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John Reed on Orwell, God, self-destruction and the future of writing

Thursday, October 18, 2007 It can be difficult to be John Reed. Christopher Hitchens called him a "Bin Ladenist" and Cathy Young editorialized in The Boston Globe that he "blames the victims of terrorism" when he puts out a novel like Snowball's Chance, a biting send-up of George Orwell's Animal Farm which he was inspired to write after the terrorist attacks on September 11. "The clear references to 9/11 in the apocalyptic ending can only bring Orwell's name into disrepute in the U.S.," wrote William Hamilton, the British literary executor of the Orwell estate. That pr

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22 hostages freed after raid in Pakistani army headquarters

Sunday, October 11, 2009 22 hostages were freed after military commandos raided a Pakistan army headquarters in Rawalpindi on Sunday that had been taken by militants, reports said. Four militants and three hostages had been killed in the resulting clashes including two senior officers. The incident began midday on Saturday when several gunmen, disguised in military uniforms, attacked a checkpoint outside the heavily guarded headquarters. The Pakistani military initially said it had the situation under control about an hour after the attack, however, it had been discovered

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ACLU President Strossen on religion, drugs, guns and impeaching George Bush

Tuesday, October 30, 2007File:Nadine Strossen 5 by David Shankbone.jpg There are few organizations in the United States that elicit a stronger emotional response than the American Civil Liberties Union, whose stated goal is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". Those people include gays, Nazis, women seeking abortion, gun owners, SPAM mailers and drug users. People who are often not popular with various segments of the public. The ACLU's philosophy is not

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Ralph Nader calls out Democrats for financial bailout

 Correction — Aug 2, 2010 Nader referred to the 1999 repeal of the 1933 Glass-Steagal Act. The Wikinews article omitted the word "repeal" from the account of Nader's speech.  Sunday, October 5, 2008 Independent U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader had harsh words for the Democrats who engineered yesterday's passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, a bailout of the U.S. financial system. At a campaign stop in Waterbury, Connecticut on Saturday, Nader said that Democrats passed up a chance to enact re-regulation of the financial system and instead ga

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Former SA Deputy President Appears In Court

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Former Deputy President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has appeared in a Durban court to face corruption charges. Mr Zuma was dismissed by the President, Thabo Mbeki, earlier in the year, following the conviction on fraud charges of his financial advisor, Schabir Shaik.

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Smoke from massive warehouse fire in Buffalo, New York USA can be seen 40 miles away

Monday, May 14, 2007 Buffalo, New York —A massive warehouse complex of at least 5 buildings caught on fire in Buffalo, New York on 111 Tonawanda Street, sending a plume of thick, jet black colored smoke into the air that could be seen as far away as 40 miles. As of 6:40 a.m., the fire was under control, and firefighters were attempting to stop it from spreading, but could not get to the center of the fire because of severe amounts of debris. Later in the morning, the fire was extinguished. "The fire is mostly under debris at this point. It's under control, but it's under

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Asbestos controversy aboard Scientology ship Freewinds

Friday, May 16, 2008 Controversy has arisen over the reported presence of blue asbestos on the MV Freewinds, a cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology. According to the Saint Martin newspaper The Daily Herald and the shipping news journal Lloyd's List, the Freewinds was sealed in April and local public health officials on the Caribbean island of Curaçao where the ship is docked began an investigation into the presence of asbestos dust on the ship. Former Scientologist Lawrence Woodcraft supervised work on the ship in 1987, and attested to the presence of blue asbest

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Texas Commissioner of Agriculture visits schools to kick off National School Lunch Week

Saturday, October 16, 2010 US Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples visited Orr Elementary school in Tyler, Texas on Wednesday to kick off National School Lunch week for the state. Commissioner Staples spoke to over 200 students during lunch about the importance of eating healthy. "During the old days, the Three R's in school meant 'Reading, 'Writing and 'Arithmetic' [...] but I want you students to remember the three E's: Education, Exercise and Eating right," he stated. The Commissioner asked students a variety of questions about state trivia such as the names o

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Wikinews interviews Jeff Jacobsen, creator of LisaMcPherson.org

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 On Sunday, Wikinews interviewed creator of memorial site LisaMcPherson.org, former Lisa McPherson Trust employee and long time Scientology critic Jeff Jacobsen. LisaMcPherson.org is a memorial site created in 1997 containing information on her death and the resulting legal case against the Church of Scientology. Lisa McPherson died in 1995 while in the care of the Church of Scientology. After a car accident, she became mentally unstable. Scientologists removed her from the hospital and placed her in the Introspection Rundown, she died 17 days l

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Man dies after being shot outside his house in Lanarkshire, Scotland; murder investigation launched

Thursday, June 10, 2010 A man has died after he was shot outside his house in Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. Anthony Wright, aged 35, was shot outside his household in the rural town of Shotts at approximately 0700 BST (0800 UTC) on Wednesday. Police think that Wright, who was shot twice, was the anticipated target. An ambulance then transported him to Wishaw General Hospital; he died in the hospital later that day. A murder investigation has begun outside Wright's house. A completed report is expected to be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal later on. No other inj