Tag Archives: Texas

Real Scary Stories : Poll finds 23% of Texans think Obama is Muslim.

  By Maegan La Mala | October 31, 2008 - 11:21 am |
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A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected. But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding: 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama is a Christian who was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Yet just 45 percent of those polled identified the Illinois senator as a Protestant.

The Obama-is-a-Muslim confusion is caused by fallacious Internet rumors and radio talk-show gossip. McCain went so far at one of his town hall meetings to grab a microphone from a woman who claimed that Obama was an Arab.

Via / Pam’s House Blend

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Ike Leaves People in Texas Homeless, Shell Shocked and in Need of Help

  By Maegan La Mala | September 25, 2008 - 12:35 pm |
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2867603856_2cfe034b41_m.jpgNearly 400 people are missing two weeks after Hurricane Ike hit parts of Texas.

“There are a lot of elderly folks, just looking at the age column,”

Many of them are from the hardest hit areas of the county, including Boliver, Crystal Beach and Gilchrist.

About 75% of homes in the Galveston area are uninhabitable.

For the first time since Hurricane Ike blew away much of the city, residents of Galveston began streaming home today.

But the city is in such bad shape, those hurrying back home were given an ominous warning: Bring tetanus shots, rat poisoning and don’t bring children.

If that’s not enough, planes are spraying the city with insecticide to prevent a boom in the mosquito population, the water isn’t drinkable and people are urged to wear face masks to guard against inhaling toxic mold that is proliferating in the sweltering city.

One way you can help is through giving to the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

Via / ABC Local, ABC National, y Para Justicia y Libertad

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Media and Public Kept Away from Areas Most Devestated by Ike

  By Maegan La Mala | September 15, 2008 - 10:05 am |
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CorpPortBolivar.jpgWhile we have been focusing on how readers can help Caribbean victims of the hurricanes, close to home, in Texas specifically, the impact on areas like Bolivar and Galveston, is being hidden from the public eye, with more questions than answers, and with a community and country on edge fearing another Katrina like scenario.

XicanoPower, who faced the storm in Texas, is telling us that no one is being allowed in. What happened to the over 1000 prisoners that were left stranded in jail? While reports say that all is well inside, no one has actually been inside.

We are seeking information as to the demographics of these areas as well? Who are these most affected populations?

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Texas Executes Jose Ernesto Medellin Against International Law and Protests

  By Maegan La Mala | August 6, 2008 - 11:38 am |
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jose_medellin.jpgThe U.S. Supreme Court did not grant a reprieve to Jose Ernesto Medellin and executed him last night based on a 1993 conviction for raping and killing two Texas teens.

“I’m sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate,” Medellin, 33, told those gathered to watch him die. He was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m. local time.

The Mexican national’s case has drawn international attention from all sides of the political spectrum. Some have taken his case as an example of all that is wrong with U.S. immigration policy and used Medellin as a scapegoat in their anti-immigrant (and let’s be real, anti-Latino) campaign.

Pro-human rights activists globally protested the impending execution, saying it was a violation of international law. Even the Bush administration, State Department, and Attorney General intervened, asking for a delay in the execution.

(more…)

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Texas Thumbs Nose to International Community, Set to Execute Mexican National

  By Maegan La Mala | August 4, 2008 - 11:33 am |
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jose_medellin.jpgLast we told you about a plea from the Mexican courts to the U.N. for intervention in the impending executions of 5 Mexican nationals in the state of Texas. Today, at least one of them is a mere 24 hours away from death. The State of Texas has chosen to ignore international clamor and discard allegations that the suspect was never allowed the right to speak to his consulate while under arrest. The Houston Chronicle reports:

At issue is Texas’ refusal to hold a hearing to determine whether Medellin’s defense was harmed by his inability to confer with Mexican consular officials at the time of his arrest. A suspect’s right to talk with his consulate is guaranteed by the United Nations’ Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which the United States is a party.

Medellin insists he told both Houston police and Harris County officers that he is a Mexican citizen. Prosecutors say the killer never informed authorities of his nationality.

In a sworn statement, Medellin said he learned that the Mexican Consulate could possibly help him in 1997, four years after his arrest. He unsuccessfully petitioned the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on the issue in 1998.

(more…)

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Teaching ‘em Early : Texas Teens Sets Up Latino Classmates

  By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo | April 10, 2008 - 8:37 am |
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protest%2Bsign.bmp.jpegI’ve been accused of teaching my children radical positions but someone should be asking what the parents of 13 year old Melanie Bowers, of Athens, Texas, are teaching her. Well actually what is society teaching her? After all, after hearing of the alleged attack on the girl that 21 Latino students were involved in after seeing a class assigned sign that read: “If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration” the internet and right wing pundits were all up in arms. Sending all citizen Latinos back to Mexico (as if that’s where we all come from). Most recommended putting all the 21 children on suspension and or jail immediately and the deporting of many of them although all were citizens.

Compare this to the reaction when a person of color is attacked.
Let’s wait and see what the investigation shows is the most common response.

No double standard here, move it along. Except…..

(more…)

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Teens Deported for Skipping School

  By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo | February 28, 2008 - 10:18 am |
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Teen%20Punishment_wktv.jpgWhen I was a teenager, skipping school meant detention, cleaning lockers, and a beat down from my mom. 17 year old twin hermanas Brisa and Lluvia Amante (yes, Breeze and Rain Lover) skipped school once and went to truancy court. They were fined and sent on their way. But when the sisters skipped school again they ended up being deported to El Salvador.

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Obama, Mariachi Style

  By Maegan La Mala | February 22, 2008 - 4:26 pm |
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As Hillary and Barack tore it up in Texas last night, worry has been on the minds of many a Texan Obama supporter (I know some) because, at least in other states, Clinton has been the clear leader among Latino voters. Perhaps that’s the reason why Texans are seeing this little gem appear in their inboxes. From the makers of the Obama reggaeton hit, check out Obama, Mariachi style:

I wonder what Dolores Huerta thinks of this attempt at “going to the nopal”.

Via / YouTube

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Texas governor criticizes U.S. on immigration reform

  By Maegan La Mala | August 30, 2007 - 5:48 pm |
6 Comments

image_1348593.jpgWhile the Dixie Chicks got in a whole helluva lotta trouble when they spoke against the Bush administration while abroad in Europe. Now their paisano Texas governor Rick Perry is doing a little bit of trash talking against the U.S. Congress while on the other side of the border in Mexico:

Leading a large delegation of Texas executives trying to drum up business in Mexico, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Congress for failing to pass an immigration bill that would legalize millions of workers.

“I don’t think this is that difficult an issue if Congress would have the maturity to sit down and really discuss it and cut out all the mean rhetoric,” Perry said during a break in the third day of meetings with Mexican officials and business executives.

(more…)

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Judge says “no” to housing discrimination in Texas

  By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo | May 23, 2007 - 5:38 pm |
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cForRentPic.jpgWe’ve written a couple of times about Farmers Branch, Texas, and the quest of some there to make discrimination against undocumented immigrants city policy. In addition to attempts to make English the “official” language of the city, legislation was proposed which would impede landlords from renting to the undocumented. Voters in the town supported discriminatory law, pushing it to approval with 68 percent voting in favor, but at the urging of MALDEF and attorneys for landloards, a federal judge said “no”:

U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay wrote in granting a temporary restraining order that only the federal government can determine whether a person is in the United States legally.

(more…)

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