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Saturday, March 7, 2009

After almost two months of delay, NASA has set March 11 as the launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery. On February 22, NASA had stated that they indefinitely delayed the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, which was originally scheduled for takeoff on February 12. Launch was then further delayed until February 25 before being delayed indefinitely on February 22. NASA cited the need for additional time to evaluate the shuttle’s hydrogen fuel flow control valves.

Liftoff is set for nighttime on Wednesday, March 11, at approximately 9:20 p.m. (EST) from Launch Complex 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The official countdown to launch will commence Sunday, March 8.

“The team came through, worked hard and was efficient. It’s time now to step back and think of everything else we need to watch before launch on the 11th. There’s no better team than this one and I thank them for putting the right analysis together,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA.

NASA wanted to perform additional tests on the valves which control the amount of hydrogen fuel pumped into the external tank when the shuttle is taking off before making a decision to launch. When Space Shuttle Endeavour went into space in November 2008, one of the valves broke. NASA fears that if one breaks off on this mission, then it could damage the outside of the shuttle.

The current scheduled mission, STS-119, is set to fly the Integrated Truss Structure segment (“S” for starboard, the right side of the station, and “6” for its place at the very end of the starboard truss) and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The arrays consist of two 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet, including the equipment that connects the two halves and allows them to twist as they track the sun. Altogether, the four sets of arrays can generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power for more than 40 average homes.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery’s crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

This past Sunday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a bill known as “Rocky’s Law” that requires Illinois high schools, through the local school district, to buy catastrophic injury insurance up to US$3 million or medical costs for up to five years, whichever one comes first, that covers student athletes. The insurance must cover student athletes while they are competing.

The legislation was named after Rasul “Rocky” Clark. In 2000, the Eisenhower High School football player became paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a tackle during a game. His school based health insurance covered the costs of his medical treatment. A legislator sponsoring the bill noted that the need for this type of insurance is rare. Clark’s mother attended the legislation signing. Her son died last year.

Before parents can claim money from school insurance, they first must pay out US$50,000. Schools have until January 1, 2014 to comply with the law. Schools cannot charge students more than US$5 to defray the cost of insurance. If a school district already requires student to be covered through private health insurance, they are exempted from this law.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 40). One candidate responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Sunny Eren, Norm Kelly (incumbent), George Pappas, and Winston Ramjeet.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Pakistan police stormed the offices of television news broadcaster Geo news in the capital city using tear gas and firing rubber bullets in the building.

Police personnel charged into the facility batons drawn and thrashed offices and attacked the staff of GEO News and its sister affiliates the The News International and Jang newspaper, forcing the channel to go off air for more than six hours on Thursday.

The news channel’s attempts to go on air from the port city of Karachi, some 2700 kilometers away, were thwarted by the pro-Musharraf government of Sindh.

Bomb disposal squad backed by federal paramilitary force stormed the Karachi office forcing an immediate evacuation of the premises. The bomb disposal squad took two and half hours to conduct an office to office sweep of the five story building, resulting in damage to computer and camera equipment.

Geo News continuously airing a prerecorded loop of prayers asking God to bless the nation and guide the leaders by granting them mental abilities to make proper decisions in critical times. The loop also continuously showed the footage of the nation’s founder, Qaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah, addressing the first constituent assembly of Pakistan and promising freedom of speech and press, along with clips from riots and military bombing of the former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

President Pervez Musharraf came on live phone call within minutes of resumption of transmissions and said, “I apologize for what has happened, I see this as a conspiracy to uproot my government.”

General Musharraf came to power after a blood-less coup in 1999 by overthrowing the democratically elected government of Nawaz Sharif, charging the government with corruption.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The United Kingdom-based mobile Linux developers OpenedHand have announced that they have been acquired by the Intel Corporation, merging the Linux company with the Intel Open Source Technology Center.

