fuzhong.org

Thursday, June 10, 2010

An election news report in the U.S. features an error hearkening back to the infamous 1948 “Dewey Defeats Truman” incident – reporting the wrong candidate won the California state election primary.

Candidate Joel Anderson, a member of the California State Assembly, won the Republican Party primary for the California State Senate 36th District being vacated by termed-out politician Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, on Tuesday. With 100 percent of the election precincts reporting, Anderson won over 45 percent of the total votes cast in the Republican primary.

However, The Valley News, a news publication based in Riverside, California, mistakenly reported that Anderson’s opponent, Jeff Stone, had won the Republican primary. The Valley News later deleted its own article and reposted a new one with the correct information about the election results, without posting a correction.

California political journalist Barry Jantz reported that the mistake was due to the publisher of The Valley News only having examined the election results for Riverside, and not the entire election district. The Republican primary won by Anderson encompasses an election district, which includes both Riverside County, and San Diego County.

Jantz noted, “A new story has now been posted, without a trace of the incorrect report or a correction.” He referred to the erroneous article subsequently deleted by the Valley Press as, “the story that was…and wasn’t…and now never existed”. The San Diego County publication, East County Magazine, commented on the incident, and characterized it as “an error reminiscent of the infamous ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ headline.”

“Dewey Defeats Truman” was an erroneous front-page headline by the newspaper Chicago Tribune published November 3, 1948, a day before U.S. President Harry Truman won the 1948 presidential election against New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

Anderson will be the Republican Party candidate in the November general election for California State Senate. His opponent will be Paul Clay, a Democrat and teacher based in Riverside County. The district primarily consists of registered Republicans.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Wikinews interviewed Australian painter Pricasso on his unique artwork created using his penis, and how his art relates to freedom of expression and issues of censorship. He is to be featured at the upcoming adult entertainment event Sexpo Australia in Melbourne this November 5 to November 8.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Transport company Metronet, the firm responsible for upgrading three-quarters of London tube system, is facing administration following a preliminary decision from rail arbiter Chris Bolt which limits the amount that London Underground (TfL) is obliged to pay for cost overruns to £121 million. The company had asked for £551m.

The arbitrations follows a row over who should pay for the overspend, estimated at between £1.2bn and £2bn in total. Metronet have claimed that the costs are due to changing requirements from TfL. This was disputed however by TfL and the Mayor of London, who has said previously that the costs were due to “management incompetence”.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has previously stated that he will not give Metronet one penny more than he is legally obliged to, and that if they go into administration TfL will step in and take control.

The company was awarded the tube contract under a Public-private partnership arrangement, which was a central policy of the Labour government, but fiercely (and legally) contested by the London Mayor.

The Metronet board have said they are considering their position and will make a statement later today or tomorrow.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

According to Pakistani officials, at least ten suspected terrorists were killed in North Waziristan by suspected US drone strikes earlier Wednesday. This is the second US drone attack in the span of two days.

Conflicting media reports say that the first strike consisted of either four or five missiles launched from an unmanned aerial vehicle. They hit a vehicle and a suspected rebel compound in the town of Hamzoni, killing three people.

In the second attack in the Maizar Madakhel area, another five people were reported dead. Pakistani officials say that the area is controlled by Taliban commander Hatiz Gul Bahadur.

Although the US government does not usually confirm drone strikes in Pakistan, analysts say that they are the only ones in the vicinity with access to machinery capable of carrying out said attacks.

On Tuesday, a similar double drone strike killed eight suspected rebels from the same group in the Datta Khel region of Pakistan.

According to the BBC, the US has increased drone strikes recently, and that such attacks have killed several hundred people since August 2008.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A 20-year old male turned the tables on an abusive police officer in St. George, Missouri after he was pulled over inside a commuter parking lot by officer Sgt. James Kuehnlein of the St. George police department.

The St. Louis, Missouri man, Brett Darrow, 20, had installed a hidden camera inside his car, much like the way some police officers do, and caught the entire incident on tape. Darrow then posted the video on the internet on places like YouTube.com.

In the beginning of the nearly 13 minute video, the police officer states that Darrow was being pulled over because his vehicle “seemed suspicious.” Officer Kuehnlein claims that high crime rates in the lot caused Darrow to be pulled over.

