Quick, what do Stephen Colbert, the Department of Health,
Congress, and Dareland have in common? We've all been banned from
Wikipedia.
It started when I posted a link to a recent article I had
written about Sweeney
Todd. It was removed with the notice that Wikipedia had a rule against
linking to blogs. I did not know that. No biggie. The piece was also
in an online issue of Disinfotainment Today, a newspaper archived on my personal
site, so I simply changed the link to go to the non-blog
version. It was tagged again as a link to a blog. I guess the link had the
word "dareland" in it, so it was presumed to be the dareland blog, which is
hosted at Blogger. Someone noticed the new link led to the exact same article,
and I was tagged as a spammer.
This caused a mighty ripple through the editor universe in
Wikipedia. I had dared to repost a link I'd been told to take down,
not because of anything in it, but because the OLD link was to a blog. This red
flag led to the removal of my posting privileges.
Further research revealed another policy I'd been unaware of,
that self-publishing in any way, not just blogs, was against the
rules. Since the internet allows anyone to publish anything, everything in
Wikipedia has got to have been previously published someplace reputable.
Publishing yourself doesn't count no matter how reputable you might be,
suggesting the best way to keep yourself OUT of Wikipedia is simply to publish
yourself.
What's wrong with the following sentence from Wikipedia policy?
Spammers link to themselves so anyone who does likewise is automatically
considered a spammer. Shall we examine this peculiar piece of bad logic? All
spammers link to themselves therefore all who link to themselves are spammers.
Oh yeah, I get it. All salmon are fish therefore all fish are salmon. All idiots
read Wikipedia therefore everyone who reads Wikipedia is an idiot. It's called
an invalid reverse syllogism, if you must know. Look it up in Wikipedia.
There was no doubt the Sweeney Todd piece, however brilliant it
might have been, was indeed self-published, as was a Lee Strasberg piece they
removed the link to, so I have no problem at all with their removal. Rules is
rules. But the dozens of other links they removed were to pieces all published
elsewhere. No rules broken. What the fuck?
Of course your first thought is Who is this Wiki guy from
nowhere? How DARE some stranger question my authority and eliminate me from the
pedia with one swell foop. You see? That's why I can't write for Wikipedia.
Someone would correct one swell foop in one fell swoop, ignoring the fact I
meant it that way. And the answer is this Wiki guy is anybody, could be you, and
they swarm like sharks around the scent of blood, always moving forward, they
must edit and prove their worth to the Wiki hierarchy or they must die.
No points of view included in Wikipedia, or humor either. I defy
you to find a pun in Wikipedia, other than the definition of the word "pun."
It's not a big hangout for comedy writers except on a subliminal level,
pranksters who put themselves in the credits of movies, claiming to be the third
sperm from the left in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know
About Sex but were Afraid to Ask. That wasn't me, I swear.
One of their primary rules is "No original research." The gospel
isn't "truth," it's "verifiability," and that's where Wikipedia and I part ways.
I'll always be looking for the truth. I'm never looking for verifiability.
Sometimes I know something's true. I just know it, even though it's
"unverifiable." I saw it myself or I believe the person who told me. Here's a
typical story I couldn't post to Wikipedia.
Thirty years ago, Superman was Warner Brothers' big tent-pole
Christmas release. Ads were out, the theaters were booked, all they needed was
the last reel of film. They got a phone call from Alexander Salkind, the
producer of the film, who told them he had the last reel of Superman
but he needed another million bucks. They complained that the film was already
over-budget and asked him to explain why they should give him another million.
"Because I've got the last reel of Superman," he said.
The next day, a guy got off a plane at LAX with the last reel of
Superman. In the terminal, he exchanged it for a suitcase full of
cash, and got on the next plane out.
Warner Brothers would deny this story. They could never admit they gave in
to such tactics. Alexander Salkind would deny this story. Of course he's not an
extortionist. Think about it. If it weren't true, they'd rightly deny it. But if
it WERE true, they'd deny it even more. The only thing you could do to "verify"
the story is weigh the strength of their denials.
How do I know it happened? I was told by the guy with the film can at LAX
who ended up with a credit in the film, and that's all you'll get out of me
because there are some secrets I can keep. You don't need to know the guy's name
for the story to be good because you're not Wikipedia. Wikipedia's a pussy
compared to the Washington Post when it comes to protecting their sources. If
you can't cite where something came from, out it goes. If Woodward and Bernstein
had taken their Watergate story to Wikipedia instead of Ben Bradley, it would
have been deleted if they refused to name Deep Throat.
