WE CALL THE ISRAELIS MILITANTS TOO...that's my point Soapy (talk) 04:13, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * again it is YOUR POV of this. You cannot refute or deny a UN resolution and a terror list followed by half a dozen nations. The IDF is a legally recognized military, Hamas is not. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 04:24, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't understand how you cannot comprehend the simple idea that we should apply the same standards to ourselves that we do to others, if by your own estimation Hamas is a terrorist organization because it kills innocent civilians and takes soldiers hostage, which it most certainly does, then by that exact same logic Israel is guilty of those same crimes on a much greater scale and is therefore a much greater terrorist organization. This has nothing to do with POV draw your own conclusions from the facts...if you can't comprehend the idea I'm trying to get across to you, the idea of not being a hypocrite then please do some thinking.  Anyway this is a huge waste of my time, you're obviously not going to be convinced, so goodbye. Soapy (talk) 04:27, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * With that attitude then I don't know why I wasted my time. I case you didn't look, your edit in the article remains, despite the disagreement. But again whatever. I present my facts and I donno how a POV can override a legit terrorist list. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 04:33, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * BTW this is nothing personal. I was just debating. Happy editing/writing :-} DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 04:36, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

The legitimacy of the list is indeed questionable. It was issued by the US State Department, not the United Nations. I assume you would not dispute that the US is a staunch ally of Israel, and as such their labelling of Hamas as a terrorist organisation is widely disputed. This is further complicated by Hamas having been democratically elected. There are a great number of other legitimate governing bodies which, by the criteria given above, could also be called "terrorist". As to "militant", I think it is an appropriate term. Hamas does not have a conventional armed forces with a clearly defined command structure, so even if they wanted to stop rocket fire into Israel it may be extremely difficult to do so. Particularly when many of the cells and factions receive funding and armaments directly from neighbouring Arab countries sympathetic to their cause. They may say they are part of Hamas, Israel may say they are part of Hamas, but by attacking Israel in contravention of Hamas' declared cessation of hostilities they prove they are acting as free agents, thus legitimising calling them militants. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:58, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * On your last point, Brian, I don't think that it proves that they are free agents. It wouldn't be the first time that someone says one thing and does another. --SVTCobra 11:20, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * "Proof"? Perhaps not, I'll certainly concede that. However, without reasonable evidence that Hamas has told the world one thing, and those firing the rockets another, we cannot reasonably conclude that the rocket and mortar fire has been ordered by those of Hamas who have been elected. To do so would be to uncritically accept the position of Israel and the American hawks who back them. By international standards, both sides in this conflict are as guilty as hell. Perhaps we need to start working on reporting guidelines for controversial issues like this. However, I would still assert that "militant" is perfectly acceptable as a description of those attacking Israel. It may be the case that AP and Reuters are, as Soapy asserts, using the term as a substitute for "terrorist". That can only be decided by seeing the context in which they use it; that does not have to be the same context as in which Wikinews applies the word. --Brian McNeil / talk 11:54, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I will concede that perhaps it is fine to call those who shoot rockets out of Gaza "militants". However, I am unsure whether we should call them Hamas "militants" because members of Hamas are not necessarily militants as they are fighting under the banner of the democratically elected government. Soapy (talk) 20:58, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Timelines shouldn't be blame games
The sequence of stories here is not comprehensive enough to include any cause-and-effect type summaries. At the least it is all original research and without the qualifiers required. State that events happened, and that is it; no because of... or ...in response to, or anything else that is a value statement or its just bias in another form. Organizations can say things and if there are comments on sequences of events specifically attributed they could be included but anything else is a ploy to get around NPOV. 74.227.163.214 02:18, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Rewording
Dragon reverts my attempt to clear up the imprecise language used, and based on his long argument above I believe he has an agenda to see this article remains biased. Other editors please review my edit, change it some if required. Reverting it does nothing and leaves this badly worded article without the corrections it needs. 74.227.163.214 05:52, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Your edits make a mention of Hamas only once. Israel's main objective was because of the organization. And to take away the focus of that, IMO lessens the blame. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 06:03, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

I am just going to step away from this article. I made my point with official links of state sponsored terror, but all I have been getting in return are what people think (POV) the other side is, despite the lack of any nation finding Israel guilty of anything yet. Have a good night. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 06:10, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

 * If you conclude that the world court is indeed counting as a legitimate body, the world court has found Israel guilty of several breaches of the geneva convention, and every year since 1988 the UN has voted almost unanimously (Israel and U.S against) to condemn Israel's occupation of Palestine...yeah do the 180 or so countries that vote in favor of condemning Israel's atrocities each year count as a nation? Soapy (talk) 20:35, 2 February 2009 (UTC)


text: Talk:15 killed and 22 injured after fire in Chinese bar


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Talk:National Guard mobilized in Kentucky ice storm aftermath

Excuse me, but...
... Bresneden is the Governor of Tennessee. Why would he be declaring a state of emergency in Kentucky? 76.117.247.55 03:00, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

 * One of the sources had mixed up the names when talking about both governors, and I didn't spot the confusion. The source appears to have silently changed the offending paragraph, and I've posted the change to our article. Thanks for spotting the error and letting me know. Redvers (talk) 06:42, 2 February 2009 (UTC)


text:
User:Acarpentier

Alain Carpentier (acarpentier)

Check my Commons Wikimedia.

Or check my personal photo gallery.

Alain Carpentier

title: User:Acarpentier


text:
User:Andy M. Wang

__NOINDEX__ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Andy_M._Wang

title: User:Andy M. Wang


text:
User talk:Andy M. Wang

__NOINDEX__

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Andy_M._Wang

Bawolff ☺☻ 03:41, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Andy M. Wang


title: File:2February2009.pdf


text:
User talk:116.12.240.93

I noticed you were testing the opinion stuff. If you have any comments on how it works, we'd love to hear them. Bawolff ☺☻ 04:46, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:116.12.240.93


text:
Comments:British PM condemns walkouts

should we condem people for supporting what thay belive in?i think it an abuse of the postion to which he has been elected to make such comments,free and nonvoilent demonstration should always be allowed in a just society,questions should be asked of anybody who condems the action

 * He wasn't elected to the position, though. He was appointed by his own party without even them voting. This is not unusual in British politics. In fact, we've changed PM without a general election six times since the war: Churchill was succeed by EdenW; Eden by MacMillanW; MacMillan by HomeL; Wilson by CallaghanL; Thatcher by MajorW; Blair by Brown. Only in the case of Wilson/Callaghan and Thatcher/Major did anyone vote, but even then it was just their own MPs. Key: W = won an election after; L = lost an election after Redvers (talk) 17:13, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

title: Comments:British PM condemns walkouts


text:
Supercross: Stewart wins 4th consecutive Monster Energy event in San Francisco, California

February 2, 2009

rider led from start to finish to win his fourth consecutive  series  race at  in San Francisco in front of an almost capacity crowd. Australian, despite a slow start, managed second whilst rider, , took third place.

Having earlier set the fastest time in qualifying, Stewart look determined to win and was a clear winner in his heat race and continued the aggressive approach into the final. Commenting on his win Stewart said ““We are working really hard this year. I felt good tonight and the track was tough. It was an awesome night for me.”

For series championship leader Chad Reed, it was a much tougher story. Seemingly down on speed throughout the night Reed had to battle in the final starting from fourth and moved into second place on lap three. Despite having seventeen laps to catch Stewart the 2008 champion was unable to make any ground on Stewart. Commenting on his disappointment for the night Reed said “Right now that is important and we go back to  next weekend, so we will work to get better.”

The win brings Stewart closer to Reed in the championship points table and now only trails by 6 points with more than half the series still remaining. Yamaha rider Josh Grant remains in third place despite failing to make the podium in San Francisco.

The Supercross Lites provided an entertaining battle between James Weimer, and Trey Canard. Leading for the first eleven laps Weimer held his line as Dungey tried an aggressive pass that saw him loose control and crash. Canard took advantage to move into second. Managing to restart the race, Dungey eventually caught and passed Canard to finish second behind race winner Weimer.

During the intermission the crowd was thrilled by the stunt team which included the rare feat of four riders performing reverse summersaults of the same ramp in sequence.

The next round of the series takes place in Anaheim California on the 7th February.

AMA Supercross Class Season Standing


text:
Talk:Supercross: Stewart wins 4th consecutive Monster Energy event in San Francisco, California

Since this is a series i will try and keep this updated. Bjornengelhardt (talk) 07:09, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * apologies on the tables.....i think i still need to learn how to use simple tables rather than MS word generated ones !!
 * attended the event Saturday night in SFO - as mere mortal in the crowd - still waiting on accreditation :)
 * took notes on program guide which i will try and transcribe later.
 * my OR is centres around the qualitative aspects and to support the "press release" issued by the promotor.

