Sleepless in Midland

Freakonomics, the blog

Although I haven't yet read Freakonomics, I'm riveted to the tv every time the author, Steven D. Levitt, makes an appearance.  His research has bought to light some information and theories that just aren't available elsewhere; the economics of drug dealing gangs, for example.

What a thrill it was to learn that he and co-author Stephen J. Dubner have a Freakonomics blog.

It's a fun site in which to browse around.  And it's not all economics.  The little bits of gossip, such as speculation that Al Franken has taken up residence in Minnesota in anticipation of a run for senate, make for juicy reading.

"I'm not extinct; I just lost a little weight, that's all." - the Texas Horny Toad

Actually, it's the Texas Horned Lizard for you purists out there. This one had been relocated by the construction of a new store on his old stomping grounds.

How to Place an A/C on a Wal-Mart Roof - a pictorial guide

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!"

The MPD Bomb Squad Performs

Thursday afternoon the four person bomb squad of the Midland Police Department gave a public demonstration of some of the tricks of the bomb defusing trade.

As recently as last month there was a suspicious package found at the Wal-Mart store that caused quite a scare.  It turned out to be a false alarm, of sorts.  It was a brick in a box that someone planted in the store.  But the bomb squad had to take charge, make sure everyone was safe, and do whatever it took to render the device harmless.   A news roundup of the incident can be found at Bert's Blog.

In the last couple of years there have been 33 bomb alerts in the city of Midland to which the bomb squad had to respond.  Most of them were false alarms, but a dozen of them involved actual explosive devices.

The first priority of the bomb squad is to try to make sure that no one is going to get hurt.  Once the area is secure they try to determine what the device is.  And they have to decide whether to deal with the thing right there or haul it somewhere safer.  They've got an x-ray machine to look inside of a container, but that's not practical for everything.

The PAN Disrupter

One of the most common devices used by law enforcement and the U.S. military to disable a bomb is a device developed by Sandia National Laboratories, and the first usage made public involved the Unabomber's last bomb.  More recently, they disarmed the infamous Shoe Bomber's bomb.

It's the Percussion Actuated Non-electric Disrupter.  Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?  ("Sandia: making things, not names.")  Practitioners of the bomb defusing trade know it as the "PAN Disrupter."

As recently as 2002, the workings of the PAN Disrupter were kept secret due to security reasons, but now the devices are in use by bomb squads across the country.  And according to REDECOM Magazine, the U. S. military Explosive Ordnance Disposal units have been using it on unexploded ordinance for years.   Furthermore, a brief Google search turns up some very detailed information about it.  So don't worry about any classified info getting out here.

The PAN Disrupter consists of a hollow stainless steel tube secured to a frame. The tube actually serves as a gun barrel which uses a blank 12 gauge shotgun shell and a projectile of a type deemed necessary for the type of bomb they are dealing with.  The PAN Disrupter is loaded, and it's aimed at the bomb.  The shotgun shell is discharged with a spark sent though a long thin tube strung out a safe distance so that the technicians can stay far away when it fires.  Ideally, the projectile disables the bomb.  Or there's a possibility it could blow the bomb up.

But, someone has to set the PAN Disrupter up near the target, and the bomb suit is supposed to protect that person while he/she is doing it.  It's a hazardous job, and some jurisdictions send a robot in to do all of that close up work.

Another trick of the trade is to use water bombs to blow packages apart to expose their contents.  The bomb squad demonstrated that technique by loading small explosives devices in two plastic water bottles and aiming them at a cardboard box.  An electric charge ignites them simultaneously, and the force of the water literally blows the box away while leaving whatever was in the box intact.  In this case, it was a few sticks of fake dynamite.

If they have to haul it somewhere safer they can use the $26,000 Bomb Trailer purchased though a Department of Homeland Security grant.  It has a crane to hoist a potential bomb and load it into the tank.  The wall of the tank consists of a thick steel outer wall, several inches of Styrofoam, and an inner steel wall.  It's open at the top so that the force of any explosion within the container will be projected upward.

So are we safe?

Hardly a week goes by in which we don't see headlines about a terrorist's bomb going off somewhere in the world.  The first line of homeland defense is to go find the terrorists and neutralize them before then can do something destructive.  But, many people say that it's only a matter of time before another act of terrorism occurs in the U.S.  So we all have to stay alert.  And if we are lucky enough to find a bomb before it explodes, then it's very reassuring to know that we have a bomb squad as proficient as this one.

