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Former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer announces run for president

Friday, July 22, 2011

Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer announced Thursday at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire that he will officially run for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2012. Roemer, who had explored a bid for the past several months, wants to focus his campaign on the issues of campaign finance reform and fair trade.

Roemer, 67, served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1980s as a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected governor in 1987 and served once again as a Democratic Party member before switching to the Republican Party ahead of the 1991 gubernatorial election. He lost the party’s primary to David Duke, who is also considering a 2012 presidential run.

Roemer, who has $19,000 left from his exploratory committee, only accepts contributions from individuals below $100. He argued during his announcement that “I have deliberately chosen a path requiring the help of many because that’s the way to win and, more importantly, that’s the way to get these mighty things done after the election.” He says he is waging his campaign against “special interests”.

Political adviser Mark McKinnon who worked on Roemer’s first gubernatorial campaign, argues that he “has an important message about the corrupt influence of money in politics” but complains that the media has delegated him as an “improbable, long-shot, third-tier, comic book” candidate. Roemer has not been invited to any Republican primary debates and usually polls below one percent.

He has based his campaign in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, where he leases an apartment, and plans to utilize a one-on-one strategy to build grassroots support. He enters a growing field of candidates that includes fellow former governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Jon Huntsman, Jr. of Utah and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, as well as Representatives Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Ron Paul of Texas and Thad McCotter of Michigan. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and businessman Herman Cain are also running.

Roemer argues that “neither the president nor any of the other candidates for this office addresses or has solutions for the major problems facing America.” But Roemer believes he does. He tells viewers to stay tuned to his campaign and that it will be something “you don’t wanna miss”.

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US government ‘can continue’ eavesdropping

Thursday, October 5, 2006

A US federal appeals court has ruled that the US government can continue wiretapping without warrants until its appeal against an earlier ruling has been heard.

When the case was brought to federal judge Anna Diggs Taylor by civil liberties campaigners, specifically the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in August last year, she ruled the practice unconstitutional, a ruling which the federal government had appealed against. The 6th US Circuit Court has since suspended that ruling.

The Terrorist Surveillance Program, as the program is known, was approved by President Bush after the September 11 attacks. It allows the monitoring of telephone and email traffic in and out of the US.

The Bush administration has welcomed the ruling.

In a statement, White House press secretary Dana Perino said that “We are pleased to see that it will be allowed to continue while the Court of Appeals examines the trial court’s decision, with which we strongly disagree”. Washington has also said that the interception of such traffic is legal and is necessary in what President Bush describes as the “war on terror”.

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Broward County Sheriff’s police dog killed in shootout in Florida

Thursday, July 17, 2008

A man shot and killed a Broward County Sheriff’s Office police dog in Miami Beach after a two-county chase in Florida early Thursday morning.

The shooter, Delvin Lewis, 27, was firing shots at his girlfriend during a domestic dispute in Oakland Park. When police arrived, the suspect got into his car and fled, engaging roughly 20 cruisers in a 30-mile chase which ended near Mount Sinai Medical Center’s emergency room in Miami Beach. An exchange of gunfire followed in which Lewis reportedly killed the dog. ER doctors tried to save the animal but it was too late.

The shooter was also struck and has been taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he remains with no life threatening injuries.

According to a Mount Sinai spokeswoman hospital facilities are now accessible after the authorities locked down the area for three hours following the shooting.

Lewis has been arrested 26 times by Florida authorities including one in July 2003 in which he injured a police dog striking him repeatedly on the head with a cellphone.The suspect has been charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer, aggravated fleeing and eluding, resisting an officer with violence and principal in the death of a police dog.

Hitting a police dog is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in jail, while killing a police officer is a capital offense which can lead to the death penalty.

Miami-Dade Police Department is handling the investigation which involves Broward Sheriff Office and Miami Beach police.

Lewis has been in and out of jail since 2000 and had been arrested for domestic battery in 2000 and 2004, when he beat a pregnant woman.

The dog, whose name was Oozi, was a 7-1/2 years old Belgian Malinois assigned to BSO’s Cooper City district. He was trained in narcotics and helped in hundreds of arrests in his career, including 35 this year.

Oozi and his partner, Deputy Gerald Wengert, were named BSO’s Employees of the month in May for their role in the apprehension of three burglary suspects.

