Free Republic

...Is immigration, I asked--especially illegal immigration--good for the economy, or bad? "It's neither one nor the other," Mr. Friedman replied. "But it's good for freedom. In principle, you ought to have completely open immigration. But with the welfare state it's really not possible to do that. . . . She's an immigrant," he added, pointing to his wife. "She came in just before World War I." (Rose--smiling gently: "I was two years old.") "If there were no welfare state," he continued, "you could have open immigration, because everybody would be responsible for himself." Was he suggesting that one can't have...

George Weigel Contends That Many Aim for "Politics Without God" ROME, DEC. 12, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Papal biographer George Weigel says that Europe is suffering from "Christophobia," and he believes that the continent's low birthrate is due, in part, to the widespread unbelief in God. "It would be too simple to say that the reason Americans and Europeans see the world so differently is that the former go to church on Sundays and the latter don't," Weigel said when delivering a lecture Friday at the Gregorian University. "But it would be a grave mistake to think that the dramatic differences in...

...The war was declared by al-Queda against the United States before September 11, 2001, but the dramatic attack of that date made the war and its character visible. The war is first and primarily against all al-Queda type terrorist groups that have primarily Muslim origins. A large part of these groups are supported by Saudi finances and Wahabbi-type understanding of the militant purpose of the Koran, the desire to convert or coerce the world into Islam. ... [I]t is not simply a "terrorist" war, something to be explained by irrationalism or madness. The terrorism is a calculated instrument of a...

Upton Fund-raiser Draws Fire from Opponent A $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton by NBC has caught the eye of a Washington Post gossip columnist and raised the ire of the state senator challenging Upton in the Republican primary. Post columnist Lloyd Grove wrote Tuesday that he had "intercepted" an invitation to a "small luncheon" for Upton, R-St. Joseph, on March 19 to be sponsored by NBC lobbyist Bob Okun. The column said Okun hoped to get eight other lobbyists, including a representative from the United Distillers and Vintners, to attend the luncheon. The column mentioned that Upton is ...