Key Players

The bomb squad boss is Lt. Jim Reynolds.  And the guys on the ground are Sgt. Brian Rackow, officer Dave Edwards, and officer Troy Hively, who prior to joining the MPD, was a military explosive disposal team member in Bosnia with the job of disarming unexploded ordinance.  Thanks for all you do, fellows.  And stay safe.

Philosophical spammers

Spam in the inbox:

A superstition is a premature explanation that overstays its time.
Life would be tolerable but for its amusements.
What we imagine is order is merely the prevailing form of chaos.

Avoid fake viagra, get the real thing [spammer's link].

Whaaaa?

"Robin's Big Date" - A Batman spoof

What better time to reel out a Batman spoof?  I ran across this great little online short titled Robin's Big Date last month.  That's a mirror site, so if it doesn't work go to the movie maker's site at The Red Headed League for a link to other mirror sites.

Found it at  Screenhead, a great source.

Business or Coach? - Passenger Rocket Ships

Last week Blue Origin representatives held a public meeting in Van Horn, Texas, to describe their progress in the plan to build a facility, test rockets, and eventually develop a program for carrying paying passengers in suborbital flights up to 325,000 feet above sea level.

The plan calls for the Blue Origin facility to be located on a ranch consisting of an area roughly five miles by six miles in size in Culberson County and located about 30 miles north of Van Horn.  But first they have to obtain a license from the Federal Aviation Administration's Commercial Space Transportation office, and to do that they have to conduct an environmental assessment.  And a requirement of the environmental assessment is public meetings; hence the meeting last week.

Once the infrastructure is complete rocket ships will be trucked to West Texas from Seattle, Washington.  And once operational, the rockets are expected to take off and land vertically.  They hope that flight testing will be commenced in the fourth quarter of 2006 and would continue for three to five years.  Then, if all goes as planned, they will begin making trips with paying passengers.

From the Blue Origin website:

As a commercial venture, Blue Origin, LLC (Blue Origin) proposes to develop a launch facility to operate its Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), which is expected to carry paying passengers on suborbital, ballistic trajectories to altitudes in excess of 325,000 feet above sea level. Blue Origin proposes to locate its launch facility on privately-owned property in Culberson County, Texas. Operations at the launch facility would include development testing, pre-flight processing and flight, landing and recovery activities. To accommodate these activities, Blue Origin proposes to construct a variety of buildings and related improvements. Blue Origin's anticipated operations require that it obtain an experimental permit and/or a license from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The big question on everyone's mind is probably this:  "How much will a passenger ticket cost?"  According to Stephanie Corley of the Big Bend Sentinel (link below), the people at the meeting were told that it will be set by the market.  Given the already high level of anticipation and the common laws of supply and demand, we can expect that the first ticket prices will be stratospheric.  The first flights will probably just be up and down from the same spot, but eventually when the novelty wears off, paying customers will likely want to go somewhere else, the moon, for starters.  Or, stealing a movie line, to infinity and beyond.

Resources:  The Blue Origin website;
Van Horn Advocate - Blue Origin explains launch details (Note, not a permalink);
Big Bend Sentinel - Blue Origin plans to shoot adventurers into space in 5 to 7 years;
Space.com - Blue Origin Spaceport Plans are Talk of Texas Town;
Space.com - Public Meeting Details Blue Origin Rocket Plans.

Jimmy Patterson's Person-to-Person

If there is anyone in Midland who deserves an honor, it's Jimmy Patterson.  Every week he cranks out a person-to-person column in the Midland Reporter-Telegram profiling some citizen.  But, they're not the usual suspects.  They're not the super stars.  They're not the people on the front page. They're the every day people.  The hard workers. They are the people who make life better for the rest of us simply by showing up for work day after day.

He might profile an Eagle Scout.  It might be an preacher.  It could be a baseball fan.  An author.  A small business owner.  A doctor.  A cancer survivor.  A person who delivers meals-on-wheels.  It could be anyone.

These are the every day heroes that make a community great.  And by bringing some attention to them Mr. Patterson is doing such a great service.

Ideally, someone would do a person-to-person profile of Jimmy Patterson.  But there's really no one who could do it as well as he could do it.  In the meantime, super sized kudos to Jimmy Patterson for helping make this community the great place it is.

And by golly, he still finds time to run Sticky Door Knobs, too!

