Portal talk:Current events/July 2003

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Oh no... Can we please not have that pink box thing on this page? Are these things going to spread like a disease throughout the entire Wikipedia? What other pages - apart from the Main Page and this page - contain these ghastly constructions? -- Oliver P. 07:33 6 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Agreed (what a surprise :-)) -- James F. 12:47 6 Jul 2003 (UTC)

What can we do to rename the HK 'ongoing event'? "Hong Kong Basic Law" doesn't mean anything to anyone not already familiar with the situation; "Hong Kongese constitutional law" does, but is far too long. I can't think of a suitable line. Can you? -- James F. 12:47 6 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Oh, please. Why would the Americans attack their own puppet police force? Are the people who blame the Americans the same ones who claim that Americans dropped a missile on the mosque that was being used to train bombers? RickK 00:37 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I am removing the following post:

The reasoning behind this removal is as follows:

  1. Why should we care about this guy's opinion even if he is a creditable source of information?
  2. Both "International Federation for Information Processing" and "Klaus Brunnstein" show no hits when searching Google News.

Therefore, this is obviously not important news. MB 18:24 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Why does anybody care that Peter Tatchell has said some archbishop is gay? Pizza Puzzle

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell claims the second most senior Church of England cleric, Archbishop Hope of York, is gay. The Archbishop had previously described his sexuality as a "grey area".

so? Pizza Puzzle

it's a cultural thing, pizza. republican=catholic=conservative, roughly speaking. many churces consider homosexuality 'sinful'. Many people who thing that gay is evil are avid church-goers. there's a strong sociological correspondance, which makes the situation above have a strong, and rather significant, symbolic force. kevin baas

An openly gay cleric was forced to withdraw his nomination for a bishopric because of outbursts from anti-gay conservatives within the church. Tatchell was claiming that not just were there already gay bishops but that the No.2 in the Church of England hierarchy was gay. In other words that the Church was being hypcritical and dishonest. That is clearly a major story. Whether Pizza cares or not is irrelevant. Stop taking that story out. FearÉIREANN 00:19 15 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Is George Tenet really the president of the CIA? Pizza Puzzle

Quick question: the Yahoo! story from 7/13 has a link to Overture...but it takes you to a musical discussion, not to anything about the Internet. Should this be redirected, or should the link be deleted? I'm new here and don't want to muck around with the news page unthinkingly. Jwrosenzweig 23:52 16 Jul 2003 (UTC)

When I created the entry, I made a link to Overture Services, even though that entry doesn't currently exist. Someone came along and thought it should be Overture. I don't understand why, as they didn't bother to explain. I've put Overture Services back. RickK 01:22 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I dont think its appropriate to list that somebody called for a president/prime ministers resignation unless they are a high-ranking official themselves, not merely a former high-ranking official. Its also not appropriate to list that a journalist asked a prime minister if he was guilty of murder. Pizza Puzzle

I disagree; that Blair was asked if he had "blood on [his] hands" was neither an accusation of murder, merely a suggestion of guilt, nor was it un-news-worthy, given his reaction - that Blair went silent suggests that he does indeed feel guilty (as he is wont to do) about the suicide, as it was his minions who brought this all to light in the first place (note: speculative).
Further, Glenda Jackson's prominence is difficult to explain; she is one of the most respected and outspoken back-benchers, and can be generally considered representative of the 'old guard' of much of Blair's party and the people at large.
For posterity, the removed text was:
Former Labour Junior Minister Glenda Jackson calls for Tony Blair's resignation as prime minister, and a Daily Mail reporter asks Blair at a press conference "do you have blood on your hands. Prime Minister?"; a physically shocked Blair refuses to comment, as does Alaistair Campbell, his Director of Communicatons.
James F. 04:03 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

For starters, the statement that Blair was "shocked" is unattributed POV. For seconds, text here should be brief - linking to an article if u want. Also, the comment by the unnamed reported is somewhat rude and gives A LOT of POVness that Blair killed the man. Furthermore, the fact that Blair went silent is not indicative of his guilt (see: criminal justice). Furtherfurthermore, Blair did not remain silent about the death - although he may not have answered the extremely inappropriate question. In short, regardless of anything -- this all belongs on another page. Pizza Puzzle


