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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

George Michael, a well-known British pop singer and songwriter, died on Christmas Day at the age of 53. Michael was found dead at his home in Oxfordshire, England, by boyfriend Fadi Fawaz.

	I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend — the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist.

Michael’s publicist released the following statement to People and Entertainment Weekly: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period. The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time.” He also reported that Michael had died of heart failure and “passed away peacefully”.

Sir Elton John said via Instagram, “I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend — the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family and all of his fans.”

George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in London. Over his multi-decade career, he sold more than 100 million records. Along with co-singer Andrew Ridgeley he became famous as part of the duo band Wham!. Together, Michael and Ridgeley produced several hit songs, such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Freedom, and Last Christmas. In 1985, Wham! was the first Western band to play in China since the beginning of the country’s opening up strategy. Wham! dissolved in 1986. In 1984, Michael recorded the successful single Careless Whisper. Michael was credited as the solo artist in the United Kingdom and as “Wham! featuring George Michael” in the United States. Michael released a hit solo album Faith in 1987, containing hits like I Want Your Sex.

Michael’s life was troubled by both substance abuse and issues with his sexuality. He initially hid his identity as a gay man from his fans, coming out only after a very public arrest for public lewdness in 1998. He would later be arrested for possession of drugs and driving under the influence of drugs. He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison in 2010 for crashing a Range Rover into a storefront while under the influence of drugs and possession of cannabis.

Michael had a history of transforming his negative experiences into art. He wrote White Light about a serious case of pneumonia that led to his hospitalization in 2011, and the music video for Outside, which followed on the heels of his arrest and coming out, showed scenes of a men’s bathroom, a dance club, and men kissing while in police uniforms. He would perform White Light live at the 2012 London Olympics.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

It can be difficult to be John Reed.

Christopher Hitchens called him a “Bin Ladenist” and Cathy Young editorialized in The Boston Globe that he “blames the victims of terrorism” when he puts out a novel like Snowball’s Chance, a biting send-up of George Orwell‘s Animal Farm which he was inspired to write after the terrorist attacks on September 11. “The clear references to 9/11 in the apocalyptic ending can only bring Orwell’s name into disrepute in the U.S.,” wrote William Hamilton, the British literary executor of the Orwell estate. That process had already begun: it was revealed Orwell gave the British Foreign Office a list of people he suspected of being “crypto-Communists and fellow travelers,” labeling some of them as Jews and homosexuals. “I really wanted to explode that book,” Reed told The New York Times. “I wanted to completely undermine it.”

Is this man who wants to blow up the classic literary canon taught to children in schools a menace, or a messiah? David Shankbone went to interview him for Wikinews and found that, as often is the case, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

Reed is electrified by the changes that surround him that channel through a lens of inspiration wrought by his children. “The kids have made me a better writer,” Reed said. In his new untitled work, which he calls a “new play by William Shakespeare,” he takes lines from The Bard‘s classics to form an original tragedy. He began it in 2003, but only with the birth of his children could he finish it. “I didn’t understand the characters who had children. I didn’t really understand them. And once I had had kids, I could approach them differently.”

Taking the old to make it new is a theme in his work and in his world view. Reed foresees new narrative forms being born, Biblical epics that will be played out across print and electronic mediums. He is pulled forward by revolutions of the past, a search for a spiritual sensibility, and a desire to locate himself in the process.

Below is David Shankbone’s conversation with novelist John Reed.

1 On the alternative media and independent publishing
2 On Christopher Hitchens, Orwell and 9/11 as inspiration
3 On the future of the narrative
4 On changing the literary canon
5 On belief in a higher power
6 On politics
7 On self-destruction and survival
8 On raising children
9 On paedophilia and the death penalty
10 On personal relationships
11 Sources
12 External links

Update since publication

This article mentions that Wi-Fi stands for “Wireless Fidelity”, although this is disputed.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

A Florida man is being charged with 3rd degree felony for logging into a private Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Internet access point without permission. Benjamin Smith III, 41, is set for a pre-trial hearing this month in the first case of its kind in the United States.

