Chicago School Bans Homemade Lunches

The Little Village Academy public school in Chicago recently banned students from bringing lunches from home to school, as part of an initiative to foster healthy eating habits in young children. Only Those with allergies are permitted to brown bag it, writes the Chicago Tribune.

photo by Monica Eng

The policy was implemented 6 years ago, and it as the discretion of individual principals to implement, not the school district.

"It's about ... the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke," Principal Elsa Carmona said. For students who do not qualify for reduced-priced or free lunches, this rule means a cost of $2.25 per child each day, a cost some parents say exceeds what the spend on a homemade lunch.


While the nutritional value of the food has improved, many kids have stopped eating at lunchtime because they say the food tastes bad. Even though kids buy the meals, many will throw them out. 


According to the Tribune, the federal government pays the school district for every lunch served, while caterers Chartwells-Thompson are paid a fee for every lunch provided.


Students have said that the school underestimates their ability to makes good food choices. "They're afraid that we'll all bring in greasy food instead of healthy food and it won't be as good as what they give us at school," student Yesenia Gutierrez said to the Tribune. "It's really lame. If we could bring in our own lunches, everyone knows what they'd bring. For example, the vegetarians could bring in their own veggie food."

French Burqua Ban Begins in Public Places

A French law banning the wearing of specific Muslim garments by women went into affect Monday, causing a scattering of individual protests across Paris by Muslim women.  Two women were arrested at Notre Dame Cathedral, while one woman from a Paris suburb is quoted as saying she will not remove her veil at a playground., according to CNN.

women wearing the niqab

Only two garments have been banned in public places by the government: a niqab, a full-body garment which leaves an open slit over the eyes, and the burqua, a full-body garment with a mesh covering over the eyes.

The hijab, a scarf wrapped around the head and neck only, leaving the face exposed, are permitted. Hijabs are the most common garment outside of countries like Afghanistan with a strong Taliban influence. The chador, a full-body garment that leaves the face exposed, is also permitted by French law.

If police see a women violating the new regulation, they are required to either fine her €150 or she can take a citizenship course. The law stresses police not to forcibly remove the veil, but rather ask her to remove it and identify herself. If she refuses to do so in public, police must escort her to the station and get her information there.

Husbands are also prohibited from forcing their wives to wear face-covering veils. Any man found to have ordered any woman to wear one faces a fine of €25,000 and can even receive a jail sentence, according to BBC Radio 1.

While fewer than 2,000 women, many of whom are French-born citizens, wear full veils, French officials say the law attempts to promote equality and that the veils segregate society. "The full veil is contrary to the dignity of women," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in April last year.


However, several issues arise form the ban, including the rate of immigration of people from Muslim nations in North Africa, and the rising presence of Muslims in Europe, have sparked concern among French people. With the largest Muslim population on the continent, France has a palpable undercurrent of animosity towards Muslims in a traditionally Christian society.


Many say the ban is a violation of religious freedom and will only further misunderstanding between demographics.

Philadelphia Dog-Fighting Ring Busted

courtesy of Seattle Dog Spot

Philadelphia Police arrested between 15 and 20 people, confiscated 25 dogs, and found a supply of drugs and guns at 3 homes on Monday. The raids were the result of a months-long investigation between police and the Philadelphia SPCA, according to the Inquirer.

At about 12:01 a.m. police raided a home on Gerritt Street in South Philly. At about 7:00 a.m. police raided a Boudinot Street home in Kensington, and then a Potter Street home at about 10 a.m. Wendy Marano, a PSPCA spokesperson, told the press that the first raid led to the discovery of the second and third locations.

In addition to the dogs, authorities found marijuana, cocaine, heroin, a large amount of cash, and weapons. Vitamins, steroids, and treadmills used for the dog fights were seized by police.

One of the arrested, Rashwan Coleman, 30, received 5 years probation for animal cruelty, s well as 5 years in prison for drug dealing.

Marano said that when authorities entered the first home, nearly 20 people were watching two dog fights. All suspects ran while the fights were left in progress. PPSPCA workers are currently attending to the animals, treating injuries and administering medications.

Marano said the organizations hopes to make it clear that attending a dog fight is just as much a crime as conducting one.

Wales Will Launch Plant Database

Scientists in Wales are attempting to catalog all 1,143 species of native flowering plants. The project is to better study plant genetics and bee pollination patterns, as well as verify the authenticity of Welsh-made products, according to BBC Earth News.

