While You Were Out: This Week’s Top News

 Around the World

New Zealand lawmakers passed a measure making it the thirteenth nation to recognize gay marriage.  This is obviously a huge milestone in the gay marriage movement across the globe.  After the law was officially signed, the New Zealand Parliament erupted into song.  One voice began to sing the song “Pokarekare Ana,” a Maori love song, and almost all members of the Parliament joined in.

Here at Home

James Everett Dutschke was arrested in Tupelo, Mississippi in connection with the ricin case—where three letters were sent (one to a Mississippi senator, one to a local judge, and the third to President Obama) containing the toxic powder.  Ricin has no known antidote—but luckily no illnesses have been reported.  When traces of ricin were found in the letters, all of Washington became extremely conscious and aware, especially in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.  However, with this arrest made, the FBI is confident they have found the culprit. 

Country music legend George Jones died Friday at the age of 81 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  One of George’s first hits, “White Lightning,” topped the charts at No. 1 in 1959.  Arguably his biggest hit was “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” which was recorded in the ‘80s after a tumultuous end to his fourth marriage.  George’s talent certainly changed the face of Country music, and he will be dearly missed.

Wilcox County Georgia, as well as a few other areas of the South, still have segregated proms.  Long after the integration of the public school system, parents still organize their “private parties for the students” (read: prom) in a segregated manner.  Some students at Wilcox County High have, for the first time, organized an integrated prom.  The phenomenon of segregated private proms dates back to the time of integration in the schools, when parents decided to make prom a private event, giving them the legal loophole to invite whomever they wanted, and to discriminate against those they didn’t want in attendance.  The girls at Wilcox County High are certainly taking a stand against ideologies steeped in tradition, and it’s time that other schools in the south do the same.

Sources:

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/25/new-zealand-on-song-over-gay-marriage/?hpt=wo_r1

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/27/justice/ricin-investigation/index.html?hpt=us_c2

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/26/showbiz/music/obit-george-jones/index.html?hpt=us_c2

http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/05/big-plans-for-georgia-students-first-racially-integrated-prom/?hpt=us_r1

Photo Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/Wires/Online/2013-04-18/AP/Images/New%20Zealand%20Gay%20Marriage.JPEG-08a1c.jpg

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/27/feds-make-arrest-in-case-ricin-laced-letter-sent-to-obama/

http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2013/01/george-jones-working-with-dolly-parton.html

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/i…

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