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Bush pledges support for Turkey after meeting with PM Mukasey nomination as attorney general moves to US Senate The nomination of Michael Mukasey as the next US Attorney General will go before the Senate after the Senate Judiciary Committee backs him.

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Satanism: An interview with Church of Satan High Priest Peter Gilmore Wikinews sat down with the High Priest of the Church of Satan, Peter Gilmore, who has led Anton LaVey's congregation of Satanists since his passing. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Satanism:_An_interview_with_Church_of_Satan_High_Priest_Peter_Gilmore

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Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link and London's St Pancras station, the new home for Eurostar trains linking London with Paris and Brussels as of November 14, replacing Waterloo station. At least 35 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan, officials say. Hessen's prime minister Roland Koch said he was "outraged" by proposed narrow EU definition of wine that state that wine is a "product from grapes" - excluding wines made from other fruits such as apples and berries. 2007 Belgian government formation: Belgium today set a new national record for the longest period without a new government - 149 days have passed since the general election - as parties are still trying to bridge their opposing views on state reforms. 2007 Pakistani state of emergency: Over 100 anti-emergency activists arrested as part of crackdown process in Pakistan. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia visits the Vatican for what will be the first audience by the head of the Roman Catholic Church with a Saudi monarch. Scores of students have been injured and arrested ahead of protests in Venezuela. The demonstrations, scheduled for Wednesday, are to demand a delay to a referendum aimed at expanding the powers of Hugo Chávez. Efficient wins the 2007 Melbourne Cup. The incumbent People's National Movement party retains power in the Trinidad and Tobago elections.

Senate committee investigating six televangelists
United States Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has asked for the financial records of six prominent televangelist ministries for possible financial misconduct, CBS reported. The six groups were led by Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Half of these people (Hinn, Copeland and Dollar) are members of the Board of Regents for the Oral Roberts University, which is currently being accused of wrong-doing.

US Air Force suspends most F-15 operations following crash
The United States Air Force suspended non-mission critical F-15 flight operations on Nov. 3 following the crash of a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C aircraft Nov. 2. The F-15 will continue to fly in some emergency situations and a few others according to Air Force spokesperson John Elolf.

The crash was 125 miles south of St. Louis on private property surrounded by the Mark Twain National Forest in Dent County, Missouri during dogfight training by four 131st Fighter Wing craft. The pilot ejected and suffered minor injuries.

The cause of that accident is still under investigation, however, preliminary findings indicate that a possible structural failure of the aircraft may have occurred. The suspension of flight operations is a precautionary measure.

The Air Force has stated that it will ensure that mission requirements will be met for worldwide operations normally accomplished by the F-15. Currently, F-15s operate out of bases in the continental United States, Alaska, England, Hawaii, Japan and the Middle East.

The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather tactical fighter designed to permit the Air Force to gain and maintain air supremacy over the battlefield. There are more than 700 F-15s in the Air Force inventory. The F-15 reached initial operational capability for the Air Force in September 1975.

F-22 is replacing F-15s

The F-15C, D and E models were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm where they proved their superior combat capability. F-15C fighters accounted for 34 of the 37 Air Force air-to-air victories. The F-15E's were operated mainly at night, hunting SCUD missile launchers and artillery sites using the LANTIRN system.

They have since been deployed for air expeditionary force deployments and Operations Southern Watch (the no-fly zone in Southern Iraq), Provide Comfort in Turkey, Allied Force in Bosnia, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.

The Air Force is replacing its aging F-15 fighters with the F-22 Raptor. The F-22 is an advanced stealth fighter aircraft combining stealth for in both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. However, budgetary concerns have caused the Air Force to reduce their total order of F-22s.

Ron Paul receives US$4 million in donations in 24 hours
In late October, supporters of United States Republican candidate-for-President Ron Paul set up a website soliciting a "money bomb" of campaign donations to coincide with November 5th, the anniversary of Guy Fawkes Day, at ThisNovember5th.com. The fund-raising campaign fell short of its original goal of 100,000 donors each donating US$100 to generate US$10 million for Paul's campaign. However, the final amount raised by over 35,000 Ron Paul donors was over US$4 million. The largest day in primary history was June 30, when Hillary Clinton raised US$6.5 million.

