Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Sunday, Wikinews sat down with Australian Paralympic guide skier Andrew Bor who was participating in a national team training camp in Vail, Colorado.

((Wikinews)) This is Andrew Bor, who is Melissa Perrine’s guide skier. How did you become a guide?

Andrew Bor: I was coaching with the team, the September before the games here. And the APC [Australian Paralympic Committee] found out, I’m not sure how, sent Melissa out to New Zealand where there was a training camp. She didn’t have a guide. And one of the coaches chose me to guide Mel.

((WN)) Had you done much guiding before?

Andrew Bor: Two days. Guided a visually impaired athlete twice before that.

((WN)) Was there a steep learning curve?

Andrew Bor: Yeah, very steep learning curve. Still learning.

((WN)) Is it more difficult as a male guide with a female skier, do you think, because the rules require you to use male ski equipment?

Andrew Bor: No. No, I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s any issue with that. The skis make a different radius turn. Sometimes. No, I don’t think it makes a huge difference.

((WN)) As a guide skier, do you think that guides should be getting medals when their skier gets a medal? Are you that important?

Andrew Bor: No, I don’t know. It’s the athlete’s performance really.

((WN)) But you’re an athlete aren’t you?

Andrew Bor: No. I’m their eyes if that makes any sense. If they don’t have the commitment to go down the hill, you’re never going to get them to go fast anyway. The guide’s responsibility is to put them in the right place. But beyond that…

((WN)) You’ve gotten support because of the performance in Vancouver? The government has been supporting you guys?

Andrew Bor: The government has decided to support the guides as equally as the athletes. Before I was employed by the APC, and now I don’t get paid by the APC, I get the same support levels. Otherwise, you can’t do it, you can’t afford the time.

((WN)) Why have you chosen skiing as opposed to oh, waterskiing or some other sport?

Andrew Bor: I’ve worked in this industry for about 20 years. Teaching skiing, coaching. It’s not something I chose to do, it’s something that kind of happened. After a while a door closed, a door opened. I enjoy the environment. Working outdoors and work in some lovely places. You get some great days when there’s blue sky and sunshine and other days in Australia where it might be two degrees and raining. But it beats working in an office.

((WN)) Do you think the classification system for blind skiers works and is a good one? Especially with the factoring issues, and you’re competing with B1, B2, B3, all compete against each other.

Andrew Bor: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think there’s a big enough pool of athletes to have three different classes. It’s never going to be ideal. Different classes have different issues. The handicap for the twos and the threes is fairly similar across the different disciplines. Maybe the threes have an advantage in the tech because they can see a bit more, but they have a bit of a disadvantage in the speed because they can’t see enough to see the next gate and have to rely on the guide. Bit of a trade off. It’s never going to be perfect. It’s a tough one.

((WN)) Are you planning to go to Sochi with Melissa?

Andrew Bor: Yes. Yes I am.

((WN)) Do you think you guys have, you and Melissa can pick up a medal, and you get a medal?

Andrew Bor: I think Melissa is yeah. I think Melissa has a fairly good chance. You know, if things fall in place. I think she’s got an opportunity to win at least a medal. If things don’t fall in place. Yeah. She might miss out completely.

((WN)) Do you plan to continue guide skiing with Melissa for a period following Sochi, or are you going to be like “I’ve had enough, I’m getting old, these mountains are really tall, I’m going to retire?”

Andrew Bor: I don’t know. We’ll wait and see. At the moment the commitment is until Sochi. You see with athletes, some announce their retirement early. Depends what Melissa wants to do. Depends on whether you achieve the goals that she sets or not. Whether she’s got unfinished business…

((WN)) But at the moment, the goal is Sochi?

Andrew Bor: The goal is Sochi, yes. You’ve got to have an end goal, and at the moment it’s Sochi. The energy of the last four years has been put into that. There’s been a commitment for her to go to Sochi, and at the same time you’ve got to commit to the same thing. The guide-to-athlete thing is a relationship that takes time to build and work out the needs of the athlete and the wants of the athlete. Beyond Sochi, don’t know. We’ll see.

