Dealing With Illegal Immigrants

A police chase lead to a fatal car accident in Edna, Texas last week. The driver of the SUV was a U.S. citizen who was believed to be a member of a smuggling organization. Officials say the vehicle actually contained about 13 people - all of nationalities from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Zamarripa. The police chase began last Thursday after an officer tried to pull the SUV over for a traffic violation, and as the car took an exit to the highway, the driver overcorrected and the vehicle flipped multiple times. The car had been modified to fit multiple people, so it wasn't as safe as it had originally been made to be. Four people died on site and two died in the hospital, while the rest were taken under custody of border control. Police Chief Clinton Wooldridge explained that the area had "a lot of experience" in dealing with vehicles transporting illegal immigrants as well as drugs - that it was common.

Photo of the SUV that had been transporting the immigrants - Post-wreck

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/25/six-killed-after-people-smugglers-van-crashes-during-texas-police-chase/

ACLU Accuses Louisiana High School Of Promoting Christianity

Executive Director of Louisiana ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), Marjorie Esman, argues that the phrase "The Future Starts Today - May God Bless You All" in an online letter to students from the Principle of Airline High School violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. Esman also argues that allowing members of FCA to set up prayer boxes with Christian emblems on them around the school promotes Christianity. Esman said: "The United States Constitution requires public schools to ensure that state-supported activity is not used for religious indoctrination." Louisiana State Representative, Mike Johnson, states: "This is typical of the ACLU. They're on a seek-and-destroy mission for all things religious. I hope the school will stand its ground." My question is, does the phrase "may God bless you all" actually violate the first amendment if it states that citizens have freedom of speech and religion? I think not. 

Principle of Airline High School

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/27/god-bless-greeting-lands-louisiana-school-in-hot-water-with-aclu/

Racial Slurs in Virginia

Juslena Williams, a former student of Heritage High School in Virginia has started a petition with well over 1,300 signatures on behalf of her former history teacher, Mrs. Lynne Pierce. Pierce was put on administrative leave after a student reported her to the principle for using the "N word" in a predominately black school. This all started when a student in Pierce's APUSH class didn't understand the controversy about the Washington Redskins football team. Pierce replied, "What would you think if someone started a team called the Newport News N-----r?" The petition states that "She is a history teacher, she cannot be censored for teaching terms and beliefs that people had throughout history," that muttering the "N word" in a discussion about derogatory terms is not wrong.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/27/va-school-places-white-teacher-on-leave-for-racial-slur-sparks-petition-on-her/

Second Chance Bill

To my knowledge, an American citizen is not considered an adult until they reach the age of 18. However, I was shocked to find out that nine out of our fifty states actually try 17 year olds as adults in court. The state in which a minor commits a crime is responsible for making the decision whether the minor is put in juvenile court or adult court. Wisconsin, one of the nine states, set a law in the 90's to make their crime laws more "punishment focused" due to the belief that juveniles were becoming more violent. However, lawmakers in Wisconsin are working on a bill called the "Second Chance Bill" which would allow 17 year olds to be tried in juvenile courts again. There are many positive aspects to this bill, such as the fact that juvenile courts focus less on the punishment of the crime (like adult trials) and more on rehabilitation for the minor. Records in the juvenile system are sealed, meaning they are not open to the public like the adult system, so their access to education and jobs will not be affected. It has been proven that minors given rehabilitation are less likely to "reactivate" than those who are placed in prison/jail. The bill also protects minors from the adult system, in which they are more likely to be sexually and physically assaulted and are more likely to commit suicide. If the law passes, 17 year old juveniles who are "one-time offenders" will be taken back to juvenile court, but will still be qualified for judicial waiver into the adult system. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tina-freiburger/age-17-adult-or-juvenile-_b_8185018.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime

Can Football Be Fatal?

