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User talk:Lyellin~enwikinews/Thoughts

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 * Stevertigo : IOW, what does Wikinews do exactly? The "central repository" idea is off IMHO. This isnt a MemoryHole to keep stuff in. We can't presume to get into news gathering or reporting, true: Indymedia has the ball on that one. We can however say that "WikiMedia" does Wiki right, and that Wiki might be right for a news project. It's a long-term experiment to see if the Wiki model can be applied to News editing. This is in contrast to a project like The New Standard, which is in a similar position of just starting out, rewriting existing stories from a more neutral POV, but has an editorial heirarchy and payscale, etc.

 * News requires more than speed, IMHO - it requires development before release. Development requires investigation, and investigation requires funding. I agree with the decision to do away with much of the cumbersome overhead process (with enourmous page headers to boot) - these dont work. It could just be that a MediaWiki is not conducive for an editorial portal as it is. It could be that degrees of privacy and security and a concentrated heirarchy and concensus-standards of editorialship are necessary to make for a "news source." Ideally this would be the place where Indymedia editors and writers might come to collaborate more openly for stories which it might run - but this would require that we change the notion of "non-ownership" to owned articles. Is that possible? Can there be places on Wikinews where only logged in editors can conspire to write stories - or where writers can keep private notes on the site, visible only to editors? On top of all of that, business news is about presentership and scoopage. "We got the news, they dont." I could go on, but if its about democratizing journalism, does this mean necesarily circumventing an editorial process? Balance?-Stevertigo 22:46, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * To address your first point - I see the repository as the very basic, most simple thing we can provide. It is one of many things, IMHO, but it's always good to list what you can do. I'll address the others a bit later, after dinner. :) Lyellin 23:15, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I don't know what IMHO means, and I know I have a lot to learn here, but I KNOW that this interface is the number one thing the world needs to make journalism what it needs to be. I was about to start it myself when I realized the hard part is done. I plan to help any way I can. sorry i don't know what to call myself--some of my edits are on another IP SORRY

 * IMHO = In My Humble Opinion. In order to get a name, go up to the upper right corner, click "create an account/log in". Make an account, then when you amke a comment like the one above, sign it like this ~ and your name and timestamp will appear. Use 3 ~'s for just your name. Lyellin 01:27, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * "...this interface is the number one thing the world needs to make journalism what it needs to be." Well, its an experiment. The idea for using a Wiki for an encyclopedia was obviously a good one. The idea for using it for news development or other fancy, forward, and witty things remains a challenge. There may be a need for it: There are problems with both commercial media and underfunded or independent blogs that may be able to be addressed through a platform which is somewhere inbetween. -Stevertigo 01:47, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I remember when there was no internet, but a bunch of bulletin boards that were essentially a file-sharing network. No one then would have imagined the evolution to the www. Basically, the internet is a big bulletin board that has superceded the smaller ones. The commercial nature of media has clearly made its journalistic role impossible. Seems to me all that's needed to make people come somewhere true for the truth is to provide it. The blogworld is disorganized and unorganizable. People can go to their favorite ones for opinions, but there is no system for integrating the reports of events around the world where they can be found at all, no less easily. If ebay could organize the categories of things to sell, and become a force in the marketplace, chiefly by the nature of its structure, why can't this site revolutionize what matters? IMNHO!

Hi Lyellin. I agree with most of what you say, especially the importance of quality, and the idea of looking to weekly magazines as a model rather than trying to compete with AP and Reuters (at least in the short term). I've written up my own piece saying the essentially same thing. My only criticism is there aren't really any ideas here on how to address this issue. Bureaus and Digests do not address the quality of the articles themselves. Changes to the review policy may help with accuracy, but will not address the fact that we are simply not providing much information or background to the stories we're putting out. Nor can we sit around and wait for more people, because only quality will bring, and keep people here. The piece I linked to has my idea on how to improve quality, though I'm beginning to doubt if my suggestion there would be enough. I'd be interested in your feedback, as well as ideas to specifically address improving quality. - TalkHard 00:39, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * "Quality of articles" depends on writing and editorial skills. Skills by definition are abilities which most people may not have. Thats not to say that they cant be learned or that Wikinews wouldnt be a good place to learn them. This is however to say that good writing is a skill and that good writers need to be both trusted with editorial powers over those less skilled, and be responsible for helping new writers develop. Professional level editors and writers will not be as at odds with each other about what can and should go into every story as newbies to internet forums are. Short news stories are written by solitary editors and writers in a few moments or even seconds. Real-time communication is essential. But where time is a factor, (as in news) the wiki model does not seem to work as it currently does for the encyclopedia. I imagine that in order to work, sysops must be entrusted with a lockdown ability for articles to freeze their excessive "development." We can each learn better the skill of writing and editing news articles, and this should make them pallatable for use as an RSS digest feed for all sorts of articles.

 * What do you guys think of the idea of using a story number system instead of titles - when they are done, they get a title, which is protected as final. Rewrites of that story get a new article number, and editors make the call as to whether they can be replaced. -Stevertigo 07:08, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * My response is, explain the improvement to service, please. Right now it seems ideal to me. Don't change a thing, as naive as it seems. The personality is truer to the beauty that is Wika, keeping things wordentified. Let's get to work on vital things like Wikimap... Wikimusic... Wikimedicine and I'm sure some more as critical, YES, but don't abandon this! It is already a thing of true Beauty, and so far participation is minimal. The real-time nature and the potential for massive amounts of participation will combine to make more and more sense if this catches on. The number of people that know about this, relative to the number of people that just don't, implies that there is a subset, only, of people who would make the effort that is necessary to carry this through the activation anergy, and they can only be reached by finding them in the first place. Let's have Wikipoll to find out if people don't like the way this works, and are thus not participating, as you seem to be presuming, IMHO, or are just not able to commit the time this requires, ...actually that's a good point, i'll shut up now so you all don't waste yours reading this babble. i'll get to writing articles so i can convince you, IMNHO, that i would make an excellent contribution working full time for 32 days. It so happens the people not up-to-speed, like me, are the ones you need to find out about this. And some of us can write when we're not rushing to hit save before we decide our thoughts might not be worth yours. Don't encourage that with your numbers and editors. Thanks for reading.
 * LOL - OK. Well if you were looking for a username, I suggest User:Scattered would be perfect for you at this time in your budding career. ;) -Stevertigo 22:33, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Lyellin~enwikinews/Thoughts


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Wikinews:Purpose

The Purpose of Wikinews is:

 * list...

News agency: (News) > Digest > First Report(A) > Editorial > Letters(P) ||         || Wikinews:||          || ||       Digest > Late Report(N) ||         ||              ||          ||        Blogs: << (News) Anecdotal,Theories(A) >> Comment >> (P)FB

Concepts: (A=authorship, N=NoAuthorship, P=Public feedback)

News agency to blog relationship is highly synergetic, whereas the concept of "editing" either news or comment remains paradoxical: Either something is a report or its a comment, both in the blog or news spheres.

Pro reporters benefit from blogs in a number of ways:
 * As shield - not alone in reporting an interpretation of news.
 * As a idea pool - reportage can confirm public suspicion.
 * As a vent - for airing comment which cannot be commercially reported.

Do pro reporters benefit from an open editing portal?
 * Reporters want byline ownership.
 * Editors want editorial control
 * Reporters want intimate/secure relationship with trusted editors.
 * Editors want scoops.
 * Reporters want to get paid.

 * The idea of taking a crummily written Indymedia story polishing it flies in the face of the notion that journalist have of ownership of story, Just editing crappy stories needs to work in the context of an existing framework. This means actually talking to 'establishment independent media.' Needs to be a process heirarchy in order to really work. Heirarchy means deference to standards of news.
 * Trying out a digest template - this should be the main export for Wikinews, considering the limited resources. The goal for the digest template is to fine tune a page which will be RSS pumped out to sources. The focus of Wikinews should be on the single template, with secondary attention paid to the linked stories. As main backbone for all article development, use up to 100 words each, maybe. We can use some markup to note which stories are at what stage of dev. Consolidate.

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

title: Wikinews:Purpose


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User:Stevertigo~enwikinews/Thoughts

 * The idea of taking a crummily written Indymedia story polishing it flies in the face of the notion that journalist have of ownership of story, Just editing crappy stories needs to work in the context of an existing framework. This means actually talking to 'establishment independent media.' Needs to be a process heirarchy in order to really work. Heirarchy means deference to standards of news.
 * Trying out a digest template - this should be the main export for Wikinews, considering the limited resources. The goal for the digest template is to fine tune a page which will be RSS pumped out to sources. The focus of Wikinews should be on the single template, with secondary attention paid to the linked stories. As main backbone for all article development, use up to 100 words each, maybe. We can use some markup to note which stories are at what stage of dev. Consolidate.

title: User:Stevertigo~enwikinews/Thoughts


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User talk:Stevertigo~enwikinews/Tensegrity

what is that reason the editor finds this unpublishable? ? I think it kicks ass. I remember casteneda's book, published shortly after he died. Seeing it in the context of Fuller,whose stuff I admire but never investigated, and in the medium of a tensegrity-based news organization, makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It's the collaborative nature that no other medium provides which could even possibly cause truth to extrude. IMNHO
 * Its a wikipedia article saved here during the lockdown. Thanks for your support. -Stevertigo 02:42, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)


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GFDL GNU Free Documentation License  true true fa:الگو:مجوز گنو

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Mozambique's ruling party retains control in elections

December 22, 2004

The presidential elections in the Southern African nation Mozambique have resulted in a landslide victory for the ruling Frelimo party. The party's candidate, Armando Guebuza, was elected to the presidential post for the five-year term starting in 2005 with 63.7% of the vote.