Here's the thing. Having had hundreds of articles printed in
dozens of print publications, I've learned you can't trust the archiving systems
of the publications themselves to keep an accurate record of your work.
Sometimes they pare it down. Every publication is its own Wikipedia, and I've
seen articles get smaller and smaller each week as some new editor decided to
justify their paycheck by editing me. The only way to view the original article
is in my archive at dareland.com.
The LA Times mysteriously doesn't archive illustrations, so an
article I wrote for them explaining how a certain photograph was taken is right
there in their archive without the photograph the article is about.
Preposterous. I beg everybody to see the article at my site and
not at the LA Times.
I've written many liner notes for movies on the Criterion
label. When those discs go out of print, my liner notes disappear from the
Criterion website, perfectly good liner notes, vanished from the earth. The only
place to view them is here at dareland.
Which means lots of search engines are pointing to the wrong
place. Unfortunately I don't have access to the Google archives which are
massively fucked, but I do have access to Wikipedia. We all do. That's the
point.
I've shied away from actually posting or rewriting articles. My
writing style doesn't make a good fit, and they're ticklish about "citations,"
wanting a scholarly source for new tidbits of information. Unfortunately, in my
case, I'm the scholarly source. I'm quoting something John Belushi or
Steven Spielberg or Andy Kaufman actually said to me face to face. I can't prove
it. You've got to believe me. The only potential evidence that these meetings
weren't hallucinations is the Polaroids I took of everyone, but if you've seen
my Polaroids you know
they tend to prove the opposite, that I WAS hallucinating, and wildly. Just like
Britannica, there's no gonzo on Wikipedia, so I don't even try. But that doesn't
mean I can't stick a link at the bottom of the page, a footnote as it were, as
long as there's some actual information buried in the gonzo.
There were links all over Wikipedia that led to my articles
posted elsewhere, but as those websites got restructured, the links became bad
and no one could read the articles. I went onto Wikipedia and fixed all the
links to point to dareland.com, links that have been up for
years, articles from the LA Weekly, the LA Free Press, the LA Times,
Billboard, Movieline, Daily Variety, Interview, and numerous other
publications. I did this more than 25 times, funneling all the clicks to
the only place I could absolutely guarantee the articles actually were. I
thought I was improving Wikipedia by fixing links. My profile of Demi Moore for
Daily Variety? Dropped from the Daily Variety site, up at mine, etc., etc.,
the examples are endless, but the point isn't. These links brought me an
amazing amount of new readers. Sometimes up to 50% of my traffic comes from
Wikipedia.
Not any longer. Thanks to a "letter of the law" editor (Irishguy), every single
link in Wikipedia that led to a page on dareland.com has been removed and my
efforts to restore them have been futile.
There's weird shit going on here. When I asked for a second
opinion, one Wikigrump declared "All this account has done is to repeatedly, and
against prior warnings, add links to a website of questionable utility and
reliability." So's your penis, dude.
Irishguy retired just days ago so there's no taking it up with
him. He wasn't well liked. His personal site had been hacked hundreds of times
by other disgruntled writers whose links had disappeared. The Irishguy page with
all the active discussions has conveniently been taken down and he never
actually participated in the discussions on MY page, so it's like none of
this ever happened. It's unverifiable truth, Jimmy Jimbo's worst nightmare. Once
again, you've just got to believe me.
It is my suspicion that none of the Wikipedians have
actually seen my articles and that content has nothing whatsoever to do with
these decisions. It's all a matter of power and policy. I have simply exceeded
the limit one user is allowed to post to one single site, therefore the links
came down because I must be "promoting" something. There's nothing for sale
on those pages. The only thing I'm promoting is reading. You're welcome to
see a discussion with several editors here. It's like
talking to Republicans. They won't discuss content, only process.
They actually called me a "spammer" because their
definition of spamming is anyone who goes on Wikipedia and creates a bunch of
links to one site. They said it was "advertising." The ban has now been removed
but I've been warned if I ever post another link to dareland.com, the ban will
be permanent.
And then, out of the blue, my blog at http://dareland.blogspot.com was
tagged as spam by Blogger. You can see it but I can't post anything new. Let the
conspiracy theories begin. Does Irishguy have a new job?
I need your help for an end run.
Below is a list of 30 links to my site that Irishguy took down from
Wikipedia just because I'm the one who put them there and he's a jerk. Anybody
but me can put them back. Won't you do just one?