This kind of activity occurs frequently, but often goes undetected by the owners of these wireless access points (WAPs). Unauthorized users range from casual Web browsers, to users sending e-mails, to users involved in pornography or even illegal endeavours.

According to Richard Dinon, owner of the WAP Smith allegedly broke into, Smith was using a laptop in an automobile while parked outside Dinon’s residence.

There are many steps an owner of one of these access points can take to secure them from outside users. Dinon reportedly knew how to take these steps, but had not bothered because his “neighbors are older.”

Here’s An Opinion On:

5 Goals Most People Never Reach in Life (but want to)

mishaanatolia

There are some things that go on the New Year’s resolution list every year. This means, despite being on the resolution list for an entire year already, they still have not been accomplished. What are these universal desires people have, and why aren’t they being met? Here are five goals most people never reach in life, but hope they do.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxtyIfyVR5Q[/youtube]

Having the perfect body Losing weight is the number one goal of most Westerners, and it is easy to see that it isn’t being reached. Weight loss products are some of the most successful products offered for sale, even though they often don’t perform the way they claim they will. Why aren’t people losing weight? Because they look at it as a process with a beginning and an end. If they do x, they’ll reach y and they can go on with their lives. Losing weight or gaining muscle, or changing your appearance in any meaningful way takes a permanent change in lifestyle. Once a successful formula for change has been found, it has to be maintained forever in order to really achieve success. People are focusing on the end result: weight loss, instead of focusing on changing the underlying problem: self-discipline. This isn’t to say that people are overweight because they are too lazy to stop eating; weight loss is infinitely more complex than that. It is important to note that the true change needs to happen within the mind before it can happen in the body. These inner changes include developing healthy habits, gaining self-confidence, and taking responsibility for what happens in your life. Reaching their creative potential Talent is common. Even great talent isn’t unique. If talent is so common, why doesn’t everyone reach their potential? Reaching one’s potential takes much more than talent. Nearly everyone has an idea for a novel they want to write; nearly no one actually writes that novel. It takes perseverance, tenacity, confidence, humility, and the ability to try again to succeed and reach your potential. And, just like weight loss, it is something that never stops. A successful novelist doesn’t rest once they have published their first novel. They continue with the dedication, passion, and confidence that got them that far. Because even the most successful people haven’t yet reached their potential. Potential grows as you feed it with passion, practice, and devotion, and continues to do so until you die. Reaching your potential means devoting yourself to your craft and never, ever giving up. Making enough money How much money is “enough”? I bet you can remember a time when you made half as much money as you do now, when the amount you currently bring in seemed so enormous that you thought if only you could reach it, you could finally rest. So why is it still not enough? There are practical, logical reasons, of course, why your money doesn’t add up like you thought it would. You’ve probably got a larger family or more responsibilities than you used to. The biggest reason people never reach that final threshold of having enough money is that they allow their lifestyles to expand in direct correlation to how much money they have. To allow the money you have to become enough, or even more than enough, you need to know what is truly important to you. Spend money on that, on your responsibilities, and nothing else. Being mindful and aware of where your money is going is the only way to finally feel like you have enough. Finding Love Experts estimate that 50% of people end up getting divorced and countless other people never even get married. Finding love and getting married is important to a lot of people, but yet so few people seem to reach this goal. Relationship building is hard an often time consuming. People get busy with work and distracted by technology and entertainment. Instead of going out to new places, people are also content with meeting up with the same friends. Also, people often accept their weaknesses rather than fight to improve themselves in ways that make them more attractive to the opposite gender. To improve the odds of finding the right person, commit time to improving yourself as well as trying different things to meet more people. ‘Arriving’ Then, you might finally arrive. This is the nebulous sensation of having reached your desires. Everyone wants to feel like they’ve arrived, but the sensation is so vague, most people don’t even know what that would look like. The secret to finally having your desires is not to achieve every point on your long list of goals. In fact, once you’ve achieved those goals, it is likely you will feel disappointed, because the feeling of success doesn’t automatically come with concrete success. The only way to feel like you have everything you need is to be aware of each moment as it passes. Live every moment with the courage to face it honestly. Stop trying to change what you have. Accept life as it is. That is the secret to arriving. After that, the grass will never be greener anywhere else.

