Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Toyota Motor Corporation, the Japanese automobile maker, posted an overall 8.7% drop in sales in the United States for last month. This comes after recent safety recalls of its vehicles, as well as congressional investigations over Toyota’s safety standards.

The model that had the highest drop in sales was the Camry sedan, with a 20% decline, figures released yesterday indicate.

Toyota sold a total 100,027 vehicles in the US in February, a number somewhat higher than what economic analysts predicted; they estimated a decline of ten percent.

Bob Carter, the vice president of the group’s Toyota division, commented on the figures. “I’m surprised that we sold as many vehicles as we did,” he said in a conference call, as quoted by Ninemsn. “We did see a drop in our first-time Toyota buyers. But we haven’t seen any major outflows of Toyota buyers to other brands.”

“Clearly we have some work to do. We stubbed our toe in terms of our image. There’s nothing I can come up with in terms of an incentive program to make that go away. It’s something we’re going to work on with all consumers,” the vice president added. Toyota said it would have zero per cent financing for most of its models, as well as free scheduled maintenance.

“In March, we’ll be getting back to the business of sales,” said Carter.

Meanwhile, Toyota stock increased by 2.3% at the Tokyo stock exchange to 3,390 yen in morning trading.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

A park in the U.S. state of Wisconsin has been closed, due to being over-run by gypsy moth caterpillars.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the unprecedented move yesterday, with officials saying they would temporarily close Rocky Arbor State Park near Wisconsin Dells due to an infestation of gypsy moth larvae.

The larvae are present at the park in such large numbers that, according to a report by the Wisconsin State Journal, camping there would “apparently be a squishy, nightmarish experience.”

Mark Guthmiller, DNR gypsy moth suppression coordinator said that “there are also health and safety considerations that prompted our action,” explaining that there was a significant risk of people having severe allergic reactions to the caterpillars. There were also concerns that the caterpillars might be accidentally transported out of the park on park user’s vehicles to areas where the moths have as yet failed to establish themselves. Guthmiller also commented that related sanitation issues” would also “significantly detract from the quality park camping experience.”

Andrea Diss-Torrance, another gypsy moth coordinator for the DNR, said of the infestation: “It’s very severe – it’s as severe as I have ever seen.”

The closure, which will run until at least June 27, is thought to affect around 95 campground reservations at the site, which covers 255 acres. State officials have been attempting to arrange alternatives for campers at nearby parks, or, failing this being acceptable, are offering refunds. The park will be closed until after the caterpillars have completed pupation – the period in their life cycle in which they transform into moths.

The gypsy moth is a pest in the U.S., having been introduced in the 19th-century in a failed attempt to to try to breed a hardy variant of silkworm. The moths can strip the leaves off at least 250 different tree species, and as they lack natural predators in the U.S., cause significant damage. The moths often chew leaves but don’t actually eat them, thus increasing the potential damage.

At Rocky Arbor, they have already stripped all the trees in some areas of the park. The caterpillars can kill trees directly, but more usually weaken them so that they are more susceptible to die from other causes, such as disease.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The implosion of a relationship between Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and journalist Rachel Marsden has resulted in controversy and international headlines. Associated Press and ABC News have also reported on questionable activity by Wales involving Wikimedia Foundation expenses. The Wikimedia Foundation is a donor-supported non-profit organization which runs Wikipedia.

Marsden had contacted Wales two years ago about concerns she had over the article about her on Wikipedia, and Wales determined the article was not compliant with Wikipedia’s standards. The tech blog Valleywag revealed Wales had a personal relationship with Marsden, and posted supposed transcripts of their instant message conversations on its site, www.valleywag.com. Wales and Marsden met in February, and The Times reported that “An apparent transcript of their conversations before that meeting suggests that, although Mr Wales had withdrawn from the editing process, he was still influencing the editors.” The Times quoted Wales from the chat logs as having stated to Marsden “The truth is of course a much worse conflict of interest than that; but that will do.” — in reference to his conflict of interest regarding Marsden’s article on Wikipedia.

