Wikinews interviews Jim Babka, chair of Libertarian organization Downsize DC

Thursday, April 3, 2008

A reporter from Wikinews recently interviewed Jim Babka, chair of Libertarian organization Downsize DC. The organization claims to have arranged for 22,158 people to send a message regarding the “American Freedom Agenda Act” proposed by Ron Paul, in addition to supporting many other laws. The full text of the interview can be found below.

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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Rioting and disorder erupted in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday because of a controversial decision to reroute the Orange Order parade. Loyalists attacked the police and army with blast bombs (homemade grenades) and petrol bombs. There was widespread stone-throwing, and barricades were erected on some roads that caused traffic disruptions in the city. In some places, automatic gunfire was heard, with police returning live fire.

Half a dozen police were injured, and two men were taken to hospital — one with a gunshot wound, and another was caught in the blast of an explosion.

The parade route was altered by the Parades Commission. The intended path of the original parade route was through a Nationalist part of Springfield Road, with the potential to result in rioting and violence (the route would have had to pass through a 30 foot high security barrier, one of the “Peace Lines“. Unionists called for the decision to be reconsidered by the Commission; however, no change was made. Instead of passing through Springfield Road, the Orange Order parade was required to proceed through the site of the engineering firm Mackies.

The streets of northern and western Belfast echoed with sounds of violence not commonly heard since the late 1990s and the Troubles. Petrol and blast bombs were used by rioters, and water cannon and plastic bullets were used by police. Several cars and a bus were hijacked, and roads were closed off by mobs of people. A number of buildings were set alight with fire around the outskirts of the city.

Throughout the night, violence spread to outlying towns around Belfast, including Ballymena, Ballyclare, Carrickfergus and Larne.

Police Chief Constable Hugh Orde described the rioting as perhaps the worst such situation ever seen in the United Kingdom – particularly because of the use of firearms in a public order situation. He controversially held the Orange Order responsible for the disorder, and complained about the politicians who called for people to protest. The Rev. Ian Paisley had threatened at the time of the parade rerouting decision by the Parades Commission that it “could be the spark which kindles a fire there would be no putting out”.

The response of Unionist politicians has been to accuse the police of brutal and heavy-handed tactics. Hugh Orde has praised the police for being “heroes”, and suggested that no other police force in the UK, Europe, and perhaps even the US has had to deal with such ferocity in a public order situation. Unionists described the Chief Constable’s comments as “inflammatory”.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

On Friday evening, an explosion in Chengdu, China caused partial shutdown of a facility operated by Foxconn, one of the world’s biggest electronics manufacturers and a major supplier to companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony, Apple, Motorola and Nokia. Initial investigations now suggest the explosion was caused by poor ventilation, which lead to high concentrations of combustible dust.

The blast happened at 7:18PM, around the time workers change shifts. A fire followed. Emergency services had control by 7:30PM. At least three people were killed, at least fifteen injured. Foxconn halted production to investigate, saying “All operations at the affected workshop remain suspended and production at all other workshops that carry out similar processing functions have also been halted pending the results of the investigation. All other production operations in our facilities in China continue operating normally.”

On Monday, city officials gave the cause as combustible dust in the air at a polishing workshop. Hong Kong-based labor rights group Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior said they reported aluminium dust problems in March when they reviewed working conditions at Foxconn. After the explosion, they commented that workers were complaining “the ventilation of the department is poor. Workers polish the iPad cases to make them shiny. In the process, there is lots of aluminum (aluminium) dust floating in the air. Workers always breathe in aluminum dust even though they put on masks. When workers take off their cotton gloves, their hands are covered with aluminum dust.”

Foxconn responded by saying the group was trying to “capitalize on the tragic accident” and misrepresented “Foxconn’s commitment to the health and safety of our employees.”

Foxconn is responsible for making iPads and iPhones for Apple. Research group IHS iSuppli said the explosion may cause loss of production of 500,000 iPads during this quarter of the year. They said there is a larger facility in Shenzhen, but it cannot cope with re-compensating the possible loss.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

On Wednesday, Britain’s new prime minister Boris Johnson appointed Ben Wallace the new Secretary of State for Defence.

