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I have been engaged in a little high-low reading in the past several months, alternating one highbrow work (e.g., Outer Dark) with one less exalted work (e.g. Lonesome Dove). My most recent pairing was the short stories of Raymond Carver, which I had not read, and Stephen King’s The Stand, which I had read as a youngster and wanted to revisit to see whether it retained any of the fascination it had on first encounter. There is a great deal going on in these works, though a great deal less going on in Mr. Carver’s stories than in Mr. King’s....

It seems likely that Social Security reform will be Topic A for the next year or so, especially if Iraq's progress toward forming a permanent government goes well. But it also seems as though the fate of our retirement funds causes almost as much apprehension as the future of Baghdad. So in the spirit of calming fears on the Social Security front, let's examine a scare story making the rounds. It is the claim that history all but proves attempting to save enough for a comfortable retirement will be impossible. Princeton University economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman...

Did anyone watch NightLine tonight. It was about Mexican Illegals and they highlighted workers in Las Vegas.They were saying Bush's plan doesn't give any amnesty or citizenship to Mexicans who come here to work. They basically said they come to work and have to go home?Is this true?

OTTAWA (CP) - The Supreme Court of Canada is set to decide whether a parental smack on a childish bottom - a disciplinary measure specifically permitted by federal law for more than a century - is a violation of the Charter of Rights. The high court has scheduled this Friday as judgment day in a constitutional challenge mounted by children's rights advocates who want the so-called spanking law struck down. "We're looking forward to the decision," says lawyer Paul Schabas. "It's been a long battle." Schabas and co-counsel Cheryl Milne represent the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law,...

I am beginning to think John McCain actually won the presidency in 2000. Conservatives were relieved when the Straight Talk Express petered out during the 2000 primary season. John McCain, although tough on national security and runaway spending, was hardly a conservative on major issues such as campaign finance, healthcare reform and immigration. Yet this is exactly where we find President Bush today (except unlike McCain, Bush doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with runaway spending). Last year President George Bush signed the McCain-Feingold bill into law, which is one of the worst assaults on political speech this...

Bush's Ridiculous Speech About Immigration Reform I just want to comment on a few of the things that jumped out at me as I read the text of Bush's speech about the horrendous new immigration legislation he is going to propose. To begin with, this line just chaps me..."As a nation that values immigration and depends on immigration, we should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today we do not."No, our immigration laws don't work or make us proud. You know why? Because we don't make an effort to enforce them. It's like telling your kid...

President Bush's immigration reform plan, delayed three years because of Sept. 11, is a politically expedient confession of the massive failure of U.S. immigration policy for two decades. Bush's plan would legalize 8 million to 9 million people in this country illegally, and does nothing to shut off the flow of more illegal immigrants. In fact, it will encourage more to come. Bush is not solely to blame for this misguided policy. He has simply signed on to policy Congress has followed since the last so-called reforms, in 1986, 1990 and 1996, from which our government has apparently learned nothing....

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- President Vicente Fox on Thursday praised the immigration reform proposed by President Bush and claimed it as an achievement for his own administration.But Fox and other Mexican officials indicated the new American proposal did not meet all their goals. ``We're going for more. We're going for more,'' he told reporters during a visit to a shelter for street children.Fox has repeatedly urged Bush to legalize the millions of Mexicans who cross the border illegally to work in the United States. The money they send home is Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income, behind oil.Bush's plan, unveiled...

Contact Tom Tancredo (R-Co), Chirman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC). He's one of the few elected republicans with his head on straight. Here's their platform: Rep. Tom Tancredo’s Four-Point Plan for Immigration Control The United States has lost control over its immigration policy. Over one million persons enter our nation illegally each year and we have antiquated and error-prone systems for knowing who our legal visitors are and for enforcing their visa time limits. Every poll shows that over 75% of citizens support border security and strict enforcement of our immigration laws. They want our immigration policies fixed....

President Bush's proposal has thrust Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., back into the national spotlight as one of the most outspoken advocates of tougher measures against illegal immigration. On Wednesday, Tancredo appeared on numerous national network telecasts, and press secretary Carlos Espinoza said he had the busiest day of his career fielding interview requests. Tancredo condemned the proposal as dangerous for national security. And he publicly cast doubt on the sincerity of his own party's president: He believes Bush's package may be just an election year ploy to win Hispanic votes. In Tancredo's view, the measures would reward illegal immigration and...

