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Monday, March 13, 2006

Mayra Ramirez, a 16 year old Chicago, USA student is blind. In order to graduate, she and dozens of other visually impaired students in Chicago schools are required to pass a written rules-of-the-road exam. “In other classes, you don’t really feel different because you can do the work other people do,” Ramirez said. “But in driver’s ed, it does give us the feeling we’re different. In a way, it brought me down, because it reminds me of something I can’t do.”

Michael Vaughn, a spokesman for Chicago schools said, “I can’t explain why up to this point no one has raised the issue and suggested a better way for visually impaired students to opt out of driver’s ed.”

Blind students are typically told that they must take the class to graduate; although, by law, any parent can request a change in a disabled student’s education plan. This law is rarely, if ever, disclosed to the students, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Rumours in London and Merseyside have linked Paul and Oliver Collyer, creators of the football management series Championship Manager, with a possible bid for Premiership football team Everton.

The Goodison Park club, under the chairmanship of former Coronation Street actor Bill Kenwright, were subjects of a failed takeover bid in August 2004. After suffering the blow of failing to get beyond the qualifying stage of the Champions League, Kenwright is known to have recently sought additional investments in the club.

While a move is not thought to be imminent, the recent takeover of the brothers’ games development company Sports Interactive by game giant SEGA could well prove the catalyst for action by the lifelong Evertonians. The company’s PR guru Miles Jacobson was forced into an official denial of the story soon after the takeover news broke on Tuesday morning. The Collyers themselves have as yet been unavailable for comment.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Earlier today former England-manager Bobby Robson underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his brain.

A statement was made saying the surgery went “very well”, and that the tumour has been completely removed.

The Football Association of Ireland hopes that Sir Bobby Robson will be able to resume his duties as a consultant for the Republic of Ireland team for the games against Cyprus and the Czech Republic in early October.

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Evacuees from New Orleans arrived on Sunday and have continued to come to Utah, utilizing the facilities at Camp Williams, the training facility for the Utah National Guard, to house the incoming people. Flights from New Orleans to Salt Lake City International Airport provided by JetBlue Airways under a contract from FEMA have been shuttling people from New Orleans to many destinations throughout the United States, including Utah.

In addition, Utah Air National Guard relief missions transporting food and other supplies to New Orleans relief efforts have also been returning with people in the cargo areas of the airplanes on return flights. “In keeping with our mission to assist in the security and safety of our homeland, we stand trained, ready, and able to respond to the call to assist our fellow citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and elsewhere,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, Utah National Guard Adjutant General.

The people on board the airplanes had no idea where they were going. In one case the airplane was headed to San Antonio and at the last minute while still airborne the destination was changed to Utah. Peter Coroon, Salt Lake County Mayor: “Some of the people look dazed. Some of them are just happy to be out of where they were. Some of them are eager to find their loves ones they’ve been separated. Some of them weren’t sure where they were going when they left New Orleans.”

Governor John Huntsman, Jr. utilized surplus state funds by declaring a state of emergency to begin efforts housing and clothing people coming to Utah, however some of this will likely be reimbursed by the Federal Government at a later date. He announced that Utah was willing to take up to 1,000 people at shelters in Utah, and that amount was later increased to over 2,000. On Monday, President Bush signed an executive order granting the emergency declaration in Utah to provide Federal assistance for the evacuees in Utah.

After arriving in Utah, one evacuee said “I want to thank the people of Utah for their hospitality and for restoring my faith in America.” Another evacuee said “it seems like heaven, looking at the mountains and getting a breath of fresh air and saying, ‘Thank God we made it.'”

Not all evacuees were pleased with the move to Utah. “I knew where Utah was, but nobody told me that’s where we were going. Nothing personal. It’s nice. But I don’t know anybody here,” said Bergeron, among the first batch of 152 evacuees to arrive at the Camp Williams Utah Army National Guard training site.

The Utah chapter of the American Red Cross has been training volunteers over the Labor Day weekend, and according to one official they have been overwhelmed with community support to help the evacuees. The line of volunteers to receive the training helping those at Camp Williams was litterally out of the door at the Red Cross offices today. One volunteer, Kayelynn Wright said, “The last couple of days we’d talked about it and said, ‘What can we do?’ So when I saw it (a call for volunteers) last night, I called (my neighbor) this morning and said, ‘We gotta go!'” The Red Cross has asked that you contact the local office if you plan on volunteering or donating any new clothing and other items to help the evacuees.

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday gathered at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims. Plastic bags were stuffed with toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, soap, washcloths and hand towels. The supplies will be shipped to a church-owned storehouse Georgia for distribution.

Transportation requests are also being honored by the Utah state government, and evacuees are having transportation to anywhere in the United States paid for at state expense. In addition, a small amount of extra money is being donated directly to each family to help with immediate expenses. The Utah Transit Authority has already established a regular municipal bus service between Camp William and downtown Salt Lake City, which will begin formal service starting tomorrow morning.

Monday, February 12, 2007

On Sunday the representatives of International Business Machines Inc. said that the company will launch its new desktop software system for businesses. IBM’s new product is called “Open Client Offering”. The company hopes that its product will put Macintosh or Linux software on a more equal footing with Windows.

