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Talk:ALF

American Legacy Foundation
I have removed it from the ALF list because it is not a reliably verified acronym tha tthe organization uses. Another editor is attempting to create a connection by altering that article. I am not sure that is altogether disruptive, but it does seem a bit like using WP to make a point. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  14:47, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Why are the sources given by Viriditas not reliable? They seem to be reliable sources to me. A U.S. government publication, a usage by the organization itself, as well as a usage in a magazine. Those all seem reliable to me. Although Viriditas is probably trying to include more names to prove his point, when he actually does find reasonable abbreviations with citations like these, we should include them. If he tries to include something without a citation, though, then it should not be included. So long as a person could type in "ALF" looking for the American Legacy Foundation (which can be shown by usage of the acronym), then it should be included in the disambiguation page. This doesn't mean that we have to give it a prominent position, though. — ዮም  |  (Yom)  |  Talk  • contribs • Ethiopia 21:53, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm still waiting for an answer from Arcayne. There are at least 649 references to "ALF" and the "American Legacy Foundation" on Google, 103 on Gnews, and 49 on Google Scholar. —Viriditas | Talk 09:03, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

ALF/Alf
Following on from Dekimasu's point above (that entries should be included only if the thing being mentioned is often referred to as "ALF" or "Alf," and that links should be arranged according to frequency), would it make sense to redirect Alf to the television series, and ALF to the Animal Liberation Front? This would satisify both "sides," at least as this dispute began, as the issue was whether the television show or the AR group was the most frequently used.

I see now that the television show is usually written as Alf, because it's a character's name (based on the acronym): see Alf: The Animated Series and Alf's Hit Talk Show. We could then have ALF (disambiguation) for the lesser used titles. Any thoughts? SlimVirgin (talk) 20:38, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Sounds good to me.-Localzuk(talk) 20:44, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

 * No, case sensitive solutions do not work. SchmuckyTheCat
 * Schmucky, why not? Wikipedia's allowing us to make the distinction; why not take advantage of it to resolve the dispute? SlimVirgin (talk) 20:47, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Because case sensitivity isn't something readers do. It's a technical solution, not a practical one.  I'd also say, it violates MoS. SchmuckyTheCat
 * We don't know what readers do, Schmucky. If we went with my suggestion, if they looked for Alf, they'd get the show plus a note at the top directing them to ALF and ALF (disambiguation); that seems clear enough. How would it violate the MoS? SlimVirgin (talk) 21:00, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, we do know what readers do. They don't type in case sensitive searches into search engines.  That's why the MoS for dab pages says not to create case sensitive dab pages (which is a problem that exists now, still).  That guidance shouldn't change just because we're proposing redirects. SchmuckyTheCat
 * How do you know what readers do? SlimVirgin (talk) 21:07, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I can't see anything in the MoS saying we shouldn't use case-sensitive titles. Can you point to the section? SlimVirgin (talk) 21:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I know what users do because I'm paid to know that IRL. Further, that is the way MediaWiki is coded: "Search" is case insensitive, "Go" is case sensitive. There is a reason for that, and I'm sure any of the MediaWiki developers would tell you it is because users don't type case sensitive terms into search engines.
 * This information is slightly out of date on a technical matter, but true for the point that making case sensitive redirects is a bad idea: "It is possible to create two non-redirect pages with the same name but different capitalization". Notice: it says non-redirects.  When other content has the same spelling but a different meaning, including diacritics and capitalization, it should be disambiguated.  Our guideline for dabs is more explicit that all dabs to one spelling should be at one case-insensitive page. SchmuckyTheCat 21:29, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

 * Schmucky, if you want to give your real-life name and qualifications, so we can check your expertise, that's fine, but if it's not checkable, it's best not to mention it.

 * I'm not sure why you offered that link in support of your point, as it seems to support mine: "It is possible to create two non-redirect pages with the same name but different capitalization. If this arises, a disambiguation link should always be placed at the top of both pages, linking either to a dedicated disambiguation page or to the other article." It is also possible to create two redirect pages with different capitalizations, and that's what I'm suggesting we do, also with notes at the top of each page. I can't find anything anywhere that says we shouldn't do it. SlimVirgin (talk) 21:40, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

 * (unindent)You can ignore me, but you can't ignore what the MediaWiki software does. Search is not case sensitive.
 * Everything on those pages, we have three so far, says that same spelling, different case, is a bad idea. SchmuckyTheCat

I think this is a good compromise. To reiterate: Alf would direct to the show; ALF would direct to the Front; ALF (disambiguation) would direct to the complete list. Each article would have a note at the top directing the reader to the other two pages.

It would mean: At the moment, everyone who types in ALF or ALf is brought to this page, and from here has to click once to get to their chosen article.

Under my suggestion, those who type Alf and want the show won't have to click further; those who type Alf and want the Front, will have to click once, as they do now. Similarly, those who type ALF and want the show will have to click once; those who type ALF and want the Front won't have to click further.

Those who want a third thing will have to click once, as they do now.

Therefore, my solution means that at least some of the people (possibly 50 percent and perhaps more) will not have to click once; the rest will have to click once as they do now; no one will have to click twice. Therefore, my suggestion is at least better than the current situation. SlimVirgin (talk) 21:27, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

 * I have a single consistent motivation in this topic: to minimize the effort and maximize the access speed for the average user to get to their article of choice. It seems to me that SlimVirgin's suggestion will do exactly that – the average trip will be faster, and I see no significant downside. As long as the wiki search function supports case (and it does), I see no reason not to benefit from it and increase the access speed for our users. Crum375 21:48, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

 * There's no reason to have two pages for ALF and Alf. The usual method is to have ALF redirect to Alf, where the disambiguation page is noted, and we certainly do not have enough pages needing disambiguation that both can't be addressed at the same topic. Moreover, the show is spelled ALF and not Alf. For evidence that case is not used by most users making searches, see here. It's quite obvious by now that there's no primary topic for ALF, with both the organization and TV series being very high up, along with a number of other notable topics, so IMO, the best thing to do is to just follow the suggestions of Shmucky given above, which sound pretty reasonable. We need an admin to do the first move (which I don't think anyone really disagrees with), followed by a discussion on how exactly we want to order this thing. — ዮም  |  (Yom)  |  Talk  • contribs • Ethiopia 01:05, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

 * What are the suggestions of Schmucky that you're referring to, Yom? We pretty much have a consensus that the current page is fine; I put forward the above as a suggestion that I think is even better. But I'm not aware of a third suggestion. SlimVirgin (talk) 01:08, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

 * Also, the link you gave above doesn't tell us anything about the name of the show. SlimVirgin (talk) 01:09, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

 * See his comments under step 1. The link was referring to searching in general, not the Alf show. We'll probably not be able to get accurate data on that, since Google doesn't use case sensitivity, nor do most other major search engines. — ዮም  |  (Yom)  |  Talk  • contribs • Ethiopia 01:20, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

 * I don't see how moving ALF to Alf will change anything. Alf currently redirects here anyway, so it would make no difference. SlimVirgin (talk)  01:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Schmucky that the proposal to redirect based on case is not appropriate. The current setup (disambiguation page is at ALF and Alf redirects there with the TV show and the Animal rights group listed at the top of the disambiguation page) is just fine. The only change I would make is to move ALF to Alf (that is the more typical location for such pages that present combine usage). older ≠ wiser 12:21, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * As SV says, how does that make any difference? Alf already redirects here so moving them would just be a pointless exercise.-Localzuk(talk) 12:35, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Consistency. older ≠ wiser 12:59, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Consistency in what way? It just seems bureaucratic to me.-Localzuk(talk) 16:26, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

 * I think the current arrangment is best, with both ALF and alf redirecting to the disambiguation page, where the tv show and animal rights group occupy the top spots. Redirecting either of these to Animal Liberation Front is not a good idea. Those who are looking for that article will surely most often type "Animal Liberation Front" in any case.  By contrast (and for me this is the decisive point) is that those who are looking for the TV-show have no choice but to type "ALF" (the show's actual name) or (given that internet typing is often case-insensitive) "alf".  It also strikes me that the acronym for the Animal Liberation Front is not widely recognized outside of Britain.   Buck  ets  ofg  12:58, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * You are mistaken about the acronym not being widely recognised outside of britain, as it is used in the USA [(unreliable source - do not use) www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21285737.shtml], Australia, New Zealand , Canada  etc... It is a worldwide English speaking usage of the acronym.-Localzuk(talk) 16:26, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The ALF is active in around 35 countries, including the U.S., and is well-known in each of them because the media often writes about them, and the police and the various governments often criticize them. They're known in all these languages as the ALF, because it is the "calling card" that they leave at the scene of an action.

