Category Archives: National news

We knew this was coming, and now here it is. The federal government sued Monday to get on land owned by a Texas city whose mayor has been highly critical of a planned U.S.-Mexico border fence. The lawsuit was filed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I did not know Joan Ehrlich, the longtime director of Houston’s Equal Employment Opportunity office who passed away last week, though when I go I hope as many people say as many nice things about me as they have about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I almost feel sorry for KBH. In an uncharacteristic display of public frustration with party colleagues, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on Friday sharply criticized two Republican congressmen who had accused her of a stealth effort to derail the fence along … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I still haven’t seen one of these suckers yet. Coming soon on new presidential dollar coins — Old Hickory, Old Kinderhook, Old Man Eloquent and the Last of the Cocked Hats. The U.S. Mint, the maker of the nation’s coins, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

May there be many more of these, until the message gets through that the border fence is a wasteful and destructive idea. City business leaders had an unorthodox plan today to get residents to attend a federally sponsored town meeting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Drum Major Institute calls on the netroots to take a leadership role in the debate over immigration. They offer six ways in which blogs can add value to the discussion, and they include links to research on the subject. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m sure this will be well received in South Texas. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is giving Texas landowners opposed to a border fence one last chance to allow access to their land before he takes court action against them, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And another icon of my childhood has passed away. Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho’s Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died [Friday]. He was 69. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Senator Trent Lott has resigned in order to “spend more time with his family”. All I can say is that he lasted longer than Robert Eckels. Enjoy your new life as a lobbyist, Trent. It’s what you’ve been working for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember the border webcams that were piloted last year, then went away because there was no money for them? Well, Governor Perry thinks he has found funds for them now. Gov. Rick Perry has identified $3 million in federal funding … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last week, the fourth entry in the Presidential dollar coin series, bearing the likeness of James Madison, made the scene. While there are a lot of doubters, Mint Director Ed Moy says he is hopeful that the latest attempt to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Border crackdown leads to more drug smuggling. Quelle irony, no? As tighter security makes crossing the border trickier and more hazardous, the traditional mom-and-pop operations in Mexico that used to ferry people across have been replaced by larger, more-professional criminal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We know that an injunction has been issued against the city of Farmers Branch, which prevents them from enforcing their ordinance requiring landlords to verify renters’ immigration status. There were other lawsuits filed against that city related to that law, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another front in the fight against the border fence: Mayors in the affected towns are denying access to city-owned property. Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have denied or limited access to some parts of their city property … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I think this kind of conflict between churches and anti-immigration forces is going to become more and more high profile as the debate rages on. The Most Rev. Raymundo Peña of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville blasted the idea … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What happens when you succeed in driving illegal immigrants out of your town? A lot of small businesses suffer. RIVERSIDE, N.J., Sept. 25 — A little more than a year ago, the Township Committee in this faded factory town became … Continue reading → Continue reading →

See what’s in store for the border, for all the good it won’t do. For the first time, U.S. Border Patrol officials have released precise locations, a construction schedule and photos of the type of fencing proposed for some areas … Continue reading → Continue reading →

More redesigned currency is coming our way. Honest Abe will become Colorful Abe with splashes of purple and gray livening up the $5 bill. The government showed off the new bill Thursday in an Internet news conference — a high-tech … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And it lasted 36 hours, not 24. On August 29th, Six nuclear warheads were flown across the United States unbeknownst to anyone. At one point – overnight, after they were loaded onto the transport aircraft – they were secured by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

But why aren’t we writing about them? I had a post almost ready to go about this post by Chris Kromm on Facing South that says the progressive blogosphere has been silent about the Jena 6 and why that might … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If the Texas Legislature is going to be as hell-bent on passing a frivolous voter ID law the next time it gets together, here’s a template for one that will survive judicial review. A federal judge who once struck down … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Can’t say this surprises me. The Justice Department said today that Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic. The agency told the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing high-speed Internet practices, that it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And the great dollar coin experiment continues on. Congress on Tuesday approved a redesign of the Sacagawea dollar in hopes of enticing consumer and business use of the gold-colored dollar. Under legislation passed by voice vote in the House and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Now this sounds cool. A new security thread has been approved for the $100 bill, the Associated Press has learned, and the change will cause double-takes. The new look is part of an effort to thwart counterfeiters who are armed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This article about one of the border fences we already have was sent to me last night, and I think it pretty much speaks for itself. Every day, Eddie Lujan and fellow members of his Border Patrol welding team go … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Can’t say I’m surprised by this. Not that they’re worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn’t want any. A White House … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m not sure else how to say it when I read stories like this. The Bush administration, engaged in a battle with Congress over whether a popular children’s health insurance program should be expanded, has announced new policies that will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

For the most part, this article about life in Farmers Branch a year after the anti-immigrant movement took hold there just makes me sad. What a colossal waste of energy (and money, too, given the cost of defending the losing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Firedoglake guest blogger Marisa Trevino brings news of an interesting upcoming event called Hands Across El Rio. Spanning 16 days, 1,250 miles, it’s a protest that involves Americans and Mexicans forming human chains across the international bridges, daily binational press … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So long, Karl. Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, marking a turning point for the Bush presidency. I suppose it’s too much to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Oops. More than a year after Gov. Rick Perry announced ambitious plans for a “virtual border watch” in Texas, the project has stalled because of a lack of funding. Perry announced plans for the camera project, the first of its … Continue reading → Continue reading →

John Cornyn came to El Paso, and provided a new twist to his already convoluted stance on the border fence. Cornyn, who is running for re-election in 2008, gave a legislative update to about 100 business leaders and local officials … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Poor Senator Cornyn. It can’t be fun to be blown with the prevailing winds like that. Two years ago, Sen. John Cornyn said a border fence was a bad idea. Last month, he voted to build one. Critics accused Mr. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The following is an op-ed by Rep. Nick Lampson on the farm bill that was just passed out of Congress. I confess, this is not the sort of thing that I normally follow closely (some folks at MyDD did a … Continue reading → Continue reading →