Evan Murray, the star quarterback of a high school football team in New Jersey collapsed on the sidelines during a game and died the next day. The cause of death is unclear, as there has not been an autopsy performed yet. There was a play in which Murray was hit head-on in the stomach right before his collapse on the sidelines, but his teammates recall that it "looked like a normal tackle" and they assumed he probably just had a concussion because he seemed slow and tired. There was never a clear or prominent moment during the game that stood out to be the cause of death. Football has always been known for being rough and dangerous, but this shocking story raises the question of whether or not such a sport should be supported and praised if it can, in fact, lead to death. Results from Murray's autopsy should help decide.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/09/27/a-high-school-football-players-sudden-death-shocks-family-friends-fans/

Students Suspended For Wearing Confederate Flag Emblem

Christiansburg High School (Virginia) recently suspended 20 of their students for wearing an emblem of the Confederate flag. The students were accused of violating the dress code, which specifically bans students from wearing any article of clothing that could be argued to "reflect adversely on persons due to race." The students' initial punishment was one day of in-school suspensions, however punishment was continued when a majority of the students did not acquiesce. The school consists of about 1,100 students, 88 of which are African-American. Obviously, there is a clear minority, and the Confederate flag apparel is aggressive toward them and shows no regard to social limits or boundaries. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2015/09/17/virginia-high-school-students-suspended-for-wearing-confederate-flag-apparel/

Terrorism In Phoenix

A string of freeway shootings in Phoenix have been qualified as domestic acts of terrorism, because they cause drivers to "divert from their normal driving routines." However, it has become clear that there is no state terrorism law to hold against the shooters. Attorney Bill Montgomery said the state’s terrorism laws focus more on protecting public utilities rather than freeway shootings. Investigations have confirmed 11 vehicle shootings since August, most of which occurred along Interstate-10. Some shootings involved bullets, others involved BBs, pellets or rocks. Out of the 11 shootings, there has been only one injury, which was when a piece of shattered glass from a victim's window cut her ear. Authorities announced that they would be using 16 billboards to advertise the $50,000 reward being offered for information leading to suspects. The shooters could face state endangerment, criminal damage, and aggravated assault charges.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/17/billboards-will-tout-reward-in-phoenix-freeway-shooting-case/

Death On A Swing Set

Three year old, Ji'Aire Lee, was found dead in a swing set in Maryland Community Park Playground. He was found after a neighbor of the playground called the police to report "a woman who had been pushing a child in a swing for an unusually long period of time." This was an understatement, because the mother apparently had been pushing the child in the swing for 2 whole days, and up to 10 hours after his death. A medical examiner has come to the conclusion that Ji'Aire was killed by dehydration and hypothermia. The mother, who was found pushing the child, was arrested Friday night, and charged with manslaughter, neglect of a minor, and child abuse. Family members have come forward and explained that Ji'Aire's mother has a past of suffering from mental illness, which is backed up by James Lee, Ji'Aire's father, who had previously warned a judge about her possible mental illness when fighting for custody. 

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/09/16/mom-charged-in-swing-death-pkg.wjla

The Dangers Of Hand Sanitizer

In the past 5 years, poison control centers throughout the United States have had around a 400% increase in calls about children ingesting hand sanitizer. Most of the younger victims say they ingested it because packaging is pretty, and the scented sanitizers that come in different flavors smell good. Older children, however, have started drinking hand sanitizer intentionally to get drunk or as a dare from friends as well. Children do not seem to understand the danger in this. Wine and beer only contain about 12% alcohol, whereas the amount of alcohol in hand sanitizer ranges from 50-95%. Ingesting even the smallest amounts can cause alcohol poisoning. Six-year-old Nhaijah Russell swallowed three or four squirts while she was at school. Once she was taken to the emergency room, her blood-alcohol level was 0.179, which is twice what would be considered for adults to be legally drunk. Dr. Gaylord Lopez, the Georgia Poison Center's director, sent out letters to Georgia's schools warning them and recommending the teachers to monitor the sanitizer and keep it out of reach of children. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/14/health/hand-sanitizer-poisoning/?iid=ob_article_topstories_pool&iref=obnetwork

