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2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships preparations underway

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:14:51 GMT

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Sources [edit]

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

"U.S. Paralympics selects team for IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships" — US Paralympics, February 8, 2013

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January tornadoes, severe weather in southern, midwestern US cause fatalities

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:40:50 GMT

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Disasters and accidents

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Damage to a structure in Galatia, Illinois.
Image: NOAA.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected the midwestern and southern United States yesterday into today with damage reported in several states and at least two people killed.

In Mississippi, at least ten counties suffered power outages, and the National Weather Service reported a tornado struck areas near the town of Sardis. At least 11,900 customers were without power in Indiana, where debris blocked roadways and a tornado reportedly damaged homes in the town of Solsberry. In Tennessee major damage was reported around the Nashville area with widespread tree and some building damage reported. One man was killed in Nashville when a tree fell on a building he was using as shelter, according to police. An EF2 tornado was also confirmed to have touched down in the town of Mount Juliet.

Damage was also reported in Georgia, where a tornado caused extensive damage in Adairsville, and one person was reported killed. Damage and flipped vehicles resulted in the closure of Interstate 75 at Adairsville. The Storm Prediction Center and National Climatic Data Center said the fatality in Adairsville was the first tornado-related fatality in the United States in 220 days, since a deadly tornado in Florida June 24, ending the longest recorded time between tornado fatalities in the United States.

The threat for severe weather is expected to continue into tonight as the storm system continues to push east, with the possibility of damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes.

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Sources [edit]

Michael Pearson and Vivian Kuo. "High winds, tornado trap residents, turn over cars" — CNN, January 30, 2013
Larry Copeland and Doyle Rice. "Killer storms, tornadoes hit South, Midwest" — USA Today, January 30, 2013
Mary Wisniewski. "Tornadoes rip central, southeast U.S., at least two dead" — Reuters, January 30, 2013
Associated Press. "Powerful storm flips cars, decimates homes along destructive path through Southeast; 2 dead" — The Washington Post, January 30, 2013

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Drought conditions hit much of US again in 2012

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 01:55:15 GMT

National Weather Service graphic showing drought outlook for most of the continental United States

Monday, July 9, 2012

Over half of the contiguous United States is experiencing drought conditions, according to a report released Thursday by the National Weather Service. The report, addressing the period through this coming September, predicted many states will see these conditions persist, or worsen.

Further government reports indicate that high temperatures have played a role in the drought. Additionally, food supplies are being negatively impacted. 22 percent of the corn and soybean crop in key states is reported in "poor or very poor condition"; other crops have also been reduced in the wake of the conditions.

Only days ago, over one million residences in the greater Washington D.C. area were without air-conditioning following a rash of storms and high winds. Reports indicate that temperatures reached at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38C) during that period. Overall, 18 deaths were attributed to those conditions which extended to several states. Two Tennessee brothers, ages 3 and 5 died after playing outside, according to one report. When asked about weather conditions, a Texas woman told Wikinews, "This heat has been dreadful. I can hardly stand to be outside for more than 10 minutes."

The National Weather Service's report noted that, in the southeastern US, some weather improvements are expected across certain portions of Georgia and South Carolina. An Arkansas woman told Wikinews, "...it's horrible. We're not used to these kinds of temperatures. It's so miserable outside right now. It doesn't normally get this hot here...this is unbelievable." Sources are referring to this drought as the worst since 1988.

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Sister links [edit]

Summer 2012 North American heat wave

Sources [edit]

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Elton Robinson. "Midwest drought could persist, meteorologist says" — Delta Farm Press, July 6, 2012
"US Seasonal Drought Outlook" — National Weather Service, July 5, 2012
Miguel Llanos. "Drought hits 56 percent of continental US; 'significant toll' on crops" — msnbc.com, July 5, 2012
"Triple-digit temps as millions suffer storm power outages" — msnbc.com, June 30, 2012

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Attorney John Wolfe wins 42% against President Obama in Arkansas primary

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:45:22 GMT

Thursday, May 24, 2012

2012 United States Presidential Election

2012 U.S. Presidential Election stories

7 November 2012: World leaders react to Obama win
7 November 2012: United States re-elects Barack Obama
7 November 2012: Australian Broadcasting Corporation plans to call California for Obama before polls close
5 November 2012: Wikinews interviews former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party
5 November 2012: On the campaign trail, October 2012

Attorney John Wolfe, Jr. of Chattanooga, Tennessee won 68,105 votes for 42 percent of the total in Tuesday's Arkansas Democratic Party presidential primary. He came in first in 36 counties and finished only 16 points behind President Barack Obama, who won the primary with 95,382 votes for 58 percent. The result tops prison inmate Keith Russell Judd's 41 percent West Virginia primary showing against Obama two weeks ago as the strongest outing for a Democratic challenger thus far. According to The Green Papers, Wolfe qualified for 19 Democratic National Convention delegates, which the party has already announced they will deny.

Wolfe at the Lesser-known candidates forum in December 2011
Image: Marc Nozell.

Wolfe, who is concerned about the influence of Wall Street in the Obama administration, announced his primary challenge to Obama last year. So far, along with Arkansas, he has qualified for the primary ballot in New Hampshire, Missouri, Louisiana and Texas. Before Tuesday, his strongest showing came in Louisiana, where he won 12 percent overall with over 15 percent in some congressional districts, qualifying him for delegates. However, these were stripped after the party claimed Wolfe had not filed the necessary paperwork. He has announced plans to take legal action against the party, and in an interview with Wikinews last week, commented, "the Democratic Party decided to avert, quite flagrantly, the will of the people and assign all the delegates to Mr. Obama, even though their bylaws, the rules themselves say that the results of the primary are binding...They forsook their own law in order to make it look like there was unanimous support for Obama."

Although President Obama has won enough delegates in this election cycle to secure the Democratic Party nomination, previously unknown challengers such as Wolfe have qualified for delegates. In March, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry and perennial candidate Jim Rogers qualified for delegates in Oklahoma, but later had them stripped by the party for not filing delegate slates and, in Terry's case, not qualifying as a bona-fide candidate. The same outcome occurred for Judd in West Virginia, and as mentioned above, for Wolfe in Louisiana and Arkansas.

After the Arkansas Democratic Party announced prior to Tuesday's vote that any delegates Wolfe gains will not be seated, Wolfe told The Daily Caller he would pursue further legal action, proclaiming, "It will be a summer of litigation. … I hate to do it against my own party, but they’re acting as if this guy [Obama] is some kind of emperor."

	They don’t have but two names on the ballot: President Obama and that other guy [John Wolfe], [and] I don’t know anything about the other guy
—73-year-old Arkansas primary voter

The last Democratic Party presidential incumbent, Bill Clinton, faced fewer challenges than Obama during his 1996 primary election, but the party still had to deal with a candidate that won delegates. Challenger Lyndon LaRouche qualified for delegates in Louisiana and Virginia that year, but the party stripped these, claiming LaRouche's views were "explicitly racist and anti-Semitic." Like Wolfe, LaRouche proceeded to sue the party, but was unsuccessful.

Regardless of whether the party ultimately awards the delegates, some analysts say the results provide insights into voters' perception of Obama. Peter Grier of The Christian Science Monitor explained that "white working-class voters", who make up a majority in Arkansas, "have been disproportionately hurt by the economic downturn, and they're resistant to what they see as Obama’s liberal health-care reforms and support of gay marriage." Republican Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma argued "Obama fares poorly in states like ... Arkansas because he has nothing in common with them. They are rural, he is urban. They are populist, he is elitist. And in case anyone hadn’t noticed, they are conservative while he is liberal." Former Democratic Congressman Charlie Stenholm largely agreed, commenting "The most significant factor is the perception/reality that the Obama administration has leaned toward the ultra-left viewpoint on almost all issues."