Paul is running for the Republican nomination but self-identifies as a libertarian. Although Paul has been successful online, his national polling has remained in the single digits.

Mukasey nomination as attorney general moves to US Senate
The nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey as the next Attorney General of the United States, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee today and will move to a vote before the entire United States Senate. Two Democrats joined the nine Republicans to yield a 11-8 vote. Observers believe that Mukasey will easily succeed in the Senate vote.

The nomination of Mukasey by George W. Bush had originally drawn broad support. Nonetheless, Mukasey triggered a political row, during pre-confirmation questioning, when he refused to state that waterboarding amounted to illegal torture. In the end, he was able secure the votes of the two Democrats after assuring them that, if Congress passed legislation that made waterboarding illegal, he would in fact work to enforce such a law.

Patrick Leahy, Senator from Vermont, who opposed Mukasey said: "Some have sought to find comfort in Judge Mukasey’s personal assurance that he would enforce a future, a new law against waterboarding if this Congress were to pass one. Unsaid, of course, is the fact that any such prohibition would have to be enacted over the veto of the president."

"Now, I wish I could support Judge Mukasey’s nomination," Senator Leahy further said. "I like Michael Mukasey. We have many things in common in our past careers. I certainly don’t question his intellectual ability or his independence."

The two Democrats that voted for Mukasey were Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. Schumer has been reported as suggesting Mukasey as Attorney General to White House during the search for a nominee.

Schumer defended his vote, saying: "If six months from now ... the same policies continued, the victory in defeating Mukasey would seem hollow. No one questions that Judge Mukasey would do much to remove the stench of politics from the Justice Department. I believe we should give him that chance."

Feinstein said that her vote for Mukasey was because, otherwise, Bush could have an acting Attorney General, who would not need confirmation, until the end of his term. In explaing this, she said: "I don't believe a leaderless department is in the best interests of the American people or of the department itself. [Bush] appointed this man because he believes he is mainstream."

Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts did not agree with Mukasey's view on waterboarding. "Waterboarding is already illegal under United States law. It's illegal under the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit outrages upon personal dignity, including cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment," he said.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said of the committee vote: "Judge Mukasey has clearly demonstrated that he will be an exceptional attorney general at this critical time."

Iraqi troops uncover mass grave
The bodies of 22 people have been found in a mass grave according to the United States military in Iraq, in the Lake Thar Thar region of Baghdad.

The bodies, discovered by Iraqi troops working with U.S. coalition forces on Saturday, were found during an operation known as Operation Fahwat al Asad 2. Military personnel were searching for insurgents from both the ground and air, when the bodies were discovered.

The bodies have not yet been identified. It is not known how long they have been buried at the site, but reports say that there is a possibility that the grave may be the same grave that was found in October, which contained 25 bodies.

"The Iraqi army and provincial security forces are investigating the mass grave to determine the identities of the deceased and the causes of death for notification of their families," said a statement issued by the U.S. military.

Colbert officially withdraws Presidential bid; Obama supporters pressured South Carolina
Two prominent South Carolina supporters of Barack Obama pressured the state Democratic council to keep Stephen Colbert off the primary ballot. The Council voted 13-3 last week against Colbert's placement on the ballot.

According to an anonymous member of the council who felt pressured, one of those people was State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, who admitted she had made the calls. "I think lobbying was too strong a word," she said in an interview with CNN. "I called them to see what they were thinking, and if they had made up their mind. I am a volunteer in that campaign, and so I am not a staffer. And I thought it could have taken votes away from a lot of people."

Another Obama supporter, state Representative Bakari Sellers, also admitted to making the calls. "I placed the calls as a concerned Democrat, realizing that we are a country in despair," Sellers told CNN. "It is not a time for games or to make a mockery of the process."

Yesterday Colbert officially withdrew from the race. “I am shocked and saddened by the South Carolina Democratic Executive Council’s 13-to-3 vote to keep me off their presidential primary ballot,” he said in the statement. “Although I lost by the slimmest margin in presidential election history — only 10 votes — I have chosen not to put the country through another agonizing Supreme Court battle. It is time for this nation to heal.”

According to Tenenbaum, the reason she did not want Colbert on the ballot was financial and not political. For every name the Democrats put on the ballot in South Carolina, they have to pay US$20,000 to the state election commission.

