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Fred doesn’t feel much sympathy for the Americans he left behind:

Americans will say, “But Fred, all these Mexicans come into the US and get welfare, school for their kids, driver’s licenses and medical care, and don’t pay taxes, and who knows what all. It isn’t fair.”

To which I respond: “All true. But why is it Mexico’s fault? You practically invite them. Mexico has no obligation to keep its citizens in, though the United States has the right to keep them out. If you folks up north choose to let in poor Mexicans, don’t be surprised when you have poor Mexicans.”

Note that the immigration problem is entirely of America’s making. Laws, decisions in the courts, amnesties, interpretation of the Constitution, and policy all encourage illegal immigration. What the US does is to say to impoverished and desperate people, “See this river? Don’t cross it. If you do, we’ll give you all sorts of privileges, and jobs, and a chance to advance in life and give your kids a good future. Now, don’t cross it, you hear?”

Keeping immigrants out would once have been easy, but you didn’t do it. You could have fined employers a thousand dollars a day for hiring illegals, half of it to go to whoever turned the employer in; denied them all services, and deported them instantly. Today, taking things away from people who have lives in the States and kids in the schools would be brutal. (You are going to forcibly deport millions of people? That will be pretty.) And of course they soon come to have the votes to make deportation impossible. But it wouldn’t have been in the beginning. Don’t blame Mexico for having an immigration policy more sensible than yours.

Fred’s is an excellent response underlining the difference between the law as written and as applied outside the United States. I can attest that the same is often true for Italy, as what looks like a very intrusive government from the outside is actually much freer in terms of one’s daily life than America. An expat like Fred will laugh out loud if he hears you say that America is the most free country in the world, in fact, many leave precisely because it isn’t.

Things change. The fact that your great-grandfather was free doesn’t mean you are.

Jonah Goldberg responds to a reader pontificating on authentic Islam:

It reminds me, I’ve always thought that Western public diplomacy could make a bigger deal about how Islamic radicalism wipes out “dissident,” indigenous, forms of Islam. It would have to be done very carefully, and with the right spokesmen, but I think the more it can be demonstrated that Wahabism or Salafism or Jihadism are foreign as opposed to “authentic” forms of Islam in most parts of the world the easier it would be to communicate that we aren’t at war with all Muslims and the easier it would be to separate potential enemies from allies.

Yeah, but. Here’s the problem. Not only is “Arab Islam” frequently viewed as more normative or historically authentic, because of the Prophet being an Arab, but the BILLIONS of dollars our friends the Saudis have distributed over the years have gone a long way into equating “Arab” with “Waḥḥabî” with “authentic.” It’s a false equation on all sides, I think, but it doesn’t mean they haven’t done a good sales job. The massive underwriting of schools, patronage of mosques, huge funds through foundations, and—let’s not forget—their status as Guardians of the Holy Places (to which all Muslims aspire to make the ḥajj), have gone a long way in convincing a lot of the less-lettered and farthest-flung portions of the Muslim world that theirs is the “purest” Islam. Bad news all around.

Could it be countered? Probably. But it’d have to be an indigenous (-appearing?) Muslim phenomenon out of Istanbul or Samarkand or Cairo or someplace which could not only bring intellectual heft but historical prestige to the ballgame and convince people that the Waḥḥabîs/Salafîs are the bad guys that they’ve historically been perceived to be throughout the Muslim world.

If there is anything more ridiculous than the elected head of the Great Satan asserting what is or is not Islam, it is a Jew doing so. At least Jonah recognizes that his opinion on the matter is irrelevant, although there’s something amusingly ironic about a Jew blaming the spread of a wicked deceit on a wealthy people spending vast sums of money to buy influence.

Since most Jews don’t believe in their own religion, they seem to find it particularly hard to take the faith of others seriously. I’ve found that orthodox Jews are not only less openly contemptuous of “Bible thumpers” than their faithless kin, but they also seem to be far less likely to harbor these bizarre notions of reforming the Muslim religion from the outside.

