MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Senate made a grave error by failing to pass legislation that would have led to the legalization of millions of unlawful immigrants, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Thursday.
The bill’s collapse will close the door to legal immigration, encourage continued illegal immigration and human rights violations and decrease security on both sides of the border, Calderon said.
He added that the measure would have been a “sensible, rational, legal solution to the immigration problem,” and its failure will hurt the competitiveness of both the U.S. and Mexico.
The U.S. “economy could not prosper and advance without the labor of Mexican and Central American immigrants,” he told a news conference held with visiting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
Calderon has pushed hard for immigration reform while strongly criticizing a 700-mile (1,100-kilometer) border-security fence approved by Congress and President Bush.
Salvadoran President Tony Saca also lamented the measure’s failure, saying, “What a shame. What a shame.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is making an astonishing bid to grab a vast chunk of the Arctic - so he can tap its vast potential oil, gas and mineral wealth.
His scientists claim an underwater ridge near the North Pole is really part of Russia's continental shelf.
One newspaper printed a map of the "new addition", a triangle five times the size of Britain with twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia.
Muscle-flexing: Putin has his sights on Arctic oil and gas
The dramatic move provoked an international outcry. The U.S. and Canada expressed shock and environment campaigners said it would be a disaster.
Observers say the move is typical of Putin's muscle-flexing as he tries to increase Russian power.
Under current international law, the countries ringing the Arctic - -Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway, and Denmark (which owns Greenland) - are limited to a 200-mile economic zone around their coasts.
Putin claims that an underwater Russian ridge is linked to the North Pole
A UN convention says none can claim jurisdiction over the Arctic seabed because the geological structure does not match the surrounding continental shelves.
But Russian scientists have returned from a six-week mission on a nuclear ice-breaker ...   more »

By Klaus Marre  
June 28, 2007  
The comprehensive immigration reform bill that has dodged attacks from the left and right for weeks, survived “poison pill” amendments, and was once pulled from the Senate schedule failed its most important test Thursday. Passage of the legislation now appears unlikely.
The bipartisan coalition that had shepherded the measure through so many obstacles failed to get the 60 votes necessary to end debate. The final vote was 46-53
Until Thursday morning, it was unclear whether the bill would survive the cloture vote. But in the end, opponents of the measure from both sides of the political spectrum gained enough support to derail the legislation. Liberals felt it did not go far enough in protecting illegal immigrants, while conservatives rejected the bill because they felt it would grant amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.
Republican foes of the measure argued that the American public was broadly united in opposition to the bill and had made its views known by flooding Congress with phone calls and e-mails.
“What part of ‘no’ don’t we understand?,” asked Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who said the immigration fight had “reengaged the American people.”...   more »

History will be created when a Hindu prayer will be recited at the opening of the US Senate in Washington DC on July 12.
Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain, said that he had been officially asked to say the prayer. He said he believes this may be the first time any Hindu prayer is delivered in the Senate since its formation in 1789.
Zed is likely to choose the prayer from the Rig Veda, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. He said he plans to start and end the prayer with 'Om', the mystical Hindu syllable. The full text of the prayer will be included in the Congressional Record.
There are an estimated two million Indian Americans in the US. Followers of Hindu groups like ISKCON may add up to another one million.
"July 12 will be an illustrious day for all Americans and a memorable day for Indian Americans when prayers from ancient Hindu scriptures will be read in the great hall of democracy," Zed said.
Usually, the Senate chaplain delivers the opening prayer but sometimes guest chaplains are invited from all over the country to read the prayer
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by Robert E. Rector
WebMemo #1523
Last week, the White House Council of Economic Advisers issued a report entitled "Immigration's Economic Impact" which defended the President's promotion of the Senate's "comprehensive" immigration legislation (S.1348).[1] On June 25, the White House issued a follow-up editorial elaborating on the points made in the CEA report.[2] These publications criticized Heritage Foundation research on the fiscal costs of low skill immigration and amnesty. 
The Heritage research criticized by the White House made the following basic points about immigration and its costs:
Individuals without a high school degree impose significant net costs (the extent to which benefits and services received exceed taxes paid) on taxpayers.
The net fiscal cost of families of immigrants who lack a high school degree is not markedly different from the net fiscal cost of families of non-immigrants who lack a high school degree.
Immigrants are disproportionately low skilled; one-third of all immigrants and 50 to 60 percent of illegal immigrants lack a high school degree.
Unlike low and moderate skill immigrants, immigrants with a college education will pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits; therefore. immigration policy should increase the number of high skill immigrants entering the country ...   more »