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Proposal for Buffalo, N.Y. hotel reportedly dead: parcels for sale “by owner”

Buffalo, N.Y. Hotel Proposal Controversy
Recent Developments
  • “120 year-old documents threaten development on site of Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal” — Wikinews, November 21, 2006
  • “Proposal for Buffalo, N.Y. hotel reportedly dead: parcels for sale “by owner”” — Wikinews, November 16, 2006
  • “Contract to buy properties on site of Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal extended” — Wikinews, October 2, 2006
  • “Court date “as needed” for lawsuit against Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal” — Wikinews, August 14, 2006
  • “Preliminary hearing for lawsuit against Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal rescheduled” — Wikinews, July 26, 2006
  • “Elmwood Village Hotel proposal in Buffalo, N.Y. withdrawn” — Wikinews, July 13, 2006
  • “Preliminary hearing against Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal delayed” — Wikinews, June 2, 2006
Original Story
  • “Hotel development proposal could displace Buffalo, NY business owners” — Wikinews, February 17, 2006

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Buffalo, New York —A proposed hotel that was supposed to be built at the corner of Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo, New York is apparently off the table. The former proposal was going to be called The Elmwood Village Hotel and would have consisted of 72 rooms and cost between $7 to $10 million American dollars to build.

Today several unknown individuals were seen removing a sign that was dedicated to the “Elmwood Village Gateway,” which signifies the beginning of the Elmwood Village at the formerly proposed project’s location.

Nearly an hour later the men replaced the sign with a different and unexpected sign: “For Sale: 5 commercial parcels and 1 carriage house, By: Owner.” Those 5 “parcels” are 1109-1121 Elmwood and 999 Forest Avenue, which is located in an illegal alley, according to the City of Buffalo, behind the 5 other properties on Elmwood. Hans Mobius owns all properties named in the sale.

Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Companies never owned the properties and has repeatadly told Wikinews in exclusive interviews that he still had a “contract to buy the properties” and on October 2, 2006 told Wikinews in an exclusive interview that he “extended” the “agreement to purchase the property[s] and will have it under contract for what we hope is a sufficient period of time.”

“He [Mobius] is undoubtedly concerned because he has lost some tenants and is a bit impatient. I think he has properly portrayed the situation,” said Savarino in an exclusive interview with Wikinews.

Savarino also says that there may be “legal issues” to work out now, before anything else can move forward, regarding the proposal.

“There are some legal complexities that must be sorted out before anything can happen there,” added Savarino.

The welcome sign was; however, not removed entirely. The sign was placed, facing the same direction of north, on the side of the Forest Plaza Art Gallery, a new art gallery located on the corner of Forest and Elmwood.

Nancy Pollina, owner of Don Apparel which was located at 1109 Elmwood, but closed on October 14, 2006 considers this a possible “victory” in regards to the lawsuit filed against the hotel to stop it from being built, alleging that several laws were broken, including not performing an Environmental Impact Study before the proposal was approved by the city, during its approval and the proposal was “rushed.” Patricia Morris, who operates Don Apparel with Pollina, Angeline Genovese and Evelyn Bencinich, owners of residences on Granger Place which abut the rear of the proposed site, Nina Freudenheim, a resident of nearby Penhurst Park, and Sandra Girage, the owner of a two-family residence on Forest Avenue less than a hundred feet from the proposed hotel’s sole entrance and exit driveway, were also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They filed the suit with a lawyer representing them, Arthur J. Giacalone, on April 25, 2006 in New York State Supreme Court, but the case has never gone to a courtroom.

Giacalone believes that a press release issued in July regarding the project was nothing but a statement to “save face,” but that the placement of the for sale sign might be a way of convincing Savarino to speed up the sale of the properties.

“I thought all along that Savarino’s July press release might be no more than an effort to save face. But we have no way of knowing. Similarly, Mobius might have put the for-sale sign up in an attempt to pressure Savarino into closing the deal. There’s no way to tell,” said Giacalone in an exclusive interview with Wikinews.

In regards to the lawsuit, Giacalone thinks it may now be in “limbo.”

“The lawsuit still sits in limbo,” added Giacalone.

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Cargo ship Arctic Sea may be found

Saturday, August 15, 2009

A cargo ship spotted off the African island nation of Cape Verde could be the missing MV Arctic Sea.

The Maltese flagged MV Arctic Sea disappeared off the French coast sometime after July 29. Owned by the Russian Arctic Sea company she was operated by the Finnish Solchart Management company and had a Russian crew.

French intelligence sources have found a ship matching the Arctic Sea’s description about 400 Nautical miles north of São Vicente.

The Arctic Sea was on a scheduled route from the Finnish seaport of Pietarsaari to the Algerian seaport of Béjaïa with a cargo of timber when it was boarded in Swedish waters between the islands Öland and Gotland on the night of July 24. The alleged boarders left the ship the same day according to its crew and the ship continued her voyage although it would have been expected to anchor at the nearest port.

The last official contact with the ship was with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Britain on July 28. Viktor Matveyev, the director of Solchart Management says the ship radioed that it was off the coast of Portugal on July 31. The 98-meter-long ship has so far not reached the Straits of Gibraltar and is now being sought by the Portuguese Navy and Russian Navy.

