Mitt Romney announced his presidential candidacy yesterday.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney formally announced his presidential candidacy yesterday outside of Detroit.
“I don’t believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifetime politicians, there’ve been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements — and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading,” said Romney, who was a successful businessman before entering politics. Romney focused on his leadership experience outside of government.
Romney made the announcement at the Henry Ford Museum, something which the National Jewish Democratic Council heavily criticized saying that they were, “deeply troubled by Governor Romney’s choice . . . to kick (off) his presidential campaign on the former estate of a well-known and outspoken anti-Semite and xenophobe.” A spokesman for Romney said, “Governor Romney believes our country needs to put innovation at the forefront if we are to ensure a stronger, safer and more prosperous America, the Ford Museum embodies that bold, innovative spirit.”
Romney’s record as a moderate and his Latter-day Saint faith are expected to be his primary campaign challenges.
Romney, born in Detroit, the son of former Michigan Governor, Republican Presidential candidate, and automotive pioneer George Romney, attended Cranbrook School of Michigan and Harvard Business and Law Schools. Romney ran against senior Massachusetts senator and Kennedy family member, Ted Kennedy. Romney won 41% percent of the vote against Kennedy in the closest election in Kennedy’s entire tenure in the United States Senate. Romney was also CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee which was in charge of planning the 2002 Winter Olympics from 1999 to 2002, he took charge after the 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal. He also sat on the board of Massachusetts-based office supply giant, Staples, Inc.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006The Australian House of Representatives today acknowledged the impact of the recent devastating Cyclone Larry and the efforts of the support given to the residents and communities of north Queensland in order to restore normal life.
Phillip Ruddock (Liberal, Berowra) moved a motion expressing this after Question Time today, which included a description of the devastation wrought on the area, the response by the Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force, and thanked the efforts of people for their “willingness to roll up their sleeves and get on with the job of cleaning up and rebuilding their towns and centres.”
The Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley (Labor, Brand) supported the motion, and congratulated the move to put General Peter Cosgrove in charge of operations, stating that soldiers “know how to work through logistics issues…how to work around officialdom or blockages”, praised both local federal and state members of Parliament, and especially the Labor Queensland state premier, Peter Beattie.
Bob Katter (Independent, Kennedy) was more critical in his speech. Katter thanked Beattie for his immediate response, but also described his confrontation with him and said how first responses were “simply not working”, but also praised Beattie’s decision on Cosgrove. Katter also described how the incident was “the worst natural disaster inAustralian history” and how the banana industry in north Queensland was decimated. Katter went on to describe the financial problems of the people in the region, the “huge gap” between the cost of rebuilding and insurance payouts, also asking “Are we going to pay people virtually nothing to sit on their backsides to do nothing or are we going to pay them a decent wage and have them rebuilding our communities for us?”
The debate is set to continue in the Main Committee, as an opportunity for many more members of the House of Representatives to speak to the motion, without taking up further time in the Chamber.
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A team of archaeologists excavating an Ancient Egyptian tomb have discovered golden jewelry in a recently-discovered lower chamber at the Valley of the Kings burial site in Luxor, Egypt.
Two golden rings and five golden earrings were found in the tomb of Djehuty, an 18th-dynasty official of Queen Hatshepsut, and were probably the property of Djehuty or his family.
The discovery was announced by Farouk Hosni, Egypt’s current Minister of Culture.
The Valley of the Kings
Djehuty was overseer of the treasury and overseer of works for the Queen. Hatshepsut reigned approximately 1479–1458 BCE. Djehuty was responsible for managing the huge amounts of precious goods brought in from Egypt’s military expedition to Punt in the Horn of Africa and the vast building projects of Hatshepsut which have made the female pharaoh one of the most-remembered of any from ancient Egypt.
Djehuty died after Hatshepsut did, sometime during the reign of Thutmosis III. Both Hatshepsut’s and Thutmosis’s names are recorded on the tomb. In a fashion typical of ancient Egyptian rivalries, Hatshepsut’s name was partly obscured on the monument over the tomb sometime after the queen’s death.
The team, led by José Manuel Galán of the National Research Center (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC), in Madrid, Spain, had been excavating the tomb, designated TT11 and located in the necropolis of Dra’ Abu el-Naga’, since 2002. While much of Djehuty’s funerary equipment was lost to fire in antiquity, the lower chamber of his tomb was concealed at the end of a three-meter shaft and discovered at the end of 2008.
