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February 2, 2017 11:59 AM

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts (credit: City of Warren)

WARREN (CBS Detroit) What do controversial R&B artist R. Kelly and septuagenarian Warren Mayor Jim Fouts have in common?

Theyre on the same wikipedia page.

Information about Fouts has been added to a wikipedia page describing the Shaggy defense, which is a concept based on the classic reggae and R&B song hip It Wasnt Me.

The song captures a man caught red handed cheating on his girlfriend. Refresh your memory here.

The lyrics include she caught me on the counter (It wasnt me) Saw me bangin on the sofa (It wasnt me),Saw me kissin on the sofa (It wasnt me), I even had her in the shower (It wasnt me), She even caught me on camera (It wasnt me).

Following the popularity of the song, getting caught on tape in the act of something illegal or unethical, and then denying it was you, is known as the Shaggy defense.

And now its Wikipedia official. The Wikipedia page lists several Shaggy defense use cases, including R. Kelly, who was allegedly captured on video having sex with an underage girl and successfully denied in court that it was him.

The newest entry includes Fouts. Wikipedia says this about Fouts and the Shaggy defense:

The strategy was again used and cited in 2017 when James R. Fouts, the mayor of the Detroitsuburb of Warren, Michigan, faced controversy after multiple audio recordings alleged to be of him mocking African Americans, women, and the mentally challenged were released to the press. Fouts responded to the tapes release by repeatedly stating that the voice on the tapes is not his, earning him widespread mockery and calls to resign his office.

Despite the outcry, Fouts repeatedly denied it was his voice on the tapeheardmocking women, the mentally disabled, and black people. Council members have said they cant force him to resign, and he has said that he will not resign.

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Wikipedia Adds Jim Fouts To Description Of 'Shaggy Defense' Alongside R. Kelly. - CBS Local

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark: To ensure Wikipedias vitality, people of good will need to work together to prevent trolling, harassment and cyber-bullying from interfering with the common good

Craig Newmark of eponymous website Craigslist wants to eradicate trolling and other forms of toxic behaviour on Wikipedia.

With a donation of $500,000, Newmark is the initial seed funder for a new initiative by the Wikimedia Foundation to address harassment and uncivil conduct on the collaborative online encyclopaedia.

The non-profit organisation, Wikimedia Foundation, reports that harassment on Wikipedia has been shown to reduce participation with over 50 per cent of Wikipedia contributors who had been victims of such online abuse stating that they withdrew from the site as a result.

To ensure Wikipedias vitality, people of good will need to work together to prevent trolling, harassment and cyber-bullying from interfering with the common good, said Newmark.

The funding will drive what is being called a community health initiative to develop more and better tools for identifying, reporting and ridding the site of abusive content.

https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/01/26/community-health-initiative-grant/

Link:
Craigslist founder fights for safer Wikipedia - Irish Times

Picture: Wikipedia/Mark Wilson/Getty Images

On Monday night President Donald Trump dismissed Sally Yates as acting attorney general, after she told justice department lawyers not to defend his executive order banning immigration from sevenMuslim countries.

He appointed Dana Boenta, the Unites States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to be acting attorney general.

Mr Boente has worked for the Justice Department since 1984 under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

In October 2015 he was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and was later confirmed by the Senate.

He told the Washington Post, when asked whether he would defend the president's executive order against a lawsuit:

I was enforcing it this afternoon.

Our career department employees were defending the action in court, and I expect thats what theyll do tomorrow, appropriately and properly.

All as it should be.

Dana James Boente (born February 7, 1954) is the newest sock puppet for the Trump administration.

Some mischievous anonymous editor had their way with the Wikipedia page.

The error was swiftly corrected, but you can see an old version of the article, here.

Thank goodness for speedy Wikipedia editors.

More: This is former acting attorney general Sally Yates and she just did something amazing

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Donald Trump's new attorney general has already had his Wikipedia page vandalised - The indy100

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For this episode of Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction? we sat down with Ronnie James Dios widow, Wendy Dio, so she could prove and disprove whats written about her late husband on Wikipedia.