The Open Client Offering software was developed by IBM in-house, as well as with partners like Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. It is to answer the questions regarding the cost-effectiveness of managing Linux or Apple desktop personal computers alongside Windows PCs.

IBM officials stated that Open Client Offering will allow enterprises to use the same software on Windows, Linux or Apple’s OS X. It will be unnecessary for companies using Open Client to pay Microsoft for licenses for operations because these will no longer rely on Windows-based software.

Scott Handy, IBM’s vice president of Linux and open source, stated that the company worked together with the open source community and in the end found a way to develop a software that is able to function regardless of the operating system.

To create an alternative to Microsoft, IBM is going to offer Open Document Format software that the company developed for word processing, spreadsheets or presentations, instant messaging and blog tools and Internet Explorer’s long time rival – Firefox Web browser.

The software developers at IBM believe that the usage of Open Client Offering can cut the cost of managing applications as well as maintenance and cost regarding customer support on company networks that require other software rather than Windows.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, being the second largest car manufacturer, signed a multi-year agreement with Novell, which is the provider of Linux software, to run Linux on its 20,000 desktop PCs. In addition Linux will be installed on 2,500 server computers.

RedMonk’s analyst, Stephen O’Grady, said that today there is a strong appetite for Windows alternatives. However, he said, this doesn’t mean that the alternatives are to displace Windows wholesales. O’Grady outlined that no one is going to significantly damage the desktop dominance of Microsoft.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Ray Scott is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Algoma-Manitoulin riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Violent clashes have broken out between Palestinians and Israeli police near the al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount in Jerusalem, from controversy over Israeli construction near the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The construction work reportedly is to repair a pedestrian bridge that leads to the Mugrabi Gate, the entrance to the mosque used by Palestinians, and runs over the Jewish Western Wall area of the complex. The earthen ramp bridge leads to a hilltop compound known as the Temple Mount to Jews and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. The bridge collapsed in 2004 and was temporarily replaced with a wooden bridge which Israelis say is weakening and unsafe. Israel has controlled the contentious compound since the 1967 Mideast War,

The construction involves excavation work and digging at the site, which Palestinian leaders contend is part of an attempt to dig under the mosque to find evidence of the Jewish Second Temple and/or to deliberately weaken the foundation of the mosque. Muslims dispute that the Temple was located at the site. Some artifacts have been salvaged from the digging work.

Israeli forces locked down Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem in anticipation of backlashes from the construction. The Old Jerusalem city limits were blockaded, allowing only Palestinians over 45 years old from entering and only on foot. Palestinians from the West Bank were completely barred. Opponents have declared the blockades and the construction work a deliberate act to prevent Muslims from accessing the holy site. The mass of protesters at the site have in turn blocked Jewish access to the Western Wall.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared the construction and blockade as “hostile measures” against Muslims. Palestinian chief justice Tayssir al-Tamimi declared a “day of anger” and called on Palestinians to defend the mosque.

Arab and Muslim countries including Jordan, Malaysia and Indonesia criticized Israel for the controversial work and urged it to halt construction. Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz also warned against starting construction. The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League urged Muslim countries to freeze diplomatic ties with Israel in protest of the work.

Around 150 Muslims were inside the mosque for morning prayers when the construction and blockade began. An Israeli Muslim journalist reported that the worshippers were unable to leave and received loud messages from Israeli loudspeakers.

The al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, having once been the central point of prayer (qibla) for Muslims and allegedly the place where Muhammad ascended into heaven. Conventional Judaism believes it is also the historic site of the First and Second Temples, the holiest temple in Judaism, which is prophesised to be rebuilt ahead of the coming of the Messiah.

No deaths have been reported in the clashes, which simmered by evening.

Demonstrations also took place at mosques throughout the Muslim world, including Egypt and Jordan. Protests were expected later in the day in Nazareth.

The incident comes only a few days after rival Palestinian political factions, Hamas and Fatah, came to an agreement for a unity government aimed at restoring international support of Palestine and a return to Israeli negotiations.

Friday, April 1, 2005Several sources report Pope John Paul II, who was receiving nutrition from a tube inserted through his nose, is no longer using the tube. The tube was inserted shortly after the pontiff appeared at his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square and was only able to speak several words.

The tube used was threaded down the nose and throat into the stomach. A surgically implanted tube was also considered at the time, but it was deemed excessively invasive according to Dr. Barbara Paris, director of geriatrics at Maimonides Medical Center in New York.

There are reports the pontiff has a severe urinary tract infection. The infection caused a severe fever which developed into a medical crisis. He is being treated by antibiotics and has recently suffered from heart failure and a significant reduction in kidney function. According to the Vatican, he is currently “lucid”, breathing shallowly, and surrounded by his top aides.

The Pope’s condition has led many to pray — both Catholics and non-Catholics. A large number of people are outside the papal apartment in the Vatican City. Many people have also come to pray at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

The ailing Pope also suffers from Parkinson’s disease, which makes it difficult for him to talk while knee and hip ailments are taking a serious toll on his mobility. The series of new ailments follows the breathing tube insertion by only a month’s time.