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Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Pembroke Pines, Florida teenager killed himself Wednesday, November 19, while broadcasting on the live video site Justin.tv. After making suicide threats and being encouraged by Justin.tv viewers and Bodybuilding.com forum members, Abraham K. Biggs, 19, committed suicide by taking an overdose of opiates and benzodiazepine, which had been prescribed for his bipolar disorder.

Biggs first began blogging about his planned suicide 12 hours before the actual event. He died after taking pills and lying on the bed in front of the webcam. After the broadcast, viewers who apparently thought it was a hoax posted messages such as “OMG”, “LOL”, and “hahahah”.

Hours later, after being alerted by viewers who had noticed that Biggs had stopped breathing, law enforcement and paramedics arrived, discovered his body, and covered the camera. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office has reportedly confirmed Biggs’ death.

According to Montana Miller of the Bowling Green State University, the circumstances of this case were not shocking: “If it’s not recorded or documented, then it doesn’t even seem worthwhile. For today’s generation it might seem, ‘What’s the point of doing it if everyone isn’t going to see it?'”

Biggs’ sister Rosalind was angry that neither the website nor its viewers reacted soon enough to save him. “They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours,” she said. She described him as “very happy” and “friendly and outgoing.” “On a normal day, you couldn’t really tell that he got as low as he did.” However, he did have relationship problems with his girlfriend, according to a friend.

Mental health professionals have warned about the possibility that other mentally troubled people would copy his actions. According to Dr. David Shaffer of Columbia University, “Any video showing it as heroic or romantic or glamorous could reduce the anxiety people might feel about suicide. It becomes a respectable behavior and lowers the threshold of suicide.” He and other psychiatrists recommend that potentially suicidal teens talk to others and “tell what’s going on.”

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Car manufacturer Toyota is to recall almost 1.7 million cars in two simultaneous recalls, that include the Toyota Avensis and Lexus IS 250, after concerns over fuel systems, which, if combined, amount to the biggest Toyota recall for six years.

Japan’s transport ministry stated it was possible for slight cracks to appear in fuel pipes in Avensis models, which may widen if the cars continue to be used. In the United Kingdom, Toyota GB are offering free repairs, which are expected to take around four and a half hours each. The Lexus IS 250 is involved in a separate recall, with around 280 thousand models outside of Japan being recalled over a faulty fuel pressure sensor, which can possibly come loose, causing a fuel leak.

The Managing Director of Toyota GB stated “We are committed to putting the customer first and have a total focus on the quality of all our products. We will liaise with our customers to carry out the repair procedures as efficiently as possible, with minimal disruption”.

Toyota has recalled over 16 million cars globally since late 2009.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

North America’s largest outdoor dog festival came back to Toronto last weekend for its fifth year. It ran from the 9th of June to the 10th of June at Toronto’s historical St. Lawrence Market. A Wikinews reporter was there on Sunday to report on some of the events that happened on the last day.

The “Woofstock” dog festival attracted as many as 140,000 people with their dogs. The festival had tons of accessories, sold under tents, to buy for dogs; food, toys, designer clothes, and more. About 400 vendors and exhibitors were there to promote their products, which also gave private dog companies or groups a chance to show their new products. The local SPCA and some animal rescues were under tents answering questions from visitors. While walking, all visitors could see the CN Tower and other very tall buildings.

One of the local TV stations, Citytv, was there. They hosted a live event at the show which was broadcast on TV. People came up on the stage and asked questions regarding their dogs and the host and co-host answered them.

A man, who called himself the “Chalk Master”, drew two pictures on pavement with chalk. He did it for free but donations were welcome. One was a picture of a girl’s head beside a dog’s head, and another with a wolf.

“Hello Humans. I’ve been invited here to provide your eyeball(s), with some pretty colours. I don’t get paid as I work this weekend strictly for tips… so, if you like what you see please make a DONATION. If you don’t like it simply reach into the pocket of the person next to you and give me their money. CHALK MASTER.”