 * At least some of the opposition to ALF being redirected to the Front is because people have anti-AR views. I'm not saying that everyone opposing this is doing it for that reason, but it was an anti-AR POV that started this, and that made it so vitriolic. Can I appeal to you all to be as neutral about this as you can? Even if you all hate them, it's clear that this is a very widely used acronym for them, and we're here to make things easy for readers, nothing else. SlimVirgin (talk) 16:39, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * It's given, that the Animal Liberation Front is popularly known as ALF to any first-world country. However, it's rather pot-kettle-black to assign motive to the opposition of your proposition that we create a guideline-breaking redirect.
 * One dab page for all subjects, what is so difficult about that? SchmuckyTheCat
 * You still haven't shown me where in the MoS it says not to do what I'm proposing. And anyway, the MoS itself says it should be ignored when appropriate. My solution would give all sides what they wanted: (a) ALF for the Front, (b) Alf for the television show, and (c) ALF (disambiguation) for the complete list. That way, everyone's happy. SlimVirgin (talk) 17:49, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

 * Well, no not really. You've got an extremely limited consensus going here. A previous Requested Move poll gave pretty strong indication that there was no primary topic. The TV show title is not Alf, for one. What is wrong with the current arrangement? older ≠ wiser 17:57, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm certainly willing to accept the current arrangement as a compromise; my concern from the start was only that the Front not be buried and hard to find. I still think the other suggestion is a better one, and the TV show does seem to be called Alf: see Alf: The Animated Series and Alf's Hit Talk Show.
 * Can you give a reason for my proposal being a poor one? You say it's inappropriate, but you don't say why. SlimVirgin (talk) 18:00, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * To reiterate my reason, which was apparently too elliptically stated: the proposal presumes to make Alf and ALF into primary topics, and I don't believe there is a clear primary topic, especially considering that the actual name of the TV series was ALF not Alf. older ≠ wiser 19:18, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Everyone agrees that the primary topic is either the TV show or the Animal Liberation Front. There is confusion as to the name of the show, with it sometimes being written as ALF and sometimes Alf. We can take advantage of that by using Alf to redirect to the show, and ALF to the Front. This would mean that those who wanted to prioritize the show are happy; those who wanted to prioritize the Front are happy; and those who wanted a dab page that lists all possibilities are happy too, because we'd also have ALF (disambiguation). We'd have dab notes at the top of both primary articles telling people where to go, so that readers only had to click once at most, which they have to do now anyway.
 * I have to ask again: what are the actual drawbacks to this solution? Please don't simply say you don't like it or give a reason based on process. Please say what the actual drawbacks would be. SlimVirgin (talk) 23:26, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Why would having a misspelling of the name of the TV show redirect to the TV show make anyone happy? That's silly. Besides there is no "agreement" about primary topic. There is some general agreement that the AR group and the TV show are the two most common referents, but that is not the same as primary topic. older ≠ wiser 01:09, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

 * Actually, there seems to be some question on the correct capitalization of the animated series; see its IMDB entry, which refers to it as "ALF: The Animated Series" (similarly, see the IMDB entry for "ALF's Hit Talk Show").  As a aside, I wonder if this is the most-trafficked disambiguation talk page ever? JavaTenor 18:10, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm guessing the TV show name was first presented as ALF, an acromym of Alien Life Form, then morphed into Alf, as it became accepted as the character's name. That's speculation, though. Yes, it probably is the most-trafficked dab page, sadly. SlimVirgin (talk) 18:39, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Arbitrary Break

 * Can someone clarify this for me? 1)There's a bunch of stuff called "alf" or "ALF". 2) The two most important ones are ALF - The Animal Liberation Front and Alf (OR ALF) the telly show. 3)One disambiguation page for everything at ALF, with redirect from Alf, isn't seen as suitable by some people (why?) but a page at ALF with links to disambiguation (or to the other ALF) is also seen as not suitable by some other people?  I'm really not sure why a disambiguation page at ALF with Animal Liberation Front and Alf the tv show at the top is a poor solution.  It's one extra click for all users, rather than one less click for some but two extra clicks for others.  It also exposes people to the diversity of information that wiki has - I had no idea about assisted living facilities etc before this page.   Dan Beale  10:25, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * If you search for "ALF" in the actual, top external link search indices for articles listed under Category:Newspapers, Category:Magazines, and other media categories, you'll find that the searches consistently return persons with the name "Alf" as the most popular search result. Take USA Today, as just one example.  Try others.   There are multiple issues at work.  Encyclopedias take a long-term historical view, and should not favor time-sensitive usage when there is no clear primary topic.  Examples abound: a strain of the Murray_Valley_encephalitis_virus was referred to as "ALF" in the medical literature as early as 1970 (Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1970 Nov;19(6):Suppl:1093-4); "American Landmark Festivals" (music fest.) were called ALF as early as 1973;   the Azania Liberation Front was also referred to as ALF in multiple sources in the early 1970s (Nelson, 1973. Area Handbook for the Democratic Republic of Sudan); the Afar Liberation Front was called ALF in a published work in 1975 (Legum, Ethiopia: The Fall of Haile Sellassie's Empire); the Animal Liberation Front wasn't even formed until 1976 and didn't even receive wider currency until the late 1980s and early 1990s.  And, Google Scholar lists at least 1,060 hits for "Acute Liver Failure" and ALF, 299 hits for "Assisted living" and ALF, and only 271 hits for "Animal Liberation Front" and ALF, demonstrating that non-animal rights acronyms have wider currency in published works.  There are literally tens of thousands of Google hits being generated just from the Animal Liberation Front and their front domains, such as animalliberationfront.us, animalliberationpressoffice.org, animalliberationfront.com, and many others.  You can even find evidence of a Google bombing campaign by ALF supporters as early as 2004, discussed here.  An unsorted, uncollated disambiguation page is a poor solution only in the sense that it isn't accurate and is being manipulated by animal rights activists.  Wikipedia is supposed to be neutral; we aren't supposed to promote one group over another.  Our job is to provide accurate, encyclopedic information that isn't subject to the political machinations of special interests who would seek to misrepresent data for their own purposes.  Actual, encyclopedic reference works like the Acronyms, Initialisms, and Abbreviations Dictionary collate their information for easy navigational access, and we should do the same.  This has the additional benefit of eliminating POV orders of placement on the dab page and making terms easy to find. —Viriditas | Talk 11:49, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Viriditas - you are being almost entirely US-centric there - please remember that the initials are more commonly used in reference to the animal liberation front in European countries than, say, the American show with the puppet. Also, your evidence regarding Google bombing is nonsense - you have a single post from a vegan blog. That is not evidence in the slightest, it is simply an observation by the author. If you do believe that there has been a google bombing exercise then you don't understand how google works. Google bombing is incredibly complex to organise and doing it from domains such as animalliberationfront.us and animalliberationpressoffice.org would not end with the result you are claiming. It would require the co-operation and widescale usage of the term by other trusted sites - such as news sites, government sites etc... Otherwise the pagerank technology would just ignore it (otherwise I could go out there, set up 10,000 pages using the term ALF on different but similar domains and suddenly be the top ranked address...).
 * I think the problem here is that you are focusing too much on the USA and forgetting about Europe and other continents. Also note that the ALF has been called the ALF since 1976, whilst the tv show was only ran between 1986 and 1990.-Localzuk(talk) 12:22, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Choose any non-American media outlet with a high circulation rate and give me the results of an archival search of their site. I chose USA Today as an example because it is listed as the highest circulating publication in the US, not because it is American. —Viriditas | Talk 12:39, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

