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Tuesday, October 30, 2007File:Nadine Strossen 5 by David Shankbone.jpg

There are few organizations in the United States that elicit a stronger emotional response than the American Civil Liberties Union, whose stated goal is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States”. Those people include gays, Nazis, women seeking abortion, gun owners, SPAM mailers and drug users. People who are often not popular with various segments of the public. The ACLU’s philosophy is not that it agrees or disagrees with any of these people and the choices that they make, but that they have personal liberties that must not be trampled upon.

In Wikinews reporter David Shankbone’s interview with the President of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen, he wanted to cover some basic ground on the ACLU’s beliefs. Perhaps the area where they are most misunderstood or have their beliefs most misrepresented is their feelings about religion in the public sphere. The ACLU categorically does not want to see religion disappear from schools or in the public forum; but they do not want to see government advocacy of any particular religion. Thus, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s placement of a ten ton monument to the Ten Commandments outside the courthouse is strenuously opposed; but “Lone Ranger of the Manger” Rita Warren’s placement of nativity scenes in public parks is vigorously defended. In the interview, Strossen talks about how certain politicians and televangelists purposefully misstate the law and the ACLU’s work in order to raise funds for their campaigns.

David Shankbone’s discussion with Strossen touches upon many of the ACLU’s hot button issues: religion, Second Amendment rights, drug liberalization, “partial-birth abortion” and whether or not George W. Bush should be impeached. It may surprise the reader that many ideas people have about the most visible of America’s civil libertarian organizations are not factually correct and that the ACLU often works closely with many of the organizations people think despise its existence.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

London Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair has confirmed that there have been three small explosions on tube trains at Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd’s Bush stations, and another small explosion on a No. 26 bus on Hackney Road in Bethnal Green.

The London Ambulance Service has not found any injured people, but one person has reported themselves to a local hospital. It is not yet known if this is connected with the blasts.

All the devices were “conventional” but possibly faulty, and contained no chemical or biological agents. Not all the bombs exploded fully; Bomb Squad officers are working on making them safe. There are no reports of the deaths of suspects who attempted to set the explosives off.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A Boeing 757 passenger jet, operated by Yakutia airlines, successfully made an emergency landing at the Vnukovo airport in the Russian capital of Moscow on Tuesday. The plane requested the landing after technical problems were reported on board. None of the 174 passengers and nine crew members aboard were injured.

“The airplane took off from Vnukovo airport, en route to Yakutsk. After some time, some technical difficulties started, due to which the crew made a decision to return to the airport,” ^{((Translated from Russian))Russian language: ???????? ??????? ?? “???????” ? ??????, ?????? ????? ????????? ????? ????????? ?????-?? ??????????? ?????????, ??-?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ??????? ?? “???????”} said a spokeswoman for Vnukovo airport. The plane was originally scheduled to land at 20:20 local time, but circled around the airport in a holding pattern for three and a half hours to burn off excess fuel.

Yakutia Flight 478 departed from Vnukovo at 17:26 local time. Twenty minutes after takeoff, at 17:46, the captain of the airplane reported technical troubles. He then decided to return to Vnukovo and land the plane. Reports suggest that the cabin depressurized while the jet was climbing to cruising altitude.

This incident occurred only a few days after Sky Express Flight 229, a Boeing 737, had to perform a similar landing shortly after takeoff, though no reports have indicated the two incidents are related.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Published:Wednesday, September 7, 2005Updated:Saturday, September 10, 2005 (Travolta, Preston, Moore, Stones, Three Doors Down, Johnson, Smith)

After Hurricane Katrina passed across the United States, various artists and media stars have leapt at a call to action.

John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston flew his private plane to deliver a load of supplies and tetanus vaccine to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Part of a Scientology project which has been using their non-massage “assists”, in an interview Preston mentioned that “auditing” had also been performed on victims.

Kevin Smith is holding an online auction on his Web site.

Sean Penn actually went to Louisiana. After loading down a small boat with his entourage, it was discovered one of them had neglected to seal a hole in the bottom. Penn was wearing a white vest rather than a life vest while bailing. After the motor wouldn’t start, the crew paddled down a flooded New Orleans street. Bystanders jeered at whether any victims could fit aboard the crowded craft. No report on rescue stunts. Local authorities had previously been criticized for not allowing volunteer boaters in to help.

Morgan Freeman, whose home fared well, is organizing an online auction of celebrity items at charityfolks.com, to benefit the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Curt Schilling opened his home to a family of nine driven out of their New Orleans home. The Schilling family will provide housing for the Fields for a year while their home in New Orleans is rebuilt and repaired.

Some celebrities “graced” disaster zones with their presence in the days following Katrina.

Singer Macy Gray and television personality Phil McGraw visited Houston’s Astrodome.

