Soccer

Hey, here's one for you combination political junkies and soccer fans. (You know who you are.) Ilya Shapiro, at TCS Daily, looks at an Israeli soccer club that's providing mentoring for kids of all stripes in Israel: "Jews, Arabs, Bedouins, and Druze." Shapiro says the non-profit project combines mentoring, tutoring, soccer training, and interaction with professional athletes:

The goal is to leverage the club's professional achievements and youthful love of sport to transform the lives of the underprivileged and promote understanding among different ethnic, religious, and socio-economic groups. Sports are thus a means of developing healthy young citizens, able and motivated to become contributing members of society.

From having watched the World Cup for the first time this year, and seeing how engaged the world at large is in soccer, I think this is a great idea, and from Shapiro's account, it's being very effective at helping underprivileged youth overcome their disadvantages (16,000 of them--girls too.) Go Team!!

Skilled Labor and Immigration Don't Mix

Here's a look at the hotly debated issue of immigration reform from the perspective of an immigrant--a legal immigrant. Ilya Shapiro is a lawyer in Washington DC who, along with other highly skilled professionals like him, apparently has no prospects of US citizenship, or even a green card, despite legal entry and gainful employment. It looks like his only hope for permanent residency is to marry an American. Volunteers?