Ahmed Mohamed Arrested For Bringing Homemade Clock To School

Ahmed Mohamed is a 14 year old living in Irving, Texas. Ahmed's favorite hobby is robotics, and his latest creation has been a digital clock. On Monday, September 14, 2015, Ahmed was arrested for bringing this handmade clock to school. The Dallas Morning News said "He brought the device to school hoping to impress some teachers, but the first one who saw the clock immediately told him 'not to show any other teachers.'" His creation was taken to the principles office, where he was threatened with expulsion for "trying to make a bomb." He was escorted from school in handcuffs and taken to a juvenile detention center, where he was searched and questioned about the "suspicious object" until his parents could come get him. He was not expelled, but he was given a 3 day suspension.  The director of the North Texas Council on American-Islamic Relations, Alia Salem, said the arrest was "an egregious and inappropriate response."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/9th-grader-arrested-clock_55f96557e4b0b48f6701519c

Federalism

1. Federalism is the mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an overarching political system in such a way as to allow each to maintain its own fundamental political integrity. Federal systems do this by requiring that basic policies be made and implemented through negotiation in some form, so that all the members can share in making and executing decisions. The political principles that animate federal systems emphasize the primacy of bargaining and negotiated coordination among several power centres; they stress the virtues of dispersed power centres as a means for safeguarding individual and local liberties.

2. There are approximatley 195 nation-states in the world. 

3. There are about 25 countries in the world today that use the federal system of government. These countries are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Argentina, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Comoros, Malaysia, Micronesia, Nepal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, United States of America, Switzerland, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates.

4. Compared to other countries of the world, these countries are all relatively large in land mass, so their size would be what they have in common. 

5. The Unitary system is a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government. It contrasts with a federal system.

6. 150+ countries use a unitary system of government, but the 5 largest unitary countries are China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Khazakstan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


7.  The difference between federal and unitary systems is that unitary systems have one big government that is in charge of everything but federal systems have national governments that interact with the state governments and their citizens -- one aspect of government is not all powerful. One could argue there is an advantage to the unitary system, because decision making would be solely based on government officials ideas and no citizen could really do anything about it or challenge their ideas. However, federal governments vote on everything and request citizens' preferences, which can be a long and difficult process; especially when citizens want to challenge the government. On the other hand, this ability for people to have a say in their government is also an advantage because it is a blessing to have the ability to have an impact on how you and the people of your country live, whereas in unitary countries, no one has a say in anything. When people are unhappy and dying, there is nothing anyone can do about it. 


8. I sense attitudes of laziness and choosiness from this cartoon. Oftentimes, people want the good without having to deal with the bad, so this picture represents a politician wanting to receive the benefits and money and the title of working in office, but not wanting to deal with having responsibilities and the authority of having to make hard decisions. 


9. Medical Marijuana can be used as a treatment for symptoms of cancer, but since the drug itself is illegal, the government (in 23/50 states) prohibits the use of it as treatment, even though it can supposedly help with symptoms. The perspective on federal government in this picture is that they are more concerned with following the strict law rather than helping a dying citizen become (or at least feel) better. 


10. The perspective of federal government offered here is that the government (Republicans in this cartoon) says that the people should be allowed to set new policies. However, when the people actually offer them up, the ideas are shut down and the government is appalled that we would even consider implementing a policy, for instance, to help the environment.

11. The video's metaphor for federalism is the three layered cake, with local government as the first layer, then state government, and then national government on the bottom. It describes federalism because each layer gets bigger as the cake grows. So, the local layer would only deal with local affairs like trash pick up and police stations, the middle state government layer would have multiple bigger responsibilities like education and health services, and the bottom national government layer deals with national affairs like military and space exploration. 


12. This picture is a metaphor for federalism because it has all three forms of governments blended into one, rather than separating the one united government into three forms of governments like in the video. The picture suggests that the relationship between different levels of government is all intertwined, rather than set in slots or levels like a hierarchy. 