 * A search of non-Google, English language sites also yielded Alf (tv show) and Alf (animal rights org) as the top choices. I was (and am) concerned with systemic bias as well as other bias. I think that claims of "google-bombing" are somewhat inflated when similar results atart ranging in from cources other than Google, and hyper-consideration of this nature begins so sound increasingly like conspiracy theory. When we see hoofprints, let's think horses, not zebras. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  13:51, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not referring to a search index, but to an actual search of any archival news source that has a high circulation rate. I chose USA Today as an example, in which case, the name "ALF" returned 511 hits since 1987. "Animal Liberation Front" is only listed 43 times, eight of which include the acronym. —Viriditas | Talk 14:26, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * It bears pointing out that USA Today is perhaps not free of systemic bias. After all, it is called USA Today. I wonder how many hits Alf or ALF gets with Al Jazeera (the English language version) or another non-US-centric source... - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  15:15, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I chose USA Today because it has the current status of "largest reported circulation" per List of newspapers in the United States by circulation. Please choose another paper with a similar circulation status and perform a search for "ALF".  Please report your results, here, with a link so others can check. —Viriditas | Talk 15:30, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, therein lies the problem: The USA Today may very well be the largest "reported circulation in the US", but the US is not the sum total of English-speaking countries in the world. This is the English-language wiki, not the American wiki. We can't rely solely upon a magazine that, by your own admission focuses its efforts largely to the confines of the USA. Sorry. -  Arcayne   (cast a spell)  18:22, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree with you; I acknowledge that we shouldn't rely on one source for determining notability and usage; this is why I have requested others to "choose another paper with a similar circulation status and perform a search for "ALF". Please report your results, here, with a link so others can check."  In the case of USA Today, the highest circulating newspaper in the United States, the most common use of the term "ALF" was in reference to the television show.  The second most common usage was in reference to a persons name.  Here's another example: The highest circulating paper in Canada is the Toronto Star.  According to a search of their archive (including all related publications since 1985) the Front is only referred to 15 times.  Removing the Front from the search returns 1631 hits for ALF.  Many of these results refer to people named "Alf".  Hints for other searches include the Sunday Star-Times, New Zealand's highest circulating paper..   You can also check LookSmart's FindArticles archive, which includes 1811 references to articles that do not include the Front, and 201 that do. —Viriditas | Talk 21:59, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

 * What exactly are you wanting me to show you? I admit that searching for alf turns up people named Alf but the argument is that we should have one page for 'Alf' and one for 'ALF' - and this page would direct straight to the front. So, please explain exactly what you want and I'll have a look.-Localzuk(talk) 16:07, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Why would that be the case? ALF is the term that we have so many different acronyms for, and the two, so far indistinguishable in notability and commonness of use (of the acronym ALF), main topics: the front and the TV show (which is ALF, not Alf), plus a number of other organizations and acronyms. So why would having two pages imply that one be a redirect to the front? Really, there's no difference between having this disambiguation page at ALF versus Alf, but since the disambiguation page is usually at "Alf" (and its equivalents), we might as well go with the established precedent. — ዮም  |  (Yom)  |  Talk  • contribs • Ethiopia 22:26, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * That argument is moot per Step 1; let's move forward, not backward. We're currently arguing about Step 3 and 4.  See "Step 1" section above. —Viriditas | Talk 16:16, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * What? You asked for something, and I asked for clarification - and you say it is moot. How has it become moot since half an hour after you last asked the question? Also, no argument is moot, as this is a continuation of the discussion of SV's suggestion, not the organisation of the current page.-Localzuk(talk) 17:29, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

 * Please don't get into all that again. Really, I didn't mean to start another round.  I just want a simplified version of where this page is now.  I'm happy with Steps one and two, and I'm happy for step three if the two most common uses are at the top of the list.  Dan Beale  18:08, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I think it was pretty clear prior to today that the page was just fine. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  15:15, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Step 3 and 4 have been in discussion for a while. —Viriditas | Talk 21:46, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

World's 100 Largest Newspapers. —Viriditas | Talk 22:10, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

English place names
Is there any evidence that Alfold, Alford, Alfreton, and Alfriston are called Alf? SlimVirgin (talk) 16:05, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

 * I'll remove them in that case. SlimVirgin <sup style="color:purple;">(talk) 01:51, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I am not sure where to find such a link, but I mentioned earlier that whilst traveling through the UK, the locals called Alford as well as Alfriston Alf for short. Maybe its not notable enough to mention (as my knowledge of the local colloquialism is a primary source), but I think there might be local references to it in the local chamber of commerce stuff that is rife within the UK. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  15:07, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I've not been able to find anything so far. SlimVirgin <sup style="color:purple;">(talk) 23:10, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Such is life. :) - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  23:34, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * For Alfreton, this headline from a local paper would only make sense if 'Alf' was indeed a local nickname. But once we get to reverse engineering from bad jokes, we're on pretty dodgy ground.   Buck  ets  ofg  03:05, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree that the headline was a bad pun, but frankly, the pun serves to reinforce the existence of a nickname for Alfreton (at least). - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  08:49, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

It's been a few days since we've had confirmation of at least one Alf being a nickname (in the cited instance, Alfreton). Should it be added back in? - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  23:38, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikigroaning
Good article here about the "wikigroaning" triggered by equating television programs and video games with topics of historical or social importance. I was powerfully reminded of this page. :-) SlimVirgin <sup style="color:purple;">(talk) 01:51, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * A well written and amusing article, SlimVirgin. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. --User:Ceyockey ( talk to me ) 01:06, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Do DAB pages ever become FA articles?
Lol! Just kidding (hmm....or am I?) Seriously, the DAB page looks pretty nice. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  23:38, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Wellll...try to nominate it and see. I doubt that it would be accepted because dab pages are not, technically, articles.  However, the notion of having a 'featured disambiguation page' isn't that far fetched considering the amount of effort and impact on utility of the encyclopedia that a good dab page reflects and can have. --User:Ceyockey ( talk to me ) 01:41, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Cite request for application layer filtering
Arcayne has requested citations for the term ALF being used to refer to Application Layer Filtering. Here are two recently published books that use the term: Since the consensus on dab pages seems to be that they don't require citations, I'm leaving these refs on the talk page. —Viriditas | Talk 09:23, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but these are not immediately verifiable, and you are fully aware that you have not earned AGF just yet. As well, when a revert situation arises, it is fairly customary to actually await a response before simply reverting. As it is, you are at three reverts. If you revert again, you will be reported for 3RR. As well, this seems a good time to perhaps remind you of the uncivil behavior of accusing folk of bad faith edits. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  11:33, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * On the contrary, these citations are in fact immediately verifiable. Try Google Books, where you find both books online. You haven't provided any valid justification for your continuing removal of links on this dab page as you did above with American Legacy Foundation etc. I can think of no good reason why you persist in disruptive edit warring.  You asked for cites and I provided them.  You claim that they are not immediately verifiable, and I tell you that they are.  This type of continuing editing behavior from you that persists over many months seems to be entirely in bad faith. —Viriditas | Talk 11:38, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * More cites: —Viriditas | Talk 11:41, 16 August 2007 (UTC) (Cite added: 12:09, 16 August 2007 (UTC))

 * I will check Google books. Understand that if the acronym doesn't appear, the instance will be removed from the dab page. You have not yet proven that its usage is in fact noteworthy. Again, I remind you that you have used up your reverts for the day for this article, placing you right up agains the 'electric fence.' As well, I would ask that you confine your remarks to the subject at hand. If you find significant problems with my editing style, please find somewhere else to edit. Please do not make further personal attacks. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  11:50, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I find significant problems with your editing style, as do other editors who have asked you to explain your continuing removal of cited content. You've made these type of bad faith claims before and your tone of voice and continuing claims are absurd. This does not imply in any way that I should find somewhere else to edit: it implies that you need to change your behavior.  Ask yourself one question: how have your edits improved this dab page? —Viriditas | Talk 11:57, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