The election was held on December 1 and 2, 2004, and the results were officially announced yesterday by the country's National Elections Committee (CNE). It also announced Frelimo's continued dominance in the parliament. The opposition Renamo party came in second, with its presidential candidate garnering less than half as many votes as Mr. Guebuza. For Frelimo, 2005 will mark the party's 30th year in power — uninterrupted since the country's independence from Portugal.

The election was closely monitored by international observers, who have alleged some amount of fraud. The Carter Center — an organization providing election monitors — certain aspects of the election contained irregularities, and the tally counting process could not be verified. However, observers appear to concur that any voting fraud in this election is unlikely to change the result of the presidential elections — though it could have an effect on the allocation of parliamentary seats. Nevertheless, the opposition Renamo party has announced that it will not take its 90 seats in the parliament because of fraud. The party has one week to appeal the election results.


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Template talk:Byline

I disagree that the location in the byline should be a category. Since reporting can (and often does) take place somewhere totally unrelated to the story, it should not be automatically linked. -- IlyaHaykinson 07:02, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I reverted this template back to showing date and location for three reasons: Since the writing guidelines now say to use the template, we don't have a need to edit this template to not have a location. Please revert me if you disagree. -- IlyaHaykinson 01:01, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * 1) some people might actually want both
 * 2) the change broke existing articles using this template
 * 3) the existing articles used that template for a reason; to change it would be to remove some data from those articles (namely the location)

Which writing guidlines are those? I must have missed them. Thanks for bringing the date template to my attention, I wasn't aware of it.

The reason I removed the location part (and I apologise for not putting my reasons here) was because I don't think the location of the author is really relevant on a website like this, when anyone anywhere could be writing about something that's happened anywhere. If the location is for where the event occured, I think there could be problems with events which don't have locations, eg astronomy discoveries. Unless we put 'space', of course :).

I realise it broke quite a few articles. I fixed a few more recent ones, but went ahead and made the change unilaterally as it will indeed be harder to change in the future, and I thought if it was going to be done, better do it now before it affects too many articles. Dan100 (Talk) 19:23, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I've checked around a bit and yeah, I prefer the date template. I'll certainly leave the byline template as Ilya's version just for when someone really is local to reported event, and to leave old articles rendered properly. Dan100 (Talk)

 * Ok. I think that this is a good way to move forward. -- IlyaHaykinson 19:45, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

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Former Indian PM Narasimha Rao passes away

December 23, 2004

, former prime minister of India, passed away this morning after suffering cardiac arrest in a private hospital in. He had been in critical condition for the past few days. He was admitted to the (AIIMS) on December 9 after he complained of breathlessness.

Mr Rao has been credited for Indian economic reforms during his tenure from 1991 to 1996, and for supporting then finance minister and current Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's economic reforms, which allowed for the greatest sustained GDP growth in the country's history.

He has also faced several accusations of bribery, although he has been acquitted on all such charges.

He was the first person outside the to complete his full tenure as Prime Minister. Rao is survived by three sons and five daughters.


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Template talk:Latest news

If you want to use this template, use Latest news/old instead. Please note: Any article that appears on this template will appear on the rss feed.

Articles in report section
I feel like these three articles All should be dated in the latest news section, and not in the report section, because they don't seem to be reports. Am I missing something? Lyellin 15:49, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * European Union Council to accept software patent directive
 * Police raids filesharing resources - the largest BitTorrent and ed2k link sites have been closed by police or went offline voluntarily
 * Former Indian PM Narasimha Rao passes away

Yes, I feel the same.
King Ho CHEUNG 19 Jan 2005
 * Those articles should be categorized as latest news instead.

yes:i feel the same Join apple (talk) 15:01, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

New incidents on tube in london
all a bit vague at the moment but seems 'something' actually happening http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1189833,00.html

Short-cut to this page
Type 'T:LN' in the search box on the left and click 'Go' to be taken directly to the Latest news template. Dan100 (Talk) 09:59, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Kill tables (because the xhtml validators don't like them)
May i remove all the tables because the html validater doesn't like them (because they are empty. I think they need   ect.) Removing them doesn't seem to change anything (see user:Bawolff/Table test2), however i might have missed something in my tests. Bawolff 2 July 2005 00:19 (UTC)

RSS icon in Opera
RSS icon does not look nice in Opera - it is underlined and has external link icon. Furthermore, it's not good to place lot of CSS code in page code. I suggest copying solution from Polish Wikinews: pl:MediaWiki:Common.css (.rss class). --Derbeth 22:55, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

 * We could also link the image if we wanted to using a modified version of template:click and [[Image:Rssicon 3614.gif]] (but the markup wopuld be even worse :(. Will put into css files. Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 23:59, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

 * or this logo [[Image:rss icon.png]]

I don't like Firefox icon - it's not clear what it shows (and hey, why Firefox and not f.e. Safari)?

CSS styles are not consistent: some parts are in MediaWiki:Common.css and some in MediaWiki:Monobook.css. Lack of  tag in these pages causes them hard to read. New rollback effect is fine, but old problems are back: RSS button is underlined in Opera and all browsers show external link arrow which IMO does not look well. --Derbeth 18:22, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

 * I like the version we have now better. Using images isn't as good for accsisability (I think, especially with crazy markup like this:

Bawolff ☺☻ 06:04, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Underlined only when hovered on (on opera 8). I think this looks okay. Actually I think this looks better then the Icon. Only place where this looks bad is in IE, everywhere else I think this looks better then the image. Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 06:09, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

 * In my Opera 8.51 RSS link is always underlined. --Derbeth 09:13, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * hmm thats weird. Is this underlined? (my version is 8.5) RSS ? Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 22:47, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Excessive articles
I think there are too many latest news articles listed here. Some are almost a week old and they take upa quite a large amount of space. Could we please limit this to three days of news. Yorktown1776 00:02, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Then we have a big gap of whitespace. (yes that will change if we adopt a redesign). Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 05:53, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

AWN
Although I supported the posting of AWN, I believe it should be (temporarly) removed from the main page? Why? Because I don't believe AWN has enought roots, I hardly have enough time to read my emails some days, yet alone record AWN. Did I mention since Gumboyaya left, I'm SUPPOSTED to be recording WN:AW as well? Until I can either free up some time, or get another person aiding, then I don't believe it should be here. And last time I checked, it was still a proposel. No point in having people call, just to here 2 day old news. With that said, anyone wish to aid me? And please vote on the proposel User:Terinjokes/AWN. terinjokes User Page / Talk 16:31, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Thunderhead said he could help only on days he has free time. terinjokes User Page / Talk 05:36, 24 November 2006 (UTC) Nope, his microphone is screwed up.... terinjokes User Page / Talk 00:51, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Harry Patch dies, aged 111
The death of Harry Patch at the age of 111 has been reported. Harry was the last surviving British veteran of World War One. (BBC News) Mjroots (talk) 13:23, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Why do we keep having main page news articles about things that almost nobody even cares about? Vanuatu or the Federated States of Micronesia has a new president, you say? I think 90% have no idea where Vanuatu is (nor would they have interest in clicking the link). That surely isn't comparable to things like Mummar Qadafi for news on the front page. 15:21, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * So write about it instead of telling other people what to do. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:07, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Spelling Mistake in Japanese "Greehouse" story
Hi all, tis my first post here but contributed to wikipedia for a while. There is a spelling mistake in the main story on this page regarding Japanese cut in greenhouse emissions by 25%. If you'd not noticed, the spelling mistake is in the fact it is spelt "greehouse". So my degree in Media Production was good for something... Gwatts88 (talk) 16:48, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Oops. I completely missed that when writing up the article. Smile.png I've now renamed the page, thanks for pointing this out. Cheers Tempodivalse [talk]  17:02, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Lol no probs. Was reading back on what I said, didn't mean to sound passive aggressive, I was more making fun of myself because I felt a bit silly devoting a whole topic just for a spelling mistake ;) Gwatts88 (talk) 12:55, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

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Category:Obituaries

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User talk:Sam Hocevar

Hi Sam Hocevar,

Someday the editing text box will have a built-in spelling checker.

Thanks for visiting Wikinews.

Cheers,

— DV 13:45, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Sam Hocevar


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User talk:Cap'n Refsmmat

Cap'n Refsmmat, if you have any pressing column topics on science or technology you would like to write, I'm eager to read one.

Please see my comments on Opinion Columns for how I think the process could work.

