Whaling for dolphins also takes place in the Faroe Islands. Image: Erik Christensen.
Japanese fishermen in Taiji, Japan clashed with surfers from Australia and the United States. The location where dolphins are culled was moved to a secluded cove this year to hide the activity from television crews and protesters.
After successfully defending the hunt, by using boat propellers and boat hooks against the group of surfers, who were joined by actress Hayden Panettiere, the fishermen have started their annual cull.
Whaling in Taiji usually yields 2,000 dolphins per year using the dolphin drive hunting method. The dolphins are diverted from their migration route by banging metal rods. As fear can affect the taste of the meat, after being speared and bludgeoned to death, they are left to hang for a day before being cut up. Television crews and campaigners opposed to the culling were prevented by fishermen and local police from filming these activities.
Although the practice of aquatic mammal hunting is condemned by many groups worldwide as well as within Japan, whaling is seen by those involved as a long-practiced cultural tradition that should be defended. As the demand for whale and dolphin meat for use in sushi has declined, the Government of Japan now has to financially subsidize the industry to support the local economy. Japan argues that whaling is still carried out for scientific reasons, to understand species population numbers. This claim is disputed by the scientific community outside of Japan as well as by environmentalists.
Hotel development proposal could displace Buffalo, NY business owners
“Old deeds threaten Buffalo, NY hotel development” — 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“Elmwood Village Hotel proposal in Buffalo, N.Y. withdrawn” — Wikinews, July 13, 2006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
Friday, February 17, 2006
Buffalo, New York —Savarino Construction Services Corp. has proposed a $7 million hotel project at the Forest and Elmwood Avenue intersection, according to The Buffalo News. The proposal calls for a 5-story, 45,000 square-foot 80-room hotel with underground parking for at least 50 vehicles, and 4,500 square-feet of retail space on the lower level.
Hans Mobius, the owner of the five properties to be purchased in the plan (1109 to 1121 Elmwood), reportedly signed a contract with Savarino to assemble the development.
“We saw a huge opportunity to bring something to the Elmwood Village that will make sense and bring a service that’s currently not available,” said Eva Hassett, vice president of Savarino. “Elmwood is such a wonderful place to eat, shop, walk and spend time. We believe this project will add to that vibrant environment.”
Some business owners in the area see it differently. Wikinews interviewed 2 of the 4 owners whose business’s would be demolished if the development goes through.
Artist’s impression of the current proposal, the Elmwood Village Hotel. Image: design/elmwood hotel.asp The Frizlen Group.
Nancy Pollina, of Don Apparel at 1119 Elmwood, who found out about the development only yesterday, said she is “utterly” against the proposal. Her apparel shop has stood at the same location for nearly 14 years. She has volunteered in the community, and helped create several gardens around bus shelters in the city, and served on Forever Elmwood Board for six years as head of Beautification. Patty Morris co-owns Don Apparel with Pollina.
“To say this is a good looking project, I want to say the emperor has no clothes. This [project] does not take into consideration the needs of the college students. I have been told by college students, these shops here, are the reason they leave the campus,” said Mrs. Pollina.
Buffalo State College is 500-feet from the intersection.
Michael Faust, the owner of Mondo Video said, “Well, I do not really want to get kicked out of here. The landlord was very open, and the deal he made with me when I moved in here was ‘the rent is cheap and I [the landlord] will not fix anything and that will not change.'” Faust said he first learned of the development plan, “about 48 hours ago. I found out on Tuesday when the Buffalo News called and asked for my opinion on this.” Faust has not said if he will make plans to relocate. “We have to see if this [house] is going to get knocked down first,” said Faust.
An “informational” meeting, where citizens can voice opinions and learn about the proposal, will be held on Tuesday February 21, 2006 at 5:00pm (eastern), at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center Gallery at Buffalo State College, Rockwell Hall.
Executive director of Forever Elmwood Corporation, Justin P. Azzarella would not comment on whether or not the organization supports the development, saying, “you will just have to come to the meeting.”
