Dome and minaret

I admit that I have not been following the immigration debate as closely as I should have. The issue seems to be a watershed event and raised the spector of a new political force, even though the majority of the people interested in this issue cannot as yet vote. This country was founded by immigrants and has become wealthy on the back of immigrants. I am not sure how much of the debate is centered on economic and social issues and how much is plain xenophobia. Certainly since 9/11 the lens by which view immigration has changed. Is this the…

Despite my responsibility as a citizen to keep informed, it’s getting quite difficult to read the news these days. I often find myself having to take a break from reading because I am overcome by anger, bitterness, or despair. And never mind the effect it’s having on my ability to do other work. However, I came across an op-ed yesterday, by a supporter of the war in Iraq, that made some very good points. What I liked most about it was its focus on where do we go from here. Regardless of whether or not you support the war in…

So Bush was in Beantown for a fundraiser, and his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, was asked about Richard Clarke’s book. Card was honest and said he had not read the whole book. He did say that he thought Clarke’s proposition that Al-Qaeda operatives were in Boston and looking at using liquid natural gas (LNG) was untrue. I got all of the above from an op-ed in the Globe. The funny thing is that one of the front pieces on the Globe, on the same day, was a former counter-terrorism agent talking about the intelligence that has him convinced Al-Qaeda…