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The terms Google bomb and Googlewashing refer to practices, such as creating large numbers of links, that cause a web page to have a high ranking for searches on unrelated or off topic keyword phrases, often for comical or satirical purposes. In contrast, search engine optimization is the practice of improving the search engine listings of web pages for relevant search terms.

It is done for either business, political, or comedic purposes (or a combination of the latter two).^[1] Google's search-rank algorithm ranks pages higher for a particular search phrase if enough other pages linked to it using similar anchor text (linking text such as "miserable failure"). However, by January 2007 Google had made changes to search results to counter popular Google bombs, such as "miserable failure", which formerly gave results for George W. Bush but now lists pages about the Google bomb itself.^[2] As of April 13, 2012, the 1st ranked page in a Google search for "miserable failure" is this Wikipedia article, defining Google bomb. Google bomb is used both as a verb and a noun. The phrase "Google bombing" was introduced to the New Oxford American Dictionary in May 2005.^[3] Google bombing is closely related to spamdexing, the practice of deliberately modifying HTML pages to increase the chance of their website being placed close to the beginning of search engine results, or to influence the category to which the page is assigned in a misleading or dishonest manner.

The term Googlewashing was coined in 2003 to describe the use of media manipulation to change the perception of a term, or push out competition from search engine results pages (SERPs).^[4]

History[link]

Google bombs date back as far as 1999, when a search for "more evil than Satan himself" resulted in the Microsoft homepage as the top result.^[5]

In September 2000 the first Google bomb with a verifiable creator was created by Hugedisk Men's Magazine, a now-defunct online humor magazine, when it linked the text "dumb motherfucker" to a site selling George W. Bush-related merchandise.^[6] Hugedisk had also unsuccessfully attempted to Google bomb an equally derogatory term to bring up an Al Gore-related site. After a fair amount of publicity the George W. Bush-related merchandise site retained lawyers and sent a cease and desist letter to Hugedisk, thereby ending the Google bomb.^[7]

Adam Mathes is credited with coining the term "Google bombing" when he mentioned it in an article that appeared on April 6, 2001 in the online magazine uber.nu. In the article Mathes details his connection of the search term "talentless hack" to the website of his friend Andy Pressman by recruiting fellow webloggers to link to his friend's page with the desired term.^[8]

Uses as tactical media[link]

The Google Bomb has been used for tactical media as a way of performing a 'hit-and-run' media attack on popular topics. Such attacks include Anthony Cox's attack in 2003. He created a parody of the "404 – page not found" browser error message in response to the war in Iraq. The page looked like the error page but was titled "These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed." This website could be found as one of the top hits on Google after the start of the war in Iraq.^[9]

Alternative meanings[link]

The Google Bomb is often misunderstood by those in the media and publishing industry who do not retain technical knowledge of Google's ranking factors. For example, Alex Jones creates "Google Bombs" every week by dispatching instructions to his radio/internet listeners.^[10][11] In this context the term is used to describe a rapid and massive influx of keyword searches for a particular phrase. The keyword surge gives the illusion that the related content has suddenly become popular, however it is artificial in nature because it is created by a loyal following of people to a particular media outlet, often alternative media. The strategy behind this type of Google Bombing is to attract attention from the larger mainstream media and influence them to publish content related to the keyword.

Google bowling[link]

By studying what types of ranking manipulations a search engine is punishing, a company can provoke a search engine into lowering the ranking of a competitor's website. This practice, known as Google bowling, is often done by purchasing Google bombing services (or other SEO techniques) not for one's own website, but rather for the website of the competitor. The attacker provokes the search company into punishing the "offending" competitor by displaying their page further down in the search results.^[12][13] For victims of Google bowling, it may be difficult to appeal the ranking decrease because Google avoids explaining penalties, preferring not to "educate" real offenders. However if the situation is clear-cut, Google could lift the penalty after submitting a request for reconsideration.

Beyond Google[link]

Other search engines use similar techniques to rank results, so Yahoo!, AltaVista, and HotBot are also affected by Google bombs. A search for "miserable failure" or "failure" on September 29, 2006 brought up the official George W. Bush biography number one on Google, Yahoo!, and MSN and number two on Ask.com. On June 2, 2005, Yooter reported that George Bush was ranked first for the keyword 'miserable', 'failure', and 'miserable failure' in both Google and Yahoo!; Google has since addressed this and disarmed the George Bush Google bomb and many others.