Simple instructions. Go to Wikipedia and sign in. Anonymous
postings are automatically tagged as suspicious. If this is going to work, each
addition has got to come from someone else so really, pick only one.
Go to the page. Scroll down to External Links. Click on EDIT.
Add the code provided in the appropriate space. Preview it to make sure it looks
right, then publish it.
If it's already there, someone beat you to it. REPEAT the
previous paragraph. Pick something more obscure.
I've only used articles that were previously published elsewhere
and I've left off my name. Even I understand the problem of quoting something
called Disinfotainment Today as a reliable source.
Thanks for joining the conspiracy.
Let me know which ones you did so I can cross them off the list,
and if Wikipedia gives you grief, if someone removes your link, definitely let
me know.
*[http://www.dareland.com/emulsionalproblems/waters.htm Movieline,
February 19, 1988: interview with John Waters on the making of
''Hairspray'']
Godfrey Reggio Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi *[http://www.dareland.com/emulsionalproblems/reggio.htm
LA Weekly interview with Godfrey Reggio on the making of ''Koyaanisqatsi''
and''Powaqqatsi'']
*[http://www.dareland.com/emulsionalproblems/raw.htm Man Bites
Dogma: LA Weekly interview with Robert Anton Wilson on Politics, Religion,
Drugs, and Quantum Mechanics]
*[http://www.dareland.com/emulsionalproblems/hjortsbergwilliam.htm LA
Weekly interview with screenwriter William Hjortsberg on the making of
''Legend'']
*[http://www.dareland.com/emulsionalproblems/jordan.htm LA
Weekly, April 18, 1985: Interview with Neal Jordan on the making of ''The
Company of Wolves]
*[http://www.dareland.com/emulsionalproblems/russmeyer.htm McFarland
Publisher's ''Movie Talk from the Front lines'': the cast reunion of ''Beyond
the Valley of the Dolls'']
*[http://suprmchaos.com/bcEnt-MichaelDare.index.html Bartcop
Entertainment: The Life and Death of Captain Preemo (alternative theory of John
Belushi's death)]
TOM DANEHY: Wishes for state senators, UA basketball stars and stadium supporters (tucsonweekly.com)
Last year, after reading an item in a Phoenix newspaper, I wrote a column about a despicable woman who, while driving with a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit, barreled down the wrong side of a Phoenix boulevard and ran head-on into another vehicle, killing a woman who had just picked up her grandchild from school. Because of a weird set of circumstances, she was charged with the woman's death, but not DUI...
Froma Harrop: Obama and the Skeptic-Free Campaign (creators.com)
Big-time political writers are busy people. With all the blogging, the parties and appearances on TV, skeptical examination of widely accepted beliefs seems a waste of time. The Obama campaign has done many a time-starved commentator a great service. It has composed the story for them - that Hillary Clinton can't possibly win the Democratic nomination and is a horrible person besides.
Susan Estrich: Grace and Acceptance (creators.com)
It started with my hands. They hurt. They were numb and tingling, and the pain went up and down my arms. I did not like it. I am a worrier, not a whiner. I'll put up with almost any level of pain and discomfort, so long as it's not accompanied by Š
Michelle Garcia: Suzanne Westenhoefer is a Riot (advocate.com)
I can tell you it's not like it's an ordinary Thursday night. There are lesbians doing pyramids by the pool -- you don't see that too often. The next morning, on Friday, there will be lesbians all over Palm Springs, just everywhere. But it's really exciting each year. I remember seven or eight years ago, it rained, and it didn't change a thing. It was just a bunch of women having a good time in the rain -- you can imagine what kind of good time that was.
David Bruce, editor: "Me, Myself, and My Family and Friends" (a collection of humorous autobiographical essays at lulu.com)-Free Download
"There I was, three years old looking at something that would melt my heart for years to come. It all started when my parents brought home this furry little creature named Max. It wasn't a little brother. It was something even better-it was our first kitten. Right then and there I was hooked. No animal stood a chance-wild or domestic, I wanted it. Not long after we 'adopted' Max, we also 'adopted' my other favorite cat, Frosty. Over the course of my childhood, I tried to make all sorts of animals household pets. My love for animals is my weakness." - from "Better Than Catnip," by Lisa Pizzurro
Before she married Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward was briefly engaged to ?
A: Marlon Brando
B: Charles Bronson
C: Wally Cox
D: Jason Robards
E: Gore Vidal
Source and
Source
DanD was first, and correct, observing:
I noticed that you included a hyperlink entitled:
"Charlton Heston To Be Buried With His Gun Collection"
I wonder if anyone's going to be brave enough to yank open his coffin and
take that favorite gun out of his cold dead hands?
