Donna Simpson (world's heaviest woman to give birth) - wikipedia article

This is the Wikipedia article for Donna Simpson (world's heaviest woman to give birth) as it appeared on March 23, 2010, slightly prior to its deletion.

Donna Simpson holds the Guinness World Record for the world's fattest mother.[1][Milo notes: Technically, some press reports in March 2010 said she had only applied for the record, though many press sources claimed she already has the record.] When she gave birth by cesarean section in 2007, she weighed 530 pounds. The delivery required the assistance of 30 hospital staff.[2]

She is now attempting to attain a weight of 1,000 pounds.[3][2]

In 2010 at the age of 42, Simpson was living in New Jersey, and was eating 12,000 calories per day in a deliberate attempt to gain enough weight to reach 1,000 pounds. Her $750 weekly food bill was being funded by a website where men pay money so they can watch her eat.[2] As of March 2010, she weighed 600 pounds.[4][5] She is 5 feet 4 inches tall.[6]

Despite getting around on a mobility scooter, Simpson claims that she is healthy.[7]

Simpson's favorite food is sushi.[3]

References
^1 The super-sized 43st mother who is determined to become the world's fattest, Mail Online4, March 15, 2010
^2 a b c World's fattest mom, San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 2010
^3 a b NJ woman attempting to become world's fattest lady, The New York Post, March 15, 2010
^4 New Jersey Woman Aiming to Become Fattest Woman in the World, New York magazine, March 15, 2010
^5 1,000lb Woman's Fans Pay To Watch Her Eat! (Video), The Young Turks (March 17, 2010), Retrieved March 18, 2010
^6 "Little 'n Large: THE world's fattest woman meets the world's smallest". The Sun (newspaper). February 18, 2010. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2858127/Worlds-fattest-woman-meets-worlds-smallest.html. Retrieved March 16, 2010. ("Donna stands at 5ft 4in", and photo of Simpson with Jyoti Amge)
^7 Quest to become world's fattest woman, The Press, March 15, 2010

* * *

Analysis of Wikipedia's deletion, for wikigeeks only:

This article was nominated for deletion from wikipedia on March 15, 2010. The article was very new, as it had just been created in the wake of a juggernaut of press coverage about Ms. Simpson. This is really not unusual -- whenever you see some odd person all over the newspapers, go to wikipedia and see whether they have an article. Chances are they they either (1) have an article already nominated for deletion, (2) there is evidence that an article existed which is already deleted, or (3) the name redirects to some other (hopefully related) page.

The primary argument in favor of deletion of Ms. Simpson was "BLP1E" which means, in English, that the article is a biography of a living person who is known for one event. However, it is worth noting that wikipedia has tons of articles on people who are known for nothing other than an alleged world record. Robert Earl Hughes, for example, was the heaviest human during the 1950s, and who I remember well via old Guinness books I read as a kid. Other than being a nice guy who just happened to be really huge, there's not much to say about him. But loads has been written about him--not much different than Donna's Simpson's case today. Unless you romanticize the past. Thus Mary Toft, who claimed she gave birth to rabbits in 1726 causing a flurry of press at the time, has a long wikipedia article, and Donna Simpson does not. I am sure the Mary Toft story was as unseemly in 1726 as Donna Simpson is in 2010. But that doesn't mean Wikipedia shouldn't cover it.

Interestingly, a number of casual editors piped in during the deletion discussion of Ms. Simpson to say she should be kept, but the "deletes" had their way on this one. The wikipedia malcontents over at Wikipedia Review were in favor of deletion as well. Of course, Donna Simpson herself was clearly trolling for press coverage, as she is a member of an erotic website featuring large women, and more attention means more paying subscribers. Its very unlikely that she really intends (or could) attain 1,000 pounds. But I am sure she welcomed the press frenzy. The article was quite popular during its brief existence:





One day you will recall Donna's story and press frenzy and try to google for it, but I guess you won't find it on wikipedia. You will, however, find a massive article on Balloon Boy.

