The Mess Congress Made: Immigration inaction is fueling Irving panic

This article was written by the Dallas Morning News. www.dallasnews.com
06:47 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Many North Texans are reacting to Irving's crackdown on illegal immigrants by saying: Darn right, they're breaking the law, and it's about time we sent them packing. Folks on the opposite side counter: This is a harsh overreaction against people who are working, contributing to the economy and paying taxes.

The mood is getting nastier by the day. Fear abounds within the Hispanic community. Latino U.S. citizens, along with legal and illegal immigrants, worry that they could be hunted down and deported. Irving schools have noticed a drop in attendance because some parents, fearing deportation, have gone into hiding with their children.

"They get this notion that someone is going to actually come to school and snatch their children," Irving ISD Superintendent Jack Singley told The Dallas Morning News last week.

No matter where you stand in the illegal-immigration debate, this state of affairs should be unsettling. No one wins when children are on the streets instead of in the classroom. Federal law requires schools to educate children regardless of immigration status. A climate of fear, whether prompted by police action or unsubstantiated rumor, can only disrupt learning and ultimately wastes taxpayer dollars.

The crackdown in Irving – along with Farmers Branch and dozens of other communities across the country – is a reaction to a more profound problem. Local governments are getting involved in immigration enforcement because Washington is too timid to confront it.

Congress has repeatedly failed to tackle the issue of comprehensive immigration reform, a hot potato that few politicians want to handle before the November 2008 elections. Having lost patience, local governments increasingly are intervening, even though immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.

This is an abysmal state of affairs. Members of Congress are fooling themselves if they think immigration reform will somehow get easier the longer they delay it.

We think it's pathetic that Irving schoolchildren are being kept home out of fear. But what's even more pathetic is the fear – of voter reprisal – that is preventing Congress from doing its job.

Oakland Raiders Invade San Diego To Maul Chargers

That's what's going to happen. The Oakland Raiders are going to maul and manhandle the San Diego Chargers. Get tickets for the game here -- NFL Tickets Exchange

Flag Pin? - Hillary Clinton Doesn't Wear One - Ask Her Why!

All this stuff about Senator Obama not wearing a flag pin has me in a tither because I'm looking at all of these photos where Senator Hillary Clinton doens't have her flag pin on either.

Look at this photo -- no flag pin.

Look at this video -- no flag pin.



She's says she "sometimes wears a flag pin", but I can't find one. Not one photo.

This proves she'll say anything to get elected.

Jerry Jones - Cowboys Owner Jones Part Of NFL Network Committee - NFLMedia.com

JERRY JONES NAMED CHAIRMAN OF NFL NETWORK COMMITTEE - NFLMEDIA.COM

COMMITTEE NOW INCLUDES PAT BOWLEN, ROBERT KRAFT, STAN KROENKE & MARK RICHARDSON


The NFL announced today the appointment of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones as the new chairman of the NFL Network Committee, which acts as the executive board of the league’s year-round television service.


“NFL Network is an important long-term asset for the NFL,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “It is critical we ensure broad and affordable access to NFL Network to help better serve and grow our fan base.”


The Cowboys appear twice on NFL Network’s live game schedule this season (Nov. 29 vs. Green Bay; Dec. 22 @ Carolina) and as a result, Jones is keenly aware of fan interest in NFL Network.


"My immediate and primary objective is to ensure broad distribution of NFL Network to our millions of fans across the land,” said Jones. “Today there are more options than ever before for consumers in terms of choosing a television provider. Satellite companies like DirecTV and Dish Network and telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T offer NFL Network on broad packages without extra costs to consumers. Those fans whose access to NFL Network is still being blocked by their cable provider will have both the opportunity and the incentive to switch providers if cable continues to deny customers the programming they want.”


Joining Jones on the NFL Network Committee are:


· Denver Broncos President and CEO Pat Bowlen

· New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft

· St. Louis Rams Owner/Vice Chairman Stan Kroenke

· Carolina Panthers President Mark Richardson


“Steve Bornstein and his team have launched a high-quality, must-see, year-round network for football fans,” added Jones. “As a committee, we plan to help the broader NFL ownership harness the value that our clubs can provide locally to NFL Network distribution partners. NFL Network is extremely important to the future of the NFL and our fans.”


NFL Network, the 24-hour, 365-day programming vehicle of the NFL, has taken on greater importance to the league and its long-term goals as the digital media landscape continues to evolve.


From content deals with Apple’s iTunes, Sprint NFL Mobile, Sirius Satellite Radio, Verizon FiOS, MyNetworkTV, and ION Networks, to the recent move bringing the NFL’s Internet operations in-house and utilizing NFL Network video at the center of the new NFL.com, the strategic use of NFL Network’s content requires important decisions to be made on a regular basis.


Recently, the NFL filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) drawing attention to large cable companies’ regular practice of content discrimination, where they use their market power to deny independent channels they do not own broad distribution on their systems. Like many other independent programmers, NFL Network supports a mandatory arbitration process to ensure that content disputes are resolved in a timely manner so that consumers have access to the channels they want on fair terms.


NFL ownership committees are made up typically of four to six principal owners. Committees meet regularly to analyze issues and recommend strategy and policies to the Commissioner and broader ownership.


NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the first television network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For more information, log onto www.nfl.com/nflnetwork.