(outdent) Excuse me, but what part of the No personal attacks policy eludes you? I have asked you to direct your comments solely to the subject, and avoid personal attacks, and have even taken the rather significant step of asking you to stop on your Talk page. Yet you persist. Are you trying to get banned (as this isn;t the first time you've been warned about this by other users and admins)? If so, you are well on your way. One last time: confine your remarks to the article, and stop the personal attacks. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  12:39, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * My comments are directly related to this subject which concerns your editing behavior: the continued, unjustified removal of referenced dab entries. I don't see any "personal attacks". Read this thread and the previous ones I linked to above. Ask someone to explain it to you if it still doesn't make sense.  Furthermore, the initial post in this thread, a polite message authored by myself that fulfilled your cite request, was met with a personal attack - from you: "you have not earned AGF just yet".  You may want to review WP:NPA in case you have forgotten what it actually says. —Viriditas | Talk 12:49, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for making it easy, Viriditas. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  12:57, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * You have avoided the issue of citations altogether and replied to my provision of cites with a personal attack maligning my character, and now, you are falsely accusing me of attacking you. So to recap, you asked for cites and I provided them.  You responded by claiming that you can't trust me (a baseless attack), threatening (another attack) to report me for reverting your bad faith edits.  I responded to your attacks by sticking to the subject of bad faith citation removal with linked evidence, pointing to a pattern of your bad faith edits to this page involving the repeated removal of cited content, and you then  respond with more false accusations.  It looks like you are trying very hard to misdirect this discussion, but it won't work. —Viriditas | Talk 13:07, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Whatever, already bored. Anyway, can you provide how the usage is noteworthy? - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  13:41, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I think the links I gave you make the case that it is a notable feature of firewalls and information security: "...considered by many firewall experts to be the most secure of the filtering technologies." (Shinder, 2005)  It's also considered as notable as deep packet inspection. (Noonan, Dubrawsky, 2006). —Viriditas | Talk 14:25, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for providing the citations. I was able to verify that the term is not an accidental acronym and is in use, therefore notable. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  20:04, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

A cite was requested and several were provided. Let's move on. -- M P er el 14:37, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

split
I suppose this should be split into ALF vs. Alf. --dab (𒁳) 16:45, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
 * No, bad. Dab pages (in fact, no pages) should NOT be case sensitive, accent/tone mark sensitive, etc.  SchmuckyTheCat
 * Just to be clear, SchuckyTheCat meant to say, "Dab page should NOT be case sensitive". This was previously discussed here and in the archives.  Consensus was against splitting by case. —Viriditas | Talk 10:12, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, thank you, I modified my previous statement. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)
 * There was in fact no consensus in the previous discussion, and this page indicates that we can, indeed, create case-sensitive dab pages:

 * "It is possible to create two non-redirect pages with the same name but different capitalization. If this arises, a disambiguation link should always be placed at the top of both pages, linking either to a dedicated disambiguation page or to the other article."

 * That would be the most sensible thing to do in this case. SlimVirgin  (talk) (contribs) 16:51, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * WP:DAB disagrees, and that advice is older, admits it is problematic, and points to another article about precision which also says it is a bad idea. Because search is not case sensitive - I think that simple fact of the software internals over-rides any guideline to the contrary. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)

 * WP:DAB is just a guideline, and even it only says "usually" the dabs won't be case sensitive, so we can do what we want here. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by the software overriding. When we had two pages -- Alf and ALF -- it worked fine. When you searched for Alf, you arrived at Alf, with a dab note at the top directing you to ALF in case that was what you'd wanted. SlimVirgin  (talk) (contribs) 17:22, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * They are all just guidelines. The guideline you are quoting says to use WP:DAB for guidance.  You're twisting the obvious to get the result you want, rather than the rather clear advice that case-sensitive titles on any article are a bad idea.
 * People do not put search based on case. We've gone over this before. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)
 * No-one's "twisting" anything. I'm arguing that there has been a long-standing dispute about this page, and that it would be resolved by having two pages, one Alf, and one ALF, which the guidelines and the software both allow. That's all I'm saying. SlimVirgin  (talk) (contribs) 19:01, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Allow, but discourage. It's not a good solution, and AFAIK that's the only part of the dispute - it shouldn't be done. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)
 * For example, White Lion for the band, and White lion for the cat works well. You're saying it shouldn't be done, but other people are saying it's fine, so the questions are: when is it a good idea, and would it be a good one in this case? And if not, why not? What is the difference between ALF and Alf that makes it different from White Lion/White lion? SlimVirgin  (talk) (contribs) 21:10, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Works well because it is only two articles and is not a dab page. I wouldn't set these pages up this way either. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)

 * Why would dab pages be any different though? Alf for the name, and any abbreviation written that way. ALF for abbreviations written that way. With both referenced on each other's pages. SlimVirgin  (talk) (contribs) 22:45, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
 * (unindent) Because dab pages are not content, they are navigation aids.  It is not helpful to navigation to have case sensitive pages.  And, again, users don't make case sensitive searches.  There is zero benefit to making case sensitive dab pages. SchmuckyTheCat (talk)

title: Talk:ALF


text:
Talk:Fists of Righteous Harmony Test

Why delete the redirection and leave a blank page? -- Error 01:42 24 Jun 2003 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Fists of Righteous Harmony Test


text:
The American Prospect

The American Prospect is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., The American Prospect says it "is devoted to promoting informed discussion on public policy from a progressive perspective." Its motto is "Ideas, Politics, and Power".

History
The magazine, initially called The Liberal Prospect, was founded in 1990 by Robert Kuttner, Robert Reich, and Paul Starr as a response to the perceived ascendancy of conservatism in the 1980s. Kuttner and Starr currently serve as co-editors. As of June 2019, David Dayen serves as executive editor and Ellen J. Meany serves as Publisher.

Current editors include Managing Editor Ryan Cooper, co-founder and Co-editor Robert Kuttner, Editor-at-Large Harold Meyerson, co-founder and Co-editor Paul Starr, and Deputy Editor Gabrielle Gurley.

Staff writers and contributors have included Gabriel Arana, Steve Erickson, Adele Stan, Paul Waldman, and EJ Dionne. Other notable contributors to The Prospect print and online magazine include author David Garrow and Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy. Eric Alterman served as its main media criticism and history columnist until 2023, when he was replaced by Rick Perlstein.

The Prospect has several programs to focus on the development of the next generation of progressive writers and journalists. Its internship program counts among its alumni Bernie Sanders advisor Matt Duss. Former Prospect intern Shera Avi-Yonah was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for 2021. Its writing fellowship program enables young writers to develop their skills under an intensive mentoring program that is widely regarded as one of the foremost springboards to fulfilling and impactful careers in journalism and the academy. Program alumni include Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Jamelle Bouie, Adam Serwer, Chris Mooney, Joshua Micah Marshall, Dana Goldstein, Nicholas Confessore, and Kate Sheppard.

In March 2010, The American Prospect entered into an affiliation with Demos, a public policy research and advocacy center based in New York City. The official affiliation ended in 2012. That year, the magazine nearly folded due to financial struggles, but it was able to raise enough money to stay afloat. In 2014, the magazine re-purposed itself as a "quarterly journal of ideas". Kit Rachlis announced he was leaving the editorship of the magazine, senior writer Monica Potts and editor Bob Moser were laid off, while several other editorial staffers left the publication.

In 2019, The Prospect celebrated its 30th anniversary. At the anniversary gala, Kuttner said, "The Prospect has been all about connecting dots—between the structural corruptions of capitalism, the deep analysis of how that operates politically, the narrative story of how regular people experience it, the related corruption of our democracy, and the movement politics of taking America back."

Current executive editor David Dayen has introduced a new motto to The Prospect: "Ideas, Politics, and Power". Dayen has reported extensively on the coronavirus pandemic with his daily newsletters Unsanitized and First 100, and pointed The Prospect's coverage toward Washington insider knowledge, including series like Cabinet Watch, which broke news of several of Joe Biden's high-profile Cabinet appointments.

In 2020, The Prospect introduced its flagship Day One Agenda series outlining the ways in which then-President-Elect Joe Biden could use executive power to implement progressive policy. Reporting from the series has been cited in Vox, Salon, and The Washington Post.

As of 2020, The Prospect partners with news organizations including The Intercept and Dissent Magazine.

Accolades, awards, and recognition
In 2010, The American Prospect was the recipient of Utne Reader magazine's Utne Independent Press Award for Political Coverage. In 2017, then-Prospect columnist Adele M. Stan won the prestigious Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism. Her reporting on the American far-right predicted the Trump presidency. The committee wrote of Stan's work: "Stan's prescient 2016 portfolio stands as a chilling testimony to fearless commentary, and signals the changes we need in public life and in journalism to preserve civil liberties and pursue social justice."