Misha Anatolia writes about lifestyles, family topics, and parties like bridal showers. For more

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and other

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information, go to bridal-showers.org. If you want more articles, visit our site and click on the Contact Us link. Note: You can reprint this article in your ezine, blog, or website as long as the credits remain intact an

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5 Goals Most People Never Reach in Life (but want to)

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Draft guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in November have established a series of tiers and categories for distribution of scarce vaccine in the event of pandemic flu. These guidelines give strong preference for emergency responders, military and national security personnel, and socially important occupations, such as top politicians, energy sector and communications personnel, bankers, and newborn infants. Distribution of vaccine to the elderly occupies a low priority, especially in the event of a severe pandemic with a case-fatality rate of 2% or more causing more than 1.8 million deaths. The scheme differs significantly from that proposed in Britain in 2005, which gave high priority to the elderly, noting that most of the deaths in recent years – ranging from 12,000 to 29,000 annually – were in elderly patients.

U.S. 2007	Britain 2005
Tier 1. Deployed/mission critical national security, health care providers, police, fire, vaccine manufacturers, top politicians	Priority 1. Health care workers, nursing home staff
*Tier 1.** Pregnant women, infants (*Sub-tier plan places at lower priority than other Tier 1)	Priority 2. Fire, police, security, communications, utilities, undertakers, armed forces
Tier 2. Intelligence, border, national guard, other domestic national security, community support, electricity, natural gas, communications, water, critical government personnel, children, household contacts of infants	Priority 3. High medical risk (e.g. diabetes, immunosuppressed)
	Priority 4. All over 65 years of age
Tier 3. Other active duty military, important health care, transport, food, banking, pharmaceutical, chemical, oil sector personnel, postal and other government, children	Priority 5. Selected industries, e.g. pharmaceuticals
Tier 4. High risk conditions, all over 65 years of age	Priority 6. Children
Tier 5. General public	Priority 7. General public

The plan is open to public comment under U.S. Federal Register guidelines until December 31.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

The U.S. did not inform Pakistan of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden because of fears they were harboring the leader of al-Qaeda and would warn him of the mission, a senior American intelligence official has said. Pakistan has defended itself against allegations it was protecting the world’s most wanted man, and expressed embarrassment after it emerged bin Laden may have been living in the compound in Abbottabad for as many as six years without being intercepted by Pakistan intelligence.

Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, said cooperation between the two countries “could jeopardise the mission” because there were suspicions that elements of the Pakistani government were working with bin Laden. Panetta disclosed U.S. officials had dismissed working with the government of Pakistan early on in the planning of the mission to kill him because of fears that they might “alert” the man named responsible for the September 11 attacks. The revelation will likely raise questions over the level of trust between officials in Washington, D.C. and Islamabad.

The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has attacked “baseless speculation” that Pakistan was harboring bin Laden. The Pakistani foreign ministry also said in a statement that it has “deep concerns and reservations” over the U.S. fears it is sheltering terrorists, and stressed it shared information openly with Washington. But U.S. officials have raised concerns over how Pakistani authorities allowed bin Laden to remain undetected in the country for as many as six years, and tensions are likely to be further strained after the White House announced it would be throughly investigating claims bin Laden had “benefactors” and a “support system” inside Pakistan. John Brennan, a senior counterterrorism official, said: “We are looking right now at how he was able to hold out there for so long.”

Denying they were providing a shelter for bin Laden, Pakistani officials expressed “embarrassment” over failing to detect his presence so close to the capital; they said a full investigation would be launched. “We will inquire into the causes of what happened but it’s really important not to turn it into any allegation of complicity,” the Pakistani ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, said. But Western politicians have expressed skepticism as to how the Pakistani government did not know bin Laden was in the country, despite him living a short distance from the leading elite military training academy. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham asked: “How could he be in such a compound without being noticed?”