It isn't POV. It was shown unambiguously in the media coverage of the press conference and was interpreted that way by 100% of viewers, by the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent, the Sun, the Mirror, the Dail Mail, the Daily Record, the Irish Independent, The Irish Times, the Sunday Times, the Mail on Sunday, the BBC, ITN, Channel 4 News, BBC News 24, Sky News, Euro News, etc etc etc. The question asked the MoS reporter reflected the tone of news coverage. Blair's reaction to the question was astonishing, so astonishing that it is still being shown on TV constantly (it was shown on ITV's Tonight programme again half an hour ago. PP obviously has not been following the debate, the media coverage or seen any of the TV programmes and is clearly out of touch with the issue. What was written an NPOV outline of that day's events, nothing more. FearÉIREANN 19:47 21 Jul 2003 (UTC)

the claim that Downing Street had "sexed up" the September Dossier

I'm guessing that means they doodled on the margins while reading, and it ended up looking somehow pornographic?? Mkweise 15:53 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

For example: 

     MM:::::8888M:::::::88::::::::8:::::888888:::M:::::M              
     8M:::::888MM::::::::8:::::::::::M::::8888::::M::::M              
     8M:::::88:M::::::::::8:::::::::::M:::8888::::::M::M              
     8MM:::888:M:::::::::::::::::::::::M:8888:::::::::M:              
     88M:::88::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MM:88::::::::::::M             
     88M:::88::M::::::::::*88*::::::::::M:88::::::::::::::M            weapons
     88M:::88::M:::::::::88@@88:::::::::M::88::::::::::::::M        <- of mass 
     88MM::88::MM::::::::88@@88:::::::::M:::8::::::::::::::*8          destruction
      88M:::8::MM:::::::::*88*::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::88@@         (sexy!)
      88MM::::::MM:::::::::::::::::::::MM:::::::::::::::::88@@        



        8M:::::::MM:::::::::::::::::::MM::M::::::::::::::::*8         
        8MM:::::::MMM::::::::::::::::MM:::MM:::::::::::::::M          

         8M::::::::MMMM:::::::::::MMMM:::::MM::::::::::::MM           
         8MM:::::::::MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM::::::::MMM::::::::MMM            
          8MM::::::::::::MMMMMMM::::::::::::::MMMMMMMMMM              
           8MM::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMMMMM
Heh! But we are talking politicians here remember - they apparently get turned on by the idea that you can have weapons of mass destruction ready to use within 45 minutes. -- sannse 16:28 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Are plane crashes only newsworthy when American tourists die? Pizza Puzzle

Where did I say that? Alternatively, is it only newsworthy when planes crash and there are no Americans on board? RickK 00:55 22 Jul 2003 (UTC)
The text I reverted that noted how many Americans were on the flight. That is the sort of extraneous information that belongs on a different page. Current events should be concise and as to the point as possible. Pizza Puzzle 01:00 22 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Is there no limit to The Cunctator's attempts to bully his way into getting what he wants? He didn't like the new main page, so he just unilaterally changed it. He didn't like the solutions of other people to the Aids Kills Fags Dead so he just went ahead and did his own thing anyhow. How he decides he doesn't like the colour-scheme on this page so he unilaterally changes this page too. His behaviour at this stage is border-line vandalism. No wonder Zoe was so fed up of dealing with people like him. FearÉIREANN 19:47 21 Jul 2003 (UTC)

And he tries again. Is there no end to this prat's arrogance? FearÉIREANN 00:39 23 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Under which date are we supposed to place the news items? The day when it occurred in the place where it happened? The UTC day? Many events, for example in Asia and Australia, happen a "day later" because of time zone differences. —seav 00:32 27 Jul 2003 (UTC)

The day when it occurred in the place where it happened. --mav


Assuming someone (perhaps me :)) wanted to write an article about the SARS concert in Toronto, since it is kind of an historical event, what should it be called? It doesn't really have a name..."SARSstock" is kind of an unofficial name, but there is also "SARSfest" and mouthfuls like "The Rolling Stones SARS benefit concert." Some people just referred to it as a Rolling Stones concert, despite there being other bands there. I would vote for SARSstock, I suppose. Adam Bishop 06:45, 31 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Choose one and redirect the other. SARS concert is most easily understood, but if SARSstock is more popular, it should be the main title. --Menchi 06:51, Jul 31, 2003 (UTC)
I just noticed CNN used SARSstock...the major Canadian newspapers have used it as well. I'll make redirects from SARS concert and SARSfest as well. Adam Bishop 07:14, 31 Jul 2003 (UTC)
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