Sunday, March 30, 2008

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.

As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, who are looking to become the 43rd person elected to serve their nation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Wikinews’ own Patrick Mannion corresponded with the Socialist Party USA nominee and candidate, Brian Moore via e-mail.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

According to outgoing Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, an explosion that was “equivalent to a 2,000 lb. bomb” and registered 0.5 on the Richter scale decimated an area of Danvers and is also a “Thanksgiving miracle.”

The explosion occurred around 2:45 am EST, this morning in the Danversport area of Danvers, Massachusetts at the plant for solvent and ink manufacturer, CAI Inc. The explosion, which was caught on security camera and was heard up to over 25-50 miles away in southern Maine and New Hampshire.

The explosion damaged over 90 homes, blowing out windows and knocking some houses off their foundations. Officials believe that some of the more extensively damaged houses will have to be leveled and rebuilt. Some of the buildings damaged included a bakery, boats at a close by marina and the New England Home for the Deaf, an assisted-living facility for people who are deaf or deafblind and elderly residents requiring constant care. “These people are extremely fragile,” said state Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, whose district includes the affected area. “Many of them have Alzheimer’s and other illnesses. It’s clear they can’t stay here long, but it’s clear they won’t be able to return for quite a while.”

Danvers Fire Chief James P. Tutko toured the area by helicopter and said many residents would be kept from their homes for the foreseeable future. “It looks like a war zone, that’s the only thing I can say,” Tutko said. When asked about the loss of no life at all, he responded “Somebody out there likes us.” Finally, he said that finding out the cause of the explosion would take days.

Outgoing governor Mitt Romney toured the area and said the explosion was a “Thanksgiving miracle” as the explosion was “equivalent to a 2,000 lb bomb going off in a residential neighborhood,” and that no one was killed and only about 10 people suffered only minor injuries in area that included over 300 residents. Residents of the area have been evacuated to the Danvers High School where temporary shelter has been set up by the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay. Donations are being taken for residents affected by the explosion. Residents are also being told to start filing insurance claims right away and to keep track of their expenses for items bought.

There were minor environmental concerns due to water runoff of chemicals. According the Environmental Protection Agency‘s on-scene coordinator Mike Nalipinski, preliminary tests showed low levels of toluene, a solvent, but said it was nothing of significance. Water runoff from the water used by firefighters left a purple sheen on the river and tests were being conducted. However, the water is not a local drinking water supply and the chemical evaporates quickly. Chief Tutko said there was no risk of toxic fumes getting into the air.

An Eastern Propane facility was also located near the area, however, it was not the source of the explosion. A spokesman for the company said that although the property suffered some minor damage, their tanks are secure.

According to WHDH television, a person who answered the telephone at CAI’s Georgetown, Massachusetts headquarters refused comment, and a telephone message left at the company president’s home was not immediately returned.

Friday, October 5, 2007

You may not know Joseph Merlino, but he knows about you and what makes you function. He knows what turns you on and he knows whether it is a problem for you. Merlino, who is the psychiatry adviser to the New York Daily News, is one of the more accomplished psychiatrists in his field and he is the Senior Editor of the forthcoming book, Freud at 150: 21st Century Essays on a Man of Genius. The battle over interpreting Freud’s legacy still rages, a testament to the father of psychoanalysis and his continuing impact today.

On the eve of the book’s publication, Wikinews reporter David Shankbone went to the Upper East Side of Manhattan to discuss the past and future of Freud and psychoanalysis with Dr. Merlino, one of the preeminent modern psychoanalysts. Shankbone took the opportunity to ask about what insanity is, discuss aberrant urges, reflect upon sadomasochism (“I’m not considered an expert in that field,” laughed Dr. Merlino), and the hegemony of heterosexuality.

Dr. Merlino posits that absent structural, biochemical or physiological defects, insanity and pathology are relative and in flux with the changing culture of which you are a part. So it is possible to be sane and insane all in one day if, for instance, you are gay and fly from the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 File:JacobZuma.jpg

Today at about 1600 UTC/GMT, South African President Thabo Mbeki announced in a special session of parliament that he has taken action he feels is necessary, that is to “release [his deputy president], Jacob Zuma, from his responsibilities as deputy president of the republic and member of the cabinet”.

Zuma was implicated in corruption arising from his relationship with his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of corruption and fraud earlier this month. Shaik was found guilty by Durban High Court of two counts of corruption and one of fraud and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

The President has called this one of his toughest decisions. Opposition leader of the Democratic Alliance immediately praised the president for holding “principle over politics”, and, while deeply saddened, former president Nelson Mandela supported Mbeki’s decision. Jacob Zuma was the favourite of the ruling African National Congress party to succeed Thabo Mbeki as president.

Following this ordeal, the government of South Africa has reaffirmed its dedication to the reduction and eventual elimination of corruption in all areas of politics.

UPDATE (July 7)

The African National Congress held a meeting of it’s National General Council over the weekend of 2-3 July. Zuma attracted a lot of favourable attention, mostly from people who wished to defeat policy initiatives that included relaxing some of the legal constraints on employers. He was reinstated as ANC deputy president and, in a first for the party, granted a salary (details not revealed). It now appears that Jacob Zuma’s political future is closely tied to that of the “left wing” of the ANC.

