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Australian Jesse Williams drafted in fifth round by the NFL's Seattle Seahawks

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:28:05 GMT

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Sources [edit]

Dan Nancarrow. "Jesse Williams drafted by Seattle" — Kiama Independent, April 28, 2013
Jerry Brewer. "In Jesse Williams, Seattle Seahawks might have made another deft NFL draft pickup" — Seattle Times, April 27, 2013
Phil Lutton. "Jesse Williams tipped to go in first round" — Brisbane Times, April 23, 2013
"1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2012" — Australian Bureau of Statistics, May 24, 2012

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Chicago Bears select Marquess Wilson in seventh round of NFL draft

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:22:51 GMT

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Sources [edit]

Larry Mayer. "Bears see Wilson as good kid who made bad decision" — Chicago Bears, April 27, 2013
Brad Biggs. "Bears roll the dice on WR Wilson" — Chicago Tribune, April 27, 2013
Steven Schweickert. "2013 NFL Draft: Chicago Bears Trade Down In Fifth Round" — Windy City Gridiron, April 27, 2013

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Supreme Court of the United States contemplates same-sex marriage

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:05:50 GMT

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Supreme Court on Capitol Hill
Image: Ken Hammond.

This week, the United States Supreme Court is scheduled to address two cases before them on the issue of same-sex marriage. The federal Defense of Marriage Act case is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday. The other case involves California's Proposition 8. A ruling is unlikely to be made until June.

The federal case involves the denial of privileges afforded to heterosexual married couples on the federal level, and the legality of states to opt out of recognizing legal marriages performed in other states in the union and to deny state benefits for those couples.

Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, potential swing vote on the Supreme Court
Image: Steve Petteway.

John Eastman, law professor at Chapman University and chairman of National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage, believes the eventual ruling will be a close one, with Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy likely to be the key swing vote. Eastman is quoted by U.S. News and World Report as saying of Kennedy, "All eyes are on Justice Kennedy and he's obviously written the two major gay rights decisions in the past decade and a half and that means that people rightly think that he's kind of open to taking this step, but he has studiously avoided taking that step in prior cases." Other court watchers agree with this sentiment.

In the lead up to the hearings, a number of high profile politicians have expressed their support for same-sex marriage including Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Earlier this month, 40 United States senators signed a legal brief arguing against the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that was submitted to the Supreme Court.

High visibility companies have also indicated support for legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, including Starbucks where CEO Howard Schultz gave company support at a share-holder meeting last week. After share-holder Tom Strobhar implied at the meeting that Starbuck's historical position of supporting same-sex marriage, which included open support of the same-sex marriage legalization efforts in the state of Washington last year, hurt the company's bottom line, Schultz responded by saying, "If you feel, respectfully, that you can get a higher return than the 38% you got last year, it’s a free country. You can sell your shares of Starbucks and buy shares in another company." The company's position is predicated on respecting diversity, even if it potentially impacts Starbucks earnings.

Goldman Sachs has also supported the push for same-sex marriage arguing that the lack of equality hurts businesses. Goldman Sachs, Marriott International and Thomson Reuters have all signed a legal brief condemning the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Protesters gathered inside the state capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota, to protest against the upcoming vote by the Minnesota House of Representatives to put an anti-same-sex marriage amendment on the 2012 election ballot.
Image: Fibonacci Blue.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll published last week showed support for same-sex marriage in the United States was at an all time high at 58%, an increase of 21% since 2003. A recent Gallup poll showed similar results, with 54% of Americans supporting federal benefits for gay and lesbian couples, an increase of 27% since 1996 when the federal Defense of Marriage Act became law. Last week, a poll published by Reuters/Ipso found 63% of Americans supported same-sex marriage or civil unions. Despite this, social conservatives argue that this support may be over-stated by as much as 7% when voters are asked to voice their opinion on the issue at the ballot box. They cite a 2010 study by New York University political science professor Patrick J. Egan. Social conservatives also argue that people lie to pollsters to avoid appearing intolerant. 2000 Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer said on Fox News Sunday, "I’m not worried about [same-sex marriage], because the polls are skewed. Just this past November, four states, very liberal states, voted on this issue and my side lost all four of those votes. But my side had 45, 46 percent of the vote in all four of those liberal states." Brian S. Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, also argues that misleading polling questions over-count support for same-sex marriage in the United States.

Despite the potential for skewed polling, the four most recent ballot initiatives regarding same-sex marriage in the United States on a state level resulted in citizens voting to support same-sex marriage in Minnesota, Maryland, Washington and Maine. It also comes at a time when the most recent election cycle in the United States saw opponents of same-sex marriage outspent 3 to 1.

Have an opinion on this story? Post it!

Sources [edit]

Catalina Camia. "Sen. Mark Warner announces gay marriage support" — USA Today, March 25, 2013
Aaron Blake and Scott Clement. "Is support for gay marriage over-sold?" — The Washington Post, March 25, 2013
Rebekah Metzler. "Supreme Court Readies for Gay Marriage Cases" — U.S. News and World Report, March 25, 2013
Kristene Quan. "Support, Telling Shareholder to Sell Stake If He Doesn’t Like Views" — Time Magazine, March 25, 2013
Peter Henderson. "Insight: Silent or supportive, conservatives give gay marriage momentum" — Reuters, March 25, 2013

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2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships preparations underway

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:14:51 GMT

Wikinews Sports

Sources [edit]

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

"U.S. Paralympics selects team for IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships" — US Paralympics, February 8, 2013

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Reports of at least fourteen dead this week due to gun-related suicides in the United States

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:53:18 GMT

Correction — February 6, 2013

This article does not conform to our neutrality policy, due to its manner of presentation of an out-of-context selection of facts. The lapse appears to have been unintentional by all parties involved. We apologize for the error.

Crime and law

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

A number of suicides as a result of self-inflicted gunshot wounds took place around the United States this week with reports of deaths in Arizona, California, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington.

Last Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alston Badger died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 51 years old.

On Monday in Clark County, Nevada, Jody Sherman, the Ecomom founder and CEO, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Another suicide occurred Monday in New Jersey. Chester and Rosaria Andraka died after Chester allegedly shot Rosaria before killing himself. Chester was a former police officer and there were few signs of trouble in the relationship prior to their deaths.

Another murder-suicide shooting took place on Monday. This one occurred in Elmont, New York, where 58-year-old Audley Dennis is believed to have shot his 46-year-old wife, Karen Rodgers-Dennis, before he shot himself. The couple allegedly had a history of fighting, with a family friend telling the New York Post, “They had their altercations. They would argue and yell, have outbursts."

Greensburg, Indiana, where one of this week's gun-related suicides took place
Image: Dopey9928.

In Greensburg, Indiana on Tuesday, local police Lieutenant Larry G. Dance committed suicide, dying from a self-inflicted gunshot. He had joined the police force on January 1, 1995. He left behind by a wife and two daughters.

On Tuesday in Waldorf, Maryland, local police reported an attempted murder-suicide with sixty-four year old Linda Lindsey believed to have shot her husband before fatally shooting herself. Her husband was reported to have survived and be in critical condition.

Devin Peterson, a twenty-two year old, allegedly committed suicide with a state trooper's shotgun following his alleged theft of a police cruiser, another car and a police chase on Interstate 80 in Nevada on Wednesday.

A seventy-year-old man from Renton, Washington died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound on Wednesday shortly after he called 911 to tell the dispatcher he was planning to take his own life.

On Wednesday, three people died in a murder-suicide in Oxnard, California that involved at least one gun. The deceased included two women and the suspected male shooter.

On Thursday, Lee Vining Fire Chief Tom Strazdims reported an Oregon man likely commited suicide by shooting himself in the parking lot of the town's visitor center.

