Burqa Ban

France has been dealing with a problem that most Americans would find strange. The country is currently in a struggle to find its true "identity". Huge numbers of North Africans have immigrated to France in the pursuit of a better life, and the problems have evolved from there. The issue has become so large that the government is even forced to get involved. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is now proposing a ban on a traditional Muslim clothing, the burqa. He is suggesting that the burqa not be allowed in any public venue.
The country is rather divided on the issue, conservative people feel that the Islamic influence on the country is too great and that it should be limited. More liberal people however feel that a blend of cultures is healthy for the nation's indentity.
Sarkozy, who was elected in 2007, won the vote by gaining the approval of a rather conservative constituency. In turn he is acting, for the most part, in the interest of conservative France.
Having already been familiar with the political and social issues in France, I am not shocked by these recent developments. But as a kid living in the states I can imagine that most Americans would be rather shocked by these events.

Do you think a ban on religious attire could exist here, despite the freedom of religion granted to all Americans? Also consider the debate of the French idendity. What do you think is the American "identity", and how did it come to be?

Ninjas!

The picture may be inspiring some less than serious reactions, but a country in the Pacific has managed to be overrun by "ninjas". East Timor, a neighbor of Indonesia in the Pacific Ocean has been in a virtual civil war with these masked assailants. These "ninjas" are essentially a militant anti-government group trying to gain power in the country. the grips of a six-month campaign aimed at curbing "ninja" activities. "Any ninjas that want to take us on, your final stop will be the Santa Cruz cemetary." I can't help but laugh but this just wreaks of the kind of bad drama that unfolds in a childrens comic, and its happening in a real country!

The country might find itself in a little bit of a pickle, as this corps of ninjas is reportedly in the ballpark of 90 thousand strong, nearly ten percent of the population of East Timor.

What I am a little confused about is who decided to coin these mysterious criminals as "ninjas", seeing as "no one in the country would ever self-identify" as a ninja." Clearly there is someone that is just mocking the situation and therefore added a juvenile twist to the story. It is anything but funny considering several people have been victims of the ninjas, several people have been murdered this year. Especially when the country has just ended a 24 year period in which they were occupied by Indonesia, where an estimated 100,000 people died. My questions is why did this country's problem become some kind of joke? Is it the media's fault? (see for yourself)? The government's?

Schools Shellin Out Cash

In class today, as an introduction to the soundless video, we discussed the concept of monetizing school, work, and life itself. I, prior to this discussion had read the most recent TIME magazine which included an article on the monetary compensation of students in struggling schools in predominantly inner city neighborhoods across America. Studies were run in Chicago, New York, Dallas and Washington. A different approach was taken in each city. Chicago rewarded students for good grades, Washington for good behavior and attendance, NYC for test scores, and the only unanimously positive result, Dallas rewarded students for each book read during the initiative.
The initiative was launched by Roland Fryer, an economics professor at Harvard, who scoured the country looking for schools to participate in the study. The feat was not as easily said than done. The majority of schools stuck to their moral guns saying that students should learn for the love of learning, despite the majority of these schools testing well below state standards.
The result of the study showed that some incentives worked better than others. The only city that showed extremely positive results was in Dallas where they paid students per book read, and consequently test scores in reading increased. The interesting part is that Dallas had the lowest amound earned per student at $13.81 versus Chicago students that on average earned a whopping $695.61. This statistic alone lead me to believe that there was no correlation between compensation and grades and standardized test scores. Whats your first impression? Did you, like me say "of course it will help"? Would such an initiative have an impact at New Trier?

Tiger's Icebreaker

After the emotion of Phil Mickelson's three shot victory at Augusta, whose mother and wife are both suffering from breast cancer, the attention naturaly still landed on the PGA's greatest and most notorious icon. Tiger found himself in the hunt through 63 holes of the Masters but a few costly back nine errors in the final round put him a few shots out of contention. These errors included a missed one foot tap in for par that he uncharacteristically slapped at only to see it lip out. Tiger, after 72 holes, finished at 11 under, five off the lead.

What troubled me was the post round interview with CBS's Peter Kostas, where Woods didn't tone down his incredibly competetive mindset saying that he was dissappointed for not winning after his five month hiatus. Part of me wants to believe that Tiger is in a constant winning mindset and he truly feels that he will win every tournament he enters (which most of the time he delivers), but during this Masters I found this hard to believe. He has been away from the game, letting the news of his wrongdoings simmer and his image as the posterboy for professional sports is in shreds. The cynical part of me says that Tiger was simply using this year's Masters for exposure, to remind the world that he will be coming back to the tour, and that people better get used to it. The fact that he finished tied for fourth was simply a bi-product of his attempt at exposure. Although this is a scary thought that a player who hasn't played a professional round in five months contended in the most important and prestigious tournament on the PGA tour, this is just a testament to why he is "arguably" considered the best to ever play the game. Did Tiger do this to improve his image? Was he approaching this tournament for the same reasons as he did pre-scandal?

Huta Who? Hutaree

This past week eight arrests were made of the leaders of the extreme right wing group called the Hutaree Militia. This Michigan based group had been monitored for years by the FBI but not until now had any arrests been made.

The word Hutaree, although not found in any English dictionary, means, according to the members of the group "christian warriors". The investigation revealed that the main goal of the militia was to assassinate any local or federal law enforcement. The FBI's files show the Hutaree's plan of attack included:

-killing a member of law enforcement after a traffic stop

-killing an officer at their home

-ambushing officers in rural communities

-luring an officer to a false 911 call

-attacking a funeral procession of a downed officer

Clearly these people should not be on the streets, as the rationale for such acts of violence is not attainable by any sane person. The thing is that all eight people are being put in jail awaiting trial. Normally people are innocent, and therfore free, until proven guilty, but not in this instance. Although they have only been found conspiring these plans, they are considered a threat to all. I believe that these people should be in prison awaiting trial but a part of me thinks back to the civil liberties aspect of our class. Is this right? Is it a violation of their civil liberties to put these people away who have not even been convicted of anything thus far?