Saturday, October 21, 2006
The upcoming 2006 Brampton municipal election, to be held November 13, features an array of candidates looking to represent their wards in city council or the council of the Peel Region.
Wikinews contributor Nick Moreau contacted many of the candidates, including Innocent Watat, asking them to answer common questions sent in an email. This ward’s incumbent is Bob Callahan; Balbir Babra, Manny Bianchi-Morfino, Dolly Khokhar, Maria Peart, Tim Turcott, and Sheila White.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A press room across the street of the White House was evacuated after a bomb sniffing dog had a reaction to a van it was searching. The van was believed to be a transport vehicle for Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, but some reports also say that it is not known to whom the van belongs.
The evacuated space is where the press gathers before they enter the Press Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House. It is around the corner from Blair House.
“Police were called, they are on the scene currently attempting to clear the vehicle. The vehicle is part of the delegation that is staying at the Blair House,” said Darrin Blackford, a spokesman for the Secret Service.
Police searched the van using a robot and blocked off streets around the area to vehicle traffic, but at 4:30 p.m. (eastern time), authorities gave the “all-clear” for personnel to be allowed back into the building.
The “suspicious” van was parked in front of Lafayette Park. Other areas near the White House were also evacuated including Pennsylvania Avenue, on which the White House is located, and the Jackson Square Press Center, because “of an abundance of caution.”
Olmert is currently a guest in the Blair House which is located across the street from the White House. Olmert is expected to meet with United States President George W. Bush to discuss the Palestinian government and other issues. It is not known if Olmert was inside the house at the time of the incident.
It is not known why the dog reacted to the van, but nothing was found inside it after the Secret Service searched it.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Every September, the Apple iPod is redesigned. Last year saw the release of the iPod Nano 5th generation, bringing a video camera and a large range of colours to the Nano for the first time. But as Apple again prepares to unveil a redesigned product, the company has released their quarterly sales figures—and revealed that they have sold only 9m iPods for the quarter to June—the lowest number of sales since 2006, leading industry anylists to ponder whether the world’s most successful music device is in decline.
Such a drop in sales is not a problem for Apple, since the iPhone 4 and the iPad are selling in high numbers. But the number of people buying digital music players are concerning the music industry. Charles Arthur, technology editor of The Guardian, wrote that the decline in sales of MP3 players was a “problem” for record companies, saying that “digital music sales are only growing as fast as those of Apple’s devices – and as the stand-alone digital music player starts to die off, people may lose interest in buying songs from digital stores. The music industry had looked to the iPod to drive people to buy music in download form, whether from Apple’s iTunes music store, eMusic, Napster or from newer competitors such as Amazon.”
Mark Mulligan, a music and digital media analyst at Forrester Research, said in an interview that “at a time where we’re asking if digital is a replacement for the CD, as the CD was for vinyl, we should be starting to see a hockey-stick growth in download sales. Instead, we’re seeing a curve resembling that of a niche technology.” Alex Jacob, a spokesperson for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the worldwide music industry, agreed that there had been a fall in digital sales of music. “The digital download market is still growing,” they said. “But the percentage is less than a few years ago, though it’s now coming from a higher base.” Figures released earlier this year, Arthur wrote, “show that while CD sales fell by 12.7%, losing $1.6bn (£1bn)in value, digital downloads only grew by 9.2%, gaining less than $400m in value.”
Expectations that CDs would, in time, become extinct, replaced by digital downloads, have not come to light, Jacob confirmed. “Across the board, in terms of growth, digital isn’t making up for the fall in CD sales, though it is in certain countries, including the UK,” he said. Anylising the situation, Arthur suggested that “as iPod sales slow, digital music sales, which have been yoked to the device, are likely to slow too. The iPod has been the key driver: the IFPI’s figures show no appreciable digital download sales until 2004, the year Apple launched its iTunes music store internationally (it launched it in the US in April 2003). Since then, international digital music sales have climbed steadily, exactly in line with the total sales of iPods and iPhones.”
Nick Farrell, a TechEYE journalist, stated that the reason for the decline in music sales could be attributed to record companies’ continued reliance on Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, saying that they had considered him the “industry’s saviour”, and by having this mindset had forgotten “that the iPod is only for those who want their music on the run. What they should have been doing is working out how to get high quality music onto other formats, perhaps even HiFi before the iPlod fad died out.”