Also on Thursday, the body of a suspected gunman accused of killing a call center CEO and injuring a lawyer was found dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound in Mesa, Arizona. Police had been searching for the man since Wednesday following the shooting at a mediation session over a lawsuit.

In another reported suicide on Thursday, this one in the Baltimore area, a man was found dead in the parking lot of the Timonium gun range of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

In Radcliff, Kentucky on Thursday, alleged burglar Michael Strand exchanged gunfire with police after they attempted to bring him in for questioning. Following a lull of approximately an hour, police entered the apartment and found the man dead from an alleged self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In Medina, Ohio on Thursday, United States Marine Andrew Baumgartner, who served in Afghanistan and had been discharged several months ago, got into an altercation with Sgt. Scott Schmoll after Schmoll felt a gun on Baumgartner's person. Following this, Baumgartner hid in nearby woodlands, emerged to knock on the door of a local home to tell the resident he had been hit by a car, only to disappear into the woods again. He subsequently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police discovered his body alongside items they believed he had stolen.

The problem of suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound is recognized by some gun groups. The Royal Oak shooting range in Michigan stopped renting guns this week following after twelve people having attempted to kill themselves with guns rented from the range since 2001 (five of them were successful). Three of the incidents occurred in the past four months, with two of them fatal.

These suicides take place against a backdrop of gun control discussion in the United States Congress, where former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and an NRA spokesperson appeared before the body this week to discuss the possible need for stricter gun control laws.

According to the Maine Center of Disease Control and Prevention, guns are used in 85% of male suicides in the state. Debate has continued this week in the state about gun control as it relates to suicide. Iran's PressTV published an opinion piece claiming that for every gun owner who uses their weapon in their home for self-defense, there are eleven suicide attempts involving a weapon. In the United States, veterans are more likely to use guns in acts of suicide than acts of homicide. The number of daily suicides by veterans is currently 22.

Guns are often used in suicide attempts, with PolitiFact reporting on Wednesday that there were 4,643 non-fatal gun involved suicide attempts in 2010. This number contradicts testimony by Wayne LaPierre of NRA to the United States Congress regarding unintentional deaths cause by firearms as LaPierre cited 600 deaths. Australia instituted tougher gun control regulations in 1996, including gun buy back programs. According to a study by Andrew Leigh of Australian National University and Christine Neill of Wilfrid Laurier University, these programs correlate to an 80% drop in suicides involving guns at a time when other methods of suicide remained consistent.

Similar research done in the United States has similar results. A 1991 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found stricter gun control in the District of Columbia was a likely cause of a reduction in the number of suicides by gun shot in D.C. compared to surrounding areas.

Have an opinion on this story? Post it!

Sources [edit]

"Radcliff man who died after exchanging gunfire with police killed himself, police say" — The Courier-Journal, February 1, 2013
Carrie Wells and Jessica Anderson. "Man committed suicide at Timonium gun range, police say" — Baltimore Sun, February 1, 2013
Bob Jones. "Surveillance video shows Marine, burglary suspect trying to get into Granger Twp home before suicide" — ABC 5, February 1, 2013
Robert Long. "Why isn’t suicide prevention part of Maine’s public safety debate?" — Bangor Daily News, February 1, 2013
Dave Gilson. "10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down" — PressTV, February 1, 2013
Andrea Chang. "After Jody Sherman death, tech community seeks dialogue on suicide" — Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2013
"Greensburg Police Lt.'s Death Ruled Suicide" — Eagle Country 99.3 FM, January 31, 2013
Greg Jaffe,. "VA study finds more veterans committing suicide" — Washington Post, January 31, 2013
Benett Kessler. "Report of attempted suicide in visitors center parking lot in Lee Vining" — Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News, January 31, 2013
Associated Press. "Suspected Phoenix gunman found dead of apparent suicide" — Oregon Live, January 31, 2013
Patrick Clark. "After Suicide of Jody Sherman, A Call to Talk About the Emotional Strain of Life at Startups" — BeatBeat, January 31, 2013
Times staff writer. "Neighbors heard shots during apparent murder-suicide in Oxnard" — Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2013
Catherine Kavanaugh. "Royal Oak gun range changes policy to stop walk-in suicides" — Daily Tribune, January 31, 2013
Associated Press. "100 lbs. of pot worth $495k in Nevada suicide case" — Watertown Daily Times, January 31, 2013
Eric Anderson. "Elmont Couple Found Dead After Murder-Suicide" — Long Island Media, Inc., January 30, 2013
Charles County Sheriff's Office. "Attempt Murder/Suicide In Waldorf" — thebaynet, January 30, 2013
"As a result of National Rifle Association and other private-sector (safety-education) programs, fatal firearms accidents are at the lowest level in 100 years." — PolitiFact, January 30, 2013
Jenny Manning. "Renton Man Found Dead At Heritage Park Of Apparent Self-Inflicted Gun Shot" — Renton Patch, January 30, 2013
Mike Frassinelli and Brendan Kuty. "18 days before apparent murder-suicide, Facebook post portrayed Parsippany lovers" — Star-Ledger, January 29, 2013
"Assistant U.S. Attorney Alston Badger’s death ruled suicide" — The Post and Courier, January 29, 2013
"Stephen King says since Australia passed tough gun laws, "homicides by firearm have declined almost 60 percent."" — PolitiFact, January 25, 2013
"Washington, D.C., had some of the strictest gun laws in the country. And when they passed them, violence skyrocketed." — PolitiFact, January 17, 2013

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Voters in Maine and Maryland vote for marriage equality

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:22:16 GMT

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Gay rights supporters in Minnesota earlier in the year protesting against the vote by the Minnesota House to put marriage to the popular vote.
Image: Fibonacci Blue.

LGBT

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In Maine and Maryland, voters have approved ballot measures yesterday to allow marriage between same-sex partners. Votes for a similar measure in Washington are still being counted. Reports from Minnesota suggest a ballot measure that would amend the constitution to ban gay marriage has been rejected by voters.

In Maryland, voters supported the law passed earlier this year by Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley 52% to 48%. Josh Levin from Marylanders for Marriage Equality said that voters would "feel the ripples of this monumental victory across the country for years to come."

Supporters of marriage equality in Maine stated they had 250,000 one-on-one conversations with voters. Matt McTighe from Mainers United for Marriage celebrated the passage of the Maine ballot initiative saying: "A lot of families in Maine just became more stable and secure."

Chad Griffin from the gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign said: "When the history books are written, 2012 will be remembered as the year when LGBT Americans won decisively at the ballot box."

Frank Schubert, an opponent of gay marriage, downplayed the results. "The fact that an uber-liberal state like Maine or Washington might go for same sex marriage, it doesn't mean that the country has changed."

Six other states — Vermont, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts — as well as the District of Columbia already recognise same-sex marriage. In May, Barack Obama announced that he supports legalisation of same-sex marriage.

Have an opinion on this story? Post it!

Sources [edit]

Erik Eckholm. "In Maine, a Historic Victory at the Ballot Box for Same-Sex Marriage" — New York Times, November 7, 2012
Alana Semuels. "Voters OK gay marriage in Maine, Maryland" — Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2012
Alana Semuels. "Same-sex marriage measures passing in Maryland and Maine" — Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2012

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FanFiction.Net adult content purge felt across fandom two weeks on

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:50:36 GMT

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13 February 2013: 'Banana Joe' wins Westminster

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Saturday, June 16, 2012

FanFiction.Net's purge removed stories from Harry Potter, Naruto, Twilight, Hetalia - Axis Powers.
Image: alixe75 on ffdotnetrants.