Arkansas Democratic primary by county. John Wolfe won the counties in red while President Obama won the counties in black.
Image: William S. Saturn.

Others have dismissed the results, arguing it is a foregone conclusion that Obama will not win Arkansas in the general election, and that opposition there may be the result of racism against Obama, the first African American president. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post published an article questioning whether racism played a role and concluded that though it likely did, "simply labeling [the people of] Arkansas who backed Tennessee lawyer John Wolfe over the incumbent as 'racists' is a major oversimplification." University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato warned Democrats against overlooking the results, saying "Obama will never carry white working class. But he can’t afford to lose it by massive margins, either."

The Associated Press asked a few Arkansas voters how they cast their ballot and why. One voter, described as a 57-year-old resident of Lonoke, Arkansas, said she voted for John Wolfe because she "wasn’t satisfied with Obama" and had a particular concern about Social Security. An 85-year-old retiree from Little Rock, Arkansas said he also voted for Wolfe, but called it "a wasted vote...I guess you just do it in opposition."

As for the Obama supporters, one Little Rock voter said he cast his ballot for Obama, even though "I am not entirely happy with what he is doing." Another, identified as a 51-year-old attorney from Lonoke, said she voted for Obama and fully supports him because "he stands up for what he believes in and he has not wavered." One 73-year-old retired aircraft mechanic said he voted for Obama because "they don’t have but two names on the ballot: President Obama and that other guy [John Wolfe], [and] I don’t know anything about the other guy."

In other races on Tuesday, "uncommitted" won a similar margin as Wolfe against Obama in the Kentucky Democratic primary. On the Republican side, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney easily won both the Arkansas and Kentucky primaries with 68.3 percent and 66.8 percent, respectively.

The next primary will be held May 29 in Texas. Wolfe will be on the ballot alongside Obama, historian Darcy Richardson, and activist Bob Ely.

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Sources [edit]

Associated Press. "Comments from Arkansas primary election voters" — The Courier (Arkansas), May 23, 2012
Peter Grier. "Obama loses 42 percent of Kentucky, Arkansas primary vote. Should he worry?" — The Christian Science Monitor, May 23, 2012
Chris Cillizza. "Kentucky, Arkansas primaries: Is it racism?" — The Washington Post, May 23, 2012
"Arkansas Democrat Presidential Nominating Process" — The Green Papers, May 23, 2012 (date of access)
"Election Map 2012: Live Voting Results - KY" — Politico, May 23, 2012 (date of access)
"Election Map 2012: Live Voting Results - AR" — Politico, May 23, 2012 (date of access)

Neil Munro. "Democrats shun Obama’s Arkansas challenger" — The Daily Caller, May 18, 2012

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Wikinews interviews John Wolfe, Democratic Party presidential challenger to Barack Obama

Sun, 20 May 2012 15:20:26 GMT

Sunday, May 20, 2012

2012 United States Presidential Election

2012 U.S. Presidential Election stories

7 November 2012: World leaders react to Obama win
7 November 2012: United States re-elects Barack Obama
7 November 2012: Australian Broadcasting Corporation plans to call California for Obama before polls close
5 November 2012: Wikinews interviews former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party
5 November 2012: On the campaign trail, October 2012

U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate John Wolfe, Jr. of Tennessee took some time to answer a few questions from Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn.

John Wolfe.
Image: Marc Nozell.

Wolfe, an attorney based out of Chattanooga, announced his intentions last year to challenge President Barack Obama in the Democratic Party presidential primaries. So far, he has appeared on the primary ballots in New Hampshire, Missouri, and Louisiana. In Louisiana, he had his strongest showing, winning 12 percent overall with over 15 percent in some congressional districts, qualifying him for Democratic National Convention delegates. However, because certain paperwork had not been filed, the party stripped Wolfe of the delegates. Wolfe says he will sue the party to receive them.

Wolfe will compete for additional delegates at the May 22 Arkansas primary and the May 29 Texas primary. He is the only challenger to Obama in Arkansas, where a May 10 Hendrix College poll of Democrats shows him with 38 percent support, just short of the 45 percent for Obama. Such an outing would top the margin of Texas prison inmate Keith Russell Judd, who finished 18 percent behind Obama with 41 percent in the West Virginia Democratic primary; the strongest showing yet against the incumbent president. Despite these prospects, the Democratic Party of Arkansas has already announced that if Wolfe wins any delegates in their primary, again, due to paperwork, the delegates will not be awarded. Wolfe will appear on the Texas ballot alongside Obama, activist Bob Ely, and historian Darcy Richardson, who ended his campaign last month.

Wolfe has previously run for U.S. Congress as the Democratic Party's nominee. On his campaign website, he cites the influence "of the Pentagon, Wall Street, and corporations" on the Obama administration as a reason for his challenge, believing these negatively affect "loyal Americans, taxpayers and small businesses." Wolfe calls for the usage of anti-trust laws to break up large banks, higher taxes on Wall Street, the creation of an "alternative federal reserve" to assist community banks, and the implementation of a single-payer health care system.

With Wikinews, Wolfe discusses his campaign, the presidency of Barack Obama, corporations, energy, the federal budget, immigration, and the nuclear situation in Iran among other issues.

1 Campaign
2 Challenging the incumbent
3 Policy
4 Related news
5 Sources

Campaign [edit]

William S. SaturnWhat is the status of your lawsuit concerning Louisiana delegates?

John Wolfe: Yeah. We're still going to file it. I mean the convention is not until September. Now it's May. So we got what, four months until the convention starts? And all we're going to ask for relief is to get awarded the delegates.

So yeah we're getting it ready. We have other campaigning to do. And I'm a lawyer so I'll be able to do the suit right. But it does take time and energy. It will be filed. I hope to file it Monday [May 14].

WSSWhat court will it be filed in?

Wolfe: It's going to be filed in Baton Rouge federal court. That's where the jurisdiction is.

Louisiana Democratic primary by parish. President Obama won the parishes in black while Wolfe won the parishes in red.
Image: William S. Saturn.

WSSIf you qualify for delegates in Arkansas and Texas, in light of what happened in Louisiana, what will you do to avoid having those delegates stripped?

Wolfe: Well, I don't think we'll have the same problems in those states. The Louisiana people basically are perpetrating a fraud on the vote. The Democratic Party put me up there. It was a primary. They didn't have to have a primary. There was a new law saying the Democratic primary was mandatory. It's a party function. They put me on their ballot. They accepted my money. And then, after that, what they did was have an election, and 17 percent of the people, and this was the Democratic Primary, this wasn't an open primary, this was just among registered Democratic voters, and I still got 11 or 12 percent. The other guys, there were two other people, together got ten percent: Mr. Ely and Mr. Richardson.

And then despite all that, despite Obama only taking three quarters, the Democratic Party decided to avert, quite flagrantly, the will of the people and assign all the delegates to Mr. Obama, even though their bylaws, the rules themselves say that the results of the primary are binding. Preferential presidential primary results are binding. They forsook their own law in order to make it look like there was unanimous support for Obama. They want a coronation for him instead of just a nomination. They're treating him again like a king. Who does he think he is? I mean this is ridiculous.

WSSYou mentioned open primaries, and Texas and Arkansas have open primaries.

Wolfe: Yeah pretty much open primaries. Arkansas definitely and Texas is unless you're part of the GOP leadership, then you can't vote in a Democratic primary. But it's pretty much open and I think that we'll do fine in both states.