Is the Green Mile really green? Death Row Trivia-

Texas seems to be a lightening rod for criticism about executions.  And the jokes?  "In Texas we have a death row express lane," says comedian Ron White.

Be that as it may, there's a treasure trove of death row trivia at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Death Row Information page.  Click on Death Row Facts at that site for some interesting tidbits.  Sample:

Where is the Texas Death Row? Men on death row were housed in the Huntsville Unit from 1928 until 1965 when they were moved into the Ellis Unit at Huntsville.  In 1999, death row was moved from the Ellis unit to the Polunsky Unit where each offender has his own 60 square foot room with a view (window).  The women's death row is located at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

What crimes are punishable by death?  "The following crimes are Capital Murder in Texas:  murder of a public safety officer or firefighter; murder during the commission of kidnaping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or retaliation; murder for remuneration; murder during prison escape; murder of a correctional employee; murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses (murder, capital murder, aggravated kidnaping, aggravated sexual assault, or aggravated robbery); multiple murders; murder of an individual under six years of age."

Who was the most notorious Texas death row inmate?  Perhaps it was Raymond Hamilton who was a member of the "Bonnie and Clyde" gang.  He escaped once and was recaptured.  Convicted of murder, he was executed in 1935.

So was the green mile really green?  You won't find this one at the TDCJ site.   "The Green Mile" was the name of a novel by Stephen King - you can read it online here - and the green mile was supposed to have been a long green linoleum hallway in the death row cell block.  It sprang from Stephen King's incredible imagination.  From the book's introduction:

I felt as if I were creating a world almost from scratch, as I knew almost nothing about life on death row in the border South during the Depression. Research can remedy that, of course, but I thought that research might kill the fragile sense of wonder I had found in my story—some part of me knew from the first that what I wanted was not reality but myth. So I pressed on, stacking words and hoping for a kindling, an epiphany, any sort of garden-variety miracle.

Death row.  Not a nice place to visit.  And you wouldn't want to live there either.

Fear has a name

What are you afraid of?  Whatever it, most likely there's a name for it on The Phobia List.

If Franklin D. Roosevelt had access to this list he might have said, "The only thing we have - (pause) - is phobophobia."  (What he actually said can be found here.)

Dads. What to get yourself for Father's Day.

All drivers should keep their vehicle tires inflated to the proper pressure.  But, it's hard to do.  If you are like me then you feel a tinge of guilt for using the air pump at a full service station when you bought gasoline at the cheapest self service station you could find.  And the air pumps at the cheap stations charge $0.50 per use.

So here's the solution:  A portable air pump that plugs into the wall socket.  I bought mine at Sears, and the price with tax was a shade over $62.  It's simple to use, and it tops off the tire pressure in no time at all.  My two cars get aired up a couple of times a year, and that would add up to a couple of bucks a year if I bought air at the station.  So the portable pump should pay for itself in no time at all.  Okay, that's over 30 years.  But, the little thing is so cute!

Cookies and Pie (on our computers)

Here's my nomination for most annoying message on a webpage:

If you are having trouble gaining access to this site it may be due to your browser settings.

Please follow these instructions for enabling cookies to enhance the viewing of this site.

...

[Detailed instructions for inviting any and every cookie in the universe onto your hard drive follow.]

Cookies have such a bad reputation that marketers are trying to change their image.  That's right, they are trying to make cookies easier to swallow.

In an article titled "Marketers seek to make cookies more palatable," Wall Street Journal writer David Kesmodel details some of the ways.  Here's a link to the article at Post-Gazette.com.  (Warning:  If you click that link they'll try to stick a cookie in your browser, if you let them.)

Their goal is to try to get the Legislature to save the cookie from spyware and virus legislation and to try to persuade the anti-virus and anti-spyware software makers to leave the cookies alone.  They also want to try to persuade computer users that cookies may actually benefit them by allowing more personalized content.  An organization has been formed called Safe Count which hopes to preserve the cookie process so that marketers can get information from the computers of visitors to their sites.

Most browsers allow the computer users to block cookies, and many computer users have activated those features.  But, tech wizards have come up with a way for marketers to get around those blocking features.  A company named United Virtualities has invented a thing called a Persistent Identification Element or PIE.  (See "Cookies And PIE - An Introduction To Flash Security" at WebProNews.com).