If proven this could be the first case of piracy in Europe in the modern era. There is speculation as to the reason for the ship’s hijacking, as its cargo of wood, valued at 1.3 million euros, is not especially valuable. Suggestions include possible contraband, and the possibility of a commercial dispute between the crew or some other party and the ship’s owners.

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Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch to be auctioned off

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Neverland Valley Ranch, owned by Michael Jackson, is to be sold at auction on March 19, 2008, unless Jackson pays over US$24 million.

Financial Title Company, the trustee of his Santa Barbara County, California, home and amusement park, has foreclosed on the property. They notified Jackson of the foreclosure and sale on Monday. Jackson had only just recently paid an overdue property tax bill of $600,000.

The court filing, addressed to Jackson, says, “You are in default of a deed of trust … Unless you take action to protect your property it may be sold at a public sale.” Fox News published the filing.

The foreclosure includes the ranch and all possessions on the property, inside or out.

The foreclosure auction will take place in front of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in Santa Barbara. Jackson has until then to pay $24,525,906.61 he owes the title company.

In 2006, Jackson refinanced previous loans that had been bought up by Fortress Investment Group. The $300-million loan was secured with the aid of Sony Music Entertainment. However, the Neverland property was not part of that deal.

Jackson has not lived at Neverland since June 30, 2005, when he moved to Bahrain after a rape charge and subsequent acquittal.

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McCain delays campaign, Obama says continue the debates

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

United States presidential candidate John McCain announced today that he is suspending his campaign and sought to postpone a scheduled debate with his opponent, Barack Obama, to focus on the country’s financial crisis and says that Obama should also suspend his campaign.

McCain said he would be asking president George W. Bush to call a meeting for members of Congress in order to support Bush’s controversial $700 billion bailout plan, but also said that there is no consensus for the proposal and it will not pass in its current form.

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He called the crisis “historic,” stressing the need for legislation and warning of “devastating consequences”.

“I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem. It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal and I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands. We are running out of time,” said McCain during a press conference.

Early this morning, Obama had called McCain and asked for the two to put aside partisanship and focus on the economic troubles. The two agreed to issue a joint statement supporting an economic fix, just minutes before McCain made his announcement. Bush is scheduled to speak to the people of the U.S. in a televised speech at 9:01 PM EDT tonight.

Obama responded to McCain’s speech minutes later, confirming that he would still attend the debate. He expressed a desire for fairness to taxpayers and an objection to rewarding those responsible for the financial crisis. Both candidates have stated that they intend to put politics aside to work on the financial crisis. Obama said, a president “is going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time.”

The proposal comes in the wake of Congressional hearings where US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have urged support of the measures proposed by the administration. Despite such appeals, both McCain and Obama have expressed skepticism over the proposed bailout, and the U.S. Congress has shown a noted concern that the measure may not benefit ordinary home owners as well as those on Wall Street.

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MST creates Marxist school in Brazil

http://www.mst.org.br/multimidia/gfotos/fotos/escolaff8peq.jpg

Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes

Photo: MST

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – The Landless Workers Movement (MST) inaugurated on Sunday the school Florestan Fernandes created by the movement. The school is located at the city of Guararema, 60Km (37.282 miles) from São Paulo and is about 30,000 m 2 {\displaystyle m^{2}} . Its estimated cost was about US$ 1,3 million, the money coming from the European Union, NGOs from France and Germany and the MST’s own finances.

The inauguration was attended by the Brazilian Minister of the Agrarian Development Miguel Rosseto, Venezuelan Education and Culture Ministeries delegates, the writer Fernando Morais among other international guests.

According to the MST the proposed courses for the school are: professorship and pedagogy (teaching), collective administration expert, general farming, movement leadership, and Human and Social Sciences.

João Pedro Stédile, a leader of the MST said:”This school is for taking the power for the workers. So that the friends transform the scientific knowledge into instrument of liberation and not of exploitation, as they do.”He also said: “Our enemies are the large farmers, the imperialism, the multinationals, the bankers, the capitalist exploitation and the ignorance. Against them we fight.” According to him the school has an ideological function.

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European Space Agency seeks volunteers for Mars simulation

Thursday, June 28, 2007

The European Space Agency (ESA) is seeking volunteers who would be ready to take a part on three simulated missions to Mars.

The anticipated missions will be a joint effort from ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency. Each crew will consist of six persons – two Europeans and four Russians. The ESA is looking for 2 crewmembers and two backups that must come from ESA member nations that participate in the ELIPS program.

The flight simulation should last between 105 to 520 days in a closed modules set of total space of 500 . The goal of the mission is to test the psychological stress of the long-distance travel. To make the experience as realistic as possible, the contact with the external world shall exist only via the radio with a time-delay of 40 minutes (simulating the time required for signals to travel between the Earth and Mars).

The first test of 105 days should start in middle of 2008 and the last one should start at the end 2008 or the beginning of 2009.

Interested persons can apply via an application form published on the ESA website.