In 2021, Executive Editor David Dayen won the Hillman Prize in Magazine Journalism for his Unsanitized newsletter series.

Also in 2021, Deputy Editor Gabrielle Gurley won the Gene Burd Award for Excellence in Urban Journalism for her article "Public Transportation in Crisis".

Managing Editor Jonathan Guyer won the 2021 Dateline Award for Investigative Journalism (Magazine) recognizing excellence in the category of Investigative Journalism for his feature "The Lucrative Afterlife of a Trump Official".

Format
Originally, The American Prospect published quarterly, then bimonthly. In 2000, thanks to a grant from the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy, it became biweekly. Financial and logistical difficulties ensued, and the magazine moved to a ten-issue-per-year format in spring 2003 and a bimonthly format in summer 2012. The online version of the magazine included a blog called TAPPED (derived from TAP, the acronym of The American Prospect). Facing financial issues, the magazine reduced its bi-monthly publication schedule to a quarterly publication schedule in 2014. Starting in 2020, the magazine returned to a bimonthly schedule.

The Prospect releases periodic special issues, including the Green New Deal (November 2019), Caregiving in Crisis (October 2020), and the Supply Chain Debacle (February 2022).

title: The American Prospect


text:
Wikipedia talk:Foldoc license

Shouldn't this page be protected? --Anon

 * Yeah, I guess so. Protected. --mav

 * It appears as if the "Edit this page" option could be removed on protected pages, such as the Foldoc license. /Wikiborg

FOLDOC is *not* a "public domain resource"

 * See also: Public domain resources

I don't see how that link relates to anything. What do public domain resources have to do with FOLDOC? FOLDOC is not a public domain work; it is restricted under United Kingdom copyright law and international treaties and licensed to the public under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Shouldn't this notice be changed to point to GFDL resources, of which FOLDOC is one, instead of public-domain resources? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 15:29, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Yes. The 'see also' notice is obviously wrong.  It must be changed to point to "GNU Free Documentation License resources".  --Kanjy 10:38, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Fixed. Ral315 (talk) 06:08, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Interwiki link
Please remove all interwiki links. They are handled by Wikidata.--GZWDer (talk) 07:39, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
 * ✅ Graham 87 14:18, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia talk:Foldoc license


text:
Talk:National anthem of Iran

EY IRAN!!!!

You guys need an english translation of the popular anthem.

title: Talk:National anthem of Iran


text:
Charles Spencer-Churchill

Charles Spencer-Churchill may refer to:

 * Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill (1794–1840), British nobleman
 * Charles Henry Spencer-Churchill (1828–1877), British officer
 * Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871–1934)
 * James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough (born 1955), full name Charles James Spencer-Churchill

title: Charles Spencer-Churchill


text:
Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. With the 1995 buyout of its longtime rival the Houston Post, the Chronicle became Houston's newspaper of record.

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, a privately held multinational corporate media conglomerate with $10 billion in revenues. The paper employs nearly 2,000 people, including approximately 300 journalists, editors, and photographers. The Chronicle has bureaus in Washington, D.C., and Austin. The paper reports that its web site averages 125 million page views per month.

The publication serves as the "newspaper of record" of the Houston area. Previously headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building at 801 Texas Avenue, Downtown Houston, the Houston Chronicle is now located at 4747 Southwest Freeway.

In addition to its daily print edition, the Chronicle offers Chron.com, a free online-only, ad-supported newspaper covering breaking news, weather, traffic, pop culture, and city life. Houstonchronicle.com, launched in 2012, is a subscriber-only paper that contains everything found in the daily print edition.

History

From its inception, the practices and policies of the Houston Chronicle were shaped by strong-willed personalities who were the publishers. The history of the newspaper can be best understood when divided into the eras of these individuals.

1901–1926: Marcellus E. Foster era
The Houston Chronicle was founded in 1901 by a former reporter for the now-defunct Houston Post, Marcellus E. Foster. Foster, who had been covering the Spindletop oil boom for the Post, invested in Spindletop and took $30 of the return on that investment—at the time equivalent to a week's wages—and used it to fund the Chronicle.

The Chronicle's first edition was published on October 14, 1901, and sold for two cents per copy, at a time when most papers sold for five cents each. At the end of its first month in operation, the Chronicle had a circulation of 4,378—roughly one tenth of the population of Houston at the time. Within the first year of operation, the paper purchased and consolidated the Daily Herald.

In 1908, Foster asked Jesse H. Jones, a local businessman and prominent builder, to construct a new office and plant for the paper, "and offered [a] half-interest in the newspaper as a down payment, with twenty years to pay the remainder. Jones agreed, and the resulting Chronicle Building was one of the finest in the South."

Under Foster, the paper's circulation grew from about 7,000 in 1901 to 75,000 on weekdays and 85,000 on Sundays by 1926. Foster continued to write columns under the pen name Mefo, and drew much attention in the 1920s for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). He sold the rest of his interest to Jesse H. Jones on June 26, 1926, and promptly retired.

Goodfellows

In 1911, city editor George Kepple started Goodfellows. On Christmas Eve 1911, Kepple passed a hat among the Chronicle's reporters to collect money to buy toys for a shoe-shine boy.

Goodfellows continues today through donations made by the newspaper and its readers. It has grown into a citywide program that provides needy children between the ages of two and ten with toys during the winter holidays. In 2003, Goodfellows distributed almost 250,000 toys to more than 100,000 needy children in the Greater Houston area.

1926–1956: Jesse H. Jones era
In 1926, Jesse H. Jones became the sole owner of the paper. He had approached Foster about selling, and Foster had answered, "What will you give me?" Jones described the buyout of Foster as follows: "Wanting to be liberal with Foster if I bought him out, since he had created the paper and originally owned most of the stock, and had made a success of it, I thought for a while before answering and finally asked him how much he owed. He replied, 'On real estate and everything about 200,000 dollars.' I then said to him that I would give him 300,000 dollars in cash, having in mind that this would pay his debts and give him 100,000 spending money.  In addition, I would give him a note for 500,000 secured by a mortgage on the Chronicle Building, the note to be payable (interest and principal) at the rate of 35,000 a year for thirty-five years, which I figured was about his expectancy.  I would also pay him 20,000 dollars a year as editor of the paper and 6,000 dollars a year to continue writing the daily front-page column, 'MEFO', on the condition that either of us could cancel the editorship and/or the MEFO-column contracts on six months' notice, and that, if I canceled both the column and the editorship, I would give him an additional 6,000 dollars a year for life. I considered the offer substantially more than the Chronicle was worth at the time. No sooner had I finished stating my proposition than he said, 'I will take it', and the transaction was completed accordingly."

In 1937, Jesse H. Jones transferred ownership of the paper to the newly established Houston Endowment Inc. Jones retained the title of publisher until his death in 1956.

According to the Handbook of Texas online, the Chronicle generally represented very conservative political views during the 1950s: "... the Chronicle generally represented the very conservative political interests of the Houston business establishment. As such, it eschewed controversial political topics, such as integration or the impacts of rapid economic growth on life in the city. It did not perform investigative journalism. This resulted in a stodgy newspaper that failed to capture the interests of newcomers to the city. By 1959, circulation of the rival Houston Post had pulled ahead of the Chronicle."

Jones, a lifelong Democrat who organized the Democratic National Convention to be in Houston in 1928, and who spent long years in public service first under the Wilson administration, helping to found the Red Cross during World War I, and later famously under the Roosevelt administration, described the paper's mission in these terms:

I regard the publication of a newspaper as a distinct public trust, and one not to be treated lightly or abused for selfish purposes or to gratify selfish whims. A great daily newspaper can remain a power for good only so long as it is uninfluenced by unworthy motives, and unbought by the desire for gain. A newspaper which can be neither bought nor bullied is the greatest asset of a city or state. Naturally, a newspaper makes mistakes in judgment, as it does in type; but, so long as errors are honestly made, they are not serious when general results are considered.