Wales posted a public statement on Saturday on Wikipedia addressing the matter, and stated that his relationship with Marsden was over: “First, while I find it hard to imagine that anyone really cares about my sex life, the facts are: I am separated from my wife. I considered myself single at the time of my one meeting with Rachel Marsden on Feb. 9, 2008 … I am no longer involved with Rachel Marsden. Gossipy stories suggesting that I have been in a relationship with her ‘since last fall’ are completely false … I care deeply about the integrity of Wikipedia, and take very seriously my responsibilities as a member of the board and as a member of the Wikipedia community. I would never knowingly do anything to compromise that trust.” With regard to the conflict of interest in Marsden’s article, Wales had acknowledged to a team of Wikipedia editors in February 2008 that he and Marsden “became friends … and that we would be meeting about that,” and stated “I recused myself from any further official action with respect to her biography.”

On Sunday, The Canadian Press reported that Marsden had posted photos of herself on Ebay, and was selling items that Wales had left at her New York City apartment. In her Ebay posting, Marsden stated: “Hi, my name is Rachel and my (now ex-) boyfriend, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, just broke up with me via an announcement on Wikipedia … It was such a classy move that I was inspired to do something equally classy myself, so I’m selling a couple of items of clothing he left behind, here in my NYC apartment, on eBay. Jimbo was supposed to come visit me in a couple of weeks and pick up some of his stuff, but obviously that won’t be happening now.” Marsden told The Canadian Press “It didn’t really help matters that Jimmy chose to announce the breakup to the entire world via Wikipedia (which apparently now is an online encyclopedia that doubles as a personal soapbox?) rather than to me directly (which he did much later, in an instant message discussion).”

Marsden placed a t-shirt and sweater which she said were left at her apartment by Wales up on Ebay, and started the bidding for each at ninety-nine cents, with the auctions set to end on March 12. By Monday, bidding on the t-shirt had reached US$300, and by Tuesday the highest bid had reached $12,200. In an email to The Globe and Mail, Marsden stated “My only focus right now, to be really honest, is on my career and finding a way to get back into print, TV, or radio here in NYC,” she wrote. “All of this other personal stuff is just an unfortunate distraction.”

Jay Walsh, the Wikimedia Foundation’s head of communications, told the San Jose Mercury News that Wales’ actions in relaying Marsden’s concerns about her Wikipedia article to a team of trusted editors was within his “routine” role. When asked by the San Jose Mercury News if Wales’ actions regarding the Marsden article could compromise his role with the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia, Walsh responded “No, absolutely not.”

On Tuesday, ABC News carried a story by Wired News reporter Megan McCarthy regarding allegations of “excessive spending” by Wales, and Associated Press also reported on questions involving Wikimedia Foundation expenses. McCarthy reported that former Wikimedia executive Danny Wool, who had left the foundation last year, criticized Wales’ use of Wikimedia Foundation expenses in a blog post. Wool stated that Wales had tried to expense $300 bottles of wine, a $1,300 dinner for four at a Florida steakhouse, and visits to Moscow massage parlors to the foundation, and that the foundation rescinded Wales’ corporate credit card in 2006. Wool also stated that Wales paid the foundation $7,000, after being short $30,000 on receipts for expenses.

Wool told EPICENTER that “There were occasions where he used [the Wikimedia Foundation] for personal advancement under the guide [sic] of the mission. And, as someone who was in there for the mission part of it, I found that rather distressful.” Wool commented in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle: “Originally, it was carelessness … But as things developed, it became more apparent and obvious that he was taking advantage of the foundation credit card. It was almost like his personal piggy bank.”

In an instant message exchange with Associated Press, Wales denied that the Wikimedia Foundation had taken away his corporate credit card, and asserted that he had made the decision to stop expensing business travel for the foundation. Wales highlighted a statement by the foundation’s executive director Sue Gardner: “Jimmy has never used Wikimedia money to subsidize his personal expenditures. Indeed, he has consistently put the foundation’s interests ahead of his own.” In an email to Associated Press, Brad Patrick, a former attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, stated “Danny seems interested in blogging his way straight to a lawsuit”.

