Saturday, April 17, 2010

Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview.

Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues.

Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign.

Monday, October 22, 2007

With Australian Prime Minister, John Howard and Labor leader Kevin Rudd facing off in a leader’s debate on Sunday night, political analysts and body language experts declared Mr Rudd the clear victor. Experts said that Mr Rudd came across as believable and enthusiastic while Mr Howard appeared too negative.

The focus of the debate was on the economy, Iraq war, leadership and climate change.

On the economy, the Labor leader said that the cost of living had increased in Australia and that increasing the childcare rebate to 50 percent would help struggling families.

“That’s putting several thousand dollars extra into the family budget,” he said.

The Prime Minister tried to reassure voters on industrial relations, one of the key topics of the election, saying that despite his WorkChoices legislation being controversial it has largely achieved what the government aimed it to do. “Our whole design with WorkChoices was to underpin further growth in the Australian economy. It wasn’t easy. It was heavily criticised, but the general evidence is WorkChoices has been good for the Australian economy,” said the Prime Minister.

Mr Howard also ruled out making further changes to Australia’s industrial relations system saying that the government had “gone far enough”.

Mr Howard also dismissed claims that his planned AU$34 billion of tax cuts would cause inflation and a rise in interest rates.

“They will dampen wage demands that might otherwise be much stronger because of those cost of living pressures,” he said.

The leaders debated over who the genuine economic conservative was. Mr Howard said that Mr Rudd’s voting record in parliament seemed to contradict his claim. The Prime Minister warned that a Labor government would run budget deficits. “Being an economic conservative is more than a slogan in a TV advertisement, it is believing in things,” he said.

“Everyone knows Labor governments equal budget deficits and Liberal governments mean budget surpluses.”

Mr Rudd said there was now consensus between both sides of politics on economic issues and took the opportunity to remind voters of Mr Howard’s performance as treasurer in the Fraser government of the late 1970s to early 1980s. Mr Rudd said that the prime minister was a treasurer at a time of high interest rates and ran four out of five budgets with deficits. “Let’s have some honesty on the table here. Let’s get the record straight,” said Rudd.

Mr Howard dismissed his record attacking Labor’s record of interest rates in the 1980s under Bob Hawke. “There is one interest rate figure that is seared in the memory of most Australian families – the level of 17 per cent,” he said.

The Prime Minister attacked the Opposition’s front bench saying that there were far too many former union members. Mr Rudd hit back by saying that Mr Howard’s frontbench was disproportionate in its make up. “If something’s out of whack in terms of an unrepresentative group in the community, a cocktail of lawyers and former Liberal Party staffers would have to be high up the list,” he said.

The Prime Minister also used the forum to announce new climate change initiatives and an update of the role Australia is playing in Iraq. Mr Howard promised that low-income earners would be compensated for the “inevitable” rise in costs for electricity that moving to cleaner production would bring. By comparison the Labor leader reiterated his support for the Kyoto protocol and promised to ratify it if elected.

Mr Howard said that Australian commanders in Iraq would this week start discussing taking on a broader training role in Iraq to help train Iraqi soldiers.

Rudd questioned Howard on the shift of policies in Iraq and asked the Prime Minister why Australians should believe him after ruling out an increase in troop numbers before the last election, only to double them when elected. The comments sparked an argument between the two leaders with Mr Howard accusing Mr Rudd of involving the military in politics.

“You chose to use it in a very political fashion. I was providing some information to the Australian people and I was pointing out the evolving nature of the commitment of our ground forces in Iraq,” said Howard.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The placement for first and second place at the 2012 Preakness Stakes could have been a replay of the Kentucky Derby earlier this month as I’ll Have Another came in first with Bodemeister behind in second. In this race, Creative Cause finished third.

By winning the Kentucky Derby and the 137th Preakness Stakes, I’ll Have Another has a chance at winning the US Triple Crown of thoroughbred horse racing. The final race I’ll Have Another would have to win is the Belmont Stakes, which will be held on June 9.

I’ll Have Another was not favored to win the Preakness Stakes and his odds were set at 3-1. Bodemeister, who was the favorite at 2-1 odds, was the speed horse again as he led the field for most of the race just as he did at the Kentucky Derby. This time, Creative Cause was following close behind in second by the time the field of horses reached the far turn. Just as in the Kentucky Derby, I’ll Have Another pushed faster in the final leg of the race. However, the Preakness Stakes finish was closer with I’ll Have Another squeezing by the pacesetter at the very end to win the race in 1:56.9.

Mexican jockey Mario Gutierrez has won his last four races with I’ll Have Another. He gave I’ll Have Another the credit for the finish, “No one put him in this race. He put himself into the race,” he said. Gutierrez said all he had to do was signal to the horse that it was time to challenge Bodemeister and the horse did the rest.

The winning horse is owned by financier J. Paul Reddam and trained by Doug O’Neill.

The Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland was filled with a crowd of 121,309 to watch the Triple Crown hopeful. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978.

