The James Logan Courier

By Jim Malone, VOA News
Washington
The war in Iraq and immigration reform continue to dominate the political debate in Washington. While much of the debate takes place in the halls of Congress, small but influential grass roots groups are making themselves heard in a big way, both in Washington and nationally.

Take the issue of immigration reform. Congressional efforts to pass a reform bill have stalled for the time being, in part because conservative Republicans like Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia oppose efforts to create a path to U.S. citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

"My message to them is, not in two weeks, not in two months, not in two years, never! We must be clear that we will not surrender America and we will not turn the United States over to the invaders from south of the border," said Goode.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

"PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END"
For: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
From: Eurocom/Disney Interactive
ESRB Rating: Teen (use of alcohol, violence)

There's no worse time to be a game reviewer than the summertime, which annually finds gamers besieged by a crush of movie-based titles that owe their release dates more to their source material than whether or not they're actually ready for release. Witness "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek the Third," two examples of decent games that could have used more baking time but were pushed out the door for maximum cash-in effect.

From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
José Gervasio Artigas (June 19, 1764 - September 23, 1850) was a national hero of Uruguay and is sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan independence". This is an ironic turn of events, considering that during his life he never sought the absolute independence of Uruguay as a separate State, but the forging of a Federation of Provinces that would include his country, "the Oriental Province" as it was known at the time.

His life
Born in Montevideo to a wealthy family; at the age of twelve he moved to the countryside and devoted himself to rural tasks on his family's farms. Observing the local inhabitants - especially the gauchos - he became good at handling weapons and riding, and entering into quasi-legal activities, especially smuggling, on the border with Portuguese-controlled Brazil.



Read more about Artigas, and a monument to him in New York City, free from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.