Many links in one

....there's tons of news out there today but I'm rushing about so will just give you some links. Enjoy!

Instapundit is keeping an eye on Nigeria for good reason.

The army and navy forces in the Delta Region are facing better armed and equipped local gangs, and are not able to shut the gangs down. Tapping into oil pipelines and stealing oil continues, and this provides the gangs with a steady cash flow. The better armed gangs are branching out into more ambitious attacks on oil company operations in the Delta. Payrolls are a favorite target. The region is becoming more dangerous, and unruly.

Captain Ed notes congressional outrage about the FBI intrusion, and suggests that they back off. The old, "where there's smoke, there's fire" thought. From Yahoo news:

A GOP colleague, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, said the public "will come to one conclusion: that congressional leaders are trying to protect their own from valid investigations." ...

The House Judiciary Committee chairman, GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, announced a hearing next week, "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?"

But Vitter released a letter to his own GOP Senate leaders asking them to stop saying that the FBI raid violated the Constitution.

"For congressional leaders to make these self-serving arguments in the midst of serious scandals in Congress only further erodes the faith and confidence of the American people," Vitter wrote.

Barcepundit links to those articles on Katrina going around.

The Recovering Democrat has a thoughtful piece on the downfall of the Dixie Chicks. He's missing the part that the media usually misses too, (about the foreign soil) but it's worth the read about free speech, and open markets.

And finally
The NYTimes has found that our debate on immigration has taken a little turn. You know the old adage about, don't point your finger because when you do, there are three fingers pointing back at you? Well, it appears this debate has forced Mexico to look at their own country and see that there may be a problem there that causes 500,000 of their people every year to pick up and move to the states or that makes money sent from the US their 2nd big source of income!

"For too long, Mexico has boasted about immigrants leaving, calling them national heroes, instead of describing them as actors in a national tragedy," said Jorge Santibáñez, president of the College of the Northern Border. "And it has boasted about the growth in remittances" — the money immigrants send home — "as an indicator of success, when it is really an indicator of failure."

Amen.

This might be a source of the problem.....
A former foreign minister Jorge G. Castaneda while pontificating on options:

"But the elites here should reflect on this matter," he went on, "whether we want something in exchange for nothing?"

ummmm, "the elites"? lol Haven't they been the ones in charge all these years? Isn't it the nonelites that are smart enough to take matters into their own hands and come north? Give the nonelites a voice and you may find that they like their own country and would prefer to stay!