Surrogate offered $10,000 to


‘Harlem Shake’ videos lead to school suspensions


By Hayley Tsukayama It’s almost impossible to avoid a video of groups doing the “Harlem Shake” (at least the newest version of it) across the Web, but some students are finding that their 30-or-so seconds of online fame is coming at a fairly high cost. According to the National Coalition against Censorship, about 100 students across the country have been suspended for making and posting their own version of the viral video on the Web. School districts have offered a variety of reasons for the suspensions, said NCAC Director Joan Bertin, with most saying that the videos, which feature suggestive dancing, are inappropriate. However, Bertin said, she believes that regardless of how the videos could be interpreted, decisions to suspend students and keep them out of class cross the line. The NCAC has compared the schools’ actions to the plot of the 1984 film “Footloose,” in which a town outlaws dancing and rock music. “It seems a rather disproportionate response by educators to something that, at most, I would characterize as teenage hijinks,” Bertin said. All technology shifts that give individuals a larger audience—from the printing press on, Bertin said—tend to make authority figures uncomfortable. More student censorship issues have emerged as young people gain more access to outlets for expression, such as the ability to post videos to YouTube, publish their thoughts on personal blogs and spread ideas through social media such as Facebook. http://www.washingtonpost.com


abort baby Surrogate mother refuses to have abortion after abnormalities spotted on ultrasound. Baby's parents sue for custody of the child, plan to surrender her to the state of Connecticut. Surrogate mother moves to Michigan where she is legally the mother. The baby now lives with adoptive parents with extensive medical problems http://www.cnn.com/2013/


Venezuelans Pres. Dies at 58 Venezuelans began seven days of painful and public mourning on Tuesday night after the announcement that their president, Hugo Chávez, had died aged 58 after a long battle against cancer. The country's vice-president, NicolásMaduro – tipped as a likely successor – broke the news on Tuesday night, prompting a wave of grief in the nation's streets. "We have just received the most tragic and awful information. At 4.25pm, President Hugo Chávez Frias died,"Maduro announced in a televised address, his voice choking. "It's a moment of deep pain," he said http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013


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