Who changes first? Societies or laws? Also... what can we draw from a photo?

A news item reported in The Miami Herald and the New York Times (see links below) reports on Malawi's reversal of the sentence imposed on two men for their homosexuality. Athough pardoning the men, the president of Malawi said that the men had "committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws." Why do you think these men were pardoned? When do laws change? Why? Read the two articles and another related article in the Herald about the Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's 17 year old picture. Post your comment

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/30/1655491/malawi-gay-couple-freed-after.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/world/africa/30malawi.html?scp=1&sq=Malawi's%20President&st=cse
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/30/1654162/sexism-softball-and-the-supreme.html

What (and HOW) we teach our clildren about race

In his Miami Herald Opinion piece columnist Leonard Pitts writes about a white woman who cried after wathching her daughter in an "experiment" in which the daughter claimed a white doll was better than a black doll because the white doll most resembled her. There are many things that can be extrapolated from this piece. Read the piece and comment on the actual experiment, the racial implications and other examples or analogies than may come to mind. Click to the article below, read it and comment.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/22/1642457/what-we-teach-our-children-about.html

Can academic dishonesty be considered a felony?

The Miami Herald reports that a Harvard University student was "indicted on 20 offenses, including larceny, identity fraud and pretending to hold a degree" after it was discovered that he was admitted to Harvard on false pretenses and was awarded "$45,000 in finncial aid, grants and schlarships." 

Do you think that academic dishonesty should be prosecutd by the law?