The first is about the struggles within the Republican Party, and the fact that Democrats like Bill Richardson, Janet Napolitano and Nebraska’s Ben Nelson are now climbing on board the immigration issue.

A lot of what they’re reporting is what you, as VDARE.com readers already know.The big news, considering that Republicans are still expressing fear of the mythical curse of Prop. 187, is the Democratic activity:

Among Democrats taking a more hawkish stance on illegal immigration is Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who is up for reelection in 2006. Last week, he issued a news release highlighting his support for a bill to strengthen border controls.

“When a Democratic senator from Nebraska is sending releases on border security, it shows the issue has greater reach,” said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst. “It’s everywhere.”[Border Security an Issue for GOP, By Janet Hook, November 27, 2005]

The other story is about the disconnect between Federal immigration laws, State Driver’s license laws, and Municipal Sanctuary policies, with various unapolagetic corporations profiteering off illegals.

They quote an illegal immigrant named Cristina Cardelas who is paying instate tuition at UCLA:

“I am allowed to work … and pay my taxes and everything, but I am not allowed to be here,” said Cardelas, an undocumented immigrant who has both a matricula and federal tax ID number. “It’s hypocritical.”

Cardelas, whose mother is a cook and whose father is a baker, got scholarships and worked two jobs — as a secretary and a waitress — to attend community college. Now she attends UCLA, where she is studying public policy and international relations. She pays in-state tuition.

But when she graduates, Cardelas said, she will be stuck back working low-wage jobs that don’t demand a valid Social Security card.[Policies on Illegal Immigrants at Odds, By Anna Gorman and Jennifer Delson, November 27, 2005 ]

She’s wrong about being “stuck,” of course, because she’s not “stuck” in the United States. I’m sure there are jobs in Mexico for English-speaking college graduates. Spain takes immigrants from Mexico, too. Plenty of opportunity, and legal, too.

Bedbugs. They’re back. And the New York Times is talking about where they’re back from:

In the bedbug resurgence, entomologists and exterminators blame increased immigration from the developing world, the advent of cheap international travel and the recent banning of powerful pesticides. Just Try to Sleep Tight. The Bedbugs Are Back. - New York Times, November 27, 2005

On Friday I congratulated the Darlene’s Place blog for raising the issue of the U.S. Postal Service’s failure to supply a fresh religiously-themed Christmas stamp. This news has stirrred up quite a commotion and the the Post Service can look forward to answering a lot of questions about it next week.

Which is exactly what will get the attention of a bureaucracy.

Darlene’s mother’s information is correct: no new stamp this year. But it materialises that the USPS has pulled this stunt before. And whether the gloomy comments the Postal Clerk made to Darlene’s mother that staff mentioning Christmas has been banned and no more Madonna and Child stamps would appear ever remains to be seen. It would be nice if the USPS issued a statement about it. They should be asked.

What is irrefutable, inspecting the Postal Service’s web sites, is that seasonal gestures have been cut back to the perfunctory - seemingly scaled down to match references to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. And, tellingly, mention of the disgusting and repulsive word “Christmas” has been virtually eradicated. It does not appear at all on the Stamp Issue Index itself, or on the “Holiday” list of available stamps, where last year’s Madonna and Child is the only Christian-themed design of eleven.

Looks like that Postal Clerk’s intuition on his employer’s intentions is plausible.

Equally interesting are the savage and venomous responses Darlene’s Place brought out.

“Oh, no. It’s the “War Against Christmas” crap again…a conservative whiner who complains that the US Postal Service is insufficiently reverent and Christian..”

says the Pharyngula blog

From the Darlene’s Place Comments section:

From ” Strange 1″ (email)

Poor uneducated faux Christ followers. Stop believing in your fantasy world and give the pagans back their holiday. Then maybe we can talk truth about this whole easter fable that took also misappropriates reality. Your god is not superior in this country any more than mine is. If you don’t like it, get out, otherwise shut your patheteic wannabe martyr whining.

From “jerry” (e mail)

There is no war on Christmas. However, there is a popular myth of a war on Christmas,… and a need of some Christians, despite being an overwhelminingly dominant political and cultural force, to feel persecuted. How much government support of Christianity do people need before they stop crying persecution?

Others were more uncouth.

Generally, those complaining about the abolition of Christmas are astonishingly mild in their remarks, never demand exclusivity of representation for their festival, and almost never attempt to evaluate what motivates the other side.

Quite the reverse characterises their opponents. Evidently these people feel there is a lot at stake.

The great Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest frequently said: “War means fighting, and fighting means killing.” That is clearly what - no doubt in a strictly cultural sense - the enemies of Chistmas feel.