Illegal Alien Sues Over ID Laws

Fernando Castillo Solis, Arrested in 2010. Photo from BustedMugShots.com

In Gwinnett County Georgia, an illegal immigrant is suing the state over their drivers' license laws and policies.

Under the law, those seeking a license must provide proof that they have had an established a legal residence in Georgia within the past 30 days prior to the application for the license. The law also allows for those driving without a license to be prosecuted, even if they obtain a legal drivers' license prior to the court date.

Fernando Castillo-Solis is a Mexican citizen, legally, who is in Georgia illegally, without a visa and without a "green card". Legally, he does not reside in Georgia. He is in the state (and the country) illegally.

The law also forbids personnel who are in the country illegally from obtaining a drivers; license.

His case is that the law, a 287(g) program, allows for racial profiling and is unconstitutional.

Other state laws also enable any illegal immigrant caught driving illegally (without a license) is also subject for turn-over to ICE for prosecution and/or deportation. 287(g) is a program under the auspices of The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (HR2202). Gwinnett County, GA is a certified 287(g) partnership county under the federal law, which allows limited partnership and an amount of delegated enforcement authority from the federal government and ICE to the certified local law enforcement officials.

The Georgia state Supreme Court will hear the case in March 2013.

For further analysis, commentary, and the original article, please visit P-G Matuszak's Mental Aikido.

Syrians Arguing Over Death Toll of Suicide Bombing

A suicide car bombing in Ziyara, Syria has claimed at least two lives.

State media, SANA, says that the blast killed two and injured dozens, outside of a development agency.

However, rebel groups claim that the explosion killed at least fifty soldiers and pro government fighters, outside of a command center.

Jabhat al-Nusra, a branch of Al Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

In the town of Harem, at least twenty rebels were killed when government forces attacked with artillery and aircraft.

Fresh Baked Goods Make People Kinder

A study released by researchers at the University of Southern Brittany in France, shows that baked goods directly influence our moods.

In their study they found that people exposed to the smell of freshly baked bread, pastries, etc. caused people to be kinder.

According the to the researchers, seventy-seven percent of people exposed to the smell were willing to help a complete stranger.

When not exposed to the heart warming smells, only fifty-two percent of people would.

The researchers also stated that they expect anyone exposed to pleasant smells would be more likely to help someone, and that it wasn't just baked goods that caused the increase.

NASA's Spot The Station

NASA has announced a new feature, in order to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of the international space station being inhabited.

They've set up a new system, that will send you an alert, a couple of hours before the station is set to pass above you.

The Spot the Station service is available world wide, all one need do is sign up for it.

When you sign up you can choose to have the alerts emailed or texted to you.

Only the sun and moon are brighter that then ISS, and knowing when and where to look will make it all the easier to find it.

NASA hopes that it will bring greater interest in the station and the space program in general.

32 Dead From Indian Floods

At least thirty-two people have been killed in India.

Torrential downpours have been hitting over the last week, causing massive flooding.

In Andhra Pradesh twenty-two people were confirmed dead, and in Tamil Nadu ten more have died.

The rains are expected to continue through Wednesday.

Traffic in the affected areas has been all but show down, as roads and railways are underwater.

Despite the lack of reliable transportation, thousands of people have fled the region.

Anonymous Celebrating on November 5

Anonymous has their own way of celebrating Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.

They've been busy hacking websites, and replacing them with poems remembering the events of November 5, 1605.

NBC, Lady Gaga, the Australian government, Paypal, and Symantec were amongst their victims.

All of those sites are currently back up and running.

In a Youtube video, the group called for everyone in the world to join them in protests against government surveillance.

Specifically mentioned were Trapwire and Indect, which use CCTV to detect faces throughout crowds.

Officially those programs are attempts to fight terrorism, but Anonymous says they are an invasion of privacy.

The group is correct in stating that they can be used for so much more than their official purpose.

Remembering: The Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes

A group of Catholic conspirators, led by Robert Catesby, began seriously plotting on May 20, 1604, in order to make England a Catholic nation. Their plot was to overthrow and kill the mostly Protestant Parliament, along with King James I.

To do this, they decided to stockpile gunpowder under Parliament and blow the building up, during the Parliament's opening ceremonies, at which the king would be present. As word of Parliament and the king's deaths spread, an uprising would begin in other parts of England. Everything was set by July 20, 1605, but the opening of Parliament was delayed by the plague, and it was rescheduled for November.

As the date approached, one of the conspirators, in worry for fellow Catholics who would be present, sent out at least one warning note. Receiving one of the notes, on October 26, Lord Monteagle took it and warned the crown. Despite knowing they were compromised, the conspirators continued with their plans.

On November 5, 1605, the day Parliament had been rescheduled to open, the basements of Parliament were searched by royal decree. Guards found Guy Fawkes there with a couple dozen barrels of gunpowder, under his guard. The Gunpowder Plot had been stopped and Parliament and King James I had been saved.

Fawkes became one of the key faces of the act, and for centuries was reviled as a traitor. Even Colonial American rebels, fighting for their independence, considered Fawkes something to be abhorred.

It wasn't until 1841 that he was portrayed from a sympathetic light, in Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason, by William Harrison Ainsworth. Then in 1905, a series of penny novels and children's books brought him out as an action hero. In 2005, the movie V for Vendetta sought to show him as a patriot hero. Now copies of the Guy Fawkes mask are used in protests around the world, as a symbol of fighting against tyranny. Hacker group Anonymous and the Occupy movements, most often use them.

Certainly the image of Fawkes has under gone some changes throughout history. Ironically, in his changed form, he looks to outlive the facts of what actually occurred. Historically, Guy Fawkes was a religious terrorist. But the masses seem to be more and more making a hero of him.