THE HORSES

According to the official Pimlico website, the horses that competed this year in the Preakness Stakes by starting position include:

1. Tiger Walk is owned by Sagamore Farm, trained by Ignacio Correas IV, and was ridden by Ramon A. Dominguez.

2. Teeth of the Dog is owned by J.W. Singer. The thoroughbred is trained by Michael Matz and the jockey was Joe Bravo.

3. Pretension was the winner of the 2012 Canonero II Stakes. The horse is owned by Kidwells Petite Stable, trained by Christopher W. Grove, and was raced by Javier Santiago.

4. Zetterholm is owned by Winter Park Partners, trained by Richard E. Dutrow, Jr., and ridden by Junior Alvarado.

5. Went The Day Well is owned by Team Valor International and is trained by H. Graham Motion. His jockey was John Velazquez. This team won last year’s Kentucky Derby race with Animal Kingdom, and they took Went The Day Well to the 2012 Kentucky Derby.

6. Creative Cause is owned by Heinz Steinmann and trained by Mike Harrington. His jockey was be Joel Rosario. Creative Cause was part of the field at the Kentucky Derby, too.

7. Bodemeister, winner of the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, is trained by Bob Baffert. He is owned by Zayat Stables and his jockey was Mike Smith.

8. Daddy Nose Best was the winner of the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park and the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate and raced in the 2012 Kentucky Derby. He is owned by Cathy and Bob Zollars, trained by Steve Asmussen. His jockey was Julien Leparoux.

9. I’ll Have Another was the winner of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. He is owned by financier J. Paul Reddam, trained by Doug O’Neill and ridden by jockey Mario Gutierrez.

10. Optimizer is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, owned by tobacconist Brad Kelley of Bluegrass Hall LLC and ridden by Corey Nakatani. This horse raced also raced in the Kentucky Derby.

11. Cozzetti is trained by Dale Romans and was raced by Jose Lezcano The horse is owned by Albaugh Family Stables.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A Russian teenager has accomplished an unprecedented feat in the history of world aviation. He flew a distance of 1,300 kilometres in a wheel well of a Boeing 737 and lived. The fifteen year old Andrey Scherbakov spent two hours in the wheel well of the airplane at extreme temperature of ?50° centigrade. The rear wheels do not go all the way into the plane; the wheel merely retracts into an opening and remains exposed. The boy managed to bypass security at the Perm city airport to hide in the plane as it took off. Airport workers found the boy after the plane had landed at Moscow. He had collapsed on the tarmac.

The boy was delivered to the hospital by the airport staff and is said to be in a critical condition. His arms and legs were so severely frozen and swollen that the rescuers were not able to remove his coat and shoes. There is a probability that his hands may have to be amputated. However, according to the medical staff at the hospital, it is nothing short of a miracle that the boy survived the ordeal. The Boeing 737 has a cruising speed of 900 kilometres per hour and was flying constantly at an altitude of 10,000 metres for two hours. As a result, the boy suffered severe frostbite in both of his hands. Doctors in Ural city would have to remove his fingertips, which contracted gangrene after they had frozen, but they were committed to do everything within their power to stop it from spreading.

When Scherbakov finally came to his senses, he told the police that he had run away from his family so as to escape his alcoholic father. He said that he was wandering around the territory of the airport and noticed a hole in the fence. He fell asleep during his examination of the stowaway of the plane. He woke up when the plane was already flying. It is curious how the inspection staff and the technicians found nothing on their inspection of the aircraft just before the flight. The boy claims that he fainted soon after and came around only when the plane had landed in Moscow after traveling hundreds of kilometres from Perm.

The airport did not confirm the report. However, Moscow’s air and water transport control department said that the claim was true. A department spokesperson said that the incident happened on Friday, and the boy’s parents were immediately informed and flew into the capital on the same day.

Stowaways in wheel wells risk freezing to death after take-off or being crushed when the wheels retract. This year, a body was found in the wheel well of a jet in San Francisco after a flight from Shanghai and another body was found in Atlanta after a flight from Dakar, Senegal.

Monday, February 4, 2008

The following were some of the deaths reported over the past week:

Gordo cartoonist Gus Arriola died in Carmel, California on Saturday. His comic strip presented aspects of Mexican culture to American audiences.

Sources

• Associated Press. “‘Gordo” creator Arriola dies at age 90” — San Jose Mercury, February 2, 2008
• Wyatt Buchanan. “Gordo cartoonist Gus Arriola dies in Carmel” — San Francisco Chronicle, February 3, 2008

Beto Carrero, a Brazilian musician turned theme park operator, died in São Paulo on Friday. He sustained heart failure during surgery at Hospital Sírio Libanês. His Beto Carerro World in Santa Catarina state is reported to be the largest amusement facility in Latin America.

Sources

• “Obituaries in the News” — Associated Press, February 2, 2008
• (Portuguese) “Empresário Beto Carrero morre em São Paulo (Entrepreneur Beto Carrero dies in São Paulo)” — Terra (Brasil), February 1, 2008

Archbishop Christodoulos of Greece’s Orthodox Church died Monday in Athens after serving almost ten years as the church’s national leader. The archbishop, whose actual name was Christodoulos Paraskevaides, was treated for cancer since last July.

