Tuesday, May 2, 2006

According to the Washington Post, nearly sixty percent of the federal government’s workforce will be eligible for retirement over the next ten years; with ninety percent of senior executive service officials expected to do so. Besides depleting Social Security funds, baby boomers will once again leave a big impression on the American workforce and economy. Calling it a “federal retirement tsunami,” the United States Office of Personnel Management (the bureau responsible for government human resources) is preparing for this event in a few manners. In a news release today by the bureau, Director Linda Springer announced that the office would be releasing a major media campaign in efforts to recruit future employees.

With only twenty four percent of United States citizens with a bachelor degree or higher, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s no wonder it has been difficult to attract qualified or interested employees for federal government positions; particularly young people. “We’ve been hearing for so long about how incompetent and shady the government is, but a lot don’t understand the benefits,” said Howard University sophomore Victoria Hooks.

“The challenge is clear, and we are hard at work… with a 21st Century approach to the workplace, the federal government will ride the retirement wave and set the standard for a modern workplace… It will be a modern workplace, one that requires innovative training and encourage more flexibility by managers. The federal workforce will be one that the American people can count on,” said Springer in support of the initiatives for recruitment. Other efforts for recruitment will also include additional employment benefits such as special salaries and relocation bonuses, especially for women.

The recruitment advertisements will reveal themselves in a series of four commercials around the country beginning in mid May 2006.

Friday, August 12, 2005

On the 11th August, the former Prime Minister of Japan Riyutaro Hashimoto, age 68, formally indicated he would not run for the Okayama 4th constituency of the House of Representatives, the Lower House of Japan, due to defectiveness of his physical condition, possibly nominally. Since the current prime minister Junichiro Koizumi had resolved that House, an election will be held on September 11.

The next day of that announcement, on the 12th, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) executive committee showed they had no intention to recognize him as a candidate to proportional representative constituency. There might be no possibility for him to run for the coming election as the LDP candidate and his political career would inevitably end.

On the July, 2004 it was reported that Hashimoto did not state the donation of 1 hundred million yen from a lobbist organisation in the annual political financial income and outgo report, which is legally mandatory to all minister and parliament speakers. Hashimoto had received that donation from the Japan Dental Political Federation, one of his main supporting organisations. His relation between medical and pharmacy lobbyists began at least in 1963 when he was appointed as a secretary of Minister of Health and Welfare. In the same year, he ran for a constituency for which his father had run since his death in that year. Later he was appointed to the Minister of Health and Welfare and played a roll as the representative of this ministry during his career.

Hashimoto had been a speaker of the House of Representatives since September 1963. He had not lost his seat until now. He was appointed to the Minister of Health and Welfare, and the Minister of Industrial Minister successively. He was the president of the LDP from 1995 until the party lost at the election of the House of Councillors in 1998. He was also the Prime Minister of Japan from 1996 till his resignation from LDP presidency. In 2001 he ran again for the presidency of the party, but was defeated by the present Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Michael Ellis DeBakey, world renowned heart surgeon, has died in Houston, Texas at the age of 99.

He was born Michel Dabaghi on September 7, 1908 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Lebanese immigrants Shaker and Raheeja DeBakey.

DeBakey was the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and director of The DeBakey Heart Center of Baylor and the Methodist Hospital.

DeBakey pioneered the use of Dacron grafts to replace or repair blood vessels. In 1958, to counteract narrowing of an artery caused by an endarterectomy, DeBakey performed the first successful patch-graft angioplasty. This procedure involved patching the slit in the artery from an endarterectomy with a Dacron or vein graft. The patch widened the artery so that when it closed the channel of the artery returned to normal size. The DeBakey artificial graft is now used around the world to replace or repair blood vessels.

Friday, December 1, 2006

The U.S. government warned private financial services that al Qaeda is planning a cyber attack on the U.S. stock and bank accounts, officials said on Thursday.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke says: “There is no information to corroborate this aspirational threat. As a routine matter and out of an abundance of caution, US-CERT issued the situational awareness report to industry stakeholders.”

The officials said that the attacks are aimed at destroying the databases of U.S. banking and stock market web sites. The Homeland Security group claims that the threat was for all of December.

A U.S. official said that the threat was posted on an website and called for the attack to avenge the imprisonment of Muslims in the Guantanamo detention camp.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Presidential aides and state television announced yesterday that the Nigerian president, Umaru Yar’Adua, died.