What's PIE?  It utilized Macromedia's Flash and can restore deleted cookies and act as a cookie backup.  And since it uses the Flash program, PIE can gather much more information than cookies.

Apparently, Flash users who don't have pop-ups blocked will see a Macromedia pop-up  about security.  But, I've never seen it.  Fortunately, however, there's another way to get to the settings.

Macromedia's website allows the end user to change the settings and delete the PIEs already on the computer.  Go to Flash Player Help - Website Storage Settings Panel to view and get rid of the ones already there.  And go to Flash Player Help - Global Settings Panel to specify the default storage settings for websites you haven't yet visited.

It's a shame that Macromedia can't prohibit the use of Flash in a manner that allows PIE.  Ideally the browser makers could install an easier way to adjust the Flash settings, but until then, hats off to Macromedia for providing a way for consumers to battle it themselves.  And as for cookies?  I've lost my appetite.

Kinky Friedman's Immigration Plan

Possible Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman was a guest on Imus in the Morning this morning.  And he provided what he called the "Six Mexican Generals" plan for immigration into Texas from the South.

According to the plan, six Mexican Generals would be assigned a stretch of the Mexican border and promised one million dollars each to prevent illegal crossings.  Each General's million dollars would be reduced by $5,000 each time someone crosses into Texas illegally.  The million dollars, as reduced, would be paid at the end of a period of time not yet determined -- the Kinkster is an idea man, not a details man.

It's a clever plan.  But, it wouldn't work.  If nothing else, it would establish an entry fee of at least $5,000 per entrant.  But, what makes it unworkable is that someone is going to have to count the illegal entries in order to make a proper accounting at pay-up time.  So if someone has to guard the border anyway, then why not put uniforms on them and give them the power to apprehend and return the illegal entrants?  Oh wait.  That's what we have now.

Flag Day Fotos

       

      

Flags about town on Flag Day -- June 14.

Texas Blogfests

There's an Alamo City Blogfest taking place in San Antonio this June 25.  And replies to my inquiries about it resulted in news about another -- possibly rowdier -- Hill Country Blogfest that will take place in New Braunfels that whole weekend.

Thanks to Christina at Feisty Repartee, who today is blogging about swimwear, and Jerry at Confabulation, who today is blogging about his his bucket garden, for all the info.  I almost made plans to go to one in San Antonio, but as it turns out, I won't be able to make either of them.  Maybe next year.

In the meantime, some local bloggers had a blogfest of their own.  See a photo at Streams.   (What?  No pocket protectors?  No green eyeshades?  No pajamas?)

Navel Gazing for Bloggers

Here's an interesting question for bloggers to ponder:  Who knows you better, the people who read your blog?  Or the people who know you in the physical world?  [Found at Pull My Finger.]

And at the same site, the The Blogger Lifecycle:

1. "Start reading blogs."
2. "You start a blog."
3. "You become a stats whore."
4."You become really personal on your site as the online and real-life worlds start confusing you."
5."You faux "retire" from blogging."
6. "You cave back into blogging in less than 72 hours."
7. "You decide to "get serious" about blogging."
8. "You have a pseudo flirty im/blogging/flickr flirting relationship with another blogger whom you have never met."
9. "You decide that you must meet other bloggers."
10. "You take a step back and metablog about blogging and what blogging has done about your blogging."
11. "See step 5."
12."You decide that as a result of step 10 and having repeated step 5 more than 3 times in the course of your lifecycle as a blogger, that you need to sanitize or reinvent your blog."
13. "You either lose your job because of blogging, are afraid of losing your job for blogging, or join a company that builds blogging tools."
14. "You decide to start an anonymous livejournal blog."

Carnival of Skeptics

Just discovered.  However, it appears that there have been nine of these already.  And The 10th Skeptics' Circle is up for viewing.

Jessica's Well on Hiatus?

Goodness gracious!!!  What happened at Jessica's Well?  Was the job outsourced?

JW earned a solid place in the blogospherian history book as Midland's first blog.  And the pithy remarks about just about everything were fun to read.

But, the main page says "Hiatus."  And the explanation says it's official.  So I guess we'll just have to wait until labor day to see if the JW crew comes back.  Anyway, I miss you already, JW.  Hurry back now, 'hear?

Correction:  Wallace at Streams was the first Midland blogger, and his blog, originally called "Pedro's Dreamland," is coming up on birthday number four.  Here are the first posts starting June 18, 2001 from his archives.  Allow me to be the first to wish you a happy blog birthday, Wallace.

