April 7, 9

4-9-08--Crossings by [illegal] migrants slow as job picture dims --WSJ A1
--"You don't have to predict it. We're in it." Thus did Paul Volcker respond to a question Tuesday about whether he still predicted a "dollar crisis" in the coming years. We hope current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is paying attention. ... The present climate, Mr. Volcker told his audience, reminded him of nothing so much as the early 1970s.--WSJ A14, editorial page

4-7-08--...with the dollar losing much value in recent years the pace [of foreigners buying local factories

and businesses] is picking up again, as some of the country's most valuable assets go on the block at bargain-basement prices. --NYT A1

--The Green Zone attacks on Sunday were, symbolically at least, a sign that forces hostile to the US

are still able to strike at the American nerve center and seat of government power in the capital of Iraq--NYT A1

--At West Point, a military historian and Iraq war veteran raises questions about Gen. Petraeus' counterinsurgency efforts. WSJ A1, A4

--How does golf thrive in [Sweden] and churn out PGA Tour pros such as Henrik Stenson, Jesper Parnevik and many others, along with LPGA superstar Annika Sorenstam and several other top women golfers? The answer is an attittude toward the game that is more egalitarian and more relaxed than in the US. Golf is much cheaper to play in Sweden than it is in the US, and the Swedish Golf Federation pays for the training of promising young players. The game is promoted as a family sport here, and there is less pressure on youngsters at the elite level, at least overtly, to succeed in competition. WSJ R8

--The percentage of recruits requiring a waiver to join the Army because of a criminal record or other past misconduct has more than doubled since 2004 to one for every eight new soldiers. The increase reflects the difficulties the Army faces in attracting young men and women into the military in a time or war. USA