Todo
Looks good so far. Formatting things to do: Bawolff ☺☻ 08:06, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Fix tables (I hate mediawiki table syntax too :)
 * Need to confirm i linked Kawasaki and Jägermeister to right places (and that Jägermeister should have the accent on the ä)

Table headings...
editprotected

In the table for "AMA Supercross Class Season Standing", Some of the headings have stray closing tags for P and SPAN. These should be removed? ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 08:24, 10 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Done as requested. -Green Giant (talk) 01:33, 28 October 2020 (UTC)


text:
User:Florentino Floro/MySandbox

 * judge_florentino_v_floro

 * judge_florentino_v_floro@yahoo.com

 * I am Philippines Judge Florentino Floro. I registered with Wikinews on or around December 3, 2008. I am a Editor as of January 12, 2009.

 * MyTalk
 * MyList
 * MyList2
 * MyNavbox
 * MyLearnedTreatise
 * MySandbox
 * | Myen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Florentino_floro
 * | MyEditCount
 * | Mycommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Judgefloro

 * en.wikipedia.org

 * newsinfo.inquirer.net
 * abs-cbnnews.com
 * gmanews.tv
 * supremecourt.gov.ph

 * bbc.co.uk
 * cnn.com
 * reuters.com
 * msnbc.msn.com
 * yahoo.com
 * news.google.com
 * channelnewsasia.com

 * bloomberg.com
 * sky.com/skynews

23 Philippine Television Viral Videos
As spiritual healer, Florentino Floro used Philippines coconut oil (healing) as alternative medicine for the poorest of the poor.

“Healing / Psychic” Judge Floro had been consistently televised since 1999 regarding the case. More than 86 minutes of Philippine Television Documentary had shown the great human interest and international / global focus on the story / administrative case (ordeal / longest suspension due to dwarf consultation).

ABS-CBN, TFC (The Filipino Channel), ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, ABS-CBN News Channel, GMA Network, Inc., Q (television network), Radio Philippines Network and Associated Broadcasting Company, inter alia, produced/showed the following documentary on Floro:

 * 29,437 views - Mundo ng Maligno ("World of Elementals"), Magandang Umaga, Pilipinas, 7:30 a.m., with Kim Atienza, October 31, 2006.

 * 26,878 views - The World Tonight - "Hilario Davide Disbarment": September 10, 2006, with R.G. Cruz as broadcast journalist.

 * 17,632 and 15,472 views - "Kasangga mo ang langit", with host Rey Langit - 11:30p.m. August 30//Wednesday, 2000; replayed --- May 16/Wednesday, 2001. (Part 1)/ (Part 3)

 * 15,037 & 11,135 views - Magandang Gabi, Bayan: “Hearing of Healing” - August 21, 1999 – Host - Gus Abelgas. (Part 2)/ (Part 4)

 * 9,050 views - ASSIGNMENT: “THE HEALING JUDGE,” April 27, 2000 – Host - Cong. Teddy Locsin, Jr. - TV Patrol World & Pulso: Aksyon Balita: host - Josie Sison: "Disbarment vs. Alfredo Benipayo, June 23, 2000 – by Josie Sison. (Part 5)

 * 4,239 views (Part I); 4,193 (Part II) Kontrobersyal of the Year, 2005 - 2006, with host Boy Abunda - Anniversary presentation - "DISKRIMINASYON: Psychic Judge” - 2 gaps or full segments, 30 minutes; May 12, 2006/Friday, late night, 12:30 a.m. Saturday; replayed at 4:00 a.m./5:00 a.m., May 13 and 14, 2006.

 * 4,759 & 5,185 views (Part I, Original & Clearer, respectively) - Totoo TV - hosted by Maverick Relova and Ariel Villasanta, one hour, April 30, 2007./; 2,024 & 2,947 views (Part II)/; 1,357 & 2,350 views (Part III) - /; 1,436 & 3,848 views (Part IV) - 1,022 & 2,225 views (Part V) - /; /

 * 3,642 views, Sa Pulso, GMA Kapuso: with Mr. Ivan Meirina as Host, November 12, 2006, Q (television network).

 * 2,505 & 3,664 views - Frontlines, ABC, Ch. 5: December 27, 2006 at 10:00 PM./

 * 1,894 views - Magandang Umaga, Pilipinas, Judge Floro, "Healing Oil," April 3, 2007, with Kim Atienza.l

 * "KABA KUTOB KILABOT": October 29, 2006, 11:45 p.m., with Hosts Katherine de Castro and Albert Martinez.

My Daily Experiences: 2009 [Prefatory: On January 13, 2008 and October 12, 2008, I respectively saw the visions of the Blue Madonna, or Virgin Mary and the Luminous Cross]. Since June 2, 1983, when LUIS, Armand and Angel appeared to my brother Robert Floro, it was only 25 years thereafter, or on January 7, 2008, the birthday of LUIS, that he appeared to me, in ONE minute, YELLOW IMAX virtual reality level, about 7 inches.
 * January 29 - I saw (while asleep, but in deep trance vision, 10 a.m.) 2 statues, images, life size of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
 * January 31 - I saw (while asleep, but in deep trance vision, 10 a.m.) a black and white as if the X-ray Image of the Holy Face in the Shroud of Turin. This is the birthday of my dwarf-angel Friend "Armand"
 * February 1 - I saw (while asleep, but in deep trance vision, 10 a.m.) alternating - the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, with thorns and flowers, respectively.
 * February 2 - I had a long travel towards St. Vincent's Seminary in Valenzuela, but could not go there due to road blocks.--Florentino Floro (talk) 07:46, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * February 12 - 5:35 a.m. - I was brought to the St. Vincent's Seminary, for many hours - the dormitory, I would call phone since I failed to bring my clothes and saw Fr. Gimarino, C.M. 7 feet 5 inches so tall, and the dining refectory - and I saw the image of Our Lady of Lourdes, feast on Feb. 11, about 8 inches tall, then closer, I saw the face of the statue, the eyes are on both sides (meaning She is watching all over us amid the disasters and accidents, famine, deaths, dire tragedies prophesied in Fatima on 1918, this is the 150th anniversary of Lourdes.

title: User:Florentino Floro/MySandbox


text:
American swimmer Michael Phelps laments "bad judgment" in marijuana controversy

February 2, 2009 U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has apologized to fans following tabloid pictures of him smoking a marijuana pipe.

The 23-year-old multiple gold medalist was pictured yesterday in the British Sunday newspaper The News of the World apparently using a "bong" at a University of South Carolina party he attended whilst visiting a friend on November 6, 2008. He released a statement on his Facebook wall, saying "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment."

The statement said "I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public - it will not happen again."

Marijuana is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) when athletes are actually competing, but not outside of that. Phelps therefore is unlikely to face sanctions from WADA because of the incident. However, US swimming officials and Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), the international swimming federation, will comment later on their thoughts about the incident. FINA banned Gary Hall for three months in 1998 for marijuana use.

Phelps has never failed a drugs test in his career and has previously volunteered for extra testing as part of the sport's campaign against performance enhancing drugs. He does, however, have a conviction for drunken driving gained when he was 19. Phelps was named as the U.S. Olympic Committee's male athlete of the year last week and was also Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" in 2008. He has endorsement contracts with Speedo, Visa, Guitar Hero and Frosted Flakes.


text:
Heavy snow fall disrupts UK transportation and communications

February 2, 2009

The heaviest snow to fall for 6 years has caused transport problems in some parts of the United Kingdom, especially in London, where it was the heaviest snow for 18 years. It was caused by cold air travelling westwards towards the British Isles from Poland and Russia. As showers moved across the North Sea towards the east coast of Britain, it fell as snow. Throughout Monday, weather fronts pushed in from the south east in Belgium and France towards the South East of Britain. The weather fronts pushed their way further north and westwards.

Almost a foot (30cm) of snow has fallen in the south-east of England, halting train and bus services and making driving treacherous. Flights to and from London's Heathrow and City airports and the outer London Gatwick and Stansted airports are suffering delays and cancellations. In some affected areas, the majority of schools have been closed.

The centre of London, which usually sees no snow at all most years, has around 4" (10cm) of laying snow, whilst Kent, Sussex and Surrey have up to 10" (25cm). The snow reduces further north but has still disrupted travel, with England's Highways Agency advising against car journeys unless essential. The agency had 500 gritters clearing main roads during the night and 600 motorway patrols out in the morning. Stretches of motorway and main road have been blocked by jack-knifed lorries or closed as a pre-emptive measure.

The snow caused disruption to British transport websites, with National Rail Enquiries, Transport for London and South West Trains websites all brought down by heavy traffic. The Highways Agency's site was also unavailable and returned with interactive features turned off. People calling and texting during the abortive rush hour jammed the mobile telephone networks. Mobile network '3' said it had seen "a very steep jump in the number of picture message sent across the network" whilst T-Mobile UK reported 73% more calls, 21% more texts and 20% more broadband bandwidth being used than usual.