Getting along,
Since I haven't the slightest idea, I checked Google's chicken entrails
and they said (E) Gore Vidal.
Anyway Sally, si, whee have many barios in Louisiana. It happened that
way I think because of all those cheeze-eating wetback Frenchmen who kept
rowing their longboats meeney yeers ago to the mouth of thee Meseeseepee
river down gulfway.
I'm also vary prowd of thee Pellacan-State eddicashun I suffured at
waiet-trass elimentree skul ... can ewe tell I made it past the thurd
graed?
(As it is ~)
When I was younger, I really wasn't thrilled with wasting some of my
young life away in NW Louisiana. The beginning of the '70s was a
tumultuous time and I just wasn't feelin' that Yankee-mandated love of
low-rent integration. After being among the first of 100 local white
students east of the railroad tracks sacrificed to attend an (previously)
all-black jr. high school, I discovered first-hand why many of that
State's black children more frequently seemed to be so much dumber than
the white variety.
I just wanted to shout, "It's the institution, STUPID!"
Sometimes I think my conscripted resentment shows ... I guess it's that
"angry black child" subversively transplanted into my soul.
mj responded:
Speaking of odd trios
From dissinterested to one of the all time sexiest. E. Gore Vidal.
McDonald answered:
Gore Vidal
Mark replied:
I confess I had to look this one up and was surprised to learn that
Joanne Woodward was briefly engaged to *Gore Vidal*
PURPLE GENE answered:
JOANNE GIGNILLIAT TRIMMIER WOODWARD (JOANNE WOODWARD) WAS BRIEFLY ENGAGED TO ....E....GORE VIDAL .....BEFORE SHE MARRIED PAUL NEWMAN.
Alan J responded:
Gore Vidal
Charlie replied:
Seems mildly improbable, but it was
E: Gore Vidal
Marian the Teacher answered:
Gore Vidal
Tony In Philly replied:
The Google says "Gore Vidal"
I did not know that!
Sally said:
Before she married Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward was briefly engaged to postmodernism writer, Gore Vidal (one of my all-time favorite postmodernism writers, was Kurt Vonnegut, BTW)
Gore Vidal is really an interesting person about whom to read. He is a removed cousin of Jimmy Carter, and a cousin of Al Gore AWA past lover of beat poet, Jack Kerouac - which may explain why Joanne and Gore never tied the matrimonial knot...
that has a number of Mike Wallace video interviews from 1957 and is well
worth a look. Some are: Philip Wylie, Steve Allen, Frank Lloyd Wright,
Eleanor Roosevelt, and so on.
The
Mike Wallace Interview
"Whether you agree or disagree with what you will hear, we feel that none
will deny the right of these views to be broadcast.
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'Big Brother 9', then the FRESH'Secret Talents Of The Stars'.
On a RERUNDave (from 1/17/08) are Sylvester Stallone, the Teutul family, the Mars Volta, and Bruce Willis sits in with the CBS Orchestra.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Anne Heche, Deion Sanders, and Clinton Jackson.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH 2-hour 'Biggest Loser', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Dennis Quaid, Russell Brand, and P.O.D.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Jarod Miller, David Gregory, and John Oliver.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Perez Hilton, Sig & Edgar Hansen, and Katy Perry.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Just For Laughs', followed by another FRESH'Just For Laughs', then a FRESH'Dancing With The Stars', followed by a FRESH'Boston Legal'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Thomas Haden Church, the fourth eliminated celebrity from "Dancing with the Stars", and Phantom Planet.
The CW offers a FRESH'Beauty & The Geek', followed by a RERUN'Reaper'.
Faux has a FRESH'American Idol', followed by a FRESH'Hell's Kitchen'.
MY here has LIVE'MLB Baseball', with Cleveland visiting the Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim California Angels.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'The First 48', 'Gene Simmons', another 'Gene Simmons', still another 'Gene Simmons', and yet another 'Gene Simmons'.
AMC offers the movie 'Dr. Doolittle', followed by the movie 'Forrest Gump'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 4;
[12:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 5;
[1:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 8 La Gondola;
[2:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 4;
[3:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 24 Ardingly 66;
[3:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 25 Shepton Mallet;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 5;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 6;
[5:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 6;
[5:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 7;
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 Glasshouse;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 9;
[9:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 10;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 9;
[12:00 AM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 10;
[1:00 AM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 9;
[2:00 AM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 10;
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 19;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 20;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 24 Ardingly 66;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 25 Shepton Mallet;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 17 May;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 18 Springthorpe;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Futurama', 'south Park', and 'Mike Birbiglia: What I Should Have Said Was Nothing'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Cokie Roberts.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Madeleine Albright.