A contest called “Canada’s top dog” had its own tent with a professional photographer taking pictures of dogs behind a white screen; the winning photo is to be published on the cover of “Puppy and dog basics” magazine.

Large “Gourmet” dog bones were also served from a cart and table.

Next year’s festival is expected to be bigger and better with even more attractions.

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Green Bay Packers defeated the Detroit Lions on Sunday evening by a final score of 31–21, effectively ending the Lions’ season with an 0-16 record. The game was played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin and was televised by Fox in the United States. Kickoff was at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The Lions became the first National Football League franchise to complete an “imperfect season” (without a victory) since the introduction of the 16-game schedule in the 1978 NFL season. The winless season comes just a year after the New England Patriots did the reverse, accomplishing the NFL’s first “perfect” 16-0 regular season.

After trailing the game 14–0 entering the second quarter, Detroit rallied back to tie the game at 14 by the end of the third quarter. The Packers took a 10-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter with a field goal by kicker Mason Crosby (Green Bay 17 – Detroit 14) and then a touchdown pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers to fullback John Kuhn (Green Bay 24 – Detroit 14). The Lions fought back with a rushing touchdown by Kevin Smith which left Detroit within three points of tying the game. However, just 11 seconds later, the Packers took possession and Aaron Rodgers completed a 71-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Donald Driver (Green Bay 31 – Detroit 21). The Packers held on to the lead for the remainder of the game to seal their sixth victory on the season.

Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky was 22-of-42 for 225 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Calvin Johnson led the Lions in receiving with 102 yards and touchdowns. Kevin Smith led the Lions in rushing with 92 yards and one touchdown.

For the Packers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was 21-of-31 for 308 yards and three touchdowns, and running backs Ryan Grant and DeShawn Wynn rushed for 106 yards each. Wide receivers Donald Driver and Greg Jennings led the Packers in receiving, both tallying over 100 yards.

Prior to the Lions’ loss on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the only franchise since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger to finish a season without a victory or a tie. The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished their season with a 0-14 record. It was the Buccaneers franchise’s first season in the NFL. Tampa Bay also lost the first 12 games of the 1977 season, and the team’s 26-game losing streak is still the longest in NFL history. The 1982 Baltimore Colts were the most recent NFL team to not win a game in their respective season, failing to win in the strike-shortened 1982 season, posting an 0-8-1 record.

The Lions’ loss was closely watched by some members of the 1976 Buccaneers team, including defensive end Pat Toomay. Toomay told reporters, “I would like the torch to be passed…At the same time, you don’t want to wish that on anybody.” Toomay also pointed out that although the Buccaneers lost every game in their inaugural season, the team reached the NFC Championship Game in their fourth season (1979).

Steve Spurrier, the quarterback for the Buccaneers in the 1976 season, voiced his support for the Lions in their quest to win their first game of the season, hoping that only the Buccaneers would hold the distinction of finishing an “imperfect season.”

“I want that record,” Spurrier said. “I’m pulling for them, sure,” Spurrier added. “That’s the American thing to do, isn’t it?”

Entering the game, the Lions were 10½-point underdogs against the Packers in spread betting. Lions tackle Gosder Cherilus likened the team’s chance to avoid the 0-16 finish as a championship game. “It’s our Super Bowl,” Cherilus told reporters on Friday, December 27.

The Lions surpassed the 1980 New Orleans Saints with their 15th consecutive loss on December 21 to become the first team in NFL history to lose the first 15 games of the season. The 1980 Saints lost their first 14 games, but won their 15th game against the New York Jets.

The closest margin that the Lions came to within victory was two points, which came against the Minnesota Vikings on October 12. Minnesota won the game by a score of 12–10. The 1976 Buccaneers suffered five shutout losses (in which they did not score a single point) in their winless season. The closest that the Buccaneers came within victory was a 23–20 loss to the Miami Dolphins on October 24, 1976.

Prior to the regular season, the Lions won all four of their games in the exhibition season, which do not count in regular season standings or totals.

While the loss didn’t come without a fight from the Lions, players from the team knew that they would be forever remembered as possibly the worst team in NFL history. “I’ve got to live with this,” Lions center Dominic Raiola said. “I’ve been here eight years. This is on my résumé.”