Two weeks ago, FanFiction.Net purged the site of much of the adult content, surprising many fan fiction readers and writers; leaving several archives on the Internet unprepared for a deluge of new users, problems continuing to this day. FanFiction.Net removed around 62,000 stories after a change allowing writers under the age of eighteen to register.

FanFiction.Net spelled out the reasons for their purge on the front page of the site:

“	Please note we would like to clarify the content policy we have in place since 2002. FanFiction.Net follows the Fiction Rating system ranging from Fiction K to Fiction M. Although Fiction Ratings goes up to Fiction MA, FanFiction.Net since 2002 has not allowed Fiction MA rated content which can contain adult/explicit content on the site. FanFiction.Net only accepts content in the Fiction K through Fiction M range. Fiction M can contain adult language, themes and suggestions. Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA and has not been allowed on the site since 2002.	”
	— FanFiction.Net

According to alixe75 on LiveJournal's ffdotnetrants, FanFiction.Net deleted 2,002 Naruto stories, 1,497 Twilight stories, 1,256 Harry Potter stories, 670 Glee stories, 364 Inuyasha stories, 364 Hetalia - Axis Powers stories, 282 Kingdom Hearts, 213 Pokemon stories, 143 Yu-Gi-Oh stories, 127 Dragon Ball Z stories and 47 Doctor Who stories amongst others. rahirah on Dreamwidth provided another statistic, "Approximately 11% of all BtVS [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] stories were zapped. That may not sound like much, but FFnet is big - that comes to thousands of stories." feckless-muse on Dreamwidth reported the purge included banning users. Despite the purge, Alexa reports no drop in traffic to FanFiction.Net.

1 Critics United
2 Fan response
3 Fan fiction archives
4 Sources
5 External links

Critics United [edit]

Note — June 20, 2012

Critics United is a subcommunity of FanFiction.Net users; this was not clearly explained in the article.

Some in the fan community blamed Critics United for the purge, and a few Tumblr users created a group to fight them. The group earned a mention on the Huffington Post.

According to feckless-muse, "people reporting these so called site violations are literally ganging up on the writers and leaving comments like the ones below en masse. The poor writers are spending hours (and in some cases months and years for ongoing fics) on their works only to be abused, bullied and then having their work deleted without notice." With these sentiments being echoed on LiveJournal, jessioriginal reported threats from the group at the same time the purge took place.

“	It's been suggested that part of the reason behind the purge were the mass-reports coming from a trollish community on FanFiction that felt they have the right to judge which stories do and do not belong on the site. Unfortunately, they are not alone. My Fatal Fanfiction story—a Fatal Frame parody revolving around the recent purge—was targeted by them. Apparently the short prologue with references to the characters, story, and setting of the game was enough for them to declare my story an original work. They have since demanded I change it or remove it, threatened me, they've reported my story, and they keep leaving those kind of reviews.	”
	— jessioriginal on LiveJournal

Two months ago, David Anderson, of Dudley, Massachusetts, created a petition condemning Critics United which drew increased interest in light of the purge. By earlier today, 224 people signed it including Danny Kleemann of Peoria, Illinois, Brian George O'Connor of Chatham, New York, Tegan Chin of Arlington, Texas, Holly Reichert of Euclid, Ohio, Claire Owen of Houston, Texas, Joanna Zhang of Charlotte, North Carolina, Amber Keystone of Monroe, Louisiana, Lily Hamilton of Charlotte, North Carolina, Allison Law of Charlotte, North Carolina and Erica Winchester of Clinton, Massachusetts who all signed today. Earlier this week, Timothy Hall signed, saying "The profiles are being deleted due to either content violations or inactivity, including the stories in connection with the profiles. Most of profile and story deletions are because of depicted content about adult or violent themes being detailed beyond its 'suggestion' even in the slightest manner."

So great was one person's anger, they created a page about Critics United on Encyclopedia Dramatica several months ago. People mentioned this and praised people trolling Critics United on Tumblr and LiveJournal as recently as yesterday.

Correction — Jun 18, 2012

the Critics United page on Encyclopedia Dramatica was created on June 6, after the purge.

Fan response [edit]

A scene from Mary West's mature rated Harry Potter fan fiction "Time for a Change"
Image: SSHGGillian.

Twelve days ago, a FanFiction.Net contributor named Charlotte Weatherly created a petition on Change.org requesting FanFiction.Net stop its own destruction by purging stories. Earlier today, the count of signatories stood at over 30,000, many offering their perspectives on why the site acted in error. Kara Bularzik's comment, liked over 270 times, said: "... I cannot believe so much valuable work is being trashed because it doesn't fit parameters that have not been strictly enforced since they were put into action. [...] What is the point of a ratings system if anything disagreeable is automatically purged? [...] I am truly disheartened, and I hope either a different course of action is taken or I wish ff.net and its future users (all within the PG reading range) the best as I sadly look for a site where one can truly 'unleash their imagination'." Zaynab Quadri's comment, liked 88 times, expressed a similar sentiment: "Writers give warnings when they write explicit content, so if anyone's reading anything they shouldn't be, that's their own fault. Let the writers have freedom of speech." Lex Black's comment, liked by 30 people, said: "Some of the best stories are being threatened by this. This rule hasn't been inforced^[sic] for ten years and limiting creativity now is ridicules.^[sic] If it upsets you, then be MATURE enough to not read it."

People continue to support the petition, with Maria Adams of San Diego, California, Matthew Sandrock of Santa Maria, California, Jessie Brown of Clinton, Mississippi, Cynthia Mora of Renton, Washington, Anis Rosdi of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, James Clarke of Cedar Point, North Carolina, Blair Ritchie of Ashland, Oregon, Rianna McMahan of Auburn, Washington, Hannah Johnson of Tuolumne, California and C.J. Concepcion of Goodyear, Arizona signing today. Discussion of the petition on a FanFiction.Net message board generated over 3,000 messages, and is still active.

On Dreamwidth, members urged FanFiction.Net users to back up their work lest it be deleted. Users auronlu, vieralynn and others encouraged people to spread the word of possible deletion.

The purge story was picked up by Hannah Ellison at the Huffington Post two days ago, who compared the FanFiction.Net purge to a book burning. Ellison went on to say, "[t]hese unpaid authors are at the mercy of the sites willing to house their work and as such must adhere to the lines drawn in the very murky sand of copyright law. Some of these authors spent months writing and editing novel length works to then have them deleted entirely, as if they were something with no artistic or cultural worth; artefacts that either follow the rules or don't." Ellison's post earned 1,900+ Facebook likes, with 50 comments on the article.

Ellison's story appeared on several Tumblr posts. xmarisolx posted her response on Tumblr a day ago, claiming FanFiction.Net was shooting itself in the foot, driving traffic to other archives such as An Archive of Our Own (AO3). candycanine, quoting Heinrich Heine, supported Ellison's book burning reference.

Talking to Wikinews, former fan fiction writer and current professional writer Angelia Sparrow indicated a lack of surprise over FanFiction.Net's actions saying, "Ten years ago they purged all the NC-17 stuff. Sounds like they just did a cleanup again. We're getting more puritanical everywhere, you know? All Romance Ebooks is strongly limiting what romances can contain."

Long time Thunderbirds fan fiction writer Tikatu told Wikinews, "The content purge hasn't bothered me at all, really, though I've been lurking around on ff.net's Critics United. They've been blamed for all the deleted stories -- never mind that they don't have enough people to have reported that many fics."

Anime fan fiction writer and artist Hurricane Islandheart defended FanFiction.Net's actions, saying "All FF.net was doing was catching up on their site maintenance and reports - people just freaked because they'd finally been caught breaking the rules." She reinforced this idea on her LiveJournal.