Cheers,

— DV 15:11, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Actually, I've done this already, but I'm waiting until I can see that people are reading it until I continue (the loopy thing is, it won't display any new articles I do until you view the page and then hit refresh. So if I continue with it, hit refresh when you go there.). Thanks for the interest. Cap'n Refsmmat 02:39, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

More ideas on main page layout
Please see Main_Page/Sandbox3 and Main_Page/WideSandbox3. They're a pair that link to each other via the monitor icons at the top of the navigation bar. Ilya has started a discussion on the wide version's talk page. — DV 08:51, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

article refresh
is known as "purge". See Water cooler to see it as a link. If there's an interest, I could write a template for a purge button which would work on any page - Amgine 22:50, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Why? Cap'n Refsmmat 00:07, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I have a colleague who studies aromatherapy...
If you ever want a source. - Amgine 22:20, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * You noticed I updated today? Wow. Cap'n Refsmmat 22:25, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Had to run for a couple min.
I'm back in, but take a look? (in 180px column form)

title: User talk:Cap'n Refsmmat


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SEALs say US officer's cover-up was reported by fake SEAL

Frank Ford, an honorably discharged U.S. veteran sergeant who works as a California state prison guard has reported witnessing torture in Iraq and the cover-up activities of his commanding officers: December 8, 2004, Veteran sergeant accounts US torture coverup. Ford says he was hustled out of Iraq for psychological evaluations at military hospitals in Germany and USA as part of an Army cover-up strategy. David DeBatto, who wrote the original article about Frank Ford states that every doctor that evaluated Ford found him to be completely normal, with absolutely no psychological or mental health issues. However according to VeriSEAL, which claims to provide independent and no-cost verification of Special Operations Forces personnel backgrounds, the cover-up accusations are being made by a fake SEAL member.

Ford has already made several unsubstantiated claims including being a member of President Nixon's security detail, a medical doctor, a nobleman with a castle in Europe, a Navy SEAL and knowing the exact location of Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid known as "Chemical Ali". Also Ford has said he has saved the life of a soldier in Iraq, but according to the sources familiar with the incident—doctors and other witness—his claims were exaggerated and he did nothing more than hold the wounded soldier's IV bag. The name of Ford is listed at the Identified SEAL Impostors page from VeriSEAL.

When inquired about some of the Ford's exaggerated stories, David DeBatto said:''Ford IS an inveterate braggart. This is beyond question as far as I am concerned. However, although that trait may make him unpopular with some, it does not make him a liar. Some people seem to have a hard time separating the two.''

According to Ford he attended a discontinued BUD/S program for Navy corpsmen during 1980's as a doctor assigned to a Navy SEAL team. However Navy records do not list Ford among the program graduates. About this DeBatto said: ''he called himself "Doc" when I met him too at Fort Bragg in February 2003. However, I asked him right away if he was an MD or PhD. and he told me no, he was just a medic, but he has always been referred to as "Doc" since becoming a Navy medic over 30 years ago. It just kind of stuck he said. He also said he was in some kind of medical school or internship, which, upon later research, turned out to be true. It ain't Harvard, but it is a legitimate medical school''. Actually Frank Ford is a "Doctor of Naturopathy" by the Clayton School of Natural Healing in Alabama.

According to Col. C. Tsai, a military psychiatrist who examined Ford at the Army Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, Tsai had found nothing at all unstable about Ford." Tsai was also interviewed by Speigel Television in Germany on this issue. According to Capitain Vic Artiga, Ford's company commander, who Ford implicates, he was evacuated for "combat stress" behavioal problems.

In a interview to Los Angeles Times reporter, Lt. Col. Timothy J. Ryan, Ford's commander, said: all allegations of prisoner abuse in Samarra were investigated immediately and no wrongdoing was ever found. Lt. Col. Timothy J. Ryan is also implicated by Ford's testimony.

Ford said that Artiga accused him of being "delusional" and gave him "30 seconds to retract or face psychiatric referral". Artiga, who is a police officer in Redwood City as civilian, denied Ford claims:''That's just laughable. In my years as a policeman, I've done hundreds of investigations. I can tell yoou that the investigation we did was as thorough as they come''.

According to Sergeant First Class Michael Marciello, an alleged witness, when Captain Vic Artiga saw an initial psychiatrist's report, Artiga was, "livid". He "stormed" back to the psychiatrist and "browbeat" her to change her report to read that Ford was mentally unstable, and ordered her to have Ford shipped out of the country. Ford was later strapped to a medical gurney and medvac'd out of Iraq. He was initially sent to Kuwait and eventually to Landstuhl, Germany. Ford then underwent psychological evaluation in Germany and also two bases in the United States for approximately 8 months.

The Ford accusation was reported by David DeBatto and the article can be seen at Salon News. The case is under investigation.


text:
Near-Earth asteroid 2004 MN4 reaches Torino Scale hazard rating 4

NASA's Near Earch Object Program Office has recently announced that the asteroid named 2004 MN4, discovered last June, has the highest risk of earth impact to date. In the December 23 annoncement, NASA advised that the 400-meter wide asteroid has a 1 in 300 chance of colliding with earth. As scientists gather more data on 2004 MN4, the probability of collision with earth is expected to decrease.

The level of impact risk is measured in terms of Torino Impact Hazard Scale, and the MN4's score was initially 2 out of 10. 2004 MN4 is expected to come closest to the Earth on April 14, 2029.


text:
User talk:Venezolano~enwikinews

Hi. Welcome to Wikinews. I have just read Wear Yellow becomes a serious business in Venezuela that you contributed. It is an interesting story, but I was wondering if it could be made more neutral. Wikinews has a policy of not promoting any particular view or position. (For details, please see this page on our sister project Wikipedia.)

I hope you will find our project worthy and enjoyable. Cheers, Tomos 02:15, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

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

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:40, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Venezolano~enwikinews


text:
Talk:SEALs say US officer's cover-up was reported by fake SEAL

I've read one of the sources, and found that the second one is just re-publishing the first. Would we need two sources here?
 * Corrected: no more duplicated sources now. Carlosar 08:55, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Also, I was thinking that this and the other article on the subject of torture coverup allegation made by Mr. Ford could be merged. Or is it too difficult to do, and that's why the articles are separated? Tomos 02:27, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I have had the same idea and I wanted to merge both but I think it is a difficult task and I dont want to enter a never finish editing cycle. Anyway they are are two different events, I think they can be separated. It is not so bad at all.--Carlosar 09:05, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * No need to merge. Just reference the other article in each article's "See also" section. News organizations can survive with multiple articles on the same topic. -- IlyaHaykinson 09:07, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Added. -- Carlosar 09:10, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

This article presents disputed allegations as statements of fact.
 * Disputations of these allegations: ''Talk:Veteran_sergeant_accounts_US_torture_coverup nw 04:52, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

=This article presents unsourced (and disputed) information as statements of fact:=

=example 1:= "In Germany, a doctor who had examined Ford said he has possible delusions of grandiosity about himself and that this was the reason he had been removed from Iraq."

This allegation is not only untrue, the opposite is true:

According to Col. C. Tsai, a military psychiatrist who examined Ford at the Army Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, Tsai had found nothing at all unstable about Ford." Tsai was also interviewed by Speigel Television in Germany on this issue. This was brought up in the previous discussion on this topic.

If you read through the Veteran article and subsequent discussion,(here: Talk:Veteran_sergeant_accounts_US_torture_coverup and here: Veteran_sergeant_accounts_US_torture_coverup, you'll see this that specifically disputes this allegation -- and that in each case where Ford was examined he was found to be perfectly sane.

do we need to reopen the issue? nw 05:20, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I do not want to reopen this issue. In my opinion it does not worth. I suggest forgetting about both articles and move on. -- Carlosar 21:45, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

many of your other allegations in this piece are similarly disputed and were discussed in that other article. nw 05:14, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I just noticed that the above quote was added yet again from the story - even though there was no dispute about it being incorrect here. I have removed it again and replaced it with the information given by Col. Tsai - which is sourced in two places. nw 16:33, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Dave DeBatto Rebuttal #1
"I have heard all these comments before of course, but from other sources. Some of them were Pentagon "plants", some were sincere. Let me just address a few points off the top of my head.

1) Ford, to the best of my knowledge, and to me personally in several lengthy interviews, never said he was a SEAL. He made a clear distinction of being "attached" to the SEALs in the early 1980's as a medic. This is a fact I have verified beyond all doubt by both official Navy documents and direct testimony from people that were there. The folks at authentiseal.org, whom I spoke with, make no distinction between those saying they were attached to a SEAL team (which WAS done with medics for a time in the 1980's is seems) and those claiming to have been SEALs. It is just their policy and I personally think it is unfortunate. Authentiseal.org have never asked to see the evidence Ford has about his service, nor contacted him so he can defend the claims against him (as the website says they do with all persons so accused) before posting his name on their site. That is perhaps very dangerous ground, legally. Just my lay opinion.
 * At least the same can be said about your article about the accusations of Ford to his colleagues, Mr DeBatto.
 * Also, if Ford is not a real SEAL why the SEAL need to give him satisfaction? The opposite should happen: Ford should say why he pretends to be a SEAL if he is not.  -- Carlosar 22:36, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

2) Yes, I really do know the difference between a "division" and a battalion". I was in MI my entire Army career. That was a last minute change by a Salon editor without my approval. It happens.