UPDATE June 14, 2010: Donna lives! A new wikipedia article on Donna Simpson was created on May 22, 2010, and was nominated again for deletion, but this time it survived as a "keep". How does one explain wikipedia's change of heart? Simply that different people showed up at the deletion discussion this time.

M_____ D _______ - Wikipedia article

Removed upon request, January 2018. (See comments below; I received no requests regarding this 2010 post, which was primarily a repost of a deleted Wikipedia article, prior to these comments.)

2004 LaSalle County, Illinois earthquake - wikipedia article

2004 LaSalle County, Illinois earthquake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, as it appeared on February 18, 2010


Date: June 28, 2004 01:10:51AM America/Chicago (2004-06-28T01:10:51Z)
Magnitude: 4.2 Mw
Depth: 5 km (3.1 mi)
Epicenter location: 41°26′35″N 88°55′37″W / 41.443°N 88.927°W / 41.443; -88.927
Coordinates: 41°26′35″N 88°55′37″W / 41.443°N 88.927°W / 41.443; -88.927
Countries or regions affected: United States
Tsunami: none
Casualties: none

The 2004 LaSalle County, Illinois earthquake was a 4.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on June 28, 2004 at 01:10:51 a.m. CDT (06:10:51 a.m. UTC) and affected Northern Illinois. Its epicenter was located 2 miles (3.2 km) S of Prairie Center, 8 miles (13 km) E of Troy Grove, and 8 miles (13 km) NNE of North Utica, and could be felt as far away as Olive Branch, Mississippi.[1]

The earthquake was the first in LaSalle County since September 1972. It occurred 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) beneath the surface in a structure associated with the Sandwich Fault Zone. It was not connected with the New Madrid Fault farther south, which has been linked to the Midwest's most serious earthquakes. No fatalities were reported, yet thousands of people were startled and awoken in the middle of the night. Three nearby nuclear power plants — LaSalle, Quad Cities, and Dresden — issued low-level alerts, but no damage was found.[1]

See also

* List of earthquakes in the United States

References

1. ^ a b "Magnitude 4.2 - ILLINOIS". United States Geological Survey. 1 February 2010. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2004/uskgad/. Retrieved 16 February 2010.

External links

* USGS Earthquake Poster - Poster of the affected area, including historical data and Generalized Seismic Hazard

* * *

Analysis of Deletion (for wikigeeks only):

This article was deleted from Wikipedia on March 7, 2010 pursuant to a deletion discussion here. Eight editors (counting one unsigned comment from an IP address editor) voted to delete, and 4 voted to keep. Unfortunately 3 of those keep votes are from the same person, editor "Funandtrvl", which no one seemed to mention. It appears the article was improved before it was deleted, but the google cache version I was able to locate pre-dates those changes. The frequent-keep voter noted that she had added a "source that stated that it was the first earthquake in that county in 123 years, almost to the day", and also observed, "I still don't understand why everyone wants to delete the earthquake articles, but to keep 109,000+ association football articles, that seems to be okay. I can see everyone's priorities are sports, not science."

Perhaps not true! Oddly enough, at the same time this article was deleted, Wikipedia decided to keep its article on the smaller but more recent 2010 Illinois earthquake (which measured 3.8 vs. 4.2 for the 2004 quake). According to that deletion discussion there was a "substantial consensus for notability and keep(ing)" the article!!

How is this possible?! Let's see.... Of the eight delete voters for the 2004 quake, six also opined in favor of deleting the 2010 article. One didn't comment, and one voted to keep the 2010 article (but delete the 2004 article), apparently under the theory that the latter article could become a repository for all Illinois earthquakes. And in addition, a few other editors, who had not commented on the 2004 quake, chimed in with "keep" votes (in addition to the two editors who voted to keep both articles).