The Met Office has a severe weather warning in place for England, Wales and parts of Scotland, with further snow expected across the country later in the week.


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Canadian National buys Chicago railroad

February 2, 2009

Canadian National (CN), the Montreal-based rail operator, has bought the main lines of the U.S. Elgin (EJ&E).

CN began to buy the railway from U.S. Steel in September 2007. Regulatory approval in the US was given in January. The Canadian railway company will use the lines to avoid congestion in Chicago, taking freight along a 300km loop through the American Midwest. The route will begin the new operations on March 4.

U.S. Steel will keep the facilities and staff required to keep the Gary steelworks in Indiana rail connected, renaming the resulting operations to the Gary Railway. The rest of the EJ&E will be integrated into CN's existing networks. The railway passes through suburban areas of Chicago, causing residents to fear the noise and traffic that greater intensity of operation could bring.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB), the US rail regulator, has required CN to make upgrades to ease local concerns but opponents have vowed to continue to fight against the changes. The Chicago Tribune speculates that CN will switch trains from the former Wisconsin Central line to the EJ&E south of Mundelein. This would reduce traffic in suburbs north of the crossover from 19 trains a day to just two; whilst south of the junction trains would increase from five a day to 20.

CN paid $300 million for the lines, and will pay $100 million to upgrade them and $60 million to make the STB's required improvements.

title: Canadian National buys Chicago railroad


text:
Stanford physicists print smallest-ever letters 'SU' at subatomic level of 1.5 nanometres tall

February 4, 2009

A new historic physics record has been set by scientists for exceedingly small writing, opening a new door to computing's future. Stanford University physicists have claimed to have written the letters "SU" at sub-atomic size.

Graduate students Christopher Moon, Laila Mattos, Brian Foster and Gabriel Zeltzer, under the direction of assistant professor of physics Hari Manoharan, have produced the world's smallest lettering, which is approximately 1.5 nanometres tall, using a molecular projector, called Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) to push individual carbon monoxide molecules on a copper or silver sheet surface, based on interference of electron energy states.

A nanometre (Greek: νάνος, nanos, dwarf; μετρώ, metrό, count) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre (i.e., 10-9 m or one millionth of a millimetre), and also equals ten Ångström, an internationally recognized non-SI unit of length. It is often associated with the field of nanotechnology.

"We miniaturised their size so drastically that we ended up with the smallest writing in history," said Manoharan. "S" and "U," the two letters in honor of their employer have been reduced so tiny in nanoimprint that if used to print out 32 volumes of an Encyclopedia, 2,000 times, the contents would easily fit on a pinhead.

In the world of downsizing, nanoscribes Manoharan and Moon have proven that information, if reduced in size smaller than an atom, can be stored in more compact form than previously thought. In computing jargon, small sizing results to greater speed and better computer data storage.

"Writing really small has a long history. We wondered: What are the limits? How far can you go? Because materials are made of atoms, it was always believed that if you continue scaling down, you'd end up at that fundamental limit. You'd hit a wall," said Manoharan.

In writing the letters, the Stanford team utilized an electron's unique feature of "pinball table for electrons" — its ability to bounce between different quantum states. In the vibration-proof basement lab of Stanford's Varian Physics Building, the physicists used a Scanning tunneling microscope in encoding the "S" and "U" within the patterns formed by the electron's activity, called wave function, arranging carbon monoxide molecules in a very specific pattern on a copper or silver sheet surface.

"Imagine [the copper as] a very shallow pool of water into which we put some rocks [the carbon monoxide molecules]. The water waves scatter and interfere off the rocks, making well defined standing wave patterns," Manoharan noted. If the "rocks" are placed just right, then the shapes of the waves will form any letters in the alphabet, the researchers said. They used the quantum properties of electrons, rather than photons, as their source of illumination.

According to the study, the atoms were ordered in a circular fashion, with a hole in the middle. A flow of electrons was thereafter fired at the copper support, which resulted into a ripple effect in between the existing atoms. These were pushed aside, and a holographic projection of the letters "SU" became visible in the space between them. "What we did is show that the atom is not the limit — that you can go below that," Manoharan said.

"It's difficult to properly express the size of their stacked S and U, but the equivalent would be 0.3 nanometres. This is sufficiently small that you could copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin not just once, but thousands of times over," Manoharan and his nanohologram collaborator Christopher Moon explained.

The team has also shown the salient features of the holographic principle, a property of quantum gravity theories which resolves the black hole information paradox within string theory. They stacked "S" and the "U" - two layers, or pages, of information — within the hologram.

The team stressed their discovery was concentrating electrons in space, in essence, a wire, hoping such a structure could be used to wire together a super-fast quantum computer in the future. In essence, "these electron patterns can act as holograms, that pack information into subatomic spaces, which could one day lead to unlimited information storage," the study states.

The "Conclusion" of the Stanford article goes as follows:

The team is not the first to design or print small letters, as attempts have been made since as early as 1960. In December 1959, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who delivered his now-legendary lecture entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," promised new opportunities for those who "thought small."

Feynman was an American physicist known for the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as work in particle physics (he proposed the parton model).

Feynman offered two challenges at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society, held that year in Caltech, offering a $1000 prize to the first person to solve each of them. Both challenges involved nanotechnology, and the first prize was won by William McLellan, who solved the first. The first problem required someone to build a working electric motor that would fit inside a cube 1/64 inches on each side. McLellan achieved this feat by November 1960 with his 250-microgram 2000-rpm motor consisting of 13 separate parts.

In 1985, the prize for the second challenge was claimed by Stanford Tom Newman, who, working with electrical engineering professor Fabian Pease, used electron lithography. He wrote or engraved the first page of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, at the required scale, on the head of a pin, with a beam of electrons. The main problem he had before he could claim the prize was finding the text after he had written it; the head of the pin was a huge empty space compared with the text inscribed on it. Such small print could only be read with an electron microscope.

In 1989, however, Stanford lost its record, when Donald Eigler and Erhard Schweizer, scientists at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose were the first to position or manipulate 35 individual atoms of xenon one at a time to form the letters I, B and M using a STM. The atoms were pushed on the surface of the nickel to create letters 5nm tall.

In 1991, Japanese researchers managed to chisel 1.5 nm-tall characters onto a molybdenum disulphide crystal, using the same STM method. Hitachi, at that time, set the record for the smallest microscopic calligraphy ever designed. The Stanford effort failed to surpass the feat, but it, however, introduced a novel technique. Having equaled Hitachi's record, the Stanford team went a step further. They used a holographic variation on the IBM technique, for instead of fixing the letters onto a support, the new method created them holographically.

In the scientific breakthrough, the Stanford team has now claimed they have written the smallest letters ever - assembled from subatomic-sized bits as small as 0.3 nanometers, or roughly one third of a billionth of a meter. The new super-mini letters created are 40 times smaller than the original effort and more than four times smaller than the IBM initials, states the paper Quantum holographic encoding in a two-dimensional electron gas, published online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The new sub-atomic size letters are around a third of the size of the atomic ones created by Eigler and Schweizer at IBM.

A subatomic particle is an elementary or composite particle smaller than an atom. Particle physics and nuclear physics are concerned with the study of these particles, their interactions, and non-atomic matter. Subatomic particles include the atomic constituents electrons, protons, and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are composite particles, consisting of quarks.

"Everyone can look around and see the growing amount of information we deal with on a daily basis. All that knowledge is out there. For society to move forward, we need a better way to process it, and store it more densely," Manoharan said. "Although these projections are stable — they'll last as long as none of the carbon dioxide molecules move — this technique is unlikely to revolutionize storage, as it's currently a bit too challenging to determine and create the appropriate pattern of molecules to create a desired hologram," the authors cautioned. Nevertheless, they suggest that "the practical limits of both the technique and the data density it enables merit further research."

