Immigration Raids at Casa Fiesta

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Friday July 25, 2008 · 2:19 PM PDT

2008/07/25 · 14:19

When I was a student at Oberlin College, Casa Fiesta was one of the most popular hangout spots in that small, Midwestern town. Best known for their margaritas, fajitas, and endless supply of free tortilla chips, the Mexican restaurant was always packed with students, townspeople, and professors. It was located just kitty-corner from the house where I lived, so close that sometimes I would always catch a whiff of frying garlic and onions when I walked to and from class.

But that may all have changed at about 11 am this Wednesday, when Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials made a series of arrests at the Casa Fiesta in Oberlin and in Casa Fiestas in Ashland, Fremont, Norwalk, Oregon, Sandusky, Vermillion and Youngstown, Ohio. Overall, 58 immigrants were arrested, although three women were eventually let go. However, they will still be required to appear before a federal immigration judge. According to ICE spokesman Greg Palmore, the immigrants -- all Mexican citizens -- are likely to be deported as soon as possible.

coryDMI

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Monday July 21, 2008 · 2:27 PM PDT

2008/07/21 · 14:27

All those big oil and gas supporters must be feeling threatened. On Thursday, Al Gore issued a challenge for America to produce 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy and carbon-free sources within the next 10 years, and repeated the challenge again at Netroots Nation over the weekend.

Now conservatives are hitting back by playing on the realities of high fuel costs and the fears of even higher costs in the future. John McCain introduced a new advertisement called "The Pump," that suggests that Obama is responsible for high gas prices. "Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?" the ads asks, as a crowd in the background shouts, "Obama, Obama!" As hopeful music plays in the background, the ad continues, "One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets."

coryDMI

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Wednesday July 16, 2008 · 2:26 PM PDT

2008/07/16 · 14:26

It's not news that "clean coal" isn't, well, clean. But clean coal made the news today not for environmental reasons but for financial ones when the New York Power Authority scrapped its plans for the Huntley plant, a "clean coal" facility in western New York State. From Crain's Business News:

NYPA officials say the electricity produced by the Huntley plant, in Tonawanda, N.Y., would be too expensive, requiring some $150 million a year in subsidies to compete with more conventional sources of generation. In a letter to New Jersey-based NRG Energy, which owns the Huntley plant, NYPA executives said they were not able to overcome the "substantial" financial hurdles.

The announcement calls into doubt the construction of a similar clean coal plant in Jamestown, New York, which is supposed to receive $6 million in state funding.

coryDMI

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Monday July 14, 2008 · 11:24 AM PDT

2008/07/14 · 11:24

Last Wednesday, I saw John Edwards speak at the Yorkville Common Pantry, a food pantry and soup kitchen in Harlem. After walking into the building, I found myself in the back of a small press conference, just a few feet from Edwards. The beginning of the press conference started out as expected -- he talked about Half in Ten, his anti-poverty campaign to reduce poverty in America by half within the next ten years, and praised the food pantry for their work in New York City. But after his five minute speech, when it was time for questions from the press, the subject quickly turned away from poverty.

Although Edwards tried his best to talk about poverty, the press just didn't seem to care. Instead, their questions focused almost exclusively on the presidential campaign. If Obama offers you a position as attorney general, will you take it? Is it mere coincidence that you're in New York City within 48 hours of Obama and Clinton's joint appearance here? Do you think that Obama is moving towards the center, and do you support that?

coryDMI

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Tuesday June 17, 2008 · 10:40 AM PDT

2008/06/17 · 10:40

You walk into a pharmacy and pass the pain relievers, deodorants, and shampoos. But when you get to the spot where the condoms normally are shelved, there's nothing. And don't even think about asking to fill a prescription for birth control pills -- you'll get turned away and frowned upon in no time.

Where are you? A "pro-life" pharmacy.

A story in yesterday's Washington Post chronicles the growing movement of "pro-life" pharmacies -- pharmacies that choose not to stock condoms and not to fill prescriptions for the "morning-after" pill, birth control pills and other standard varieties of contraception. The pharmacists and owners of these stores claim that they have the right to not stock products that they find objectionable, and that using standard contraception is tantamount to having an abortion. According to the article,

coryDMI

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Friday June 13, 2008 · 12:03 PM PDT

2008/06/13 · 12:03

You know it's election season when the flip-flops come out of the closet. No, not the shoes, but the accusations -- made popular beyond belief by critics of John Kerry in '04 -- that politicians are swapping an old position for a new one. A little spring cleaning around election time, if you will.