This is how things often work on wikipedia - whether an article nominated for deletion stays or goes depends on which random editors happen upon the deletion discussion and comment. The decisions are often made based on the opinion of 10 or less editors, out of the roughly 40,000 editors who make at least 5 edits per month. That's not to say 10 editors aren't enough to make a reasoned decision for the good of the Wikipedia project in some cases, but in anything other than an obvious delete (hoaxes, vandalism, attacks, spam, and unverifiable articles), or obvious keeps (episodes of Ugly Betty), the outcome can be dreadfully haphazard.

Footnote: At the same time as the above examples, Wikipedia decided to keep an article on the 2010 Eureka (Calif.) earthquake and ax one on the 2009 Inglewood earthquake. In short, Earthquake prediction itself is easier than deletion prediction.

YouTube Song of the Day - Carnival Art - Ray's Jesus (1992)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edVPrkWPb8Q

So, this tune is from a college radio tape from mid-1992. On the beaten up cassette on which I recorded this song, I had written down the name as "Raise Jesus" instead of "Ray's Jesus" and I wasn't really sure of the band's name either. "Carnival?" This made tracking down the tune quite difficult. Anyhoo, eventually I figured out the band was probably "Carnival Art," and from there I finally found the song.

The band actually released two major label albums (in 1991 and 1992), as well as an EP in 1992 called "Holy Smokes" from which this tune comes. They also had a few videos, one of which had a brief cameo on Beavis & Butthead once (this is the sort of bizarre tidbit that the internet preserves everywhere), and you can find those videos on YouTube too. "Carnival Art" is pretty much forgotten beyond that, except for the fact that bassist Brian Bell's next band was Weezer, and the "Weezerpedia" is so freakin' thorough that it has decent coverage of this band as well.

The force behind Carnival Art was a guy named Michael P. Tak, aka Michael Petak, who also released a solo album around 1994, after Carnival Art broke up. In the 2000s, Petak has done a lot of work on cartoon shows, as this blogpost and its comments revealed. (He's on IMBD: Michael Petak). One always wonders what happens to old "rock stars," little do you realize they may influence your kid's musical tastes (a good thing in this instance).

Anyway, Ray's Jesus, the song, is a driving two-guitar alt. rock assault, a bit of punk, a bit of twang, with lyrics recasting the story of Jesus among a crazed trailer-trash family.

"Ray was the son of a sanitation architect
Thought he was Jesus or so I was told
Lived in a room with his brother in a discotheque
His name was Judas and his feet were always cold

Mother Mary was card-carrying virgin
A psycho meter maid who worked for the Lord
She said her sons were Immaculate Conception
The doctors say it was a laboratory job."

While the song title may just be a funny pun, I'd like to think its possible that its a tribute to the 1961 film King of Kings, directed by Nicholas Ray. Like the song, King of Kings was a retelling of the Christ tale much different than the Bible version (e.g., Barabbas is Judas's bud). Analysis of the film often refers to the depiction of Jesus as "Ray's Jesus." Nicholas Ray was also director of the 50s teen angst classic Rebel Without A Cause. Whether my theory is accurate or not, I'll stick with it. Better than learning it was just a title they came up with when they were stoned.

Mp3 - Ray's Jesus - Carnival Art

TMI on Wikipedia

Wikipedia user pages, i.e., the home page that each wikipedia editor has as their own little calling card, can be fountains of information. They often contain "userboxes", which are, well, little boxes which contain extraneous information of all types. One editor, for example, tells the story of his love life using userboxes.



This editor shall remain unidentified, unless any ladies would like to meet him, just leave a comment and I'll pass on your info to him.