A superficial description of the tomb itself was recorded almost two hundred years ago by 19th-century French Egyptologist Jean-François Champollion, rubble blocking the entrance hindered excavation until the 21st century. In that time, emphasis in Egyptology has changed from the cataloging of treasures to the investigation of ancient culture, life and religion.
Since excavation began, Djehuty’s tomb has yielded a number of surprises. It was discovered that the tomb was re-used repeatedly up to and during the Greco-Roman period. There is an unusual face-on depiction of pharaoh Thutmosis III hunting ducks, and the mummy of a young, bejewelled, as-yet unidentified woman.
In 2007, 44 preserved bunches of flowers thought to be from Djehuty’s funeral were found in the site. In their 8th season of excavation, which ended on February 22, 2009, the team also found considerable evidence that below Djehuty’s tomb is a network of burial sites from the 11th dynasty, four thousand years old.
The lower chamber also displays passages from the Egyptian funerary text the Book of the Dead on its walls and a colorful mural of the goddess Nut, an embodiment of the heavens, on the ceiling. The names of Djehuty and his parents were also intact in the second chamber; the names were defaced in the previously-known first chamber of the tomb, which had also been looted.
According to a press release from Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Djehuty’s tomb is only the fifth known decorated burial chamber of the 18th dynasty. An additional unusual feature of the tomb is that its upper chamber is decorated in relief, rather than simply paint. When the excavation is completed, Dr Galán’s team plans to open the site to the public as the carved stoneworks will not be destroyed by tourists’ activities as paint would.
The identification of Djehuty is a complicated one, as a number of officials of the 18th dynasty bore the name, including a general and several governors. The name itself is an alternate transliteration of the name of the Egyptian god usually written in English as Thoth.
Plastic surgeon to the stars Dr. Frank Ryan has died in a car accident at age 50. It is reported that the Jeep Ryan was driving crashed over the side of the Pacific Coast Highway and landed on rocks. Lifeguards were first on the scene and unsuccessfully tried to rescue Ryan. It is thought that no other vehicle was involved in the incident.
Dr. Ryan, a celebrity in his own right, performed plastic surgery on several stars including Janice Dickinson, Gene Simmons, Shauna Sand and Adrianne Curry. He appeared on several television shows and became one of the first people to perform plastic surgery on television in 1995.
A representative for Janice Dickinson released a statement about the death of Ryan. She said “Janice is deeply, deeply anguished! She is stunned and wants the world to know what a genius Dr. Ryan was.”
Ryan was traveling with his pet dog at the time of the crash; the dog was found seriously injured in the ocean and was transported to a local veterinarian. Dr. Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene.
You have been thinking of getting some scrap oxygen sensors recycling done. You have been seeing a lot of scraps of these items that are around and you must make sure that you’ll be able to find a good way to get the task carried out. Knowing what you must do and what you must carry out is going to help make it easier for you to get things done appropriately this time. Make sure that you’ll take your part in these social issues that are plaguing society, it is a very pressing manner and little by little, the rest of the community are starting to feel the bad effects of people’s carelessness where their garbage is involved. So, ensure that you do your part, regardless of how small it may be. There are a lot of things that you can do even by yourself one of the good things about recycling is that they can be a good source of extra income too. There are people these days that are able to accept recyclable items and pay you for bringing these items to them. So, might as well take the time to get to know what are the options available for you. Make sure that you will start collecting these scraps. If you do think that this is one activity that you would want to carryout for a long time, it is recommended that you should at least get a good idea of the resources that you are likely going to need. For instance, you might need your own vehicle, your own containers and your own storage area as well. Make sure to segregate the items that you have collected successfully too. Yu have to remember that there are always all kids of scraps that you may be able to find around and not all of them may be considered ideal for recycling. Knowing how to determine which ones go where is going to make it considerably easier for you to get the task carried out this time. The local government should be able to get you referred towards the right establishment that might offer you their assistance in getting this recycling task that you are doing a successful one. They may have their own guidelines on what are the things that you are supposed to do as well. It helps that you’ll know what these are so you get the most out of things. Make sure that you will call establishments that can recycle these stuff as well. It is always important that you will have a good notion of the many things that you must take into account so you are sure that you will know what their policies are for getting these stuff recycled. Thus, you would not have a hard time having these items be accepted by these providers this time. Make sure that you will find those establishments that do scrap oxygen sensors recycling and buy these stuff that you have collected from you. You would want to be able to use this opportunity to earn extra income. So, you would want to be able to do something on the side that will generate some dough, this can be a really excellent choice for you.
Smoke still coming from the roof of Marconi House at about 2.30 p.m. local time, over 3 hours after the alert was raised.Image: Bencherlite.