The Obama campaign denied any connection to the phone calls.

In related news, at a book signing at Borders Book Store in New York City last night, a protester posing as a member of the press disrupted the event, demanding Colbert make statements about 7 World Trade Center. Despite preliminary findings by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology that fire caused them, some conspiracy theorists believe the dramatic building collapses on September 11, including that of building seven, were the result of controlled demolition. NIST has "found no evidence of a blast or controlled demolition event", though in its final report on building 7, they would "like to determine the magnitude of hypothetical blast scenarios that could have led to the structural failure of one or more critical elements."

"What about World Trade Center Number 7, Stephen?" shouted the protester. "What are you going to say about that? Why don't you give us a witty remark and make a joke about it? Keep smirking, Stephen!" The protester was removed by the book store's security.

Founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma talks about e-commerce in Taiwan
Following the success of "Chinatrust Global Leaders Forum" in 2005, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB), the forum organizer, invited Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, to give the main address on the subject of "Cross-Strait e-Commerce Development" yesterday.

"We (CTCB) held this forum originally with a speech-style type, and hoped participants absorb good experiences from some world-class notabilities. At the first holding, we invited Dr. Edward Prescott forecasting the future of global economics and this invitation was finally respected by financial people in Taiwan. With trendy transformations and global popularization of the Internet in the presence, we finally decided to invite Jack Ma to share experiences from his successful management theory." Jeffery Koo (Chairman of CTCB) remarked at the opening.

With Alibaba Group now enterered into the Hong Kong market, Ma sees a bright future with partners' cooperation. He said: "A successful company is decided by flexible wisdoms more than its scale." Those words echoed some of the quotes he used in his speech at the forum: "Rich is a sum by team collaborations and accumulating several experiences but not money. Several valuable things can't buy with money. A company should have a long-term consideration and planning to meet success with creative, better, and different products and services."

He not only taught some strategies but also cited Chinese stories on Three Kingdoms and Tang Dynasty to point out key factors (visions, ambitions, bosoms, and actual strengths) which determine the success or failure of a company leader

Australian soldier dies in East Timor barracks
An Australian soldier has been found dead with a gunshot wound in a barracks area in Dili in East Timor.

The soldier, working with the International Stabilisation Force in the turbulent country was found dead on the afternoon of November 5. The exact details of his death are still unknown but Air Chief Angus Houston said an inquiry will be launched as part of the investigation.

"The soldier's next of kin have been informed and our priority is to ensure the family is receiving the support and care they need," Houston said.

About 850 Australian Defence Force soldiers have been deployed to East Timor as part of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), the military component of United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste. The country was recognised as independent from Indonesia in 2002.

Three Australian servicemen have died on active service in one month.

Efficient wins Melbourne Cup

The racehorse Efficient has won the 2007 Melbourne Cup.

Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia was abuzz today as the Melbourne Cup was raced for the 147th time. The New Zealand horse Efficient finishing the 3200m race in a time of 3:23.24. The horse, which had won the 2006 Victorian Derby, became the first horse since Phar Lap (also a New Zealand horse) to come back and win the Melbourne Cup a year later.

The race ended with a stunning finish as Efficient and his jockey Michael Rodd came from behind to overtake Purple Moon in the final stretch. The odds on Efficient were 24-1 to win and A$7.40 for a place. Purple Moon finished second and Mahler finished third.

120,000 spectators looked on as Mahler took the lead at 1600m and fell back to third in the closing stages. Early leader Tungsten Strike finished 21st (last).

The win is the third of its kind for owner Lloyd Williams with two previous victories in the 1980s. Williams had two horses in the race, Zipping and Efficient, but Zipping fell to fourth place while Efficient surged forward.

Lloyd Williams' son Nick was at the raceground and was aiming high for Efficient.

"People keep telling me the last horse to do what he has done was Phar Lap," he said.

Efficient was a favourite for the 2006 Melbourne Cup but was scratched at the last minute.

