Check out the graphic I created for The New Republic. Click here.

I recently did a graphic for a piece by Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic, on the reinvention of Obama's geek squad. The graphic is a here's who in his advisor circle. Click to read the article and click here to play with the graphic.

Made possible by the technical support of Asif Baksh and funding from the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting, the Business of Detention site has been redesigned and is blog integrated. Check out the new site and blog posts at Business of Detention.

Via Democracy Now Tuesday, August 19, 2008: Earlier this month, a thirty-four-year-old Chinese computer engineer, Hiu Lui Ng, who overstayed his visa, died in a Rhode Island immigration detention center. He had cancer in his liver, lung and bones, and a fractured spine. Despite repeated complaints of severe pain, Mr. Ng was refused independent medical evaluation by immigration officials. Before Mr. Ng died on August 6th, he told his sister that the nurses at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island had told him to “stop faking” his illness. We speak to immigration attorney Joshua Bardavid, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Renee Feltz, co-creator of the site BusinessOfDetention.com. We turn now to the sprawling detention system within this country that some have likened to a gulag and a series of domestic Guantanamo Bays: The immigration prisons that over 300,000 people pass through each year. Earlier this month a 34-year old Chinese computer engineer, Hiu Lui Ng, who overstayed his visa died in a Rhode Island immigration detention center. He had cancer in his liver, lung, and bones, and a fractured spine. Despite repeated complaints of severe pain Mr. Ng was refused independent medical evaluation by immigration officials, the New York Times reported. ...

Renee & I just published Meet Juan Crow. In the border state of Arizona a tough voter registration law is suppressing the nation's fastest growing voting block. Arizona is the only state in the nation that requires documented proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Supporters say the requirement stops voter fraud by illegal immigrants. Critics say the law has a different purpose. Largely because of its requirements, the state has rejected nearly 40,000 voter registration applications in just 3 years. Many of the applicants were eligible Latino immigrants. At least 19 other states have considered similar requirements. To see our in-depth video report, interactive map, and more, out the site at http://news21project.org/story/2008/07/22/meet_juan_crow About the project: This project is part of a broader look at Immigration: New Voters, Old Fears by our colleagues from The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and several other schools that participated in News21, a product of Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education, in which selected journalism-school graduates produce challenging stories in ways that push the boundaries of the form.

The BBC reported that Abbie Hawkins, 19, of Norwich, believed that her vibrating mobile phone was the cause of some movement in her underwear, instead what she found was a bat curled up asleep in her bra. When she looked, Hawkins found a baby bat in padding in her 34FF bra. The hotel receptionist told the BBC that she was shocked but felt bad for removing the "cuddly" bat. She was sitting at her desk at work when she decided to investigate the strange movements in her underwear, the BBC wrote. "It looked cosy and comfortable and I was sorry for disturbing it," she said. "I put my hand down my bra and pulled out a cuddly little bat." In fact, Hawkins didn't notice anything as she put the bra on. "I did not notice anything as I put my bra on. The night before I had had one or two drinks and I was getting ready quickly. The bra was in my drawer but it had been on the washing line the day before." Fake or not, why don't stories like this land on my lap..errr chest. Here is a snapshot of Hawkins from the Eastern Daily Press.