The latest flip-flop accusation was yesterday, with Senator Robert Menendez accusing John McCain of flip-flopping on immigration in an interview with the Huffington Post. From the article:

coryDMI

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Wednesday June 11, 2008 · 8:33 AM PDT

2008/06/11 · 08:33

Anybody following immigration issues has probably heard of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, better known as Sheriff Joe. Working in Maricopa County, Arizona, the Sheriff has rounded up thousands of undocumented immigrants (he's is keeping a tab on his website) for minor offenses like turn-signal violations or broken taillights. Meanwhile, Sheriff Joe ignores tens of thousands of criminal warrants so he can go after immigrant day laborers with his 3,000 person posse. Mayors (including the mayor of Phoenix) and public officials have complained, but the Sheriff says he has no intention of listening to, say, federal laws on the matter. As Joe himself says,

coryDMI

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Monday June 09, 2008 · 1:40 PM PDT

2008/06/09 · 13:40

A few days ago, I wrote about Arthur Mkoyan, the high school valedictorian in California who is scheduled to be deported to Armenia after he graduates. Although Arthur dreams of studying medicine at a university in California, ICE officials plan to send him and his parents back to Armenia because they are currently undocumented. The family has been seeking legal asylum in the U.S. for more than 10 years.

CNN has a good article with more details on the situation:

coryDMI

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Wednesday June 04, 2008 · 12:12 PM PDT

2008/06/04 · 12:12

Remember the Where's Waldo? books, in which the reader has to find that tiny white-and-red-shirted Waldo in a sea of strange looking characters? I'm beginning to think that McCain's the new Waldo when it comes to climate change -- when it comes to actually voting on climate change issues, he's nowhere to be found.

The Senate voted to debate an important new climate bill on Monday -- the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act -- and John McCain was conspicuously absent. Not that this is anything new for McCain -- in the past he's repeatedly missed votes on key climate legislation. But perhaps the most bizarre part about McCain's most recent Waldo-like stunt is that McCain initially was quite supportive of the bill.

coryDMI

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Friday May 30, 2008 · 9:49 AM PDT

2008/05/30 · 09:49

*cross-posted from the DMI blog*

Until recently, I had never thought much about paid sick leave. But within this past week, leading up to an event on Wednesday that featured Sara Flocks, the co-founder of Young Workers United and one of the prominent voices behind San Francisco's first-in-the-nation paid sick leave law, I've become a big fan of this policy.

This is some of what I learned:

* Anecdotally, paid sick leave is a good idea. Flocks told story after story of workers who were forced to go to work sick. She told of a server at the Cheesecake Factory whose boss told her that she would be fired if she didn't show up for work, despite the fact that she had pinkeye. So the boss "allowed" the sever to wear sunglasses. (Call me crazy, but I don't like people with pinkeye touching my food.) In another example, a woman who was pregnant and hemorrhaging lost her job because her boss told her that if she didn't come to work she'd get fired.

coryDMI

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Monday May 19, 2008 · 10:16 AM PDT

2008/05/19 · 10:16

The Drum Major Institute recently released a new "Injustice Index" on Paid Sick Leave. Cross posted from the DMIblog.

Rank of "stay home when you are sick" on the list of Centers for Disease Control recommendations for preventing the flu: 2

Proportion of employees without paid sick leave who worry that taking time off when they are sick would jeopardize their job: 1 in 3

Percentage of employees without paid sick leave who say they cannot afford to take unpaid time off work when they become ill: 58

Number of countries that require employers to provide a week or more of paid sick leave annually: 136

coryDMI

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Thursday May 08, 2008 · 12:47 PM PDT

2008/05/08 · 12:47

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in California have stooped to a new, almost unbelievable low: intimidating schoolchildren.

Allow me to state the obvious: schools should be safe. And they should feel safe for the kids, their parents, and the teachers and staff who work there. But for the students at four Oakland schools and Berkley High School on Wednesday, school felt anything but safe. That day, rumors spread throughout the schools that ICE were nearby, possibly planning raids at the schools. Parents text-messaged their kids, warning them that ICE agents were close by so that the undocumented parents couldn't come to the schools to pick their children up. The Berkley school district became so overwhelmed with calls that they set up an automated voice message for parents, which according to the San Francisco Chronicle, stated that the administration would "not allow any child to be taken away from the school." The schools -- including Stonehurst Elementary, where immigration officials were parked across the street -- became a panic scene.

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Immigration Raids at Casa Fiesta

McCain and the Manhattan Institute Fail to Defend Offshore Drilling

"Clean Coal" Plant Scrapped for Financial Reasons

Can We Talk About Poverty?

Would McCain Support Pro-Life Pharmacies?

McCain Flip-Flops on Immigration

Following in the Footsteps of Sheriff Joe

Update: Could a Private Bill Save Valedictorian from Deportation?

Where's McCain on Climate Change?

Why There Were Germs on the Steps of City Hall, or What I Learned About Paid Sick Leave

The DMI Injustice Index: Can you afford to get sick?

Immigration Officials Turn to Schoolyard Bullying