2007 ING Taipei Marathon: Charity & Kids Running comes back to Taipei

After a series warm-up matches at Hualien, Kaohsiung, and Taichung, the special "Charity and Kids Running" event came back to Taipei yesterday at Taipei Municipal Datung Senior High School. Before the event, John Wylie (President & CEO of ING Antai) encouraged citizens in Taiwan to add their signatures to the "Charity Ambassador of ING Taipei Marathon" on the official website of the 2007 ING Taipei Marathon and hoped this competition will renew the scale of participation again next month.

Taipei City Government, the main organizer of 2007 ING Taipei Marathon, invited running experts, ING Running Club delegates, athletes of 2009 Summer Deaflympics, and blind-visual runners (approximately 18 runners) split up into 3 teams (ING Antai Running Team, Taiwan Marathon Scud Team, Taipei City Government Runners Team) for charity funds to Taiwan Foundation For Rare Disorders, Chinese Taipei Blind-Visual Road Running Association, and Foundation of 21st Summer Deaflympics Organizing Committee in this 6-people relay competition. Finally, ING Antai Running Team won this competition.

After the charity race to benefit charity organizations and media in Taiwan, ING Antai held "a lap within one minute" special challenge for the Basketball Team of Taipei Municipal Songshan Senior High School. With their excellent performance, the team succeeded in meeting this challenge.

At the end of the event, ING Antai invited 24 elementary schools from Taipei City to the "Kids' Running Championship". Before this event, some participants even won good places at Hualien, Kaohsiung, and Taichung warming-up running matches. Due to the actual strength of participants were too close, the organizer decided to split 4 sections by a group draw. Finally, Dong-hu Elementary School won the champion and qualified the main competition.

According to ING Antai, the sum of Charity Fund of ING Taipei Matathon was multiplied between numbers of finished runners and total running mileage with different groups and added from donations at this event. By the way, Deputy Secretary General of Taipei City Government (TCG) Yong-jen Chen talk to Wikinews Reporter Brock and remarked: "The traffic quality of ING Taipei Marathon will be progressively accepted after the criticism by foreigners at 2004 & 2005. With several coordination between supervisors, organizers, and sponsors, we (TCG) promised participants and runners for a great traffic condition at 2007 ING Taipei Marathon."

Bush pledges support for Turkey after meeting with PM

On Monday, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid an official state visit to the United States. During his visit, he met with President George W. Bush in the White House for talks that centered on the Turkey-PKK conflict and the Iraq War.

Turkey is concerned about attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that originate from within the borders of Iraq. There have been cross-border clashes between Turkey and the PKK. Turkey has threatened a major incursion, something the US seeks to avoid, as it could upset the relative calm in northern Iraq. The PKK has been listed as a terrorist organization by a number of countries and organizations. The PKK's goal has been to create an independent socialist Kurdish state in a territory which it claims as Kurdistan, an area that comprises parts of south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Iraq, north-eastern Syria and north-western Iran.

After the meeting, Bush said of the PKK that "they are an enemy of Turkey, they are an enemy of Iraq, and they are an enemy of the United States." He pledged additional intelligence to help Turkey, an offer that was also made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week, during her Middle East tour.

“We talked about the need to have better intelligence-sharing. In order to chase down people who murder people you need good intelligence. And we talked about the need for our military to stay in constant contact. To this end, the Prime Minister and I have set up a tripartite arrangement, for his number two man in the military to stay in touch with our number man and General Petraeus.”

— George W. Bush

Bush further offered mutual military assistance with both Turkey and Iraq to fight the PKK. "We want to work in a close way to deal with this problem," he said.

Erdogan mentioned during the post-meeting news conference that the Grand National Assembly of Turkey has already authorized military action in Iraq. He did not, however, say whether such action would be imminent.

“There is a lot of difficulty in the region in general. And I believe that it falls to us, it's a responsibility for us as strategic partners to work to ensure that we overcome these difficulties and solve them. I have also seen that the President and I agree on these points, and I'm very happy to see that.”— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Neither leader indicated to what level, if any, that direct military cooperation would exist.

Ali Babacan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Turkey, was last week not so impressed by Rice's offers. "We are at the point where words have been exhausted and where there is need for action," he said on Friday.

"The Bush administration would like to just kick this can down the road," said Bulent Aliriza, a political observer for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The problem is, the can has been kicked down the road to the point where now it can't be kicked anymore."

