5:07 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration · 4 Comments
6 Jun 2006
Funny how you have to read the foreign press to get these juicy little stories. It’s not Sci-Fi: there’s a company pitching the government its tracking technology in the form of implanting chips under the skin of immigrants. According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, it’s the same type of chip used to track animals:
Human identification chips from the company VeriChip are a bit larger than a grain of rice and inserted under the skin.In the midst of the immigration debate, the president of said company wasted no time in proposing to Bush that chip be implanted in immigrants.
Some of the principal objections to this iniciative are that it invades an individual’s privacy, that it would allow changes to their medical history, and that once implanted, it cannot be removed without professional assistance.
20 Minutos points out that, in an ironic twist, the chip has only been tested on human in one country: Mexico. In addition to that interesting tidbit, according to a U.S. Senator, at least one government official said he would allow his U.S.-bound citizens be implanted with the chips: Álvaro Uribe of Colombia.
True? Who knows. The fact that this is even being brought up is frightening.
Live Science has a good write up on this story. Check it out.
Via / 20 Minutos
Photo via CNet.com
1:54 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Education| Florida| history · Comments Off
6 Jun 2006
The Miami Herald has an article today about how, despite the very strong Latin American and Spanish origins of the state of Florida (and it’s huge Latino population), the state’s educational system is flunking out on teaching kids about Latin American history — and any other history:
Despite the state’s burgeoning Hispanic population, an education think tank gives Florida an F when it comes to teaching students about the history of Latin America — or any other civilization.The failing grade comes because the state’s standards for teaching world history are so vague, concludes the study by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which didn’t hesitate to castigate the state.
”Florida’s approach is so superficial that it is, for all intents and purposes, worthless,” said the report, which was released Monday. “There’s nothing glowing in the Sunshine State’s standards, and little worth redeeming.”
Bolivian President Evo Morales is claiming that the United States organized groups to kill him and asserted claims made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that the U.S. was planning to overthrow the Morales administration. According to Morales:
I’ve been informed recently how the U.S. had organized teams — groups to persecute Evo Morales, to kill Evo Morales. They haven’t been able to and now we’re organized, from unions to this political party and they can’t stop us anymore.
Of course the United States denied the charges. The U.S. Embassy in Bolivia stated through a statement last week:
We’re supporting democracy in Bolivia in a consistent manner and are looking for a constructive relationship with the Bolivian government based on dignity, mutual respect and common interests.
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.
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