News Bytes

Demonstrations against immigration policies
Many stores and factories remained closed in the US on May 1, which usually is a regular working day in the country. The event "A Day Without Immigrants" was the cause of numerous protest marches throughout the US. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants participated.

With those mass demonstrations, immigrants from all over the world protested against new laws in the US that label immigrants in the US as criminals and legitimize the building of a 1,000 kilometer (621 mile) fence along the border between the US and Mexico. More than 1 million people participated in the protests to point out how much America depends on the work force of legal and illegal immigrants.

Increasing complaints about oil prices
Over the past five years, gas prices in the US have doubled and are by no the equivalent of 0.60-0.63 Euros. Especially commuters complain about the debts they have acquired due to this fact. Some people travel a distance of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) between home and work every day, meaning they have to spend so much money on gas they have hardly anything left for all their other needs.

Since there isn't sufficient public transportation outside the big cities, the employed population depends on their cars. Many try to save money by organizing car pools. It should be pointed out, however, that despite the high gas prices, very few Americans have yet chosen more fuel-efficient cars.

School children have to do without coke
After single US states and their boards of education have tried to reduce the students' calorie consumption for a long time, the beverage suppliers have now taken matters into their own hands. The biggest suppliers for the schools have closed ranks and decided to sell nothing but water and unsweetened juice to elementary schools, to other schools they will also deliver diet drinks. Approximately 35 million kids in the US will now be on a forced sugar withdrawal.

National anthem in Spanish
Right on time for the protests against a harsher immigration law, the Spanish translation of the national anthem is spreading throughout the US. The lyrics for the anthem played in "We are the World" style supports Latin-Americans.

President Bush argues "what is English is to remain English." The conservatives view this Spanish version as a disparagement of the original. Until now, there only was an English version.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, however, has a different angle - she thinks it is a great thing if people express the wish to be Americans, and thus disagrees with President Bush.

From Coast to Coast
Due to social exclusion and reduced quality of life, 200 kg (440 lbs) American Steve Vaught (39) is walking from one US coast to the other. He has already walked 3,700 km (2299 miles) of the entire 4,800 km (2982 mile) distance and lost 50 kg (110 lbs). The father of two always has his wife with him for support. On his homepage thefatmanwalking.com Vaught's wife is publishing regular updates of his journey.