Sunday, November 7, 2010 Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2010 O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge held yesterday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kyle Busch came in second for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Brad Keselowski finished third to win his title after leading through the season. Busch’s teammate Joey Logano started from 10th place on the starting grid, but finished 4th in front of Martin Truex, Jr. Jason Leffler (Braun Racing) and Reed Sorenson (Braun Racing) finished behind Truex, Jr. in 6th and 7th. Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, and Steve Wallace rounded out the top ten finishers in the race. Pole position winner James Buescher finished 37th, after being involved in an accident on lap 44.

In the Drivers’ championship, Keselowski clinched the championship with 5,314 points, 465 ahead of Edwards, and 695 ahead of Busch in third. Justin Allgaier was scored fourth, Menard was sixth, and Harvick was seventh, after finishing eighth. Trevor Bayne and Leffler was ninth and tenth. Keselowski now cannot be beaten with only two races to go. “My whole family made so many sacrifices along the way and I’m surrounded by great people. I’m happy and blessed to have this whole team around me. Almost had a win here today and wanted it to work out,” he said after the race.

Afterward, Edwards commented, “I had to do everything I could. I got the best restart I could and it ended up giving us the race. I knew if I gave him an inch he would beat us.” Busch followed in the press conference and said “Carl Edwards jumped the restart by about three lengths before the restart mark.” He was then asked if he should have brought it up to NASCAR, but he answered, “Does it fucking matter? Race is over. Carl Edwards is in victory lane. Nothing you can do about it. Our car was fast in the beginning but didn’t have the speed it took at the end of the race. I don’t know if it was under the hood or through the corners. It was disappointing finishing second but whatever.”

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The BBC Television Centre has been placed up for sale by the corporation. Plans to sell the centre originally came forward in 2007 but the BBC only appointed Lambert Smith Hampton, a commercial property consultant, in November of last year. The building which is based in Shepherds Bush, London was opened in 1960 and is the home of BBC News and BBC Vision.

The BBC stated they were interested in preserving parts of the building while setting up a “hub for creative businesses and a visitor destination.” According to the head of BBC Workplace, Chris Kane, “With high investor demand for commercial property in London and a shortage of landmark sites as distinctive as Television Centre, we anticipate strong competition for both conventional and innovative proposals.”

The property has been valued between £150 million to £300 million but is expected to fetch around £200 million.

5000 staff are currently based at the centre which BBC bosses hope to be empty by 2015. The BBC is creating a new development in Salford, Greater Manchester. Several departments including BBC Sport, BBC Breakfast, and children’s shows are moving to Salford while BBC News is being relocated within central London.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Dr. Stephen Schoenthaler, a Professor of Criminal Justice at the California State University in Stanislaus, has long argued that there is a link between a healthy diet and decreased aggressive behaviour, as well as with increased IQ and school performance.

Dr. Schoenthaler is well-known for a youth detention center study where violations of house rules fell by 37% when vending machines were removed and the cafeteria replaced canned food by fresh alternatives. He summarizes his findings by saying that “Having a bad diet right now is a better predictor of future violence than past violent behaviour.” In a very large test, Schoenthaler directed a study in meals at 803 New York City schools, in low-income neighbourhoods, finding that the number of students passing final exams increased by 16%.

Critics have questioned some of Dr. Schoenthaler findings, due to the lack of placebo control groups. However, more recent work by Dr. Bernard Gesch, a physiologist at the University of Oxford, has placed some of the work on a more scientific footing. Dr. Gesch found that nutrition supplements produced a 26% drop in violations of prison rules over a placebo, and a 37% decrease in violent offences. The Netherlands has embarked on a wider scale dietary research program in 14 prisons.

The short term behaviour consequences of ingesting sugar are well understood: an initial burst on energy, followed a sugar low in which your body produces adrenalin, which makes you irritable and explosive. However, Schoenthaler and Gesch suggest that there are long term impacts over and above the short term consequences of blood sugar variations.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

American President Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to Iraq today, The New York Times reported Tuesday. This is Obama’s first visit to Iraq since he became president.

Air Force One touched down at 4:42 p.m. local time (1:42 p.m. UTC, 9:42 EDT), amid heavy security at Baghdad International Airport.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that the trip to Iraq was due to Iraq’s proximity to Turkey — where Obama was finishing a week-long visit to Europe — and that American soldiers in Iraq deserved the attention and appreciation of their president.

“Our men and women who are in harm’s way, either in Iraq or Afghanistan, deserve our utmost respect and appreciation,” Gibbs told the New York Times. CNN reports that Iraq’s proximity to Turkey was the reason behind choosing Iraq over Afghanistan.

Gibbs also said that Obama planned to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, but poor weather in Baghdad means that Obama will likely talk to the prime minister and Iraqi President Jalal Talibani by telephone.

American troops are slated to leave Iraq by August 2010, with The New York Times reporting that troop levels will continue to be high until Iraq’s federal elections in December.

Obama told a group of university students in Turkey that despite his original opposition to the war in 2003, he realized that the troop withdrawal must be done carefully.

“I have a responsibility to make sure that as we bring troops out, that we do so in a careful enough way that we don’t see a complete collapse into violence,” Mr. Obama said, according to The New York Times. “So some people might say, wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don’t you just get them all out right away? Well, just because I was opposed at the outset it doesn’t mean that I don’t have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion.”