In 2000, it was Hari Manoharan, Christopher Lutz and Donald Eigler who first experimentally observed quantum mirage at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. In physics, a quantum mirage is a peculiar result in quantum chaos. Their study in a paper published in Nature, states they demonstrated that the Kondo resonance signature of a magnetic adatom located at one focus of an elliptically shaped quantum corral could be projected to, and made large at the other focus of the corral.


text:
Talk:Stanford physicists print smallest-ever letters 'SU' at subatomic level of 1.5 nanometres tall

I CREATED this interesting news article on SU and nanothechnology. I am Philippines Judge Florentino Floro, having registered with Wikinews on December 3, 2008, and is a Editor as of January 12, 2009.
 * In having written more than "62 articles" (here - User:Florentino Floro/MyList and in Wikipedia Encyclopedia User:Florentino Floro/MyList2), I live with my Philosophy and hope to elevate Wikinwews to the phenomenal success of Wikipedia encyclopedia, by writing very comprehensive, detailed and fully synthesized news, amid collaboration of editors and the final touch of the reviewer. Please do not be annoyed if sometimes, (due to stress and human factor - plus the fact that as lawyer and judge, I never ever had enrolled in any journalism subject), I would tend to relax the copyright rules and style guide, but, without however, violating the SPIRIT AND INTENT of both international law of copyright, and Wikinews rules on style guide. REST ASSURED, that in writing every news article, I VALUE fairness, justice, integrity and honesty. This is what NEWS WRITING is all about. Please help in publishing this news. Cheers.--Florentino Floro (talk) 11:52, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

The question we're all wondering
How many times could you fit Wikipedia on a pin head? :P Bawolff ☺☻ 08:07, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, if you read the following links, all of these started from the 1959 twin challenge with $ 1,000 prize. Some other sources:

Smallest-Ever Letters Are 1.5 Nanometres Tall Physicists produce world's smallest lettering that is just 1.5 nanometers tall Stanford Uni writes world's smallest letters Stanford scientists are downsizing champs: They've generated world's smallest writing Indian-American physicist helps craft world's sub-atomic writing Unlimited information storage may soon be a reality Stanford University physicists' subatomic writing breaks record, and opens a new door to computing's future
 * Putting Wikipedia English Encyclopedia in 1.5 nm letters, might be very difficult, for reasons: a) it is online, and the scientific article deals with physical papers, like CD's page one, and b) assuming ex gratia argumenti that Wiki Enc. could be printed or its online version could be nanoimprinted, still, I am certain ... the talk pages and pages which deal with editor discipline/blocking which are filled to the brim with anger, hatred and vengeance, that not even the Count of Monte Christo could have imagined today - could not be ... While this planet is populated with idiots, savants, exhibitionists, pedo priests of CA and San Diego, skeptics, agnostics, mystics, scientists amid the Holy Pontiff's Natzi image revealing the past holocaust, we are not dealing here with rocket science ... and I dare say that this earth is not only for humans and animals but for elementals, ghosts, UFO's and aliens, alike. Let me quote a passage from the Wikipedia Holy English Bible:

 * Note: The internet cafe I use here in Bulacan is shared. There are some Wikipedians who use the same, and only one IP address is provided for more than 40 PCs. But of course I cannot rebut the strong and angry comment of the editor, since as I wrote in the article, the secret of Wikipedia's phenomenal success is freedom and openness. Just sayin. Pardon, if this reply is too long, and biased.--Florentino Floro (talk) 11:19, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Exceptionally long quote
Quoting the entire conclusion does not seem very news-like. --SVTCobra 00:02, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, I do agree. When I was developing this article, I found the quote too large. But when I finished the development for review, and after reading and shrinking into this article, ALL the news reports, the finished for review product became large enough, such that I even had to add-put the additional image I uploaded. I wanted to trim some sentences of the quote from the conclusion, but, since I had only one subject in college physics, I was afraid, that - since readers of this article would be scientists - they might criticize the amendment - since I found that if I would shorten the conclusion, some critical parts might be torn down. Hence, I left the discretion to the peer view, since, neutrality requires the CREATOR to be off limits the final touch to the article. Thanks for your terse comment. Cheers.--Florentino Floro (talk) 07:18, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


text: Talk:Canadian National buys Chicago railroad


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Talk:Heavy snow fall disrupts UK transportation and communications

Storm?
I'm pretty sure this isn't a "storm". It's mostly showers and small weather fronts pushing in from the south east. Air pressure is no way near low enough for it be a storm and the winds are relatively calm. Please change the headline. Jolly Ω Janner  17:59, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Winter storm or snow storms are not associated with wind. It is a weather event where large amounts of snow fall. If there were combined with strong winds it would be a blizzard. --SVTCobra 18:10, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * No major reliable British sources refer to it as a "snow storm". Only Wikinews and CNN appear. Jolly Ω Janner  18:22, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * We don't call heavy snow falls "snow storms" in the UK. It seems to be an Americanism. Redvers (talk) 18:29, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * If you say so. --SVTCobra 19:26, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Same naming discussion appearing at en:wiki, UK met office is using the term "snow event". KTo288 (talk) 17:07, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I've replied there about it. Jolly Ω Janner  20:57, 6 February 2009 (UTC)


text: Talk:American swimmer Michael Phelps laments "bad judgment" in marijuana controversy


text:
Barclays Bank credit rating cut by Moody's

February 2, 2009

An international credit ratings agency has downgraded the creditworthiness of British bank Barclayslse: BARC

The bank's shares fell on the news that Moody's had cut long-term debt ratings from "Aa1" to "Aa3" on the back of fears of nationalization, significant losses and write downs of more bad loans as the recession bites. The bank's financial strength was also downgraded from "C" to "B". Last week, another agency, Fitch, downgraded the bank one step to "AA-minus".

Barclays is one of the few major "High Street" banks in the UK not to have taken any government capital support. The support is given in return for shares, giving the government significant - sometimes even controlling - stakes in other banks, such as Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Moody's said that the downgrades "reflect [our] expectation of potentially significant further losses at Barclays as a result of write-downs on credit market exposures as well as an increase in impairments in the UK, which could weaken profitability and capital ratios... [we consider] the systemic importance of the bank and the likelihood of receiving government support in case of need to be high."

The bank has forecast a pre-tax profit of £5.3 billion for 2008. It has £36 billion in committed capital equity and expects gross write downs of £8 billion. The bank has recently been referred to the UK's Serious Fraud Office over allegations of breaching South Africa's foreign exchange controls, something the bank denies.


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Eurovision '82 winner Nicole talks about 'Ein bißchen Frieden', her success and the Contest today

February 2, 2009

It has been nearly 27 years since Nicole, then a high school student from the Saarland in extreme western Germany, sang a heartfelt plea for world peace on the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. That simple message was wrapped with success; she became the first German in Contest history to take home the grand prize. The song was a brainchild of her former record producer, Ralph Siegel, and would be their greatest achievement in their nearly three-decade partnership.

Afterward, she was propelled to stardom across Europe by recording versions of her winning song, "Ein bißchen Frieden" (A little peace), in many European languages. To this day, it was the last winning Eurovision song to top the charts in the United Kingdom; it also has the distinction of being the 500th #1 single on the British charts.

This newfound fame brought her music to audiences across Europe, and in time, into Asia as well. By the end of the 1980s, however, her fame subsided somewhat and she refocused her career domestically. Since 1980, she has released over 30 albums in Germany; her most recent offering, Mitten ins Herz (Right into your heart), was accompanied by a three-month "unplugged" tour that ended in the third week of January.

Now off the road, Nicole spoke with Wikinews '  Mike Halterman about her past success, her life and career today, and her overall impressions of the Eurovision Song Contest, both past and present. This is the first in a series of interviews with past Eurovision contestants, which will be published sporadically in the lead-up to mid-May's next contest in Moscow.

Early career
''' You started out performing at the age of 6. Was this an interest you really wanted to pursue at such a young age? Did you ever feel pressured by your family in any way to succeed musically, or were they very supportive?'''

Nicole: Actually, I started out performing at the age of 4. When I got my first applause, it was clear to me what my profession would be, and my family gave me the utmost support.

 When did you start to consider music as a full-time career?

Nicole: At the age of 16, after the great success I had with my first record, Flieg nicht so hoch, mein kleiner Freund (Don't fly so high, my little friend).

''' You started your partnership with Ralph Siegel back when you were 16. How did he decide to give you a record contract? Did you have any doubts about signing it?'''

Nicole: He was the first one who believed in me after hearing my voice and I had no doubt that he was the right person for a [musical] partnership.

Eurovision '82 and mainstream success
 Did any of your inspirations and goals change when you signed your record contract, or appeared in Eurovision?

Nicole: I was trying to find my own way. After I signed my record contract everything changed. Especially after winning the Eurovision Song Contest.

 Were you ever torn about eventually putting your singing over your guitar skills?

Nicole: I liked playing the guitar in "Ein bißchen Frieden". It was a good combination, wasn't it? Afterwards I put the guitar "into the corner" so I could be more mobile on stage.

''' The bookmakers Ladbrokes had the United Kingdom as the favorite to win back in 1982. Going into the Contest, especially knowing that Germany hadn't won at that point, did you feel daunted?''' Nicole: I expected to win. After the first rehearsal, everybody could feel the magic of the song and its message. It was my song!

''' Many of the songs and performers who performed for Germany before you performed sweeping ballads, with dramatic melodies, in sometimes very showy performances. And here you come in, a young girl from the Saarland, guitar in hand, singing a modest offering, asking for peace. Do you feel the lack of complexity in the song and performance perhaps gave it a special kind of appeal?'''