I don’t think observant or inobservant Jews would like it much if Jerry Falwell and Louis Farrakhan announced that they were launching a program to determine who is an authentic Jew and what authentic Judaism entailed. I know Christians wouldn’t stand for it, not even if it was Billy Graham and the Pope doing it, let alone Abe Foxman. (We certainly don’t think much of atheist pseudo-scholars and their regular pronouncements about the ever-changing historical Jesus.) Does anyone actually believe Muslims are LESS sensitive to this sort of thing?

What’s alarming is that some of the people who publicly endorse this “hearts and minds” strategy of appealing to the “authentic Muslims” in the midst of the Dar al-Islam are in charge of the un-War on not-Islam. Do they similarly believe that WWII could have been averted if only Mr. Chamberlain had explained to the German people that Mr. Hitler was not an “authentic Aryan”?

If the entire religion is false in the first place, as Christians, Jews and inobservant Jews all presumably agree, then the authenticity of the falsehood is totally irrelevant. What does it matter if a large mass of people are enamored of one lie versus two? A debate concerning angels, pins and dancing would be more useful and less dangerous.

Thus spake Arsene Wenger after the Gunners beat Villareal 1-0. “He was fast,” the Arsenal manager added. Personally, I thought his defense was limited, but he did a nice job of shutting down Diego Forlani given his size disadvantage.

This will hardly surprise Manchester United fans, of course.

1:45 – Kickoff, Arsenal’s formation looks superficially more defensive than Villareal’s with only Henry up front, but that’s misleading since Ljungberg and Pires are so fast to get forward.

1:46 – Ugly pass back to Lehman there, but he manages to avoid pulling a Barthez and clears it nicely. Villereal has clearly decided to press the Arsenal defense, but Toure and Senderos are dealing with it easily enough.

1:48 – That was quick. First yellow for Arzo of Villareal. Free kick to the right of the box. Henry is taking it… sloppy defending on the cross in… bounces around but Toure fires wide from five yards out. Defenders are so hopeless sometimes.

1:51 – Villareal tries a little longball. Goal kick deep into the Arsenal end, but Toure blows the header so Forlani tries an optimistic shot from 35 meters. It would be three points if this was football. Arsenal brings it up, corner, Gilberto gets a header, but no chance and it’s wide. The Gunners are winning every ball in the midfield.

1:55 – Arsenal presses, Villareal loses the ball, but Henry’s pullback goes for nothing… SQUIRREL ON THE PITCH… he’s in the area, now he’s in the net! What is this, the Discovery Channel?

1:56 – I’m cracking up, the Arsenal fans are chanting “There’s only one squirrel”. And there’s only one Thierry Henry! Through ball… GOAL! 1-nil to the Arsenal!

1:57 – Numerous bad words! Vehemently spoken! Offsides? Goal disallowed. It’s close… announcer doesn’t buy it but he looked a step off to me. If you’re looking for a four-letter word that rhymes with truck, I am your man. On the plus side, the squirrel is back.

2:01 – Villareal’s coach looks like the Walmart version of the Special One. I don’t fear him. Also, he’s apparently starting Barbara Bach on the right wing. Nice headband.

2:03 – The ref stops the game as Mr. Squirrel is now running through the penalty area. However, he finally headed off to the showers, so it’s back on. A little attack down the left, but Toure and Hleb deal with it. Apparently Troy Polamalu is moonlighting on Villareal’s left wing in the offseason.

2:06 – And my second favorite men’s Calvin Klein underwear model makes a run down the side but can’t keep it inbounds. Run, Freddie, run like the wind! Defense looks a little shaky again dealing with a long ball, Senderos can’t keep up and Lehman has to run out of the box and clear it outside. Free kick from 40 meters.

2:09 – Right at Lehman. Kein problem, mein Freund. Arsenal breaks back with 4 on 3, Pires tries a Bergkamp special from the corner of the area and only manages to prove that he’s no Dennis Bergkamp. WE WANT DENNIS! Okay, it’s probably too soon for that.