Donald Trump Says Jeb Bush Should Stop Speaking Spanish

“He’s a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States,” said Trump in an interview regarding Jeb Bush. Trump has made his feelings towards Hispanics very clear, however now he is attacking Jeb's decision to use the Spanish language while explaining that Trump is not a conservative at an event in Miami. Bush and his team were offended because he often speaks Spanish at home with his wife, Columba, who was born in Mexico. Obviously, the use of English in America should be promoted, so Mr. Bush has proposed a website to help immigrants learn English that will be a requirement for earning citizenship.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/02/donald-trump-says-jeb-bush-should-stop-speaking-spanish/

Naegleria Fowleri

Naegleria Fowleri, also known as "Brain-Eating Amoeba," lives in the sediment of warm, freshwater ponds and lakes in the southern states of America. The amoeba has been found to be extremely dangerous and efficient, with a 97% death rate in its victims. When people go swimming, the amoeba gets into their noses and find their way to the brain. On average, it takes about 5 days for the amoeba to kill its victims, however, scientists haven't been extremely worried about it because chances of infection are extremely low. From 2005-2014 there have only been 35 cases in the U.S. 

http://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2015/08/31/brain-eating-amoeba-cohen-explainer-orig-mg.cnn/video/playlists/brain-eating-amoebas/

The End Of Long-Term Solitary Confinement

In recent years, isolation has become a more popular method of punishment in prison systems due to gang violence. Todd Ashker and Danny Troxell, inmates of Pelican Bay's secure housing unit (California), have filed a lawsuit to improve the conditions in solitary confinement as well as alter the time limit as to how long an inmate can be kept in solitary. The lawsuit argued that confinement after a certain amount of time was cruel and unusual punishment. The case ended with an agreement that 5 years is the maximum amount of time an inmate can be in the SHU, with the exception of gang members who can get up to 7. The state is trying to deal with the inmates without segregating them as much as well, so it has elected to create a non-solitary area for prisoners who have been in the SHU for 10 years or more. This new unit will give inmates access to phone calls, visitors, and educational classes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-solitary-confinement_55e5df4fe4b0aec9f354a7c9?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime&section=crime

Football Hazing Case In New Jersey

Hazing is a very touchy subject, and being the judge of what crosses the line can often be hard for teenagers to do. High school football players in Sayreville, New Jersey (ranging in ages of 15 to 17 years old) have been charged of sexual abuse and were nearly registered as sex offenders. The teammates have plead guilty to hazing the younger players by pushing them, kicking them, touching their genitals, and more graphic actions. The school has elected to cancel the football season in addition to firing the coach. The six players have been placed on probation for two years, as well as being sentenced to 50 hours of community service. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/nyregion/6-get-probation-in-sayreville-nj-football-hazing-case.html?ref=us

Gender Inequality In Missouri

Gender and sexual orientation equality seems to be a hot topic this year, especially in Missouri. Lila Perry began identifying herself as a girl last February, so her being transgender isn't exactly new information. However, protests have recently erupted over her request to be able to use the girl's bathroom, rather than a unisex bathroom. The school’s superintendent, Aaron D. Cornman, claimed that the school “accepts all students no matter race, nationality/ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation,” but his statement was almost immediately challenged. Derrick Good, a parent to two female students enrolled in the school, argued that facilities should be used based on the students' biological sex. He claims it is a violation to his daughters' privacy to be sharing bathrooms with biological males. With all the commotion of protesting, Ms. Perry completely dropped out of the class that developed her need to use of the girls’ locker room, and spent nearly two hours in her guidance counselor’s office due to safety concerns. The Missouri Gay-Straight Alliance Network is planning to host a rally to explain the difference between sex and gender.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/us/teenagers-protest-a-transgender-students-use-of-the-girls-bathroom.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-4&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article&_r=0