FX has the movie 'Walk The Line', followed by 'The Riches'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'The Universe', another 'The Universe', and 'Ax Men'.
IFC -
[07:35 AM] The Agronomist;
[09:15 AM] The Eye;
[11:00 AM] Primer;
[12:25 PM] Harlan County, USA;
[02:15 PM] The Agronomist;
[03:55 PM] The Eye;
[05:35 PM] Primer;
[07:00 PM] Ulee's Gold;
[09:00 PM] IFC News: 2008, Uncut;
[09:05 PM] The Intended;
[11:00 PM] Close to Home;
[12:45 AM] The Safety of Objects;
[02:50 AM] IFC News: 2008, Uncut;
[03:00 AM] The Intended;
[05:00 AM] Close to Home. (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has 'Scariest Places On Earth', another 'Scariest Places On Earth', still another 'Scariest Places On Earth', and 'ECW'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] The Last Victory;
[06:30 AM] The Apostle;
[09:00 AM] Episode 2;
[09:30 AM] Build;
[10:00 AM] Air Guitar in Oulu;
[11:00 AM] Three Seasons;
[01:00 PM] Flower & Garnet;
[02:45 PM] The Angelmakers;
[03:30 PM] The Apostle;
[06:00 PM] Dr. John, LeAnn Rimes & Massive Attack;
[07:00 PM] Saint Ange;
[09:00 PM] Decorate;
[09:40 PM] Manufactured Landscapes;
[11:15 PM] Episode 2;
[12:00 AM] Kiss or Kill;
[02:00 AM] Backstage;
[04:00 AM] Episode 4;
[05:00 AM] Career Girls. (ALL TIMES EST)
Robin Williams is seen backstage at the 'Idol Gives Back' fundraising special of 'American Idol' in Los Angeles on Sunday April 6, 2008.
Photo by Matt Sayles
NBC Universal and its Bravo cable network will lose the popular television reality show "Project Runway" as the show unveiled plans on Monday to jump to rival cable network Lifetime Television.
The show, in which fledgling fashion designers compete for money to launch their own line, has been one of Bravo's top-rated shows.
NBC Universal filed suit on Monday in New York State Supreme Court against the show's producer, The Weinstein Co, claiming that the network and Bravo had the right of first refusal for future cycles of the show and any spinoffs.
"Project Runway" will move to Lifetime for its sixth season beginning in November as part of a five-year deal, the network and The Weinstein Co said.
Singer Feist holds her the 5 Juno Awards she won at this year's Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Awards, in Calgary, Alberta, April 6, 2008.
Photo by Todd Korol
Luciano Pavarotti, in severe pain months before his cancer diagnosis, lip-synched his last performance, according to the maestro who conducted the aria at the opening ceremony of the Turin Olympics.
The conductor, Leone Magiera, reveals in a book that the rousing rendition of "Nessun Dorma" ("Let No One Sleep") was prerecorded because "it would have been too dangerous for him to give a live performance in that physical condition."
Magiera, who worked with Pavarotti for years, said the tenor was suffering from sharp pains months before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was using a wheelchair. Pavarotti died in September 2007. He was 71.
"The orchestra pretended to play for the public there, I pretended to conduct and Luciano pretended to sing," Magiera writes in "Pavarotti Visto Da Vicino" ("Pavarotti Seen From Close Up"), which was published last month. "It came off beautifully, no one was aware of the technical tricks."
A city that more than two decades ago declined to honor Madonna with a key to the city wants the singer to give it a second chance.
Mayor Charles M. Brunner has written a letter inviting Madonna, who grew up in Bay City and the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, to accept a key to the city, The Bay City Times reported.
"We have always been proud of your accomplishments but recently your induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame reminded us that we need to honor you with the highest honor that Bay City can offer," the letter says.
Madonna was considered for the honor in 1985, but some thought she was too risque, the newspaper said. It also said the city in the late 1980s refused to accept a sculpture of Madonna from an Italian artist, citing a belief that her popularity would fade in time.
