All posts by Admin

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Nearly half a million people packed into Sydney’s “Golden Mile” on Saturday night to applaud the city’s 28th annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Parade organisers estimated the crowd at over 450,000. They lined Oxford St – along the parade’s route – in Sydney’s unofficial gay district, cheering the 6,000 participants and 120 floats.

The Mardi Gras event was the culmination of a month of gay-pride festivities. Many parade participants adopted the theme of the film Brokeback Mountain. The parade was led as usual by the motorcycle group, Dykes on Bikes. Amongst the frivolity and colour, onlookers saw “Kate Moss dancers” snorting ‘cocaine’, and the gun-wielding – apparently gay-friendly – Dick Cheney. A lampoon of Prime Minister John Howard – a pirate ship carrying “Captain Crook” was also featured.

A Mardi Gras participant, Filipino Fyljoy Volefdico, 25, said: “I think within Australia there is really a lot of culture and it’s great when the whole community comes together and celebrates it.”

Jay Lynch, who met his partner at the event two years ago, said: “It has become a meeting ground for gays from around the world and as discrimination continues it’s important we can connect on this level, and continually redefine what it means to the community.”

Chair of the New Mardi Gras board, Marcus Bourget, said the event is about providing a powerful voice for the lesbian and gay community. Describing the parade as “a great Aussie tradition”, Bourget said he was proud of the event. “We’ve run a fairly sophisticated marketing campaign this year, which has led to gradual growth internationally,” he said.

Newcastle woman Donna Newella said Mardi Gras had become many things to many people, “It is not just about gays and lesbians,” she said. “It’s about all different issues that have arisen,” she said “freedom of speech, being able to represent one’s identity and being able to put a political point across.”

The first Mardi Gras took place on June 24, 1978 as a protest against a ban on homosexuality in Australia. It began as an improvised street party following a gay-rights rally. However when a city official interrupted the festivities, things turned ugly. On that night there were 53 arrests and many allegations of police brutality. Homosexuality was later decriminalised in Australia in 1984.

Local businesses realise the economic importance of the event, which is a huge money-spinner, they say. Visitors to Sydney for last year’s Mardi Gras contributed an estimated $46 million to the State’s economy. Organisers say about 6000 international visitors, the majority from Britain and the USA, attended this year’s event.

“We came all the way from America to see this,” Mrs Phyllis Drucker 67, from Los Angeles, said. “We were told it’s the best in the world, and we’re going to have a ball.”

A float entitled “Love Between the Flags” highlighted the need for racial harmony and cultural acceptance following last year’s Cronulla riots. Creative director Graham Browning said the theme of the parade, “I believe”, aimed to reflect political and social issues. The NSW Police service, with 45 members also marched in the parade.

Mardi Gras parade chief Deborah Cheetham, an internationally renowned soprano, rejected suggestions the parade was passe. “Maybe we’re just in that period of transition. It’s not tired,” said Cheetham, who led the parade with her partner and 14-year-old daughter. “There will always be a need for Mardi Gras.”

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the parade was a celebration of Sydney’s diversity. “When you’re a child the thing that really excites you is either Christmas or the Royal Easter Show and I think as an adult Mardi Gras is the only equivalent,” Ms Moore told reporters.

“I didn’t want to miss any of this,” said 17-year-old Jennifer Mackay from outer Sydney, who arrived with three friends 10 hours before the start.

“It’s like Christmas for the gay and lesbian community,” said the parade’s creative director, Graeme Browning.

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Aylesbury, England — The Arsenal F.C. midfielder Jermaine Pennant, currently on loan to Birmingham City, has today pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance by Aylesbury magistrates court. Pennant received a sentence of three months imprisonment. Pennant’s lawyer, Bary Warbutton, has said that the footballer will appeal against the severity of the sentence.

The incident occurred on January 23 of this year, Pennant was arrested after crashing teammate Ashley Cole’s car into a lamppost. The 22-year-old claimed that he crashed the car after attempting to operate the car’s Satellite navigation system.

Despite the claim by Warbutton that imprisonment “could completely destroy his career”, Birmingham City have said that they will stand by the player, and help to rehabilitate him. Arsenal released a statement saying that the sentence would not impact the player’s future with the club; his contract with club expires in the summer, at the same time as his loan-spell with Birmingham ends.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The name Robert Cailliau may not ring a bell to the general public, but his invention is the reason why you are reading this: Dr. Cailliau together with his colleague Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, making the internet accessible so it could grow from an academic tool to a mass communication medium. Last January Dr. Cailliau retired from CERN, the European particle physics lab where the WWW emerged.