It emerged yesterday that bin Laden’s daughter had told Pakistani officials that her father had initially been captured by the U.S. forces and then killed. The White House said on Tuesday that bin Laden had been unarmed during the raid, but the U.S. Navy Seals did meet resistance from other people in the building; it is thought as many as 18 people may have been in the compound. The U.S. left several people behind, including six children; afterwards, Pakistani authorities arrested everyone in the compound.

“If he had surrendered, attempted to surrender, I think we should obviously have accepted that, but there was no indication that he wanted to do that and therefore his killing was appropriate,” U.S. attorney general Eric Holder said yesterday. But the claim by bin Laden’s 12-year-old daughter that U.S. forces captured him and then shot him dead in front of his family appear to contradict this statement. The U.S. has also been forced to defend itself against allegations that the raid was unlawful, and claims that bin Laden was not a legitimate target. Holder told a Senate committee the killing of the al-Qaeda leader was “an act of national self-defence”.

More details have been emerging about how Bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. special forces on a compound not far from Islamabad over the weekend. The U.S. seized computer equipment and mobile telephones from the compound, which will be analysed with the hope they will reveal more information about the workings of al-Qaeda. U.S. president Barack Obama announced the raid on Sunday night. “I can report to the American people and to the world, that the U.S. has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden,” Obama said, and confirmed he had been told in August of a lead to the location of the al-Qaeda leader. Four other people were killed in the raid on the compound; the U.S. sustained no casualties. The body of bin Laden was buried at sea.

	Osama bin Laden is not a trophy—he is dead and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until al-Qaeda has been eliminated.

Last night Obama officially decided the U.S. will not release images of bin Laden’s corpse, which have been described as “very gruesome”. In an interview to be aired on CBS News, Obama will say: “The risks of release outweigh the benefits.” Skeptics have demanded the U.S. release the photographs of the corpse, and officials in the White House have been debating whether to do so for the past several days. But Obama is to add that conspiracy theorists “will just claim the photos are doctored anyway,” and say his decision was partly based on fears that there could be anger in the Middle East if the images were released. “Osama bin Laden is not a trophy—he is dead and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until al-Qaeda has been eliminated.” The images are reported to show bin Laden shot above the left eye, with parts of his brain exposed.

After it was announced on Sunday night that bin Laden had been killed, many Americans begun gathering in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., Times Square and Ground Zero—the site of the World Trade Center—in New York, to celebrate, singing the national anthem. Reports have indicated the U.S. government is awaiting the release of a “martyr tape”—an audio recording made by bin Laden to be broadcast after his death. Many world leaders have said the killing of bin Laden marks a major turning point on the war on terror. “Osama bin Laden suggested that he was operating in the name of Islam, but in reality he makes a mockery of the fundamental values of his own and every other religion,” Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said. But NATO said it would continue the war in Afghanistan to ensure the country “never again becomes a safe haven for extremism, but develops in peace and security.”

The White House also confirmed they expect al-Qaeda may launch a retaliatory attack after bin Laden’s death. “We have anticipated a backlash, a desire, if not the ability, to exact some sort of revenge,” a spokesperson said. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has threatened to launch attacks in Pakistan and the U.S. in revenge for the death of bin Laden. Panetta said: “Though bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda is not. The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must—and will—remain vigilant and resolute.” The U.S. has issued notices advising travelers to avoid large crowds in foreign countries.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Egypt has closed the border with the Gaza Strip, ending 11 days of unrestricted movement for Palestinians.

Egyptian security forces used barbed wire and metal barricades to seal the last remaining gaps in the barricade along the border.

Egyptians who were in Gaza are being allowed to return home, and Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the border are still able to go back to Gaza. But no new crossings are being permitted.

Hamas-affiliated militants on the Gaza side of the border have been turning people back and telling them it is closed. There were reports of scuffles with Gazans who still wanted to cross into Egypt, but most reports said the situation remained fairly calm.

A senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, said Saturday there had been an agreement between Egypt and Hamas to control the border, and suggested that the closure might be temporary. Egyptian officials have not commented on the existence of any deal with Hamas, but have repeatedly vowed to regain full control of the situation at the border.

Local resident Ibrahim Mohammed Ahmed owns a small grocery shop in Rafah. He spoke to VOA by telephone from the nearby town of Sheikh Zuwayad.

