Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill that cracks down on illegal immigration by increasing some enforcement powers and requiring many employers to check the immigration status of new hires.
Deal on Friday signed the bill that has some similarities to a controversial bill enacted last year in Arizona.
Most parts of the Georgia law are set to enter into effect July 1. But opponents have said they plan to file lawsuits seeking to block it.
A requirement for private employers to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires is set to be phased in.
The new law also authorizes law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of certain suspects and to detain those who are in the country illegally. More…
Are our schools becoming to generous in suspending students for being, well, kids? We were all young at one time, too. I recall doing things which, at the time, we all thought was pretty cool. Now in my later more wisened years often wonder, “What was I thinking?” But you know what, I do not regret anything I’ve done. Yes, we broke rules, skipped school, took part in high school pranks. But all our parents, adults, and school administration all understood that kids will be kids.
Today, it is a much different world from the late 1970′s to early 1980′s when I was in high school. Gangs have grown rampant, drugs spread through our school faster than the flu. Knives, weapons, guns are brought into schools both to “show off” and to use on a rival gang member – or sadly, used in revenge for some sort of humiliation caused upon the bearer.
THESE are the teenagers we should be focusing on. Not the ones who are not causing any harm to themselves or to others. The prom posting sign was a valiant thing to do which we have nearly lost in our youth of today’s world. It was not merely a text message, “Hey, wanna go to the prom?” But this student took time, effort, and originality to do what he did in order to ask his girl to the prom. It is this “thinking outside the box” mentality that brings us our Einsteins, Wright Brothers, and Edison’s of the world. I hope this suspension, although brief, does not hinder this students creativity in the future. He, in addition to all youth, have possible greatness in their future. Allow them to develop and grow under their original thinking.
Now, as far as the flatulent student… well, I’m sure it’s not pleasant, but do you all not recall how fellow students find this body function humorous? Let them be. Open the window…..
An Ohio seventh-grader was suspended last week for doing arguably the most predictable thing a 13-year-old boy could do for a laugh on the school bus. He cut the cheese.
Canal Winchester Middle School students Anthony Nichols and another boy lost their bus privileges on Friday for their stinky stunt, which prompted the customary rousing laughter and “lowering of windows,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Administrators ruled that the flatulence was in violation of the school’s code of conduct, but if you ask Nichols’ parents, the decision reeks of poor judgement.
“It’s very laughable, that’s what it is,” said Anthony’s father, James Nichols. He said he spoke with the school’s vice principal, Daniel Senu-Oke, who “suggested my son should hold his gas on this hour-long bus ride.”
For a concerned parent, however, that answer just doesn’t cut it.
“When it happens, it just happens,” he said. “It’s not intentional.”
But perhaps it is. According to the bus driver and school officials, the 13-year-old Nichols and his partner in crime are repeat offenders with a history of passing gas on the school bus.
Still, for the boy’s mother, Kristine Kuzora, who has suffered from gastrointestinal issues herself, the incident hits a little too close to home.
“I take great offense to passing gas being cause for suspension and marked as an obscene gesture,” Kuzora wrote to The Dispatch.
A Connecticut teenager who posted a sign on the front of his high school asking a girl to go to prom with him has been barred from attending.
The message said: “Sonali Rodrigues, Will you go to the prom with me? HMU -Tate.” HMU means hit me up, or call me.
Rodrigues said yes. But Tate and his two friends have been given one-day, in-house suspensions by the headmaster and barred from the prom.
This suspension has caused a viral uproar from around the world. Facebook pages were created with hundreds of thousands of “Likes” from people who feel the punishment was unjust and are rallying together in support of overturning the suspension from the prom. All were a-twitter on twitter also in support of the overturning of the suspension.
But the school has a “Zero Tolerance Policy”: Shelton High School’s policy states that any student who receives an in-school or out-of-school suspension after April 1 is automatically prevented from going to the prom.But through all the support from a worlwide following, the school overturned their decision.
Regarding Tate’s punishment, the Headmaster Smith said Saturday:
“In an effort to maintain a focus on teaching and learning, I have decided to implement alternate consequences on a case by case basis, beginning with James Tate and for other students who received internal suspension after April 1, which would then permit some to attend the prom.”
Superintendent Freeman Burr confirmed that yes, the statement means Tate can go to his prom. The fate of his friends wasn’t as clear, due to the vague generalities of the statement and the fact the headmaster did not take questions.Full article available on the schools website, Valley Independent Sentinel.
