THE BORDER REPORT

Thank you, vinotinto, for placing these photos together so we can compare. Click to enlarge.

THE BORDER REPORT

I've updated the site's comments section so you can now embed videos in the comments section. It'll allow you to play the videos inside the thread instead of opening a new page.

To do so, simply click on "Embed" on the page of whatever video you're wanting to upload and cut and paste the link. See below for an example.

THE BORDER REPORT

An off-the-record (and off the cuff) comment by a New Yorker I was interviewing this morning regarding SB 1070: "Like I'm supposed to condone a law that permits a level of law enforcement discretion that borders on fascism that has, through Morales and Papachristou, a demonstrated tendency to result in discrimination against the unpopular and undesirable, because some of you assholes down south can't grasp that living where a wealthy nation borders a poor nation might have some negative side effects. Living in Arizona and bitching about illegals is like living next to a pig farm and complaining about the smell."

THE BORDER REPORT

Mexico's Televisa network announced today it will no longer broadcast news of the disappearance of former presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos until the case is resolved. Fernandez, the prominent PAN politician who disappeared in the state of Querétaro last week, has not been found. Yesterday, investigators told El Universal they weren't even sure the blood traces left in his SUV belonged to him, an assessment that already suggests the delicacy with which the Mexicans are handling the matter. Today, Televisa, the largest media conglomerate in all of Latin America announced that "out of respect for his family and in order to not interfere with possible kidnapper negotiations", they will not cover the case until its resolution. It would be like CNN choosing not to cover the kidnapping of Al Gore. To be fair, Grupo Televisa's CEO Emilio Azcarraga has made this decision before. Earlier this year, he asked the media in general not to speculate on the case of Paraguayan soccer star Salvador Cabañas' murder in Mexico City. But in this case, we're talking about the disappearance of one of Mexico's most powerful politcians at the height of a public security crisis sweeping the country. This is not a time for the media to be silent. I'm all for the reduction of talking heads and general noise that follow these cases when they hit the level of general buzz, but abject silence goes much too far. I'll be curious to see if the news blackout will extend to Univision in the U.S. Univision reaches something around 70 percent of the Spanish language tv market in the U.S. and Televisa owns 11 percent of that network.

THE BORDER REPORT

The Associated Press finds that the top immigration law administrators in the United States have never bothered to read Arizona's SB 1070 that was signed into law a month ago. Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano was asked today by Sen. John McCain if she's read the law. She says: "I've not reviewed it in detail. I certainly know of it, Senator." U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was asked last week "have you read the Arizona law?" "I have not had a chance to -- I've glanced at it. I have not read it," he said. Within 72 hours of 1070's passage, A.G. Holder had threatened to sue Arizona. So that's nice. Now, other than the president, can you name me one individual more instrumental in defining U.S. immigration and border security laws than the secretary of the Homeland Security Department and the Attorney General of the United States? This reminds me of Hillary Clinton being asked if she'd read the Bush Administration's case for Iraq back in 2002 and replying that no, she hadn't. Keep in mind that SB 1070 is 19 pages long. These people make my teeth hurt.