Belgium still without government, new record set

After federal elections on June 10, 2007, coalition talks in Belgium have still failed to result in compromises on the main electoral issue. The previous record from 1988 was broken today after 149 days without a new government.

Christian Democrat Yves Leterme won the elections in Flanders together with his nationalistic coalition partner, and they promised more powers for the Dutch-speaking majority. Wallonian parties however remain reluctant to give in to unilateral demands and are asking for symbolic gestures and compromises in symbolic debates over the electoral district of Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.

Flemish politicians argue that the time is high to split the district now, because a high court ruling from 2003 found the district unconstitutional. But their counterparts believe that everything works in two directions in Belgium, and unilateral demands have no place in a federal state.

Some progress has been made in such areas as economical reforms, but the key debate of the elections lingers on. More than ever, the future of Belgium as a federal state is at stake, although immediate independence of the economically flourishing Flemish region is not currently being discussed by the negotiators.

On Wednesday, a commission of the Flemish parliament will vote on the topic of voting rights in Brussels, and it is expected that this will again stress Flanders' call for progress on autonomy for the region. Walloon Christian-Democrat Joelle Milquet, already dubbed Madame Non (Madame No) in Flanders because of her refusal to set aside her electoral promises to her constituency, warned during the weekend that such a move would be perceived as hostile, and that she would leave the negotiations table.

Candidate Prime Minister Yves Leterme has called for unity last Friday: "It's time for government negotiators to assume their responsibility in the national interest. It's time to stop mutual provocations." Many Walloons perceive Leterme as a defender of Flemish rather than Belgian values, as a notorious quote marking the Wallonians as intellectually incapable of learning Dutch, haunts him.

Political map of Belgium showing Dutch-speaking Flanders (yellow), French-speaking Wallonia (red), German-speaking area (blue striped) and bilingual Brussels Capital Region.

Belgium is a federal state made up of some 6 million Dutch-speaking citizens in the north and some 4.5 million French-speaking inhabitants south of the language border. Brussels is bilangual, and there is a minuscule German-speaking community.

With no new coalition to follow them, the previous ruling parties continue to meet under former Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on a regular basis to make a few straightforward but necessary decisions, to avoid too many complications of the enduring political vacuum.

Space Shuttle Discovery to return to Earth
The space shuttle Discovery is coming back to Earth after 11 days in orbit. The a scan of the Shuttle's heat shield (now routine since the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) showed no cause for concern and Discovery was cleared for the voyage home.

The current mission, STS-120 was launched on October 23. The mission's primary purposes were to deliver the Harmony module to the International Space Station and to help reposition and extend solar power arrays.

The mission gained wide attention for including a space walk to repair damage in the solar power array. The space walk had not been planned until the mission was already underway when the damage was then detected. However, additional problems with a rotary joint were not repaired and if they are not repaired they could interfere with further station construction.

The return will also bring back Clay Anderson who is being replaced on the International Space Station by Dan Tani.

Discovery is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 1:02 PM EST (UTC-5) on November 7.

Caribou plays the Bowery Ballroom
Daniel Snaith, better known as Caribou, formerly known as Manitoba until a lawsuit by musician Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba, recently played New York City's Bowery Ballroom. Below is David Shankbone's conversation with the electronica pioneer.

David Shankbone: How is the tour going?

Caribou: It’s been really good so far. We started with a few festivals in Europe and then did a month around the UK, Germany and France. Over here we just did Canada and this is the start of a big tour for us around the States. Then Europe for another month. It’s pretty full on, but I love playing shows.

DS: How do European and American audiences compare to each other?

Caribou: I get asked that all the time and I feel people are expecting some kind of an answer like we are better received in Europe, and I don’t know if people expect that of an electronic musician.

DS: But they are more electronic in Europe than they are here, right?

Caribou: Maybe, but my experience is that people are more similar than different in all the shows, and the reaction is more similar than different.

DS: You reach the same fans in each place?

Caribou: Yeah people are so connected to the interests that they share with other people around the world. It’s not like one place is completely different from another anymore.

DS: Do you play to larger audiences over there or here?

Caribou: It’s about the same, again. When we play in London we play about same size venue and size crowd as we do here.

DS: Do you have a favorite venue?