A fire on Aldwych, in central London, England, has led to serious traffic problems in the area since this morning. Many roads have been closed for some hours while firefighters attempt to extinguish the blaze. There are no reports of any casualties.
The blaze is at Marconi House, a ten-storey building currently being converted into flats and a luxury hotel, near the church of St Mary le Strand, King’s College London and Somerset House. The alert was raised at about 11 a.m. BST (10 a.m. UTC). About 75 firefighters in 15 fire engines were sent to the scene, from depots including Homerton and Whitechapel in east London and Old Kent Road in south-east London. Ambulances, including hazardous response teams, and police officers are also in attendance.
Local roads, including Waterloo Bridge and parts of the Strand, have been closed to traffic, causing significant disruption to travellers. At least ten bus routes are affected, and the London Underground is accepting bus tickets for travel within the affected area.
The cause of the fire is unknown at present, but is located in the roof of the building. The smoke could be seen from large parts of central London, and was still coming from the roof some hours after it started.
When Wikinews returned to the area at 7.45 p.m. local time, traffic was still prevented from passing the building although the pavement on the south side of Aldwych (furthest from Marconi House) had been reopened to pedestrians. The scene was still under the control of the London Fire Brigade (LFB), with police cars and ambulances still in attendance. Waterloo Bridge and the Strand were still closed to vehicles, with about fifteen fire engines or LFB command vehicles parked close by and many hosepipes running across the road. Some smoke could still be seen coming from the roof of the building, but less than before. Some damage to the roof was also visible.
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Smoke as seen from Waterloo Bridge
Smoke as seen from Waterloo Bridge at about 2.30 p.m.Image: Bencherlite.
Emergency services on the scene at about 2.30 p.m.
Emergency services on the scene at about 2.30 p.m.Image: Bencherlite.
The scene at about 7.45 p.m, with London Fire Brigade hoses running along the closed road.
The scene at about 7.45 p.m, with London Fire Brigade hoses running along the closed road.Image: Bencherlite.
Marconi House, under conversion into a hotel and flats, is at the west end of Aldwych, by the north end of Waterloo Bridge.
Marconi House, under conversion into a hotel and flats, is at the west end of Aldwych, by the north end of Waterloo Bridge.Image: Bencherlite.
Google has announced its intention of taking over the Internet advertising agency DoubleClick in a deal worth $3.1 billion. DoubleClick has also confirmed the deal and hopes it will be completed before the end of 2007.
Rumours of a takeover offer for DoubleClick had been circulating, with Microsoft, Time Warner and Yahoo! all reportedly interested in making an offer for the company.
Six months ago, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. The current takeover is the largest in Google’s history. In a press release, Google says the acquisition “will enable Google to extend our ad network and develop deeper relationships with our partners. This new partnership represents a tremendous opportunity for us at Google to broaden and deepen our inventory of available ads and to better serve both our publishers and users.”
DoubleClick provides software for Internet advertising and brings together advertisers, advertisement agencies and website developers. DoubleClick is currently owned by the majority share-holders Hellman & Friedman, a private equity firm, with JMI Management also having a large stake in the company.
Poster for the 76th Academy Awards.Oscar®-winning actress and Academy member Mira Sorvino and Academy President Sid Ganis announced the nominees for the 78th Annual Academy Awards in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Today, the nominees for the 78th Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles, California.
Best Picture nominees this year are Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck., and Munich. The director of each of these films received director nominations. Nominees include George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck.), Paul Haggis (Crash), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Bennett Miller (Capote), and Steven Spielberg (Munich). This is the first time since 1981 that every Best Picture nominee also received a nod for Direction.
Brokeback Mountain leads this year’s Oscar pack overall, with eight nominations. Brokeback is followed by Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck., and Memoirs of a Geisha, who each earned six. Capote, Munich, and Walk the Line each received five nominations. King Kong, Pride and Prejudice, and The Constant Gardener picked up four nominations, while Cinderella Man, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and War of the Worlds pick up three. A History of Violence, Hustle & Flow, Mrs. Henderson Presents, North Country, Syriana, and Transamerica each received two nods each.
Best Animated Feature Film nominees are Howl’s Moving Castle, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. None of these films used primarily CGI-animation, the first year this can be claimed, since the 2001 creation of the award category. Corspe Bride marks both Tim Burton and Mike Johnson’s first nominations. Wallace & Gromit’s Steve Box is celebrating his first nomination, while co-producer Nick Park has three Oscars for Best Animation Short, a fourth nomination, of which he lost to himself in 1990. Hayao Miyazaki won the Best Animated Feature award in 2002, for Spirited Away.