The BBC, reporting on Google bombs in 2002, used the headline "Google Hit By Link Bombers",^[14] acknowledging to some degree the idea of "link bombing." In 2004, the Search Engine Watch site suggested that the term should be "link bombing" because of its application beyond Google, and continues to use that term as it is considered more accurate.^[15]

We don't condone the practice of googlebombing, or any other action that seeks to affect the integrity of our search results, but we're also reluctant to alter our results by hand in order to prevent such items from showing up. Pranks like this may be distracting to some, but they don't affect the overall quality of our search service, whose objectivity, as always, remains the core of our mission.

— ^[16]

By January 2007, Google changed their indexing structure^[2] so that Google bombs such as "miserable failure" would "typically return commentary, discussions, and articles"^[2] about the tactic itself. Google announced the changes on its official blog. In response to criticism for allowing the Google bombs, Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Webspam team, said that Google bombs had not “been a very high priority for us.”^[2][17]

Over time, we’ve seen more people assume that they are Google’s opinion, or that Google has hand-coded the results for these Google-bombed queries. That’s not true, and it seemed like it was worth trying to correct that misperception.

— ^[18]

Motivations[link]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (May 2010)

Competitions[link]

In May 2004, the websites Dark Blue and SearchGuild teamed up to create what they termed the "SEO Challenge" to Google bomb the phrase "nigritude ultramarine".^[19]

The contest sparked controversy around the Internet, as some groups worried that search engine optimization (SEO) companies would abuse the techniques used in the competition to alter queries more relevant to the average user. This fear was offset by the belief that Google would alter their algorithm based on the methods used by the Google bombers.

In September 2004, another SEO contest was created. This time, the objective was to get the top result for the phrase "seraphim proudleduck". A large sum of money was offered to the winner, but the competition turned out to be a hoax.^{[citation needed]}

In .net magazine, Issue 134, March 2005, a contest was created among five professional web site developers to make their site the number one listed site for the made-up phrase "crystalline incandescence".

Political activism[link]

Some of the most famous Google bombs are also expressions of political opinions (e.g. "liar" leading to Tony Blair or "miserable failure" leading to the White House's biography of George W. Bush):

• In 2003, Steven Lerner, creator of Albino Blacksheep, created a parody webpage titled "French Military Victories".^[20] When typed into Google, the first result (or the "I'm Feeling Lucky" result) led to a webpage resembling a Google error message, reading, "Your search – French military victories – did not match any documents. Did you mean French military defeats?" The page received over 50,000 hits within 18 hours of its release. Links near the top of the page led to a simplified list of French military history. The only war listed as a win for the French was the French Revolution, in which they fought themselves. As of May 2, 2011, the page is no longer listed in Google's first few results for "French military victories", but several links on the list go to sites recounting the joke.^[21]

• In 2003, columnist Dan Savage began his campaign to define the word "santorum" after former US Senator Rick Santorum made several controversial statements regarding homosexuality. One search engine expert has pointed out that this campaign doesn't qualify as a google bomb, arguing that it is instead a successful new definition for a word explained by a website.^[22] (see search engine optimization)

• In 2004, Jewish writer and activist Daniel Sieradski urged visitors to his blog to link to the Wikipedia article for "Jew" in response to findings, first publicized by Steven Weinstock,^[23][24] that a search for "Jew" returned the anti-Semitic website Jew Watch at the top of the results. The campaign was successful in displacing the site from the top result, although www.jewwatch.com still appears on the first page of search results.^[25]

• In the same year the Persian Gulf naming dispute was the subject of a Google bomb by an Iranian blogger named Pendar Yousefi.^[26][27][28]

• Also, in 2004, a Google bomb involving searching "ladrones" (Spanish for thieves) on Google linked the SGAE website.^{[citation needed]}

• In France, groups opposing the DADVSI copyright bill, proposed by minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, mounted a Google bombing campaign linking ministre blanchisseur ("laundering minister") to an article recalling Donnedieu de Vabres' conviction for money laundering. The campaign was so efficient that, as of 2006^[update], merely searching for ministre ("minister") or blanchisseur ("launderer") brings up a news report of his conviction as one of the first results.^[29]

