Technically true! Completely unreported by the MSM as far as I can see, Pastor Chuck Baldwin has won the Constititution Party’s presidential nomination, unexpectedly defeating Alan Keyes. Here’s his acceptance speech. This is a problem for VDARE.COM because I suppose, as a non-partisan foundation, we’ll have to stop posting his self-syndicated columns, which we picked up in the middle of last year, until after the election. But at least voters in the 20-odd states where the Constitution Party is on the ballot will have an immigration patriot to vote for.

The Guardian reports that Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. has resurfaced in the media, just in time to help Barack Obama woo working class white voters in the final primary states.

If only the Obama family had tithed the full $700,000, instead of a measly $53,000 out of the $7 million they’ve earned since Barack was elected to the U.S. Senate…

In other news, Sen. Obama has announced remodeling plans for the White House: “I have sworn that we’re taking out the bowling alley in the White House and we’re putting in a basketball court.”

Before he’s finished, though, he may feel like inviting a certain minister down to his private bowling alley to discuss money and milkshakes.

The Washington Post runs a cheerful, upbeat article on the pervasive discrimination in the huge Indian film industry:

Bollywood No Longer A Dream Too Far for India’s Lower Castes

Today, a trickle of actors, dancers and screenwriters from India’s lower and middle castes are trying to break into a formerly impenetrable star system, full of actors from Bollywood royalty and other insiders hailing from high-caste families. New drama schools are training Indians from all castes. And Bollywood is starting to tackle more serious plots that could potentially star low-caste actors.

“Will you get more attention if you have the right surname and are part of an entrenched star family? Of course,” said Anupama Chopra, a film critic and author of several best-selling books on Bollywood. “But there is increasing space now for a booming Bollywood film industry, and there’s a feeling that if you are talented enough, well, maybe you will get noticed, no matter what your family ties are.”

Across India, Dalits [a.k.a., Untouchables] and members of other low castes [actually, Dalits don't even have a caste -- being low caste would be a massive promotion for them] are struggling to gain access to quality education and better-paying jobs. The economy is booming, and Indians of low caste — often identifiable by their surnames, birthplaces or parents’ status — want to share in the wealth, or at least the opportunity.

Some aspiring actors from low castes say their confidence is growing. There is more social mobility than ever before, they say, and Bollywood is experiencing its share of change.

“It’s something new in the air for young people in some parts of India,” said Trisha Karmakar, 24, a member of a lower caste who moved to Mumbai from the poor, densely populated state of Uttar Pradesh. “It’s a feeling that at least there’s a small chance for lower castes and not just for the star kids who have their godfathers and always get the callbacks.”

Karmakar, speaking one recent day in a neighborhood of acting and dance schools, beauty parlors and pawnshops, said she has yet to land a role. But she said she is close to breaking into TV soap operas.

Well, don’t call us, we’ll call you.

As far as I can tell from reading the article, The Washington Post couldn’t actually find an Untouchable, of whom there are 160 million in India, who has acted in a Bollywood movie. The closest they could come was the following:

“One of Bollywood’s most beloved stars, Shahrukh Khan, is a middle-class Muslim with no film industry connections. He is often cited as an example of how charisma and sex appeal can trump connections and religious background in a country where Muslims are a minority.”

Which doesn’t seem very close at all.

But the fact that 160 million Untouchables are virtually shut out of India’s most famous export industry is not the point, according to the Post. We shouldn’t be thinking that the Bollywood tolerance glass is half empty (or, to be picky, 99.9% empty). The point is that the glass is full … of Hope. And Change. Change and Hope!

For years, I’ve been saying that emigration hurts Mexico. Besides all the dangers it poses to the illegals themselves, and exacerbation of family disintegration, it removes incentives for economic reform.
Well, a recent editorial in the Arizona Republic said about the same thing:
The editorial , Mexico Awakening, published April 23rd, 2008, says that

Remittances–nearly $24 billion in 2007, according to the Mexico’s Central Bank - help individual families but have a corrosive effect on Mexico. Without them, political pressure would build at home to create jobs. Without the relief valve illegal migration offers for Mexico’s unemployed, there would be enormous demand to deal with the corruption and lack of opportunity in Mexico.

The article also asserts that “Mexico is showing a welcome recognition of the downside of illegal immigration.”

As evidence it reports the words of President Calderon, who said in February that “I’m not a president who likes to see Mexicans leave the country, because every immigrant who leaves Mexico represents a loss.”

Yes, but just about every Mexican politician pays lip service to creating more jobs in Mexico. So this comment is not exactly revolutionary.
The Arizona Republic also reports how Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission recently issued two comic books, one for Mexican potential emigrants and another for Central Americans. The comic books portray

“graphic depictions of migrants brutalized by bandits, Mexican authorities and smugglers.”

The article says that the comic books and Calderon’s comment

“suggest Mexico is ready to recognize that remittances can’t compensate for the loss of its people and that it shares responsibility for ending illegal immigration. “

Maybe. But, as I have pointed out in a previous article , Mexico could end illegal immigration to the U.S. by just enforcing its own law regarding emigration. And this it still refuses to do.
If the U.S. would really shut the border, that, I think, would wake up Mexico!