“We are pleased to announce that OpenedHand Ltd has been acquired by Intel Corporation,” said OpenedHand in a statement it released on the acquisition. “The OpenedHand team will join the Intel Open Source Technology Center and will focus on the development of the Moblin Software Platform, the optimized software stack for Intel Atom processors.”

The statement continued by stating that “Intel will continue supporting open source projects currently led by OpenedHand staff such as Clutter and Matchbox projects, and in most cases, will accelerate these projects as they become an integral part of Moblin.”

Rob Bamforth, an analyst for Quocirca, said that this move showed the importance of Linux on mobile devices. He said that “we saw it [large companies purchasing mobile Linux development companies] earlier this year with Nokia buying Trolltech, it’s a sign that the mobile space is not as clear cut as the something like the PC one.” He continued by stating that in the PC market “you have a market dominated by PCs with Macs for some specialist users, but mobiles are not like that – there’s a diverse range of products, and, if anything, it’s becoming more diverse.”

OpenedHand has previously sold its products to companies such as One Laptop Per Child, iRex, Openmoko, ST Microelectronics, Access Co., Vernier and Nokia.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

A public meeting by Cuban dissidents was held in a rare celebration of Cuba’s Independence Day on Friday. Although Cuban President Fidel Castro had expelled and refused entry to several European observers before the meeting started, police did not crack down on the peaceful protests by nearly 200 people. Called the “Assembly to Promote Civil Society”, the meeting was to promote peaceful change and lay groundwork to introduce democracy in Cuba.

The meeting was planned by several leading Cuban dissidents and former prisoners including Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, René Gómez Manzano and Félix Bonne Carcassés. Controversy accompanied the event, and many dissidents did not attend because invitations to some Miami, Florida groups were thought to promote violent reform.

Castro expressed disapproval of the event, complaining of opposition groups that are bankrolled by the United States. Previous meetings, planned as long ago as Concilio Cubano in 1996, were cancelled due to government crackdowns, arrests, and the shooting down of two planes.

Fidel Castro, speaking to CNN about the rally said, “Those who attack us don’t represent more than a fraction of 1 percent. … You [the foreign news media] have helped create them.”

This is the 103rd anniversary of Cuba’s independence, a day that was observed with celebration until Castro took over in 1959 and introduced the rule of authoritarian Communism.

U.S. President George W. Bush sent his greetings to those celebrating Cuban Independence in an videotaped message. Bush said, “As we observe Cuba’s independence today, we look forward to the day when Cuba is free, and my Administration supports efforts to hasten that day’s coming. The tide of freedom is spreading across the globe, and it will reach Cuban shores.”

The U.S. Senate also passed a resolution on Tuesday “extending its support and solidarity to the participants of the historic meeting”, and calling for “the international community to support the assembly and its mission to bring democracy and human rights to Cuba.”

The planned two-day meeting is being held openly in a garden belonging to one of the organizers on the outskirts of Havana. While ostensibly no Cuban government officers monitored the event, “government spies do regularly infiltrate dissident meetings,” CNN claimed.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Ariel Sharon, 77, is scheduled to undergo a tracheotomy today, which is expected to help wean him off a respirator, which is helping him to breathe, a hospital statement said.

A tracheotomy is a procedure where an incision in the windpipe is made to create a temporary or permanent opening. It will allow for the removal of the breathing tube now inserted in Sharon’s throat. Sharon suffered a major stroke on January 4, 2006. Last week, doctors said the plastic tube connecting his windpipe with the respirator would start to cause him damage if left in for too long.

Tracheotomies are routinely performed on stroke victims to reduce the risk of infection posed by intubation.

“The prime minister’s condition continues to remain critical but stable,” said a statement issued by Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital where doctors have been trying, unsuccessfully, to wake Sharon from a medically induced coma. “This evening the prime minister will undergo a CT test after which he will undergo a tracheotomy. The surgery is aimed at helping to wean him off a respirator machine. It will be conducted in the operating room under general anaesthesia.”