WSSSo how do you feel about Republican voters that have no interest in their own primary and so vote for you in the Democratic primary to embarrass Obama?

Wolfe: Well there's been no proof yet that that's happened. People say it will happen. But I mean, Republicans have their own races. And so if they were to vote in the Democratic primary, they would forego the right to vote for local and not only just federal candidates that are Republican, but also local people, because your local primaries in Arkansas are held the same time as the congressional. So they would have to basically decide to not vote for anyone they know or like and switch over, just for the purpose of voting against Obama. Now whether that's going to happen or not, I don't know. We can talk about that after the primary to see if it did happen.

WSSWell that might have happened in West Virginia, where there was more voters that participated in the Democratic primary than the Republican primary. So what is your reaction to the showing of prison inmate Keith Russell Judd in that primary?

[The American people] may not be able to articulate it the way I just did but they know in their heart what's true and what isn't. And they know for sure that [President Obama's] not on their side. And they're right.

Wolfe: Well it shows that Obama's left a void. His lack of leadership has left a void and people are upset. He should be out there with the people. He should be in those coal mines. He should be in those towns, where those factories have left, and he ought to be out there with the homeowners who've been foreclosed on by his campaign contributors. People know this man is nothing but a Wall Street creature. They know that his advisers in the White House are all failed executives of failed banks that have been bailed out: people like Emil [Michael], people like [Jacob] Lew, [William] Daley, they're all from the big six: the big corporations we had to bail out. Yes. What did they get for their failures? Promoted to the White House. People know that. Most of the guys who are raising his campaign money. They're sick of it. And that's why people in West Virginia, and lot of the blue collar people don't like Obama. It's his own fault because he is not of the people. He is of Wall Street. People are finally starting to see that.

John Wolfe isn't [of Wall Street]. John Wolfe worked his way up through. I've worked in factories. I've worked in grocery stores. I almost cut my thumb off doing agricultural work. When I went to college, I didn't have any transportation. I had to hitchhike up and down I75 to get an education. So I know what it's like to work in the real world. I know what it's like to have to strive hard to get ahead. But Obama doesn't relate to those people. He's too professorial. He's too detached. He is of Wall Street. Those are the people he pals around with: Bob Wolf that Swiss banker is his favorite guy. The guy that loves speculation on Wall Street. He gets paid billions and billions of dollars for failed banks to get back up. Him and Obama are like twins. I mean you see Bob Wolf, you see Obama. I mean, this is the sort of thing people sense. They may not be able to articulate it the way I just did but they know in their heart what's true and what isn't. And they know for sure that he's not on their side. And they're right.

WSSHow do you feel about the support you received from the conservative publication, The Weekly Standard?

Wolfe: Well, Mr. Kristol can publish whatever he wants to. It sure surprised me. But Mr. Kristol is a very keen observer. I don't always agree with him on what he writes, but he is one of the most articulate spokesmen in American politics.

WSSIn the interview you had with The Weekly Standard, you said that you are the only Democratic challenger to Obama that is actively campaigning. What kind of activities do you take part in for the campaign?

Wolfe: Well, what we do is we call people. We make sure we get our message out. We're on the radio every now and then and we haven't bought any TV or radio ads yet; they're a little bit too expensive, but we're going to try to, here toward the end, to get on the radio to get our message out in a more conventional way. And we have recently bought some inserts, things like that, for the newspaper. And gotten our message out to some of the people in Arkansas. It's a very expensive thing.

This campaign has been something I've wanted to do, but I've had to make a lot of personal sacrifices to do it.

Challenging the incumbent [edit]

WSSI mentioned that interview you had with The Weekly Standard. During that interview, you said that you opposed same-sex marriage even though you backed the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell". Might this hurt you with Democrats looking for a progressive alternative to Barack Obama?

Wolfe: Yeah my record on so much of the issue, on gay rights, I mean I have a good record on it. In 1979 in Memphis when I was part of the student government, I was the adviser and also the so-called attorney general, I mean, there were issues that came up on the campus where they wanted to ban gay meetings. This was back in '79. I stood up there in 1979 and told the people they were wrong for doing it. In 2010, before the most conservative audience ever in Cleveland, Tennessee, this is on video tape, I said, no, let's get rid of don't ask, don't tell, it's not right. If someone wants to serve their country, they should. You only want heterosexuals to spill blood for the country? Don't you think the sacrifice ought to be equally borne? I came out against don't ask, don't tell before anybody else around this section of the country. I don't think it was right then, and I don't think it's right now.

Wolfe speaks at a Congressional candidates forum in 2010.
Image: millermz.

I am for equality. I just have a little bit of a hard time with accepting gay marriage. I got to look into it a little bit more and see what the ramifications of it are. But I think that the idea of hate crimes and longer sentences for hate crimes is a good idea because people do commit those. They don't just commit it against the individual. They will tend to be recidivist because they don't just hate an individual, they hate the whole group. And when they do that, of course you have longer sentences because that means their rate of doing it again is going to be higher than somebody that just commits an individual crime against an individual. They're going against the whole race. The same thing would be true for somebody that wanted to beat up Jewish people, or they wanted to assault Catholics, or whoever. Sure there should be more time. There should be a special classification for hate crimes. I think the idea of no discrimination by the federal government in hiring based on sexual orientation is the right kind of law to make. I think there should be equality.

If you look at what Obama said, it wasn't even progressive. All he said was this is my personal statement. He didn't say that North Carolina was wrong [for passing a ban on same-sex marriage]. You have to read the tealeaves when this guy talks. All the guy said was I think that gay marriage is fine with me personally. He didn't say that we're going to make a federal law that makes it incumbent upon the states not to outlaw it. He didn't do that. He's fine with those kind of laws. He's not going to go out there and do any more than say what he said. So he didn't give us an agenda like: are you going to go ahead and have it where you're going to have a situation, are you going to allow homosexual or same-sex couples to go ahead and have tax deductions? Are you going to allow them to have the same kind of income tax return as a traditional family? He didn't go through all that. He just made a general statement. Now he's off the floor as some kind of Caesar; someone vindicating the rights of gay people. His statement was very vague. It's just very Obama-like. He didn't really commit to anything. He just said that was his personal opinion.

WSSWell, personally, do you believe it is a federal or state issue?

Wolfe: I think it's a state issue. But I think it's something that I need to study more because I'm a person really that tries to get beyond identity politics. I'm interested mostly in three things. My interests are: number one, the economy. You get people back to work, then we can quite fighting each other on these social issues. Some of these social issues are accented because there's a lot of unrest with the economy. We need to worry about three things I think: getting the economy back right, getting out of these commitments like Afghanistan and dictators abroad, we need to get out of that, then we need to protect our civil liberties at home. Those are the three main things that John Wolfe has on his agenda. So I think those are the most important.

The economy is the most important. And I think the economy can't be reformed until you reform the bank. You noticed yesterday [May 11], JP Morgan lost two billion dollars because they're pouring billions of dollars into all this speculation, and some of the credit default swaps and derivatives. Well guess what? We're underwriting that. That's casino capitalism. I've been talking about this all last year and all this year about how bad that's getting. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost. That's just JP Morgan. We don't know what the next bank is going to report. We got to underwrite all that. See, Obama's never made an effort really to separate that out because he's so ensconced in Wall Street money, and so persuaded by Wall Street advisers right there in the oval office. He won't even go back to traditional banking to make these people separate casino capitalism from traditional banking. He hasn't done it. As long as he doesn't, we're going to have to underwrite these things. We're going to have to keep bailing them out, bailing them out, bailing them out. We shouldn't have to do that. Obama ought to do something about that. People want that done, but he can't do. He's handcuffed because he's afraid of Wall Street.

