Author of My Billion Year Contract reflects on life in elite Scientology group

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Nancy Many about her book My Billion Year Contract, and asked her about life working in the elite Scientology group known as the “Sea Org“. Many joined Scientology in the early 1970s, and after leaving in 1996 she later testified against the organization. Published in October, Many’s book has gone on to become one of the top selling new books on Scientology at Amazon.com.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

On Sunday in London, England, according to witness accounts and authorities, a man wearing a fake suicide vest entered a store, grabbed a large knife, ran outside with it and began to stab people. Reportedly he injured a man and two women on Streatham High Road, London. Armed plainclothes officers, already surveilling him for counter-terrorism purposes, chased him on foot. The officers eventually shot him dead, reportedly outside a Boots store, at around 14:00 local time in what the police declared a “terrorist-related” attack.

An eyewitness described for news agency PA Media how the attack unfolded, stating, “I was crossing the road when I saw a man with a machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by what I assume was an undercover police officer […] The man was then shot. I think I heard three gunshots but I can’t quite remember.”

Two women and a man were injured, according to the reports. The man was briefly listed in critical condition. A woman had minor injuries reportedly from glass shattering after police discharged their firearms, and the remaining woman was in “not life-threatening” condition.

The attacker, identified as Sudesh Amman, 20, was placed under police surveillance after being released from prison a week ago. He was imprisoned in 2018 when he was 18 and served half his sentence for 13 separate terror offenses. Amman, who was described as “knife-obsessed” by the police, sent his girlfriend videos of beheadings and extremist text messages, and advised her to kill her “kuffar” (non-Muslim) parents. He told her on one occasion: “If you can’t make a bomb because family, friends or spies are watching or suspecting you, take a knife, molotov, sound bombs or a car at night and attack the tourists (crusaders), police and soldiers of taghut [idolatry], or western embassies in every country you are in this planet.”

Alexis Boon, the head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said about Amman: “His fascination with dying in the name of terrorism was clear in a notepad we recovered from his home. Amman had scrawled his ‘life goals’ in the notepad and top of the list, above family activities, was dying a martyr and going to ‘Jannah’ — the afterlife. It’s not clear how Amman became radicalised but it is apparent from his messages that it had been at least a year in development. Whatever the circumstances, this case is a reminder of the need to be vigilant to signs of radicalisation and report it.”

Police also recovered a bomb-making guidebook in his position and, on investigation in his family home in London, a black flag and an air gun.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, thanked “the police, security and emergency services staff for their swift and courageous response”.

“Terrorists seek to divide us and to destroy our way of life,” said Khan, “here in London we will never let them succeed.”

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, tweeted: “Thank you to all emergency services responding to the incident in Streatham, which the police have now declared as terrorism-related. My thoughts are with the injured and all those affected.”

Wednesday, January 18, 2006File:Greenpeace Vessels Esperanza and Arctic Sun.jpg

Anti-whaling protesters have joined forces across Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.S.A calling for an end to the killing of whales for meat by Japan. Greenpeace organised the international day of action as it continued its efforts to disrupt the hunting of minke whales by the Japanese whaling fleet currently in the Southern Ocean.

The day of action was being marked to protest the actions of the fleet which protesters believe violate the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) global ban on commercial whaling. Japan’s JARPA Japanese Whale Research Program was allowed to operate under a Special Permit in the Antarctic according to Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. In its JARPA-2 plan, Japan plans to double its annual scientific research catch of Minke whales to 935, and to add 10 Fin whales to its quota. The International Fund for Animal Welfare states that over the next two years, Japan plans to kill 50 endangered Humpback whales and an additional 40 fin whales.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe led a cabinet meeting on Tuesday without the presence of unity partner Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who was out of the country on a regional tour to appeal for help with mediation. This comes after Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party pulled out of the unity government several days ago, protesting what they called “dishonest and unreliable” behaviour by Mugabe.

Zimbabwe state media reported on Tuesday that President Mugabe will not recognise Tsvangirai’s suspension of ties with the government until he is formally informed. The state-owned daily newspaper, The Herald, quoted Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, as saying Tsvangirai is still prime minister and is expected to attend cabinet meetings.

“Government is not run through media statements. In the same way that President Mugabe formally appointed him to the post of Prime Minister he must also communicate any decision to disengage or whatever it is they are calling it, in a formal manner,” Charamba said.

“This can be done orally or in writing but in a formal manner. From that point of view nothing has happened. Until the communication is done formally the president has no reason or any grounds to think or know otherwise,” he said.

Tsvangirai, who “disengaged” from the country’s unity government last week, was accused by the newspaper of traveling without cabinet approval. The leader of the MDC party is on a ten-day trip of Southern African Development Community countries, who helped to negotiate the troubled power sharing agreement in Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai is not due to return to Zimbabwe until sometime next week.

According to The Herald, government officials said that Tsvangirai had attempted to obtain cabinet authority for his trip while en route to the airport, but was told that it was too late to receive it.

However, University of Zimbabwe political science professor John Makumbe said he believed Tsvangirai’s partial withdrawal from the national unity government was long overdue and ZANU-PF’s reaction is mere posturing. “Morgan Tsvangirai has done the right thing, he must light fires and make ZANU-PF run around putting the fires out. What he has been doing to date is agreeing to be treated like a tea-boy, he has been told what to do and he has done it without asking questions,” Makumbe said.

He said that Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party couldn’t risk going it alone, as Tsvangirai has a stronger claim to legitimacy as his party won the elections in March 2008.

Ministers from a splinter faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara attended the cabinet meeting. Mutambara, who is one of two deputy prime ministers, said at a news conference on Monday that he was talking to both Mugabe and Tsvangirai. He said the national unity government is Zimbabwe’s only hope of moving forward. “We are determined to give this government a fighting chance because in our mind there is no plan B,” Mutambara said.