“I don’t ever want to be a part of this again,” Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky said. “We haven’t won since, November of ’07, maybe? I don’t even know the last time we won a game.” The franchise’s last victory in the regular season was on December 23, 2007 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Packers players were just as eager for a victory. Green Bay’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers said while their own season was disappointing, they didn’t want to be forever remembered as the team that lost to the 0-15 Lions in the final game of the season. “We didn’t want to lose, no, we didn’t,” Rodgers said. “But really it’s not on your mind once the game starts. I didn’t even think about it until the fans started chanting in the fourth quarter. They played hard, they really did.” Packers fans in attendance at Lambeau Field began to chant “0-16” late in the game.

With their victory, the Packers finished their 2008 season with a 6-10 record. With the loss, the Lions finished their 79th season since their inception as the Portsmouth Spartans in 1929. It was the Lions’ 75th season in Detroit, Michigan. The franchise also secured the first-overall selection in the upcoming 2009 NFL Draft, a spot reserved for the NFL team with the worst record from the previous season entering the upcoming season.

After the game, Lions head coach Rod Marinelli declined to comment on his future with the team. Since being hired in 2006, the Lions have had a 10-38 record under Marinelli. The Lions have averaged 11 losses per season since 2001 and now have lost 23 of their last 24 games. The 0-16 record could be a lasting testimony to the Matt Millen era. With Millen as president of the team from 2001 until he was fired on September 24, Detroit won only 31 games. Millen was widely criticized for his handling of the Lions organization, and Lions fans rallied to have him relieved of duties for years.

Monday, March 28, 2005

San Jose, California — As the April 15 deadline for U.S. private citizens to file their 2004 income tax returns draws near, the government is reminding sellers on eBay that they may have to report any proceeds from sales on the auction site as taxable income.

This could be a surprise to some of the 135 million registered eBay users who consider trading on San Jose-based auction site to be a non-taxable hobby. Complicating matters, eBay says it doesn’t report individual sales figures to the government – users are responsible to report any profits on their own tax returns.

The amount of money traveling through eBay is big business. $33.8 billion worth of merchandise was sold on the site in 2004, up from $5.2 billion in 2000.

Although eBay pays taxes on its share of the sales (5.25 percent cut from each transaction as of Feb. 18), the IRS fears some small businesses are using the site to dodge tax responsibility. Adding to the confusion, some sellers may legally be a taxable business without realizing it.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has a nine-point checklist it uses to determine whether or not a money-making activity is legally a business, which means money made is taxable, or a simple hobby – where it is not taxable. The IRS can consider a person to be a legal “business” even though they never incorporated or claimed to be one.

According to Woodbury, New York-based accountant Bart Fooden in an Associated Press interview, the IRS looks for such things as evidence that the auction seller depends on the eBay sales income to pay for activities other than maintaining the hobby, acts in a businesslike manner when selling on auctions or puts enough time and effort into the eBay activities that there is an obvious intent to make a profit.

But Fooden said in the same interview casual users probably have nothing to worry about. Those cleaning out closets or the garage and selling off junk for less than the original price paid are not turning a profit, so that money is not considered income and is not taxable.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Sales of previously owned homes in the US fell at the fastest rate ever recorded last December, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

According to the association, existing home sales fell 16.7% last month, to an annual rate of 5.45 million, the largest crash since 1968. The figure was less than the 5.90 million units, or an eleven percent drop, predicted by most analysts.

Sales of homes went up for the entire of 2009 to 5.156 million units, or 4.9% for the year, and prices dropped from 2008 by 12.4%.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun described the figures as being “probably the largest annual drop since the Great Depression”. He said that “the market is going through a period of swings driven by the tax credit. We’re likely to have another surge in the spring. Job creation is the key to a continued recovery in the second half of the year.”

Pierre Ellis, a senior economist for Decision Economics in New York, commented on the figures, saying: “The drop in home sales is the payback for the acceleration of sales that occurred with the original first-time home buyers tax credit. […] There is an issue as to whether the decline represents a fundamental weakening.”