Nicole: I was honest in everything [I said] and sang what the people were thinking at that time. Asking for peace was also in their minds.

''' During the 1980s, you had a string of hits in Germany, and released singles and albums across Europe and into Asia as well. Whose idea was it to give you exposure in Asia?'''

Nicole: It was the idea of the record company and Ralph Siegel.

''' Did you have pleasant experiences doing promotional tours over there? What thing do you remember most fondly?'''

Nicole: We went to the Tokyo Yamaha Festival and won second place there with "So viele Lieder sind in mir" (There are so many songs inside me). I learned to introduce myself [to people] in Japanese. That's what I remember fondly and I haven't forgotten one word to this day.

''' You've continued to release albums nearly every year since the early 1980s, but a lot of your mainstream chart success ended in that decade as well. Did you feel discouraged when that started to happen?'''

Nicole: Not really. I've now been in this business for 29 years. I take it as an Olympic swimming competition. There's an A-final and a B-final. You don't have to be first every time, but you have to take care and swim with the others in the A-final.

Career today
''' In many European circles, "schlager" is almost looked upon as if it were a dirty word, synonymous with "uncool" or "out of touch." Do you feel that common threads in schlager songs (namely love and feelings) get stigmatized and mocked, and do you think that's fair?'''

Nicole: That doesn't faze me much. To me, the audience is the most important thing. I did an unplugged tour a few weeks ago with all the songs from the last three decades. It was fantastic to get standing ovations (nearly 20 minutes every evening).

 Where was your favorite place to perform?

Nicole: The best place to perform was the "Schmidt's Tivoli" in Hamburg where we also recorded the "Live DVD."

''' In your long career, you have released over 30 albums. Do you have any regrets as far as directions your career has taken? If you could do anything over again, would you?'''

Nicole: I would do the same all over again, no doubt!

General thoughts about Eurovision
 And 27 years later, you remain the only Eurovision winner from Germany.

Nicole: In 1982, it was the right song, with the right girl, at the right place. As I said before, it was a three-minute magic moment when I was on stage. An honest girl with an honest authentic song, telling a message everybody understood.

''' Some of the German performers and entries in recent years had inventive themes, especially Roger Cicero's swing song and Texas Lightning's country performance. How do you feel about these "theme" entries?'''

Nicole: In my opinion, every artist should be authentic, no matter what kind of song.

''' Do you feel the allegations of "bloc voting," favoring Eastern European countries over Western European countries (of which Germany is a part), are true? Also with the advent of telephone voting, do you feel the Contest has drifted in a direction where Eurovision is no longer "about the song"?'''

Nicole: Yes, it's true. The eastern European countries obviously support each other with the so-called "bloc voting." It's now a political affair and no longer a "song contest."

 Do you ever see yourself returning to the Eurovision stage as the German representative?

Nicole: No. I can't top being #1.

''' Will you be a part of the German delegation going to Moscow this year? If no decision has been made yet, would you like to go?'''

Nicole: I haven't been asked yet, but of course I would like to be a part of the German delegation. Eurovision is still on my mind.

 In closing, what would you like to say to all of your fans who have followed your career these past three decades?

Nicole: I want to thank all my fans for their loyalty and believing in me and my music. Thanks for walking side by side with me through the years.

Source
Interview mit Nicole, der Grandprix-Gewinnerin des Jahres 1982, über „Ein bißchen Frieden“, ihren Erfolg und ihre heutige Sicht des Wettbewerbs


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€8bn bank bailout in Ireland

February 2, 2009

The government of Ireland plans to inject €4 billion each into the Bank of Ireland and the Allied Irish Bank.

An insurance scheme to underwrite bad debts would also be created and the banks will attempt to raise €1 billion from shareholders. The two banks have been in need of recapitalization for several weeks. The government had previously offered €2 billion. The deal will see the government take on up to €24 billion of risk from speculative property loans by the banks.

The government has already moved to nationalize the country's third largest bank, Anglo Irish.

title: €8bn bank bailout in Ireland


text:
Talk:Eurovision '82 winner Nicole talks about 'Ein bißchen Frieden', her success and the Contest today

Original reporting
E-mail interview done between Mike Halterman (in Tampa, Florida) and Nicole (in Neunkirchen, Saarland, Germany), in the last week of January 2009. Special thanks to Christel Knorrn, Nicole's publicist at Sony BMG GmbH in Munich, and to Winfried Seibert. Mike Halterman (talk) 12:49, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I received an email copy from an can verify this. Cirt (talk) 15:45, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Bernd Meinunger
editprotected

This article mentions Ralph Siegel, but there is no mention of his co-writer, Bernd Meinunger (https://hitparade.ch/song/Nicole/Ein-bisschen-Frieden-833) GravityIsForSuckers (talk) 21:39, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Are you saying there's an error in the article, or expressing a wish that there be additional information? --Pi zero (talk) 21:50, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * expressing a wish that there be additional information. GravityIsForSuckers (talk) 22:04, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If we find an error in an archived article, we issue a correction; but, even then, we do not make substantive changes to archived articles. (See WN:ARCHIVE.) --Pi zero (talk) 22:41, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Ah, I understand. I considered it an error of omission. This statement, "The song was a brainchild of her former record producer, Ralph Siegel, and would be their greatest achievement in their nearly three-decade partnership." appears to me to be inaccurate, since it wasn't only "their" achievement, because the song was also written by Bernd Meinunger (and produced by Robert Jung). However, I accept your decision. Thank you for the explanation. -- GravityIsForSuckers (talk) 22:58, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * If it's an error, we should address it; this seems to me to depend on what Meinunger's role was in the creation of the song. As best I can tell, the source you've linked says the song was "written" by the due of Siegel and Meinunger, which does not necessarily preclude the song being the brainchild of Siegel.  Do we have more in-depth information about this? --Pi zero (talk) 23:20, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I won't dispute whether or not it was Siegel's brainchild (although there's no citation in the article that shows the source of that statement). As far as who created the song, it seems to be universally accepted that it was a joint effort.

 * From the Ralph Siegel article: "In 1982, Siegel's and Bernd Meinunger's song Ein bißchen Frieden (A Little Peace), performed by Nicole won the Contest and became a hit in Europe."

 * And a quote from a BBC article: "After coming second for the previous two years Germany's efforts paid off and they won a decisive victory with Nicole singing "Ein bisschen Frieden". The song secured writers Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger a place in Eurovision history, writing eighteen songs between them in all, thirteen of which were for Germany."

 * So if altering the existing statement in the article about it being the "brainchild" of Siegel is not appropriate, it might be appropriate to mention in another location to mention that Siegel was not the song's sole creator, but a partnership or collaboration with Meinunger. -- GravityIsForSuckers (talk) 23:42, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

 * Given this was a Mike Halterman article, I wouldn't casually suppose a careless error in this case. I'm not taking a position "against" correction; but the threshold for doing so is not low.  I may attempt to look into the matter further, though not instantly as there are other on-wiki tasks I need to give some time this evening. --Pi zero (talk) 23:58, 22 December 2020 (UTC)


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User talk:Fluteflute

Welcome
Welcome to Wikinews! Redvers (talk) 12:52, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Fluteflute


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Comments:Norwegian museum claims Adolf Hitler drew Disney cartoons on painting

what?
what has Adolf Hitler got to do with walt disney!?!


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Comments:Israeli military launches airstrikes into Gaza Strip

Comments open, commence shit storm ... NOW!


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Comments:American swimmer Michael Phelps laments "bad judgment" in marijuana controversy