Forever Elmwood Corp. is designed to preserve and protect the unique and historic nature of Elmwood Avenue and its surrounding neighborhoods and encourage neighborhood commercial revitalization. The organization was founded in 1994.
These businesses will be afftected by the development, Don Apparel, H.O.D. Tattoo, Skunk Tail Glass, and Mondo Video. Image: Jason Safoutin.
Nearly two years ago, the Forever Elmwood Corp. assisted in the blocking of the demolition of the Edward Atwater house at 1089 Elmwood next to Pano’s Restaurant which is at 1081 Elmwood. Owner Pano Georgiadis wanted to expand his restaurant onto the property where the house now stands, but the Common Council denied his permit to demolish saying the house is a historical landmark and needs to be protected. Georgiadis, who has a bleeding ulcer, said that all the court cases landed him in the hospital. “I got a bleeding ulcer, and since then, I don’t care about this house anymore, or this city. I just go to work every day. I think [preservationists] are parasites,” said Georgiadis.
Georgiadis will not be attending Tuesday’s meeting saying, “I will be out of town.”
In 1995 Hans Mobius proposed a plan to develop a Walgreens, that was to be placed in the same location, but residents and business owners shot down the proposal. Walgreens eventually withdrew its request for a variance after pressure from the community.
UK chancellor raises national insurance payments for self employed in new budget
UK chancellor Philip Hammond announced his 2017 budget on Wednesday, which included a £2 billion pledge to social care and a tax hike on the self-employed. It was accused of breaking Conservative Party manifesto promises.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, from file, 2016. Image: Andrej Klizan.
It was announced there will be a 2% increase in national insurance contributions for the self-employed, with chancellor Philip Hammond citing worries that people were choosing to become self-employed in order to pay lower taxes and his perception of unfairness in the different rates paid by employees and self-employees. There were accusations this change in policy goes against the manifesto promises the Conservative Party ran on in 2015, which promised four times that there would be no increase in national insurance rates. Conservative MP Anna Soubry tweeted saying she believed these new measures would be unpopular as many would see them as unfair. The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, claimed the new measures will not clamp down on people whose self-employment is just for tax benefits, instead causing problems for those legitimately self-employed, arguing that if they are to start paying similar tax rates to the employed then they should get rights such as statutory maternity pay. The think tank Resolution claimed, however, this increase is outweighed by other government policies and is, therefore, a good move.
In addition to this, the chancellor announced a £2 billion pledge to social care over the next three years, saying he was aware of the stress the ageing population is having on the NHS and social care. Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb described the amount as “wholly inadequate”, saying much more is needed to pay for an increase in care demands due to the ageing population. The lowest threshold at which shareholders pay dividend taxes is to be lowered from £5,000 to £2,000 claiming that the taxes for dividends provided “an extremely generous tax break for investors with substantial share portfolios”. Other budget announcements include an additional £325 million for the NHS, £90 million transport spending for the North of England, £20 million to support campaigning against violence against girls and women and a slight increase in funding for the devolved governments.
Prabhat Ranjit SinghToday, most of the firms in the AEC sector use AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit and ArchiCAD as their relevant software. The status that these programs have gained now makes them nearly synonymous to BIM and CAD. CAD and BIM are renowned to help in representing the physical and functional characters of any project digitally. Likewise, AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit and ArchiCAD are considered as one of the essential foundation of buildings and a shared knowledge resource to acquire information pertaining to any facility. Over the years, progressively, SketchUp, a 3D modeling software has accomplished the position from where it can claim itself as an antidote to the expensive and complicated CAD software.
Since the time, it first came into the market in August 2000; SketchUp has evolved as a great tool in the last decade or so. Developed as a 3D creation tool, today, SketchUp has an extensive range of application areas right from architecture, interior design to engineering (mechanical and civil). In recent times it involves film and game designs as well. If one considers the opportunity for outsourcing CAD and drafting services, the scope for 3D walkthroughs in SketchUp can also be immense. Several outsourcing companies, particularly in countries such as India, provide a host of 3D SketchUp modeling services.