The success or failure of a particular issue is of little consequence compared with the all-important principle of a fearless and honest newspaper. This I intend the Chronicle shall always be, a newspaper for all the people, democratic in fact and in principle, standing for the greatest good to the greatest number, championing and defending what it believes to be right, and condemning and opposing what it believes to be wrong.

Such have always been the policies of the Chronicle and to such it is now rededicated."

Under Jones' watch, the Chronicle bought KTRH, one of Houston's oldest radio stations, in 1937. In 1954, Jones led a syndicate that signed on Houston's third television station, KTRK-TV.

1956–1965: John T. Jones era
The board of Houston Endowment named John T. Jones, nephew of Jesse H. Jones, as editor of the Chronicle. Houston Endowment president, J. Howard Creekmore, was named publisher. In 1961, John T. Jones hired William P. Steven as editor. Steven had previously been editor of the Tulsa Tribune and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and credited with turning around the declining readership of both papers. One of his innovations was the creation of a regular help column called "Watchem", where ordinary citizens could voice their complaints. The Chicago Tribune later called this column a pioneer and prototype of the modern newspaper "Action Line".

Steven's progressive political philosophy soon created conflict with the very conservative views of the Houston Endowment board, especially when he editorially supported the election of Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for president. However, more than political philosophy was involved: Robert A. Caro revealed in his biography of Johnson that written assurance of this support from John T. Jones had been the price demanded by Johnson in January 1964 in return for approval of the merger of Houston's National Bank of Commerce, in which Jones had a financial interest, with another Houston bank, the Texas National.

In 1964, the Chronicle purchased the assets of its evening newspaper competitor, the Houston Press, becoming the only evening newspaper in the city. By then, the Chronicle had a circulation of 254,000—the largest of any paper in Texas. The Atlantic Monthly credited the growth to the changes instigated by Steven.

In the summer of 1965, Jones decided to buy a local television station that was already owned by the Houston Endowment. He resigned from the Houston Endowment board to avoid a conflict of interest, though he remained as publisher of the Chronicle. On September 2, 1965, Jones made a late-night visit to the Steven home, where he broke the news that the Endowment board had ordered him to dismiss Steven. Jones had to comply. On September 3, the paper published a story announcing that Everett Collier was now the new editor.

No mention was made of Steven or the Houston Endowment board. Houston Post staff wrote an article about the change, but top management killed it. Only two weekly papers in Houston mentioned it: Forward Times (which targeted the African-American community) and the Houston Tribune (an ultra-conservative paper). Both papers had rather small circulations and no influence among the city's business community. The two major newspapers in Houston never mentioned Steven for many years thereafter.

1965–1987: J. Howard Creekmore era
John J. Jones left the Chronicle not long after Steven's ouster. J. Howard Creekmore, president of the Houston Endowment, took John Jones' place at the Chronicle. Everett D. Collier replaced Steven as editor. Collier remained in this position until his retirement in 1979.

J. Howard Creekmore was born in Abilene, Texas, in 1905. His parents died while he was young, so he was raised by his stepmother. The family moved to Houston in 1920. Howard enrolled in Rice Institute, where he graduated with degrees in history and English. After graduation, he went to work for Jesse Jones as a bookkeeper. Jones took an interest in the young man's career, and put him through law school. Creekmore passed the bar exam in 1932 and returned to work for Jones. He held several positions in the Jones business empire. In 1959, he was named to the board of Houston Endowment, and was promoted to president of the board in 1964.

By 1965, Creekmore had persuaded other directors of Houston Endowment to sell several business properties, including the Chronicle. Houston oilman John Mecom offered $85 million for the newspaper, its building, a 30 percent interest in Texas National Bank of Commerce, and the historic Rice Hotel. Early in 1966, Mecom encountered problems raising the additional cash to complete the transaction. He then began lining up potential buyers for the newspaper, which included non-Houstonians such as Sam Newhouse, Otis Chandler and the Scripps-Howard organization. Creekmore strongly believed that local persons should own the paper. He insisted that Mecom pay the $84 million debt immediately in cash. Mecom cancelled his purchase agreement.

In 1968, the Chronicle set a Texas newspaper circulation record. In 1981, the business pages—which until then had been combined with sports—became its own section of the newspaper. Creekmore remained as publisher until Houston Endowment sold the paper to the Hearst Corporation.

1987–present: Hearst Corporation era
On May 1, 1987, the Hearst Corporation purchased the Houston Chronicle from Houston Endowment for $415 million.

Richard J. V. Johnson, who had joined the paper as a copy editor in 1956, and worked up to executive vice president in 1972, and president in 1973, remained as chairman and publisher until he retired on April 1, 2002. He was succeeded by Jack Sweeney.

In 1994, the Chronicle switched to being a morning-only paper. With the demise of the Houston Post on April 18 the next year, the Chronicle became Houston's sole major daily newspaper.

On October 18, 2008, the paper endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, the first Democrat to be endorsed by the newspaper since 1964, when it endorsed Texan Lyndon B. Johnson. It endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012, but endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020.

Locally, the Chronicle endorsed Wendy Davis for governor in 2014, and Sylvester Turner for mayor in 2015. Additionally, the Chronicle initially endorsed Jeb Bush for the 2016 Republican primary, but did not endorse any other candidate after he dropped out.

2018 source-fabrication scandal
In September 2018, then-executive editor Nancy Barnes released a statement on the Chronicle's website notifying readers for the first time that the paper's Austin bureau chief, Mike Ward, had resigned and was the subject of an internal investigation after questions were raised by a staff member over fabricating sources. Barnes opted not to disclose the source-fabrication or Ward's resignation to Chronicle readers and the general public until she was contacted by reporters at other outlets pursuing a story about the Chronicle's scandal—one full week after Ward had resigned. By the time Barnes informed the public about what would turn into the biggest journalism scandal of 2018, it had already become one of the worst kept secrets in Austin among the capitol press corps that writes about Texas politicians. The scandal had also become popular fodder among staffers who work at the capital. Within 45 minutes of being contacted by a freelance reporter for the Texas Observer, Barnes hastily issued a press release announcing that one of her reporters bad been caught making up sources over the course of several years. Barnes never explained why the Chronicle decided against being transparent to it readers immediately, instead of waiting for word to leak to the extent that other news outlets started planning stories.

The sources being questioned in Ward's reporting were the product of "man-on-the-street" interviews from a story dealing with rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Harvey. Barnes said Houston Chronicle researchers had problems finding a number of sources quoted in Ward's story, so the newspaper hired investigative journalist David Wood, a Pulitzer Prize winner.

On November 8, 2018, one day before Barnes left for a position as senior vice president of news at National Public Radio, the Houston Chronicle released some of Wood's findings. The paper announced it was retracting a total of eight stories.

Barnes later went on to tell Columbia Journalism Review that the widespread fabrication apparent in Ward's articles was unprecedented, in her experience: "I've been an editor a long time and I have never seen anything like this, period.". None of the Chronicle's editors responsible for overseeing Ward's stories—including then-managing editor Vernon Loeb—assumed any responsibility for the fact that one of their reporters had been cheating for years under their noses. In many instances over the course of years, Loeb worked directly with Ward and even rewrote his stories for final publication.

The Austin American Statesman, where Ward worked as a reporter for 25 years covering the state's political class prior to joining the Houston Chronicle in 2014, also conducted an internal review of "his final years" of work at the paper.

A copy of the original story that led to the investigation has been removed from the Chronicle's website. But Austin-based NPR affiliate KUT interviewed Ward for the radio in the days after the story ran and still has the story posted on its website, despite the fact that the sources used in Ward's reporting are suspected of being fake.

4747 Southwest Freeway
On July 21, 2014, the Chronicle announced that its Downtown employees were moving to the 610 Loop campus, at the intersection of the 610 Loop and U.S. Route 59/I-69 (Southwest Freeway).

The facility, previously used as the Houston Post headquarters, will have a total of seven buildings with a total of over 440000 sqft of space. The original building is a 1970s four-story "New Brutalist" building.

As of 2016, the building housed the Chronicle Production Department, as well as the offices of the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Houston.