“	I think that's what finally killed me about fandom. That bullshit merited coverage by the Huffington Post, and all that happened was FF.net finally decided to deal with some reports and enforce their rules for a little while again. They've done this before. We did it at MediaMiner, when that site was actively moderated - reports would pile up in slack time, when all the mods were busy, and when we'd finally get a chance to look at them, some would take it as a "sudden attack" on their fics. No, it's not a "sudden attack" - you got away with breaking the rules for a while, but now, between some mods who have time on their hands and a group targeting shitty fics, they finally got caught. (For the record - my fics flagrantly disregarded the rules at FF.net, and for the last few years I had a notice up on my profile in boldface that said as much and that I was aware of it. I was never, ever, reported; I never, ever had CU comment on any of my fics; I never, ever had FF.net staff remove them. I finally got sick of the site and took them down myself a few days ago, since I've decided to make my move to AO3 permanent.)	”
	— Hurricane Islandheart on LiveJournal

Fan fiction archives [edit]

In response to the purge, users flocked to other sites and archives. Recommendations for sites included DreamWidth, LiveJournal, YourFanFiction.Com and An Archive of Our Own (AO3).

AO3 experienced down time as the site's servers could not handle the additional load from FanFiction.Net users, generating a number of 50 errors at the height of the problem. The site's parent organization, Organization for Transformative Works, not mentioning server problems on their Dreamwidth account, updated their website six days ago to discuss the situation.

“	This sudden and dramatic expansion has come about largely as a result of changes on Fanfiction.net, who have recently introduced more stringent enforcement of their policies relating to explicit fanworks which have resulted in some fans no longer being able to host their works there. One of the primary reasons the AO3 was created was in order to provide a home for fanworks which were at risk of deletion elsewhere, so we're very keen to welcome these new users, but in the short term this does present us with some challenges!	”
	— Lucy Pearson, Organization for Transformative Works

The traffic increase came on the back of Quantcast-reported increase earlier in the year, 57,201 visitors at the end of April, up from 40,560 at the end of March. Alexa reported a big drop in traffic for the archive the day of the purge and traffic has subsequently remained at above average before FanFiction.Net purge levels. This matches other organizationally reported increase. AO3 took measures to reduce server load such as disabling tag filtering, improving statistics caching, turning off alphabetical listing of users, suspending the ability for people to request invitations to and from the site. Even before FanFiction.Net's adult content purge, AO3's invitation code queue exceeded 17,000. Before the site closed registration, Tumblr user alien-rz requested a code and received a confirmation e-mail saying "You’ve been added to our queue! Yay! We estimate that you’ll receive an invitation around 2012-12-13."

FanFiction.Net users like fujiwara-nanaho registered for Dreamwidth in case FanFiction.Net removed their content.

No problems were reported by Hurricane Islandheart on MediaMiner.Org, an anime-centric fan fiction site popular in the mid-'00s that is largely absent of moderators at the moment. The site saw an increase in traffic earlier this year, going from 24,156 at end-December, according to Quantcast, to 58,558 visitors at the end of March this year.

According to Tikatu, a member of FanFiction.net Writers Unite, an eFiction software based site, YourFanFiction.com went down under the additional traffic strain. According to Tumblr users, having been created in response to the purge, the site swelled to over a thousand users including a number of Tumblr users like bluelilacflame, konata-the-espeon and getwhatyouwantorjustgetold.

Have an opinion on this story? Post it!

Sources [edit]

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Hannah Ellison. "The Book Burning That Wasn't: Thousands of Works of Fiction Destroyed and No One Pays Attention" — Huffington Post, June 14, 2012
Lucy Pearson. "Update on AO3 performance issues" — Organization for Transformative Works, June 11, 2012

External links [edit]

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Savage on Santorum on Savage

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:06:16 GMT

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

LGBT

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In an interview Monday, candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination Rick Santorum criticized advice columnist Dan Savage and said he would pray for him. In return, Savage pointed out Santorum's controversial social conservatism positions. Santorum's disagreement with Savage stems from the santorum neologism coined in Savage's column Savage Love in response to comments made by former Pennsylvania Senator Santorum about homosexuality; Savage's readers voted to define santorum as: "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."

Dan Savage
Image: Dan Savage (2005).

Rick Santorum
Image: Gage Skidmore (2011).

The santorum neologism was coined in Dan Savage's column Savage Love in 2003 based on the last name of Rick Santorum.

	He obviously has some serious issues.
—Rick Santorum

Former Senator Santorum was interviewed Monday by the RealClearPolitics website RealClearReligion and was asked, "If you happen to run into Dan Savage, what would you say to him?" The Republican presidential nomination candidate replied, "I would tell him that I'm praying for him. He obviously has some serious issues. You look at someone like that who can say and do the things that he's doing and you just pray for him and hopefully he can find peace."

This is not the first instance where Santorum has commented publicly about Dan Savage. ThinkProgress called his most recent comments on Savage an "improvement", and noted that Santorum previously stated Savage is "below the dignity of anybody".

Mother Jones magazine contacted Savage for a response to Santorum's comments. Savage emphasized Santorum's controversial positions on social issues in contrast to his "dirty joke", replying, "Rick Santorum thinks that women who have been raped should be compelled—by force of law—to carry the babies of their rapists to term, he thinks birth control should be illegal, he wants to prosecute pornographers, etc., etc., basically the guy wants to be president so that he can micromanage the sex lives of all Americans...and I'm the one with issues? Because I made a dirty joke at his expense eight or nine years ago and it stuck? I'm the one with issues?"

	The man who wants to get his hands on the nuclear football so he can micromanage your sex life ... thinks I have issues. That's hilarious.
—Dan Savage

Savage concluded, "Rick can pray for me. I'll gay for him. And we can call it even."

In a subsequent piece posted to the website of the Seattle, Washington paper The Stranger, Savage elaborated on his response to Santorum. He commented, "The man who wants to get his hands on the nuclear football so he can micromanage your sex life ... thinks I have issues. That's hilarious."

In a 2003 interview with the Associated Press, Rick Santorum compared legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States to supporting bestiality. Readers of the Savage Love advice column selected a new definition for the Senator’s last name, and Savage created a website SpreadingSantorum.com to promulgate the spread of the phenomenon. The term became a prominent result in searches online, and gained dominance on Web search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo!.

Rick Santorum himself has acknowledged and discussed the existence and prevalence of the santorum neologism phenomenon; he was quoted by The Canadian Press on his assessment of Google's response: "To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can't handle. I suspect that's not true." Santorum criticized the response of the press to the phenomenon in a 2011 radio interview, saying, "It's offensive beyond, you know, anything that any public figure or anybody in America should tolerate, and the mainstream media laughs about it."

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Sister links [edit]

santorum

Sources [edit]

"Rick Santorum: 'I'm Praying For' Dan Savage" — The Huffington Post, March 20, 2012
Igor Volsky. "Santorum: 'I'm Praying' for Dan Savage" — ThinkProgress, March 20, 2012
Dan Savage. "Who Has Issues?" — The Stranger (newspaper), March 19, 2012
Andy Kroll. "Santorum: 'I'm Praying' for Dan Savage Who 'Has Serious Issues'" — Mother Jones (magazine), March 19, 2012
Nicholas G. Hahn III. "Rick Santorum: The RealClearReligion Interview" — RealClearReligion, March 19, 2012

External links [edit]

Spreading Santorum, website created to promulgate redefinition of Rick Santorum's last name

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Wikinews interviews New York bar owner on Santorum cocktail

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:13:56 GMT

Thursday, March 15, 2012

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Interviews on Wikinews

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Wikinews interviewed one of the owners of a New York City bar about a popular new politically-themed cocktail drink called Santorum. The beverage was inspired by the santorum neologism coined in advice columnist Dan Savage's column Savage Love in response to comments made by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum about homosexuality; Savage's readers voted to define santorum as: "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."