2:16 – Villareal has a midfielder named Arubabarracuda or something to that effect. I just thought I’d mention it for your edification. Henry reminds me of watching Randy Moss in 1998. You can tell the ball is heading his way from the sound of the crowd. Ces Fabregas beats two guys with a nice run towards the box but gets stuffed by the last defender before he can find space for a shot. For some reason, Toure just made a long and involved run with the ball towards his own line, then gives up a throw-in. Um, Kolo, we want to go THAT way….

2:18 – Henry cross, ping-pong, Pires is through! No, Arzo tackles the ball from behind and gives up a corner. It’s in, Toure misses AGAIN. Senderos, stuffed, another shot, blocked and over. Another corner… right to Barbosa, who appears to be about 15. Arsenal is knocking hard, but the bounces aren’t falling their way yet.

2:21 – Oh for Pete’s sake! Toure totally blows a clear and Forlani makes a perfect pullback cross. Fortunately it’s behind the two Villareal players and Senderos clears. Arsenal counterattacks fast, Henry bursts pass the defender and crosses hard to Freddie but Barbaros blocks it.

2:24 – And it’s a 5.4 on Arzo’s anguished dive after crossing legs with Pires. The ref doesn’t buy it, though. No yellow.

2:26 – Arzo can’t stay with Henry, but Villareal’s packing seven in the box and Arsenal can’t break through. Hard low cross…. GOOOOOAAAAAL!

2:27 – It was Toure of all people! . Redemption! Hleb ran onto a quick through ball, (great pass from Henry after the corner rebounds), cut the ball right across the face of goal and Toure slides in for a lovely redirection that ends in the back of the net. Arsenal isn’t getting anywhere up the middle or on the right, but the left is clearly vulnerable. Freddie makes a nice run there but the entry pass is blocked.

2:30 – Nice free kick from Villareal but Lehman punches it out into the middle. Aaagh! Toure misses another header when the ball comes back in, Gilberto takes down Josemari… it should be a penalty, but no call. Okay, let’s just get to halftime, gang. Toure tries to clear but gives the ball away again… I know he scored, but I can just hear my high school coach now: “get him out of there!”

HALFTIME. Good, positive start, but something has to be done on the Gunner’s defensive right. I like Toure, but he’s having serious problems tonight. I’d be shocked if Villareal wasn’t thinking the same thing, on their part, but considering that they’re already clogging the area and Arzo’s on a yellow, I don’t see what more they can do.

45:00 – Second half, no changes to either side. Freddie blows by the defender and breaks down the left but it’s a weak entry pass.

47:47 – Nice work, six passes clean passes sets up a ripping shot from Gilberto at the top of the area which curves wide right. Arsenal breaks again, but Hleb can’t find anyone. Arsenal throw-in.

50:00 – Freddie rounds the corner of the box, gets taken down but the ref waves it off. Fair enough. Villareal corner. Dangerous ball comes in low, flicked on into the center but Toure clears on the first bounce.

53:33 – Pretty clean game, I must say. Henry goes down hard on his back, but he jumped over the defender, the defender didn’t undercut him. No theatrics, just a Gallic shrug and handshakes all round. Have I mentioned that I like Thierry Henry? Flashy stuff from Arsenal, attacking and attacking from the right, finally Ebuue smashes the ball across the face of goal but it’s slightly behind Henry and there’s no power on the shot. There’s definitely another goal in this for the Gunners.

58:00 – Villareal has given up on the pressing. They’re reeling from the death of a thousand cuts here. That last round of no less than four attacks into and out of the box without being able to reclaim the ball seems to have demoralized them. Yep, they’re obvioulsly getting frustrated now, as Tacchinardi picks up a yellow for taking Hleb down from behind and he’ll miss the rematch. Free kick, Toure heads harmlessly onto Barbosa.