• In 2004, after the controversy that erupted in the Philippines over the allegations that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had cheated in the elections, the phrase "pekeng pangulo" ("fake president") was linked to her official website.^{[citation needed]}

• In 2004, kretyn (Polish for moron) and similar insults referring to stupidity were linked to websites of various Polish politicians including Andrzej Lepper and Roman Giertych.^{[citation needed]}

• In 2005 an Estonian blogger led a successful campaign to link the word masendav (Estonian for dismal or depressive) to the homepage of Estonian Centre Party.^[30] The Centre Party's website still ranks first in the results for masendav as of 2011.^[31]

• In the 2006 US midterm elections, many left-wing bloggers, led by MyDD.com, banded together to propel neutral or negative articles about many Republican House candidates to the top of Google searches for their names.^[1]

• Also in 2006, Siedziba szatana (satan's headquarters) was linked to the website of controversial Christian broadcaster Radio Maryja.^[32]

• In January 2007, Google announced they altered their search engine algorithm to significantly reduce the effectiveness of the technique.^[33]

• In March 2007, the Washington Post reported that Nikolas Schiller was able to Google bomb "Redacted Name" to highlight his website's block on search engines.^[34]

• During the initial stages of the anti-Scientology campaign, Project Chanology, hackers and other members of an anonymous internet group Google-bombed the Church of Scientology's main website as the first match found when the term "Dangerous Cult" was searched.^[35]

• In September 2008, John Key, leader of the New Zealand National Party was Google-bombed with the query "clueless".^{[36][self-published source?]}

• In January 2009, a successful Google bomb was performed against the site of the Bulgarian Government by a loose group of bloggers and forum users. It was discovered that by mistake, the robots.txt on the government.bg forbade the crawling of the site by indexing machines which allowed for Google bombing. The group linked the search term "провал" (failure) to the government site. Within a couple of days, the first search result for "провал" was the Bulgarian Government's site regardless of the search results language.^[37]

• In April 2009, the website Smart Bitches, Trashy Books launched a Google bomb against Amazon in response to its removal of ´LGBT material from their ranking lists, Amazon citing it as "adult material". Within hours of its creation the page appeared on the first page of returned search results for the term "Amazon Rank".^[38]

• In July 2009, Opie and Anthony successfully performed a new method of Google bombing in which a specific word or phrase is artificially raised in the Google Trends reporting. The phrase 'Rev Al is a racist' was made #1 on Google Trends for 07-08-09^[39] due to the controversial comments made by Reverend Al Sharpton during Michael Jackson's Memorial Service. "Corey Feldman is Hurting" was also number 14 on the top Google Trends for the same day in response to Feldman dressing up as Michael Jackson during the memorial service.^[40][41]

• In France, in July 2009, "trou du cul du web" (eng :"The Asshole of the Internet") returned as the first result the official website of French president Nicolas Sarkozy; in September 2010, the same tactic resulted in President Sarkozy's Facebook page being the first result.^{[citation needed]}

• In Iran, in September 2009, the phrase "ahmadinejad president of iran" returned a fake Google search page which reads, "Did you mean: ahmadinejad is NOT president of iran. No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found".^[42] The phrase which is suggested by the fake Google page, ahmadinejad is NOT president of Iran, is linked to a video explaining events happening in Iran after Iranian presidential election, 2009.^{[43][self-published source?]}

• In September 2010, 4chan users tried to Google bomb the phrase 'Robert Pisano MPAA CEO arrested for child molestation!', as a related action to DDoS attacks on the RIAA, MPAA and British Phonographic Industry (BPI) websites. This was in retaliation for DDoS attacks carried out on The Pirate Bay and various other file sharing sites.^[44]

• In February 2011, pro-life activists managed to make it so that the page for abortion on English Wikipedia was the second highest ranking result for the term "murder".^[45][46][47]

• During the summer of 2011, a joke in response to Craig James’ role in the firing of Mike Leach was posted on EveryDayShouldBeSaturday.com. The joke was indexed often enough by a major search engine that typing ‘Craig James’ into the search box at the search engine resulted in the autocomplete function including ‘killed 5 hookers.’^[48] Later this humorous search index behavior was characterized as a “google bomb” in regards to Craig James’ campaign for elected office.^[49]

