Will Immigration Officers Continue to Undermine Obama’s Reforms?
This story is one of a series aiming to answer a simple question: Why are undocumented immigrants that the administration says it intends to help stay in this country still facing deportation? For earlier stories on this topic, see “One Family In Limbo: What Obama’s Immigration Policy Looks Like In Practice” and “Are Bureaucrats Blowing Off Obama's New Immigration Policy?” In El Salvador, in the spring of 2004, Fernando Quinteros-Mendoza was dating a woman who lived in a rough neighborhood riddled with gang violence.
Herman Cain, Sexual Harassment, And The Perception Gap
Last night, Politico reported some very serious accusations against a very frivolous candidate: While at the helm of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, Herman Cain allegedly sexually harassed two female subordinates, leading to their departure from the organization (along with financial payouts) and an agreement to remain silent about the circumstances thereof.
Americans Refuse To Give Up The Ghost
Around the world, people today are celebrating Halloween with costumes, candy, celebrations of the strange and frightening, and this charming Google homepage. By tomorrow, though, costumes will be discarded, candy supplies diminished (and stomachs bloated), and pumpkins left on the stoop to rot until the neighbors complain. In other words, Halloween will disappear from most people’s minds until next October. But there’s a more serious side to Halloween: the persistence, around the world, of belief in the occult and the paranormal.
The FCC's Stimulus Plan
There was more good economic news buried beneath today’s reassuring reports of faster GDP growth: The FCC has just approved a $4.5 billion fund to expand broadband access to the 5 percent of Americans living in rural areas without high speed Internet—nearly 20 million people. The FCC touts this as an economic growth measure, predicting that the expansion will create 500,000 jobs and strengthen the “infrastructure” of the U.S. economy.
Rick Perry And The Lie That Won't Die
Rick Perry, who evidently enjoys reviving long-settled questions, briefly reignited birtherism earlier this week in a series of interviews.
(Animal) Life In Ohio
Yesterday brought a bizarre and sad story from Zanesville, Ohio, where a man who owned a large number of exotic animals—including wolves, bears, and endangered tigers—apparently released his personal zoo before killing himself, unleashing chaos in his community and leading authorities to kill many of the escaped animals. Nearly 50 animals have been killed, including a rare Bengal tiger that proved too dangerous to simply tranquilize and capture. By the end of the day, criticism of Ohio’s lax exotic animal controls was already mounting.
How Will Children Fare In The Age Of Screens?
The American Academy of Pediatricians issued a warning today about small children and television: Keep them apart. The group of doctors warns that “passive entertainment” consumption carries significant risk for children under two. It cuts down on the time they hear their parents talking, it may negatively impact their sleeping patterns, and it can actually delay the development of speech. That’s a major risk in a world full of monitors and screens.
How Pakistan's Crises Are Undermining Public Health
A recent dispatch in the Los Angeles Times contains more bad news from Pakistan—but not the kind Americans have come to expect. This latest news is about polio eradication efforts in that country, which, according to the article, are “faltering” in a climate of widespread anti-American sentiment and religious fundamentalism that is suspicious, even hostile, toward vaccinations (a sentiment only strengthened when news emerged that the U.S. had organized a fake vaccination drive in an effort to get a DNA sample from the family of Osama bin Laden).
Newt Gingrich's Brilliant Plan To Jail Lawmakers
Newt Gingrich, apparently thinking “What the hell, the voters will never make me president anyway,” made headlines last night by saying Congressman Barney Frank and former Senator Chris Dodd should be arrested for their alleged role in bringing about the financial crisis. Gingrich said that voters have a right to be angry, and if they want to see people jailed for the meltdown, “you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.” Charlie Rose, obviously shocked by Gingrich’s suggestion, offered him the chance to moderate his remarks, but Gingrich didn’t bite.
Sarah Palin's Historic Achievement
Yesterday, infamous pundit and recreational politician Sarah Palin announced that she will not, after all, be running for president in 2012. (No link; it would only encourage her.) This news, fittingly, emerged on the same day as rumors that in the event the McCain campaign won, they had actually considered not swearing Palin in. That should give some picture of just how terrible a vice presidential candidate she was. But assume the rumors are unfounded—are there numbers that document her toll on the 2008 campaign? Yes. A 2010 paper by Roy Elis and Norman Nie of Stanford and D.
