Category Archives: National news

Despite a bad review from the Government Accounting Office, the so-called “virtual fence” managed to impress some Congressfolk recently. Sections of Texas’ border with Mexico eventually could be secured by the same kind of high-tech “virtual fence” that’s been deployed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jay Aiyer, who is an immigration attorney, has a suggestion for the process of verifying eligibility to work. The reality is that the overwhelming numbers of businesses never knowingly hire anyone they believe is here illegally. They are required by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we know, one of the arguments for abolishing the penny (and the nickel) is the high cost of manufacturing them, due to the rising prices of zinc and copper. Congress has tried but not succeeded in passing a law … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Mildred Loving, one-half of the Virginia couple whose Supreme Court case struck down laws against interracial marriage, has died at the age of 68. Loving and her white husband, Richard, changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Great article in Salon about how our current obsession with border security is damaging our relationship with Canada, and directly harming businesses on both sides of the US-Canadian border, which for years have thrived on easy crossings. If the tighter … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s something deeply ironic about this: U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., introduced the hearing, titled “Walls and Waivers,” as a forum on the expedited construction of the border fence and its affect on the environment along the border. During the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This WSJ article is really scary. Hospitals are adopting a policy to improve their finances: making medical care contingent on upfront payments. Typically, hospitals have billed people after they receive care. But now, pointing to their burgeoning bad-debt and charity-care … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The following is an op-ed by Becky Moeller, the President of the Texas AFL-CIO, which I was asked to run as a guest column by Ed Sills. I thought it was interesting and timely, so here it is for your … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Why am I not surprised by this? In a sign of the challenges facing the federal government’s ambitious effort to police the country’s border with Mexico, the Department of Homeland Security has ordered adjustments to a “virtual fence” project near … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just an update on where the border fence lawsuits stand, as I missed a couple of stories recently. Here’s one from Friday in which the judge gave permission to the federal government to enter the property of border residents who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via State of Mine, the news story that most amused me today. President Bush has talked a lot about being a modern-day Harry Truman: a president who makes tough but unpopular decisions that will be appreciated by history, if not … Continue reading → Continue reading →

How do you beat a million-dollar border fence? It’s easy. Illegal immigrants armed with torches, hacksaws, ladders and even bungee cords are making it around a section of the border fence hailed as the most efficient way to stop them. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Outrageous. Texas border land owners, mayors and wildlife groups blasted the Bush administration’s sweeping plan to waive nearly three dozen federal laws to speed construction of a border fence by year’s end. Using authority granted by Congress, the Department of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s an informative article that makes the case for abolishing the penny (and the nickel) based on the cost of minting them and their lack of purchasing power in today’s economy. I’m a sentimentalist, I like my pennies and nickels … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I hope this is a good sign. The U.S. government dismissed its border fence condemnation lawsuit against the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College on Wednesday and agreed to explore alternatives to a fence with school officials. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Philadelphia shows what it looks like. There is a proposal afoot to build what would be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the second-tallest building in the world when stacked against existing buildings, at 18th and Arch streets, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The city of El Paso joins the resistance to the border fence. The country’s largest border city has decided to block efforts by federal authorities to use an access road that cuts across city property to work on existing border … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Do you like the color purple? If you do, you’ll probably like the new $5 bill. Abraham Lincoln is getting a little color in his cheeks. New $5 bills bearing the gaunt visage of the nation’s 16th president – but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Not that it was ever really worth much, but the penny is worth less than it used to be, at least compared to the cost of minting it. The nickel, too. These days, your thoughts are worth 1.7 cents. That’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Missed this from last week. After a one-month deliberation, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has issued the most significant decision in the border fence’s short judicial history. In a case against Eloisa Tamez, who owns property along the barrier’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Fascinating piece in The Atlantic about the subprime mortgage crisis and its longterm effects on the inner cities and far-flung newer developments. Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, has looked carefully at trends in American … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Everybody remember to set their clocks ahead last night? While I don’t care for losing the hour’s sleep, I love Daylight Savings Time. I love having that extra sunshine at the end of the day. Darkness at dinnertime is depressing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Texas Observer asks a simple question. As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security marches down the Texas border serving condemnation lawsuits to frightened landowners, Brownsville resident Eloisa Tamez, 72, has one simple question. She would like to know why … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The following is an announcement from the Houston Democratic Forum: The Houston Democratic Forum invites you to our Casual Discussion of Presidential Politics with a Very Special Guest ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA Mayor of Los Angeles and National Campaign Co-Chair for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s not just the feds suing property owners along the border. Property owners are suing the feds, too. A lawsuit by University of Texas-Brownsville Professor Eloisa Tamez and San Benito resident Benito J. Garza claims the Homeland Security Department disregarded … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another lawsuit has been filed against Farmers Branch and its continuing anti-immigrant assault, this one on the grounds that its City Council violated open meetings laws when it considered the new ordinance that banned undocumented aliens from renting apartments or … Continue reading → Continue reading →

With all the Presidential primary stuff dominating the news, you may have overlooked the stories of the devastating storms that ripped through several Southern states on Tuesday night, killing over 50 people. I know I didn’t notice the accounts, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This sounds encouraging. WOAI news radio has learned that U.S Customs and Border Protection will likely combine their fencing plan with a levee improvement project. There would be fencing in some areas, and in other, the levee’s would be built … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we know, the city of Farmers Branch passed a new ordinance to restrict undocumented immigrants from renting apartments, with the burden of verifying the applicants’ status falling on the city. They did that in an effort to bypass the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

No surprise here. A federal judge ordered 10 Cameron County property owners to open their land to the government for border fence surveying, but not before he denied the government the right to take the land without a hearing. U.S. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the best news you’re likely to read today. It wasn’t very long ago that Americans often had lunch and dinner — and sometimes even breakfast — interrupted by phone calls from sales people. Such nuisance calls were sharply reduced … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We knew it was coming, and now here it is: Farmers Branch passed another ordinance aimed at undocumented immigrants and rental housing. City officials whose previous attempts to keep out illegal immigrants have been blocked by the courts took another … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, I suppose this is one way to hold down the costs of litigation: Last Monday, the federal government sued the border city of Eagle Pass for access to municipal land to do surveying for the border fence. Turns out … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You almost have to admire their perverse level of determination. The Dallas suburb that jumped into the nationwide debate over immigration plans to take up another law to force out undocumented immigrants. The Farmers Branch City Council plans to consider … Continue reading → Continue reading →