Driving to Your Death: Urban Myths

 Some people think it's true, and some people think it is completely unrealistic to think that something as simple as flashing your headlights at a driver who appears not to have their lights on would lead to gang violience and killing. However, according to urban myths there are a couple of instances where you can get trapped into danger while thinking you are helping someone out.

 The "lights out" legend began in California, and it appears to be a gang initiation. Alot of people think this is a myth becuase this type of story began to appear after the hit movie "Urban Legend" came out in 1993. "Lights Out" is when a group of said to the gang members pile in a car and drive down highways, roads, and side streeets with their headlights off and the first car to flash their lights in order to help them out is followed intil the car reaches their destination and when the people in the car get out, they are killed.

 Another said-to-be legend is the infant carseat on the side of the road. This is a newer legend, and reports of this only began in 2010. This is a legend in which a carseat is found on the side of the road; usually a busy highway. A empty carseat is a very sketchy thing so of course people are going to stop and check it out to make sure everything is okay. Inside the carseat there is usually a adress of specific place that points the people in the direction of a missing child or infant. When the people go to this place they are killed.

"Humans are Friends, Not Food."

On Setember 24, 2011 a local 21-year old islander was bitten by a shark not to far off of Anna Maria while he was spearfishing with some friends. The bite was not life threatening however, it was pretty bad. The bite which appears to be of a bull shark ripped the back of Charles Wickersham's right thigh off; so far that it reached the bone. Shortly after being bit, Wickersham was rushed to The Rod n' Reel Peir where paremedics waited for him, and after arriving they flew him on an emergency flight to Bayfront Medical Center in which he immediatly went into surgery to save his leg. A shark attack on Anna Maria is extremely rare, which is making local residents now think twice before jumping in the water whever they may please. Shark attacks are not something that we should constantly live in fear of, however we need to be aware that by going into the ocean we are going into the sharks territory and environment; and they are going to act as they normally would, which is feed themselves.

Dresses in Diapers

  It's all about winning, says most of the toddler moms off of TLC's toddlers and tiarras. Winning includes getting the sparkling crowns, the satan sashes, the top titles, and of course the cash. After three years, the viewers and skeptics of this tv show are finally starting to realize that these moms go too far to get their child to win. Things like fake tans, fill-in teeth, extensions, and paddings to fill there daughters out more are just some of the extremes the mothers and sometimes fathers purchase and use to dress up their daughters in order for them to win. The show often seems like the mothers are living through their daughters, whether the daughters like it or not. This is often the case with alot of children, many parents involve their child in sports or activities becuase it is what they "never got to do," and this show is clearly making the point and successfully proving this to viewers.

Newest and Shocking Contestant on Dancing With the Stars

  Chaz Bono has quite possibly been the most talked about contestant for upcoming season 13 of Dancing With the Stars. Some people think that he does not belong on the show since he will most likely have the female cordiantion for dancing, and will also have a professional female dancer for the course of the show. There is so much controversy going on, however Chaz says that he remains unaffected by all the talk. If he would have cared what people think, he would have not made his sex change so public, he says that all he knows that has been said so far is that kids are going to be confused about his sex. He argues that this is untrue since he is legally a guy, and kids that are not of the mature age will most likely not be watching the show. Chaz is very thankful to ABC for hiring him to do that job, and hopes that the show is a huge success this season, exepcially becasue he gets to do what he has always wanted, and dance his heart out and hopefully win the disco ball-trophy.

Kate Plus 8 speaks out

 Many people know Kate Gosslin as the crazy, controlling, yet very caring mom of sextuplets and twins. Kate Gosslin, the star of the show what is now known as TLC's Kate Plus 8 and was formely known as Jon and Kate Plus 8. She explains to People Magazine about her tremendous journey in rasinging her 8 children while juggling working, writting a book, and a TV show. Kate also admits that the way she is portrayed on the show is extremely embarassing, and that she is often reffered to as "mommy dearest." It is no secret to anyone that watches the show that Kate is very controlling, yet caring. She explains why she thinks that she is portrayed and known as such a lose cannon,

" Sometimes, over two days of shooting for one episode and I have three crabby mommy moments, well, it's guaranteed your going to see them all in 22-minutes show. So, of course that makes it seem like I'm crabby mommy all the time," says Kate Gosslin in the interview.

 Although Kate admits to being such a crazed mom, and clearly knowing that her ratings went down after her divorce with husband, Jon Gosslin, she still says that she loves the atmosphere of filming and says that just because TLC has dropped the show doesn't mean she and her family will be off the TV screen for very long.

Red lines, equal guidelines

    A new rule that has been adapted at Palmetto High School this year is that students are allowed to use cell phones and iPods before, after, and during lunch at school. This rule change has been in the talks for a long time now, since students in previous years were constanly caught using and sneaking their cell phones in the middle of classes and lunchs, often times using excuses like having to go to the restroom, or to the office so they can sneak a look at their missed calls and reply to their texts. However, it is only the third week of school and there are already problems brewing with this new rule. Also there has been some adjustments. Last week students observed painters that were painting different sets of thick red lines around the perimeters of the cafeteria and the courtyard area. These red lines stand for the boundaries where students can and cannot use their cell phones while they are at lunch, and also before and after school. This is a problem because there are students starting to get into trouble with accidently breaking this rule unknowingly via administration because there has been no announcement or advertisement of this new rule. If a rule change is going to be adjusted this quickly after schoool starts, students at Palmetto High School need to be acceptable and open to change with a positive, mature, and responsible outlook even with this new relaxed rules such as being able to use cell phones.