3) He called himself "Doc" when I met him too at Fort Bragg in February 2003. However, I asked him right away if he was an MD or PhD. and he told me no, he was just a medic, but he has always been referred to as "Doc" since becoming a Navy medic over 30 years ago. It just kind of stuck he said. He also said he was in some kind of medical school or internship, which, upon later research, turned out to be true. It ain't Harvard, but it is a legitimate medical school.
 * According to Ford he is a "Doctor of Naturopathy" by the Clayton School of Natural Healing in Alabama.-- Carlosar 22:36, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

4) Ford IS an inveterate braggart. This is beyond question as far as I am concerned. However, although that trait may make him unpopular with some, it does not make him a liar. Some people seem to have a hard time separating the two.
 * No, but because he is a inveterate braggart you cannot say everything he says is true, neither. -- Carlosar 22:36, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Debatto's point seems to be lost on Carlosar. nw 16:29, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

5) His "castle in Scotland" that he has been accused of inventing, turns out to be a time-share kind of arrangement for a castle which is indeed in Scotland, with the St. Andrews Society, of which he is a member. My wife also is a member. It is legit.
 * But you dont tell everybody fantasies about you being a nobleman. -- Carlosar 22:36, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

5) This letter writer obviously has an ax to grind with Ford. I don't. Neither do I have an ax to grind with Artiga or any of the members of Ford's team from Samarra. My dealings with them were always pleasant and I found them to be good soldiers, CI agents and considered them friends and comrades. I never even talked with Ford about the incident while in Iraq or until one year afterwards after Abu Ghraib was made public. I was asked to write a story about it and I did.

 * ''But you show only the point of view of one person. Why dont you interviewed the Frank officers?

You have shown the opinion of one soldier as a fact and deliberately you ignored the contrary opinions of a lot of others soldiers. -- Carlosar 23:00, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC) ''

 * other soldiers were interviewed: Sergeant First Class Michael Marciello, claims he witnessed, when Artiga saw an initial psychiatrist's report, Artiga was, "livid". He "stormed" back to the psychiatrist and "browbeat" her to change her report to read that Ford was mentally unstable, and ordered her to have Ford shipped out of the country. Also Col. Tsai was interviewed. The commanding officers of Ford, are implicated by this testimony.

Bottom line, my inquiry into the facts of this issue revealed two glaring facts to me; Ford's allegation were not investigated prior to him being sent to Landstuhl, despite official statement to the contrary and he was not mentally unstable as was stated by his superiors at the time. This alone should dictate further official inquiry into this matter.
 * If the officials sent Ford to the doctors was because they thought Ford was crazy. Off course the officers could not say that for sure themselves because they are not doctors, and it is the reason why they sent Frank to the doctors: they wanted a medical diagnosis. If the doctors think there is not wrong with Ford it is not officers fault. Also, for some people being a disturbed man is a disease, for others(maybe some doctors) is not. If you meet a disturbed man at your work, the first thing you think is that he a is mental sick person. But it is possible that his disturbance is a defect of his soul.   -- Carlosar 23:00, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Again, there is another witness besides ford to Artiga's conduct: Sergeant First Class Michael Marciello, claims he witnessed, when Artiga saw an initial psychiatrist's report, Artiga was, "livid". He "stormed" back to the psychiatrist and "browbeat" her to change her report to read that Ford was mentally unstable, and ordered her to have Ford shipped out of the country." nw 16:29, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Enough said.

Regards, Dave DeBatto -- published with permission of DeBatto by nw 04:57, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Dave DeBatto Rebuttal #2
"One final thought. The change of command ceremony "John" said never happened, in fact did happen as stated in the article and was for "full bird" (O-6) Colonel Parrish (not the Lt. Col. John referenced) to hand over command of the 205th MI Brigade to Col. Pappas on July 1 2003.

Pappas was actually in place and present at Anaconda at least two weeks prior to the ceremony making the transition and settling in. That puts him there at the time of the incident with Ford that I referenced. The three 519th soldiers were killed as I said, although it was prior to actual ceremony by several days or even weeks, I don't remember and it is irrelevant. It was, in my opinion, a needless tragedy, a sentiment felt by many other soldiers present at the time as well. I don't know who was to blame for that nor do I accuse anyone.

A minor point, to be sure, but since minor points seems to be important to "John" and not the substance of the story, I thought I would throw it out as well.

Again, at least three federal investigative agencies have deemed Ford's allegations credible enough to initiate investigations. Please refer John and anyone else interested to either the NYT article this week or the ACLU website for complete access to the documents. All I have tried to do is lay out the facts as I found them and make observations based on those facts. Not everyone will agree. That's fine and as it should be. If John was indeed at Anaconda he knows that I served with honor and bear no malice to anyone that I served with or for. Not everyone, including John apparently, can say that.

I now believe I know who "John" is and I think he should voice his concerns to the appropriate investigative agencies to make sure all sides on this case are heard, even from people who publish numerous rants on several Internet websites calling Ford a "liar" and "crazy" and worse.

Happy Holidays!

Regards, Dave DeBatto" -- published with permission of DeBatto by nw 04:57, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

= This article does not presents unsourced (and disputed) information as statements of fact = Actually, the sources of this article are much better than the original article of DeBatto. The original article(DeBatto) lionized Frank Ford(a braggart, in DeBatto's own words) and ignored every other contrary opinion.

 * unsourced are who stated the "unsubstianted claims" of Ford, which largely are substiantiated in other articles. The title of this article is imprecise. It's one group called "Veriseal", and its director or researcher (according to them) that claims ford is a 'fake seal', not the us government.

Ford has passed this on to me: "please check out: ACDUTRA ORDERS/NAVRES NEW ORLEANS,LA. (SDN-N6212782RT74632). nw 16:29, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

This article is based mainly in two sources: The VeriSEAL and Los Angeles Times newspaper(mainly). The LA Times reporter who interviewed sergeant Ford has interviwed Ford's officials, his friends and a doctor in Germany. This article contests the other article but you cannot say it is POV because it put in evidence the other opinion too. The reader can find the other article("Veteran sergeant accounts US torture coverup") looking at the "See Also" section, so he can access a lot of favorable arguments for Frank Ford claims. Also, at the first paragraph is a link to the other article and the user has access to the favorable arguments again. There are some of the David DeBatto rebuttals and there is more: at the last paragraph there is a link to the DeBatto's article at Salon.

People who are in doubt, must read both articles and all the sources. -- Carlosar 20:45, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

LA Times Rebuttal
Lt Col Timothy J. Ryan, the commander of Ford's unit sais all allegations of prisioner abuse in Samarra were investigated and no wrongdoing was ever found. Captain Vic Artiga said the soldier was evacuated for "combat stress" behavioral problems. According to Ryan 70 to 100 soldiers including intelligence and civil affairs personnel, military police and special forcesm were usually assigned to the police station in Samarra. The newspaper continues: several soldiers(...)characterized Ford as an inveterate braggart who at various times had instroduced himself as a medical doctor, a former Navy SEAL and a nobleman with a family castle in Europe. A doctor who examined Ford(...) reported that Ford had been sent from Iraq because of "possible delusions of grandiosity about his background".

The newspaper says that the allegations of Ford came after Ford had been recommended for a Silver Star but had seen the recommendation withdrawn after some questions raised about his behaviour.

Also the newspaper says:''for the interview Ford wore a polo shirt embroidered with the Oceania school crest. He said many friends in the military and law enforcement called him "Doc". His conversation was peppered with medical terms, and he referred repeatedly to his "long experience in medicine."''

 * FYI: Lt Col Timothy J. Ryan has been implicated by Ford's testimony against him and Captain Artiga. This must be understood when hearing his side of the Ford story. I don't have access to the article without a fee. Again, Ford was a Medic and Doc was his nickname, he never claimed to be a real doctor - he was the medic for his team.  nw 22:24, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * The problem with the DeBatto's article is that the reader is induced to believe that Frank Ford is really a doctor and an important soldier who used to be a SEAL. The DeBatto's original article maybe is not untrue about all but it is dishonest. -- Carlosar 14:42, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * In no place in DeBatto's Salon.com article does it say that Ford was a doctor. In fact, the Salon.com article clearly states Ford was a medic for his team. Further, it clearly states his rank. It never says he was a doctor. That is simply a false statement. nw 22:14, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Old news
Please remember that old news articles are very rarely accessed, and should be left as an historical record of the period. This is not Wikipedia; news articles are rushed to publication and rarely have the opportunity to examine all evidence and present a fully balanced view.

Consider, instead of updating old articles, writing analysis articles of the currently available evidences. These would be new articles which can incorporate sections of the old articles (which would be linked in the sources section.) - Amgine 23:17, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * It is really a good idea but I dont know how we could do that here. I would like to give up this article and left everything as it is. I think that everything has already been said. -- Carlosar 14:39, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I have tried to do something like that with this article. The original article was "Veteran sergeant accounts US torture coverup" and I dont want to work on it anymore. -- Carlosar 16:29, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * You are right it is not a good idea updating old articles. -- Carlosar 00:10, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Removing the "Dispute" tag
I will remove the Dispute icon. I think it is ok leaving the DeBatto's rebuttal here so the reader can see the other point of view of the story. Case you still see something wrong put the Dispute icon back again. But I would like to hear a suggestion how can we solve this too. -- Carlosar 16:34, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Typo
editprotected "prisioner" => Either the quote is correct and [sic] should be added, or the quote is incorrect and it should be "prisoner". Van der Hoorn (talk) 15:01, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

 * ✅ ♪Tempo di Valse ♪ 17:51, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Facts about Frank Gregory Ford
Copies of documents from Ford's footlocker and an article about that can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxf2TM2uxGxFOFRaeU10YmZvWWc/view?usp=sharing

One image portraying Ford as a Navy SEAL has obviously been Photoshopped. Magnification shows the cut-and-paste seams. That image was provided by Ford's commanding officer after Ford accused him and three other soldiers of mistreating Iraqi detainees. That was Captain Victor Artiga, who then sent the image to Don Shipley. Shipley broadcasts YouTube videos titled, 'Phony Navy SEAL of the week'. Shipley insists it's a photo, but it's not. The Photoshopped image was the only physical evidence that Ford ever posed as a Navy SEAL. It's obviously being promoted by Artiga and others to avoid the unpleasant consequences of a war crimes prosecution.