YouTube Song of the Day - Nuno Bettencourt - Crave (1997)

Nuno Bettencourt - Crave (1997)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHgR1IFSlr4


So at home I have an unorganized collection of tapes with songs recorded off various college/rock radio stations. This collection runs through about 1999, when mp3s started to replace college radio as the primary source for finding out about cool music. While I attempted to record the name and artist of every song, many of the song titles are guesses and artist names blank. Digital Kids of Today cannot appreciate that it actually used to be difficult to find out what a song was, as you would inevitably miss the DJ rundown of what the songs were sometimes (if they even gave a rundown, and didn't screw it up). So I pulled out the old walkman the other day and plugged it into the now common "aux" input for mp3 players in the car, with a tape labeled "2/97-3/97". These tapes have tons of artists I have never mentioned in my song of the day entries, because even I hadn't ever tracked them down. But the internet of 2010 is so comprehensive, and google so all-powerful now, that many can be identified and shared.

So, this 1997 song is a catchy rock number that is mostly alternative rock, but harder a la Red Hot Chili Peppers (without the funk) or Soundgarden (but not truly grunge). I was bit disturbed and intrigued to learn that the song (called "Crave") is by Nuno Bettencourt, well known to hair metal fans as the guitarist of Extreme, purveyors of 1991 mega ballad hit More Than Words.

I mean, you cannot ignore the hair metal look:


Anyway, apparently Extreme broke up in 1996 because Nuno wanted to go solo, and he released his 5 year labor of love, Schizophonic. (Incidentially, Extreme's singer was/is Gary Cherone, better known as "that other Van Halen singer who sucked").

You cannot ignore the Hair on Schizophonic either, but Nuno as Marilyn is definitely not hair metal:


Anyway, apparently Extreme fans are divided about Schizophonic due to it being a departure in style. I sampled a few of the tracks, but only Crave, the track on that 1997 radio tape, resonated with me. The song is not obscure to people who knew Nuno, but I never knew who this was, and never heard the song on the radio again. The album was not a huge hit, and today Nuno is reunited with Extreme, back in the rut he tried to emerge from, it seems.

(More song of the day entries on the anchor cove forum here)

The fall of the united states - Wikipedia article

So, as of late, I've posted the full text of some Wikipedia articles which have fallen prey to the Deletionist League. But as a matter of fact, even I agree that some things don't belong on Wikipedia. But some things do deserve preservation on the Internet, somewhere. In that spirit, I present to you the soon to be deleted article, "The fall of the united states." This article was created by editor "Kyle Ferris" on February 23, 2010 (his sole contribution to date). It was proposed for deletion seven minutes after its creation, and two other editors endorsed this proposal within the following twelve minutes. Watch for it to be cited on a future edition of Glenn Beck's show.

The fall of the united states

The fall of the United States of America is a theory that has been given thought by some professors and scientists. Although many of them simply say this because they are anti-american, the fall of the United States within the next 20 years is a concrete possibility.

One theory is the economic depression that has gradualy worsen over the years. If this crisis deepens, the United States might "blow up" from the inside out, much like the Soviet Union did. If the United States does this, then the entire world will suffer a huge worldwide depression and it may take many years for the world to get back on its feet.

Another theory is another civil war. Much like the one from 1861-1865, politicians from the different states will slowly begin to become more fed up with the decisions that the country is making. If this continues without the government seeking appropriate compromises, the United States may have a second civil war. People across the nation will take sides and fight each other until a final victor is declared. Although it would eventually end, it would leave the nation extremely weakened, and a rival country such as China or Russia might invade and conquer the remains of the United States.

Another theory is the United States following in the footsteps of the Roman Empire. The people of ancient Rome gradualy became less involved in the unity of the empire and more involved into their own "creature comforts". With enemies becoming more daring along the borders, wars became increasingly harder to win. This led to more Roman soldiers dying, and less wanting to sign up. Towards the twilight of the Empire, generals fought multiple civil wars against each other to declare themselves emperor, which gradually left the state very weakened. One last blow from a strong nation is all that it took to leave the Roman Empire to crumbles. See any relations beetween this and the United States?

Although these are possibilities, one should not worry themselves. It is pretty unlikely that the United States of America, a nation still so young, would deteriorate so fast and so sudden. It is almost a fact that the United States will EVENTUALLY fall, but probably not in this century.