Background [edit]

The santorum neologism has inspired satirical forms of parody, including this political cartoon by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal webcomic artist Zach Weiner. 2012.
Image: Zach Weiner.

The Pacific Standard bar is located in Brooklyn, New York, and is co-owned by Jonathan M. Stan and John-Christian G. Rauschenberg. Stan commented on the creation of the Santorum cocktail, "When he was winning in the polls, I thought, 'OK, I'll do a Santorum'." Regarding how long the beverage will be made available, Stan remarked to The Brooklyn Paper, "We'll keep it around until he’s irrelevant. I hope he’s there the whole way".

The main ingredients of the Santorum drink include vodka of an orange citrus variety, Baileys Irish Cream, and Angostura bitters. It is served in a cocktail glass and topped with Godiva chocolate flakes. The beverage is priced at US$8.00, and upon an order for it, the bartender will recount for the customer the definition of the santorum neologism.

Troy Patterson of Slate Magazine ventured over to Pacific Standard to sample the new santorum cocktail at the bar. After tasting the beverage, Patterson observed, "My Santorum was sweet but balanced, with a subtle citrus pucker".

	[The santorum neologism is] offensive beyond, you know, anything that any public figure or anybody in America should tolerate, and the mainstream media laughs about it.
—Rick Santorum

Interview [edit]

Pacific Standard owner, Jonathan M. Stan, displays the Santorum cocktail drink as a finished product at the bar. (2012).
Image: Pacific Standard, provided by the owners.

Wikinews What inspired you to create a cocktail after the santorum neologism?

John Rauschenberg: Santorum the person has been in the news throughout the primary season, and we thought it would be interesting to try to create a delicious drink that mimicked the appearance of the Dan Savage meaning of "santorum."

WN How did you first hear about the definition of the santorum neologism that grew out of the contest from the Savage Love advice column?

JR: We don't really remember. It's been around forever. Probably read about it somewhere.

WN What are your thoughts about Rick Santorum’s views on gay rights?

JR: It's not for us to take a stand on any political issues. We'll leave that to the professionals.

WN Do you think it was an appropriate form of satire for Dan Savage to popularize the definition of the santorum neologism created in his advice column?

JR: We thought it was funny. Whether it is appropriate or not is another thing we leave to the pros to decide.

WN When was the Santorum cocktail first created?

JR: A few months ago.

WN What ingredients go in the Santorum cocktail?

JR: Bailey's, orange vodka, bitters, and chocolate flakes.

WN How is the Santorum drink made?

JR: The ingredients are shaken and/or poured into a cocktail glass. See the pictures.

WN Your Santorum cocktail creation has already received media coverage from publications including: The Brooklyn Paper, The New York Times, Jezebel, Metro.us, EDGE on the Net, and Instinct Magazine. Did you think when you created it that the Santorum cocktail would receive this news coverage?

JR: Not at all. We were just trying to come up with a topical and funny new cocktail for our customers to laugh about and enjoy.

WN What culinary dishes would you recommend that go well with the Santorum cocktail?

JR: You'd probably be having the cocktail at dessert time, so something sweet: ice cream or pie.

WN Is the drink popular? How many times do you suppose you’ve served it at your establishment since its creation?

JR: The drink was mildly popular for the last few months, but of course has become a great deal more popular since getting all this publicity. We have no way to estimate how many times we've served it overall, but we're now pouring around ten a night.

WN What are some reactions of your patrons after seeing the availability of Santorum as a cocktail?

JR: Most people find it amusing. Some people want to demonstrate their bravery and ability to overcome their mental blocks by drinking one. A lot of people think it's a really appealing mix of ingredients.

WN Has anyone come into your facility specifically because they have heard they can order the Santorum cocktail and wish to try it?

JR: Yes, especially recently.

WN Has the availability of the Santorum cocktail at your pub prompted any interesting political discussions amongst your staff and customers?

JR: Nothing more serious than the usual light political banter. Given our location and clientele, most of our customers are of a similar mind politically and there isn't much disagreement.

WN How long do you plan on making the Santorum cocktail available at your bar?

JR: As long as Santorum stays relevant in the news and customers are interested in ordering it.

WN Have you heard any feedback from Rick Santorum or the Santorum campaign about the Santorum cocktail?

JR: No.

WN Were you at all worried about legal repercussions from creating a cocktail inspired by the santorum neologism?

JR: Not at all. There's nothing legally wrong with it.

WN Have you created any other drinks named after politicians?

JR: No.

WN What are your thoughts about the satirical definition for the neologism "romney" ("to defecate in terror") created by Jack Shepler inspired by an incident involving Mitt Romney’s family dog?

JR: We don't really have any.

WN Do you think you might create a new cocktail based on this "romney" neologism?

JR: Not based on that definition. If we ever came up with a "romney" cocktail it'd probably be something different. Maybe something incredibly bland.

WN Comedy hosts Jon Stewart of The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report have each reported on the santorum neologism repeatedly on their satirical news programs. If asked to do so, would you be willing to appear on these programs to mix up a special Santorum cocktail for the host?

JR: Absolutely.

Gallery [edit]

Pacific Standard owner Jonathan M. Stan at the bar, beginning to prepare the Santorum cocktail drink. He is shown here pouring Baileys Irish Cream into a tall glass with ice.
Stan mixes the ingredients together in a cocktail shaker.
Stan finishes combining the ingredients together.
Here Stan is shown as he begins to pour the combined ingredients into a cocktail glass.
Stan continues to pour the contents of the cocktail shaker into the glass.
Pouring more of the mixed drink into the glass.
Almost finished filling the glass with the contents of the cocktail mixer.
He carefully pours out the last few drops of the cocktail mixer into the glass.
Stan displays the Santorum cocktail drink as finished product at the bar.

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Sister links [edit]

santorum

Sources [edit]

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Jessica Chou. "Santorum cocktail has a ‘Subtle citrus pucker’" — The Daily Meal, March 13, 2012
Troy Patterson. "Try the Santorum" — Slate (magazine), March 12, 2012
Eddie Scarry. "NY bar serves ‘Santorum’ cocktail" — The Blaze (web site), March 12, 2012

External links [edit]

Spreading Santorum, website created to promulgate redefinition of Rick Santorum's last name

Prior media coverage discussed in interview

Instinct staff. "Just in time for happy hour: A chilled glass of Santorum" — Instinct Magazine, March 9, 2012
"Bottoms Up! Order a ‘Santorum’ at your favorite watering hole" — EDGEOnTheNet, March 9, 2012
Cassie Murdoch. "The Santorum: A frothy cocktail that will fix what ails you" — Jezebel, March 8, 2012
Emily Anne Epstein. "Brooklyn bar serves up ‘Santorum’ cocktail" — Metro.us, March 8, 2012
The Local. "The Day: Enjoy this cocktail as long as Rick Santorum is still running" — The New York Times, March 7, 2012
Kate Briquelet. "Fourth Avenue watering hole serves Santorum" — The Brooklyn Paper, March 6, 2012

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Wikinews Shorts: February 14, 2012

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:27:19 GMT

A compilation of brief news reports for Tuesday, February 14, 2012 .

1 Iranians block Internet; email
2 Washington: seventh state legalizes same-sex marriage
3 Australian man who saluted Queen fined

Contribute to Wikinews by expanding these briefs or add a new one.

Iranians block Internet; email [edit]

An Iranian woman uses the computer.
Image: Milkyo0.

The Iranian government has blocked the Internet outside of the country ahead of protests, and the blockage has affected the ability of Iranians to log on to their Facebook, Twitter, and email accounts, until just the latter was restored. Google said around 30 million Iranians had lost access to their Google gmail accounts.

