How ironic
Charlie Lehardy has noted the irony of the fact that the uniforms for US Border Patrol agents are made in Mexico. And this fact makes some agents nervous -- and has annoyed lawmakers. (Someone might try to sneak into the US wearing a Border Patrol uniform stolen from a factory in Mexico. Really? Not too likely.)

Actually, it all makes good sense. The more people in Mexico with good jobs, the fewer people there are from there trying to cross the border illegally. There is more than one way to stem the tide.


Off the beaten path
It has become my custom each Monday to share a link from my "favorites list" of church webpages. Today we're looking at Sawston Free Church (Sawston, England) -- nothing flashy or spectacular -- just ordinary people being the church -- quietly doing solid ministry.


Post-cheerleading careers
An inordinate number of the sales reps for drug companies are former-cheerleaders. There is a reason for that --"Known for their athleticism, postage-stamp skirts and persuasive enthusiasm, cheerleaders have many qualities the drug industry looks for in its sales force." I'm sure it doesn't hurt, either, that cheerleaders typically have other physical qualities which Americans consider attractive.


Portland
Capital of the open-source revolution--not such a bad thing to be known for.


WordPress blogs
Speaking of open-source, WordPress has started its own Blogger-style blog service. IOW, now you don't even have to fiddle with the WordPress quirks to have a WordPress blog.


Dan's neighbors
The problem is that they tend to party loud and long on Saturday nights. He's talked with them directly but they just don't "get it." The Turlock police don't (can't?) seem to do anything about it. Moving is not an immediate option. Anyone have civil suggestions?


San Diego...
is such a great place. How is it that they have such a concentration of problems with elected officials down there? This time their congressman, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, has pleaded guilty to charges of bribery. It almost makes you think that there might be something to the territorial demons thing.


Fire department issues?
In response to my posting on the missing pieces to the story about the fire at the Carnegie Arts Center (some of my blog appears in the Turlock Journal, a community newspaper published twice weekly) I received email from a man who says that he is a 20-year veteran of the Tracy Fire Department. He stopped by the fire on his way home from his shift and he thinks that there are other baffling questions regarding this fire. Why wasn't the aerial truck immediately dispatched? Why were they only fighting part of the fire? Is the mutual aid help adequate?

It sounds like there are some systemic issues -- not the least of which have to do with funding. As he observes, "The Turlock fire department is grossly understaffed." (There are only 11 firefighters on duty in the city during any given shift.)

Yup. But, of course if we were to do something about that it would cost us money -- higher local taxes. Some of the problem it is that we only get what we pay for.


Online sales
The Pew Internet and American Life Project said Sunday that one in six US Internet users have sold goods and services online and 2% do so on a given day.

I have a hard time believing that. Yes, I know that eBay is a bigger than life operation but the numbers seem exaggerated. Most of the people I know, whether in Turlock or abroad, are still just getting used to the idea that they should look first on the Internet when searching for information. It is still not a part of the fabric of their lives. And I can tell you that while some of these friends shop on the Internet -- very few are selling.


They're gone again
The boys both went back to their respective universities yesterday afternoon after being home for the Thanksgiving holiday. I miss them already. And I don't really look forward to having Betsy out of the house next year. It will be too quiet -- way too quiet. Of course, I'm very proud of my children and I like how they're turning out. But I still haven't gotten over the fact that they grew out of the toddler stage so quickly.


Confusion
There is some confusion regarding what exactly a bill signed into law on November 10th does and does not do in protecting alien religious workers in the US. The Department of Homeland Security is concerned about it.