• As of February 9, 2012, typing "cum sa te inscrii in pnl" (Romanian for "how to enlist in National Liberal Party (Romania)" brings you "Did you mean: cum sa te inscrii in pdl", PDL being Democratic Liberal Party (Romania)

Commercial use[link]

Some website operators have adapted Google bombing techniques to do spamdexing. This includes, among other techniques, posting of links to a site in an Internet forum along with phrases the promoter hopes to associate with the site (see Spam in blogs). Unlike conventional message board spam, the object is not to attract readers to the site directly, but to increase the site's ranking under those search terms. Promoters using this technique frequently target forums with low reader traffic, in hopes that it will fly under the moderators' radar. Wikis in particular are often the target of this kind of page rank vandalism, as all of the pages are freely editable. This practice was also called "money bombing" by John Hiler circa 2004.^[50][51]

Another technique is for the owner of an Internet domain name to set up the domain's DNS entry so that all subdomains are directed to the same server. The operator then sets up the server so that page requests generate a page full of desired Google search terms, each linking to a subdomain of the same site, with the same title as the subdomain in the requested URL. Frequently the subdomain matches the linked phrase, with spaces replaced by underscores or hyphens. Since Google treats subdomains as distinct sites, the effect of many subdomains linking to each other is a boost to the PageRank of those subdomains and of any other site they link to.

On February 2, 2007, many have noticed changes in the Google algorithm that largely affects, among other things, Google bombs: only roughly 10% of the Google bombs worked as of February 15, 2007. This is largely due to Google refactoring its valuation of PageRank.^[52]

Quixtar's bomb[link]

Quixtar, a multi-level marketing company, has been accused by its critics of using its large network of websites to move sites critical of Quixtar lower in search engine rankings. A Quixtar independent business owner (IBO) reports that a Quixtar leader advocated the practice in a meeting of Quixtar IBOs. Quixtar denies wrongdoing and states that its practices are in accordance with search engine rules.^[53]

GoDaddy bomb[link]

On December 26, 2011, a bomb was started against GoDaddy to remove them from the #1 place on google for the term "Domain Registration." This was in retaliation for supporting SOPA.^[54] This was then disseminated through Hacker News.^[55]

See also[link]

Internet portal

• Adversarial information retrieval
• Googlewhack
• Link doping
• Page hijacking
• Political Google bombs in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election
• Spamdexing
• Twitter bomb

References[link]

News articles[link]

• Google hit by link bombers – BBC News, March 13, 2002
• Top of the Heap – Business 2.0, July 2002 – Ego bombing
• Engineering Google Results to Make a Point – NY Times, January 22, 2004
• Student trying to 'bomb' Kerry – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2004
• Dropping 'Google-bombs' – San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 2004
• Inbound Links most important for Google ranking and bombs BBC Reports – Direct Traffic News, April 4, 2007
• Corey Feldman is hurting…or is it a Google bomb? – CollegeNews.com July 8, 2009
• You don't find Chuck Norris googlebomb

Chuck Norris
Norris signing a T-shirt for a Marine on a stop on his tour of Al Anbar Governorate (Iraq) and Kuwait
Born	Carlos Ray Norris (1940-03-10) March 10, 1940 (age 72)[1] Ryan, Oklahoma, United States
Occupation	Actor, martial artist
Years active	1968–present
Spouse	Dianne Holechek (1958–88) Gena O'Kelley (1998–present)
Website
www.chucknorris.com

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940)^[1] is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do. As a result of his "tough guy" image, an Internet phenomenon began in 2005 known as Chuck Norris facts, ascribing various implausible or even impossible feats to Norris.

Norris appeared in a number of action films, such as Way of the Dragon in which he starred alongside Bruce Lee, and was The Cannon Group's leading star in the 1980s.^[2][3] He next played the starring role in the television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993 to 2001.