It should also be pointed out that two 15-6 investigations took place over this. One was filed by Ford. The other was filed by Colonel Thomas Hardaway, a psychiatrist who examined Ford and found nothing wrong with him. That can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxf2TM2uxGxFZTZiaFItNEh3Z00/view?usp=sharing

Artiga offered to send Shipley a copy of an investigation, but never did. Both investigations can be found here:

hrlibrary.umn.edu/OathBetrayed/CID 8809-8877.pdf

hrlibrary.umn.edu/OathBetrayed/CID 8878-9008.pdf

The interesting thing about both investigations is the absence of any so-called photo of Ford posing as a Navy SEAL.

Ford's complaint clearly identifies Lt. Col. Tim Ryan, Capt. Victor Artiga and Capt. Merle Madera as the parties responsible for abducting him to cover up what Ford saw as war crimes.

The other thing that doesn't make any sense is this: Artiga claims to have taken the faux-toe-graph before Ford's unit deployed to Iraq. If that was true, then why didn't Artiga take action then? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Anonymoususa (talk • contribs) 21:01, 30 October 2016


text:
Mumbai officials demolish 39K shanties; 200K homeless

December 25, 2004

Officials in Mumbai, India, demolished over 6,000 shanties today in a push to eradicate the capital city's slums. In total, 39,000 shanties have been flattened, displacing over 200,000 people, in the city’s biggest-ever demolition drive, which began in early December.

When complete, over 2 million people are expected to be displaced. After wiping out the least desirable shanties, next in line for demolition are the illegal ‘well-off’ shanties and neighborhoods, according to the legal and bureaucratic motions that have been executed toward cleaning up Mumbai's appearance by lowering the dominance of shanties, which make up 62 percent of Mumbai's housing.

"As far as eye can see, there are mounds of wood, tin and tarpaulin, the remains of 6,200 illegal homes, flattened by a heavy excavator running on tank-like tracks and giant motorised claws," the Indian Express reported about today's destruction.

"Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that citizens would see a change within six months. 'Every chief minister likes to be remembered, and I’m no exception,' said Deshmukh, who despite having an empty exchequer, also announced that Rs 31,000 crore will be spent on new roads, sea links and rail lines."


text:
Arrested Marxist leader Apablaza charged in Chile

Sergio Galvarino Apablaza,aged 54, nicknamed "Comandante Salvador", has been charged by the Chilean judge Hugo Dolmestch for the following crimes: the kidnapping of Cristian Edwards(son of Agustin Edwards, owner of the newspaper El Mercurio) and the assassination of Senator Jaime Guzman Errazuriz.

Galvarino Apablaza is the leader of the Marxist group FPMR - Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front. FPMR was founded in 1983 and became the armed wing of the Chilean Communist Party to carry out terrorist attacks against the Chilean militarist government of the dictator Augusto Pinochet. Its name is a tribute for Manuel Rodriguez Erdoiza, considered a Chilean hero in the war of the independence of Chile against Spain.

After the fall of Pinochet's government and the return to democracy in 1989 in Chile the organization broke up into two factions: the FPMR Party, which gave up the armed fight, and the FPMR-Dissidents, which continued terrorist activities. Some of the FPMR most recent attacks include the explosion of a building in which the American company Flour Daniel has offices (August 1994), an attempted bombing of a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Santiago (September 1993), an explosion near the Chinese Embassy in Santiago (May 1993), and a bombing of a Mormon church in Santiago (December 1992).

Galvarino Apablaza has been arrested in November 29 in Argentina. Chilean authorities request now the expulsion of Apablaza so he can be tried in Chile. Apablaza and some left-wing organizations want Argentina give him political asylum.

Apablaza is also suspected of participating to the kidnapping of the Brazilian advertising executive Washington Olivetto in 2001, according to Brazilian police authorities.


text:
User:Tmh~enwikinews

Toni M. Heinonen, eager wikiactivist. You can read about me in finnish on my homepage and finnish user page.

title: User:Tmh~enwikinews


text:
Wikinews:News concepts

Concepts in news reporting deal with the interface between the news media and the outside world. Within the news organization there is structure, hierarchy and editorial process, based on some criteria. That criteria in commercial media is widely understood to be business interests; those with more money can claim more influence in the direction that their reportage may take.

The idea of open independent media presents the duality of inclusion of material and reports; since the pay is low, the medium is without hierarchy, and the organization itself is under no commercial obligations; the only obligations left are egalitarian: Honest, complete reportage, free from the constrains of commercial or yellow journalism. An open news project needs to remain free from imposed rules, it still requires structure to emphasise and direct the focus of its contributors.

Independent news presents the paradox of having multilingual reportage with an English-only format, which can be at odds with "good writing" in English. Good news writing is a concept that transcends origin language, and should be consistent across languages. Get to the facts: Who, What, When, Where, Why? Etc. (See Style)

Basics

title: Wikinews:News concepts


text:
User talk:Fadereu~enwikinews

Hi, do you have some answers/opinions about this matter by any chance: Deletion requests ? I was not sure what to do with it, but thought it would be better to ask others' opinions than ignore it. Sorry if I was completely mistaken in raising those questions. I have to admit that I am still learning about those copyright/ licensing issues.. Tomos 21:50, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:16, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:31, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Fadereu~enwikinews


text:
Talk:Arrested Marxist leader Apablaza charged in Chile

Is this article ok?
Sign below, please.

No
REASON A couple of things.

"Sergio Galvarino Apablaza,aged 54, nicknamed "Comandante Salvador"(Salvador commander), has been charged by the Chilean judge Hugo Dolmestch for the following crimes: the kidnapping of Cristian Edwards(son of Agustin Edwards, owner of the newspaper El Mercurio) and the assassination of Senator Jaime Guzman Errazuriz."

This paragraph doesn't read well. The translation of "Comandante Salvador" is not necessary. The section in parenthesis should be integrated into the story properly and the punctuation should be cleaned up.
 * Fixed

"Galvarino Apablaza is the leader of the Marxist group FPMR - Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front. FPMR was founded in 1983 and became the armed wing of the Chilean Communist Party to carry out terrorist attacks against the Chilean government of the dictator Augusto Pinochet." If one is referring to the guerilla group as "Marxist" then Pinochet's government should also be characterised (right-wing/militarist/fascist?), otherwise the effect is simply pejorative and unbalanced.
 * The FPMR group say themselves they are a Marxist group. So I dont think you could say it is pejorative, it is a definition, and very precise. I have heard your suggestion and I have characterised the government as militarist and dictatorial which I think is better definition.

"The fall of Pinochet's government and the return to democracy in 1989 in Chile should put a end to the group activities since its alleged goal was fulfilled." Grammatical error — "should have", not "should" as the latter is future/present tense.
 * Fixed

Secondly, this section is entirely pejorative and is in the biased voice of the author. This section should be expunged, but if it is felt to be necessary, it should be rewritten thusly (assuming that is correct, and I can't vouch for that myself):— "Some felt that the fall of Pinochet's government and Chile's subsequent return to democracy in 1989 meant that the principal goal of FPMR had been achieved and the group should therefore have disbanded." Overall I am wary of this section of the story as it is opinionated and biased, not simple news. --- Jmwalsh
 * I have rewriten the text and the polemic section is out.

I suggest you rewrite the section you think is bad and put it bellow at the improvement section, case you think it is a good idea. Thanks -- Carlosar 02:29, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Suicide car bomb attack in Baghdad

Is this article ok?
Sign below, please.

No
REASON

title: Talk:Suicide car bomb attack in Baghdad


text:
US army gives medical assistance to Iraq school

According to Defend America, US Department of Defense News website, US soldiers members of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, the 199th Forward Support Battalion (FSB), with several units from Camp Liberty (18th Military Police Brigade, 16th MP Brigade, 617th MP Brigade, 307th Psychological Operations Battalion, and the Iraqi Highway Patrol) provided medical assistance to Iraq children at an elementary school in Bagdah.

US Major Alan Kabakoff, with the 16th MP Brigade, says humanitarian missions are very important in winning the war on terror, although you can't see the importance sometimes: "It's like fire prevention, everyone knows that it works, it's just hard to prove, unless something bad happens. These people want the same things that we do, they want safe schools, safe homes, and safe areas to raise their kids."

Staff Sgt. Jason Escoyne, Co. C, 199th FSB, who examined the children said that there was nothing seriously wrong with them.

This effort is part of the US reconstruction of Iraq. Till now according to USAID, U.S. Agency for International Development, in Iraq 2,405 schools were rehabilitated including the supply of chairs, cabinets, desks, chalkboards and kits for secondary and primary schools, about 8.7 million science and math textbooks have been distributed, 33,000 secondary school teachers have been trainned, high protein biscuits have been distributed to more than 450,000 children and 200,000 nursing and pregnant women, trainning have been provided to 700 physicians and 2,500 primary health care providers, over 3 million children under five have been vaccinated and more than 1.3 million children under five suspected of malnutrition have been examined.


text:
Talk:US army gives medical assistance to Iraq school

Is this article ok?
Sign below, please.

