Santana scolds Georgia for new immigration law

ATLANTA – Carlos Santana on Sunday used baseball's annual Civil Rights Game as a platform to admonish Georgia and Arizona for their new immigration laws.

Santana received the Beacon of Change Award before the Braves-Phillies game.

The Grammy-winning musician said he was representing immigrants before adding: "The people of Arizona, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves."

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Friday signed a bill that cracks down on illegal immigration in the state. The bill requires many employers to check the immigration status of new hires and authorizes law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of some suspects.

Georgia's new law shares some similarities to one enacted last year in Arizona.

"This law is not correct. It's a cruel law, actually," Santana said in an impromptu news conference after the ceremony. "This is about fear. Stop shucking and jiving. People are afraid we're going to steal your job. No we aren't. You're not going to change sheets and clean toilets."

Added Santana: "This is the United States. This is the land of the free. If people want the immigration laws to keep passing, then everybody should get out and leave the American Indians here."

Rev. Jesse Jackson presented the Beacon of Life Award to Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks.
"I haven't done anything to earn it, but I appreciate it," Banks said.

Former Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe presented the Beacon of Hope Award to actor Morgan Freeman, who wore a Braves jacket and a Negro Leagues Atlanta Black Crackers cap.

Al Roker, co-host of NBC's The Today Show, was the moderator for the ceremony and introduced a video tribute to Braves Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who received a standing ovation from his hometown fans.
The Braves and Phillies wore throwback uniforms from the 1974 season, the year Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record.

Two leaders of the civil rights movement in Atlanta, former Mayor Andrew Young and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, went to the mound for the ceremonial first pitches, thrown to two African-American stars — Phillies slugger Ryan Howard and Atlanta's Jason Heyward.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig attended the ceremony.

This is baseball's fifth Civil Rights Game. The first event was in Memphis in 2007.

"Anytime you can honor the people that changed the game, it's a good thing," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro.

The game also will return to Atlanta in 2012.

"I think it's the perfect city to host this," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Mike Huckabee Out; Sarah Palin In?

Mike Huckabee, the amiable former governor of Arkansas and Fox News media personality, has decided after all not to run for president. It seems that he does not want to be president and is instead happy doing what he is doing.

That leaves the question, if not Huckabee, then who? The former governor had a big following among social conservatives, a considerable voting bloc in the Republican Party. Now that voting bloc has to find someone else to rally around.

But whom? There are a few people one can automatically cross off the list. Donald Trump has too much of a playboy image. Ron Paul's libertarian views on social issues are too off putting. Mitt Romney is seen as a Northeastern liberal. Newt Gingrich, while he will make a play for the social conservatives as a repentant sinner, still has the divorce issue hanging around his neck.

The safe but boring candidates, such as Tim Pawlenty and Mitch Daniels, might have some appeal, Daniels' somewhat interesting marital history notwithstanding. Rick Santorum might have a shot, though he is considered a long shot candidate.

That leaves us to the one person that the pundits are writing off, albeit prematurely. Her name is Sarah Palin, whose existence is the unacknowledged 800-pound Mama Grizzly in the room.

Bad poll numbers aside, Palin seems uniquely positioned to take advantage of Huckabee's absence from the race. Unique of all the other potential candidates, she has appeal for social, economic and national security conservatives. She appeals to the latter two because of her cogent critique of Obama administration policies. She appeals to the first because of herself, her conservative religious lifestyle, and her obviously cohesive, loving family. Even her daughter Bristol Palin's history fits into the appeal; there is nothing evangelicals love more than a story of sin, repentance, and redemption.

What is more, a plurality of Republicans have announced themselves to be dissatisfied with the current presidential candidates. No one running or having been mentioned to run seems to stir the blood.
That seems to be the perfect door for the Lady from Wasilla, someone proven to be able to bring a hundred thousand partisans to their feet, to pass through. The question remains, though, will she?

Police caution as 'planking' goes global

SYDNEY (AFP) – Is it worth life in a wheelchair to take a funny photo to impress somebody you don't know on the Internet?

This is the question police in Australia have posed after a man died on Sunday taking part in the latest craze going viral on the Internet -- "planking".

Acton Beale, 20, plunged to his death after positioning himself for a picture on a balcony railing seven floors up in Brisbane after a night out drinking.

He was a "planker", a fast-growing group of people who lie flat on their stomachs with their arms against their bodies -- to resemble a plank -- in unusual and sometimes dangerous situations.
Photographs of their exploits are then shared through social media sites.

Little-known until last week when a man was charged with planking on a police car, the Planking Australia Facebook page has seen its number of fans soar from under 10,000 four days ago to almost 100,000 on Monday.

The craze, and news of Beale's death, has sparked copy-cat Facebook sites around the world, including Planking UK, Planking USA, Planking France and Planking Germany.

But police are worried that the fad could spin out of control.

"We don't have any problem with planking itself," Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett told reporters.

"If you want to take a photograph of yourself planking on a park bench two foot off the ground, there are no risks to your health with that.

"But when you start doing it seven storeys up or lying across a railway line or in a range of other places that invite death or serious injury, that's what we have a concern about.

"Ultimately, is it worth life in a wheelchair to take a funny photo to impress somebody you don't know on the Internet?"

Prime Minister Julia Gillard also had words of caution on Monday.

"Well, I guess there's a difference between a harmless bit of fun... and taking a risk with your life," she said.

"This (death) is a really tragic thing -- there'd be a family that's just devastated today.

"So, my message would be everybody likes a bit of fun, but focus has to be on keeping yourself safe first."
Sam Weckert, the founder of the Facebook page dedicated to planking in Australia, denied the craze encourages people to take unnecessary risks.

"Planking was started as a fun and quirky past-time," he was quoted as saying by Australian media.
 
"While we have no control over the actions of others we'd like to encourage any members of the planking group and the general public to undertake this in a safe and responsible fashion."
 
"We would like to encourage all planking members as well as the media not to sensationalise this tragic event," he added, referring to Beale's death.
 
The trend has spawned how-to videos on YouTube and the term now has a Wikipedia entry.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, planking started to become popular several years ago in Europe and Japan, where it was known as "the lying down game".
 
But it has only taken off recently with the phrase "planking" believed to have been coined in Australia.