Norris is a devout Christian and politically conservative. He has written several books on Christianity and donated to a number of Republican candidates and causes. In 2007 and 2008, he campaigned for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who was running for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. In the 2012 election he endorsed former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. ^[4] Norris also writes a column for the conservative website WorldNetDaily.^[5]

Early life[link]

Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma. He is the son of Wilma (née Scarberry) and Ray Norris, who was a mechanic, bus driver, and truck driver.^[6] Norris has said that he has Irish and Cherokee Native American ancestry.^[2][7] Norris was named after Carlos Berry, his father's minister.^[8] He has two younger brothers, Wieland (deceased) and Aaron (a Hollywood producer). When Norris was sixteen, his parents divorced,^[9] and he later relocated to Prairie Village, Kansas, and then to Torrance, California, with his mother and brothers.^[2]

Norris receiving the Veteran of the Year award by the U.S. Air Force in 2001

Norris has described his childhood as downbeat. He was nonathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre.^[10] Other children taunted him about his mixed ethnicity, and Norris daydreamed about beating up his tormentors. Norris mentioned in his autobiography that his father had a very serious problem with drinking and "wasn't there" a lot for him growing up. Norris admitted that he loved his father but did not like him. However, he professed that he only felt pity for the man because "that was just how he was, and he missed so much."^{[citation needed]}

He joined the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman (AP) in 1958 and was sent to Osan Air Base, South Korea. It was there that Norris acquired the nickname Chuck and began his training in Tang Soo Do (tangsudo), an interest that led to black belts in that art and the founding of the Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way") form.^[11] He created the education associations United Fighting Arts Federation and "KickStart" (formerly "Kick Drugs Out of America"), a middle school and high school–based program intended to give at-risk children a focus point in life through the martial arts. When he returned to the United States, he continued to act as an AP at March Air Force Base, California. Norris was discharged in August 1962. He worked for the Northrop Corporation and opened a chain of karate schools including a storefront school in his then-hometown of Torrance on Hawthorne Boulevard. Norris' official website lists celebrity clients at the schools; among them Steve McQueen, Chad McQueen, Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond.^[12]

Martial arts career[link]

Norris in 1976

Norris was defeated in his first two tournaments, dropping decisions to Joe Lewis and Allen Steen and three matches at the International Karate Championships to Tony Tulleners. By 1967 Norris had improved enough that he scored victories over the likes of Lewis, Skipper Mullins, Arnold Urquidez, Victor Moore, Ron Marchini, and Steve Sanders. In early 1968, Norris suffered the tenth and last loss of his career, losing an upset decision to Louis Delgado. On November 24, 1968, he avenged his defeat to Delgado and by doing so won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title, which he held for six consecutive years.^[9] In 1969, he won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt Magazine. Chuck Norris retired with a karate record of 183–10–2^{[citation needed]}.

It is occasionally cited that Norris made history in 1997 when he was the first Westerner in the documented history of Tae Kwon Do to be given the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master.^[13] However, Norris appears to have been misled about this as there were at least two other U.S. Black Belts (Charles 'Chuck' Sereff and Edward Sell^[14][15]) awarded TKD 8th Dan several years prior. On July 1, 2000, Norris was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame. In 1999, Norris was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum's Hall of Fame [49]

Acting career[link]

Rise to fame[link]

In 1969, Norris made his acting debut in the Dean Martin film The Wrecking Crew.

In June 1970, his younger brother Wieland, a private in the 101st Airborne Division, was killed in Vietnam while on patrol in the defense of Firebase Ripcord.^[16] Norris later dedicated his Missing in Action films to his brother's memory. At a martial arts demonstration in Long Beach, Norris met the soon-to-be famous martial artist Bruce Lee. In 1972 he acted as Lee's nemesis in the movie Way of the Dragon (titled Return of the Dragon in its U.S. distribution), which is widely credited with launching him toward stardom.[49] In Asia, Norris is still known primarily for this role. In 1974, McQueen encouraged him to begin acting classes at MGM.

Norris' first starring role was 1977's Breaker! Breaker!, and subsequent films such as Good Guys Wear Black (1978), The Octagon (1980), An Eye for an Eye (1981), and Lone Wolf McQuade proved his increasing box office bankability. In 1984, Norris starred in Missing in Action, the first of a series of prisoner of war rescue fantasies themed around the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue that were produced by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and released under their Cannon Films banner. Contrary to reports, Norris publicly said he was never offered the part of the Sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo in the film The Karate Kid.

Over the next four years, Norris became Cannon's most prominent star, appearing in eight films, including Code of Silence, The Delta Force, and Firewalker, in which he co-starred with Academy Award winner Louis Gossett, Jr.. Many of the aforementioned films were produced by Chuck Norris's brother Aaron, as were several episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. In 1986, he was involved in the production of the Ruby Spears cartoon Karate Kommandos.