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When Jobs negotiated a deal with record labels to ensure every track was sold for 99 cents, they considered this unimportant—the iPod was not a major source of revenue for the company. However, near the end of 2004, there was a boom in sales of the iPod, and the iTunes store suddenly began raking in more and more money. The record companies were irritated, now wanting to charge different amounts for old and new songs, and popular and less popular songs. “But there was no alternative outlet with which to threaten Apple, which gained an effective monopoly over the digital music player market, achieving a share of more than 70%” wrote Arthur. Some did attempt to challenge the iTunes store, but still none have succeeded. “Apple is now the largest single retailer of music in the US by volume, with a 25% share.”
The iTunes store now sells television shows and films, and the company has recently launced iBooks, a new e-book store. The App Store is hugely successful, with Apple earning $410m in two years soley from Apps, sales of which they get 30%. In two years, 5bn apps have been downloaded—while in seven years, 10bn songs have been purchased. Mulligan thinks that there is a reason for this—the quality of apps simply does not match up to a piece of music. “You can download a song from iTunes to your iPhone or iPad, but at the moment music in that form doesn’t play to the strengths of the device. Just playing a track isn’t enough.”
Adam Liversage, a spokesperson of the British Phonographic Industry, which represents the major UK record labels, notes that the rise of streaming services such as Spotify may be a culprit in the fall in music sales. Revenues from such companies added up to $800m in 2009. Arthur feels that “again, it doesn’t make up for the fall in CD sales, but increasingly it looks like nothing ever will; that the record business’s richest years are behind it. Yet there are still rays of hope. If Apple – and every other mobile phone maker – are moving to an app-based economy, where you pay to download games or timetables, why shouldn’t recording artists do the same?”
Well, apparently they are. British singer Peter Gabriel has released a ‘Full Moon Club’ app, which is updated every month with a new song. Arthur also notes that “the Canadian rock band Rush has an app, and the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, led by Trent Reznor – who has been critical of the music industry for bureaucracy and inertia – released the band’s first app in April 2009.” It is thought that such a system will be an effective method to reduce online piracy—”apps tend to be tied to a particular handset or buyer, making them more difficult to pirate than a CD”, he says—and in the music industry, piracy is a very big problem. In 2008, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimated that 95% of downloads were illegitimate. If musicians can increase sales and decrease piracy, Robert says, it can only be a good thing.
“It’s early days for apps in the music business, but we are seeing labels and artists experimenting with it,” Jacob said. “You could see that apps could have a premium offering, or behind-the-scenes footage, or special offers on tickets. But I think it’s a bit premature to predict the death of the album.” Robert concluded by saying that it could be “premature to predict the death of the iPod just yet too – but it’s unlikely that even Steve Jobs will be able to produce anything that will revive it. And that means that little more than five years after the music industry thought it had found a saviour in the little device, it is having to look around again for a new stepping stone to growth – if, that is, one exists.”
byadmin
Shooting can be extremely rewarding, but not every person comes to the sport ready to make the leap for good. As a result, some end up overlooking a hobby that could turn out to be especially enjoyable, feeling like the barriers to entry might simply be too high. In fact, though, there are good ways for even the most occasional of shooters to get involved whenever might make the most sense, and without needing to buy a weapon of their own. Gun rental providers like Knob Creek Gun Range can make it simple and affordable to partake of a quick shooting session at just about any time.
In fact, going this route will often make excellent sense for certain people. Owning a gun means taking on associated responsibilities, whether with regard to storing it safely or making sure to keep up with cleaning and maintenance. While many serious, experienced shooters find that these requirements end up being easy to justify, others may just decide that a less involved option will make more sense.
Gun rental will often do exactly that for those who prefer not to become so involved. Providers of rentals take care of everything that owners would normally need to do, from keeping firearms in prime condition to storing them safely away when they are not in use. As a result, those who come to them for rentals can enjoy many of the advantages of full-time ownership, but without needing to be subjected to the hassles.
Even among experienced, dedicated enthusiasts, services of this kind can have a lot of value. Someone thinking about buying a new weapon, for instance, could use a rental to get a real feel for how it performs in the field. For those who have not yet settled on a particular choice of weapon for a certain purpose, renting each of the candidates will often make things quite a bit clearer.
As a result, rental often turns out to be an excellent option for everyone from those who are new to the sport to even the most experienced. Thanks to the wide availability of such services in the area, just about anyone with an interest in shooting could do well to explore this option.
To find more information, visit local page.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Two daughters of blues legend B.B. King are claiming on Monday that he was poisoned by business manager LaVerne Toney and personal assistant Myron Johnson. The allegations were made by daughters Karen Williams and Patty King in affidavits provided by their lawyer to the Associated Press.
“I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances,” Williams and King said in identically worded sections of the affidavits. “I believe my father was murdered.”
