user: Q: 'Extreme Phone Pinching' Challenge Goes Viral

Over the years, we’ve seen many Internet crazes come and go. From planking to Tebowing to extreme selfies, the people on the World Wide Web have shown us that they’re capable of making pretty much anything into a fad.

Now, inspired by a video released by the band Twenty One Pilots, social media users are turning “extreme phone pinching” into the latest viral challenge, according to CBC News. The anxiety-inducing trend involves precariously holding your phone with just your thumb and forefinger over somewhere you really wouldn’t want it to fall.

A few tamer examples of the craze include dangling your expensive smartphone over a balcony or in the gap of a sewer drain. Although some go to much more daring lengths to show how risky they’re willing to be with their precious gadgets.

So if you’d like to spend the rest of the day nervously sweating, feel free to peruse the hashtag #extremephonepinching on Twitter or Instagram.

A: Keep calm and leave your phone in your pocket


IN: You could pay hundreds of dollars if your kid is a bully in this Wisconsin town
There's no doubt that bullying is a serious problem amongst our youth.

A fine line distinguishes what's considered as playful poking fun at someone versus teasing with malicious intentions.

The latter, of course, can have serious, long-term repercussions for the victim, and unfortunately follow him or her into his or her adult life.

Other than school systems consciously educating students and parents teaching their children what is and isn't acceptable behavior when it comes to interacting with peers, it's impossible to proactively limit the number of bullying incidents that occur.

That's why the Shawano Police Department of Shawano, Wisconsin, are doing something that's never been done before when it comes to mandating punishments for bullying in schools – and we're talking concrete punishments, in the form of a fine.

Shawano city council passed an anti-bullying ordinance which will give parents 90 days to address their child's behavior if they are found to have been involved as a perpetrator in a bullying incident.

Here's where things escalate – if the child is still found to be bullying others after the 90 days, the parent will be fined $366.

Yes, you read that correctly – if your child is harassing others by the monkey bars, you could end up (literally) paying for it.

Though the concept of what constitutes bullying is rather subjective, Chief Mark Kohl of the Shawano Police Department made it clear to WLUK that this law doesn't just apply to simple name-calling:

"This isn't generated towards the kids being kids, some playground banter. This is the person that is meticulously using social media or saying things that are vulgar in an attempt to hurt, discredit, and really demean a person."

Thankfully, Shawano police have yet to act upon the new ordinance.
What is a short summary of the above article?

OUT: In Shawano, Wisconsin, you could end up (literally) paying for your child harassing others by the monkey bars.


Q:
Dems bring in crowds by the busload to fill stadium for Obama speech
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – College students from across North Carolina will arrive in Charlotte by the busload. Same with members of predominantly black churches in neighboring South Carolina.

Their goal: help fill a 74,000-seat outdoor stadium to capacity when President Obama accepts the Democratic nomination Thursday night.

Anything short of a full house on the final night of the Democratic Party's national convention will be instant fodder for Republicans eager to use empty seats as symbols of waning voter enthusiasm for Obama.

Democrats have been fretting for months over whether the president can draw a capacity crowd at Bank of America Stadium. Polls show voter enthusiasm is down, as are Obama's crowds for his battleground state campaign rallies.

Obama advisers insist the stadium will be filled when Obama delivers his speech. Vice President Joe Biden also will speak Thursday night, along with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who will vouch for Obama's national security credentials.

"The response we've seen from the community has been incredible and it's obvious that people have a big interest in owning a piece of the most open and accessible convention in history," said Adam Fetcher, a campaign spokesman. "President Obama's speech on Thursday night will bring this election into focus for the American people, and it will be even more significant because so many North Carolinians will be there to see it."

Convention delegates, volunteers and other Democratic officials already in Charlotte for the party gathering could make up as much as one-third of the crowd. But filling the rest of the stadium is a piecemeal process.

Elena Botella, a student at Duke University and president of the College Democrats of North Carolina, said her school was busing 100 students to the speech.

Lonnie Randolph, the president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said several large black churches in his state are planning to send busloads of members on Thursday to watch the president's speech.

"There are plenty of people who wouldn't miss it for the world," Randolph said. "How often does this happen this close to South Carolina?"

Obama aides say several thousand tickets also have been given to new campaign volunteers in North Carolina. People who complete three volunteer shifts totaling nine hours got one ticket to the final speech.

The volunteer ticketing program also helps Obama boost his grassroots network in North Carolina, a battleground state he moved into the Democratic column in 2008 for the first time in nearly 40 years. But Obama is facing an uphill battle this time around in North Carolina, where the unemployment rate exceeds the national average and voters approved a gay marriage ban the day before the president announced his support for same-sex unions.

Thursday's event is certain to draw comparisons to 2008, when Obama accepted the Democratic nomination before a capacity crowd at an 84,000-seat stadium in Denver. There was little concern back then over whether Obama would fill the stadium, in part because he was easily attracting tens of thousands of people to his campaign rallies across the country.

This time around, Obama's crowds are far smaller. He drew his biggest audience at his campaign kick-off rally in May, a 14,000-person crowd at Ohio State University. About 13,000 people attended Obama's rally at the University of Colorado in Boulder Sunday.

The campaign says the size of Obama's events this summer have purposely been kept low. Large rallies are more expensive and security requirements are more intense for a sitting president than a candidate.

Convention organizers in Charlotte may have more control over the crowds than their other big concern: the weather. Heavy evening rains doused Charlotte over the weekend, and thunderstorms are in the forecast for Thursday.

Officials say the outdoor event will go on rain or shine, except if there is severe weather.
What was this article about?
A:


assistant: College students from across North Carolina will arrive in Charlotte by the busload.