[edit] Walker, Texas Ranger

By the close of the 1980s, Cannon Films had faded from prominence, and Norris's star appeal seemed to go with it. He reprised his Delta Force role for MGM, which had acquired the Cannon library after the latter's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Norris went on to make several more largely ignored films before making a transition to television.^[17] In 1993, he began shooting the series Walker, Texas Ranger, which lasted eight years on CBS and continued in heavy syndication on other channels, notably the Hallmark Channel.[49]

On October 17, 2005, CBS premiered the Sunday Night Movie of the Week, Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. The production was a continuation of the series, and not scripted to be a reunion movie. Norris reprised his role as Cordell Walker for the movie. He has stated that future Walker, Texas Ranger Movie of the Week projects are expected; however, this was severely impaired by CBS's 2006–2007 season decision to no longer regularly schedule Movies of the Week on Sunday night.

Product endorsements[link]

Norris has appeared with Christie Brinkley in a long-running series of cable TV infomercials promoting Total Gym home fitness equipment.

In 2010, Norris appeared in adverts for communications company T-Mobile in the Czech Republic.^[18] In 2011, Norris appeared in adverts for the World of Warcraft video game.^[19]

Chun Kuk Do[link]

A placard outside Norris's karate studio

Norris created the martial art Chun Kuk Do, which is based primarily on Tang Soo Do and includes elements from every combat style he knows. Like many other martial arts, Chun Kuk Do includes a code of honor and rules to live by. These rules are from Chuck Norris's personal code. They are:

1. I will develop myself to the maximum of my potential in all ways.
2. I will forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements.
3. I will continually work at developing love, happiness and loyalty in my family.
4. I will look for the good in all people and make them feel worthwhile.
5. If I have nothing good to say about a person, I will say nothing.
6. I will always be as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
7. I will maintain an attitude of open-mindedness.
8. I will maintain respect for those in authority and demonstrate this respect at all times.
9. I will always remain loyal to my God, my country, family and my friends.
10. I will remain highly goal-oriented throughout my life because that positive attitude helps my family, my country and myself.

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Norris married Dianne Holechek in 1958. In 1963 their first child, Mike, was born. His daughter Dina was born in 1964 to a woman he was not married to.^[20] Then, he had a second son, Eric, with his wife in 1965. After 30 years of marriage, Norris and Holechek divorced in 1988.

In November 1998, he married former model Gena O'Kelley, born in 1963 and 23 years Norris' junior. O'Kelley had two children from a previous marriage. She delivered twins in 2001: Dakota Alan Norris, a boy, and Danilee Kelly Norris, a girl.^[21] The wedding was performed by Lawrence Kennedy, who is featured in Norris' autobiography. ^[22]

On September 22, 2004, Norris told Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart that his daughter Dina was the result of an extramarital affair. He did not meet her until she was 26, although she learned that he was her father when she was 16. She sent a letter to his home informing him of their relationship. After meeting her, Norris said he knew she was his daughter upon seeing her.^[23]

Chuck Norris has six grandchildren, three from his son Mike^[24] and three from his son Eric^[25].

Christianity[link]

An outspoken Christian,^[26] Norris is the author of several Christian-themed books, such as The Justice Riders. He has also been in a few TV commercials promoting Bible study and prayer in public schools, in addition to efforts to reduce drug use. In his WorldNetDaily columns, he has expressed his belief in Biblical creationism,^[27] that those who are troubled should turn to Jesus, and is quoted as saying "true patriots" do not stay clear of discussing religion and politics.^[28]

Norris serves on the board of directors of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, an organization promoting the use of the Bible in public schools, and also speaks on behalf of organizations advocating official prayers in public schools.