Australian singer Olivia Newton-John and John Easterling poses for photograph during their Great Walk to Beijing at the Great Wall of China in Jinshanling, China, Monday, April 7, 2008. Olivia Newton-John takes the first of a million steps on her journey along the Great Wall of China, leading a team of Australian and International celebrities on an arduous 228 kilometer trek hoping to raise money to build a new cancer and wellness center, as well as further international cancer research.
Photo by Andy Wong
A bit of Britain has arrived in Texas, thanks to English pop star George Michael and his Texan partner Kenny Goss.
The couple has begun displaying their collection of edgy, contemporary British art at their sleek gallery in the city's hip uptown area, - just north of the skyscrapers that define the distinctive Dallas skyline.
The Goss-Michael Foundation's gallery is showcasing works by Damien Hirst, including his "Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain" - a black calf encased in a formaldehyde solution, its body pierced with arrows.
With one of the foundation's goals being to help educate the public about art, Goss said he's been thrilled with the numbers of young people who come to the gallery.
The Los Angeles Times on Monday retracted a story that linked hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs to the 1994 shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur, admitting that the report relied on fake FBI documents.
The move came three weeks after the paper's Web site carried a lengthy story by Pulitzer Prize-winner Chuck Philips, who wrote that associates of Combs had arranged the assault on Shakur because they were angry that he had rejected overtures to sign with Combs' Bad Boy Records label.
The Smoking Gun, a Web site that specializes in uncovering news from legal documents and court filings, said the following week that it believed Federal Bureau of Investigation documents used by the Times were forgeries.
Monday's retraction, in which the Times reiterated its apology, involves the March 17 story, which has been removed from its Web site, as well as a shorter version that appeared in print two days later. It also retracted comments made by Philips in two online chats as well as a blog.
Three people protesting China's human rights record and the impending arrival of the Olympic torch climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Monday, April 7, 2008, and tied Tibetan flags and two banners to its cables.
Photo by Paul Sakuma
Tom Cruise's World War II thriller "Valkyrie" has pushed back its release date to 2009, the second postponement for a production that has endured its share of headaches.
The MGM release has been moved from October 3 to February 13, coinciding with the U.S. Presidents Day holiday weekend. Last December, it was pulled from its original July 4 holiday weekend berth where it would have competed with the Angelina Jolie thriller "Wanted."
"When an opening became available for President's Day Weekend, we seized the opportunity," said MGM distribution president Clark Woods, referring to Universal's recent decision to pull "The Wolf Man" out of that slot and into April 3.
Actress Mischa Barton, who starred on television drama "The O.C.," has agreed to serve three years probation for drunken driving, allowing her to avoid jail and escape a charge for marijuana possession, according to a report on People.com.
The celebrity news Web site cited an unnamed source as saying Barton will plead no contest, which is similar to a guilty plea, pay a small fine and attend three months of an alcohol education class.
One charge of marijuana possession will be dropped and another charge of driving without a license will be reduced to a traffic violation, according to People.com.
The Djadjiling rock shelter at a Pilbara minesite in Western Australia, where ancient aboriginal tools were found, is seen in this undated handout released April 7, 2008. A large cache of stone tools estimated to be up to 35,000 years old has been discovered on the site of one of Australia's largest iron ore mines, sparking calls on April 7, 2008 for the site's preservation. Archaeologists uncovered the tools on the $1 billion Hope Downs iron ore mine, around 310 kilometres (192 miles) south of Port Hedland in Western Australia state's Pilbara region.
Photo by Clive Taylor
They knew it would be risky to exhibit a homoerotic version of Christ's Last Supper, but curators at museum of Vienna's Roman Catholic Cathedral weren't ready for a barrage of angry messages and calls to be shut down.
The source of the dispute, which Austrian media has dubbed Vienna's version of the Mohammad caricature row, is a retrospective honoring Austria's cherished artist Alfred Hrdlicka, who turned 80 earlier this year.
But not everyone has been wishing Hrdlicka a Happy Birthday. And the Cathedral Museum's director and Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna, have both come under fire from some museum visitors and Catholic websites.
The Church hastily removed the main picture, "a homosexual orgy" of the Apostles as Hrdlicka describes it.
Harry's Bar, the famed Venice watering hole where Ernest Hemingway held court over hearty food and stiff martinis, is offering a discount to "poor" Americans suffering from a weak dollar and subprime blues.
The decision by the owner of the restaurant, one of the most expensive even when the U.S. currency is strong, underscores the growing concern about the weak dollar among tourism operators in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.
A sign posted outside the restaurant at the weekend reads:
"Harry's Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a special 20 percent discount on all items of the menu during the short term of their recovery."
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