No
REASON

Improvement Tips

 * Some indication of the scale of the activity would be very nice. How many childen were seen by this assistance activity? How many army people were involved in this? That kind of numbers would give readers a better, though not necessarily precise, sense of the significance of this event. Tomos 21:18, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Good suggestion, I will try to find something. -- Carlosar 01:56, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I have added some numbers. -- Carlosar 02:45, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Is this a "neutral" article? It does not promote one side by suppressing the other side of a dispute. But it does promote a positive perception of the US army.  Is there any context or relevant event(s) that can be mentioned in the article to give readers a chance to notice that there are alternative views on US army in Iraq? This is the kind of issue I was wondering how to deal with (see Water_cooler). Tomos 21:18, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I have written about this issue too in another place. I will take a look at Water Cooler and I will write something about it. -- Carlosar 00:22, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Maybe we need some policy or recomedantions(but not too much complicated) about avaliating POV issues. -- Carlosar 00:22, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Off course maybe it is possible keeping Wikinews with policies at minimum or without policies. Also you can argue against that. -- Carlosar 01:28, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, it is neutral because it is reporting a event which really happened. US is giving some assistance to Iraq people and this news must be reported. Several media usually does not cover the US work for Iraq reconstruction and I think this is an unfair and biased posture of them. -- Carlosar 02:01, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I think this article is important because it gives some balance in Wikinews. -- Carlosar 00:23, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't think the balance should be such that we have some articles biased in one direction and then some articles biased in the opposite direction, but rather so that all articles are unbiased and present a neutral view with points from all angles. - Apollyon 19:30, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

I have put some comments at Water_cooler. Coverage tendencies can be resolved with scale and diversity of participants. This can resolve possible POV in coverage. But the struggle of different point of views or tendencies can lead to conspiracy theories and defamatory articles or propaganda(although I think propaganda is not so worst than the other two). Hence Wikinews may become NPOV but NPOV with a lot of conspiracy theories and defamatory articles. So we need to assure accuracy in the articles. Should these bad articles in your opinion be deleted? When? It is not a easy task, if you are too rigorous you can interpose a true article, if you are too tolerant you can endorse a fake article. Some people assessure some article is true, another people pledge the same article is fake. How do we resolve this? --Carlosar 01:56, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)


text:
Strongest earthquake in 40 years hits Southeast Asia

December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean - The death toll continues to grow and millions face a homeless life in the new year as coastal communities in south Asia struggle against continued aftershocks and flooding caused by the largest earthquake to strike the planet in more than a generation.

The magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004, at 00:58:50 UTC (or 07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok).

The earthquake was the strongest in the world since the 9.2-magnitude Good Friday Earthquake which struck Alaska, USA in 1964, and the fourth largest since 1900. More than 140,000 deaths were caused by resulting tsunami, which in Thailand were up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, and struck within three hours of the initial event.

Multiple tsunamis struck and ravaged coastal regions all over the Indian Ocean, devastating regions including the Indonesian province of Aceh, the coast of Sri Lanka, coastal areas of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, and even as far away as Somalia, 4,100 km (2,500 mi) west of the epicenter.

''While the earthquake and the tsunamis are no longer ongoing (other than aftershocks), the humanitarian and economic crisis generated by the disaster is still ongoing. This report will attempt to cover the crisis as it continues to develop.''

Damage and casualties

Note: All figures are approximate and subject to constant change. * Includes 14,000 casualties from the regions controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels.

The great earthquake triggered massive tsunamis (popularly known as "tidal waves"), which struck the coasts of the Indian Ocean. However Pacific Ocean coasts were not affected.

The Aceh province of Indonesia is the most affected. Officials in Sri Lanka estimate the death toll to be over 40,000. Much of the capital Colombo is flooded and high number of casualties are feared in the North East of the country around the town of Trincomalee. The New York Times estimated that at least 2 hours passed from the time of the earthquake before the island was affected. The tragedy has caused at least some Sri Lankans to ask what precautions could have allowed more people to avoid harm.

In India, the islands of Andaman and Nicobar and the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are the most affected. The police have said that there are 100 dead in Chennai city alone. Mild tremors were experienced in Chennai, Bangalore and Cochin cities. The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh has expressed concern over the disaster and said that all directions were given to the different agencies including the Navy for quick relief work. The meteorological department has warned people in coastal areas in southern India to stay away as there are possibilities of more waves due to after-shocks for the next 3 to 4 days.

In addition to the large number of local residents, numerous tourists vacationing during the busy Christmas holiday travel season were among the victims. In a press conference on December 31, Swedish prime minister Göran Persson reported that the number of Swedes that are confirmed dead is 59 and the number of missing Swedes is 3 559. Most of these were on vacation in Thailand, primarily in Khao Lak and Phi Phi Island.

As of December 31, 2004, the death toll is estimated by the United Nations to be up to 150,000. However, water-borne diseases are expected to kill nearly twice as many people.

Quake characteristics
The quake was initially reported at magnitude 6.8 but soon upgraded to 8.5, and then 8.9 and finally 9.0. The largest recorded earthquake was the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960, at magnitude 9.5.

The hypocenter was measured at 3.298°N, 95.779°E, some 160 kilometres west of Sumatra, at a depth of 10 km underwater, within the "Ring of Fire" zone of frequent earthquakes.

The quake was felt as far away as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Maledives Singapore and Thailand.

The earthquake was unusually large in geographical extent. 1,125 km (700 mi) of faultline slipped 15 m (50 ft) along the subduction zone where the India Plate dives under the Burma Plate. This formed a shock wave in the Indian Ocean, creating tsunamis that traveled at up to 800 km/h (500 mi/h).

Numerous aftershocks of between magnitude 5.7 and 6.1 were reported off the Andaman Islands in the following hours. Aftershocks off the Nicobar Islands were also reported, including ones of magnitude 7.3, and 6.5. (See USGS current earthquake information.)

Based on one seismic model, some of the smaller islands southwest of Sumatra have moved southwest up to 20 m (66 ft). The northern tip of Sumatra, which is on the Burma Plate as opposed to the southern regions on the Sunda Plate, may also have moved southwest up to 36 m (120 ft). Other models suggest that most of the movement would have been vertical rather than lateral. Further measurement is needed to determine the nature of the actual movement. The massive release of energy and shift in mass also caused the earth to wobble slightly on its axis.

One year ago to this day, over 30,000 Iranians were killed by an earthquake with a 6.6 magnitude. The Indian Ocean Earthquake came just three days after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in a completely uninhabited region off Macquarie Island near Antarctica.

Earthquakes above magnitude 9 occur, on average, only about once every twenty years.

Post-tsunami humanitarian situation
Large amounts of humanitarian aid are needed due to widespread damage to infrastructure, food and water shortages and economic damage to the fishing and tourism industries. Epidemics are of special concern, as they are highly likely due to the high population density and tropical climate of the affected areas. The United Nations has stated that the largest relief operation in history is underway.

The overwhelming concern of humanitarian and government agencies is to quickly identify and bury the dead before they become a health issue and contribute to the spread of diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, dysentery and typhoid (according to widespread but misguided belief The Times). Other high priorities are delivery of medical supplies and personnel to overwhelmed hospitals and clinics, tent shelters and clothing to people who have lost their houses and belongings, and potable water. Many usual sources of water were spoiled either by salt water, broken by the force of the tsunami, or contaminated with bodies of dead people or livestock, requiring water purification equipment or trucking potable water into the affected region.

Humanitarian assistance
Governments and humanitarian organisations around the world are scrambling to offer aid and technical help after the quake and tsunamis that killed thousands of people in southern Asia and northwest Africa and caused wide-spread devastation. The World Bank estimates the amount of aid needed at USD 5 billion.

Numerous organizations are also asking businesses and individuals to contribute towards relief efforts:

'''WARNING: Due the nature of Wikinews, it cannot guarantee the veracity of outside links and scams involving charities are a danger. Beware of organizations that have names similar to that of well-known aid agencies.'''

