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Sunday, November 6, 2016

The following is the sixth and final edition of a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2016 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

In this month’s edition on the campaign trail: the Free & Equal Foundation holds a presidential debate with three little-known candidates; three additional candidates give their final pleas to voters; and past Wikinews interviewees provide their electoral predictions ahead of the November 8 election.

Friday, September 10, 2010

The leader of a Gainesville, Florida church announced yesterday that the church had canceled its plan to burn copies of the Qur’an tomorrow but later stated that he had reconsidered his decision. Earlier yesterday, Pastor Terry Jones said that the Dove World Outreach Center would cancel the burning of the Islamic holy book, stating that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, had agreed to relocate Park51, a mosque and community center to be located a few hundred meters away from the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In a press conference on Thursday, Jones announced that “we have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday and on Saturday I have agreed to meet with the Imam.” However, Rauf has denied that he struck a deal with the pastor, saying that he was surprised by the announcement of a deal.

On Thursday night, Jones insisted that he had struck a deal with Rauf, saying that he had been “clearly, clearly lied to”. Jones also said that he is having second thoughts of his earlier statement on Thursday afternoon.

“I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qur’ans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones,” Rauf said on Thursday. He followed up, stating that “We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we here to barter. We are here to extend our hand to build peace and harmony.”

The developer of the New York City mosque in question also denied that a deal had been reached with Jones, stating that “The Muslim community center called Park51 in lower Manhattan is not being moved. The project will proceed as planned.”

On Wednesday, Jones had announced his intention to go ahead with the September 11 Qur’an burning. He also said that he has support from churches around the United States, and that people from around the country have been mailing him Qur’ans to burn. The pastor also said that he has received over 100 death threats and has taken to carrying a gun on his hip for self-defense. In the past, the Dove World Outreach Center has declared that “Islam is of the devil” and that the religion is “evil” as it does not teach that Jesus was the son of God. Even though the church announced that it would continue with the plan, Jones could run into trouble as the Gainesville fire department has denied the church a permit to burn the Qur’ans.

Many prominent figures have condemned the Qur’an burning. Yesterday morning, US president Barack Obama responded, “… what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans,” and warned, “This is a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda.” In his interview recorded on Wednesday for Good Morning America, Obama stated that “this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan”, adding, “This could increase the recruitment of individuals who’d be willing to blow themselves up in American cities, or European cities.”

General David Petraeus, NATO commander in Afghanistan, said on Wednesday that the plan would endanger US troops worldwide. In response to the general’s comments, Jones had told the press that “we understand the general’s concerns, we are taking those into consideration. We feel it’s maybe the right time for America to stand up. How long are we going to bow down? How long are we going to be controlled by the terrorists, by radical Islam? … As of right now, we are not convinced that backing down is the right thing.”

Other prominent people from around the globe condemned the plan earlier this week, including the head of the US State Department, Hillary Clinton. She called it a “disrespectful, disgraceful act,” while US Attorney General Eric Holder pitched in, calling the book burning “idiotic and dangerous.”

Republican Tea Party activist and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin also chimed in, saying that burning the Qur’an would be an “insensitive and an unnecessary provocation — much like building a mosque at ground zero.” She also said that people have the constitutional right to burn the book, and that “I would hope that Pastor Terry Jones and his supporters will consider the ramifications of their planned book-burning event. It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don’t feed that fire.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper condemned the plan, saying that his God was a tolerant God, and suggesting that freedom of religion comes from a tolerant spirit.

A coalition of religious leaders from different religions including Islam, Christianity and Judaism met in Washington to condemn “International Burn a Koran Day”. People took to the streets in the Muslim-majority countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan in protest. In Indonesia, the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, thousands of protesters gathered around the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Monday.

Due to the increase in tension caused by this activity, INTERPOL released an alert warning of attacks and asking member nations to contact the international police agency if they receive information on public safety hazards.

Despite the criticism, legal commentators say that Jones and his church have the constitutional right to burn the book, which is considered by Muslims to be the word of God. “The First Amendment, as it’s been interpreted, would probably not win if it were put up to a vote. It is very hard to explain to people why this sort of conduct should be permitted,” said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Toronto, Ontario’s 2016 Fan Expo Canada, scheduled for September 1–4, includes farewells to some US icons, and the debut of a new work by a Canadian icon. The first batch of programming was announced in a media release late last week.

Saturday, September 3, acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood is to launch her graphic novel Angel Catbird, with illustrator Johnnie Christmas. The panel includes a question and answer session and an opportunity to purchase the book before its general release date. Other recent firsts from the 76-year-old Booker Award-winning Atwood include a chamber opera that debuted in 2014, participating in the Twitter Fiction Festival in 2015, and being the first writer included in the Future Library project, her Scribbler Moon not to be read until 2114.