Celebrities visiting New Orleans include Michael Moore (opposite side of lake), singer Harry Connick, Jr., CNN’s Anderson Cooper, actor Jamie Foxx, singer Faith Hill, actor Matthew McConaughey, singer Lisa Marie Presley, comedian Chris Rock, and The Oprah Winfrey Show contributor Lisa Ling and interior decorator Nate Berkus.

Oprah Winfrey visited New Orleans, Houston, and Mississippi.

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals have won their respective conference championship games to advance to Super Bowl XLIII, the championship game of the National Football League. The game is scheduled to take place on February 1 in Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. The Steelers were the American Football Conference champion, defeating the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 23 to 14. Meanwhile, the Cardinals became the National Football Conference champions by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 32 to 25.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was the first rookie quarterback in the history of the NFL to help lead his team to two straight playoff victories, defeating the number 3 seeded Miami Dolphins to win the Wild Card round, and the number 1 seeded Tennessee Titans in the divisional round. They came in to the game against a number 2 seeded Steelers team that had already defeated them twice during the regular season. Early in the game the Steelers defense dominated the field, forcing him to only complete 3 out of 14 pass attempts and end the half with a lowly 9.8 quarterback rating and his team losing 13 to 7. By the beginning of the second half, snow was beginning to fall. Early in the third quarter, Flacco threw a 16 yard pass to wide receiver Derrick Mason, only to be sacked by safety Troy Polamalu for an 8-yard loss on the next play, forcing a punt for the Ravens. The Steelers were held on their next possession, forcing another punt. After the Ravens got the ball back, Flacco led the team down the field in what ended as a 58-yard touchdown drive to put the team up 16 to 14. However, near the end of the game, Flacco threw an errant pass intended for Mason that was intercepted by Polamalu and returned for a 40-yard defensive touchdown. This made the score 23 to 14, and essentially knocked the Ravens out of the game.

With 3:19 remaining in the game and the Ravens in possession of the ball for one last chance, a passing play was called. Flacco dropped back into a throwing position, and threw a short pass to running back Willis McGahee, who caught the ball and turned upfield. Going full speed up the field, Steelers safety Ryan Clark collided with McGahee, also running at full speed. The two made helmet-to-helmet-contact, knocking both players to the ground and knocking the ball out of the hands of McGahee. Ray Rice, another running back, commented “It was tough to watch. He’s like a brother to me.” Clark was helped off of the field by the Steelers medical staff, but McGahee remained down on the field with movement in only his legs and arms. He told team doctors that he had significant pain in his neck, and was taken off the field on a cart and taken to a nearby hospital. It is unknown how severe the injuries are at this time.

After the game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement “I’m not going to sit here and say Joe played a certain way. Joe went out there and competed and battled and fought and tried to find a way to win the football game. So I certainly have no complaints about that.” Flacco completed only 17 out of 30 pass attempts for 141 yards passing. He was also sacked 3 times and threw 3 interceptions. “I’m not blaming it on any rookie-wall stuff. I don’t believe in any of that stuff,” said Flacco.

In the NFC championship, the Arizona Cardinals had not made it to a Super Bowl in the past 60 years. They were matched up against the high-powered offense of the Philadelphia Eagles, who were the number 6 seed in the NFC. The Cardinals were the number 4 seed, defeating the number 5 seeded Atlanta Falcons on Wild Card weekend, and the number 2 seeded Carolina Panthers in the NFC Divisional playoff round. The Cardinals were led by quarterback Kurt Warner, who became the second quarterback in NFL history to lead two different teams to a Super Bowl, the other being the St. Louis Rams. During the first half, the Cardinals quickly took the lead. By halftime, their lead was extended to 18 points in what looked like an easy win for the team. However, in the third quarter, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw three touchdown passes, two of them being to tight end Brent Celek. After kicker David Akers missed an extra point attempt after the third touchdown pass, the score was 25 to 24 in favor of the Eagles. After the Cardinals received the ball, they drove up the field. With just under 3 minutes remaining in the game, Kurt Warner completed a game-winning touchdown pass to running back Tim Hightower, making the score 32 to 25,. and sealing the game for the Cardinals.

Kurt Warner completed 21 passes out of 28 pass attempts, for a total of 279 passing yards. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught three touchdown passes of 9, 62, and 1 yard, building on his record-breaking playoff performance of 23 catches, 419 yards, and 5 receiving touchdowns over 3 games. “It really set in when I saw the confetti. I always dreamed of being in the confetti. This is beyond my wildest dreams,” said Cardinals linebacker Bertrand Berry after the game. On the other side, Donovan McNabb remarked on not making it to the Super Bowl again. “You never want anything to end. It’s tough when you’re that close to making it to the Super Bowl,” he commented.