SketchUp was born due to the growing need for an intuitive and accessible 3D modeling program by the design professionals. It was in the year 2000 that it was initially introduced by a tech company. It was originally developed as a general purpose 3D tool for content creation, and was conceptualized as a program that would let design professionals work freely and independently without the use of pen and paper. This provided the designers a feeling of freedom from the fetters of age old work methodology. This specific software was envisioned to simplify the workflow of designers, architects, builders, engineers and makers and to ensure that they would not be concerned about the interface and could focus on what could be created with it.
Many appreciated the launch of this software and this enabled the developer to place content created in SketchUp by individuals directly into Google Earth. To meet this end they collaborated with Google for developing a plug in for Google Earth. This also allowed people to geo-locate their SketchUp developed models in Google Earth. In 2006, Google bought the program as it was greatly impressed by its Google Maps plugin. In 2012, the software was acquired by another company and by this time it had about 2 million active users every week.
Over the years, as time has passed the software has undergone several changes and enhancements, but this has not influenced or hampered the core of the program. SketchUp scored above BIM only due to its ease and accessibility that remain the main elements of the program. Today, many institutes also conduct Sketchup training, CorelDraw Training classes as an attempt to educate the users about its usage. This software has proved to be a reliable and efficient guide for users who aren’t good at drawing or aren’t quite sure of the final look of their building.
Prabhat Singh heads XS CAD India’s Training and Recruitment Centre, one of the leading centres for SketchUp Training in Mumbai (http://www.xscadtraining.com/cad-training-courses/). He has been instrumental in leading the Training Centre for CorelDraw Training classes (http://www.xscadtraining.com/cad-training-courses/), conducted for students and working professionals.
Article Source:
eArticlesOnline.com}
Athletes prepare for 2012 Summer Paralympics at the Paralympic Fitness Centre
London, England — As Paralympians ready for the Games which are set to open later this week, they have access to a world class fitness center inside the Paralympic Village which is designed to maximise their pre-Game preparations.
According to volunteers staffing the center, instead of being a single large room, as in Beijing, the building has numerous rooms. It, along with the adjacent Village Services Centre, is designed to be converted into a school after the games conclude. Rooms have been structured as a gym, an auditorium, and science laboratories.
Gym equipment is supplied by Technogym, an Italian firm that has supplied gym equipment for the Olympics since 2000. Equipment has been provided not just for for the Fitness Centre, but for gyms at all the Olympic venues. The newest equipment is oriented toward maximum flexibility, allowing athletes to exercise the particular muscles that they most require for their sport.
In addition to the equipment, the Fitness Centre also provides instructors trained in the use of the equipment, the likes of which athletes from many countries have never seen before. There are also a number of instructors available to provide motivational training.
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Weights are available for use Image: Hawkeye7.
A Thailand competitor uses the Gym Image: Hawkeye7.
Items to help train with Image: Hawkeye7.
A sink inside the gym Image: Hawkeye7.
Some one from Team GB using a stepping machine Image: Hawkeye7.
A Paralympian in the gym Image: Hawkeye7.
An Australian trains in the gym Image: Hawkeye7.
A radio is available inside the gym Image: Hawkeye7.
Weights wait for people to use them inside the Paralympic Village Gym Image: Hawkeye7.
Today, Joachim Löw, manager of the German national football team, dropped Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus from the UEFA Euro 2016 squad. Marco Reus, who turned 27 years old today, is suffering from a groin injury. He also missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup with an ankle injury.
File photo of Marco Reus. Image: Michael Kranewitter.
Löw said their medical staff wasn’t sure Reus could meet the demands of the forthcoming games. He added, “Marco has serious fitness problems; he can only run in a straight line at the moment.” ((de))German language: ?Marco hat massive gesundheitliche Probleme, im Moment kann er nur geradeaus laufen.