Wallace himself served in the British Army. In 1990, he was commisioned into the Scots Guards and left in 1998 as the Company Commmander of the F Company Scots Guards. After this appointment he took up politics and took a major interest in the armed forces.

Following this appointment, it is expected he will be very supportive.

Upon gaining this new role he commented, “As a former officer with the Scots Guards, it is an honour to take up this role at the Ministry of Defence”, and later saying, “I look forward to getting started and meeting colleagues from across the department and our military.”

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Monday, November 5, 2012

With the U.S. presidential election looming, former New Mexico governor and current Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson spoke with Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn on an assortment of economic, foreign, and social issues. In the interview, Johnson makes his final plea to voters before they cast their ballots on Election Day, November 6.

Though a member of the Libertarian Party in the early 1990s, Johnson was elected and re-elected governor of New Mexico in 1994 and 1998 as a Republican. During his governorship, he vetoed over 750 bills, more than all other then-governors combined, and left the state with a $1 billion budget surplus. He briefly ran for president as a Republican in 2011 before rejoining the Libertarian Party to seek its 2012 presidential nomination.

After winning the nomination this past May, Johnson has campaigned throughout the nation espousing the Fair Tax, spending cuts across the board, a repeal of Obamacare, an audit of the Federal Reserve, a non-interventionist foreign policy, an end to the Drug War, and legalization of same-sex marriage. He and his running mate, Judge Jim Gray of California, have attained ballot access in all U.S. states except Michigan, where he is a write-in candidate, and Oklahoma. Nationally, he has received four percent registered-voter support in the past two CNN/Opinion Research Polls that included him with President Barack Obama, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. It is the campaign’s goal to reach five percent on Election Day, which will enable the party to receive ballot access and federal funding on par with the two major parties.

With Wikinews, Johnson discusses the federal budget, education, entitlements, the Syrian uprising, Mexican Drug War, same-sex marriage, the Libertarian Party, and his political future.

Featured articles are selected by the community to represent the best of Wikinews. See the Featured Article Candidates page for nominations and discussions of candidate articles for this page. Or, subscribe to the RSS feed!

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Monday, March 20, 2006

Fears of contaminated bone and skin grafts are being felt by unsuspecting patients following the revelation that funeral homes may have been looting corpses.

Janet Evans of Marion Ohio was told by her surgeon, “The bone grafts you got might have been contaminated”. She reacted with shock, “I was flabbergasted because I didn’t even know what he was talking about. I didn’t know I got a bone graft until I got this call. I just thought they put in screws and rods.”

The body of Alistair Cooke, the former host of “Masterpiece Theatre,” was supposedly looted along with more than 1,000 others, according to two law enforcement officials close to the case. The tissue taken was typically skin, bone and tendon, which was then sold for use in procedures such as dental implants and hip replacements. According to authorities, millions of dollars were made by selling the body parts to companies for use in operations done at hospitals and clinics in the United States and Canada.

A New Jersey company, Biomedical Tissue Services, has reportedly been taking body parts from funeral homes across Brooklyn, New York. According to ABC News, they set up rooms like a “surgical suite.” After they took the bones, they replaced them with PVC pipe. This was purportedly done by stealth, without approval of the deceased person or the next of kin. 1,077 bodies were involved, say prosecuters.

Investagators say a former dentist, Michael Mastromarino, is behind the operation. Biomedical was considered one of the “hottest procurement companies in the country,” raking in close to $5 million. Eventually, people became worried: “Can the donors be trusted?” A tissue processing company called LifeCell answered no, and issued a recall on all their tissue.

Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge, said, “To know his bones were sold was one thing, but to see him standing truncated before me is another entirely.” Now thousands of people around the country are receiving letters warning that they should be tested for infectious diseases like HIV or hepatitis. On February 23, the Brooklyn District Attorney indicted Mastromarino and three others. They are charged with 122 felony counts, including forgery and bodysnatching.