Is Immigration About Jobs, Humans Or Business? - We asked a panel of professionals from different walks of life about the varied colors of the immigration issue, from a business, political and humanitarian standpoint.
Juggling Optimism & Pessimism In U.S.-Mexico Relations - A discussion of pessimism and optimism revolving around the U.S.-Mexico relations in Texas, as well as interviews with Laredo Mayor Raúl G. Salinas and El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar.
Latina Volunteerism Often Manifests Off The Beaten Path - A recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Latinos volunteer at lower rates than other ethnic groups but Laura Donnelly Gonzalez, co-founder Latinitas, tells us that Latinas not only "get" volunteerism, but have taken ownership of their volunteerism in ways that will immensely benefit the U.S.
Report: Widespread Abuse By Patrol Agents Along Border - The group No More Deaths released a report detailing widespread abuses by Border Patrol agents of people in their custody. The report, "A Culture of Cruelty," includes information gathered over two-and-a-half years from over 12,000 individuals in more than 4,100 interviews conducted on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, and concludes that there exists "an institutional culture of abuse within Border Patrol."
One Immigrant Son Tries To Be A Border Patrolman, Is Rejected - A story from Brownsville about a young man, the son of an undocumented mother, who graduated from college and then entered the Border Patrol to provide for the rest of his family. Ultimately, though, he found out the Border Patrol was not for him.
Now this is an incredibly sensible idea. I sometimes forget that other parts of the state don't enjoy the same standard 7am-7pm polling hours during early voting. For instance, in Houston, voting ends at 5pm during the first week of early voting which is highly inconvenient for any number of workers who have 9-5 jobs.
This bill, HB 512, is only applicable to counties over 100,000 in population. Via Press Release...
"Currently, early voting hours vary significantly from week to week and from polling place to polling place," Ortiz said. "This bill will standardize the hours at permanent locations and help people avoid confusion when they're making plans to go vote."
The bill requires that permanent early voting polling places remain open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. for the duration of weekday early voting in counties with 100,000 or more people.
"During the entire first week of early voting during the November general election, the polls in some counties were only open until 5:00 p.m. " Ortiz said. "That left many Texans without the opportunity to go vote after work."
Before filing the legislation, Ortiz consulted elections officials who conduct elections at the local level.
"As it stands, polling place hours vary from one week to the next," said Nueces County Clerk Diana Barrera. "Rep. Ortiz's legislation will eliminate voter confusion and help make sure more voters make it to the polls."
Here's a few articles and points that it seems to me the mainstream media has ignored and people should read before they vote (i know its a lot but i really think its worth knowing).
These are on Joe Wilson's endorsement of hillary and a clarification of the famous "vote to go to war." He also questions Obama's ability to be president with his serious lack of experience, especially on international issues.
This is an article detailing how Obama was perceived in Chicago and the work he actually did in the state senate. Apparently, many of the bills he cites as achievements were bills that others did most of the work for, he finished up and took the credit for.
This group of links calls into question his claim that he is above 'politics as usual.' They include him giving over three times as much money to super delegates as hillary, watering down bills in favor of lobbyists, his ties with rezko and misrepresenting hillary on her healthcare plan and NAFTA. The point is not that other politicians are saints but that much of his campaign is run off the idea that he is not corrupted like the Washington insiders are. However, when it is shown that he is just as corrupt as the others if not more so because he portrays himself to be squeaky clean, I don't see any reason why we should trust him as opposed to anyone else. Everyone wants change, even McCain, it's a question of who can deliver it. And if he's not honest and if he doesn't have experience and has not done anything monumental, I don't see why he should be President.
Here's the video of his campaign speaking to the Canadian ambassador telling him that he would have to say some negative things about NAFTA but not to worry "it's only campaign rhetoric.
This is on the issue of electability (whether or not you agree with the tactics that will be used) that is written by a former CIA official who knows the way Washington and the right work.
hope you find these things useful. clearly, i'm a hillary supporter but in case you're wondering i only became one after doing the research. thanks for listening.
The San Antonio Express-News has an update today about an ongoing investigation into allegations of voter fraud. This is one of those cases that depends on a chain of circumstance and reasoning that often does not hold together.
According to the story, the investigation was set in motion after Bexar County Elections Administrator JacqueCallanen cross-checked voter lists against a list of people who'd declined jury duty summons on the ground they were not citizens. Apparently, she found 330 people who claimed non-citizenship but were registered to vote. Apparently, 41 of those people had actually voted in elections going back to 2001.
Last week, the Republicans held their straw poll in Iowa. The big news was that Mitt Romney won -- although his most significant challegers, Giuliani and McCain, sat it out. The little news was that screw-ups by Dielbold's optical scan counting machines delayed results for several hours -- and maybe even changed them.
Voting machine difficulties delayed the announcement of the vote totals. About 1,500 ballots needed to be recounted, said Mary Tiffany, a spokeswoman for Republican Party of Iowa.