Marijuana is only a nickname for cannabis, and brings a negative connotation. I think Wikinews should set itself apart from other news outlets and use the correct name for the plant. It's hard I know. Every health class I've ever had has strictly used "marijuana" in the textbooks and in discussion. I wonder why? 24.30.16.34 15:37, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, every news source quoted at the foot of this article uses the word marijuana. I think our goal - and that of other news sources - is to use terms everybody understands without resorting to slang. Marijuana fits with this - understood more than cannabis, not slang like pot. Redvers (talk) 16:15, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Without digging into the origins of the term marijuana, I cannot say if it is a nickname, or a name from another culture/language. Cannabis is very widely known, and is actually the name of the plant; I feel this would have been the more appropriate term to use unless marijuana actually means cannabis dried and ready for consumption. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:44, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia's attitude to this is interesting and is almost exactly as you describe. Their article on Cannabis is specifically about the plant, which has other uses and a history separate from the drug. Marijuana is a redirect to Cannabis (drug), an article specifically about the, er, medicinal uses of the plant. So marijuana is considered by Wikipedia to be the prepared form of the cannabis plant. I don't advocate us following their choices in things per se, but this does seem to be a useful compromise to avoid confusion. And, as I say, all the sources for the article use the word marijuana rather than cannabis. Redvers (talk) 16:55, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Marijuana is a better use since it also indicates the form in which Phelps is alleged to have consumed cannabis. What negative connotation does marijuana have that cannabis doesn't have??? Many people I know have positive connotations with marijuana. --SVTCobra 17:07, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Marijuana is defined as cannabis, yet no article I've read on Phelp's obvious use chooses to use the word. Obviously, it's not incorrect to use the term marijuana, but I'm just surprised. Cured and dried marijuana flowers are the same as cured and dried cannabis flowers. Maybe people know what marijuana is, but don't know what it is: cannabis. As for the negative connotation, I guess it's subjective.24.30.16.34 17:19, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Marijuana in my understanding is the flowering tops of male and female cannabis plants. Hashish, for distinction, is made from the trichomes of cannabis plants. --SVTCobra 17:28, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Marijuana is a term which I believe is more prevalent in the US. It is cannabis which is ready to be smoked. Cannabis buds or leaves cannot be removed from a plant and immediately smoked, they must first be dried (Don't try and do it in the oven kids, you'll end up with something that makes you feel you're sucking on the tailpipe of a car without a catalytic converter and, as a consequence, you'll be coughing up a lung). Hashish is a resin produced by processing cannabis plants, weight-for-weight it pretty much has the same potency as the plant but has the advantage that it is more dense and thus less bulky than unprocessed plant material - very useful for smugglers, plus it doesn't have a shelf life. --Brian McNeil / talk 19:19, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

He can smoke as much weed as he wants.

Big deal
It bothers me that the U.S. wastes so much time and effort on propagandizing something like this, despite the fact that most people are doing it regardless of its legal status, and now prominent media figures feel they have some moral duty to issue a public apology when they have a "lapse in judgment." I honestly doubt Phelps agrees with U.S. policies on recreational drug-use, and I'm pretty sure he's going to continue using marijuana despite this controversy. Why should anybody care? If the guy lived in Canada, then this wouldn't even be newsworthy. 74.242.119.77 23:34, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

 * This happens no matter what the 'lapse' is for public figures. It could be an extra-marital affair (which is legal) or a drunk-driving incident (illegal and unfortunately too common). It even happens if they say or do something that is less than politically correct (see Prince Harry. And it is not isolated to the US. It used to be you had to live in a small town to know "everything about everyone" but thanks to the internet it is going global. He was stupid to do it in front of people he didn't know well enough to trust they wouldn't take pictures and publicize them. --SVTCobra 23:53, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

As a Marijuana prescribed patient in CA
As a Marijuana prescribed patient in CA I truely see the benifit of it medically. Also I have driven drunk and driven stoned. I have much more control after a few bowls in an hour than a few shots. I can hit the gas and brake just fine. I know what is around me and am aware of others I can feed my self and I can go to the bathroom by my self with out falling over. Being stoned is No where close to being Drunk

Personally I dont see the big deal other than it makes you cough hard(when you got the good stuff),which can cause internal damage. If people in america especially but more over the world would lighten up and relize what really is bad and not then we might be able to move together as a society. NO ONE HAS O.D.ed FROM WEED......EVER!!!!!!!!!EVER!!!!!!!!! I have tried and so have millions of others. In fact 20,000,000 people try marijuana every year, Yes that is 20 million, 7 zero's.

I feel that in life children have roll models all the time pick a new one.He is human and makes mistakes why judge and you people act as though you are perfect.Life tells us we are supposed to love our children,love our parents,but when our children are born we dont even know them.They have'nt a character yet,is this not why parents kill thier kids and vise versa!Frankly although i am niether black or white i am glad to see the white boy got caught.Mind you i wish him no harm it is always good to have a little gossip.I only hope Obama is no where near a camera phone,camcorder,Monica,or any other equipment that might incriminate him. small>—Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.84.18.152 (talk) 09:11, 8 February 2009 (UTC)


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Nuclear sites close as more UK workers walkout

February 2, 2009 Workers at two nuclear facilities in the United Kingdom walked out today in the continuing row about foreign workers.

Contract staff at the Sellafield nuclear recycling facility in Cumbria walked out this morning. They were joined by staff at Heysham nuclear power station in neighbouring Lancashire. Workers at sites affected by industrial action last week walked out again today, with 200 leaving the Fiddlers Ferry Power Station in Cheshire and a further 1,000 at Grangemouth oil refinery and Longannet power station.

The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown had condemned the wildcat action on Sunday, calling it "counterproductive". This drew criticism from unions and opposition parties as he had previously promised "British jobs for British workers" at the Labour Party's conference in 2008. Brown has insisted that clarification of European Union law and European Court of Justice decisions will allow people to see that discrimination doesn't take place in future.

The Secretary of State for Business Lord Mandelson has backed the site's owners Total S.A., telling the BBC that the company had "very strongly refuted" the allegations and that he believed them to be right. He added that the media was "feeding this xenophobia". He added that he hoped the rebuttal would calm the situation, saying "I hope in the light of that people will be reassured and call off these unofficial disputes".

This drew an angry reaction from the GMB union. General Secretary Paul Kenny said "Peter Mandelson is in denial about the nature of the problem that has given rise to the dispute. Overseas companies are refusing to employ UK nationals on projects in the UK. That is not right".

Lord Mandelson's shadow, Kenneth Clarke, also condemned the strikes on behalf of the opposition Conservative Party, saying "I understand people being worried about their jobs. I don't think this is the right way to demonstrate it". Some Labour MPs, however, have expressed more sympathy with the strikers. Health Secretary Alan Johnson called for EU law to be changed to stop global companies undercutting local wage rates, while former minister Frank Field said "This form of contract clearly cannot go on, where contracts are awarded and there's free movement of companies but those companies then restrict who can apply for those jobs". Another former minister, Peter Hain, also sided with the strikers, blaming the government for "gold plating" EU law (making EU-derived laws stronger or stricter than the original directive) and telling them to "stick up for British workers". The leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg sounded a warning note about changing British or EU law, saying that "any attempt to ban EU citizens from jobs in Britain would be a massive own goal. If every EU country followed suit, we would have to cope with a massive influx of British people who work overseas".

The unofficial protests began on Friday, when workers in industrial plants across the country walked out in sympathy with the staff at Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire. The refinery are striking over the awarding of a contract by the French-owned site to an Italian company. This led to 200-300 Italian and Portuguese workers arriving at the plant. Unions allege that British workers were actively prevented from applying for the jobs.

Protests have continued today outside the refinery.


text: Talk:Barclays Bank credit rating cut by Moody's


text: Talk:Nuclear sites close as more UK workers walkout


text: Talk:€8bn bank bailout in Ireland

title: Talk:€8bn bank bailout in Ireland


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User talk:Marissaanshutz

Welcome
Welcome to Wikinews. Your article about Matt hermer has several problems for our news site. First, it doesn't appear to be news - it seems to be a press release. Second, it reads like you are selling something. For those reasons, I have proposed that it be deleted. If you need help and advice, the box above has links to some useful pages, of you can ask me on my talk page. Thanks. Redvers (talk) 17:20, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Marissaanshutz


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User:Shirulashem

I'm pretty active in English Wikipedia and I've just started in WikiNews.

title: User:Shirulashem


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User:Hunyadym

Hunyadym@Huwiki

title: User:Hunyadym


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Comments:Discworld author films his battle with Alzheimer's

Why can’t I watch this documentary over the internet?
It’s well past time for all serious broadcasters to rethink how they operate and expand their notions about who their audience is. I want to see this documentary and in a timely manner.

The BBC should be streaming it out to all of Terry’s fans, to Alzheimer’s suffers and their families, and all other interested parties across the globe.

 * Alas the same thing applies in reverse for those of us in the UK who keep seeing adverts online saying "Watch all new XXXXXXXX now on fox.com/cbs.com/abc.com/nbc.com" etc. We can't, as it threatens revenue for the broadcasters. Even the ones with advertising know that advertising US products to the UK doesn't make any money. Although the worse thing, for me, is how the BBC iPlayer in the UK also doesn't include foreign imports - so Family Guy means familyguyx for me... Redvers (talk) 19:34, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

According the article cited on the wikipedia article on posterior cortical atrophy,PCA isn't the same thing as Alzheimer's disease. —207.164.4.52 19:11, 23 February 2009 (UTC)


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User talk:Shirulashem

Welcome
--Brian McNeil / talk 19:24, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Shirulashem


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Comments:Eurovision '82 winner Nicole talks about 'Ein bißchen Frieden', her success and the Contest today

She's hot...


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Man arrested in India after mid-air hijack threat on domestic flight

February 3, 2009 An Indian man has been arrested after threatening to hijack the domestic flight on which he was traveling on Sunday February 1. The flight was traveling between New Delhi and Goa in India. The IndiGo Airlines Airbus A320 was coming in to land at the time.