Uniquely neither animation powerhouse, Disney or DreamWorks, is directly nominated in the category. Disney’s Buena Vista Entertainment distributes Miyazaki film Howl’s Moving Castle, while DreamWorks distributed Wallace and Gromit, animated by Aardman Animations.
Best Foreign Language Film nominees include Italian film Don’t Tell, France’s Joyeux Noël, Palestine’s Paradise Now, Germany’s Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, and South Africa’s Tsotsi. Italy has been up for an Oscar 27 times, France 34 times, and Germany has had six nominations. This is only South Africa’s second nomination, with the first coming last year, and Palestine’s first ever Academy Award nomination.
Nominees for Best Documentary Feature are Darwin’s Nightmare, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, March of the Penguins, Murderball, and Street Fight. March of the Penguins, produced in France, actually grossed more than any of the Best Picture nominees, the first time in history such an occurrence has happened.
The top 19 films in box office received a total of only 14 nominations, with a majority of these in the categories of Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.
Perhaps one of the most interesting stories for Hollywood as a whole, is the tremendous success of Participant Productions in its first year of operation. eBay founder Jeff Skoll‘s movie house produced nominees Good Night and Good Luck. (6), North Country (2), Syriana (2), and Murderball (1). The company aims to fund feature films and documentaries that promote social values while still being commercially viable.
The 78th Academy Awards presentation will be held on Sunday, March 5.
Nominee Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote
Terrence Howard – Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line
David Strathairn – Good Night, and Good Luck
George Clooney – Syriana
Matt Dillon – Crash
Paul Giamatti – Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal – Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt – A History of Violence
Judi Dench – Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman – Transamerica
Keira Knightley – Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron – North Country
Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
Amy Adams – Junebug
Catherine Keener – Capote
Frances McDormand – North Country
Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams – Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana
Nominee David Strathairn in Good Night, and Good Luck.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk the Line
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
God Sleeps in Rwanda
The Mushroom Club
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Munich
Walk the Line
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Pride & Prejudice
In the Deep – Crash
It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp – Hustle & Flow
Travelin’ Thru – Transamerica
Nominated short One Man Band.
Badgered
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
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One Man Band
Ausreisser (The Runaway)
Cashback
The Last Farm
Our Time is Up
Six Shooter
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Walk the Line
War of the Worlds
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Members of Australia’s Health Services Union (HSU) will go on strike in Victoria next week in a dispute over stalled wage and career structure negotiations. Over 5000 physiotherapists, speech pathologists and radiation therapists will walk off the job next week, effectively closing the state’s 68 largest health services.
The strike will force the closure of intensive care units and emergency departments across the state.
It is feared the strike could continue into Easter.
National secretary of the HSU, Kathy Jackson said admissions would be crippled, while intensive care patients would have to be evacuated to New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia as hospitals will not be able to perform tests or administer treatment.
“When an ambulance shows up you can’t admit a patient without an X-ray being available, you can’t intubate them and you can’t operate on them,” she said.
“If something goes wrong in an ICU you need to be able to X-ray, use nuclear medicine or any diagnostic procedure,” said Ms Jackson.
Ms Jackson said the HSU offered arbitration last year, but the state government refused. “They’re not interested in settling disputes, they hope that we are just going to go away.”
“We’re not going away, we’ve gone back and balloted the whole public health workforce in Victoria, those ballots were successful, 97 percent approval rating,” she said.
The HSU is urging the government to commence serious negotiations to resolve the dispute before industrial action commenced.
The government has offered the union a 3.25 per cent pay increase, in line with other public sector workers but the union has demanded more, but stopped short of specifying a figure.
Victorian PremierJohn Brumby said the claim would be settled according to the government’s wages policy. “The Government is always willing and wanting to sit down and negotiate with the relevant organisations . . . we have a wages policy based around an increase of 3.25 per cent and, above that, productivity offset,” he told parliament.
The union claims it is also arguing against a lack of career structure, which has caused many professionals to leave the health service. Ms Jackson said wages and career structures in Victoria were behind other states.
Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said he was not in support of the proposed strike and called on the government to meet with unions. “There could not be a more serious threat to our health system than has been announced today.”
“We now have to do whatever is possible to stop this strike from proceeding,” he said.
The opposition leader will meet with the union at 11:30 AM today.
Victorian Hospitals Industry Association industrial relations services manager Simon Chant said hospitals were looking at the possible impact and warned that patients may have to be evacuated interstate if the strike goes ahead.
