Arizona Immigration Law and Illegal Immigrants: State of Extremes

Mr. Pearce, a fifth-generation Arizonan, is the state senator who introduced the toughest illegal-immigration bill in the nation. The immigration law is so controversial that the nation is asking: What's the matter with Arizona?

" 'Illegal' is not a race," Pearce says. "It is a crime."

Mr. Escobar, born in Mexico and raised in Arizona, is a Tucson police officer who opposes the new law that gives cops broader powers to crack down on illegal immigrants. He is taking the battle to the courts.

"When I saw the law and I read it, I actually never imagined it would get signed," he says. "I saw it as a personal attack on the Hispanic community."

Senate Bill 1070, which takes effect in July, is a historical marker in this ever-changing, ever-growing state of extremes.

You don't like the bill? A lot of Arizonans don't care. Polls show widespread support for it.

The state where lawmen Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday mowed down outlaws at the O.K. Corral now brings its modern brand of western justice to illegal immigration: attrition through enforcement.

After any lawful stop, police can "determine the immigration status" of those they suspect of being in the country illegally.

My opinion on the story

Well me personally I think that this is going to open up for racial profiling. This could lead to police discriminating on people based on their color. Such discrimination could lead to violence to police and people. This bill is not a solution to immigration and will just cause violence to all kinds of people that live in this country.

For Children, a Social Network With Training Wheels

Mandeep Singh Dhillon's son, Zoraver, learned how to take pictures of himself with his father's computer when he was four years old, and he immediately wanted to share the results with relatives online. Mr. Dhillon liked the idea of his son developing skills at an early age that he would use for a lifetime, but was also hesitant to let Zoraver loose on the open Internet. He began working on an alternative.

Three years later the result is Togetherville, a social networking site intended for use by children between the ages of six and 10 and their parents. It aims to keep children safe from cyberbullying and other online dangers while allowing them to become comfortable with online interaction. The site, which has been in private beta for several months, was opened to the public on Tuesday night.

Togetherville allows parents to build a social circle for their children based on their own collection of Facebook friends. The children can then interact with the children of their parents' friends, and specific adults that their parents have chosen, in a semi-private environment. The content on the site is curated, so children can play games, make art projects and watch or share videos, but everything they have access to has been vetted in advance, Mr. Dhillon said. Children can comment on their friends' posts directly through drop-down menus of preselected phrases. If a user wants to say something that is not on the list, he can submit a request that it be added.

Mr. Dhillon said this type of interaction helps children develop social skills that they can't get from virtual worlds like Club Penguin, which protect children by having them act only through anonymous avatars.

"We teach kids from a very early age, never let your identity be online, never let anyone know who you are, but we're teaching some bad things," he said. "Kids don't learn how to be accountable."

Mr. Dhillon said the site, which has about 10 employees, would not charge a subscription or carry advertising, and that it would rely at least in part on parents giving their children allowances to buy virtual merchandise. The business model is not entirely clear, said Ann Miura-Ko, a partner at Floodgate, the site's main investor. The site's market is a potentially lucrative one, though.

"Once you have parents and their children operating on the same system there are a lot of opportunities," Ms. Miura-Ko said. Floodgate was also an early investor in Twitter and Digg.

Mr. Dhillon is pushing Togetherville not just as a business but also as a social tool. He has enlisted the help of various people who work on online safety issues. Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute, is one of those who has been advising Mr. Dhillon. He said that he thought the site could keep younger children off of Facebook, where they are more likely to find inappropriate content and are less protected from potentially harmful interactions with strangers or bullies.

But Vicky Rideout, who wrote a recent large-scale study of children's media use for the Kaiser Family Foundation, is skeptical of the claim that Togetherville will be a useful educational tool, saying there is no data to suggest a demand from children under 10 for more social media. She also dismissed the idea that children need an intermediary step toward unrestricted online networking.

"From the child's perspective, I'm not sure what the benefit is," she wrote in an e-mail message. "Believe me, kids will learn how to use technology and media when the time comes."

My opinion on the story

I think that this idea of computer interaction for little kids is pretty useless. Kids shouldn't be on a computer to interact with other kids they should do that with other kids around the neighborhood with friends from school. After years of being on that computer their not going to want to get off the computer and just spend the rest of their lives on a computer. They are probably going to end up fat for not excersing outside. And who say's a hacker won't get into that system and rape little kids.