Myself, being an armchair politic, have watched the world of politics from home either via the internet or television. I see our “leaders” in government do things that, in my opinion, are completely insane and irrational. Yet, I see many people support and follow their favorite politician and/or political party faithfully. I have to scratch my head and wonder in complete amazement how and why people can actually believe what I’m seeing before my eyes. Then today, I stumbled across a video about the Asch Experiment, and this helps explain perfectly what is occurring.
The Asche Experiment, according to Wikipedia, were a series of studies published in the 1950s that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. These are also known as the “Asch Paradigm”.
In the basic Asch paradigm, the participants — the real subjects and the confederates — were all seated in a classroom. They were asked a variety of questions about the lines such as how long is A, compare the length of A to an everyday object, which line was longer than the other, which lines were the same length, etc. The group was told to announce their answers to each question out loud. The confederates always provided their answers before the study participant, and always gave the same answer as each other. They answered a few questions correctly but eventually began providing incorrect responses.
In a control group, with no pressure to conform to an erroneous view, only one subject out of 35 ever gave an incorrect answer. Solomon Asch hypothesized that the majority of people would not conform to something obviously wrong; however, when surrounded by individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, participants provided incorrect responses on a high proportion of the questions (32%). Seventy-five percent of the participants gave an incorrect answer to at least one question.
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Therefore, I have come to conclude that the future of this country, and myself of a citizen of the US, is being built on one fact (although out of many others) that people conform to those around them. People, being social creatures, are in essence followers, and we are often following those who really do not have any business in the lead position. And who knows who our leaders are actually following? “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…” Should they really be leading? Or are they merely puppets for a stronger, more powerful force behind the curtain?
Activists see this and stand up for what they believe. Isn’t it time that we stop following based upon what those who we consider our peers believe, and start asking our own questions and making our own decisions?
Additionally, my opinion here is not based purely upon this video – but it did help pull things together in my mind. I have always been a people-watcher… forever watching, studying, and learning about the behavior of people. I have watched my friends in larger social circles conform to those who hold a more leadership position – and on occassion, what goes through my head is, “wtf…”
I know that I, myself, have fallen into this following pattern simply due to the fact that I have always been led to believe that if it’s in the media, it must be true. Now, especially in this incredible age of the internet, I see that the news often will only give you the information they want you to know… and the general public follows along like sheep believing everything they’ve been fed.
I implore you to seek out other channels of news, media… gather information, and come to your own conclusions. Stop following, but rather, become more of a participant – standing up for what you believe, and not always believing everything you hear.
A British woman has been stabbed and decapitated in Tenerife. The 60-year-old woman was reportedly attacked in a supermarket in the town of Los Cristianos on the island.
A Bulgarian man, believed to be homeless, has been detained by Spanish police. He was reportedly admitted to the psychiatric unit after knocking a stranger’s teeth out on the street.
Colin Kirkby, a 50-year-old British journalist who witnessed the attack, told MailOnline that the man probably picked up the knife inside the shop – and there was no apparent motivation.
‘A middle-aged English couple in the shop said it came out of the blue and there was no real disturbance, there are security guards in the centre that would have been on the scene quickly,’ he said.
‘The shop sells cheap souvenir sword-like blades and I think if he had walked into the shop with the blade he would have been stopped by security and that’s what people are thinking.’
Mr Kirkby added that it was so surreal he thought the ‘scruffy’ man, aged in his 20s, was carrying a ‘joke’ head.
‘I could hear people shouting and screaming and the guy was walking along the footpath slowly muttering to himself carrying the head – it was very surreal,’ he said.
‘I couldn’t hear what he was muttering and seemed to be oblivious to everything around him and was sort of rambling.
‘He was holding the head by the hair and I couldn’t help but think of the image in the Clash of the Titans where a man is beheaded.
‘One of the things was there wasn’t a lot of blood everywhere and there was no weapon on him.
‘He was not the smartest looking of guys and not well groomed, I don’t know if he was sleeping rough.’
He added that when the man was bundled to the floor by security he was not screaming and thrashing to get away.
Haunting: The victim’s head lies on the ground covered only by a sheet as stunned crowds held back by police tape look on.
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Gruesome: The victim’s body is carried away on a stretcher from the shop where she was decapitated. Police arrived on the scene and sealed off the area.
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Wrestled to the ground: The man had been running through the town brandishing the woman’s head before being tackled by a motorcyclist.
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Popular: Millions of British tourists flock to Los Cristianos every year but this is understood to be the first attack of its kind on a holidaymaker in the area.
May 13, 2011