Williams and King also allege that family members were prevented from visiting their father prior to his death. The lawyer for King’s estate says the claims are ridiculous.
“I hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory and libelous allegations,” lawyer Brent Bryson said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Bryson says that King was appropriately cared for by medical professionals up until his death on May 14 in Las Vegas.
An autopsy of B.B. King’s body was carried out on Sunday by the Clark County, Nevada coroner’s office. The coroner’s office said on Twitter that it would be a minimum of six to eight weeks before results of the autopsy are finalised.
The Las Vegas Police department said that a potential homicide investigation into the death of the blues legend will depend on autopsy findings.
Black spots in the eye are pretty common and in most cases it is at something that you need to worry about, however it is worth understanding what they are, where they come from and your options for removing them should they become too invasive. Black spots in the eye are usually called floaters mainly because they have the tendency to float around is your vision and a line of sight. It is possible to get blackspots in in either one eye or both eyes and it is more noticeable under conditions of bright light all light-coloured backgrounds. The appearance of these plaque floaters is entirely subjective aE” they have been described as fine lines, spiders, circles and even roads on a map. Scientists believe that they are in fact dead cells and find aggregates of vitreous protein that are dark enough to cast a shadow on the retina. Floaters can be invasive especially when they appear often and are easily noticeable in the line of vision.
For most people, despite being a definite distraction, they are harmless however if you experience a sudden an abrupt accumulation in the number of blackspots in your vision then it is important that you seek the advice of an ophthalmologists as soon as possible because it may be a sign of a haemorrhage into the vitreous body of your eye or even a retinal break. If you want to remove these blackspots from your vision then you have two main options aE” surgery and natural floater removal. The surgical option is called a vitrectomy and is a fairly invasive surgery that is often quite expensive and requires a significant amount of recovery time. It is only really worthwhile if the blackspots in your vision are particularly dark and invasive. If you’re considering trying to remove your black spots through natural means then I suggest that you look into forms of supplementation along with eye exercises to strengthen the muscle. Lutein and bilberry are two of the most commonly used supplements to counteract black spots in the vision.taurine is a substance that is found in leafy green vegetables such as kale and spinach and is probably the number one supplement for eye care and is recommended for a wide variety of eye conditions aE” in fact certain ophthalmologists suggest that you should supplement with lutein if you’re older than 50 regardless of the condition of your eyesight. Bilberry is a substance that increases the circulation to the components in the eye and is also commonly used.
On top of this, you may like to consider taurine, which is a substance that helps to regenerate tissue in the retina and antioxidants that fight away free radicals and prevent oxidative damage in the eye. The eye exercises that I referenced earlier in the article do have the ability to remove blackspots and should be done on a daily basis for a period of a few weeks. After this amount of time you should experience some kind of improvement and if so you should continue doing exercises consistently. Exercises for relaxation, such as palming, and exercises for strengthening the muscle such as using colour charts both have their benefit in a floater removal eyesight program.
Article Source: sooperarticles.com/health-fitness-articles/eye-vision-articles/black-spots-vision-how-remove-them-35599.html
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Did you know that there are three keys to removing a black spot in vision? And they can all be done in as little as a few minutes per day.Author: Paul Mccarthy
Friday, June 19, 2009
A research team from the Institute of Biomedical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico has developed a therapy that extends survival for locally advanced cervical cancer patients. The study was started at the National Oncology Institute, before trials were conducted worldwide.
The new treatment, which serves as a guideline worldwide, involves using the drug gemcitabine as a radiosensibilizing agent to potentiate the effects of a regime of cisplatin chemotherapy and radiotherapy, explained Alfonso Dueñas González, who led the study. Despite the addition of another drug making the scheme slightly more toxic, the secondary effects are acute and are present only during the 70 to 80 days the treatment lasts, during which the patient can become weak, as with any chemotherapy.
Under this treatment, the survival of patients rises to 78 percent. This is 9 percent above conventional methods, as concluded the study in its phase III, which lasted four years and involved 515 patients from different countries.
Despite cervical cancer being preventable if detected early by the Pap test, it causes more than 250,000 deaths a year worldwide, becoming the second cause of death by carcinoma among women, and the second most diagnosed illness in this group.