Survivors tell of miracle escape from India air crash

MANGALORE, India (AFP) – Some of the eight survivors who crawled or were carried from the burning remains of a plane that crashed in India on Saturday told of their escape amid scenes of horror and death.
Officials said 158 of the 166 passengers and crew aboard the plane died when it overshot the runaway and plunged down a steep slope when coming in to land near the southern city of Mangalore on a flight from Dubai.
"The plane veered off toward some trees on the side and then the cabin filled with smoke," Umer Farooq, his face covered in burn cream, told the NDTV news channel at a local hospital.
"The plane overshot the runway only to stop inside a forest area... it burst into flames," he said. "I got caught in some cables but managed to scramble out.
"My hands, face and legs are all burnt. There was an announcement that the plane would land in 15 minutes. There was lot of smoke fire inside, there was no way to get out. I think the plane hit something."
Another survivor, K.P. Manikutty, said he had managed to escape as the plane's fuselage smashed open.
"There was no warning to passengers about any trouble and it appeared a smooth landing," Manikutty told reporters.
"Immediately on touching the ground, the aircraft jerked and in a few moments hit something. Then it split in the middle and caught fire. I just jumped from the gap," he said.
Sabrina Haq, a 20-year-old medical student who suffered head injuries, told AFP that she "jumped out when the plane toppled over into the valley."
One person emerged unscathed from the wreckage, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told a press briefing.
Survivor Putturismail Abdulla told the UNI press agency: "I thought the flight would come to a stop soon and prepared myself to get down. But there was a big burst sound.
"Soon I saw the aircraft breaking into two near me. Out of sheer desperation, I jumped out and ran to safety.
"Looking back I saw the aircraft breaking down into pieces and caught fire. God saved my life. Despite injuries in the leg, I went to a nearby village and called my friend who picked me up and took me to a hospital."
Television pictures showed rescue teams struggling down mud slopes to the the wreckage site, where many bodies remained inside the plane.
"One of my co-passengers fell into the fire while one escaped with me through the opening that was made after the plane broke into two," said Abdulla, a shop manager in Dubai who was returning home after five months.
"It all happened within a few seconds. I found another person. Together we walked for about 20 minutes through the jungle before locals came and helped us."
Families waiting at the airport for their relatives and friends wept uncontrollably as emergency workers rushed to the disaster scene.
"I can't believe I survived the crash," said G.K. Pradeep reliving the moments before the tragedy.
"There were vibrations before the plane crashed... as soon as it hit the ground, I managed to get out and jump into a pit. There was smoke all over as the plane caught fire. After ten minutes, there was an explosion," he said.

My Opinion on the story

A plane crash is a very scary thing in my opinion. I have never been on a plane in my life even though im in the aviation cluster. But for a plane to crash like is very unsual I wonder what went wrong in the plane. And what a miracle for those survivors to survive and tell the story of how they survived a plane crash that more then half of its passengers died. Thats must be a life changing experience for them and it also might scare them to ride a airplane again. I still don't understand how it just crashed and I bet that there was something planned or maybe it was just a accident that happens all the time. And the mechanic that checked the airplane before it took off is probably in big trouble or is getting blamed for it.

My family picture

Me and my little sister named Jenny and my little brother named Erik and my mother named Norma but my father didnt want to be in the picture because he doesn't like taking pictures.

What are the Longest-Lasting Batteries?

Store brands may save you money on household necessities, but generic batteries might not be your best bet, according to recent tests comparing name brand and store brand batteries.

CVS AA Long Lasting alkaline batteries didn't actually last longer than other batteries tested under the same conditions by Consumer Reports. In fact, those generics had less than half the power as Panasonic Evolta alkaline batteries, Consumer Reports found.

Among the longest-lasting AA batteries overall were Energizer's Ultimate single-use lithium batteries, which took 678 pictures before dying, compared with 92 shots taken with a camera using the CVS batteries. As a group, lithium batteries lasted the longest, but budget-friendly rechargeable batteries performed nearly as well, Consumer Reports said.

And rechargeables like those made by Energizer and Duracell could be your best bet for use in digital cameras and favorite toys, Consumer Reports suggests.

For remote controls, flashlights and other devices, alkaline batteries might be your best bet since their charge could last you several years, while rechargeable ones can lose their charge over time, as MainStreet previously reported.

Consumers may not want to rule out store-brand batteries completely, however. Kirkland Signature AA batteries, sold at Costco only in packs of 48, lasted nearly as long as the Panasonic batteries, according to Consumer Reports.

My opinion on the story

Well at least I know which batteries to buy now haha. I always sorta of knew that those cheap batteries didnt work I always buy Energizer and Duracell but my mother always buys the cheap ones and they go out really fast. It's pretty surprising how those cheap batteries dont work to the max like a Energizer or Duracell. Pretty cool 678 pictures compared to 97 is very far away from each other. But it's good that they make cheap batteries for the people who can't afford the good ones sometimes I have to buy cheap ones but when it's for something important I buy the good ones.

Winter Break pictures

Me at the church play.




Haha I was looking at the camera and no one was looking except for me.

Our Family Tree