Monday, November 27, 2017

On Friday, US president Donald Trump released a tweet via Twitter claiming New York-based magazine Time had informed him they would “probably” name him “Person of the Year”. The claims made in the tweet, sent while Trump resided for the Thanksgiving season at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, were promptly refuted by the magazine itself and personnel connected to its publication.

Trump’s tweet read, “Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!”

Time magazine recognizes as “Person of the Year” an individual who “for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year.” The magazine named Trump in 2016 in an issue titled “President of the Divided States of America” a month after his successful bid for the U.S. presidency. Agence France-Presse noted, in 2012, 2013, and 2015 Trump used his Twitter account as a platform to highlight his displeasure at not being so named.

Time magazine released a tweet of their own on Friday refuting the claim made by Trump, which read, “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.”

Rather than a photo shoot such as Trump claimed they requested, Time magazine used a painting to depict German chancellor Angela Merkel for their 2015 “Person of the Year” issue, when they chose her to receive the title.

Alan Murray, the chief content officer for Time Inc., the magazine’s publisher, also countered Trump’s claim in a tweet on Friday, stating, “Amazing. Not a speck of truth here—Trump tweets he ‘took a pass’ at being named TIME’s person of the year”.

Richard Stengel, a former editor of the magazine, also weighed in on Trump’s comments in a tweet posted half an hour after Trump’s, “Hate to tell you but that PROBABLY means you’re NOT Person of the Year. They just wanted a photo shoot. But I’m sure you still have that fake TIME cover somewhere in storage.” Stengel’s tweet refers to fake Time magazine covers prominently displaying Trump’s face that were hung on the walls of golf clubs owned by the President, as reported in the Washington Post in June. The magazine requested their removal.

Since Trump entered the race for U.S. president, he has frequently called news outlets in the United States “fake news” when they release reports critical of him.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Australian Transport Safety Bureau announced that an oxygen cylinder which was located near the area of the explosion on Qantas flight QF30 from London, England to Melbourne, Australia was unaccounted for but said that it was too early to say that an oxygen cylinder could be the cause of the mid-air explosion. It did say it had ruled out explosives as a cause stating that they “found no indication of explosives”.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has ordered Qantas to check all oxygen cylinders and the brackets which hold them on its Boeing 747s, but hasn’t ruled out that the order will be extended to all of the Qantas fleet.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Sam Simon died, at the age of 59, on Sunday of colon cancer, a disease he was diagnosed with in 2012. One of the co-creators of the television series The Simpsons, Simon helped create the hugely successful series in 1989 alongside Matt Groening and James L. Brooks. He left the show in 1993 after roles as writer and character developer among others.

Before The Simpsons Simon had worked on several shows in various positions. During the 1980s he worked on shows such as Taxi, Cheers, and The Tracy Ullman Show. In 1989 he helped create The Simpsons with Brooks and Groening, and was responsible for hiring the show’s first writing team. Despite leaving the show in 1993 he kept the title of executive producer, and continued to receive tens of millions of dollars every season in royalties.

After his diagnosis he began to donate his fortune to charity, estimated at around US$100 million . He donated to and was an active voice for charities focusing on animal rights including PETA. The Sam Simon Foundation, an organization he founded in 2002, released a statement to TMZ after his death: “For those of us who knew him, his voice will forever echo in our minds; his sense of humor will continue to make us laugh; and his compassion and generosity will continue to impact our lives[…] Sam, you will be missed by many, but there is a particular sadness among our clinic staff. We have been together for so long, and your absence will forever leave a void in our lives.”

Speaking to NBC in November 2014, Simon said “Cancer has been a fight, a journey, an adventure and the most amazing experience of my life.”

Simon had no children and was twice divorced. His first wife was actress Jennifer Tilly, to whom he was married from 1984 until their split in 1991. He married Playboy Playmate Jami Ferrell in 2000; the pair divorced not long after.