Caribou: A few, actually. Bowery Ballroom is one of my favorites. It's always awesome. The sound is so good here, which is really important. It sounds good on stage, which is important for getting into the show. We always have really amazing crowds in this place called Richards on Richards in Vancouver. This venue in Slovenia we played that is this old commune squat that has lots of gigs and art going over there called the Metalkova. The best ones are the surprises we'll play in a tiny little town in some venue that is like whatever.

DS: What would be a dream venue to play?

Caribou: Something along the lines of this place we played in the south of France that was this 1920s arts patron villa where Cocteau and all these people lived and worked, and we played just outside there overlooking the French Riviera during this tiny little festival, so those ones are always fun when you just end up at some idyllic spot where they have put together a little festival with great bands. Those tend to be in Europe, to be honest. The surprise is part of the enjoyment when you arrive and it's like, this is an insane place to play.

DS: Is there a continent you haven't played where you would like to?

Caribou: We have never been to South America. Brazil.

DS: Rio or Sao Paulo?

Caribou: I can't remember, I think people—I'd love to go to Rio, but friends who have played in Brazil have said that shows are amazing everywhere.

DS: How has the Iraq War affected you as an artist?

Caribou: Not too much, directly, to be honest. The process of recording music, for me, is very insular. I'm just recording at home and it's very much headspace music. I'm escaping and I'm not a social commentarian or anything. It's more about escaping into this world of sound in my head. I don't think it's affected the business of us touring or anything at all.

DS: Has it affected you as a person?

Caribou: I'm an opponent of the war and I live in the UK where I live under a government that has taken troops to the war or whatever. It hasn't changed my perspective that much where I feel there have been lots of terrible situations like this in the past and you just have to do whatever is in your power. I was at the big march in London. Use your vote and protest in whatever ways you can, but I haven't dropped everything in my life and drastically changed my life.

DS: Do you find you're more inspired by manmade things or things in nature?

Caribou: I think manmade things, but specifically ideas. I'm not interested in things in the real world as much as I am interested in mental ideas and mental contexts. That's why I did a PhD in Pure Maths, this elegance of pure ideas and things that are somewhat intangible and about ideas. Music is very much like that, playing around with ideas and creating this aesthetic of sound.

DS: What sort of ideas inspire you?

Caribou: In mathematics at the PhD level when I was studying was about constructing these elaborate systems and concepts, playing around with them, and fitting them together. More than ideas is playing around with the ideas, constructing them, and creating something out of them. For example, in music I will have an idea to put some different sounds together or a melody that meshes with a chord sequence or a sonic mood, or whatever. I'm not the type of person who takes physical things apart and plays around with them, but I like taking mental ideas apart and playing around with them. That's what appeals to me about what I've spent my life doing.

DS: Would you consider your music to be mathematical?

Caribou: No, not at all. It's completely aesthetic almost. It's about tinkering around with ideas in my head and seeing what kind of sound that actually produces.

DS: Do you have a favorite mathematician or unsolved mathematical problem?

Caribou: I'm not that kind of person. I liked doing mathematics and learning about it, but I was never into mathematical history beyond what I was working on.

DS: What's a trait you deplore in other people?

Caribou: Apathy or laziness. I'm the kind of person who is always doing something and get excited about something, and I find it frustrating when people get good ideas that are interesting and don't make the most of that. Anything I want to do, I'm all about doing it as much as possible. Meanness, selfishness, obviously.

DS: What’s a trait you deplore in yourself?

Caribou: It’s probably twined with my possessiveness and being too controlling of the things I’m doing, which is probably related to the fact I’m so excited to do things. That’s the flip side of it, I suppose. Even more so, my self-centeredness. I spend all my time making this music, and I’m really proud of it and happy with it, but I kind of feel it is indulging my interests.

DS: You think that might be a negative?

Caribou: I do, because there are better things I could be doing in this world. I don’t know, I could be more helpful to humanity than just sitting in my room making music, but I enjoy doing it so much that I make the decision to do it.

DS: That's a challenge for any human of whether or not to pursue something you think is a greater good or indulge yourself. How do you wrestle with that question?

Caribou: I guess like most people I avoid it to a certain degree. I hopefully strike some kind of compromise, but very heavy on doing what I’m excited about.