Foreign sites were primarily affected prior to demonstrations scheduled for today. National sites have been called "Halal" Internet, which means it has the blessing of the government. National email brands were not affected in the block which has occurred over the weekend but many Iranians critical of the government do not trust them.

Sources

Elizabeth Flock. "Iran gets back e-mail access, but other sites remain blacked out ahead of protest" — The Washington Post, February 13, 2012
Najmeh Bozorgmehr. "Iran censorship aids local email providers" — Financial Times, February 13, 2012

Washington: seventh state legalizes same-sex marriage [edit]

With the stroke of her pen, Governor Christine Gregoire yesterday made Washington the seventh state to legalize marriages for homosexual couples in the United States. While the governor is a Catholic, the law she signed does not force churches, like those of her faith who are against gay marriage, to hold ceremonies for same-sex couples.

Gregoire said her views evolved over the years and like onlookers at the signing ceremony, she celebrated the signing. Former U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum was in the state campaigning on the same day Gregoire signed the law and was scheduled to meet with those who want to overturn the law.

Sources

Lornet Turnbull. "Gregoire signs gay marriage into law" — The Seattle Times, February 14, 2012
Kim Murphy. "Washington state makes 7: Governor signs gay marriage law" — Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2012

Australian man who saluted Queen fined [edit]

It cost one Australian man US$400 per bum cheek today for mooning Queen Elizabeth II and her husband last October. 22-year-old Liam Lloyd Warriner said after his fine that he would like to also show President Barack Obama his back side.

While Warriner was being cheeky with the press, his own lawyer called the stunt "low level stuff". Warriner characterized his victims as "any self-important, self-propagating elitist," but in contrast he was said to have held the Australian flag between his buttocks as a form of salute. Prosecutors had hoped for a larger fine.

Sources

"Australian Man Fined for Mooning Queen Elizabeth" — ABC News (US), February 14, 2012
AAP. "I'd do it to the US president too, says Liam Warriner fined for mooning Queen" — The Australian, February 14, 2012

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Santorum neologism spreads to Romney

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:29:58 GMT

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Internet

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A new website SpreadingRomney.com now appears prominently among Internet search results for Mitt Romney's last name and defines romney as: "to defecate in terror". Spreading Romney was inspired by the santorum neologism coined in advice columnist Dan Savage's column Savage Love in response to comments made by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum about homosexuality; Savage's readers voted to define santorum as: "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."

While defining romney as a verb, the word "terror" in the definition given at SpreadingRomney.com links to an article that appeared January 5 in The Huffington Post titled "Mitt Romney's Dog Incident Comes Back To Haunt Him". The article describes a 1983 incident where Romney was reported to have affixed his family’s pet Irish setter named Seamus to the roof of their vehicle for 12 hours while on a car trip to Canada; press coverage of the matter recounted how the animal let loose its bowels due to a fear response during the experience.

Similar to online searches leading to the santorum neologism website originally created by Dan Savage, SpreadingSantorum.com, queries for Romney yielding top search results for SpreadingRomney.com are not limited only to Google but extend to other search engines including Bing as well.

	I don’t recall seeing it recently, so it appears to be a new gain.
—Danny Sullivan

MSNBC quoted search engine expert Danny Sullivan, who observed that the website had likely risen of late in search results: "I don’t recall seeing it recently, so it appears to be a new gain."

The Atlantic reported that as of yesterday, SpreadingRomney.com had received 3,416 like button clicks from Facebook and 1,261 posts on Twitter. The site appeared third in a Google search for Romney, directly below the former Massachusetts Governor's Wikipedia page.

	[The santorum neologism is] offensive beyond, you know, anything that any public figure or anybody in America should tolerate, and the mainstream media laughs about it.
—Rick Santorum

The company Go Daddy manages the domain name for the website SpreadingRomney.com; the site was registered by an Indianapolis, Indiana-based company named Ayokay LLC which was formed on January 1. The website reportedly started operating on January 10. Rachel Maddow commented upon it on January 12 on her program The Rachel Maddow Show. The founder of SpreadingRomney.com, Jack Shepler, informed Sullivan that he holds no ties to any political campaign group and formed the website out of a comedic motivation.

New York Magazine noted that there may be another neologism this time derived from the last name of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; linking to an established website for SpreadingGingrich.com. That site is currently asking visitors to submit suggestions for a new definition of gingrich.

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Sister links [edit]

santorum

Sources [edit]

Brett Smiley. "Romney Means 'To Defecate in Terror'" — New York (magazine), February 13, 2012
Bob Sullivan. "'Romney' means defecate? Candidate facing a Santorum search problem" — msnbc.com, February 13, 2012
Samantha Grossman. "Mitt Romney Faces a Santorum-Like Problem on Google and Bing" — Time (magazine), February 13, 2012
Alexander Abad-Santos. "Like Santorum, Romney Now Has a Google Problem" — The Atlantic Wire, February 13, 2012

External links [edit]

"Mitt Romney's Dog Incident Comes Back To Haunt Him" — The Huffington Post, January 5, 2012
Spreading Romney, website dedicated to redefining Mitt Romney's last name
Spreading Santorum, website created to promulgate redefinition of Rick Santorum's last name
Spreading Gingrich, website soliciting suggestions for new definition of Newt Gingrich's last name

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Santorum neologism gains prominence during US election cycle

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:03:45 GMT

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

LGBT

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A neologism coined in advice columnist Dan Savage's column Savage Love in response to comments made by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum about homosexuality has gained prominence during the ongoing election cycle in the United States. After Santorum spoke out against LGBT rights in the United States in 2003, readers of Savage’s column voted to define the word "santorum" as "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex." The prominence of this term's association with Santorum, a current candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination, has had an impact on the former Senator's presidential campaign.

	It is vile, as are Santorum's comments about gay people.
—Dan Savage

Dan Savage commented on the continued impact of the santorum neologism, in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published Sunday, "It's still out there and it is an insanely dirty joke. It is crude. It is vile, as are Santorum's comments about gay people."

Artwork inspired by the santorum neologism phenomenon
Image: bijijoo.

At a speaking engagement on Friday, Santorum stated that same-sex partnerships don't "benefit society". Whilst speaking as part of his campaign for the U.S. presidency in 2012, Rick Santorum has had to answer questions from supporters of LGBT rights regarding his controversial political positions on issues pertaining to them. Critics have showed up to Santorum events and tried to giltter bomb the candidate.

Democratic strategists poised themselves to take advantage of Santorum's association with the neologism phenomenon. Based on sources among Democratic operatives, Jack Cahill of American Thinker reports Democratic tactics in Missouri involve actually galvanizing support for Santorum ahead of that state's Republican caucuses in order to eliminate the possibility of a Mitt Romney win. Cahill says they view Santorum as mostly a dirty joke's punchline.

Wikinews previously reported on the santorum neologism phenomenon in 2006, as part of an article, "Wikinews investigates Wikipedia usage by U.S. Senate staff members". The investigation noted that: "An edit to an article about a controversy over Senator Rick Santorum's statements about Constitutional rights to privacy with regards to sexual acts, seemingly coming from Rick Santorum's staff members, removed a reference to an effort to redefine Santorum's last name as a neologism".

In a 2003 interview with the Associated Press, Rick Santorum compared legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States to supporting bestiality. Readers of the Savage Love advice column selected a new definition for the Senator’s last name, and Savage created a website www.spreadingsantorum.com to document the spread of the phenomenon. The term became a prominent result in searches online, and gained dominance on Web search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo!.