One of the advantages of this therapy is that both gemcitabine and cisplatin are affordable drugs, which makes it available for the world population and may help reduce the death rate by this disease. According to Dueñas González, although cervical cancer should be fought by focusing on early detection rather than on treatment, the therapy is expected to start being used in short by health institutions throughout the world.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Controversy has arisen over the reported presence of blue asbestos on the MV Freewinds, a cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology. According to the Saint Martin newspaper The Daily Herald and the shipping news journal Lloyd’s List, the Freewinds was sealed in April and local public health officials on the Caribbean island of Curaçao where the ship is docked began an investigation into the presence of asbestos dust on the ship. Former Scientologist Lawrence Woodcraft supervised work on the ship in 1987, and attested to the presence of blue asbestos on the Freewinds in an affidavit posted to the Internet in 2001. Woodcraft, a licensed architect by profession, gave a statement to Wikinews and commented on the recent events.
According to The Daily Herald, the Freewinds was in the process of being renovated by the Curaçao Drydock Company. The article states that samples taken from paneling in the ship were sent to the Netherlands, where an analysis revealed that they “contained significant levels of blue asbestos”. An employee of the Curaçao Drydock Company told Radar Online in an April 30 article that the Freewinds has been docked and sealed, and confirmed that an article about asbestos ran in the local paper.
Lloyd’s List reported that work on the interior of the Freewinds was suspended on April 27 after health inspectors found traces of blue asbestos on the ship. According to Lloyd’s List, Frank Esser, Curaçao Drydock Company’s interim director, joined Curaçao’s head of the department of labor affairs Christiene van der Biezen along with the head of the local health department Tico Ras and two inspectors in an April 25 inspection of the ship. “We are sending someone so that they can tell us what happened, where it came from, since when it has been there,” said Panama Maritime Authority’s director of merchant marine Alfonso Castillero in a statement to Lloyd’s List.
The Church of Scientology purchased the ship, then known as the Bohème, in 1987, through an organization called Flag Ship Trust. After being renovated and refitted, it was put into service in June 1988. The ship is used by the Church of Scientology for advanced Scientology training in “Operating Thetan” levels, as well as for spiritual retreats for its members. Curaçao has been the ship’s homeport since it was purchased by the Church of Scientology.
According to his 2001 statement, Lawrence Woodcraft had been an architect in London, England since 1975, and joined Scientology’s elite “Sea Organization” (Sea Org) in 1986. He wrote that he was asked by the Sea Org to work on the Freewinds in 1987, and during his work on the ship “noticed a powdery blue fibrous substance approximately 1 ½” thick between the paint and the steel wall,” which he believed to be asbestos. He also discovered what he thought was blue asbestos in other parts of the ship, and reported his findings to Church of Scientology executives. Woodcraft discussed his experiences in a 2001 interview published online by the Lisa McPherson Trust, a now-defunct organization which was critical of the Church of Scientology.
| The Freewinds regularly inspects the air quality on board and always meets or exceeds US standards. | ||
Church of Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw responded to Radar Online about the asbestos reports, in an email published in an article in Radar on May 1. “The Freewinds regularly inspects the air quality on board and always meets or exceeds US standards,” said Pouw. She stated that two inspections performed in April “confirmed that the air quality is safe,” and asserted that the inspections revealed the Freewinds satisfies standards set by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Clean Air Act.
Pouw told Radar that “The Freewinds will be completing its refit on schedule.” The Church of Scientology-affiliated organization Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) had been planning a cruise aboard the Freewinds scheduled for May 8, but according to Radar an individual who called the booking number for the cruise received a message that the cruise had been delayed due to ongoing work on the ship. Citing an article in the Netherlands Antilles newspaper Amigoe, Radar reported on May 6 that a team from the United States and supervised by an independent bureau from the Netherlands traveled to Curaçao in order to remove asbestos from the Freewinds.
| …if the Church of Scientology claims to have removed the blue asbestos, I just don’t see how, it’s everywhere. You would first have to remove all the pipes, plumbing, a/c ducts, electrical wiring etc. etc. just a maze of stuff. | ||
“I stand by everything I wrote in my 2001 affidavit,” said Lawrence Woodcraft in an exclusive statement given to Wikinews. Woodcraft went on to state: “I would also comment that if the Church of Scientology claims to have removed the blue asbestos, I just don’t see how, it’s everywhere. You would first have to remove all the pipes, plumbing, a/c ducts, electrical wiring etc. etc. just a maze of stuff. Also panelling as well, basically strip the ship back to a steel hull. Also blue asbestos is sprayed onto the outer walls and then covered in paint. It’s in every nook and cranny.”