Martial arts and personal fitness[link]

Norris has received a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Machado family.^[29]

In his February 15, 2010 WorldNetDaily column, Norris announced that, starting in the fall of 2010, he will begin a second weekly column for Creators Syndicate. This new column, "C-Force", will focus on personal fitness.^[30]

Chuck Norris facts[link]

Protest banner at the University of Bamberg hinting to Chuck Norris facts (German: "Only Chuck Norris manages to achieve a bachelor's degree in scheduled time")

In late 2005, Norris became the object of an ironic internet meme known as "Chuck Norris Facts", which document fictional, often absurdly heroic feats and characteristics about Norris. Norris has written his own response to the parody on his website, stating that he does not feel offended by them and finds some of them funny.^[31]

On November 29, 2007, Gotham Books, the adult division of Penguin USA, released a book entitled The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human based on the Chuck Norris Facts.^[32] Norris filed suit in December against Penguin USA and author Ian Spector claiming "trademark infringement, unjust enrichment and privacy rights."^[33] Norris dropped the suit in May of the following year.^[34]

Activism[link]

Philanthropy[link]

In addition to being an action superstar, Chuck Norris is also a philanthropist. He is known for his contribution towards organizations such as Funds for Kids, Veteran's Administration National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, the United Way, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the form of donations as well as fund-raising activities.^[35]

His time with the U.S. Veterans Administration as a spokesperson, was inspired by his experience serving the United States Air Force in Korea. His objective has been to popularize the issues such as Pensions and Health care, that concern hospitalized war veterans. Due to his significant contributions, and continued patriotism, he received the Veteran of the Year award in 2001 at the American Veteran Awards.^[35]

Norris also established the United Fighting Arts Federation and KickStart in 1990. As a significant part of his philanthropic contributions, the organization was formed to develop self-esteem and focus in at-risk children as a tactic to keep them away from drug-related pressure by training them in martial arts. Norris hopes that by shifting middle school and high school children's focus towards this positive and strengthening endeavour, these children will have the opportunity to build a better future for themselves.^[35][36]

In 2005, Norris founded the World Combat League (WCL), a full-contact, team-based martial arts competition, of which part of the proceeds are given to his KickStart program.^[35]

Additionally, Norris supports the Vijay Amritraj Foundation, which aims at bringing hope, help and healing to the defenceless and innocent victims of disease, tragedy and circumstance in India. Through his donations, he has helped the foundation support Paediatric HIV/AIDS homes in Delhi, a blind school in Karnataka, and a mission that cares for HIV/AIDS infected adults, as well as mentally ill patients in Cochin.^[37]

Political views[link]

Norris is a Republican, often championing the views of the party. Norris has donated more than $32,000 to Republican candidates and organizations since 1988.^[38] Norris supports gun rights and ownership and is against public schools condoning homosexuality.^[39]

In 2006, Norris began penning a column for the conservative news website WorldNetDaily, sharing his "musings about faith, family, freedom, country, loyalty – maybe even kickboxing."

On January 26, 2007, Norris filled in for Sean Hannity as a co-host on the Fox News Channel debate program Hannity & Colmes alongside Alan Colmes.^[40]

On October 22, 2007, Norris announced his endorsement of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for President.^[41] Norris said, "I believe the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee."^[42]

On May 10, 2008, Norris was the commencement speaker at Liberty University and addressing a graduating class of more than 4,000.^[43]

After the 2008 presidential election, Norris drafted a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, stating that he should "use and cite the Constitution ... protect American life ... learn from the mistakes of your Democratic predecessors ... [and] lead more from the center".^[44]

On November 18, 2008, Norris became one of the first members of show business to express support for the California Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, and he chided activists for "interfering" with the democratic process and the double standard he perceived in criticizing the LDS Church without criticizing African Americans, who had voted for the measure by a wide margin.^[45]

During the 2012 presidential election, Norris first recommended Ron Paul, and then later formally endorsed Newt Gingrich as the Republican presidential candidate.^[46]

Honors[link]

On March 28, 2007, Commandant Gen. James T. Conway made Norris an honorary United States Marine during a dinner at the commandant’s residence in Washington, D.C.^[47]

On December 2, 2010, he (along with brother Aaron) was given the title honorary Texas Ranger by Texas Governor Rick Perry.^[48]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

[49] Matsuda, Michael (2010). Martial Arts History Museum: Hall of Fame, Vol. 1

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chuck Norris

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chuck Norris

• Official website
• Chuck Norris at the Internet Movie Database
• Chuck Norris on cite martialinfo.com

• Chuck Norris on cite completemartialarts.com

• [1]
• Official Chun Kuk Do Website
• Audio interview with National Review Online
• Chuck is named to Maxim.com's Top Dudeliest Dudes list of 2007

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