Jitendra Kumar has been charged with criminal intimidation and endangering life and personal safety. Another man and a woman were also detained but not charged. The jet moved to a quiet area of Gandhi International Airport where armed security forces surrounded it, arresting Kumar, who was unarmed.

The jet was carrying 160 people when Kumar, who stood up and refused to sit down when asked by flight attendants. He instead threatened to blow the aircraft up. It was suspected he may be drunk, but he was instead found to have low blood pressure. The other two were arrested as they had been seen speaking to Kumar earlier.

All passengers disembarked safely after about three hours. If convicted, Kumar faces up to seven years in prison. Indian airports and security remain on high alert after terrorist attacks in Mumbai saw gunmen kill 164 people on November 26.


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Comments:Heavy snow fall disrupts UK transportation and communications

This is, a London-centric article. A lot of places in the UK had snow today, yet remained fairly normal, with only schools closing in some places.

This article is focusing on the issues of London and the South East, and presenting it as if it was the only place that had heavy snowfalls. It is quite important to show that the rest of the country that did have snowfalls did in fact, just get on with it, and managed to run transport services, despite the weather.

 * I'd go further and say the whole article is back-page stuff. "Snow falls in winter" is hardly headline-worthy. --128.243.253.111 00:45, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Snow, to this extent, is rare in the UK 82.69.90.226 18:48, 7 February 2009 (UTC)


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Australian teenager sentenced to three months in jail for graffiti

February 4, 2009

On January 11, 2009, an 18-year-old teenager was arrested for writing her nickname, "2shie", on a wall in a café near Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia. After the arrest, the teenager, Cheyene Back, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly damaging property.

Cheyene Back had been captured on a closed-circuit security camera at the "Hyde Park Cafe" on Macquarie Street, when she and friends wrote on the wall. Robert Napoli, a co-defendant, has had his case adjourned. They were arrested by police outside the café.

On Tuesday, Magistrate Ian McRae sentenced Back to three months in jail for her offences, even though Back is a first-time offender in the eyes of the court. Back, who is from Daceyville, immediately lodged an appeal and has been freed on unconditional bail until the appeal is heard.

The owner of the café, Song Wang, is seeking A$200 in compensation for the damages, however, she does not believe the jail sentence is appropriate.

"Give them more education, provide more education, and let them do some community service," she said. Nevertheless, Back and her friends are habitual offenders, according to Wang.

"This group did came [sic] to my cafe every week around Wednesday or Thursday, once a week," she said. "One day the girl made [graffiti] just inside the toilet and all over the walls and smashed my mirror. They even got on the roof, I don't know how they did that, it was all over."

"You know it was really frustrating when she did it, but the whole group did it, not just her," Wang said. "I think it's a little bit harsh ... Maybe she can do some community work or something, such as letting her clean all the graffiti off, let her know how hard the work is she makes [sic]."

New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees welcomed the jail term. He says everywhere he goes, graffiti is a problem.

"This sends a message that it's not something that the community regards as a frivolous offence," Rees said. "It is something that affects not only the aesthetic but people's sense of safety around the place if they see graffiti around and they think there is other anti-social behaviour going with it. I think a three-month jail term is absolutely appropriate."

Professor Chris Cunneen, a criminologist at the University of New South Wales says the jail sentence does not match the scale of the crime.

"In the adult courts, a normal sort of penalty in relation to that offence would be a fine of some sort and some form of restitution for the property owner," Cunneen said.

According to anti-vandalism group "Graffiti Hurts", graffiti costs Australian taxpayers A$500 million each year.


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User talk:202.83.33.216

"PuKaSa" as you contributed is not news. Please do no re-add it. --SVTCobra 02:32, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:202.83.33.216


title: File:3February2009.pdf


text: Talk:Man arrested in India after mid-air hijack threat on domestic flight


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Talk:Yahoo announces closure of Briefcase

typo
editprotected typo superceded--Billymac00 (talk) 22:31, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

 * ✅, thanks. --Pi zero (talk) 22:38, 11 September 2014 (UTC)


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Shoe thrown at Chinese PM during speech at Cambridge University in the UK

February 3, 2009 An unnamed 27-year-old man has been arrested and charged with "public order offenses" after he threw a shoe at the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao while he was giving a speech at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom on Monday February 2. The speech was related to China's and the world economy titled See China in the Light of Her Development. Wen was on a seven day tour of Europe, his final stop being the University.

The man yelled "dictator" and asked the crowd, "how can this university prostitute itself with this dictator here, how can you listen...to him unchallenged," as he threw the shoe at the prime minister. Wen called the incident "despicable". The shoe did not hit Wen, but landed a few feet from where he was standing.

"His [the man's] behavior met strong opposition of the entire audience. He was booed and taken away. The whole audience gave long and warm applause to Premier Wen for his excellent speech. The facts demonstrate that the despicable conduct of this troublemaker will win no sympathy, and will not hold back the tide of friendly cooperation between China and Britain," said the Chinese government in a statement posted on their website.

The University has also apologized for the incident saying, "[we] are very sorry that the incident happened and the person will be dealt with according to law. The university is a place for discussion, debate and considered argument, not for shoe throwing". According to authorities, there was never any real threat to the prime minister. The man will appear before a judge on February 10.

On Sunday December 14, 2008, an Iraqi journalist for an Egyptian Newspaper named Muntazer al-Zaidi was tackled by authorities after he threw his shoes at former United States president George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad. Bush had made a surprise last visit to Iraq to sign a new security pact brokered by Iraq and the U.S. Bush ducked as the flying shoes zipped past him, barely missing the now former U.S. president.

In Arabic culture, hitting or throwing shoes at someone so the soles hit them is considered a great insult. In 2003, when Iraqi citizens tore down the statue of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad, they began to smack it with the soles of their shoes.


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Talk:Shoe thrown at Chinese PM during speech at Cambridge University in the UK

Category request
editprotected Following this discussion with user:Brian McNeil, would someone mind adding Category:University of Cambridge? Bencherlite (talk) 20:43, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

 * ✅ Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 20:56, 5 December 2009 (UTC)


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Comments:Shoe thrown at Chinese PM during speech at Cambridge University in the UK

Well, this shoe-throwing guy has little knowledge of Chinese politics. Wen Jiabao is generally seen as a reformer in the CCP. By hitting the old man, he may well have crushed his own foot of spreading democracy and human rights in China. It is also pathetic when it comes to the question of democracy, more and more people are resorting to "violent" behavior rather than a candid discussion/argument, the real pinnacle of democratic politics.
 * In China, we believe that Wen has no political power as a PM already. The role he plays in CCP currently is just a moral old man to show somthing "new deal wish" to the people, and to cool down the society's anger. --1j1z2 (talk) 10:35, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Guess that George bush's acciedent had a good effict on people all over the world.

Favorite
"His [the man's] behavior met strong opposition of the entire audience. He was booed and taken away. The whole audience gave long and warm applause to Premier Wen for his excellent speech. The facts demonstrate that the despicable conduct of this troublemaker will win no sympathy, and will not hold back the tide of friendly cooperation between China and Britain," said the Chinese government in a statement posted on their website.
 * I love someone who takes actions on the genocide of Tibet, while the whole world loved it when Georgie Bush gets a shoe and because of him Iraq has democracy.Love the way the works this days.--66.229.21.217 14:55, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I believe the student threw the shoe in protest of Communism, not Tibet. In any case, he should not have resorted to violence.--75.16.237.125 22:54, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Uh, Georgie's involvement with the invasion of Iraq was rubber-stamping the orders and trying to sell it to the U.S. public. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, and a bunch of other people had decided Iraq needed levelling while Clinton was still in power. Being hopelessly naive, they thought they could get away with toppling an entrenched dictator and the people would welcome them with open arms. This was secondary, the key objective was to send a message globally of, "We are American - we can kick your butt". One of the key reasons Iraqis seem to have taken to the recent elections is that is the only realistic way they're going to get the Americans out. They hate GWB, most of the Shias still haven't forgiven his father for stopping supporting them when Kuwait was liberated.
 * Of course, this has little to do with a student throwing a shoe at the Chinese PM. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:25, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Will Iraq abandon democratic elections once the US is out? I mean, if that is the key motivation for the participating in them ... --SVTCobra 23:46, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Violence? Perspective.
Compared to the the massive and small acts of violence that this regime is responsible of and has been responsible of for decades, a flying shoe is little more than a small gesture. Which makes the reactions of the PM Wen and his government really interesting in my opinion. Instead of shrugging it off - as they probably should have - it is called a despicable act. A flying shoe, a random guy who yells dictator! Come on. Bush shrugged it off. It is 'despicable' because this guy is more right than wrong, and that's exactly the thing you can't do in China - critize and be right about it. We don't want to know what would have happened to him there. And that's exactly what gives this random incident significance. Some insight can be gained from it - into the mindset of people who control millions and millions of other people's lives. And I mean control. To them such an act is intolerable. As for the Uni that's on an other page... Make your own opinion. --boo (talk) 01:43, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Not to say what you said is wrong, but just to point out that before the communist takeover of China in 1949, the same words you said has been said of the Kuomintang by the communists. Look at how the communists are doing now. Violence never does justice to violence.