Many Scientologist celebrities have spent time aboard the Freewinds, including Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Chick Corea, Lisa Marie Presley, Catherine Bell, Kate Ceberano, and Juliette Lewis. Now magazine reported that Tom Cruise has been urged to seek medical attention regarding potential asbestos exposure, however a representative for Cruise stated he has “absolutely no knowledge” of the recent asbestos controversy. Cruise, Holmes, Travolta and Preston have celebrated birthdays and other events on the Freewinds.
| There is not now and never has been a situation of asbestos exposure on the Freewinds. | ||
In a May 15 statement to the United Kingdom daily newspaper Metro, a representative for the Church of Scientology said that “There is not now and never has been a situation of asbestos exposure on the Freewinds.” The Asbestos and Mesothelioma Center notes that agencies have recommended anyone who has spent time on the Freewinds consult with their physician to determine if possible asbestos exposure may have affected their health.
Raw blue asbestos is the most hazardous form of asbestos, and has been banned in the United Kingdom since 1970. Blue asbestos fibers are very narrow and thus easily inhaled, and are a major cause of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which can develop in the lining of the lungs and chest cavity, the lining of the abdominal cavity, or the pericardium sac surrounding the heart. The cancer is incurable, and can manifest over 40 years after the initial exposure to asbestos.
“This is the most dangerous type of asbestos because the fibres are smaller than the white asbestos and can penetrate the lung more easily,” said toxicologist Dr. Chris Coggins in a statement published in OK! Magazine. Dr. Coggins went on to note that “Once diagnosed with mesothelioma, the victim has six months to a year to live. It gradually reduces lung function until the victim is no longer able to breathe and dies.”
Submitted by: James Mcnault
Investing in real estate requires more than reading a few books or attending seminars. Here’s some tips on how to begin your real estate investment:
Make a plan. Set your goals and plan on how you want to make it happen. As you’re still just dipping your feet in the real estate waters, be realistic in setting your expectations. Create a virtual timetable in which you think the stages of your plan should come to fruition. Going into this industry without a plan can destroy your livelihood and reputation. A real estate agent with a besmirched name is nothing.
Work with professionals. It’s best to work with a team of professionals when starting your investment career. Look for the best real estate lawyers, mortgage brokers, contractors, agents, accountants and so on. Having the right people around you will let you focus on getting the money deals, and that when the deals are coming through, you’re ready with your team to bring it home.
Know the right values. Sometimes a deal looks so good that you simply can’t pass it up and just take it right away. Proper research can save you a lot of money. Knowing how much homes are really worth in the constantly changing real estate market is critical to getting the right deals for the right price.
Follow protocol. When you’re already meeting a homeowner in person, don’t think that you can do anything you want just to get what you want. Local laws have regulations that protect home owners from unscrupulous people. Never try to deceive even those in distress. While they may seem prone to dubious tactics, school yourself to always be honest and professional.
Search the correct title. The title to a property can have all sorts of encumbrances in it. These can make even attractive deals swallow you whole from the financfial burden it will impose on you. Once you know how to find the correct property title and all related information about it, you will develop skills that let you know in the future if a property really is worth going for or not.
Build cash reserves. You don’t want to suddenly run into an emergency and find that you’re all tied up. You will need to have cash to complete transactions and to cover for any contingencies that come up.
Go slow but steady. There’s a lot of first time investors who go into real estate because they were blinded by the hype of making incredible deals in a very short time. Real estate is not a get-rich-quick business. It requires a lot of patience in looking for the right projects and keeping your investments moving. You will make grand slam deals here and there, but it’s the consistent completion of regular ones that will let you survive and prosper.
Educate yourself properly so that you don’t crash and burn in this industry. Then take the next step only when you’re ready. Real estate is not a get rich quick industry, but rather rewards those who survive a long time.
About the Author: James McNaultReal Estate Expert
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Catherine Mullany, a newly married British woman, and her husband, Ben Mullany, have been shot while on honeymoon in Antigua. Catherine died on the scene, while Ben is in a critical condition in Hospital.
The families of the Mullanys have described themselves as “deeply shocked and devastated.”
The incident occurred at 05:00 Antigua time (09:00 GMT) on Tuesday, and it is being treated by police as a robbery. A police spokesperson described the incident. “Shortly after 5am this morning officers from the Bolans Police station responding to a call, arrived at Cocos Hotel and Restaurant in the Valley Church area, the scene of a murder.” UK police have been asked to help in the inquiry.
Catherine Mullany was a doctor, who, before her death, planned to become a GP. Ben was a physiotherapy student at the University of the West of England (UWE), which is located in Bristol, England. Mary Price, the Media Relations and Internal Communications Manager for UWE, gave Wikinews the following statement:
| Ben Mullany is a third year physiotherapy student at the University of the West of England. Ben is a very good student who is greatly valued by staff and his peers. Staff and fellow students are deeply shocked to hear of this tragic incident. Our condolences go to his wife’s family and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. |
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