I would go in there and do just the opposite. I would make sure that was separated. People set their own index. Make it open. Right now these things are traded secretly. Put it out there just like any other stock exchange, and make sure that when people bet money that they got the resources to cover it one way or the other. I mean, you don't let people go to Las Vegas with two dollars and make a ten dollar bet. We shouldn't let these people do it either, especially when where we're guaranteeing it. But Obama is and the man is weakening for Wall Street.

WSSDo you believe Obama has done any good things as president?

If [Obama] would just educate the people like I could, he would get people on his side and he would win an election based on a populist economic view

Wolfe: Well, I think it was good doing away with don't ask, don't tell. I think the stimulus was a good start but it wasn't very effective because it wasn't enough. He's been too cautious about a lot of things. He tried to increase the taxes on the very well-to-do. The top one fifth own 94 percent of financial wealth in this country. They were saved by the bailouts. They made money when the stock market went down to six thousand so they could invest low... People like that who were saved and benefited by these trillion dollar bailouts should be the ones paying higher tax rates now, but Obama hasn't emphasized that point. He has not instructed people. He isn't going out there and telling people the stuff I'm telling you. If he would just educate the people like I could, he would get people on his side and he would win an election based on a populist economic view. People get back to work and people make money and people are empowered then businesses make more money too.

It's not like we want to nationalize resources and take away private capital. We just want to work with feet. The end of the economy is the betterment of the people and not just the accumulation of capital and casino capitalism. It's not that. You know it's the betterment of people. Capitalism is a means to an end. It's not the ends itself. Human needs are not cyclical. Economic cycles of the economy can be cyclical, but that's why you have to have fair taxes, an interventionist government to make sure that society works for the people and Obama's not doing that. The man has failed.

WSSWill you support him during the November election or somebody else?

Wolfe: Well, if he says he'll support me if I win, then I might reciprocate. I think we'll just have to look at it and see how far and wide he appeals. But I certainly would expect to. I certainly would like to. Sure.

WSSBut if it was a choice between him and [Mitt] Romney, who would you favor?

Wolfe: Well if it came down to those two, I would just have to see where they are. I expect to support the president, but to me, there's not a lot of difference between him and Romney on the economy and there's not that much difference between him and Romney on foreign affairs. There's not that much difference between him and Romney on civil liberties. The differences are a lot narrower than people think and they mostly arise in areas again of identity politics. It seems to me like Romney is wanting to repeal abortion rights. He even wants to cut back on birth control. It seems to me that he wants us to get involved in even more wars. He wants to actually to increase military spending by 20 percent. His foreign policy advisers are interventionists. They're neo-cons. They're dangerous people, who don't even see Iraq as a mistake, who would like to get us involved even more deeply in areas like Syria and North Korea, places like that. Romney alarms me a lot more than Obama does in that area. I think Romney would probably give too many tax cuts to the well-to-do, the ones that are already very wealthy. I think that Obama would at least put an end to that. I don't think he pushed quite that hard for a tax increase, but I don't think he'd even fight for tax reductions either.

Corporate taxes as a proportion of GDP has decreased since the 1950s.
Image: Guest2625.

Corporations and things are very powerful. The one message Obama has failed to get out is that the corporate tax rate in this country may be 35 percent on paper, see the effective tax rate that these corporations pay, if you just look at the average of what the Fortune 500 pay it's only 16 percent. So that's the way it really works because you got lobbyists in Washington that write the accounting rules, that write the tax rules and everything, so the 35 percent thing is just a mirage. All it's done is whip up ... to make people think we're non-competitive because we have a higher rater on paper than people like Japan or Germany or maybe some like Mexico or some third world country. Right now if you look at the corporate tax collective, they make up the lowest percentage of GDP than ever. I think we've paid $200 billion on a $15 trillion economy. So you're talking about maybe one and a half percent. Under [President Dwight] Eisenhower, the federal tax was collected and corporations made up about 25 percent of the budget receipts. Now they make up maybe nine percent, and corporations now are 15 times as big and powerful as they were under Eisenhower. So the corporation is ... they want to make people look like they're victims. I mean it's just pathetic.

And the misinformation gets out there. It gets out there because of Fox News, but it also gets out there because Obama doesn't educate the people and if people knew that, he could change public opinion if he would just educate them to that. But he doesn't do it because he's too timid. His whole life has been one where he reaches consensus until he gets along. He goes along and gets along. He's never had to take a hard stance or anything like that. And that may be why he got elected. It could be that the American people would have rejected him if he'd been an assertive African American man who took hard stances on hard issues, and was very dogmatic. And I think that's unfortunate because some of a lot America might react that way.

Policy [edit]

WSSLet's get into policy a little more. How can high energy costs be reduced?

Wolfe: Well, the only way to do that is you're going to have to try to find alternate sources of energy. You've got to make cars that are more fuel efficient. You have to have homes that heat better, that are better insulated. You have to get people to do the things that [President] Jimmy Carter told us to do 35 years ago. If people started doing that more, it would be a lot better. Now we've already cut down on some of our energy consumption, but we definitely need to do it more. I think that it's a shame that gasoline costs as much as it does and it's a shame that the oil companies have as much power as they do. It's a shame that Exxon made like 10 billion dollars in one quarter. That's just really pathetic, and they have all the power, all the tax breaks, all the lobbyists, all the political pull. They're growing bigger and bigger at our expense.

President Jimmy Carter, pictured in 1980, remarked during a 1977 speech on energy policy that "we must prepare quickly for...strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power." He listed ten principles for a "national energy plan".
Image: Marion S. Trikosko.

One way to do it too would be to cut down. I think there needs to be some sort of, on the energy futures and things like that, they need to really be careful that people aren't allowed to run up the price of oil through speculation like they did during 2008. There just wasn't that much going on in the economy at that time. We were sort of having the onset of a recession and the energy demand worldwide was falling in 2008, yet the price of a barrel of oil went in March of 2008 to $48.00 to about $147.00 at the end of July. So that sort of thing needs to be investigated and any sort of speculative activities that gives rise to that needs to be regulated. I mean, there was no reason for it to triple like that.

And I think also what we need to do is is that we need to ask the oil companies why it is that they're always a little bit short. It could be that they don't refine things like they should. They always make it to where the demand is a little bit more than supply just to keep that extra pressure on oil. That needs to be investigated too. That needs to be more tightly regulated because energy is like money. The banks are the same way, energy's no different. One's the veins of the economy and one's the arteries of the economy. And both those things need more federal oversight. They make plenty of profit, no one's talking about taking them over. But they need to be regulated. And these artificial shortages and things shouldn't be allowed to happen. You can't do that. What they got is basically a monopoly. All this would be doing is just like regulating phone companies. There can only be a few people who do it. There's not going to be that much competition. We know that. So they actually, when a sector of the economy basically is in oligopolistic or monopolistic hands, that the government's got a right to step in and regulate on behalf of the people, because the more money that goes into energy unnecessarily, just like interest at the bank and things like that, then that hurts other parts of the economy. That means people have less money to spend at Wal-Mart. They have less money to buy furniture. They have less money to buy other goods.

Same with healthcare, that's why you have to regulate that. It's somewhat of a monopoly as well considering that the health care industry, the insurance companies don't have to compete. By law, they've been exempt from competition for about 50 or 60 years, which really hasn't worked out too well. I mean what we have to pay equals six or eight percent of GDP, which is twice what they have to pay in Germany in relation to their GDP. You know Germany out-exports the United States, a country of 70 million, because they don't have to factor all these health care costs for their products. Health care should be something that is individual and not related to the work. It should be paid for through the taxes. People should be afforded so much health care costs, so many health care costs, like take for instance in Germany, exports go up, prices on exports get more competitive, trade deficit narrows and people have more work because you have more exports.