He said the situation is tight and controlled now. The government has closed the entire border in Rafah and all the roads. Every 100 meters there is a checkpoint.

A Palestinian who crossed into Egypt to visit relatives, Essam Ibrahim Issa, spoke to VOA by phone from another small community near Rafah.

He said all the roads are blocked and Egyptian security forces are making Palestinians return to Gaza. He said, They put them in trucks and take them back to Rafah.

Issa said Hamas has indicated that the border will re-open in about a week, and he is hoping for a new agreement that will let him cross into Egypt legally.

He said he would be heading home to Gaza later in the day, but once the border crossing is officially reopened, he wants to return to Egypt legally, allowing him freedom of movement.

The border closure ends 11 days of unrestricted movement across the Egypt-Gaza border. Gunmen in Gaza blew open sections of the border barricade on January 23, days after Israel began imposing a near-total blockade on the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egypt to buy food and other supplies that had become scarce or expensive in Gaza.

Egyptian security forces set up a cordon around the border town of Rafah, trying to keep Palestinians from moving further into Egypt. Egypt says at least 17 Palestinians have been arrested in Sinai carrying weapons and explosives since the crisis began.

The international community and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority have objected to any border deal involving Hamas, which violently seized control of Gaza in June.

Egypt, however, views the open border as a serious security risk and has pressed Fatah to accept some kind of deal with Hamas in order to see that it remains under control.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

The following is the second 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 effect of the Brexit vote on the US presidential election is examined; a well known businessman and sports team owner pitches his candidacy for vice president; and Wikinews interviews the winner of the American Independent Party California primary.

1 Summary
2 Brexit’s impact on the US presidential election
3 Cuban makes vice presidential pitch
4 California American Independent Party primary winner speaks to Wikinews
5 Related articles
6 Sources

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Australian airline Qantas has returned the first of its fleet of Airbus A380s to service, after all six of the “superjumbo” aircraft were grounded three weeks ago following one aircraft’s engine sustaining extensive midair damage; it landed safely in Singapore without injury. The airline stated that all of the aircraft have undergone extensive safety inspections and they are satisfied they are safe.

	[It was] certainly the most serious incident that the A380 has experienced since it entered operations.

Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, said: “It’s great that we can reintroduce the aircraft. We are 100 percent comfortable with it. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be restarting the operations today.” A spokesperson confirmed that tests had been performed “in close consultation with Rolls-Royce and Airbus” on the model’s Trent 900 engines. Qantas has replaced at least 14 engines, and modifications have been made to Trent 900s used by two other companies, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.

Experts said that the incident was embarrassing for Airbus; the airline’s shares have dropped by 7% since. Aviation journalist Tom Ballantyne said that the failure earlier this month was “certainly the most serious incident that the A380 has experienced since it entered operations.” The A380 made its first commercial flight in 2007, and is now in service with several other airlines, including Air France. It is the largest commercial passenger airliner in the world, with an 840-passenger maximum capacity, though Qantas’s can carry 450. There are reportedly plans to build a cargo version of the plane, which, aviation experts have suggested, would be the world’s first “triple-decker” freight aircraft; Airbus has not confirmed that this variant will be built.

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

On Saturday, France defeated Argentina 4–3 and Uruguay defeated Portugal 2–1 in the FIFA football World Cup in the Last 16 knockout phase. France is scheduled to play against Uruguay for the quarter-finals.

civilcelebrant.net

British singer George Michael, 53, dies

John Reed on Orwell, God, self-destruction and the future of writing

Contents

Florida man charged with stealing Wi-Fi

5 Goals Most People Never Reach In Life (But Want To)

US Department of Health proposes priorities for flu vaccine distribution

U.S. did not inform Pakistan of bin Laden mission because of suspicions he was being harbored by government

Egypt seals border with Gaza after 11 days

On the campaign trail in the USA, June 2016

Contents

Qantas says A380 aircraft are safe to fly after ‘serious’ incident

FIFA World Cup 2018 Last 16: France, Uruguay sends Argentina and Portugal home

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