The following countries and organization are contributing towards the relief efforts (listed alphabetically):

 * Australia: The Australian Government committed an initial AUD 10 million (USD 7.7 million) to the relief effort, to be distributed to international aid organisations. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says funding will be reviewed once details of needs become clearer. Subsequently funding was increased to AUD 35 million (USD 27 million), with more expected to be required later. Essential supplies were also immediately dispatched, to be delivered by the Royal Australian Air Force.
 * Brazil: Brazilian government sent 10 tons of food and 8 tons of medicines to Bangkok, Thailand, and 50 tons of potable water and food to Sri Lanka.
 * Canada: The Canadian government has pledged CAD 4 million (USD 3.3 million) as an immediate contribution toward the aid effort and will also be providing blankets, water purification devices, and generators through the Canadian International Development Agency. Subsequently the relief funding was increased by an additional CAD 36 million (USD 29.7 million). In addition to the already sent planeload of relief supplies sent to Sri Lanka another planeload will be dispatched to Indonesia. The Canadian government announced a reconnaisance mission for 12 members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team to assess the need for the team to be deployed. At the provincial level, the province of British Columbia pledged CAD 8 million (6.6 million USD) directly donated to the Red Cross. Ontario has pledged CAD 5 million (4.1 million USD) along with sending Dr. James Young-the outgoing provincial commissioner of emergency management. Dr. Young's expertise in DNA identification was used after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the September 2, 1998 Swissair 111 crash.
 * Chile: The Chilean government will send six young physicians to Sri Lanka and has opened a special bank account for public donations.
 * China: The Chinese government will send CNY 21.63 million (USD 2.6 million) to Southeast Asia.
 * Czech Republic: The Czech government will give aid worth EUR 328,000 (USD 0.5 million), in various forms.
 * Denmark: The Danish government will give aid worth EUR 1,35 million.
 * European Union: The EU is provided immediate emergency aid of EUR 3 million (USD 4.1 million) for victims to meet "initial vital needs", with more substantial aid bringing the total to USD 44 million.
 * Finland: EUR 575,000 (USD 0.8 million) and a field hospital will be sent from Finland to help the victims of the tsunamis.
 * France: France has sent a plane with 100 rescue personnel, as well as 800 kg (1,750 lb) of medical supplies.
 * Germany: The German government allocated EUR 1 million (USD 1.4 million) for immediate aid. According to information from the radio, units of the governmental technical relief organisation (THW) are going to be sent to Thailand and Sri Lanka for rescue purposes, together with drinking water purification equipment. (Raised to EUR 20 million) (7.1.2004: Raised to EUR 500 million)
 * Greece: Greece will allocate EUR 300,000 (USD 0.4 million) to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, and two planes will carry to those countries over 6 tons of humanitarian materials.
 * International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS): In Geneva, the IFRCS appealed for CHF 7.5 million (about USD 6.6 million) for "immediate support" to an estimated 500,000 survivors.
 * Ireland: The Irish government pledges EUR 1 million (USD 1.4 million) in response to the earthquake-caused disaster in South Asia.
 * Israel: Israel has sent baby food and medicines worth some USD 100,000 to the affected countries. In addition, an Israeli medical team was dispatched to Sri Lanka. An offer of assistance to India in the form of a search and rescue team as well as food and medicines has been extended.
 * Japan: The Japanese government has allocated USD 500 million for relief efforts, the largest contribution by any single donor.
 * Kuwait: The Kuwaiti government has donated at KWD 500,000 (USD 1.7 million) as humanitarian aid.
 * Luxembourg has announced it will donate at least EUR 200,000 (USD 0.3 million) as humanitarian aid.
 * Médecins Sans Frontières: MSF is dispatching 32 tons of relief supplies to Sumatra; medical and assessment teams have been sent to many of the affected areas.
 * Mozambique: One of the poorest nations in the world has donated USD 100 000 to the relief efforts, saying that the "symbolic" amount was because the disaster reminded Mozambicans of their past troubles, and the help they received from the international community then.
 * Netherlands: The Dutch government has reserved EUR 2 million (USD 2.7 million) for aid to the affected area. The Dutch Red Cross has dedicated EUR 100,000 (USD 0.1 million) for emergency aid.
 * New Zealand: The New Zealand government announced it will donate NZD 500,000 (USD 0.4 million) to the Red Cross, and an airforce C-130 Hercules has been sent for evacuation and transport of relief supplies.
 * Norway: The Norwegian government has allocated NOK 1100 million (USD 180 million) to be distributed to the UN, the Red Cross and other aid organisations.
 * Pakistan: The government of Pakistan has announced a PKR 10 million (USD 0.2 million) relief package for the earthquake victims of Sri Lanka. This consists of goods such as tents, medicines, drinking water and food items. Additional aid has been promised.
 * Singapore: The Singaporean government has pledged SGD 500,000 (USD 0.3 million) to the Singapore Red Cross Society to help them start an appeal for public donations. A Singapore Armed Forces medical team is on standby to fly to Indonesia to help. Singapore is also dispatching an emergency consular team to Phuket and sending SGD 2 million (USD 1.2 million)of aid to the countries affected.
 * Spain: The Spanish government has allocated EUR 1 million (USD 1.4 million) to finance a first humanitarian shipment sent to the aid of the victims.
 * Sweden: SEK 7 million (USD 1.1 million) are being taken from the Swedish International Development Agency, 5 million of which are channeled through the ICRC. The Swedish Salvation Army has donated SEK 1 million (USD 0.8 million). The government is also supplying tents and blankets to Sri Lanka. Further assistance to be supplied if so requested, primarily by the UN.
 * Switzerland: The Swiss government has allocated CHF 1 million (USD 1.4 million). The Swiss have launched a national donation action Glückskette.
 * Taiwan: The Taiwanese government has donated USD 0.25 million to Indonesia, India, Thaliand, and Sri Lanka. A team of experts has also been dispatched to Indonesia to assess damages in preparation for humanitarian aid efforts.
 * Turkey: Hit in August and November 1999 by a series of earthquakes that killed over 20,000, Turkey has started collecting funds, hoping to reach at least EUR 170,000 (USD 0.2 million), which will be used in reconstruction projects.
 * United Kingdom: The British government has increased it's donation to $96 million. GBP 400,000 were given through the EU to the Red Cross and GBP 50,000 were donated to WHO, to help prevent maladies after the ocean surges. In addition, planes carrying essential equipment have been dispatched to some of the affected areas.
 * United States: The United States government has allocated USD 350 million for relief efforts and has dispatched disaster teams to aid the affected nations.

Related news

 * December 27: U.S. and U.K. governments warn citizens against travelling to areas hit by tsunamis
 * December 28: Asian earthquake toll nears 60,000
 * December 29: Tsunami toll passes 80,000 people as relief effort continues

 * 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami - Wikinews special coverage

Aid efforts

 * Tsunami States Hasten to Provide Aid, Beat Disease Reuters, December 27, 2004 at 1428 UTC.
 * UN Says `Enormous' Aid Effort Follows Deadly Quake Bloomberg, December 28, 2004.
 * Tidal wave disaster will require biggest relief effort ever: UN New Straits Times, December 28, 2004.
 * Italian television to help via SMS and email Italian people in South Est Asia Sky TG 24
 * Grassroot Stories About Tsunami Victims and Ways to Help By a SouthAsian development portal, ProPoor.

Video

 * 5 first-person videos Torrents of video clips of the tsunami as it hit Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia. Requires Blogtorrent (free, 2.3M).
 * 2 minute video of the tsunami overtaking a luxury resort.
 * Video/Photos

Pictures

 * [http://news., 2004 at 1306 UTC.
 * [http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/world/,'' December 26, 2004.
 * Eyewitness account and links to photo galleries of aftermath of) DigitalGlobe, Dember 26, 2004
 * Blog with photos and thoughts from Maldives

Verheerende Erdbeben in Südostasien Tremblement de dalam 40 tahun melanda Asia Tenggara


text:
Talk:Strongest earthquake in 40 years hits Southeast Asia

Is this article ok?
Sign below, please.

Yes

 * 1) Carlosar 12:47, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Lyellin 01:49, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC) Sure, for now.

No

 * 1) Davodd 01:39, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC) -REASON:  As a writer and editor of news for the better part of the past two decades, in my professional opinion, this article misses the point in many ways, including: 1. It reads like an encyclopedia or college report, not a news article. 2. It lacks any relevant "urgency" that makes news "NEWS" instead of an in-progress historical document. 3. It is static in tone and structure and does not reflect that news is changing. It needs in-progress fugures. 4. The writing is dull and uninspired. 5. The writing style does not conform to any acceptible journalistic standard. 6. The paragraphs are too long, ponderous and fail to get to the point. 7. The fact that we have one article on this topic is strange. There should be hundreds (or at least several). 8. The headline is boring.
 * Thanks for the constructive feedback. I replied in more detail on your talk page. — DV 03:46, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Improvement Tips
The estimates of how many were killed in this disaster keep going up in the various reports I am reading, sometimes wildly so, such that it's probably a good idea to hold off on updating the casualty figures until we start seeing reports that quote officials from the affected countries.

Weasel phrases such as "N feared dead" don't really add much, whereas phrases such as "officials are reporting N dead" are more authoritative.

At this moment, it seems officials are only confirming around 3,000 dead, even though many more are feared dead.

Although the Reuters report of 6,300 dead, (by Simon Gardner) is appearing on a lot of local town newspaper sites, his number doesn't match with the numbers I've seen in many other reports by equally respectable news reporting outlets, so I think that number is an outlier for now. (Reuters numbers may be proved correct in a short time, once more officials weigh in with their assessments.)

So, I recommend that once there are more officials on the record with casualty figures, we should then update our numbers as well.

— DV 15:49, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * What we really need is authoritive sources for these figures. Probably government sites for each affected nation.  The figures are likely to rise obscenely in the next couple of days, especially in Sri Lanka.  Then it will be compunded as disease breaks out due to lack of food and drinkable water.  --BenM 09:02, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Comment from 212.183.98.53
SOMALIA DEAD YOU FORGETTTTTTTT !