Wikinews offered the engineer a virtual beer from his native country Belgium, and conducted an e-mail interview with him (which started about three weeks ago) about the history and the future of the web and his life and work.

Wikinews: At the start of this interview, we would like to offer you a fresh pint on a terrace, but since this is an e-mail interview, we will limit ourselves to a virtual beer, which you can enjoy here.

Robert Cailliau: Yes, I myself once (at the 2nd international WWW Conference, Chicago) said that there is no such thing as a virtual beer: people will still want to sit together. Anyway, here we go.

Friday, July 20, 2007

According the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the supreme court of European Union, the EU laws do not oblige ISPs to hand over personal data of people suspected of illegal sharing of copyrighted materials over the net.

The ECJ has been asked for a preliminary ruling on question “Does Community law…permit Member States to limit the duty of operators of electronic communications networks and services, providers of telecommunications network access and providers of data storage services to retain and make available connection and traffic information generated during the supply of an information society service to where it is required in connection with a criminal investigation or the need to protect public safety and national defence, thus excluding civil proceedings?” And its opinion, presented by advocate general Juliane Kokott, is that member states are allowed to ‘exclude’ revealing personal data on internet traffic in civil cases. This does not apply to criminal cases, where such compliance would be required.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

A man named George Schultz in Parksville, British Columbia is selling the boat from old TV series Gilligan’s Island at the cost of $99,000. The cruiser, originally cost about $290,000 in the 1960s.

“There have been a couple of modifications, so it doesn’t look exactly like the original,” said Shultz, a boat broker who’s selling the 36-foot Wheeler Express Cruiser for fellow Parksdale resident Scotty Taylor. “But it’s still the original boat.”

Originally, the boat’s name was The Blue Jacket.

“Just for the show, for a stage name, it was called the S.S. Minnow,” Shultz said. The name was a reference to Newton Minnow, once chairman of the FCC.

“He just liked the boat, he wanted to restore it, it was a nice looking boat, a wooden boat, a classic and he likes classic boats,” said Shultz. “The hole in the hull was actually the least of the repairs – the interior needed a lot more work”.

Someone later stole the plaque on the boat, but the 46-year-old boat still has the round life preserver with S.S. Minnow emblazoned on it and the skipper’s chair.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The UK’s Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced today a grant of £4.6 million towards the restoration of Lews Castle on the Western Scottish island of Stornoway. Estimates suggest approximately £14 million (US$ 21.9m, € 16.2m) will be spent to restore and convert the Victorian era property into a museum with four-star hotel accommodation.

Originally built as a home for James Matheson, who made his fortune in the Chinese and Indian opium trade, the castle has lain empty, and on the at-risk register, since the late 1980s. A gap of £1.6 million in required funding remains a concern the local Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (previously, Western Isles Council) is actively seeking help from both Europe and the Scottish government.

Council leader Angus Campbell intends to press the Scottish Government on the final funding; “it would be a huge shame if all the other funding is lost”, he said. “We are optimistic about getting some European funding, which is absolutely crucial, and are asking the Scottish Government to close the funding gap.” Campbell describes what would be the first UK museum with Gaelic as its primary language as “a generational project” with benefits throughout the communities of the Outer Hebrides. Local MSP Alasdair Allan commended the council’s efforts to save Lews Castle saying they, and other agencies, “have been working tirelessly to progress plans that would ensure Lews Castle becomes both a cultural and economic asset to the islands.”

Throughout its colourful history, the castle was at one time owned by William Lever who founded Unilever. Before gifting the castle to the local people in 1923, Lord Leverhulme invested in electric lighting, central heating, an internal telephone system, and the extension of the ballroom for social gatherings. In World War II, the castle was the base for a Naval hospital and squadron of amphibious biplanes. Post-war, it spent 30 years as a technical college and school.

If the final tranche of funding is secured, in 2014 the castle will become the first-ever archive facility in the Western Isles. The collections of Museum nan Eilean (MnE) could move from their current home into the castle; items held by the National Archives of Scotland could return to their native isles. And, modern facilities would permit collections from the National Museum of Scotland and the British Museum – such as the Lewis Chessmen – to be exhibited there.