	There definitely are people who are finding this to be the best answer to their question ...
—Gabriel Stricker, Google

Google global communications chief Gabriel Stricker commented to National Public Radio in an interview this January, that the company was avoiding editorial judgment, and that the prominence of the santorum neologism phenomenon in web searches is due to increased interest in the subject. Stricker stated, "There definitely are people who are finding this to be the best answer to their question, and they are indicating this by either clicking on this result or linking to this result as the best answer to that question."

In the wake of Santorum's showing in the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses, additional curious people looked up the former Senator on the Internet and in turn discovered the santorum neologism phenomenon. After journalist Laura Sydell of the National Public Radio program All Things Considered received criticism for covering the increased attention to the santorum neologism, she explained why the issue was relevant: "I felt it was an important and legitimate story in the wake of Mr. Santorum's success in Iowa. Although the site had been up for many years, it was only after Mr. Santorum's success in the caucuses that a large number of people were actually searching for more information about him." The Canadian Press provided a similar analysis in January — that more coverage of Santorum has led to more coverage of the neologism.

Rick Santorum himself has acknowledged and discussed the existence and prevalence of the santorum neologism phenomenon, in comments to the press. He was quoted in January by The Canadian Press on his assessment of Google's response: "I suspect if something was up there like that about, say, Joe Biden, they would get rid of it. To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can't handle. I suspect that's not true." Santorum tried to alleviate the neologism's results in web searches by reaching out to Google in September, but this act only served to increase reporting and coverage of the phenomenon. In a 2011 radio interview with host Steve Malzberg, Santorum characterized the neologism as "filth". He criticized the response of the press to the phenomenon, saying, "It's offensive beyond, you know, anything that any public figure or anybody in America should tolerate, and the mainstream media laughs about it."

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Sister links [edit]

santorum

Category:Santorum neologism

Campaign for "santorum" neologism

Campaign for "santorum" neologism

Sources [edit]

Aman Batheja. "Bitter rivals Santorum and Savage in North Texas this week" — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 6, 2012
"Dan Savage: Rick Santorum Google Bomb Is An 'Insanely Dirty Joke,' Just Like His Views On Gay Rights" — The Huffington Post, February 6, 2012
Diane Smith (Fort Worth Star-Telegram). "Gay rights activist Dan Savage brings 'It Gets Better Project' to North Texas" — The Sacramento Bee, February 6, 2012
Jack Cashill. "Dems Mobilize in Missouri for Santorum" — American Thinker, February 4, 2012
The Canadian Press. "Anti-gay remarks haunt Rick Santorum online" — CTV Television Network, January 15, 2012
Edward Schumacher-Matos. "Rick Santorum's Google problem becomes the story" — KPLU, January 10, 2012
Laura Sydell (All Things Considered). "How Rick Santorum's 'Google Problem' Has Endured" — National Public Radio, January 6, 2012

External links [edit]

Spreading Santorum, official website created by Dan Savage to promulgate the neologism
Santorum, defined at Urban Dictionary
Santorum, background at Rotten.com
Santorum, analysis of the phenomenon at Know Your Meme by Rocketboom

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Observing the 2012 Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the US, and wider world

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:47:37 GMT

Friday, January 13, 2012

Human rights

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This week US citizens observed National Human Trafficking Awareness Day through acts of education, legislation, and enforcement; whilst, around the world, other people highlighted or tackled this global problem in their own countries.

According to an annual report on human trafficking released by the US State Department in June last year, 27 million men, women and children are exploited through human trafficking. Worldwide, at least two million children are estimated to be trafficked victims of the sex trade; and, in military conflicts, it is not uncommon for children to be forced to bear arms. In releasing the report last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted the importance of international cooperation in addressing trafficking, and cultural issues associated with it.

Brown, orange and red are source countries, while light blue and dark blue countries are destinations for victims of human trafficking.
Image: KVDP.

Under the United Nations' Palermo Protocols, human trafficking encompasses cases where victims are born into slavery, forcibly transported for exploitation, consented to work with a trafficker, and/or were forced to participate in criminal activities. The Protocols also recognize the unique status and rights of children.

US-based action [edit]

Reports from across the United States show a number of communities taking local action to solve, or otherwise highlight, this global problem.

In Southern California, Sister Caritas Foster is an advocate for the area's victims of human trafficking. Commenting on the area's involvement, she stated: "We in the San Francisco Bay Area are one of the largest receiving areas with our borders and coasts". For over four years, Foster has worked on educating the public on human trafficking, speaking to civic and religious groups and describing the power traffickers hold over their victims through vivid accounts of situations trafficked individuals find themselves in. Many have no idea where they are located, suffer under the constant threat of deportation, and most often lack the language abilities to seek help.

Los Angeles politician Don Knabe said human trafficking was not a distant problem but one that hits close to home. As the county supervisor overseeing the fourth district in Los Angeles County, Knabe cited figures from the Probation Department showing 84 percent of arrests of children on prostitution charges in 2010 were in his district; he believes the overall problem for the county is much larger, and wants the Probation Department to establish a special unit dedicated to sexually exploited minors.

Northward in Seattle, Washington, members of the King County Sheriff's department realized that law enforcement had to deal supportively with the symptoms of human trafficking — rather than putting victims in jail. This gave birth to the "Genesis Project" where sheriff's deputies offer potential victims of trafficking a comfortable safe haven with amenities for 24 hours, and put them in touch with social services for counselling, job training, and education advice.

Politicians from several states have sought to address the connection between tourism and human trafficking; Indiana's state Senate unanimously passed a human trafficking bill on Tuesday morning. Current legislation only considered forced marriage and prostitution as human trafficking; loopholes in the existing laws allowed some forms of human trafficking to escape prosecution. Lawmakers in the state hope to toughen their human trafficking laws, and have new legislation on the statute books in time for the Super Bowl, due to be held in Indianapolis on February 5. The just-passed bill now goes to the House for approval.

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Also on Tuesday, lawmakers from Hawaii held a special hearing on human trafficking. Kathryn Xian, of Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, says traffickers capitalize on the state's tourist-based economy. She introduced a package of seven bills she says will help prevent human trafficking in the state.

At a national level, the US government continues to work abroad on the issue of trafficking; Luis CdeBaca, a special ambassador for human trafficking, is working with Myanmar, commonly known as Burma, as the country seeks to improve diplomatic relations with the United States. Myanmar was identified by the US State Department as having one of the worst records of forced labor, and as a country that lacks necessary laws to curb human trafficking.

Trafficking, the global picture [edit]

File image of a Nepali mother who travelled to Mumbai, India, hoping to rescue her teenage daughter from an Indian brothel.
Image: Kay Chernush, US State Dept..

Although National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is a US-based effort to recognise, and highlight, this issue — as a topic of global concern being highlighted through the United Nations, others around the world continue efforts to increase public awareness and tackle trafficking.

Forty-six women from the international group Operation Mobilization sought to raise awareness by climbing Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro. The summit is called "Uhuru Peak", with Uhuru meaning "freedom" in Swahili. Each of the non-professional climbers raised US$10,000 to help those affected by human trafficking.

In the Middle East, several countries are reported to have problems with human traffickers recruiting unemployed gay Kenyan men to become sex slaves. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are supposedly the more-common destination countries into which Kenyans are lured with offers of high-paying jobs. However, in the United Arab Emirates — where no law prohibits trafficking, but homosexuality is illegal — the problem is compounded.

Enforcement of existing laws, and acting against trafficking, are seen as key steps in reducing the activity. Showing that no country is unaffected, Northern Ireland police are currently investigating five sex trafficking cases; and, on Monday, Filipino police rescued fifteen women following a tip-off regarding women recruited, and being held, prior to being sent to work abroad.