Tsvangirai announced last week that his party would not withdraw from the unity government altogether, but would boycott the executive branch whose ministries it shares with the ZANU-PF party. He cited the reluctance of Mugabe to implement matters that had been agreed to in the so-called Global Political Agreement, which brought the national unity government to power.

Among the outstanding issues is the appointment of governors and the alleged harassment of his party members and Members of Parliament. His announcement came two days after agriculture deputy minister designate Roy Bennett was arrested and re-detained on charges of insurgency and terror. Bennett has since been released on bail, but Tsvangirai has said his party will not participate in government until all the issues he raised have been resolved.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A recent media report indicates that 75 Parkland Hospital employees in Dallas, Texas were dismissed over the past three months. These actions follow closely behind a lengthy spell of government regulatory sanctions and failed inspections at both the state and federal levels. The hospital’s interim CEO did confirm for media sources that numerous employees had been “encouraged to leave” during the past few months.

The hospital hired a new chief nursing officer in January and has been reorganizing nursing services throughout the facility. In September, the hospital and federal regulators in Dallas entered into an agreement which requires the hospital to reach compliance by April 2013.

After discussing some personal experiences there, a long-time resident of Dallas, who has sought treatment at the hospital told Wikinews, “Frankly, I don’t have anything positive to say about Parkland [hospital].” Our source did not want to give his name.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Residents in the city of Port Harcourt said that Nigerian troops burnt down hundreds of slum dwellings, allegedly as reprisal after an Army sergeant was killed in Thursday’s abduction of oil workers in the area.

Residents told news agencies that troops poured petrol over slum houses located near a compound belonging to Saipem, a subsidiary of Italian oil company Eni, and set them alight. The fires have reportedly destroyed hundreds of homes and shops and hundreds of people are said to have fled from the area. On Friday, people returning to the area and onlookers were chased away by soldiers.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Army Brigadier General Samuel Salihu denied that Nigerian troops were responsible for the arson. He said that militants active in the area had set the fires, wearing Army camouflage.

On Thursday, oil workers were kidnapped from a bar near the slums by armed men who shot dead an Army soldier guarding the workers, and injured another soldier. Nigerian military sources said at least two foreign oil workers were missing, one of them, Italian. The Italian foreign ministry, though, said that three foreigners were missing.

The oil-rich Niger Delta region has witnessed a spate of kidnappings recently. Nineteen people were held captive in eight separate abductions this month. All but three of them have been released since, some after the state government and the oil companies paid a ransom.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group which has taken hostages and attacked oil facilities, but says it does not kidnap for ransom, said in a statement that it the state government has encouraged such abductions by paying ransoms.

Last week, as part of a tougher line adopted by the Nigerian government, President Obasanjo sent in the Army, with orders to use “force for force” against militants in the region. Over 160 people were taken into custody in a two day crackdown, including over 100 from a nearby slum, but most have been released since then.

The BBC’s Alex Last reports that local leaders and oil companies are concerned that this new tough policy will increase tensions in the region.

Friday, March 20, 2009

New Jersey is considering a state-wide ban on Brazilian waxes, the removal of hair from the bikini area.

Although genital waxing has never really been allowed in the state, the New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling plans to propose a ban with more specific legal wording, in response to two women who reported being injured during a wax. The board will consider the proposal at their next meeting on April 14.

If the measure passes, New Jersey may become the only US state to ban the practice outright.

Although millions of Americans engage in bikini waxes, which generally cost between $50 and $60 per session, the practice comes with risks. Skin care experts say the hot wax can irritate delicate skin in the bikini area, and result in infections, ingrown hairs and rashes.

Waxing on the face, neck, abdomen, legs and arms would continue to be permitted in the state under the proposed ban. Although New Jersey statutes have always banned bikini waxing, the laws were unclear and seldom enforced.

As a result, many salons from around the state have offered bikini waxing for years. Many salon owners spoke out against the proposed ban, which they said would severely damage their business.

“I really don’t know if the state can stop it at this point,” said Valentia Chistova, owner of the Monmouth County salon Brazil. “I know a lot of women who are really hooked.”

Saturday, October 15, 2005

In the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation,researchers announce that they have found that cannabinoids promoted a generation of new neurons in rats’ hippocampi. The study held true for both a plant-derived and a synthetic cannabinoid. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that contributes to learning and memory. In particular, it has been shown that the hippocampus is essential for the formation of new episodic memories.

“This is quite a surprise, chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three months,” said Xia Zhang, with the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit of the University of Saskatchewan.

“Our results were obtained from rats, and there’s a big difference between rats and humans,” added Zhang, “So, I really don’t know yet if our findings apply to humans. But our results indicate that the clinical use of marijuana could make people feel better by helping control anxiety and depression.”

Zhang and his co-workers performed behavioral tests on two purified cannabinoids. The test results indicated that these two cannabinoids have anti-anxiety and antidepression-like effects in rats that may depend on the ability of cannabinoids to promote the production of new neurons in the hippocampus. Marijuana contains a complex mixture of chemicals including cannabinoids and may have somewhat different behavioral effects than the purified cannabinoids tested so far.

Previous studies examining the effects of cannabis have highlighted negative aspects of the drug’s use, such as short term memory difficulties, increased heart rate, nausea, and (in a very small percentage of people) hallucinations. Long term studies about cannabis use tend to be controversial as the data is seen to be biased or flawed. The most agreed upon effect of long term cannabis use is lung damage. However, proponents argue that the correlation between cannabis consumption and lung cancer is misleading suggesting that cannabis use may correlate with tobacco use or that the data is not being properly analyzed.