The United States is hurt. We're the only one of our competitors that doesn't have some form of a single payer that controls costs and gives people a choice of doctors. As a result, that has to be built in to the cost of the product and that makes us less competitive, makes the trade balance larger. Germany, again, a nation of 70 million, actual gross dollars, not per capita, gross dollars or Euros, out-exports the United States of America, which has four and a half times the people of Germany, and that's pathetic.

WSSOn your campaign website, you propose a reinstatement of the Glass–Steagall Act and creation of an alternative Federal Reserve. These require cooperation with Congress. How can a president work with a hostile congress to accomplish these goals?

Wolfe: Well, we still have money left. The president has a lot of authority. He has an army and things like that. He has the federal reserve and things like he's been giving to European banks, distributed to other countries. We were told. We didn't find out about until I guess six or seven months ago just how broad the money was and the way the Federal Reserve chose to prioritize and things like that. So, why not give some of that to the community? If you're gonna give Bank of America that uses this money to speculate an interest rate of one third of one percent, then why aren't these community banks down here working with people to do real things, why aren't they getting money instead? They should be.

I could sit here with a chart, put all this information up in probably 30 or 40 minutes in a national press conference and I guarantee you 70 percent of the people would approve of what I said, and we'd have a whole new discourse in this country

And that's why I'm talking about there needs to be an alternative, when I say alternative federal reserve, a better way of putting would be the federal reserve needs to reform. That's the alternative that I would push for. Because we have a lot of people here that don't work. These small towns have really been hurt by NAFTA. A lot of factories have closed. A lot of people don't have anything to do. A lot of people have turned to drugs. I mean you got a lot of crystal meth problems in the school. I'm for enforcing the law and everything and the individual responsibility, however, we didn't have those sorts of problems at the scale we have now, when we had people in factories where people could work, and we had employment opportunities for those with just a high school education. Now we don't have so much of that anymore. The economy basically has changed. It's now financial. Forty percent of the profits in this country now are made by the financial sector. It used to be different. Factories used to make more. Service industries used to make more of the national profits. But now it's the finance. The finance doesn't require so many people to do it. That's why the finance is basically based on computer trade, automated means, so human beings are superfluous. Especially because its machines in factories and things that are so efficient. So a lot of things are run by robots.

So we need to have work for people and to do that we have to keep capital in the community and we can't do that if we're going to continue to underwrite the speculation. If we're going to use what capital we have to underwrite the speculation right at big banks. I'm talking about JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs. I'm talking about Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. Everyone of those require billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts, maybe even more. They got some bailouts from Federal Reserve money ... and what do they do, they hurt the economy. To cover their own losses and stupidity, they take that money at one third of one percent, and turn around and sponsor credit cards, usually with 16 to 24 percent interest rates. I mean, that's backed up by the government, we're actually paying the banks to give us. I mean it's crazy and I don't understand why we're doing that. And we need a president, again this is not Rocket Science, you can spell this out with a chart. I mean, I could sit here with a chart, put all this information up in probably 30 or 40 minutes in a national press conference and I guarantee you 70 percent of the people would approve of what I said, and we'd have a whole new discourse in this country. We'd have a whole new atmosphere. And that's what I'd do if elected. I'd make people see what's going on, open their eyes a little bit. The president doesn't lead people. Without presidential leadership, the people will flounder.

WSSAt this point, do you believe that the federal budget can be balanced?

Wolfe: No I don't think it can right now. I think that if you cut spending marginally right now, all you'd do is send the economy into a recession. You eventually got to work toward a balance, but that has to be based on economic growth and not just taking away people's entitlements. People have paid for their Social Security. People have paid for their Medicare. That's not welfare. It's not even an entitlement. What it is is a repayment. People who've paid into Social Security, their money goes and they buy bonds, just like foreign creditors buying treasury bonds. They get paid back on principle and interest over time the government guarantees it. It's no different for Social Security recipients. So they're just like any other debtor or any other creditor. They're paid money that they're dued. We bought our Social Security, it's not welfare, it's not even an entitlement, it's a repayment.

Wolfe sifts through his papers during the December 2011 Lesser-known candidates forum.
Image: Marc Nozell.

So people that try to classify that as some sort of welfare that's exploding the budget is just disingenuous, especially when you figure the fact that Social Security surplus is just on book. It's on budget, so therefore, the surplus works to actually reduce the deficit and therefore brings borrowing costs for the government down. So, Social Security has had a very good impact all the way around, and it's something that's actually worked to keep people out of poverty. Now, I mean ten percent of the people are in poverty, if we didn't have social security, 40 percent of the older people would be in poverty. But the Republicans want to undo what works well. Not just the Republicans necessarily, but Blue Dog Democrats and the business class, the elite want to undo what works well for the people, which is Social Security, and they want to keep a failed healthcare system that's uncompetitive in the world economy. I mean it's amazing the upside perspective these people have.

WSSWhat are your views on immigration?

Wolfe: Well I think we need a guest worker program and let's do it. I mean right now we got crops ripening in the field and in Alabama and Georgia, people not there to harvest. Let the Mexicans come in, or the people from down below, the southern, Latin American folks who want to come to the United States. Let them come in and work under a guest worker program just like [former] President [George W.] Bush, [Senator John] McCain, and Obama always wanted to do. Then when the harvest is over they can go back home with their money and help their families. That's the way it should work.

We do need agricultural workers, and I think we need workers in the domestic area, and there's other places where the illegal immigrants are needed as well in restaurant work, hotel work, and some type of domestic work, because they've done a lot of the work that Americans wouldn't do. But we do have to keep tabs on it and the guest worker program is the best way to do it. And I think if you are worried about the factories, and the construction jobs that may be going to illegals, then the easiest way to remedy that and the parties won't do it because they're both too deep in the Chamber of Commerce money, but all you have to do is to give the businesses that play by the rules the right to sue the ones that don't under the series of unfair uncompetitive practices under the FTC rules. If you would just give the affected businesses, standing to sue, which I don't think they have right now, then the whole thing would end. But they won't do that. It would be the surest way to solve the problem.

WSSI have one final question. It's on foreign policy. How can the president deal with the nuclear situation in Iran?

Wolfe: Well, the best thing to do is not to panic. We have a lot of nuclear superiority. Iran is at a stage right now where I think they've only enriched up to the level of 20. There's no proof that they have a nuclear weapon. There's no proof even according to our generals that they have a nuclear weapons program right now or the intent to build one. You just listen to what people say, the generals and stuff, and even the Israeli generals, the ones that have retired from the Israeli intelligence, some of their retired military persons don't think a strike would be good. I don't think it would be either. I mean you'd just radicalize a country of 70 million people. We should have diplomatic relations with Iran. We need to restore those. We need to have an ambassador in Tehran. They need to have an ambassador here.

We need to open a dialogue with Iran. We did that with Russia. We did it with China. When Russia was a nuclear power, the Soviet Union, we had a hotline between [U.S. President John] Kennedy and [Soviet Premier Nikita] Khrushchev and then between every American president and Soviet premier after that. No reason we shouldn't do it here with Iran. They have 79 million people. We need to have an ambassador in Tehran. They need to have their ambassador in Washington. We need to keep the lines of communication open. Just talking doesn't calibrate anyone's philosophy but it does us give an opportunity to see what's going on. It opens things up a little bit and maybe we can learn more by having a channel than just turning the whole CV on them.