Florence Devouard, who chairs the Wikimedia Foundation, told Associated Press that Wales had been “slow in submitting receipts,” and that the foundation had rejected Wales’ expense at the Florida steakhouse. Devouard told fellow foundation board members in a private email that she had convinced Associated Press that “the money story was a no story,” and told Wales “I find (it) tiring to see how you are constantly trying to rewrite the past. Get a grip!” Wales told Associated Press: “The board, the current executive director, the previous executive director, and independent auditors have reviewed our books and publicly agree that all of my expenses were appropriate and fully accounted for.”

Media reports speculated on how the controversy would end up being represented in Wikipedia itself. On Wednesday, the St. Petersburg Times wrote: “Wales’ Wikipedia page said only this about Marsden: ‘Wales had a brief relationship with Canadian journalist Rachel Marsden.'” An article in The Australian surmised: “History will decide whether Mr Wales broke his own principles, but before that happens there may well be a Wikipedia page devoted to the controversy.”

Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Internet group Anonymous today held further protests critical of the Church of Scientology.

The global protests started in Australia where several hundred protesters gathered at different locations for peaceful protests.

In a global speech, the Internet protest movement said Scientology “betrayed the trust of its members, [had] taken their money, their rights, and at times their very lives.” The protesters welcomed the public interest their protests have led to, and claimed they witnessed “an unprecedented flood of Scientologists [joining] us across the world to testify about these abuses.” The group said it would continue with monthly actions.

In a press statement from its European headquarters, Scientology accused the anonymous protesters of “hate speech and hate crimes”, alleging that security measures were necessary because of death threats and bomb threats. This also makes the Church want to “identify members” of the group it brands as “cyber-terrorists”.

Wikinews had correspondents in a number of protest locations to report on the events.

Anonymous states that the next protest is scheduled to take place on April 18, which happens to be the birthday of Suri, the daughter of Tom and Katie Cruise.

Please note: there may be minor variations between this script and the associated recording.

[edit]

Sunday, June 25, 2006

The inaugural CAR (Confederation of African Rugby) women’s rugby 7’s tournament was held in Kampala, Uganda on the 24th June 2006. Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Zimbabwe arrived in Uganda while South Africa jetted in on Friday evening. Uganda fielded two teams – Lady Cranes and a select Uganda side to replace the Nigerians who had pulled out of the tournament.

The games kicked off at 10:00am with great weather and apart from mid morning drizzle which quickly cleared up, it was a perfect day for 7’s rugby. Tournament top seeds South Africa started on the right note when they had a comfortable 26 – 00 win against 5th seeded Zambia. Looking decidedly rusty in the game against their southern sisters, South Africa however steadily improved as the tournament progressed. Their disciplined defence, ball handling skills and excellent team work made them stand out and it was clear that this was the team to beat. South Africa beat a gritty Uganda Select side 22 – 05 and finished off their preliminary games with a 14 – 00 win over 4th seeds Kenya leaving them top of Pool A.

Kenya, whose men’s 7’s side are a regular inclusion in the IRB 7’s circuit, also had comfortable wins over Uganda Select and Zambia beating them 33 – 00 and 22 – 00 to finish 2nd in Pool A. Zambia’s only win in the group stages was against Uganda Select whom they beat 21 – 00. Zambia and Uganda Select were 3rd and 4tth respectively in Pool A.