DS: Well, we need music in this world and if people are responding to it, you’re giving something to them.

Caribou: Yeah, I hope so, or maybe you are just trying to make me feel good.

DS: Maybe. [Laughs] Hillary or Barack?

Caribou: My gut reaction would be Barack, but I’m not really on top of American politics to endorse either.

DS: What do you think of Gordon Brown?

Caribou: He's a funny one to pin down. I can’t figure him out. The effect of having him in government is probably going to be pretty close to the effect of having Tony Blair in government, which is a shame. I’d like to see someone more old Labour and Socialist, I guess. There's always a hint that he is that, but I don’t think it will be reflected in his policies.

DS: What would be a bigger turn-off for you in bed, someone who was overly flatulent, or someone who spoke in a baby voice?

Caribou: I could get over the baby voice, but the flatulence is a tough one to stomach.

DS: Do you have a favorite curse word?

Caribou: Nothing is springing to mind.

DS: Favorite euphemism for breasts?

Caribou: Nope.

DS: If you had to choose between the destruction of the entire continent of Africa or the entire continent of Asia, which would you choose?

Caribou: Oh, God. So, population-wise. It’s tempting…I think that is the only way to choose. Killing a greater number of people has to be a greater evil. That’s maybe the bottom line. I would hate to make that decision.

DS: What are traits you respect in a woman?

Caribou: The same traits I look for in anybody else in the world: kindness, thoughtfulness.

DS: It doesn’t differ in men?

Caribou: No. Being a nice human being is what I look for in anybody.

DS: What’s your most treasured possession?

Caribou: I have a massive record collection I obsess over, and it would be hard to let that go.

DS: Any favorite films?

Caribou: I haven't been able to see any in the last couple of months, but in the last year I went through a complete Herzog obsession. I watched all of his films, I read Herzog on Herzog and even read Kinsky’s biography. Almost all of his films are incredible.

DS: What difficult question in an interview do you anticipate but are never asked?

Caribou: I actually don’t anticipate the difficult ones, which is why when you asked me to destroy one continent I didn’t see that one coming.

DS: What question are you tired of answering?

Caribou: The ones I get asked the most, and I don’t mind answering them, but I don’t relish answering them: I had to change my name from Manitoba to Caribou a couple years back due a law suit. I don't mind this one anymore, but at first I got asked that in every interview. And also, the connection between mathematics and music, which you asked me in a form. That’s a valid question, though, because it’s a point of interest about the way that I work. The lawsuit is like reciting a history of facts I’d rather forget.

DS: In the last year, where have you drawn most of your influence, and you can’t have been listening to them beyond a year ago.

Caribou: The big thing for me in the last year that is reflected in this album more than in previous ones is songwriting. I never wrote songs I just built tracks out of loops. There were melodies in them, but there wasn’t any structure to the songs. One artist I didn’t’ listen to before a year ago was Ariel Pink who is a lo-fi indie songwriter and producer. His production is amazing, but it turns people off because it’s so lo-fi; but also, his song-writing is amazing.

Today in History
1665 – The London Gazette, the oldest surviving English newspaper, was first published as the Oxford Gazette.

1811 – American forces led by Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison defeated the forces of Shawnee leader Tecumseh's growing American Indian confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana.

1885 – Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first transcontinental railroad across Canada, concluded with financier and politician Sir Donald Smith driving in the "last spike" in Craigellachie, British Columbia.

1917 – Vladimir Lenin led a Bolshevik insurrection against the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky, starting the Bolshevik Revolution, the second phase of the overall Russian Revolution.

1987 – Zine El Abidine Ben Ali deposed and replaced Habib Bourguiba as President of Tunisia, declaring him medically unfit for the duties of the office.

Quote of the Day

Do not wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day. ~ Albert Camus

Word of the Day

grandiloquent; adj

Of a person, their language or writing: overly wordy, pompous, flowery, or elaborate.

About Wikinews
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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Articles published in this Print edition were created by Wikinewsies. Other content released under the GNU Free Documentation License. To view a copy of the CC-BY license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor San Francisco, California, 94105, USA To view a copy of the GFDL, visit: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html Wikipedia Current Events http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events Today in History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Quote of the Day http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page Word of the Day http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page
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2007-11-06T21:21:47