Monday, December 19, 2005

Rocket company SpaceX, notorious for repeatedly pre-announcing its first flight on Wikinews, cancels its latest attempt and defers further flights until 2006.

This latest launch attempt on the 19th December was cancelled due to structural issues with the first-stage fuel tank of the Falcon 1 rocket. An electrical fault caused a valve to shut inappropriately, and as fuel drained out a vacuum was created causing the side of the fuel tank to buckle inwards.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Birks was recently announced as the “Official Supplier of Jewelery” for the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympics. The company will create licensed products with the logos of the 2010 Olympic Games, 2010 Paralympic Games, and the Canadian Olympic team emblem, including necklaces, earrings, pendants and rings.

The partnership was announced at an employee celebration in Vancouver, to mark the centenary of Mayors Jewelers Inc., an American company Birks acquired in 2002.

The six-year sponsorship includes the rights to the Canadian Olympic team logo during the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

Thomas A. Andruskevich, president and CEO, Birks & Mayors stated in a press release:

The products will be launched in early 2008.

Also released today is information that Jackson-Triggs Esprit will be a special line of wines, created to celebrate the athletic event. The Vincor Canada wine is named in relevance to “spirit”, both the spirit of the Olympians, and alcoholic beverage usage of the word.

President and CEO of Vincor Canada Jay Wright said, “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to honor our Canadian athletes while affirming our role as Canada’s wine industry leader. Like our Olympic and Paralympic athletes, Vincor Canada shares a passion and determination towards excellence. This agreement is by far Vincor Canada’s most ambitious and broad-reaching sponsorship and will be great for the Canadian wine industry. I hope Canada will join us in the excitement that we feel regarding this exceptional opportunity to position Canadian wine brands on the world stage.”

The wines, featuring Olympic logo, will be distributed to liquor stores and restaurants across the country this summer. Proceeds from each bottle will go towards the Canadian Olympic Team.

Both the Chardonnay and Merlot will retail for CDN$11.95 MSRP. Inniskillin Wines’ vineyards, harvested since 1975, in either the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario pr the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia will create the wine.

Within the past few weeks, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has announced a Omega-brand countdown clock that will tour British Columbia events, as the company is the “Official Olympic Timekeeper”. Canadian Pacific was named official rail freight services provider, and the Royal Canadian Mint announced they will create circulation and collector coins to mark the occasion.

There are 1099 days until the XXI Olympiad, according to the official website of the event.

Monday, December 31, 2007

What would you tell your grandchildren about 2007 if they asked you about it in, let’s say, 20 year’s time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2007, what would the question be? The year that you first signed on to Facebook? The year Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse fell apart? The year author Kurt Vonnegut or mime Marcel Marceau died, both at 84?

Let’s take a look at some of the international stories of 2007. Links to the original Wikinews articles are in bold.

Saturday, February 13, 2021

The Greek Parliament passed contentious legislation on Thursday allowing for the creation of a campus police force and disciplinary council to end the tradition of violence at Greek universities. The decision, passed 166–132 in a parliament of 300, was opposed by many students and professors, who claim it would stifle freedom of expression.

Changes proposed included establishment of a campus police division, restriction of entry into university grounds, and formation of a “disciplinary council” empowered to suspend or expel students.

A Ministry for Citizen Protection spokesperson called university campus violence “timeless”; and said “[t]he police will drive out extremist political groups and guard the infrastructure, finally making the university a safe place”.

Prior to the vote, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the centre-right New Democracy political party which first introduced the legislation, told lawmakers “[n]owhere in the world do we see images […] of historical buildings being vandalised”.

Many incidents of unrest have occurred at Greek universities, including a 1973 student revolt at Athens Polytechnic against the 1967–1974 military junta. The government forcefully repressed the uprising, resulting in the death of at least 26. Due to another protest in 1990–91 against high school reform pushed by Mitsotakis’ father Konstantinos, one teacher died. In October, a rector was taken hostage by hooded anarchists.

In 2019, the government repealed a restriction in place since 1982 that had effectively prevented police from entering university grounds.Opponents of the introduction of police at universities have described it as stifling freedom of expression, which the government claimed is “ridiculous”. At recent demonstrations, protestors have chanted “Bread, education and freedom”, a common anti-junta slogan of the 1973 uprising. In January, Athenian police used tear gas to break up a protest which was defying lockdown restrictions.

Many Greek professors have also opposed the idea, with Professor of State Theory and Law at Panteion University Dimitris Kaltsonis claiming, in remarks to Euronews, “there is no need for special police to control the campuses”. Oxford University’s University and College Union (UCU) stated on Twitter “its solidarity to Greek colleagues […] opposing the creation of such a special university police force, which is unlikely to respond to the most pertinent problems of Greek higher education institutions”, and that the then-proposal was “alarming and not in line with best practice.”

Some recent demonstrators have called for “more doctors, fewer police”. Eurostat data from 2016–2018, which a spokesperson for the Ministry for Citizen Protection called “inaccurate”, showed Greece had the second most police officers per capita of any country in the European Union. The spokesperson said the government is “investing in the quality of education as well”, but emphasised “[p]olice on campuses is not a choice, but a necessary move”.

€23 million was recently budgeted for Greek law enforcement to better “face contemporary challenges, such as COVID-19 and external threats”.