Yar’Adua ascended to the presidency in 2007, but was later taken ill, and had not been publicly seen for the last few months. He was hospitalised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to get inflammated tissue around his heart treated; it was later diagnosed as acute pericarditis.

According to the BBC, Nigerian reports indicated the president died between 21.00 and 22.00 local time (20.00 to 21.00 UTC) in Abuja, the capital.

Goodluck Jonathan, the vice-president, became the acting president this February; under the constitution, he is to now be sworn in formally and will appoint a new vice-president.

The Nigerian Television Authority broadcast the news, saying: “The president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, died a few hours ago at the presidential villa. Security aides notified the national security adviser, General Anou Bissou, who immediately called the acting president. The late president has been ill for some time.”

Ima Niboro, a spokesman for Goodluck Jonathan, commented: “The acting president is very sad with what has happened. The nation is mourning.” Tomorrow is to be a national holiday, and Nigeria will observe a week of mourning for the deceased president.

In his statement, acting president Jonathan said: “Nigeria has lost the jewel on its crown, and even the heavens mourn with our nation tonight.”

Thursday, September 20, 2007

A highly dynamic Bluetongue (or catarrhal fever) infection of sheep herds is underway in Germany. From August 2006 till September 9, 2007, 1,833 farms had reported the presence of the infection. From Sept 9. till September 14, 2007, the number of farms reporting infections has grown to 5,686. The number of deaths is estimated around 15,000 sheep.

Bluetongue infection is of viral origin and is harmless to humans. It is an insect-borne viral disease of ruminants, mainly sheep and less frequently of cattle, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedary camels and antelope. There are no reports of human transmission.

The origin of the infection is not clear but it is one of the diseases which is still feared to invade Northern Europe as a consequence of global warming. No official sources are as yet available as the affected sheep farmers have tried to get the news on the media but to no avail.

The disease has also been found in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The United Kingdom Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs says the virus could spread from Northern Europe to the UK, but is unlikely.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Mainstream rock singer Brian Melo has been crowned winner of Canadian Idol 2007 (Season five). The 25-year old Hamilton, Ontario native sang in front of an audience at the Air Canada Place in Toronto, Ontario. The show was two-hours.

Seventeen year old Johnny Cash and Elvis-inspired country singer Jaydee Bixby of Drumheller, Alberta finished in second.

The Canadian Idol Top 10 started off the show last night singing Jon Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

The top 10, and a duet with the top two, did several performances throughout the show.

Canadian-International pop-rock singer Avril Lavigne performed “Hot” and “When You’re Gone” from her third new album the “Best Damn Thing”.

Season four winner of Canadian Idol, Eva Avila performed her song “Fallin’ For You”. Melo and Bixby presented her with gold and platinum disk awards for her debut single “Meant To Fly” and her debut album “Somewhere Else”.

Country-rock singer Jon Bon Jovi, who mentored the singers for Monday’s performances, sang their new song “Lost Highway” and 2000 song “It’s My Life”.

Canadian Idol allowed auditioners, their top 22, and top 10 to perform with instruments this year. No other Idol shows have allowed this. Top ten competitors Greg Neufeld sang and performed with his guitar and Dwight d’Eon sang and performed with his electrical guitar, with the top 10 last night.

Canadian Idol’s official top 3 competitors, including top three’s eliminated Carly Rae Jepson from Mission, British Columbia, are set to have an “Idol Winner’s” tour across 15 Canadian cities this fall. The tour will start November 18, 2007 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are expected to tour cities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. It finishes with a final show in Edmonton, Alberta on December 12, 2007.

It’s the first tour the show has ever done.

Melo, the winner, was a construction worker in Hamilton. He auditioned at the nearby Toronto auditions.

At the beginning of the season Bixby and Melo appeared as stiff performers but changed drastically throughout the weeks. Melo was in the bottom three, three times.

“Just remember that you are so privileged and enjoy every minute but you never know how long it’s going to last,” Avila said before the winner was announced by host Ben Mulroney.

An estimated five million votes were cast following Monday’s performances.

Local Hamiltonians gathered last night at Hamilton Place Theatre. Approximately 2,000 fans were there. Most people and fans from, or around, the town of Drumheller gathered in a local hockey rink to show their support for Bixby.

Melo’s new single “All I Ever Wanted” will be released on radio’s and online music stores through Sony BMG Music Canada at 12:00am on September 13, 2007. His debut album will be out this winter.

“I want to grow and get better with each album. I want to be an international star, I’m thinking of big things. I want to hit the American market, I want to hit the European market as much as I can,” Melo said.