63:00 – Arsene can’t take it, he’s got his face in his hands. Nice flip to Hleb, but he’s a step off. Villareal tries to press, but Senderos and Toure play keepaway. Arsenal breaks up the right but the linesman can’t keep up and wrongly calls Henry offsides from ten yards back. There has to be a technological fix for this, there just has to be. Tacchinardi gets bumped, falls down and will apparently require immediate amputation judging by his reaction.

67:30 – Alvarez jumps to block a Freddie cross and comes down on the side of his ankle. The fans are whistling, but that actually looked like it hurt quite a bit. Henry in the corner, takes on three and manages a perfect cross but no one’s there. Dennis would have been there. I know, I’ve watched 100 of his goals in the last two days. So now it’s time. WE WANT DENNIS!

70:45 – Hleb crosses long, Pires keeps it in bounds and promptly gives the ball away. He’s been uncharacteristically invisible all night. Villareal subs Sorin for Josico, as if I’ve ever heard of either one of them.

73:30 – Senna grabs Freddie’s colla
r, tries to bulldog him down, and finally shoves him hard enough to send him flying. He then holds up both his hands to indicate that he hasn’t touched anyone. This would be more convincing if Freddie wasn’t lying flat on the ground with a mouth full of turf right in front of him.

77:55 – Here comes Dennis! And for a bonus, the Young Dennis. Amandagon would love the Young Dennis, he’s a near rapist too. Hleb and Freddie come out. Nicely done, fellows.

82:00 – The Young Dennis steals the ball and Dennis sends a cross that looks more like a shot right to the keeper. Long ball… offsides Villareal. They defend well but they don’t seem to have a clue about attacking beyond Route One.

86:00 – Senderos always looks a half-step slow, but he’s solid. Wins the ball then draws the foul. Villareal has controlled the last five minutes, though. Arsenal is too complacent. Another yellow for Villareal, Guille Franco was dissenting a little too vigorously over an offsides call.

88:40 – Henry steals the ball from Henry at the edge of the box, Alvarez bodyslams him but it’s only another yellow, should have been a red. Free kick, looked like a hand, ball comes back in and Toure completely whiffs on the ball. Which is just as well, he would have been offsides.

90:00 – 5 minutes of injury time. Seems like a lot, but okay. I blame the squirrel.

92:50 – Free kick from 45, headed across by Henry and somehow the defender cuts the ball out from Dennis on the bounce. Excellent and desperate defending, drat them. That should do it for the night.

95:00 – Honey, it’s raining in England! And it’s over. One-nil to the Arsenal. A fitting finish for a storied stadium and a good start for the first leg of the semifinal.

Chad the Elder laments a lack:

Unlike newspapers, there is no Page Two on blogs where we can bury corrections in 8pt font and we most certainly don’t have a “Reader’s Representative” to justify our actions, refuse to admit mistakes, and cavalierly dismiss criticism (although at times such an apologist certainly would come in handy).

Since I, like nature, abhor a vaccuum, (at least when it isn’t also a robot), I have decided it behooves me to volunteer to serve as the “Reader’s Representative” for the Fraters Libertas. Please feel free to direct all whines, whinges and moans about their various shortcomings to me, and I shall be quick to address them with all the grace, aplomb and even-handedness of the Star & Sickle’s own Reader’s Representative, Dogbert… that is to say, Kate Parry.

By the way, I’ll be in the Fraters house this Saturday, where we’ll be playing lacrosse with strippers, among other things. 12 noon on NARN.

I like the rossoneri over Barca by a 1-0 mark in the first leg tonight. Tomorrow, tune in for a running diary of Arsenal’s showdown with Villareal. I’m hoping to see my two favorite teams go head-to-head in the final, if so, mi dispiace but I have to stick with the Gunners.

In preparation for tomorrow night, I watched Thierry Henry’s first through 40th goals for Arsenal this afternoon. I’ll watch the next sixty tomorrow, as Spacebunny was kind enough to buy me the Centurions DVD. (100 goals each, Bergkamp and Henry.) Speaking of which, it was a delight to see Dennis score the putaway goal in his testimonial game on Saturday. If this is his final year, I would so much like to see them send him off a European Champion.