A lot of people are dying in Iran, and the more they know about America, the better it's gonna be for us too.

There's a lot of things about Iran I don't like. Some of the rantings and things about the Holocaust, that it didn't happen and that sort of thing, if that's actually what he said, we don't know if the translations are always right. But anybody that would have a conference to deny that, you know, that's not good. I don't like that. But we have to deal with them as they are and not necessarily what they might be with some of these ridiculous historical interpretations they might make. Despite all that, they're still a power that has to be reckoned with. They represent a lot of people. Iran has 79 million people. No reason we can't talk to them.

A lot of people are dying in Iran, and the more they know about America, the better it's gonna be for us too. Now I don't think that they're much of a threat at this time. I mean Israel's got a lot more power. We have sea power all around Iran. We have one submarine that can annihilate the whole country probably in about 20 minutes. You know, submarines are outposts. Israel's got 300 nuclear weapons, maybe more. Some of Israel's weapons are neutron bombs. Mordechai Vanunu, the fellow who spent some time in Israeli prison, a Christian who spent time in Israeli prison on account of the fact he told the world the truth about Israel's nuclear weapons program.

What we need basically is a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. We can't expect the Arab countries to denuclearize if Israel doesn't. Israel has our protection now. Israel shouldn't unconditionally denuclearize, but if we give, we don't have a defense treaty with Israel, we need a formal defense treaty, then we should expect them to denuclearize. We never have signed that and we should.

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Sources [edit]

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

"John Wolfe for America 2012" — John Wolfe for America 2012, May 20, 2012 (date of access)
"Missouri Democrat" — The Green Papers, May 20, 2012 (date of access)
Neil Munro. "Democrats shun Obama’s Arkansas challenger" — The Daily Caller, May 18, 2012
Jonathan Tilove. "President Obama will clinch renomination Tuesday, but it may not be unanimous" — The Times-Picayune, April 23, 2012
Chris Carroll. "Chattanooga man John Wolfe running for president in New Hampshire" — Chattanooga Times Free Press, December 20, 2011

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U.S. Constitution Party nominates former Congressman Virgil Goode for president

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:22:59 GMT

Sunday, April 22, 2012

2012 United States Presidential Election

2012 U.S. Presidential Election stories

7 November 2012: World leaders react to Obama win
7 November 2012: United States re-elects Barack Obama
7 November 2012: Australian Broadcasting Corporation plans to call California for Obama before polls close
5 November 2012: Wikinews interviews former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party
5 November 2012: On the campaign trail, October 2012

Official congressional photo of Goode.

Former U.S. Representative Virgil Goode of Virginia received the presidential nomination of the Constitution Party (CP) Saturday at the party's National Convention in Nashville. He was selected on the first ballot over former Savannah State football coach Robby Wells and the 2008 CP Vice presidential nominee Darrell Castle, who announced his candidacy Friday. Goode picked outgoing CP National Chairman Jim Clymer as his running mate.

Goode served in the Virginia State Senate for twenty-three years before being elected to represent Virginia's Fifth U.S. congressional district as a Democrat in 1996. He was re-elected two years later, and left the Democratic Party before his second re-election campaign in 2000, when he ran as an Independent. He joined the Republican Party ahead of the 2002 election, and was re-elected three additional times until his defeat in 2008. Since then, Goode has joined the Constitution Party, and has served on its executive committee. In February, he announced his intentions to seek the party's presidential nomination, and spoke with Wikinews later that month.

At the convention, Goode won a total of 203 out of the 403 votes cast while Castle received 120 and Wells secured 58. Candidates Susan Ducey and Laurie Roth received 15 and 6 votes, respectively. Had Goode received two less votes, the nomination would have gone to a second ballot.

The Constitution Party was founded in 1991 as the U.S. Taxpayers Party, and changed to its current name eight years later. The party advocates states' rights, gun rights, limited government, protectionism, and non-interventionism. It strongly opposes abortion and illegal immigration. In terms of voter registration, it is the third largest U.S. political party with 367,000 members. Pastor Chuck Baldwin won the party's 2008 presidential nomination and appeared on 37 state ballots, receiving 199,314 votes or 0.15 percent.

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Sources [edit]

"Virgil Goode Wins Constitution Party Nomination on First Ballot, Picks VP Choice" — Independent Political Report, April 21, 2012
Austin Cassidy. "Constitution Party Picks Ex-Congressman to Top Ticket" — Uncovered Politics, April 21, 2012
Austin Cassidy. "Castle Among Six Candidates to Seek Constitution Party Nomination" — Uncovered Politics, April 20, 2012

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Wikinews Shorts: April 2, 2012

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:52:08 GMT

A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, April 2, 2012 .

1 Rockford IceHogs split a pair with San Antonio and Milwaukee
2 Chicago Blackhawks clinch playoff berth before losing final home game

Rockford IceHogs split a pair with San Antonio and Milwaukee [edit]

The Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League lost to the San Antonio Rampage in a 4–3 shootout at home on Saturday after finishing regular time 3–3. It was the team's third straight shootout. Rostislav Olesz, Brandon Pirri, and again Olesz scored for Rockford in regular time, and Bracken Kearns, Michal Repik, and Jon Matsumoto scored for San Antonio. In the shootout, Terry Broadhurst scored Rockford's only goal, while Mark Cullen and James Wright scored for San Antonio. IceHog Phillip Danault made his team debut. Danault was the Chicago Blackhawks first round NHL Entry Draft pick in 2011. He spent most of the season playing for the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres.

In last night's game at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Rockford won 2–1 in shootout win after ending regular time with a score of tied at one in a game similar the previous night's. Scoring shootout goals for Rockford were Broadhurst and Pirri. Scoring for Milwaukee was Blum.

Sources

Reed Schreck. "IceHogs fall short in 4-3 shootout loss to Admirals" — The Rockford Register Star, April 1, 2012
"Rockford IceHogs 2 (SO) at Milwaukee Admirals 1 - Status: Final SO" — American Hockey League, April 1, 2012
"AHL Game #1039, San Antonio 4 at Rockford 3" — American Hockey League, March 31, 2012
Amy Spivey. "HOGS FALL 4-3 IN THIRD STRAIGHT SHOOTOUT" — Rockford IceHogs, March 31, 2012

Chicago Blackhawks clinch playoff berth before losing final home game [edit]

Saturday night, the NHL Chicago Blackhawks clinched a Stanley Cup playoffs spot with a 5–4 victory over the Nashville Predators at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, before losing to the Minnesota Wild 5–4 in an overtime shootout in their final regular season home game. Regular time during last night's penalty-filled game ended 4–4.

Sources

Brian Hamilton. "Blackhawks go down fighting, earn point" — Chicago Tribune, April 1, 2012
Chris Kuc. "Hawks clinch playoffs with 5-4 victory" — Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2012

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Super Tuesday 2012: Mitt Romney wins six of ten GOP contests

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:56:57 GMT

Thursday, March 8, 2012

2012 United States Presidential Election

2012 U.S. Presidential Election stories

7 November 2012: World leaders react to Obama win
7 November 2012: United States re-elects Barack Obama
7 November 2012: Australian Broadcasting Corporation plans to call California for Obama before polls close
5 November 2012: Wikinews interviews former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party
5 November 2012: On the campaign trail, October 2012

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won six of the ten U.S. Republican Party (GOP) presidential primary contests as part of Super Tuesday. Of the remaining four, former Senator Rick Santorum won three while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won one. Representative Ron Paul of Texas did not win any contests, but finished second in three.

Mitt Romney stands with his wife Ann before delivering his victory speech.
Image: Ryan Hutton/Boston University News Service.