801 Texas Avenue
The Houston Chronicle building in Downtown Houston was the headquarters of the Houston Chronicle. The facility included a loading dock, office space, a press room, and production areas. It had ten stories above ground and three stories below ground. The printing presses used by the newspaper spanned three stories. The presses were two stories below ground and one above. In the Downtown facility, the presses there were decommissioned in the late 2000s. The newsroom within the facility had bullpen-style offices with a few private cubicles and offices on the edges. The facility was connected to the downtown Houston tunnel system. Turner wrote that "in recent decades," 801 Texas Avenue "offered viewers an architectural visage of unadorned boxiness.... An accretion of five buildings made into one, it featured a maze of corridors, cul-de-sacs and steps that seemed to spring on strollers at the most unexpected times."

The facility, which was 106 years old in 2016, was originally four separate structures, which were joined together to make one building. Jesse H. Jones erected the first Chronicle building, a long, narrow structure clad in granite, on the corner of Travis Street and Texas Avenue in 1910. The second building, the Majestic Theater, was built west of the Chronicle building. The second building built by Jones opened in 1910. In 1918, the third Jones building, Milam Building, opened west of the theater. An annex was built on the north side of the main building in 1938 and gained a fifth floor in the 1960s. The fifth building was a production plant, built north of the original four buildings. They were joined together in a major renovation and modernization project, which was completed in the late 1960s.

On April 25, 2017, it was imploded and reduced to rubble. The site is now occupied by the Texas Tower.

Awards

 * 2000: Houston's M. D. Anderson Cancer Center gave the Chronicle its Joseph T. Ainsworth Volunteer Community Award for making the newspaper available at a "greatly reduced rate" to the hospital and its patients.
 * 2002: Holocaust Museum Houston awarded the Chronicle its "Guardian of the Human spirit" award. The presenter, Janis Goldstein, said the award was given "because the Houston Chronicle embraces the causes most dear to it with a depth and scope that goes well beyond what is expected." Also, that "the Chronicle gives of itself to build a community that will embrace tolerance, understanding, and diversity and will speak out against prejudice and unfairness of any kind."

Individual awards

 * 1963: William Porterfield won an Ernie Pyle Award.
 * 1989–1997: Carlos Antonio Rios, a Chronicle photographer since 1978, has repeatedly been honored for his photojournalism by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
 * 2003: James Howard Gibbons received third place in the "Hearst Distinguished Journalism Awards", an internal contest held between Hearst's newspapers, for his editorial piece "When Will the U.S. Liberate Texas?"
 * Leon Hale, a long-time columnist and author of 11 books, recently received the Lon Tinkle Award for Excellence Sustained Throughout a Career from the Texas Institute of Letters, of which Hale is a member.
 * Jason Witmer won first place in the 48 Hour–Web category of the National Press Photographers Association's annual Best of Photojournalism in 2010 for his piece, "Too Manly for Quilt Show". Whitmer won second place in the News Feature–Web category for "Suddenly homeless in Houston".

Pulitzer Prize

 * 2022: Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco
 * 2015: Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Lisa Falkenberg — 2015 winner for commentary. "For vividly-written, groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and uncovered other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems."

The newspaper and its staff have several times been Pulitzer finalists:
 * Dudley Althaus – 1992 finalist in international reporting: "For his articles on the causes of the cholera epidemic in Peru and Mexico."
 * Tony Freemantle – 1997 finalist in international reporting: "For his reporting from Rwanda, South Africa, El Salvador and Guatemala on why crimes against humanity go unstopped and unpunished."
 * Nick Anderson – 2007 finalist for editorial cartooning: "For his pungent cartoons on an array of issues, and for his bold use of animation." Anderson won the Pulitzer in 2005 when working for The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky.
 * Staff – 2009 finalist for breaking news coverage: "For taking full advantage of online technology and its newsroom expertise to become a lifeline to the city when Hurricane Ike struck, providing vital minute-by-minute updates on the storm, its flood surge and its aftermath."
 * Staff - 2017 finalist for public service. "For exposing the grave injustice of arbitrary cost-cutting by the State of Texas that denied tutoring, counseling and other vital special education services to families, hindering the futures of tens of thousands of children.
 * Joe Holley and Evan Mintz – 2017 finalist for editorial writing. "For editorials on gun laws, gun culture and gun tragedies that combined wit, eloquence and moral power in a fine brew of commonsense argumentation."
 * Staff – 2018 finalist for breaking news. "For comprehensive and dynamic coverage of Hurricane Harvey that captured real-time developments of the unprecedented scale of the disaster and provided crucial information to its community during the storm and its aftermath."

Other notable people

 * Fernando Dovalina Jr. (former assistant managing editor)
 * Maxine Mesinger (gossip columnist)
 * Leon Hale (columnist)
 * Richard Justice (sports writer)
 * Heidi Van Horne (automotive columnist)
 * Ken Hammond (editor, Texas Magazine, Chronicle Sunday Edition)
 * Sunny Nash (contributor, columnist, photographer, author)
 * Marjorie Paxson (influential women's page editor)
 * Julie Mason, newspaper and radio journalist
 * Alison Cook (James Beard Award-Winning Restaurant Critic)
 * Joy Sewing, first Black columnist in the newspaper's history

Other publications
In April 2004 the Houston Chronicle began carrying a Spanish-language supplement, the entertainment magazine La Vibra. La Vibra caters to speakers of Spanish and bilingual English-Spanish speakers, and is mainly distributed in Hispanic neighborhoods. In December 2004 the Chronicle acquired the Spanish-language newspaper La Voz de Houston.

Robert Jensen on the September 11 attacks
In the weeks following the September 11 attacks, the Houston Chronicle published a series of opinion articles by University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen that asserted the United States was "just as guilty" as the hijackers in committing acts of violence and compared that attack with the history of U.S. attacks on civilians in other countries. The opinion piece resulted in hundreds of angry letters to the editor and reportedly over 4,000 angry responses to Jensen.

Among them were claims of insensitivity against the newspaper and of giving an unduly large audience to a position characterized as being extremist. University of Texas president Larry Faulkner issued a response denouncing Jensen's as "a fountain of undiluted foolishness on issues of public policy", noting "[h]e is not speaking in the University's name and may not speak in its name."

Light rail controversy
The document was online for only an hour, but long enough to be viewed by some readers. Soon after, the Houston Review, a conservative newspaper published by students at the University of Houston, printed the memo's full text and an accompanying commentary that criticized the paper.

Harris County District Attorney Rosenthal later dismissed the Chronicle's complaint, finding it without merit on the grounds that the statute did not apply. Rosenthal's involvement in the probe itself came under fire by the Houston Press, which in editorials questioned whether Rosenthal was too close to TTM: from 2000 to 2004, Rosenthal accepted some $30,000 in donations from known TTM supporters.

Sandoval family interview
In early 2004, Chronicle reporter Lucas Wall interviewed the family of Leroy Sandoval, a Marine from Houston who was killed in Iraq. After the article appeared, Sandoval's stepfather and sister called into Houston talk radio station KSEV and said that a sentence alleging "President Bush's failure to find weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq misrepresented their views on the war and President George W. Bush, that Wall had pressured them for a quotation that criticized Bush, and that the line alleging Bush's "failure" was included against the wishes of the family.

A dispute ensued between KSEV radio show host/owner Dan Patrick and an assistant managing editor at the Chronicle. The incident prompted Patrick to join the call for a boycott of the paper. The story was also picked up by the local Houston television stations and, a week later, the O'Reilly Factor. Eventually, Chronicle publisher Jack Sweeney contacted the Sandoval family to apologize.

Purchase of Houston Post assets
Internal memos obtained via FOIA from the Justice Department antitrust attorneys who investigated the closing of the Houston Post said the Chronicle's parent organization struck a deal to buy the Post six months before it closed. The memos, first obtained by the alternative paper the Houston Press, say the Chronicle's conglomerate and the Post "reached an agreement in October, 1994, for the sale of Houston Post Co.'s assets for approximately $120 million."

Tom DeLay poll
In January 2006 the Chronicle hired Richard Murray of the University of Houston to conduct an election survey in the district of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, in light of his 2005 indictment by District Attorney Ronnie Earle for alleged campaign money violations. The Chronicle said that its poll showed "severely eroded support for U.S. Rep Tom DeLay in his district, most notably among Republicans who have voted for him before."