Melo says he will go the full way and write songs for his album. He also said he has planned dates to meet with songwriters for some input on what he’ll write.

“But being in this process, there’s been so many songwriters, so many great musicians that haven’t gotten the credit . . . that they deserve. So hopefully I’ll be able to change that,” Melo said.

“‘Keep positive, keep on the positive side of things’,” Bixby said. “And you know, there’s nothing negative about coming in second in a national audition, so I’m very happy. I’m glad I made my parents proud.”

“I didn’t think a year ago that I would be standing here. If it wasn’t for the fans, my friends, my family and everyone in the Hammer… (Hamilton) It’s been amazing,” said Melo.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Television producer and owner of the anti-Scientology website www.xenutv.com (XenuTV), Mark Bunker, also known as Wise Beard Man, chatted online with Wikinews for nearly three hours. More than 120 people followed the interview live (many from Project Chanology), which makes this exclusive Wikinews interview our most attended IRC interview to date.

Bunker started XenuTV in 1999 and began to make videos that he provided for the Lisa McPherson Trust. Bunker has been a critic of the Church of Scientology since 1997.

In 2006, he won a Regional Emmy Award after he and KUSI-TV news reporter Lena Lewis produced a documentary news video on the issues with the United States – Mexico border with San Diego, California.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Disney president John Lasseter has announced that British actor Timothy Dalton will be voicing a character in Toy Story 3.

Dalton, who previously starred as James Bond in Licence to Kill and The Living Daylights, will star as a thespian hedgehog called Mr. Pricklypants in Toy Story 3, a film which is due for release in June 2010. Mr. Pricklypants is described as “a hedgehog toy with thespian tendencies”.

John Lasseter, Disney/Pixar Chief Creative Officer, made the announcement at a Disney Animation Showcase in London, England on Thursday. At the same event it was announced that Mandy Moore would star in a cartoon based on the fairytale Rapunzel and that a James Bond-style character will appear in upcoming Disney/Pixar film Cars 2. In August 2009, it was also announced that Michael Keaton — from the movie Cars — would voice Ken, the boyfriend to Barbie in the film.

John Lasseter originally announced the plans for the third film in the franchise in January 2008 and said that people would be “blown away” by it. He proclaimed: “It [Toy Story 3] is shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room.”

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

EUROPE — Lycos Europe has ended its anti-spam operation: “Make Love Not Spam.” A company spokesperson said the objective of the time-limited campaign was to raise people’s awareness. The reasons why it ended the campaign was variously reported and speculated in media. The operation, while fairly popular, suffered unexpected troubles and drew criticism from security experts and others from the start.

The company started distributing a screensaver on November 29, 2004 on makelovenotspam.com. Once installed, the computer would send HTTP requests to spammers’ servers when not in use. The intent was to raise the running costs of those servers. Lycos coordinated these requests by choosing targets from lists generated by organizations such as Spamcop.com. The servers were monitored so as to keep them under heavy load, but alive.

Security experts roundly criticized the program. Steve Linford, director of a non-profit anti-spam organization SpamHaus, and Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant of Sophos, pointed out that lowering moral standards to fight spammers was not a good idea. The legality of attacking the servers was also debated since it resembles “Distributed Denial of Service” attacks (DDoS), except that Lycos did not completely shut down the target servers.

Other troubles arose. The day after the campaign was launched, there was an alleged takeover of the web site’s top page by a cracker. The page was replaced with a warning against the use of the screensaver, according to a screenshot sent via email to the Finnish security firm F-Secure. A Lycos spokesperson said that the screenshot was a hoax: there was no trace of intrusion in the server log and the site was simply unavailable due to a high demand.

Some Internet service providers blocked either the traffic to Lycos-Europe, or the requests generated by the screensaver.

Next, one of the targeted sites redirected all traffic to the Lycos’ server, making Lycos itself a target. The company had maintained that its server was immune from the attack. Lycos stopped distributing the program on December 3, 2004 and asked clients to “stay tuned.” The company later ended the program.

On December 6, F-Secure reported a virus email disguised as the anti-spam screensaver. When its attachment (a zip file) is opened, it self-extracts and installs a “Trojan horse” –harmful program disguised as legitimate software. The Trojan horse was set up to monitor keystrokes in order to steal passwords, bank account numbers and other important information.

Lycos’ software had been downloaded more than 100,000 times by the end of the campaign.