Left-wing opposition party Syriza has criticised the legislation as an attempt to make universities “sterile and unfree”.

Friday, March 30, 2012

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for president during the Wednesday night broadcast of the Fox News program Hannity. As justification for his decision, Rubio argued that Romney will be the Republican Party presidential nominee and offers “a stark contrast to …[President Barack Obama]’s record.”

Rubio, who is Cuban American, took office in 2011 after defeating former Florida governor Charlie Crist. He often receives mention as a potential running mate for the still-undecided 2012 Republican Party presidential nominee.

The Associated Press estimates that Romney currently leads his opponents for the nomination, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, with 568 of the 1,144 delegates necessary to win. 1,258 delegates remain in play.

Gingrich and Santorum are continuing their presidential runs in the hope of forcing a brokered convention to deny Romney the nomination. Rubio warned of such a scenario in the Hannity interview, commenting that it would “be a recipe for disaster” and would help re-elect the Democrat, Obama.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush offered a similar justification in his endorsement of Romney earlier this month, calling on the party to “unite behind Governor Romney”.

Other potential vice-presidential nominees such as New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Virginia governor Bob McDonnell have already thrown their support to Romney.

Rubio claims to have not spoken with Romney about the vice-presidential nomination, and has previously denied any interest in it.

Monday, November 28, 2005

SpaceX called off the much-delayed inaugural launch of their new Falcon 1 rocket on Saturday from Kwajalein’s Omelek Island launch site. The intent was to launch the U.S. Air Force Academy’s FalconSat 2 satellite, which will monitor plasma interactions with the Earth’s upper atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The launch was delayed, then finally cancelled after an oxygen boil-off vent had accidentally been left open. The oxygen was unable to cool the helium pressurant, which then proceeded to evaporate faster than it could be replenished. A main computer issue, probably serious enough to cause a scrub on its own, was also discovered.

This long-anticipated flight was originally expected to be launched in January 2005, however a series of setbacks forced a series of delays, with the flight most recently scheduled to be in early 2006. It was intended to be launched from the Kwajalein atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The maiden voyage was originally intended to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a Naval Research Laboratory satellite and a Space Services Incorporated space burial payload.

Monday, September 5, 2005

At least 200 New Orleans law officers have left the force following the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Some had notified their superiors, but others did not. A few officers simply threw their badges out the window and attempted to drive a squad car to northern Louisiana after the storm.

Some of the reasons given were because of lack of support from the local government in dealing with the crisis, others such as psychological problems with being in armed confrontation with people foraging for food and water in a desperate situation, where they were left alone but called looters and thugs by the authorities if they helped themselves, and losing their own families might have driven at least two officers to commit suicide.

Reports are that some officers resorted to using their own personal firearms because of the severe equipment shortage, even before the coastal region was devastated by the hurricane. The morale of the police force, which has dealt with the highest number of murders per capita in the United States, is not a new issue. This natural disaster may have exacerbated long-standing tensions in the force that were already present.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

An HIV-positive man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, one day after being convicted of harassment of a public servant for spitting into the eye and open mouth of a Dallas, Texas police officer in May 2006. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that no one has ever contracted HIV from saliva, and a gay-rights and AIDS advocacy group called the sentence excessive.

A Dallas County jury concluded that Willie Campbell’s act of spitting on policeman Dan Waller in 2006 constituted the use of his saliva as a deadly weapon. The incident occurred while Campbell, 42, was resisting arrest while being taken into custody for public intoxication.

“He turns and spits. He hits me in the eye and mouth. Then he told me he has AIDS. I immediately began looking for something to flush my eyes with,” said Waller to The Dallas Morning News.

Officer Waller responded after a bystander reported seeing an unconscious male lying outside a building. Dallas County prosecutors stated that Campbell attempted to fight paramedics and kicked the police officer who arrested him for public intoxication.

Prosecutors said that Campbell yelled that he was innocent during the trial, and claimed a police officer was lying. Campbell’s lawyer Russell Heinrichs said that because he had a history of convictions including similarly attacking two other police officers, biting inmates, and other offenses, he was indicted under a habitual offender statute. The statute increased his minimum sentence to 25 years in prison. Because the jury ruled that Campbell’s saliva was used as a deadly weapon, he will not be eligible for parole until completing at least half his sentence.

The organization Lambda Legal (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund), which advocates for individuals living with HIV, says that saliva should not be considered a deadly weapon. Bebe Anderson, the HIV projects director at Lambda Legal, spoke with The Dallas Morning News about the sentence. “It’s been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears,” said Anderson.

The Dallas County prosecutor who handled the trial, Jenni Morse, said that the deadly weapon finding was justified. “No matter how minuscule, there is some risk. That means there is the possibility of causing serious bodily injury or death,” said Morse. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins stated: “If you look at the facts of this case, it was clear that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury.”

A page at the CDC’s website, HIV and Its Transmission, states: “HIV has been found in saliva and tears in very low quantities from some AIDS patients.” The subsection “Saliva, Tears, and Sweat” concludes that: “Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.” On Friday the Dallas County Health Department released a statement explaining that HIV is most commonly spread through sexual contact, sharing needles, or transfusion from an infected blood product.