Former Texas Secretary of State Jack Rains contacted the Chronicle's James Howard Gibbons, alleging that the poll appeared to incorrectly count non-Republican Primary voters in its sample. Rains also asserted that Murray had a conflict of interest in the poll, as Murray's son Keir was a political consultant working for Nick Lampson, DeLay's Democratic challenger in 2006.

Other controversies
The Houston Chronicle has faced significant challenges with its journalistic integrity. In 2020, the paper faced allegations of publishing articles without properly adhering to its own ethics policy, especially in regards to contacting subjects before publishing negative portrayals. There were also claims suggesting retaliation against individuals for not purchasing advertisements. This trust was further eroded in 2018 when the Chronicle retracted eight articles after it was revealed they were significantly based on sources whose existence could not be verified. An extensive review of the articles penned by Austin bureau chief Mike Ward showed that out of 275 individuals he quoted in various stories, 44% could not be located or confirmed. Beyond the retractions, an additional 64 of Ward's stories required corrections due to the inclusion of unverified sources, further tainting the paper's credibility. This was a result of an examination of 744 stories written by Ward since January 2014, with independent investigators unable to verify the existence of nearly half of the individuals he had quoted.

Availability of Houston Post articles
Some Houston Post articles had been made available in the archives of the Houston Chronicle website, but by 2005 they were removed. The Houston Chronicle online editor Mike Read said that the Houston Chronicle decided to remove Houston Post articles from the website after the 2001 United States Supreme Court New York Times Co. v. Tasini decision; the newspaper originally planned to filter articles not allowed by the decision and to post articles that were not prohibited by the decision. The Houston Chronicle decided not to post or re-post any more Houston Post articles because of difficulties in complying with the New York Times Co. v. Tasini decision with the resources that were available to the newspaper.

People interested in reading Houston Post articles may view them on microfilm. The Houston Public Library has the newspaper on microfilm from 1880 to 1995 and the Houston Post Index from 1976 to 1994. The 1880–1900 microfilm is in the Texas and Local History Department of the Julia Ideson Building, while 1900–1995 is in the Jesse H. Jones Building, the main building of the Central Library. In addition, the M.D. Anderson Library at the University of Houston has the Houston Post available on microfilm from 1880 to 1995, and the Houston Post Index from 1976 to 1979 and from 1987 to 1994.

title: Houston Chronicle


text:
Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a close friend of his first cousin Winston Churchill. He was often known as "Sunny" Marlborough after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland.

Early life and education
Born at Simla, British India, Marlborough was the only son of the then Marquess of Blandford (who succeeded as The 8th Duke of Marlborough in July 1883) and Lady Albertha Frances Anne, daughter of The 1st Duke of Abercorn. He was a nephew of Lord Randolph Churchill and a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill, with whom he had a close and lifelong friendship. He was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Political career
Marlborough entered the House of Lords on the early death of his father in 1892, and made his maiden speech in August 1895. In 1899, he was appointed Paymaster General by Lord Salisbury, a post he held until 1902. He was then Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies under Arthur Balfour between 1903 and 1905. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1899.

He again held political office during the First World War, when he was Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries between 1917 and 1918 in David Lloyd George's coalition government. He made his last speech in the House of Lords in December 1931.

Shortly before the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Marlborough was invested as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG) at Buckingham Palace on 30 May 1902. He subsequently served as Lord High Steward at the coronation the following August (the coronation had originally been scheduled for June). He went to India to attend the January 1903 Delhi Durbar as a guest of the Viceroy, Lord Curzon.

The Duke of Marlborough was Mayor of Woodstock between 1907 and 1909, and Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire from 1915 until his death.

He was President of the National Fire Brigades Union and founded the British Cotton Growers Association. He was also, after his father, a prominent member of the Ancient Order of Druids, and patron of the prestigious AOD Albion Lodge based at Oxford. On 10 August 1908, in the park of Blenheim Palace, he welcomed the ceremony of initiation of his cousin, Winston Churchill, as a Druid.

Military career
Marlborough was appointed a lieutenant in the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars in 1897. After the outbreak of the Second Boer War, he was in January 1900 seconded for service as a Staff Captain in the Imperial Yeomanry serving in South Africa, and received the temporary rank of captain. He arrived in Cape Town in March 1900, and left for Naauwpoort in Northern Cape Colony with the Oxford company of the Imperial Yeomanry.

He was subsequently appointed Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa, and was aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Ian Hamilton.

He was mentioned in despatches and promoted to major on 7 December 1901. After the formation of the Territorial Army he was appointed honorary colonel of the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1908.

He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of his yeomanry regiment in 1910, serving until 1914. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1913. He rejoined during the First World War, when he served as a lieutenant-colonel on the General Staff in France. During a visit at the Western Front to his cousin Winston who was then serving in the trenches, both narrowly missed being killed when a piece of shrapnel (now displayed at Blenheim Palace) fell between them. He was later Honorary Colonel and commandant of the Oxfordshire Volunteer Regiment of the Volunteer Training Corps from 1918 to 1920.

Marriages and issue
Marlborough was married twice. His first wife was the American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, whom he married at Saint Thomas Church in New York City on 6 November 1895. The marriage was a mercenary one. Inheriting his near-bankrupt dukedom in 1892, he was forced to find a quick and drastic solution to the financial problems of his family. Prevented by the strict social dictates of late 19th-century society from earning money, he was left with one solution; to marry money.

The marriage was celebrated following lengthy negotiations with his bride's divorced parents: her mother, Alva Vanderbilt, was desperate to see her daughter a duchess, and the bride's father, William Vanderbilt, paid for the privilege. The final price was $2,500,000 (worth about $77m in 2021) in 50,000 shares of the capital stock of the Beech Creek Railway Company with a minimum 4% dividend guaranteed by the New York Central Railroad Company. The couple were each given a further annual income of $100,000 for life. The bride later claimed she had been locked in her room until she agreed to the marriage. The contract was actually signed in the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, immediately after the wedding vows had been made. Whilst they honeymooned in Europe, Marlborough told Consuelo that he actually loved another woman but had married her to "save Blenheim".

They had two sons, John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, eventually the 10th Duke of Marlborough, and Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill. Their mother famously referred to them as "the heir and the spare".

The Vanderbilt dowry was used to restore Blenheim Palace and replenish its furnishings and library, for many of the original contents had been sold over the course of the 19th century. Many of the jewels worn by subsequent Duchesses of Marlborough also date from this period. The 9th Duke employed noted landscape gardener Achille Duchêne to create the water garden on the terrace at Blenheim. In 1934 he owned 19,685 acres of land.

However, Consuelo was far from happy; she recorded many of her problems in her autobiography The Glitter and the Gold. Consuelo was also unfaithful; her liaisons included her first love, Winthrop Rutherfurd (who was alleged to be the father of her second son, Lord Ivor, since he allegedly bore no resemblance to either the Duke or his brother), and three of her husband's cousins: Hon. Freddie Guest (son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill), Hon. Reginald Fellowes (son of William Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey, and Lady Rosamund Spencer-Churchill) and Charles, Viscount Castlereagh.

The couple shocked society by separating in 1906. In order to facilitate the divorce, Alva Vanderbilt testified that she had coerced her daughter into marrying the Duke. The couple were divorced in 1921; the marriage was annulled by the Vatican on 19 August 1926, no doubt facilitated by the Duke's wish to become a Roman Catholic. Consuelo subsequently married a Frenchman, Jacques Balsan. She died in 1964, having lived to see her son become Duke of Marlborough; she frequently returned to Blenheim, the house she had found uncomfortable and inconvenient when living there.

In the late 1890s, the Duke invited to Blenheim Palace Gladys Deacon, another American, who became friends with Consuelo. Deacon, the daughter of Edward Parker Deacon, became the Duke's mistress soon after moving into the palace. She and Marlborough were married on 25 June 1921 in Paris, shortly after his divorce from Consuelo.

Later in life the Duke converted to Catholicism in 1927, around which time the couple began drifting apart and Deacon took to keeping a revolver in her bedroom to prevent her husband’s entry. He moved out of the palace, and two years later evicted her. The couple separated but never divorced.

In popular culture
Marlborough was played by David Markham in the ITV drama Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years.