It would have been one of our great joys to do this segment with Ronnie, but since Wendy Dio knows the legendary singer better than anyone, theres nobody on earth who can better expound on Ronnies life. Wendy immediately impressed us with her knowledge of Ronnies early life. She knew all about Ronnie learning to play trumpet at age five, adding that Dios father made him practice two hours a day to master the instrument.

The tale of how Ronald James Padavona got his stage name is widely varied, from potentially being inspired by mobster Johnny Dio or Ronnies grandmother suggesting the name because he had a gift from God in his voice. Wendy sets the record straight once and for all in this clip.

Wendy also revealed she has an interesting story about Johnny Dio in an autobiography Ronnie was writing before he died. Ronnie got up to hisRainbow years with his story and although it was too difficult for many years, Wendy is ready to pick up where Ronnie left off, aiming to finish the metal icons official memoir.

Get ready for Wendy Dio to set the record straight about Ronnie James Dio in the latest edition of Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction? in the video above.

Watch More Episodes of Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?

See Where Ronnie James Dio Ranks Among Our Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Frontmen of All Time

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Ronnie James Dio (by Wendy Dio) 'Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?' - Loudwire

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE January 31, 2017 01/31/2017 10:39 a.m. By Madison Malone Kircher

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On Tuesday night, thenacting attorney general Sally Yates was fired after ordering Justice Department lawyers to not comply with Trumps recent immigration ban on people from seven, primarily Muslim, nations. In her place, President Trump appointed Dana Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Boente will serve as acting AG until Jeff Sessions is (theoretically) confirmed by the Senate. But while the Trump administration was busy shuffling things around at the Department of Justice, and media organizations were hustling to send out push notification after push notification, a few unknown people on the internet were dealing with the news in their own way: editing Yatess and Boentes Wikipedia pages.

While Yatess page was edited to label her a god damned American hero, Boentes edits werent quite so laudatory. Instead, Boentes anonymous editor described him as the newest sock puppet for the Trump administration. (Worth noting: Wikipedia entries are often the first piece of information that Google pulls up about a person. If you Googled Boentes name for a brief period of time last night, youd have seen the sock puppet sentence beside the new acting AGs birthday and headshot.)

Boente and Yates arent the only two who have seen Wikipedia tweaks in light of the inauguration. Earlier this month, somebody changed White House press secretary Sean Spicers Wikipedia photo to a shot of notoriously mendacious Iraqi spokesman Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, better known online as Baghdad Bob.

And in a creative play on a joke that just wont die, another person changed the Wikipedia entry for invertebrates to include a photo of Paul Ryan. Because he doesnt have a spine. [Pause here for eye-rolling and groaning.]

The concept of Wikipedia-edit-as-gag isnt a new one just ask any nerdy teen who had access to a computer in 2007 and some time to kill but it can also be a decent way to gauge public tenor and concern. When Hillary Clintons campaign team teased the announcement of Tim Kaine as her running mate, Wikipedia edits on his page increased significantly, while edits on other potential candidates dropped off. And unlike the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCains VP in 2008, when Palins page saw a rise in edits from the same users who were also simultaneously editing McCains (possibly linking them to the campaign), the edits to Kaines page seemed to come from Wikipedia users genuinely interested in keeping Wikipedia up to date with the current political news. And for those users right now, that news includes Sally Yates as hero, Dana Boente as sock puppet, and Paul Ryan as, well, a jellyfish.

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Sean Spicer, Paul Ryan, and Sally Yates are just a few people whose Wikipedia pages have seen some humorous changes in recent days.

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Horseshoe crabs, coral, arachnids, and Paul Ryan.

The trolls and activists among Donald Trumps most fervent online supporters are divided about his likely internet policies.

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Original post:
Wikipedia Edits Are the Only Joy in These Fraught Political Times - New York Magazine