Löw also did not include other Bundesliga players Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt, and Sebastian Rudy from the provisional squad in the final selection. Thanking the four German internationals for their performance in training, he said, “It’s not a decision against those four players, but rather one in favour of the other 23.” ((de))German language: ?Es ist keine Entscheidung gegen vier Spieler, sondern eine Entscheidung für 23 Spieler.
Germany are due to play their final friendly match before the start of Euro 2016 on June 4 against Hungary. On June 12, Germany will open their account in Euro 2016 when they face Ukraine in Lille, France.
Four arrested in three Naperville, Illinois prostitution stings
An undercover investigation by Naperville, Illinois law enforcement has led to the arrest last Thursday of four people allegedly involved in prostitution. The stings came after police received tips that people were using websites like Craigslist and Backpage.com to sell sexual performances in Naperville hotels.
Patricia H. Scoleri of Naperville was arrested after an unidentified neighbor observed consistently suspicious activity at Scoleri’s home. Traffic was unusually heavy and consisted mostly of luxury cars in an otherwise quiet, middle-class neighborhood. Also, the visitors were mainly middle-aged men, and an odd string of lavender-colored lights were hung on the front window.
Police say Scoleri worked alone. She was arrested at 2 p.m. local time (2000 UTC) and is charged with violation of anti-prostitution laws, anti-cannabis laws, and the Massage Licensing Act. She apparently has four children, but the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has neither contacted her nor received a police report on her.
The second sting occurred at 5:30 p.m the same day (2330 UTC) and resulted in the arrest of Chicago resident Tonya M. Adams. She is charged with prostitution and driving without a license. Another sting about an hour later resulted in the arrests of Jessica M. Walley, a Skokie resident, and Mark A. Williams, a self-admitted Schaumburg gang member. “Walley was charged with prostitution and unlawful possession of cannabis. Williams was charged with pimping, obstructing a peace officer, driving with a suspended license and driving without insurance,” reports WBBM News Radio 780.
All four suspects are free, having paid the required ten percent of their $1,000 bail. They may face additional charges related to crack cocaine discovered during the police investigation. Arraignment is scheduled for next month at the DuPage County Circuit Courthouse in Wheaton.
US stocks slump as crude oil surges, gold hits 25 yr high
US stocks suffered their biggest declines in more than two years on concerns about oil supplies from Iran and Nigeria. Crude oil prices jumped to more than $68 a barrel, levels not seen since September last year. Gold hit a 25 year peak and last traded at $553.50 an ounce.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slumped 213+ points today amid fears of Iran and terrorism. The index has now given up all its gains since the beginning of the year. Among its 30 components, only McDonalds ended the day in positive territory. Disappointing earnings dragged down shares of General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc.
Since the start of the Q4 earnings season, many analysts have been reducing their earnings expectations. S&P 500 companies are now expected to report a profit growth of 12.7 percent, compared with earlier expectations of 15.5 percent. This analysis was done by Bloomberg using data from Thomson. Earnings growth is expected to slow down to 9.9 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Shares of GE gave up $1.35 to end at $33.33 after the firm reported its smallest earnings gain since 2004. GE is the world’s second largest firm by market value. Q4 earnings rose to 55 cents a share from 54 cents while revenue rose 2.6 percent to $40.7 billion, below analysts’ estimates.
The DJIA was dragged down by Citigroup, largest bank in US. Its stock fell $1.98 to $45.96. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $4.97 billion, or 98 cents a share. The earnings were below consensus estimates of $1.
2008 TICA highlights open source applications at Linux Forum & Expo
Linux Forum 2008, accompanied with Linux Expo at TICA 2008.Image: Rico Shen.UPP USB Drive 2G, ever showcased at 2007 Taipei IT Month.Image: Rico Shen.
Leading up to the 2008 Taipei Computer Applications Show (TICA), the 8th-annual Linux Forum, accompanied with Linux Expo Pavilion, started yesterday July 30 at Taipei World Trade Center Conference Roon 3 & 4 to promote the open source applications in Taiwan.