The Barcode Wales Project is led by Dr. Natasha de Vere of the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Dr Tim Rich of the National Museum of Wales, and Professor Mike Wilkinson from Aberystwyth University. By collecting live samples and examining preserved samples from the National Museum, the team extracted DNA specimens from every species.

Daffodil, the national flower of Wales

The gene sequences of individual Welsh plants will share commonalities, which can identify them among other plants in the Barcode of Life Database. By comparing earlier species with newer varieties, scientists will be able to determine how genetic variation changes over time.


"Potentially we can reconstruct past landscapes by identifying plants form seeds within the soil profile and it will help us understand how plant communities are assembled, vital for predicting the effect of climate change," Vere said, according to WalesOnline.


Scientists can also use the barcodes to track the nutritional requirements of endangered animals, examining fauna fecal samples. 


The teams findings are due to be published sometime this summer.

UN Investigator Denied Confidential Access to WikiLeaks Whistleblower

Private Bradley Manning

Pentagon officials refused to permit Juan Mendez, a United Nations torture investigator private access to Pte. Bradley Manning, the 23 yr. old soldier who is charged with leaking 720,000 classified state department documents to WikiLeaks. Mendez was only permitted to speak with Manning at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia, where Manning is being held, if military officials are present.

Mendez said that a monitored conversation with the accused would violate his nature of his job.

According to the BBC, Mendez said he was prevented from confirming the conditions of Manning's detainment. Reports have said Manning was confined to an isolated cell for up to 23 hours a day, had been "forced to sleep naked or awakened repeatedly." Some of these reports surfaced after Manning's lawyers claimed his clothing was taken after the soldier made sarcastic comments about committing suicide with his under wear.

The conditions of Manning's detainment led to the resignation of P.J. Crowley, a state department spokesperson who called the practices by Pentagon officials "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid on the part of the department of defense" at a MIT seminar, according to the Huffington Post.

President Obama has been quoted as asking Pentagon officials of the conditions of Manning's arrest, but has declined to confirm more specific details than affirmation that conditions were "appropriate."

Pte. Manning's situation has also draw the attention of some U.K. lawmakers. Manning's status as a dual citizen of Wales has convinced British Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham to comment on the year-long detainment on March 29.

"All people who are detained in custody deserve to be treated in detention according to the highest international standards, and we certainly expect nothing else, nothing less, from the United States," the Guardian reported.

Doherty Waltzes into Film, in Typical Dandy Fashion

Mysterious, delinquent, poet, junkie, artist, loser, troubled genius, drunk, Dickensian lost soul. All phrases used to describe Peter Doherty, the epitome of a rock n' roll tragedy.

Now he'll bring that melancholy to the big screen in French director Sylvie Verheyde's "Confession of a Child of the Century," based on the Alfred de Musset's 19th century novel. Doherty, starring opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg, plays Octave, a disillusioned dandy who strolls about in self-medication after he learns of his mistress's infidelity (Really?).

Verheyde has been quoted as calling Doherty's performance "literary and sincere," and said the musician showed "emotional depth" and promptness. Qualities rarely seen at his live shows. If ever there were a film role for Doherty, this would probably be it. But considering he has a hard enough time speaking in complete sentences in interviews, it's anyone's guess how he'll behave on camera.

I learned about Doherty's drug habits and tabloid scandals before I learned about his music. And so I made a rule for myself, granted I was roughly 13 or 14 at the time, that as I entered the world of punk music idolatry, I must never listen or give my money to an artist with an addiction. You don't need crack to make good music, and anyone who perpetuates that myth shall not receive my time or attention.

I was quite proud of my maturity.
...and then I heard "Don't Look Back Into the Sun." Crap!

Since then I've managed to look past Pete Doherty's problems and focus on why he's so fascinating. He's a character, a unique anomaly of a person who was born out of time but not out of place. His stupidity with the law cannot be mistaken for stupidity in general. He's well read, a fashion trendsetter, an incedibly talented songwriter, and an assest to British music and culture. Doherty lives his life like a Dickens novel, a degenerate wanderer of hidden potential, crawling along back alleyways of the East End. He even has the empty bank account to prove it.

Doherty's committed to his lifestyle. Maybe it's not yours, and it certainly isn't mine, but it's part of him, and while he has managed to stumble to his 30s, which no one, probably not even him, expected, we'll all keep watching until the end.