Current executive producer of The Simpsons, Al Jean paid tribute to Simon via Twitter, tweeting “Just heard terrible news of death of @simonsam. A great man; I owe him everything.”

Saturday, March 1, 2008

While nearly all coverage of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.

Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, throughout the campaign. We now interview independent Presidential candidate Frank Moore, a performance artist.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

File:Elizabeth and John Edwards by The Tonight Show.jpg

On Tuesday, United States television personality Conan O’Brien announced in a statement that he will no longer serve as the host for NBC‘s The Tonight Show if the network’s attempt to move his program to the post-midnight time slot comes to fruition.

This move, NBC has said, would be done to accommodate the return of the previous Tonight Show host, Jay Leno, back to late-night from his current prime-time slot.

In a long statement to the media, O’Brien states that NBC has given him a “scant” seven months to establish himself as host of The Tonight Show.

He continues to say that with his show still in “its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.”

O’Brien adamantly declares that “delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.”

Citing his view that NBC’s purposed switch of The Tonight Show time slot could lead to the show’s ultimate “destruction,” O’Brien maintains that he would have no other choice than to step down as host—which could also include his possible move to another cable network—if this does in fact happen.

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 Don Valley West (Ward 26). Four candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Muhammad Alam, Bahar Aminvaziri, Orhan Aybars, Michele Carroll-Smith, Mohamed Dhanani, Abdul Ingar, Geoff Kettel, Debbie Lechter, Natalie Maniates, John Masterson, John Parker, David Thomas, Csaba Vegh, and Fred Williams.

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

Thursday, July 1, 2010

A court in England, UK has jailed a policeman for ten months after he was convicted of defrauding his car insurance company.

Police Constable Simon Hood, 43, arranged for a friend who dealt in scrap metal to dispose of his Audi TT, then claimed it had been stolen.

Hood had been disappointed with the car’s value when he tried to sell it two years after its purchase in 2008. He arranged for friend Peter Marsh, 41, to drive the vehicle to his scrapyard in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Marsh then dismantled the vehicle with the intent of disposing of it, but parts were later found wrapped in bubblewrap at Ace Tyre and Exhaust Centre.

Marsh picked up the TT from outside nearby Gorleston police station. Records show mobile phone conversations between the conspirators that day in March, both before and after the vehicle was reported stolen. The pair denied wrongdoing but were convicted of conspiring to commit insurance fraud after trial.

The fraud was uncovered after Hood told former girlfriend Suzanne Coates of the scheme. It was alleged before Norwich Crown Court that he had confessed to her in an effort to resume their relationship. Coates said that after the pseudotheft, Hood told her “he didn’t want to look for it. He said it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, which I thought was a bit strange.”

Shortly afterwards Hood suggested they should become a couple once more, she said; she challenged his version of events regarding the car: “He said he did it but I couldn’t tell anyone. He said he did it with Peter. Peter had a key and took the car away and it was going to be taken to bits and got rid of so it was never found.”

Hood was defended by Michael Clare and Marsh by Richard Potts. Both lawyers told the court that their clients had already suffered as a result of the action in mitigation before sentencing. Clare said Hood had resigned from the police after fifteen years of otherwise good service and risked losing his pension. “It is not a case where his position as a police officer was used in order to facilitate the fraud,” he pointed out. “His career is in ruins.” Hood is now pursuing a career in plumbing.

Potts defended Marsh by saying that he, too, had already suffered from his actions. His own insurers are refusing to renew their contract with him when it expires and his bank withdrew its overdraft facility. His business employs 21 people and Potts cited Marsh’s sponsorship of Great Yarmouth In Bloom as amongst evidence he supported his local community.

Judge Alasdair Darroch told Marsh that he did accept the man was attempting to help his friend. He sentenced Marsh to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service. He was more critical of Hood:

“As a police officer you know the highest possible standards are demanded by the public. You have let down the force. You knew throughout your career that policemen that get involved in serious dishonesty get sent to prison.”