Stan Lee, now 93, is in the midst of what he claims to be his final convention tour. As first announced in February, the Spider-Man, Iron-Man, and X-Men creator is to make his final Canadian convention appearance at Fan Expo. Also bidding adieu to the convention circuit are Adam West and Burt Ward, from the original Batman television series, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The remainder of the announced schedule includes various programs for the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, including appearances by actors William Shatner, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols, the four day long Geekfest Film Festival, and a live script reading of Ghostbusters by voice acting legends Rob Paulsen, Bill Farmer, Maurice LaMarche, and David Hayter. Panels include The Dark Knight III team, including a rare appearance by Frank Miller, the cast of Sailor Moon, and an exclusive panel of Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes.

The 750,000 square foot event projects “over 140,000” attendees this year to Toronto’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

A man living in South Wales, United Kingdom was ordered to destroy his entire music collection after creating a ruckus by listening to the music at an extremely high volume. Police seized his stereo equipment in a raid. Karl Wiosna, a 44-year-old resident of Graig in Pontypridd, was playing Cher‘s album Believe at extremely high volume. His neighbours complained under the Environmental Protection Act and he was warned not to play the album at such high volume. However, he thought the warning was only for the Cher album, and he then started to listen to a U2 album a week later. His neighbors said they could hear the lyrics in their living room.

Before the Rhondda Magistrates’ Court Wiosna admitted breaching the noise abatement notice, with which he was served. He was ordered to pay a £200 fine. He was also ordered to pay £50 in costs, £15 in victim surcharge, and to destroy his music collection.

“They took £500 to £600 worth of stuff,” complained Wiosna. “I don’t think they should be able to do it, it isn’t right.”

“A legal notice under the Environmental Protection Act was served on Wiosna demanding he reduce the volume or stop playing music,” read a statement by the Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. “Just a week after the legal notice was received, officers were called to the address during an out-of-hours emergency by a neighbour.”

“In this case, the swift and effective actions of environmental health officers enabled the issue to be dealt with and I hope it serves as a reminder to others, that we can take them to court and seize their belongings if they do not cease causing a nuisance to others,” said Councillor Mike Forey, the cabinet member for environmental health.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Buffalo, New York — According to scanner frequencies of the Buffalo, New York fire department, smoke was reported on at least five floors at the northeast side at One HSBC Center in downtown Buffalo. The call came in around 10:50 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday January 18, not long after the ending of the NHL hockey game: the Sabres versus the Atlanta Thrashers which was held at HSBC Arena, a few blocks away from the tower.

According to firefighters communications the people that were on the 22nd floor made it out of the building safely. Firefighters saw “white smoke of varying intensities, believed to have been electrical” on floors 9 through 13. The source of the smoke was not identified, but the first alarm was on the 13th floor, followed by the 10th then the 9th.

Because of the cold temperatures and wind chills in the 10’s, workers at the tower were allowed back into the first floor, which has been cleared by firefighters earlier in the call.

At 11:41 p.m., firefighters gave the all clear to begin packing up with no conclusion as to where the smoke originated. They used ventilation fans to clear the floors of smoke and then shut them off to see if anymore smoke would reappear, which it did not. Remaining employees and personnel have since been allowed back to work. No damage is reported.

The tower, built in 1970, is the tallest in Buffalo and is home several agencies including the Consulate General of Canada. HSBC currently occupies 75% of the tower which has 40 floors. It stands at 529 feet (161.2 meters) tall.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth won his first race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Saturday during the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The win was his first since the beginning of the 2009 season. Throughout the course of the race there were five cautions and 31 lead changes among 13 drivers.

On the 214th lap, a three car accident occured, prompting Mark Martin, Regan Smith and Martin Truex, Jr. to drive to the garage for repairs. Afterward, Truex said: “We were struggling a little bit tonight…It’s unfortunate. We sure didn’t need to be wrecked.” Toward the conclusion of the race, Kenseth, who became the sixth different winner in the season, retook the first position after Kurt Busch pitted.

Afterward, he remained the leader to finish ahead of Clint Bowyer in second. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Paul Menard followed in the next three positions. Marcos Ambrose managed the sixth position ahead of David Ragan in seventh. Jimmie Johnson followed Ragan in eighth, while Dale Earnhardt, Jr could only manage ninth. Kurt Busch rounded out the top ten finishers in the race.

After doing his victory lap, Kenseth said: “Especially after two years, I didn’t know if I’d have a chance to get here again.” Bowyer followed Kenseth’s statement saying: “I didn’t have anything for him. I was driving as hard as I could to stay in front of him. It was a solid run, one we can all be proud of.”

Following the race, Edwards became Drivers’ Championship leader with 256 points. Next, Kyle Busch is second with 247, four points ahead of Kenseth and Johnson. Busch and Earnhardt are fifth and sixth respectively with 240 and 235 points. Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, and Tony Stewart round out the top-ten point positions.

The 2011 season will continue on April 17, 2011 at Talladega Superspeedway for the 2011 Aarons’ 499. The race will be televised in the U.S. on the FOX Network at 1:00 p.m. EDT.