Well Freepers our President has sold us up the river and hopefully this is a wake up call to conservatives. The guest worker program is a DISASTER waiting to happen. One of President Reagan's mistakes in 1986 was to give blanket amnesty to illegals prior to sealing up the border and overhauling INS. It was stated that by doing this it would curb and put an end to illegal immigration. Since then it has doubled. Now we are seeing the same thing all over again. O'Reilly pulled current numbers from the census bureau and foun the following. It costs this...

In politics, it’s good to be up for grabs. And it’s miserable to be a sure thing. As President Bush will prove today. In an expected announcement of sweeping amnesty and Social Security benefits for illegal Mexican aliens, the president will kick conservatives in the teeth in order to woo Latino voters. It’s clear proof that the adage “Dance with the one what brung ya” doesn’t apply in the GOP. In the GOP, conservatives exist to donate money and vote a straight ticket, and then be ignored. At least in this Administration and by this Congress. Time after time, the...

WND BOOKS America's fate in hands of illegal aliens? New WND book shows immgration issue could determine future of U.S. Posted: January 7, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com With the U.S. government poised to make sweeping changes to immigration laws critics say amount to de facto mass amnesty, WorldNetDaily's publishing division, WND Books, announces a powerful new book destined to supercharge the debate over illegal immigration. In "Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border," veteran journalist Jon E. Dougherty documents the hard truth that both major political parties have missed – namely, that sustained high immigration levels...

Court: N.C. must broaden its Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina must broaden its Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants to allow for longer-term treatment of serious health problems, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The ruling could expand the kinds of medical treatment that illegal immigrants receive under the Medicaid program. For hospitals that are already treating illegal immigrants, the decision could also mean more Medicaid reimbursements.

Legend has long held that illegal aliens give American citizens cheap lettuce and cheap child care. Excepting for agribusiness and the upper classes, that legend is, in reality, a nightmare, in which the American middle and working classes pay and pay and pay for illegal immigration, and get nothing but grief in return. In states with heavy illegal alien populations, the budget of a middle-class family is full of hidden illegal alien surcharges. As a result, today’s middle-class American family with two full-time working parents has less discretionary income than its traditional forebear, in which the father alone was...

<p>From the HSLDA E-lert Service...</p> <p>A bill that would force New Jersey homeschool children to submit to the same statewide assessment tests required of public school students, and force their parents to give the local school board proof the student had received an annual medical examination, is set to be introduced in the New Jersey legislature this Thursday.</p>

<p>Up until last night, people had been very cooperative with this effort, and for that I was grateful. Last night, I think there must have been a full moon or something, but we'll get that straightened out.</p> <p>Sean Hannity just used the word "asinine" in regards to any immigration change until we gain control of the current immigration situation.</p>

Bush to Propose Broad Amnesty Tell Congress to Say No! We regret having to interrupt your holiday season with bad news on the immigration reform front, but the Washington Post reports this morning that President Bush and Karl Rove-in order to appeal to Hispanic voters-are poised to announce a sweeping amnesty plan during the second week of January. If you like amnesty, mass legal immigration, and the continued unprecedented decline in the American economic standard of living, you'll love President Bush's proposal. While the details of the plan remain unclear, President Bush is expected to propose an outline modeled after...

<p>HARRISBURG - The state Senate approved a $1.3 billion tax increase shortly after dawn today- including a 10 percent income-tax hike - but was unable to fashion a deal that would have brought slot machines to the state's racetracks, big cities and resorts.</p>

Freeloading on the Taxpayer’s Dime By: Andy Obermann 14 December 2003 The other day I was at the grocery store doing some shopping. I patiently waited in line to purchase a few miscellaneous items. In front of me, a woman, no older than forty, was buying two sodas, two packs of gum, and a personal size bag of potato chips—trivial purchases, a snack perhaps. She proceeded to pull out what appeared to be a credit or debit card to pay for the goods. An unnecessary step for such a menial purchase, I thought. Much to my surprise, however, she was...