In the Northern Ireland situation, Detective Superintendent Philip Marshall stated that fifteen men are to be contacted, suspected of having paid for sex with trafficked women. Identifying victims within the UK, or victims seeking help, is becoming more challenging with the sex industry having switched to using hotel rooms as-opposed to street corners. Many victims of trafficking are found to be unaware of where within the country they are.

In the Philippines situation, Zamboanga City police are still seeking the recruiter of the fifteen women rescued in Rio Hondo.

A range of complexities are involved in the sentencing of both those convicted of human trafficking, and their victims. In one Canadian case, 43-year-old Hungarian Lajos Domotor pled guilty to trafficking men and women into forced labor. Following being charged with conspiracy to commit human trafficking, he developed terminal stomach cancer and has been given a 10 to 15 percent chance of living five years.

In the UK, officials are seeking to detect exploitation prior to sentencing — as a counter to the high number of foreign women in jails, frequently having been victims of trafficking. One in seven women prisoners across England and Wales are foreign, with the primary offenses being drug or immigration-related. A report into the issue recommends sentencing decisions should consider the role of women, and of coercion, in such cases.

Artists also have a special role to play in the education and awareness of the public. The first opera about sex trafficking will premiere in Liverpool, England, on March 7. Anya17 was composed by Adam Gorb with a libretto written by Ben Kaye. Performers will come from Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic contemporary music ensemble 10/10. Funding for the production was provided in part by the United Nations.

Sources [edit]

This article is a featured article. It is considered one of the best works of the Wikinews community. See Wikinews:Featured articles for more information.

AP. "US Envoy: Myanmar Weak Against Human Trafficking" — ABC News (United States), January 11, 2012
"PSNI to visit men who paid for sex with trafficked women" — BBC News Online, January 11, 2012
Liz Dossa. "The lure of a better life: Human trafficking in the Bay Area" — Catholic San Francisco, January 11, 2012
Press Association. "Women 'coerced into offending'" — Mid Sussex Times, January 11, 2012
"Women's climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro shouts for Freedom from trafficking" — Mission Network News, January 11, 2012
Brandi Kruse. "Project rescues victims of sex trade in King County" — MyNorthwest.com, January 11, 2012
Bong Garcia. "15 human trafficking victims rescued" — Sun.Star, January 11, 2012
Krista Henery. "Human trafficking bill passes Senate" — WLFI-TV, January 11, 2012
Nicole O’Reilly. "Human trafficker pleads guilty" — The Hamilton Spectator, January 11, 2012
Malia Zimmerman. "Sex Trafficking Victims, Advocates, Lobby Hawaii Legislators for Stronger Laws" — HawaiiReporter.com, January 10, 2012
Paul Chavez (Marina del Rey Patch). "Knabe Raises Issue of Child Prostitution" — Patch Media, January 10, 2012
"Gay Kenyan men trafficked as sex slaves" — UPI, January 10, 2012
Helen Carter. "Opera aims to tackle the issue of human trafficking" — The Guardian, January 9, 2012
Hillary Clinton. "Remarks on the Release of the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report" — U.S. Department of State, June 27, 2011
Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. ""What Is Trafficking in Persons?", Trafficking in Persons Report 2011" — U.S. Department of State, June 27, 2011

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Dan Savage wins Webby Award for It Gets Better Project

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:38:33 GMT

Friday, June 3, 2011

LGBT

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Dan Savage, author of the sex advice column Savage Love, has won a Webby Award for his work on the It Gets Better Project. He started the project in 2010 to address a series of incidents of suicide among LGBT youth.

Dan Savage in 2005
Image: Dan Savage.

Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, co-edited a book featuring selections from the It Gets Better Project. The book, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living, includes a piece from President of the United States Barack Obama – who also filmed a video for the online project. In both the book and the online project itself, individuals submitted contributions with messages of hope and optimism directed towards LGBT teenagers.

	You could have knocked me over with a feather when the White House called and said the President would record a video.
—Dan Savage

In an interview published Thursday with Fenuxe Magazine, Savage commented on his initial response when contacted by the Obama Administration to receive a video contribution from the President for the It Gets Better Project: "You could have knocked me over with a feather when the White House called and said the President would record a video. And they not only recorded a video, they were calling me to let me know and they were giving it to us first to release on the 'It Gets Better' website."

The Webby Award is presented anually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, for excellence on the Internet. Savage was selected for recognition with a Special Achievement Award for his work on the It Gets Better Project. His project focuses on combatting bullying directed against teenagers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

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Sources [edit]

"Dan Savage" — Fenuxe Magazine, June 2, 2011
Associated Press. "IBM's Watson named 'person' of the year" — The Pantagraph, June 2, 2011
"Robot Watson wins Webby: Should a computer be 'Person of the Year'?" — CBC News, June 2, 2011

External links [edit]

Learn more about It Gets Better Project and Webby Award on Wikipedia.

Wikimedia Commons has media about It Gets Better Project.

It Gets Better Project website
It Gets Better on YouTube
It Gets Better on Facebook
Dan Savage's Message to Gay Youth: 'It Gets Better', interview on All Things Considered, National Public Radio
It Gets Better page at whitehouse.gov, The White House

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Researchers find moonlight influences owl monkeys' nocturnal activity

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:13:25 GMT

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Argentinian monkeys studied are in the same nocturnal genus, Aotus, as the Panamanian owl monkey pictured
Image: dsasso.

Researchers led by a University of Pennsylvania scientist have discovered that moonlight increases the nocturnal activity of owl monkeys in South America. The researchers say this is the first long-term study showing that heat and light can affect the nocturnality of primates in the wild.

Azara's owl monkeys were known to have regular activity patterns that included both nocturnal and diurnal (daytime) activity. These patterns changed more frequently than a few times per year along with seasonal phenomena. The study showed the monkeys' nocturnal activity increased in warmer months and peaked on full moon nights — but decreased during full lunar eclipses on full moon nights, which occurred three times during the study.

Lead investigator and assistant professor in U.Penn.'s Department of Anthropology Eduardo Fernández-Duque explained that many animals change their activity levels with changes in environmental conditions. These changes are called "masking" in chronobiology. But the species of owl monkeys is distinguishable by its increased activity during nights with better moon light.

As Fernández-Duque explained, "The behavioral outcome for these owl monkeys is nocturnal activity maximized during relatively warm, moonlit nights. While laboratory studies have pointed to the importance of masking in determining the environmental factors that cause animals to switch from nocturnal activity patterns to diurnal ones or vice versa, our study underscores the importance of masking in determining the daily activity patterns of animals living in the wild. It also suggests that moonlight is a key adaptation for the exploitation of the nocturnal niche by primates."

"Harsher climate, food availability and the lack of predators or daytime competition have all been proposed as factors favoring evolutionary switches in primate activity patterns," said Fernández-Duque.

Team member Horacio de la Iglesia, of the Department of Biology at the University of Washington, pointed out that the changes of activity, though seasonal, aren't a built-in biological clock. He was sure that they wouldn't happen in absence of the Moon. He stated, "If there was a biological clock that they were depending on to regulate this activity, you could expect the activity to continue even in the absence of lunar light. The lunar day has not been a stable force as much as the solar day to evolutionarily select for a clock. We still have to prove it in the lab, but the evidence in this paper points to a lack of a lunar biological clock."

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Sources [edit]

"Owl Monkeys Need Moonlight For Nocturnal Activity" — RedOrbit News, September 6, 2010
LiveScience Staff. "Monkeys Caught Monkeying Around During Full Moon" — LiveScience, September 3, 2010

External links [edit]

Eduardo Fernández-Duque, Horacio de la Iglesia, Hans G. Erkert. "Moonstruck Primates: Owl Monkeys (Aotus) Need Moonlight for Nocturnal Activity in Their Natural Environment" — PLoS ONE, September 3, 2010

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