 * Of course. You're right. But here were talking about a shoe and words. It just doesn't compare. In terms of violence I mean. --92.104.189.63 18:21, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Are you guys (add expletive) kidding here, over wether the civil disobedience that the guy decided to serve justice for what is a non-violent crime by any stretch of the imagination. I mean this isn't that asian guy with the hat from the old James Bond movie that'll cut your head off, right? Is that comparable to contributing to the genocide in Sudan? Are you on drugs, I mean seriously, no offense meant but still really? 400,000 deaths... blah, blah... check me down the page. peace,N-

New bush
Huh, I think there is new Bush here.

lol

Why did the 27yr old shoe thrower, call the Chinese Prime Minister a "dictator?"
We could certainly imagine that there are crazy people out there who does strange or illegal things. This is not a completely random from of expression however.

People hit Saddam's statue with shoes after he was overthrown. Journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi threw his shoes at bush. An unnamed (27-year-old) man threw his shoe at Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao. UPDATE: "This is a scandal" as he interrupted Wen's speech from the back of the auditorium. "This dictator here, how can you listen to the lies he's telling? You are not challenging him," and "Stand up and protest,"

So let's consider the argument that in the case Saddam, bush and Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, shoe actions, might have been a protest for civil rights, even using civil disobedience. Somehow this or any motive is completely absent from this article. Isn't it the role of the news, press or god forbid, journalism, to relay not only facts but the opposing frames of the background of a conflict as a reference for the readers to develop a dialogue so they can ponder the evidence.

So let us consider PM, Wen Jiabao's civil rights record for a second. As a member of the Fourth generation or "republican generation" leadership he has had bush's support threw rebuke of Taiwan's president in 2003. Taiwan previously has strong support from the US maintaining its independence from China.

The following were from wikipedia & :

"We don't wish for foreign intervention, but we are not afraid of it." as an allusion to the United States' stance on Taiwan. -Wen

"Although the 1982 constitution guarantees freedom of speech,[6] the Chinese government often uses the subversion of state power clause to imprison those who are critical of the government"

"2007 the military budget rose 17.8 percent compared to the previous year"

"The Chinese government had promised to issue permits allowing people to protest in so-called 'protest parks' during the Games,[20] but on 18 August it was reported that of 77 applications, 74 were withdrawn, two suspended and one vetoed."

See this 2005 article: "China torture 'still widespread'" [] Wen's Premiership started in 2003.

"China is Sudan's largest economic partner, with a 40% share in their oil,[126] and also sells Sudan small arms." "In July 2008, the BBC reported that China is training fighter pilots for and selling army lorries to Sudan, in violation of the 2006 arms embargo."

In the "Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The reported tolls ranged from 200–300 (PRC government figures) and to 2,000–3,000 (Chinese student associations and Chinese Red Cross)." -wikipedia

"And what goes through Lu's mind when he sees the remarkable photograph of one man standing in front of a military tank?" "He represents to me and to countless millions of Chinese the fighting spirit of all men against tyranny," Lu says." "I saw the bodies of people who were killed," says Lu. People were mowed down for hours all across Beijing as they tried to stop the army from reaching the square. He says the number of those killed should be in the thousands, not in the hundreds." []

His comment "dictator" would've been better directed as "tyrant" since Wen works in a group structure, regardless of his populist break. It is defined in part as: Putting "the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population." It should be said that with the economic growth that China has experienced and there may have been some opening. Compared to the US prison system, there's is quiet modest.

"The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate,[3][4] and total documented prison population in the world.[5][6] As of year-end 2007, a record 7.2 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total, 2.3 million were incarcerated.[7] More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008. The People's Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million, while having four times the population, thus having only about 18% per the US incarceration rate." -

However there is always Tibet. This is from The Heritage Institute (a left wing rights organization): "If the matter of Tibet's sovereignty is murky, the question about the PRC's treatment of Tibetans is all too clear. After invading Tibet in 1950, the Chinese communists killed over one million Tibetans, destroyed over 6,000 monasteries, and turned Tibet's northeastern province, Amdo, into a gulag housing, by one estimate, up to ten million people. A quarter of a million Chinese troops remain stationed in Tibet. In addition, some 7.5 million Chinese have responded to Beijing's incentives to relocate to Tibet; they now outnumber the 6 million Tibetans. Through what has been termed Chinese apartheid, ethnic Tibetans now have a lower life expectancy, literacy rate, and per capita income than Chinese inhabitants of Tibet."

Is there probable cause, to believe there was a reason to believe beyond a reasonable doubt, that there might have been breech of civil rights in China, that the shoe throwing man might have been objecting to? Is it Ok to condemn one person for rights violations and not another, because they are from the same country as you or because they have loaned your government money?

Could there be a reson why only one man objected to the Prime Minister? Was there a dialogue with the Prime Minister as the Cambridge official suggested?

Is there a conflict between the rights of the: Chinese, especially Tibetans and Sudanese vs. the British relationship with China? England and China have been on opposite sides of Cold War, First and Second Opium War, and the status of Hong Kong. However Britain has made some concessions to China that are arguably not in the best interest of the people. "30 June-1 July 1997 - Return of Hong Kong to China." That with the, "One Country, Two Systems" Principle "29 October 2008 - HMG recognizes Tibet as an integral part of the PRC. It had previously only recognized Chinese suzerainty over the region." What China does for England? (I am getting at and will be back.)

Thank you for reading, Nick Wheeler, NYC—Nick Wheeler (talk) 12:28, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

if i would be pres.id kill him and c smith

I Think it's right for the universtiy to say sorry. Go China!!


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User:Vangelis

Vangelis-NL

title: User:Vangelis


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User talk:61.5.143.198

Bawolff ☺☻ 07:27, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:61.5.143.198


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User talk:Vangelis

Bawolff ☺☻ 07:27, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Vangelis


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Comments:Man arrested in India after mid-air hijack threat on domestic flight

It is possible that Jitender Kumar was either under some drug intoxication or was suffering from a Psychiatric illness for example manic psychosis. some abnormal personalities like those with histrionic personality traits under stress may take recourse to such behavior to come under the lime light. So before he is subjected to court proceedings and subsequent punishment he should undergo an evaluation for psychaitric illnesses and if necessary appropriate treatment. SOMNATH SENGUPTA

low blood pressure and affirmative defense
It is interesting to note that he was "found to have low blood pressure". Which could involve: blood pressure-lowering medications, many psychiatric medications, in particular antidepressants, increased activity at the brain-stem, aging or other disorder. I wonder if India has, and if Affirmative Defense would be used. In the US it roughly, concedes that yes, the action was committed but with a reason. Nick Wheeler, NYC-

the guy that "hijacked" the plane
wat an idiot don't threaten to hijack a plane just do it. freackin moron


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Comments:Baby in California born with 12 functioning fingers and toes, in a rare case of polydactylism

as much as a find the body of the story interesting and newsworthy i am never a great fan of using the "Holy Bible" as a source or quote.....seems much like an advertorial for christianity than news..i dont understand what relevance it has to the story...especially having it in bold highlighted boxes.Bjornengelhardt (talk) 09:15, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Six Fingers
The best thing to become is a piano player or a guitar player--99.182.21.54 07:33, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Favorable trait?
If this is a favorable trait to survival, maybe he and his descendants will create enough offspring that eventually over hundreds of thousands of years all humans will be born with 12 fingers and toes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.16.10.68 (talk) 01:11, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

it it a dominate gene?
you told us how it was more likely to occure in black males, but never did say if it was a dominate gene or not? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Weirdjrc (talk • contribs) 15:53, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

postaxial polydactyl
I was born with 6 fingers and 6 toes on each hand / foot, but they were removed at birth - I am a white male. My son, was born with 6 fingers on each hand, non functioning. My twin daughters we born 18 months later (non-identical) both had 6 fingers on each hand, non functioning, but one had 6 toes on each foot that were fully formed.

All digits were removed in their 1st year, mainly for safety, as they were non-functioning, we felt they could get caught and damaged. The functioning toes were removed because we felt that she might be picked on at school for being "different". Recently, (she, is now 30 months old) the joint where they were removed is causing her discomfort, and it looks larger than the other toe joints. My parents said that my toes started to re-grow as an infant - I'm not quite sure on this - I will keep a close eye.

Also, no-one in my immediate family (except the kids) have this - not my siblings, nor my parents, or their parents.


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User:Noliver

I primarily contribute to en.wikipedia, see my profile there.

title: User:Noliver