 * No, we haven't forgotten, but this is a news site and this particular disaster is is worthy of articles. If you want to focus on Somalia, or any other crisis as there are certainly plenty, then there's nothing stopping you.  --BenM 09:07, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I think the commenter was remarking that Somalia also experienced deaths from the tsunami waves, as some news organizations are reporting. I will add this to the article. -- IlyaHaykinson 09:16, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Ah, okay, I thought it was a comment about existing situations in Somalia and other African countries. Especially since the comment was initially placed up the top of the discussion page.  --BenM 12:34, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Better yet, start a new article. People are likely to skip over this one as "already read". Davodd 01:49, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

the degree we can embrace input from any country, any person who can get to a computer, no matter how familiar with the conventions, is the degree this site will make its mark. kudos to the collaborative response to this reporter, 212.183.98.53... now let's do him justice and update this article. this event underscored the importance of this project. if anyone working on it can think of a way to break down the work and parse it out to people that want to help, like me, but don't know where to begin, say so here. it's time to update the casualties. real-time is attainable so let's prove it, wikans

Tech Note: Animated GIFs cannot be scaled
For editors of this article - although the animated "tsunami" image is a bit large, please don't try to scale the animated GIF with a "thumb" modifier. Animated GIFs don't work correctly in Mozilla FireFox when they are scaled.

If there are any serious objections to the size, it will have to be re-created at a smaller size and then re-uploaded to the Commons. — DV 06:55, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Other improvements
Davodd, you list many things above that could be done to improve the article. Please, contribute and help our coverage! Lyellin 01:50, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Follow up on Davodd's suggestions
Although I am not yet skilled enough to effectively follow up on all of Davodd's suggestions (I'm not a professional journalist - I hope Davodd will help us!), I think I can at least help out with some of his suggestions, starting with his suggestion that our readers would be better served by having a number of smaller articles when a large story has multiple angles that need to be covered. (Over on Wikipedia they seem to be stuck on one monolithic article as well.)

To get started, would there be any objections to moving the humanitarian assistance sections into a separate article?

— DV 04:06, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I don't think we gain anything by doing that now- it's basically jsut saying "this is too big, let's split". How about if some new organization donates a lot, or some other headline happens (Thailand puts death tottals higher than last expected), we write that article instead. Lyellin 04:15, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * This is generally what I've been doing, adding little articles from time to time. I strongly recommend that others do the same from now on. The main article should still be kept up to date (I will post that note about categories and topic pages later tonight, honest; it's half-written), but that should happen as a reaction to the individual articles, in my opinion. -- IlyaHaykinson 04:32, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a primary source
Ral315 recently updated the casualty table and cited Wikipedia.

However, Wikipedia is not a primary source that can be used as the sole citation (senior editors on Wikipedia make that point quite often).

Shouldn't we instead rely on confirmed reporting from news organizations that are in direct contact with the officials of the affected countries?

— DV 06:03, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Yes, yes, and yes. sj

donation information out of date
The amounts of money donated by the various countries seems to be out of date. In particular, according to the US has now pledged $35m and the UK $29m

 * Updated the UK value GregRobson 22:53, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I would say clarifying the source and its release date would be helpful for that. Tomos 23:07, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Link to the help page at the top?
I don't want to go messing "above the fold" without getting a second opinion first... would it be good to put something near the top stating something along these lines?

For information regarding persons that are/missing found, helpline numbers, ways to donate and other constantly updated information visit the Tsunami Help page.

If this seems like a sound idea to somebody else could you put this (or some variant) near the top of the page in a way so that it stands out. I know you are meant to be bold with Wikis but I thought that as I only signed up today I'd better check first. Thanks. GregRobson 23:04, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Okay, I tried. Here is the diff:

Tomos 23:21, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Thanks, I think that's better worded that what I had. With any luck the Tsunami Help page will get a few more hits and should improve more rapidly GregRobson 07:39, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Prominent link to WP article missing
Where is a link to the much-praised wikipedia compilation on the same subject? That is regularly mentioned by third parties as the best source for an uptodate detailed history of the event, but I don't see it linked from the news report. _sj_

tsunami conspiracy theory
I found the first conspiracy theory.... http://www.vialls.com/subliminalsuggestion/tsunami.html

I don't even want to start to think it might be true, but I give the link because I think it might be a challenge for experts to refute this story.

Karen.

Category
Please change Cateogry:India in Category:India. Marshaü 07:31, 10 July 2005 (UTC)
 * I will do it this time, but you can change it too by clicking "edit" at the top of the page. -- NGerda 07:34, July 10, 2005 (UTC)
 * Actually, not really — the article is protected for archival purposes. -- IlyaHaykinson 07:35, 10 July 2005 (UTC)
 * sysop power :) Marshaü 07:51, 10 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Oh, I see. Thanks for the clarification, Ilya!  -- NGerda 07:36, July 10, 2005 (UTC)

Images from commonns
Image:745px-Harta Ocean Indian Quake.png needs to be deleted! Have a look at http://www.juelich.de/avatar/check-usage/check-usage.php?saved=Q704Pq6T8a please some are blocked! further contact commons:User:Paddy --84.131.68.91 01:21, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Got it. Thanks, NGerda 01:26, August 31, 2005 (UTC)
 * Thanx ;-) I Think for further work I will have to create an account. greetings. --84.131.68.91 01:58, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * No porblem. :D  Just drop me a message on my talk page if you need an image deleted; I'd be happy to do it for you.  ;)  -- NGerda 02:33, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

WAT r u on?????
hi my name is jacinta and this web site needs to be more undastandin lol it doesnt make sense n i cant read it lol hhhhhhheeeeeeeeellllllppp

Comment from 125.160.97.28
I'm from Indonesia. I'am so sad. That tsunami is remember us to God to prey more. Thank you!!


text:
Talk:European Union Council to accept software patent directive

Is this article ok?
Sign below, please.

Yes

 * 1) Carlosar 12:51, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

No
REASON

The body of the article contradicts the title. The directive was not accepted, it was removed from the agenda. 81.217.21.244 16:16, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)


text:
Australians fast over 2004 Xmas in empathy with detainees

Members of the Australian public, as well as celebrities and politicians have been fasting in recent weeks in empathy with a large contingent of Iranian asylum seekers. Meanwhile, the Iranian men are understood to be receiving medical treatment, some having broken their fast after more than two weeks of starvation.

Two Melburnians, Juliana Qian and Emily Smith, held a 24-hour fast, including a 12-hour public vigil at the city's central Flinders Street Station on Christmas Day. Seventeen-year-old Ms Qian said, "I want to show my support to the detainees, and to draw attention to their situation. Many Iranians have been detained in Australia for four or five years. There is much evidence to suggest these detainees would be persecuted if deported to Iran."

Senator Andrew Bartlett, of the Australian Democrats Party, fasted for five days earlier in the week, hoping to draw attention to the plight of asylum seekers in the nation's controversial immigration system, which is highly intolerant of what it calls "unauthorised" arrivals. Artist and convenor of Spare Rooms for Refugees, Kate Durham, comedian Corrine Grant, actor and vice-president of Actors for Refugees, Diana Greentree, writer Arnold Zable, and musician Kavisha Mazzella have also fasted. Other Australians continue fasting in a rolling programme of three days each, with the last of these planned to end on New Year's Eve with a vigil outside St Stephen's Cathedral in Brisbane.

Most of the hunger striking detainees have been in high security detention for over four years, with no assigned date for release or repatriation. As many as 27 were starving themselves during this particular episode, and some had sewed their lips. Three others had staged a rooftop protest.

A letter from the hunger striking detainees explains their reasons for fasting, and for some having broken fast. "We ... listened to their plea for us to end the hunger strike and have therefore decided to start eating again on Christmas Day as a sign of our good will and friendship.

"It saddens us that you have chosen to ignore until now all the information about us Arab-Iranians which we and our friends have provided to you, your Minister and her Department. We have demonstrated that our Arab minority suffers disadvantages and persecution in Iran and that, no matter what our individual situation, we all had to flee home because we were striving for more freedom and justice for our people. We are real and genuine refugees.

"It is unconscionable that we are not allowed to submit this information or that DIMIA and the Australian courts should not be permitted to consider it, contrary to other civilized countries. How can we prove our case when the authorities will not acknowledge the independent information we have provided?"

Australia's Department of Immigration Multiculturalism and Indigenous Affairs is notorious for ignoring information provided in support of detainees, while upholding that similarly sourced information proves the detainees claims of asylum are ungrounded. One such case is the Bakhtyari family, being deported over Christmas. Verified documents indicating an Afghan origin for the family are disputed by the Department, while apparently forged documents are held by the department as sufficient to show that the family are natives of Pakistan, hence their current, and ongoing 'repatriation' to that country.

The Department has for a number of years ignored recommendations by the Australian Government's own Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to improve processing conditions for asylum seekers, particularly with respect to the issue of children in detention. Independent organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also have repeatedly condemned the Australian system.

Politicians in the Australian Federal Government express confidence in this system, such as Alexander Downer, Foreign Minister, on the Bakhtiyaris: "If you're found not to be a refugee and you've been falsely claiming to be a refugee you should go back home and they should go back to Pakistan where they came from."


text:
Major earthquake jolts Bangladesh, centered in Nicobar Islands

December 26, 2004

Nicobar Islands - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred at 04:21 UTC in the Indian region near Bangladesh.

Seismologists at USGS have indicated that this earthquake is an aftershock of the 9.0 earthquake which had occurred just a few hours earlier, 305 km (190 miles) distant, in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra, Indonesia.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department issued a statement that the quake had struck Chittagong, a southern port that is the second largest city in Bangladesh.

Quake characteristics
The hypocenter was measured at 6.901°N, 92.952°E, some 130 kilometres south by southwest of Misha, Nicobar Islands, at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles).


text:
User:Pod~enwikinews

ragh

title: User:Pod~enwikinews