Sources

• Agence France-Presse. “Greek Archbishop Christodoulos dies” — Turkish Daily News, January 29, 2008
• Associated Press. “Archbishop Christodoulos, 69: Greek church leader” — Toronto Star, January 28, 2008

British-born, Canadian-based actor Barry Morse died on Saturday, according to his official website.

Morse was an actor since the 1930s in his native Britain. He moved to Canada in the 1950s where he made his first television appearances on CBC Television. During the 1960s and 1970s, Morse was seen internationally on television, particularly his regular roles on Space: 1999 and The Fugitive.

Further details of his death are not yet available.

Sources

• Ed Robertson. “Rest in peace, Lt. Gerard” — Sidereel, February 3, 2008
• Paul G. Bens, Jr.. “R.I.P. BARRY MORSE 1918 – 2008” — Harole Writes, February 3, 2008
• “BARRY MORSE / June 10, 1918 – February 2, 2008” — Barry Morse (official website), February 2, 2008

Suharto, second president of Indonesia, has died today in a Jakarta hospital at the age of 86. The cause of death was announced as multiple-organ failure. He had been in the hospital since January 4, when he was admitted with failing kidneys, heart and lungs.

A week of national mourning was declared by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In a televised address, the current president described Suharto as “one of Indonesia’s best sons and national leaders who has done very great service to his beloved nation” and called for all Indonesians to pay their respects.

The president is to oversee a state funeral after Suharto’s body is taken to his family mausoleum in Surakarta, Central Java by a fleet of seven Air Force planes.

Suharto was born Raden Suharto on June 8, 1921 in Kemusu Argamulja, Java, Indonesia. He was president of Indonesia from 1967 – 1998.

Suharto is survived by two sons and one daughter. His eldest daughter, Tutut, said, “My father passed away peacefully. May God bless him and forgive all of his mistakes.”

Sources

• Anthony Deutsch. “Ex-Indonesian Dictator Suharto Dies” — Associated Press, January 27, 2008
• “Former Indonesian President Suharto dies at 86” — CNN, January 27, 2008

Amid Kenya’s post-election violence, Orange Democratic Movement politician David Kimutai Too was killed by police at Eldoret on Thursday. His party condemned this situation as a politically-motivated assassination. He was the second major Kenyan politician to be killed this week (see Mugabe Were below).

Related news

• “At least 45 killed in new wave of violence in Kenya” — Wikinews, January 27, 2008

Sources

• Jeffrey Gettleman. “Second Lawmaker Is Killed as Kenya’s Riots Intensify” — New York Times, February 1, 2008
• Xan Rice, Chris McGreal. “Kenya peace talks in disarray after killing of second opposition MP” — The Guardian, February 1, 2008

Melitus Mugabe Were, a moderate Kenyan opposition Member of Parliament, was assassinated on Tuesday. He was shot outside his home is among hundreds killed in that nation’s post-election violence.

Related news

• “At least 45 killed in new wave of violence in Kenya” — Wikinews, January 27, 2008

Sources

• “Would-Be Peacemaker Killed in Kenya” — New York Times, January 30, 2008
• James Ratemo. “Kenya: ODM MP Killed as Violence Escalates” — East African Standard, January 29, 2008

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is responsible for some of Australia’s largest surveys, including the Census of Population and Housing, held every five years. At its head is the Australian Statistician. The current Statistician, Brian Pink, started in his position on March 5, 2007, following the retirement of predecessor Dennis Trewin. Wikinews recently caught up with Brian Pink to talk with him about his first year in the position, as well as his previous tenure as Government Statistician at Statistics New Zealand, and the state of mathematical education in Australia.

((WikiNews)) : Good afternoon.

Brian Pink: Good afternoon.

((WN)) : And congratulations on spending a year as Australian Statistician.

BP: Yes, it’s gone very quickly. (laughs)

[edit]

Saturday, October 7, 2006

The city of Bratsk in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, received a new turbine for its famous 4,500 megawatt hydroelectric plant founded in the mid-1950s on the Angara river. In future this new unit will cause an efficiency rise up to 255MW for each turbine.

Currently, the Bratsk Power Station operates 18 hydro-turbines, each with capacity of 250MW, produced by the Leningrad Metal Works (“LMZ”) in the 1960s. The plant is the second level of the Angara Hydroelectric Stations cascade. Since its full commissioning in 1967, the station was the world’s single biggest power producer until Canada’s Churchill Falls in 1971. Annually the station produces 22.6 billion kWh.

The precious 80 tonne cargo was transported to Pulkovo International airport of Saint-Petersburg where it was loaded on Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan to made all the way to Bratsk by air. On October 4, 2006 it landed in the Bratsk airport. In two days the unit 16 replacement arrived to the assemble place on the Angara river.

Sergey Emdin, CEO of IrkutskEnergo JSC, noted the press that the Bratsk plant reconstruction project includes not only the economical, but the ecological aspect by reducing carbon dioxide emission for 6 million tonnes for the period of 2008-2012.

In 2006 and 2007 the old plant is scheduled to receive two more working wheels – by one for each year respectively, and in 2008 and 2009 another four – by two for each year.