The champagne is flowing at Fox News and the other cable news channels this morning:

Duke University lacrosse players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were charged today with first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense and kidnapping in connection with a reported rape at a Duke lacrosse party, according to George Naylor, director of the Durham County Jail.

I’m not surprised that the prosecutor decided to roll the dice with his career and press charges. Nifong is clearly a camera whore in the Giuliani mode, and failing to press charges after running around and giving press conferences as he’s been doing would make him look like the farce he is.

When he loses the case, as he’s bound to, he will blame the racist jury and the unfairness of a power structure that doesn’t blindly take the word of a drunk/drugged black woman over 47+ others who dispute it.

After all, women NEVER lie about these things….

The doctor is on his way out:

Art and medicine have worked hand in hand for a long time. To improve his art, Leonardo dissected bodies. To improve his anatomy treatise, Andreas Vesalius relied on the artistry of Titian’s workshop.

But the other day, in the European paintings wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a group of seven would-be doctors had a different kind of reason to appreciate the 17th-century Dutch biblical scene before them: course credit. Three years ago, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine began an art-appreciation course for medical students, joining a growing number of medical schools that are adding humanities to the usual forced march of physiology, pathology and microbiology.

Oh, this sounds just fabulous. How long will it be before med schools are giving an M.D. in Women’s Studies? The doctor won’t be able to do a damn thing for your medical condition, but at least she’ll really listen to how you feel about your illness.

“When I was a vet’s assistant, I always got choked up when putting a dog to sleep. With cats, I felt that all was right with the world and left work with a spring in my step.” – Chris Naron aka Catsbane

I respect the right of others to own reasonably sized cats, as long as they respect my right to never visit their homes. I loathed the skulking beasts even before I learned I was allergic to them, but I had so little to do with them that I didn’t even learn about the allergy until I was 20.

I much prefer dogs. They have some disgusting habits, to be sure, but like any good friend, they’ve always got your back. No one loves Spacebunny like her Ridgeback, she follows her everywhere, sulks when she’s gone and will defend her to the death, which, given the size and jaws, would most likely be someone else’s.

He actually postulates this as a difficult question:

I’ve always been curious about how a person can believe that God spoke to Moses and not become a Muslim. Allow me to explain my confusion.

For those who are not up to speed on your comparative religion, let me oversimplify it for you. Jews believe Moses communicated with God and that Jesus was a prophet. Christians believe that Moses communicated with God, plus Jesus is the son of God (or God himself). Muslims believe in Moses and Jesus (as human prophets) plus Mohammed.

Mohammed is known as the “seal of the prophets,” i.e. the last one, according to Mohammed, according to God.

Here’s where I get confused. I certainly understand anyone who believes that all prophets are phony. And I understand how someone could think they’re all real. But what’s the reasoning behind picking one or two prophets and assuming the more recent ones are phony?

I can understand why you might subscribe to the “big” prophets and poo-poo the fringe cult wannabe prophets. But Mohammed has exceptional credentials as far as prophets go. A billion people think so.

So for you Christians and Jews, especially Mormons, how do you go about deciding which prophets are the real ones? This is not a rhetorical question. I actually want to know.

That’s simply incredible. Even more amazing is this reaction from one of his readers, presumably an atheist: “It looks like you stumped the believers. I wish I could try to answer, but I’m a non-believer.”

Hold on there, Sherlock. The question strikes me as bordering on the bizarre, as one doesn’t even have to believe in any of the three religions concerned to provide the obvious answer, at least for the Christians. Moses did not deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Mohammed did. Jesus Christ personally affirmed the Mosaic Law, he did not and could not have affirmed any of Mohammed’s teachings. However, he did warn about false prophets and false teachers who would deny him and deceive many.

No doubt Jews will be also surprised to learn that they regard Jesus Christ as a prophet, especially considering how their past leaders demanded his execution for blasphemy.

I salute Mr. Adams newfound interest in matters spiritual, but this question reveals a poverty of thought that should be downright embarrassing.