Romney scored victories in Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, Virginia, Idaho, and Alaska. In a victory speech to supporters in his home state of Massachusetts, he remarked, "tonight, we've taken one more step towards restoring the promise of tomorrow." He focused his attacks on President Barack Obama, stating "this president's run out of ideas. He's run out of excuses. And in 2012, we're going to get him out of ... the White House." Romney now has 415 of the 1144 delegates necessary to secure the GOP nomination.

Ohio had the closest margin with Romney defeating the second place Rick Santorum by roughly 10,000 votes or 0.8 percent. While Romney won largely urban and affluent counties, Santorum, of nearby Pennsylvania, won a majority of the counties with rural and blue-collar voters.

Despite the loss, Santorum was able to pull out victories in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, and now has a total of 176 delegates. He told supporters in Steubenville, Ohio, "We need...someone who learned what America was about by growing up in communities just like this...". Referencing his opponents, he argued "in this race, there is only one candidate who can go up on the most important issue of the day and make the case, because I’ve never been for an individual mandate at a state or federal level."

Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia, which had the most delegates available, increasing his total to 105. He vowed to remain in the race and thanked his supporters, proclaiming, "we are not going to allow the elite to decide who we are allowed to nominate...the national elite — especially in the Republican Party — had decided that a Gingrich presidency was so frightening that they had to kill it early. But, you, you wouldn’t let them do it." He compared the campaign to the The Tortoise and the Hare fable, "There are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. I am the tortoise. I just take one step at a time."

Ron Paul finished second in North Dakota, Virginia, and Vermont, and was a close third in Idaho and Alaska. He now has 47 delegates. In his speech to supporters, he said, "if you look at the candidates today, there is very little difference, except for one. ... the rest of the candidates support the status quo."

1541 delegates remain up for grabs. The next contests will take place on Saturday in Kansas, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.

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Sources [edit]

"Ohio Republican Primary" — The New York Times, March 8, 2012 (date of access)
"State-by-State Primary Results" — The New York Times, March 8, 2012 (date of access)
"Republican Delegate Count" — The New York Times, March 8, 2012 (date of access)
Amanda Zamora. "Newt Gingrich’s Super Tuesday speech (full transcript, video)" — The Washington Post, March 6, 2012
Amanda Zamora. "Rick Santorum’s Super Tuesday speech (full transcript, video)" — The Washington Post, March 6, 2012
Kenneth W. Smith Jr.. "Ron Paul: Super Tuesday speech (Transcript, video)" — The Washington Post, March 6, 2012
Mitt Romney. "Mitt Romney's Super Tuesday Victory Speech" — Real Clear Politics, March 6, 2012

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Deadly tornadoes blast U.S. Midwest leaving 39 dead

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:37:19 GMT

Monday, March 5, 2012

Disasters and accidents

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At least 39 people are confirmed dead, dozens injured and numerous buildings are left damaged in several states after series of tornadoes hit the U.S. Midwest March 2. The storm system stretched from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Southern Indiana, northern Alabama and parts of Kentucky and Tennessee were affected the most.

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Images from the GOES 13 satellite shows the formation and movement of the storm system.
Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The first warning went out around 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and by about 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, at least twelve tornadoes had touched down in three different states. At least fourteen people were confirmed dead in Indiana. Officials are still trying to determine how many people might have died and assessing the damage.

New Pekin, Indiana, Marysville and Henryville are reported to have been hit the worst. Marysville about a hour north of Louisville, Kentucky has been reported to be nearly flatted. In Kentucky, at least 17 people had died and at least 200 injuries have been reported. Only one has been confirmed dead in Alabama but at least eleven people were injured during the storm. There are three confirmed dead in Clermont County, Ohio.

Damage reports in the Midwest and South keep piling up. Golf ball, tennis ball and softball size hail was reported in several states. Severe damage was reported in Nashville, Tennessee and Knoxville after high winds and 3 inch in diameter hail tore through the cities.

At the Limestone Correctional Facility in northern Alabama roofs were ripped off two dormitories housing over 500 inmates and multiple security fences were knocked down. Even though the prison lost power, nobody was injured or escaped. Also, flights were delayed for over an hour after storm debris littered the runways at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

The National Weather Service issued 255 tornado warnings on Friday, received 94 reports of tornadoes, 208 reports of strong winds and 410 reports of hail. The storms, caused by a warm, moist and unseasonable air mass that then mixed with colder air, followed a series of tornadoes earlier in the week that killed 13 people in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee.

The storms have raised fear that 2012 will be another bad year for tornadoes. Last year was the deadliest year in a century due to tornadoes, killing 550 people.

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Sources [edit]

Bruce Schreiner and Tom LoBianco (AP). "Baby dropped in field by tornado dies; toll at 39" — Sarasota Herald-Tribune, March 4, 2012
Steven Yaccino. "Towns Search for Survivors After Widespread Storms" — The New York Times, March 3, 2012
Susan Guyett. "Tornadoes slam Midwest, at least six dead in Indiana" — Chicago Tribune, March 2, 2012

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School Principal found dead in Tennessee classroom; teen held by police

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:26:19 GMT

Friday, August 12, 2011

Tennessee

Sources [edit]

"Cops: Teen charged with murdering Memphis principal" — msnbc.com, August 11, 2011
Adrian Sainz (AP). "Principal found dead at Tenn. school;Student held" — Yahoo! News, August 10, 2011
CNN. "Memphis School Principal Found Dead In Classroom; Student Held" — WTOV, August 10, 2011

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Deadly tornadoes rip through southern US, killing over 300

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:36:47 GMT

Friday, April 29, 2011

Disasters and accidents

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NOAA tornado probability map for April 27, 2011

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A huge thunderstorm system spawning massive tornadoes ripped through the south-eastern US Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning, killing at least 306 people in six states and causing wide spread property damage. Some 173 tornadoes have been reported from New York to Texas. In the worst hit state of Alabama, at least 210 are confirmed dead, including 36 in Tuscaloosa alone.

	In terms of the ground-up damage and quite possibly the insured damage, this event will be of historic proportions.
—Jose Miranda, EQECAT

Deaths also were reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky.

Up to one million people in Alabama were without power. A nuclear power plant was shut down in Alabama after it lost power to its three units, an operation of the plant's safety systems.

Seven states have declared a state of emergency, and federal aid is being sent to Alabama. Governor Robert J. Bentley said he was activating 2,000 Alabama National Guard personell to aid in search and rescue. President Barack Obama, who plans to visit Alabama on Friday to view the destruction, sent a message of condolence to the governor:

"Michelle and I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives because of the tornadoes that have swept through Alabama and the southeastern United States. Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster. I just spoke to Governor Bentley and told him that I have ordered the Federal Government to move quickly in our response and informed him that I approved his request for emergency Federal assistance, including search and rescue assets. While we may not know the extent of the damage for days, we will continue to monitor these severe storms across the country and stand ready to continue to help the people of Alabama and all citizens affected by these storms."

Preliminary estimates of the tornado hitting Tuscaloosa suggest it tore along the ground for 176 miles and contained winds up to 200 miles per hour. The devastation included residential and commercial areas, as well as the city's infrastructure and civic buildings.

	I don't know how anyone survived. ... But when you look at the path of destruction that's likely 5 to 7 miles long in an area half a mile to a mile wide ... it's an amazing scene. There's parts of the city I don't recognize, and that's someone that's lived here his entire life.
—Walter Maddox, Mayor of Tuscaloosa

"I don't know how anyone survived," said Mayor Walter Maddox of Tuscaloosa. "We're used to tornadoes here in Tuscaloosa. It's part of growing up. But when you look at the path of destruction that's likely 5 to 7 miles long in an area half a mile to a mile wide ... it's an amazing scene. There's parts of the city I don't recognize, and that's someone that's lived here his entire life."