Pool B had second seeds Lady Cranes (Uganda) outplaying 3rd seeds Zimbabwe and Burundi. The Lady Cranes were determined to keep their unbeaten record and showed themselves a cut above the other teams in their pool in terms of pace and superior ball handling skills. Burundi was thrashed 56 – 00 while Zimbabwe were eclipsed by a similar margin of 54 – 00. Rwanda almost threatened to upset the East African queens and made the Ugandans work for a 24 – 05 victory. Rwanda is the fastest improving team in East Africa and showed their intent when they comfortably beat Zimbabwe 25 – 00 and hammered their hapless neighbours, Burundi, 41 – 00. Zimbabwe beat Burundi 15 – 00 in a scrappy game that highlighted the large gap between the two sides and the other teams in this tournament. Although Zimbabwe had the requisite skills they were unpolished and unfit while the Burundians had a very young enthusiastic squad who are yet to master the basics of the game. Lady Cranes topped Pool A, Rwanda was 2nd with Zimbabwe and Burundi 3rd and 4th respectively.

The first Plate trophy semi final matched Zambia against Burundi. Zambia easily disposed of the East Africans in one sided affair and humiliated Burundi 55 – 00. The second semi final was slightly more competitive and once again against pitted Southern Africa against East Africa. Uganda Select won their second game of the tournament when they beat Zimbabwe 22 – 00 to join Zambia in the Plate final.

The 1st Main Cup semi final was another one sided match with South Africa running all over the tired Rwandese to win 46 – 00. Rwanda paid the price of depending solely on one player (teenage sensation Angelique Nzabamita) to win their games as the speedy winger was too fatigued at this stage to make any impact as she had been doing in the earlier games. There was a small consolation for Rwanda at the end of the tournament as Angelique Nzabamita was awarded the Top Try Scorers trophy.The most exciting game of the tournament was perhaps the 2nd Main Cup semi final that was between arch rivals Uganda and Kenya. Ugandan fans expected the lighter, fleet footed Ugandans to run rings around their East African neighbours as they had done so frequently in the past. Those expectations were almost fulfilled when Uganda outpaced the Kenyans to score 2 tries (one of them a penalty try) in the first half and converted one to lead 12 – 00. Apart from Zimbabwe, the Kenyans were perhaps the heaviest girls in the tournament but their fitness was several notches above that of the southerners and they had pace and determination to go with it. The Kenyans recovered and sped their way to two tries one of which was converted to level the game at 12 -12 just before half time. After the half time break, Lady Cranes sought to put an end to the tension and went ahead with a try that was not converted. Kenya however dug their heels in and Doreen Remour, who was outstanding throughout the tournament for the Kenyans, equalised taking the game into sudden death extra time. Although exhausted both teams put up an excellent display of rugby, neither ready to give way to the other with the first half of extra time ending after 3 minutes with the teams still deadlocked at 17 – 17. In the second half, Sauda Adiru broke through a valiant Kenyan defence to score a try for the Lady Cranes and put an end to Kenya’s hopes.

The Plate Final had Zambia taking on Uganda Select. The Ugandan second side had done very well to get this far and was eager to avenge their earlier loss to Zambia in the preliminary games. However, Zambia had been improving steadily with each game and was determined to take some silverware home. They were faster and more aggressive than the Ugandans and thumped them 33 – 00 to lift the Plate trophy.

The Main Cup Final was the game all the fans had been waiting to see: the Southern African queens versus the East African queens. The two teams were evenly matched for speed but the South Africans had superior ball skills, fluid teamwork and a tighter defence pattern. The first half was a tightly contested 10 minutes with South Africa drawing first blood with a try that they were unable to convert. Uganda responded with a well worked try and converted to give themselves a slim 2 point lead at half time. However, after half time, South Africa’s well marshalled defence kept out the Ugandan speedsters and on attack they displayed slick moves that split open the Uganda defence to let them through for 2 more unconverted tries (one of them a penalty try) to win the game 15 – 07 and become the African 7’s champions. The tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award deservedly went to Charmaine Keyser from South Africa who dazzled players and spectators alike with her speed and great all round rugby skills.

All in all, it was a historic day filled with fantastic rugby and a large step forward for women’s rugby in Africa. Hopefully further editions of the CAR 7’s will include teams from Western and Northern Africa. With the 2009 IRB 7’s Rugby World Cup including a women’s competition, then this is definitely a step in the right direction.