Immigration To U.S. Highest In History

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This nation of immigrants has never seen so many people immigrate here during any 7-year period as have come to the U.S. since 2000, according to a new study reported by the New York Times. And more than half of those coming during that period are illegal.

One in eight people living in the U.S. is an immigrant, the survey found, for a total of 37.9 million people - the highest level since the 1920s.

The Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates reduced immigration, put the study together from census data. These are folks with an ax to grind, sure, but the Times notes that even those who doubt some of the study's conclusions don't question its methods of data analysis.

Almost 30 percent of all immigrants and their children lack health insurance, compared with 13 percent of native-born Americans, the study finds. Immigrant families account for almost three-quarters of the increase in the uninsured over the past 15 years.

And about 31 percent of immigrants over 25 years old, both legal and illegal, have not completed high school, compared to 8.4 percent of American citizens, the study finds.

USA Today also carries the story, but goes with a headline closer to the actual thrust of the study: "Center says immigrants' lack of education hurts country."

Both stories find some critics to point out that the study doesn't take into account the contributions immigrants make, or the progress in education and income their families make once they've been here for a several generations.

Nevertheless, the study provides some ammunition to people on both sides of the immigration fight just by showing how deeply buried in the sand lawmakers' heads have been on this issue to date. The question is, when will the American public stop tolerating the exchange of zingers about who has a "sanctuary city" or a "sanctuary mansion" as a stand-in for an actual discussion about a very difficult issue?

Israel's Nukes Worried Nixon

You've got to wonder about the timing of this one. Just as Israeli and Palestinian leaders and neighbors wrapped up their peace discussions on American soil, the Nixon Presidential Library releases papers openly discussing one of the great unmentionables of the 20th century: Israel's nuclear weapons, and the United States' tacit and not-very-defensible acceptance of them.

There's been something for everyone in the library's latest release - including the startling news that Nixon nixed the promotion of "Deep Throat" to head up the FBI - but the New York Times finds the Israeli nuke piece the most interesting. So, too, did last night's CBS Evening News.

"The Israelis, who are one of the few people whose survival is genuinely threatened, are probably more likely than any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons," warned Henry Kissinger, the national security advisor, in the newly released 1969 memo.

Israel has never officially conceded that such a program exists. But it was giving the young Nixon administration headaches from the get-go.

"There is circumstantial evidence that some fissionable material available for Israel's weapons development was illegally obtained from the United States about 1965," Kissinger wrote. "This is one program on which the Israelis have persistently deceived us, and may have even stolen from us."

While the memo "implicitly acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself, as subsequent American administrations have done," the Times notes, it also admits that this position left the U.S. vulnerable to accusations that it had a double standard when it came to stopping the spread of weapons in the Middle East.

Avner Cohen, the author of "Israel and the Bomb" said there was enough evidence to suggest that Nixon and then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir later reached a secret understanding on at least one issue: Israel would keep its nuclear devices out of sight and not test them, and the United States would tolerate the situation and not press Israel to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that has been embraced by scores of countries around the world.

"That understanding remains to this day," Cohen said.

Trappist Monks Struggle With Demand For The "Holy Grail Of Beers"

What happens when capitalism runs up against asceticism? That all depends on how good the ascetics' beer recipe is, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper peeks inside the world of the Trappist monks at St. Sixtus monastery, who have taken vows against riches, sex and eating meat - but support their institution by brewing what connaisseurs consider the "holy grail of beers."

The monks have been brewing Westvleteren beer in their remote Belgian town near the French border since 1839. Their brew, offered in strengths up to 10.2 percent alcohol, is among the most highly prized in the world. Bars from Brussels to Boston sell it for $15 an 11-ounce bottle - 10 times what the monks ask for it.

But for the 26 monks at St. Sixtus, the demand for their beer has lately been impeding on their life of quiet contemplation. They are working hard to resist getting bigger, restricting the amount of beer each person can buy in a year and going online to track down and deter resellers.

"There is no dishonor in brewing beer for a living," said Brother Joris, one of the monks. "We are monks of the West: moderation is a key word in our asceticism."

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