“The housing market continues to face significant headwinds, including high unemployment, record delinquencies and foreclosures, the specter of rising mortgage rates as the Fed’s [mortgage-backed securities] purchase programs comes to a close in late March, and tight credit,” Omair Sharif, an economist for RBS Securities, noted.

“Still, the resale market showed resilience in the second half of 2009, and the expansion and extension of the tax credit to April 30 could boost purchases during the spring selling season,” he said.

“We’ll see a pickup in existing home sales in the next couple of months as people take advantage of the tax-credit extension”, economist Adam York of Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina claimed. He fore-casted a pace of 5.4 million. He said that there were unlikely to be buyers of homes, despite the fact that the U.S. was “past the bottom.”

All four regions of the country saw a decline in sales. In the Northeast, sales fell 19.5 percent, in the Midwest, they plunged 25.8 percent. The South, the country’s largest region, saw a 16.3% decline, while in the West, sales waned by 4.8%.

US stocks fell slightly after the announcement, but went back up later in the day.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Vela International Marine, the Saudi Arabian company that owns the MV Sirius Star oil tanker which was captured by pirates on November 15, has begun negotiations with the Somali pirates.

The Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal said that talks had begun, but he did not say whether a ransom would be paid. Vela International Marine, which is owned by state-owned Saudi Aramco, would only say it is “working toward [the crew’s] safe and speedy return.”

“We do not like to negotiate with pirates, terrorists or hijackers,” said Saud al Faisal in Rome, after speaking with Franco Frattini, the Foreign Minister of Italy.

Dubai-based television network Al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape of a man who said he was with the pirates. He identified himself as Farah Abd Jameh.

“Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land. Once they have agreed on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker. We assure the safety of the ship that carries the ransom. We will mechanically count the money and we have machines that can detect fake money,” the man said. He did not mention any specific amounts for the ransom.

The British Foreign Office released a statement Wednesday which identified two of the crew as chief engineer Peter French and second officer James Grady. The rest of the 25-man crew are from Croatia (1), Poland (2), Philippines (19) and Saudi Arabia (1). They are all reported to be safe.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that the Royal Navy was coordinating a European response.

Dominique Montecer, the director of operations at GEOS Group, a corporate risk management firm, cast doubt on a military response.

“Everything is possible but it would take extraordinary means and organization, and the risk of an ecological disaster is very high. They are sitting on a bomb,” Montecer said.

“It’s certainly a very complex environment to work in — a Liberian-flagged vessel, owned by a Saudi company, in Somali waters, with so many different nationalities on board,” said Lt. Nate Christensen of the United States Navy when asked about the possibility of taking back the Sirius Star by force.

“Shipping companies are already making decisions not to go through the Gulf of Aden, and making the decision to take the much longer route around the south of Africa,” said Peter Hinchcliffe, marine director of the International Chamber of Shipping. “And with the increase in intensity of attacks, that is something that is going to be much more frequent. It’s adding let’s say an average of two weeks to the passage time.”

Since the capture of the Sirius Star, pirates in the Gulf of Aden have taken at least three other ships. These include a Chinese ship carrying wheat, a Greek bulk carrier, and a Thai fishing vessel.

The International Maritime Bureau reports that Somali pirates currently hold 14 ships along with an estimated 250 crew members. Since January, there have been over 30 hijackings in the area, while another 60 ships have been attacked.

Among the ships still held is the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, which has a cargo of 33 Russian T-72 battle tanks, as well as other weapons. The Faina was hijacked on September 25.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy has reported that it encountered and destroyed what it called a pirate “mother ship” on Tuesday. India dispatched frigate INS Tabar last month to protect its merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden. The pirate vessel reportedly threatened the Indian frigate after it was hailed.

Several NATO members, as well as Russia, India and Malaysia have all sent warships to the region to protect merchant shipping in the area. The Combined Task Force 150, formed as a multinational coalition in the War on Terrorism, was restructured in 2006 to aid in anti-piracy efforts.