US Hate crimes bill – law by the weekend?

A spokesman with the American Family Association says the hate crimes bill passed Thursday afternoon by the House could have a chilling effect on free speech and religious freedoms in the nation.
“For the first time in American history we are criminalizing thought,” Read it all
(American Spectator)
“If Europe is getting more immigrants than its voters want,” Caldwell contends, “this is a good indication its democracy is malfunctioning.”

Every official prediction about Muslim immigrants proved false. Caldwell lays them out in detail:
Immigrants would be few in number. Since they were coming to fill short-term gaps in the labor force, most would stay in Europe only temporarily. Some might stay longer. No one assumed they would ever be eligible for welfare. That they would retain the habits and cultures of Muslim villages, clans, market-places and mosques was a thought too bizarre to entertain.
Their families and villages followed until the Muslim population swelled from tiny numbers in 1950 to as many as 17 million by 2000. There are now at least 5 million Muslims in France, 4 million in Germany, and 2 million in Great Britain. By the middle of this century, the foreign-born population could reach one-third in most European countries. Read it here>>
Australia:
Andrew Bolt:
This is becoming very, very expensive:
BORDER protection authorities have intercepted yet another boatload of asylum-seekers off Australia’s northwest coast, the 31st vessel to be detected this year…On board were 52 passengers and three crew…
So far this year, 1649 passengers have arrived by boat, ferried by a total of 64 crew members.

Former Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews makes a contrast with the number of boat people in the last five years of the Howard Government:
Since 2002, there were less than 250 illegal boat arrivals.
Is the Rudd Government absolutely sure it didn’t send out the wrong signal last year in softening our laws against this kind of thing? One small mercy, I guess: “only” 25 people have since drowned in trying to get here.
But the cost to taxpayers is enormous, to judge by figures released in May by the Government:
When calculated over the October-February period, the numbers show authorities spent more than $5.3 million on the 141 people who were in detention as of February 28 – or $38,000 a detainee.
That suggests the boat arrivals just this year alone have cost us around $65 million. And that’s just for starters…
FIVE PLUS ONE
Tim Blair
Five dodgy Norwegians give an encouragement prize to Barack Obama. According to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, this “confirms, finally, America’s return to the hearts of the people of the world.” The whole world? And here’s the Prez himself:
“This prize reflects the kind of world we want to build … I will accept this award as a call to action … We can’t accept a world where people are denied opportunity … This award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity.”
Who knew that fewer than half-a-dozen unknown gravlaks-munchers could make him do all that stuff?

That Nobel Peace Prize: Bashes Bush, Handcuffs Obama
Daniel Pipes
My prediction: The absurdity of the prize decision will harm Obama politically in the United States, contrasting his role as international celebrity with his record devoid of accomplishments. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, notes that Obama “won’t be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.” Expert to hear much more along those lines.
Wanna complain to the Nobel idiots? Not that they’ll listen. They’re morons. But if you wanna send ‘em hatemail go for it by writing to comments@nobelprize.org