With popularity of OLPC and Eee PC, mobile applications, low-price PCs, embedded systems, and enterprise applications are enrolled into the Linux Forum by forum organizer, Industrial Development Bureau of Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China.
Since Linux-related solutions were promoted at Softex Taipei 2008 by Taipei Computer Association, as well as the organizer of TICA and Softex shows, executives from industrial, academical, and governmental people mostly cautioned the importance of Linux, which had also become another choice to be built inside a computer after OLPC and Eee PC.
As several required functions from business software are built in some open source software, software and platforms complied with open source had become the second choice for consumers. UPP, an open source platform built by United Daily News Digital Corporation, is a typical example on open source application integrated to a USB flash drive.
Apart from basic applications, some companies also demonstrated some examples of deploying and programming on a Linux-based platform. In addition, some experts recommended enterprises to consider user needs before introducing Linux as the desktop platform in the enterprise.
After the Linux Forum, the Linux Expo will also showcase solutions of open source at TICA.
Iran’s morality police crack down on un-Islamic dress
The Iranian police forces have faced criticism from Ayatollah Hashemi Shahrudi, the head of the judiciary who was appointed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for their re-invigorated campaign to do away with un-Islamic dress.
Ayatollah Shahroudi proclaimed, “Tough measures on social problems will backfire and have counter-productive effects.” Others have, of course, made it clear that un-Islamic dress can lead to moral corruption, engender innumerable vices, and hurt the Islamic character of the nation.
Some believe that no one had any issue with the creation of an Islamic atmosphere. The core of the matter revolves around the implementation of the Islamic dress code; additionally, heavy-handed measures should be shunned. For instance, Mehdi Ahmadi, information head of Tehran’s police, told Al Jazeera: “Some citizens may complain about the way the law is being enforced but they all agree with the plan itself.”
According to one student, “You simply can’t tell people what to wear. They don’t understand that use of force only brings hatred towards them, not love.” Nevertheless, Hojatoll-Islam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, Iran’s interior minister who is in charge of policing, prognosticated positive feedback from the populace when he said, “People are unhappy with the social and moral status of the society. They expect that the fight against social insecurity be properly implemented.” Thus, Hujjat al-Islam Pour-Mohammadi re-iterated the necessity of proper implementation and methodology towards the restoration of morality in the Islamic Republic. Islamic officials and religious people affirm that this is indispensable to promote righteousness, curb sin, and bring open sinners to justice.
Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, hijab became mandatory in Iran for every woman including foreigners after over 98% of citizens voted for an Islamic government. Women may face caning up to 74 strokes for failing to observe hijab. In this recent crackdown, the authorities have arrested many citizens throughout the country. Not only have women been taken into custody for their hair being uncovered on their foreheads and tight clothes that show body shapes, For men they need to cover from knee to their waist as according to Sharia. Even a foreign journalist was detained because the photograph on her press card was indecent.
It has not been clear whence the directive for the re-newed clampdown emanated. Some have blamed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while Gholam Hossein Elham, the government spokesman, stated to reporters, “The police work as agents of the judiciary to confront crimes. The government as an executive body does not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.” The following pre-election speech seems to corroborate this latter statement:
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In reality, is the problem of our people the shape of the hair of our children? Let our children arrange their hair any way they wish. It doesn’t concern me and you. Let you and me overhaul the basic problems of the nation. The government should fix the economy of the nation and improve its atmosphere…[It should] better psychological security and support the people. People have variegated tastes. As if now the arch obstacle of our nation is the arrangement of our kids’ hair and the government disallowing them <He chuckles>. Is this the government’s responsibility? Is this the people’s merit? In actuality, this is the denigration of our people. Why do you underestimate and belittle the people? It is the real issue of our nation that one of our daughters donned a certain dress? Is this the issue of our nation and the problem of our nation?
Japan fishermen clash with surfers over 2007 dolphin hunt