Kuehnlein then asks Darrow to step out of the car and asks to see his ID. Darrow then asks what he did wrong and Kuehnlein then blows up on the boy saying “do you want to try me? Do you want to try me tonight? You think you had a bad night? I will ruin your fucking night. Try me young boy.”

Kuehnlein then threatens to send Darrow to jail for “some fucking reason I come up with” and we’ll “see who knows the law better. Don’t ever get smart mouth with a cop again or I will show you what a cop does.” Kuehnlein then begins to threaten Darrow with a list of false charges such as resisting arrest. He can also “come up with nine other things” for every one thing Darrow can come up with. Kuehnlein then tells Darrow that he was being ticketed for not using a turn signal to turn into the lot, but the video clearly proves the officer wrong.

During the entire incident, Darrow barely spoke a word as the officer threatened him saying “I just had a bad night.”

Darrow is then allowed to go, but only after Kuehnlein notices the camera, and not before threatening Darrow some more saying “I don’t really care about your cameras, ’cause I’m about ready to tow your car, then we can tear ’em all apart.”

After the video was posted on the internet, people from all over started to call the police department and complain about the officers actions.

“I was very displeased when I saw the actions on the video. My officers are not trained and taught to act like that,” said Scott Uhrig, chief of the St. George police who added “someone either violated the law or they didn’t. You don’t say, I’ll lock you up and then come up with why afterward.”

Darrow states that he did not take the video to the police chief because he thought the whole thing would be forgotten and “swept under the rug. I wanted everybody to see that this kind of stuff does happen.”

Pending an investigation of the incident, Kuehnlein was suspended without pay.

Wednesday, May 4, 2005

NASA‘s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the latest robotic spacecraft destined for Mars, arrived at Kennedy Space Center‘s Shuttle Landing Facility on April 30 aboard a C-17 cargo plane and was delivered to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to begin processing. Launching is scheduled for August 10, 2005.

With a mission time line through 2010, the MRO will conduct studies of the Martian atmosphere, surface and subsurface in far greater detail than previous missions. Possible landing sites for future Mars landings will be evaluated and the orbiter will also act as a high-data-rate communications relay for surface missions.

“Great work by a talented team has brought Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to this milestone in our progress toward a successful mission,” said Jim Graf of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) project manager for the mission.

Multiple mechanical assembly operations and electrical tests are scheduled to verify the craft’s readiness for launch. A May test to verify communication abilities through NASA’s Deep Space Network will be conducted and in June deployment of the high gain communications antenna will be tested. A deployment test is also scheduled for the Orbiter’s large solar arrays.

The MRO will be filled with hydrazine fuel in July for its “Mars orbit insertion burn” which reduces the craft’s velocity and places it in orbit about the red planet. July 26 will see the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter installed in an Atlas V rocket fairing for final assembly with the rocket on July 29.

After the scheduled launch, the MRO will spend seven months cruising to Mars and another six months aerobraking after orbital insertion. A variety of scientific instruments on board will be used to search for geological evidence of past seas, ancient shorelines. The craft was built near Denver by Lockheed Martin Space Systems which also supplies the Atlas V launch vehicle.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project. International Launch Services, a Lockheed Martin joint venture, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems are providing launch services for the mission.

More information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is available at: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter website

Saturday, July 19, 2008

This year’s Leisure Taiwan trade show (a.k.a Taiwan Sport Recreation and Leisure Show) started yesterday, with 131 companies participating including sports media companies such as ESPN and VideoLand Television, businesses selling sports equipment and fitness clubs.

There were also a variety of sports being played in the arena built for the trade show. The events included a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, free style shooting, and bicycle test-riding. In addition, conferences discussed issues related to sports and physical education.

A major topic in the trade show was energy-efficiency and, as a result, bicycles and similar sports equipment were being heavily promoted.

Next Tuesday, companies from the electronics industry plan to promote their industry at “2008 Digital E-Park.” In previous years, organizations from the electronics industry have showcased their products at Leisure Taiwan instead of at the Digital E-Park, so this move has reduced the number of markets covered by Leisure Taiwan.