The Morningwood News

International Herald Tribune
Asia & Pacific
By Thomas Fuller

BANGKOK: America has Tom, Dick and Harry. Thailand has Pig, Money and Fat.

For as long as people here can remember, children have been given playful nicknames that no matter how silly - classics include Shrimp, Chubby and Crab - are carried into adulthood.

But now, to the consternation of some nickname purists, children are being given such offbeat English-language nicknames as Mafia or Seven - as in 7-Eleven, the convenience store.

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The Indianapolis Star
By Vic Rychaert

Police critics also laud video’s release after beating near Black Expo

The Rev. Charles Harrison predicts a video showing an officer punch and kick a 17-year-old boy at Indiana Black Expo’s Summer Celebration will outrage the community.

But Harrison also sees the release of the video and the arrest of Officer Adam Chappell as signs that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is taking a stand against brutality within its ranks.

“This will only validate (police brutality complaints) some say is going on all the time, especially with young black males,” said Harrison, pastor of Barnes United Methodist Church on the Near Northside and a longtime community activist. “You have to feel good and encouraged that someone from the department did shoot that video and that it wasn’t swept under the rug.”

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The Seattle Times
By Oskar Garcia
AP

OMAHA, Neb. — For prices starting at $50, two nonfederally recognized American Indian tribes are offering membership to thousands of illegal immigrants, claiming they can achieve legal status by joining the groups.

But immigration authorities said becoming a tribe member gives no protection against being deported. And immigration advocates condemned the practice, saying it defrauds immigrants of money and gives them false hope.

“You can’t just decide to become a member of a tribe and all of a sudden legalize your status,” said Marilu Cabrera, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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Contra Costa Times
By Tony Hicks
STAFF WRITER

Standing on his Oakland hills balcony, Marcus Osborne scans the midday view, from the fog blanket creeping toward San Francisco to the San Mateo Bridge.

Technically, it’s his girlfriend’s balcony. But with his tightly shorn hair and goatee, and tidy gray sweater and jeans, Osborne fits well amongst the Mediterranean colors and art. The whole scene reeks of an urban, upwardly mobile professional, not necessarily someone who plays music for people calling themselves cowboys.

“Bananas … huh?” he asks.

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NPR
By Juan Williams

The cable TV channel Black Entertainment Television receives a “Thumbs Down” award from the National Association of Black Journalists at its annual convention. Its critics say BET has too much low-brow entertainment, portraying blacks in the worst possible way.

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The Enquirer (Cincinnati)
BY STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Whites are now in the minority in nearly one in 10 U.S. counties.

And that increased diversity, fueled by immigration and higher birth rates among blacks and Hispanics, is straining race relations and sparking a backlash against immigrants in many communities.

“There’s some culture shock,” said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based research agency. “But I think there is a momentum building, and it is going to continue.”

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LA Daily News
BY RACHEL URANGA

Three months after the LAPD shot more than 160 rubber bullets into a crowd of women and children during a mostly peaceful immigration protest, more than 77 claims against the city have been made and four lawsuits filed.

Lawsuits are likely to mount, as the number of claims - usually a prelude to a lawsuit - continues to rise. Those involved in the protest, which has become known as the May Day melee, have up to one year to file a claim against the Los Angeles Police Department.

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San Jose Mercury News
BY LISA M. KRIEGER

Asian-American students are often viewed as brainy, affluent and over-achieving. But a new government report concludes that several Asian groups are not well-prepared - either academically or financially - to succeed in college.

Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian students typically do well in school, fulfilling the “model minority” stereotype, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office, the research and investigative arm of Congress. Many of their families have saved money for college and do not depend on their children’s help at home.

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The Observer
By David Smith
Through The Guardian Unlimited

Sir Winston Churchill expressed alarm about an influx of ‘coloured people’ in Fifties’ Britain and looked for a chance to restore punishment by flogging, newly released cabinet papers from the national archive reveal.

On 3 February 1954, under the agenda item ‘Coloured Workers’, Churchill is quoted, with abbreviations, by Cabinet Secretary Sir Norman Brook as saying: ‘Problems wh. will arise if many coloured people settle here. Are we to saddle ourselves with colour problems in UK? Attracted by Welfare State. Public opinion in UK won’t tolerate it once it gets beyond certain limits.’

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International Herald Tribune
Americas
By Michael Jonas
The Boston Globe

IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.

But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam — famous for “Bowling Alone,” his 2000 book on declining civic engagement — has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.

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SGVTribune.com
By Frank C. Girardot Staff Writer

Police still searching for fourth suspect in spree

TEMPLE CITY - Authorities said Thursday they believe they broke up a ring responsible for several violent hate crimes with the arrest of a third teenager on Wednesday.

The latest arrest in connection with the crime spree was Temple City resident Christopher `CJ” Mitcheltree, 18, who turned himself in Wednesday.

Previously arrested were Robert Yankowsky, 18, and Joshua Carlson, 17, both of Temple City. Yankowsky was arrested on July 19. Carlson was arrested on June 1, according to sheriff’s deputies. Carlson and Richard Alexander, 17, of Temple City are facing charges as adults in the case, according to court records.

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NPR
By Wade Goodwyn

All Things Considered, July 30, 2007 · As at hundreds of other high schools across America, black and white students at Jena High School in Jena, La., rarely sit together. The white students gather under a big shade tree in the courtyard, while black students congregate near the auditorium.

But last year, a few days into the first semester, a new student, a freshman African American, asked the principal at an assembly, if he, too, could sit under the tree. He was told he could sit anywhere he liked.

Three white boys on the rodeo team apparently disagreed. The next morning, there were three nooses hanging from the shade tree in the courtyard.

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