Officials did not want to give specific numbers for death toll and destruction in specific states, as the extent of the damage and human injury and death is not completely known. According the the Los Angeles Times, "Mississippi officials reported 32 dead, Tennessee raised its report to 29, Georgia reported 13, Virginia said it had eight deaths and Kentucky reported at least one death. The number of injured was in the hundreds, with that number also expected to rise."

"In terms of the ground-up damage and quite possibly the insured damage, this event will be of historic proportions," Jose Miranda, from EQECAT, a catastrophe risk modeling firm,

The severe weather warning has been continued through Thursday, and includes parts of New York, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

This outbreak of tornadoes is considered the deadliness since 1974 when more than 300 were killed in a tornado outbreak. On March 18, 1925, 695 people died in a storm.

Greg Carbin, meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said, "May is usually the most active tornado month. Will it maintain the activity of April, we just cannot say."

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Sources [edit]

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak

Verna Gates. "Tornadoes tear across South, killing over 306" — Reuters, April 29, 2011
"Number of weather related fatalities climb to 210" — Alabama Emergency Management Agency, April 28, 2011
"Tornadoes and storms rip through South, at least 284 dead" — Reuters, April 28, 2011
Marty Roney. "Dozens of tornadoes kill more than 240 in South" — USA Today, April 28, 2011
"Storms kill scores in Alabama and other south US states" — BBC News, April 28, 2011
Richard Fausset, Michael Muskal,. "Alabama, Southern states pounded by 'catastrophic' storms; at least 250 dead" — Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2011
Greg Bluestein, Jay Reeves (Associated Press). "Tornadoes devastate South, killing at least 214" — San Diego News Tribune, April 28, 2011
Leezel Tanglao, Michael S. James, Ben Forer. "Deadly Tornadoes: 210 Killed Across South, Including 131 in Alabama" — ABC World News, April 28, 2011
Press Release: President Barack Obama. "Statement by the President on the Severe Storms and Tornadoes in Alabama" — The White House, April 27, 2011

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NASCAR driver Kyle Busch wins 2011 Jeff Byrd 500

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:21:08 GMT

Monday, March 21, 2011

NASCAR

NASCAR on Wikinews

22 October 2012: Matt Kenseth wins third NASCAR Sprint Cup race of 2012
1 May 2011: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch wins 2011 spring race in Richmond, Virginia
18 April 2011: NASCAR: Johnson beats Bowyer for victory in Aarons' 499
10 April 2011: Matt Kenseth wins 2011 NASCAR Samsung Mobile 500
21 March 2011: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch wins 2011 Jeff Byrd 500

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch (who qualified 12th) won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2011 Jeff Byrd 500 that was held yesterday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, United States. This was his first Sprint Cup win of the season. Throughout the course of the race there were 10 cautions and 19 lead changes among eight drivers.

Race winner, Kyle Busch

Image: Pam J.

Before the final pit stops, Jimmie Johnson was first, but after the stops concluded he fell to third as Kyle Busch became the leader. Kyle Busch maintained the lead to win the race ahead of Carl Edwards, while Johnson finished in the third position. Matt Kenseth took fouth, ahead of Paul Menard in fifth. Kevin Harvick managed the sixth position, after starting 15th on the grid. Kurt Busch, from the Penske Racing team, clinched the seventh position. Greg Biffle followed Kurt Busch in eighth, while Kasey Kahne could only manage ninth. Ryan Newman rounded out the top ten finishers in the race. Johnson led the most laps during the race with 164.

After doing his victory lap, Kyle Busch, who won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, commented, "You go down the straightaway and you slam it into the corners and you mash the gas and you kind of sling right back out of the corners. It’s a lot of fun to do that. It’s kind of an art. Some guys are really good at it, and some find a knack that makes them really good at it and make it seem easy."

Edwards described his frustration by finishing second, "I thought we'd be better matched with him, but he took off, and I just couldn't get back to him to race. My gut told me there was going to be another caution. If I had known that was the only shot I had, I might have raced a little harder."

Following the race, Kurt Busch became Drivers' Championship leader with 150 points. Next, Edwards was second with 149, 11 points ahead of Tony Stewart and Newman. Menard and Kyle Busch was placed fifth and sixth with 136 and 133 points. Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Martin Truex, Jr. rounded out the top-ten point positions.

The 2011 season will continue on March 27, 2011 at Auto Club Speedway for the 2011 Auto Club 400. The race will be televised in the U.S. on the FOX Network at 3:00 p.m. EDT.

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Sources [edit]

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

2011 Jeff Byrd 500

Tom Jensen. "CUP: Kyle Busch Sweeps At Bristol" — Speed TV, March 20, 2011
Jenna Fryer. "Kyle Busch wins Cup race at Bristol to make it five-straight at the bullring" — Newser, March 20, 2011
"Lap-by-Lap: Bristol" — NASCAR, March 20, 2011
"Racetrax" — Fox Sports, March 20, 2011
"Drivers' standings" — NASCAR, March 20, 2011
"Schedule" — ESPN, March 20, 2011

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US pool player Wade Crane dies in car accident age 66

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:16:42 GMT

Thursday, December 30, 2010

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Wade Crane in 2003
Image: RailbirdJAM2.

US professional pool player Wade Crane has died after a one-car accident in Tennessee, USA. He was 66 years old. Crane's Volkswagen crossed three lanes of traffic into the concrete retaining wall, then bounced back across five more lanes of traffic into another retaining wall.

It is believed that Crane suffered from an undiagnosed medical condition. News of the crash was broken by The Knoxville News Sentinel.

Crane was a former world champion of both 9-ball and 8-ball pool. A self-taught player, for 21 years he was the only person in pool history to shoot a perfect score in the finals of a major tournament.

Fellow pool players including Nick Varner, Johnny Archer, and Shannon Daulton paid tribute to Crane.

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Sources [edit]

"Pro pool player killed in Tennessee wreck" — Atlanta Journal, December 27, 2010
"Wreck victim was noted pool player Wade Crane" — Knox News, December 27, 2010

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Tennessee Lieutenant Governor suggests that Islam is a 'cult'

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:33:39 GMT

Thursday, July 29, 2010

While answering a question regarding a proposed mosque in a Tennessee town, that state's Lieutenant Governor, Ron Ramsey, questioned if Islam is a cult.
Image: Paul Cruickshank.
(Image missing from commons: image; log)

Politics and conflicts

Sources [edit]

Michael Cass. "Tennessee politician's remarks on Islam raise uproar" — USA Today, July 28 2010

Jon Bershad. "Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey Thinks Islam May Be A Cult" — Mediaite, July 27 2010

Christopher Weber. "Ron Ramsey, Tennessee Lieutenant Governor, Questions if Islam Is a 'Cult'" — Politics Daily, July 27 2010

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Severe flooding leaves 28 dead in southern United States

Tue, 04 May 2010 04:16:49 GMT

Weather

Sources [edit]

William Harless and Joseph Berger. "Floods Prompt Evacuations in Nashville" — The New York Times, May 3, 2010
"22 Killed in Storms in Southern United States" — Voice of America, May 3, 2010
"Governor Beshear declares state of emergency because of flooding" — WKYT, May 3, 2010
"Gov. Bredesen asks Obama for flood recovery help, death toll rises again" — The Tennessean, May 3, 2010
Travis Loller. "Death toll rises as river crests, floods Nashville" — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 3, 2010

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