Two machines caused the problem, said State Auditor David Vaudt. “What likely happened is someone submitted their ballot too quickly after the other,” he said. The ballots from those machines were hand counted, then re-fed into the system to recalculate the vote. A campaign poll-watcher said in one instance, a black box contained 500 paper ballots but the machine’s memory said it had scanned in 498.
It could have been worse: Earlier in the evening, Marc Ambiner of The Atlantic Onlinereported that almost 4,500 ballots had to be recounted. It ultimately turned out to be less than that.
The news reports did not specify which Deibold optical scan counters screwed up. In Texas, the Diebold Accu-Vote OS scanning systems is used in El Paso, Sherman and Wilson counties.
Okay, I got this extremely odd GOTV flyer in the mail and I don't know what to make of it. I have it scanned and will be happy to post the pdf if anyone wants me to. The complete text follows, my thoughts afterwards:
The GOP effort to require strict new voter ID requirements, a thinly disguised effort to suppress votes intimidate voters, especially elderly voters, receives a deserving video salute from Kuff.
While viewing his great work at YouTube, I came across a rock band video salute to the same anti-democratic effort, by the voters who would be hurt most by the Voter Idee bill, which should be called the Voters Denied bill.
ACTION ONE: Please call, email, fax Your STRONG PROTEST of Holt's H.R. 811, As Soon As Possible as the U.S. House returns this Monday, April 16th, and may try to fast track Holt's H.R. 811 again.
Go To Election Defense Alliance's Action Page: http://electiondefen...
Call: Rep. Charles A. Gonzales (D-TX 20th)
Phone: (202) 225-3236
Fax: (202) 225-1915
E-mail Webform: http://gonzalez.hous...
Other members of the committee: http://www.electiond...
The House Reconvenes Monday, April 16.
Let's greet them with whirring FAX machines pouring out citizen opposition to H.R. 811.
Prior to Spring recess, the HCA was trying to "fast track" H.R. 811.
An unprecedented outpouring of citizen protest stopped them in their tracks. Keep FAXING and pouring it on until Congress gets the message:
END the EAC
(Keep the unitary executive OUT of elections) BAN DREs
(The Holt bill supports them) END SECRET COUNTS
(Currently 85+% of our votes are counted in secret, with no citizen oversight)
Copy and Forward this Page Widely with this Link: http://www.ElectionD...
ACTION TWO: Please call, email, fax Your STRONG SUPPORT of Burnam's HB 3894. In Texas, it is extremely important we pass this bill, Rep. Burnam's 3894 Hand Counted Papers 2007 in THIS session (which ends at the end of May 2007) because the next session of the Texas Legislature isn't until January 2009-which is AFTER the 2008 Presidential Election.
Go To: http://voterescue.or...
Find Contact Information for your Texas Representatives at:http://www.fyi.legis...
from: http://voterescue.or...
THE most important action to take right now, is to contact your House Representative by visiting their Capitol office and/or mailing or faxing a personal letter urging him/her to sponsor HB 3894 (the bill for Hand Counted Paper Ballots 2007) NOW! Please go to our newly overhauled website at www.voterescue.org for contact information and an overview of the bill. When you receive a favorable reply, please let Karen Renick, Director, know at 496-7408 as soon as possible.
...HR 811 has now passed out of that committee and is headed to the floor for consideration by the House. Although some changes have been scribbled into it, the bill still permits the use of DRE machines. So HR 811 is, at best, as good as useless.
Thus the Dems have tucked themselves into their deathbeds, and will disappear into the Great Beyond as sure as shootin', with the Bush Republicans in the role of Jack Kevorkian (but without the solemn face).
Why are the Dems doing it? Basically, because they cannot, will not, recognize that it is happening. It's too big, too scary, and they don't want to go there--even though the unraveling US Attorney scandal makes it ever clearer that election fraud is at the heart, and is there very basis of, this whole regime.
Texas is one of several states subject to the Voter Rights Act Section 5 pre-clearance whereby election practices or procedures are frozen until the new proposed procedures have been subjected to review by the US Department of Justice. You wouldn't be too surprised by our state neighbors in the VRA Section 5 pool. You also wouldn't be too surprised that under the Bush administration DOJ pre-clearance has been relatively easy.
LA Times 3/25/2007 Justice Department tugged to the right
Under Bush, the department has been tainted by politics, many say.
(snip)
The Civil Rights Division veterans focused their criticism on major voting case decisions over the last six years that they say have generally benefited the GOP.
The most recent case concerned a 2005 Georgia law that required voters to provide photo identification. Staff attorneys raised concerns about the law after the Georgia secretary of state supplied data showing that tens of thousands of voters might not have driver's licenses or other prescribed forms of identification. They said the plan could effectively disenfranchise large numbers of black voters.