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Clinton Cackle - Like Howard Dean Or "The Joker" In Batman

Type "Clinton Cackle" in Google and you'll get over 22,000 results. That's bad. It means that Senator Clinton's rather annoying laugh, called a "cackle", could be the defining moment of this election and the one act that sinks her Presidential Campaign.

It's too much like Howard Dean's yelling ARRGGHHH!!, which has been replayed again and again, and still again. You can't think of Howard Dean without thinking about that sick scream of his. Same with Clinton.

As the Boston Globe put it: "HENS CACKLE. So do witches. And, so does the front-runner in the Democratic presidential contest."

The lagh reminds me of one famous, sinsiter yodling yelp, that of none other than "The Joker" in Batman.

Hillary Clinton, The Joker? Seems so. Seems so. Listen to this:

Barack Obama Plans New York Campaign Headquarters

According to the NY Post Chronicle, Senator Barack Obama will annouce the opening of a new campaign headquaters in New York soon.

Noelia - Another Sex Tape Singer

Wow. First there was Paris Hilton, then Pamela Sue Anderson, then -- you know there are so many women who have sex tapes, I'm losing count. The latest is Noelia. Now who's she?

Noelia is...

Noelia Lorenzo Monge according to Wikipedia is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actress who rose to fame in 1999; her first appearance (debut) on Puerto Rican television was in Voces en Función on that same year. She's sold over 3 million records Worldwide and is a hit in Latin America. But I guess someone figured that in order to sell her to Americans, she needed two things: a sex tape and a MySpace page.

Why, I don't know.

But this sex tape you're not going to see here is now all over the Internet and features her having boring sex with her now-ex boyfriend.

Ok.

Meanwhile here's Noelia singing with her clothes on.

"Women In Power" - A Great Read For Anyone Who Seeks To Break The Glass Ceiling

I saw this great Newsweek article on how women have reached positions of power and recommend that you read it:

Click:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21162321/site/newsweek/

Citing Iraq plans, Richardson adviser defects to Biden campaign

Petty partisan politics takes center stage once again. A difference in ideologies between Governor Bill Richardson and advisor Fletcher Smith has resulted in Smith switching to the Biden campaign.


COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – One of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's South Carolina advisers is leaving the presidential campaign because of Richardson's Iraq plan and signing up with Sen. Joe Biden.

Citing Richardson's liberal stance on Iraq, which would immediately remove all U.S. forces from Iraq, the campaign's South Carolina state co-chair Fletcher Smith said Biden's plan to divide Iraq into three federal regions is a more responsible plan.

"To me it's the only way this problem is going to be resolved," Smith said in a phone interview Saturday morning. "Right now we have a quicksand of a civil war, and I don't believe we can just pull out precipitously in a six month period of time without jeopardizing our interests in the region. We don't need another evacuation that we had in Vietnam."

Smith serves in the South Carolina House of Representatives and is a member of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus. Smith has been the co-chair of Richardson's South Carolina steering committee since July.

He said he had spoken with Richardson and his staff.

Smith said he did not consider joining any other Democratic campaign besides Biden's, and noted he was drawn to Biden because he is an Irish-American.

"Irish-Americans faced the same problems African-Americans have faced in this country," Smith said.

The Richardson campaign did not comment on Smith, but defended the Governor's Iraq plan.

"Governor Richardson has a real plan to get our troops out of Iraq," said Richardson spokesman Lachlan McIntosh. "He's the only major candidate who will get all of our troops out quickly and leave no residual forces whatsoever. Our men and women are currently targets in Iraq. The longer we stay, the more will die."

Click here to CNN's new political portal: CNNPolitics.com

Video - San Francisco (SF) Magazine Oakland Party - Luka's Taproom

Paris Hilton's Baptism By David Letterman Is Wake-Up Call

I kind of avoided this issue but after reading all of the blogs about it, I couldn't help it. As you know if you follow celebrities, Paris Hilton was on David Letterman last week, Wednesday and was given the royal post-jail baptism by David himself. If you've not seen the YouTube video of the event, it's here:



Now David was totally hard on her, and reportedly she's not going to appear on David Letterman again. Indeed, the Internet headlines don't look good: "Paris Humiliated", "David Letterman Mocks", "David Letterman Grills" , and so on.

What I'd like to learn is how Dave came to decide he was going to treat her that way. I'd like to be in the production meeting when that went down. Well, what he did falls in line with my YouTube video when she got out of jail:



Paris did handle the Letterman episode well, and now -- and on the same day that she was on Letterman -- annouced she was going to travel to Rwanda , saying There's so much need in that area, and I feel like if I go, it will bring more attention to what people can do to help."

So Paris is on the right track. But I'm not sure America will let her get over the "jail" part of her life. Let's face it, she was treated terribly and she's got to feel a little bad right now, but she can fight back by helping people and being successful, and not getting upset about it, because that's what people want to see.

Fred Thompson - "Can I Have A Round of Applause?"

Wow. I think the acting bug's really gotten to Senator and Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson. In this YouTube video that's below and I found over at Wonkette , he's begging for it. I can't remember seeing a Presidential candidate ask for it.

That's a sure sign of a lack of charisma. I used to think actors had it automatically, but now I'm thinking that it's a sign of how good the actor may be that we think he or she's got it.