(Thanks to Eric for the correction.)

(Note to JW:  You're gone just a couple of days, and they're stealing your thunder already.)

A (minor) Media Frenzy

Last week the Minuteman Project had a meeting in Odessa which I wrote about it in the post titled Minuteman Project in the Permian Basin.  And the local tv media were there in full force.  The Minuteman Project encountered significant opposition in other jurisdictions, so the local media were probably in attendance in anticipation of controversy.

The organizer, Mr. Shane Marler, did not shy away from the tv cameras -- the more people know about the issue the more likely the group's ultimate goal will be achieved, i.e., better border enforcement by the agencies whose job it is.

But, it was a quiet meeting.  There was a presentation, some questions, then everyone went home.

So why did the tv cameramen spend so much time photographing the people in the audience?  Not once did they ask anyone's permission.  Those audience members were there merely to find out more about the subect, but to see all of those video cameras jockeying around for shots of the audience one would think it was a mafia summit.

But if that's the beef, then here's the gravy.  There was a sign-up sheet on a table outside the meeting room, and several of the attendees put their names and contact information on it.  Shortly after the meeting ended, that sign-up sheet was still on that table.  And hovering over it with a very expensive looking tv-style video camera on a tripod was a guy in a "Big 2 News" T-shirt, and his camera was focused directly on that sign-up sheet.

Now why would he do that?  Was this an FBI agent building a dossier on the people who attended the speech?  Or perhaps it was simply an inexperienced tv photographer unable to find the appropriate balance between an incessant boss's entreaties to intrude and an innocent person's right to be left alone.  In any event, it was a striking scene.  It occurred to me to snap a photo and catch Mr. Big 2 in the act, but I was too slow on the draw.

So here's a scoop for mainstream media.  If the concept of citizens on patrol is news to you, then you are sure to want to know that the Citizens on Patrol is operating right under your noses.  Those citizens spend several hours each month patrolling the streets of Midland looking for lawbreakers.  They even have a car and a van exclusively for their use.  MSM, check it out.  News at 10.

And finally, if you saw my post about the meeting then you saw a photo of Mr. Marler.  Be aware that I asked him, and he granted permission to publish his photo.

*****************

UPDATE, 6/08/05, 4:00 pm CDT:  Sam Eaton of Big 2 News responds:

Wow, my first time ever posting on a blog...and my picture's already on the Web site. (That's me in the infamous Big 2 shirt interviewing Shane in the picture accompanying your previous story.)  I just wanted to make a few points in defense of myself and the evil media in general.

Your first point is correct, I was expecting controversy at the first meeting of the Texas Minutemen, but not because of what you might think. I spoke to a prominent member of the local republican party earlier in the day who told me that there would be protesters at the meeting. I won't mention his name at the risk of embarrassing a friend.

You're right about Shane not shying away from the TV cameras, and rightly so...he invited us. That's right, the media was invited. That means that barring something very unusual there is nothing unethical about taking pictures of attendants at an open meeting. Furthermore, taking pictures of the audience for a news story that centers around a meeting is a common practice among photographers. It is the first step of an editing technique that allows video to seem to flow uninterrupted despite the use of only one camera. Watch any newscast and you'll notice many "audience shots." It's something I learned my first semester of college.

I don't really want to address the issue of filming the names on the sign-up sheet, but I do feel the need to explain my personal motives. First of all, you mentioned my "very expensive looking tv style video camera." Something funny about those cameras, unless you're looking through the viewfinder, it's virtually impossible to know exactly what it's focusing on. Unless you took a peek in the camera when I wasn't looking, there's no way you could know that it was "focused directly on that sign up sheet." The zoom is powerful enough that from where I was standing I could focus on the title of the sheet, and then the section where respondents rate their interest in the project. I did take one wider shot of the sheet, but at that distance it would have been impossible to read any of the names. Oh, and if you watched the show at 10, you would have noticed that none of those shots were used anyway.

As for the conspiracy theory that I was secretly recording names in an effot to feed them to the FBI, don't you think it would have made more sense to try to blend in with the crowd, and non chalantly taken down some of the names, as opposed to carrying a $20k camera and wearing a t-shirt from a local network news channel?

In any event, thanks for the news tip, and perhaps you've inspired me to get out of the picture business and into the writing business, now that I have a little practice.

Posted by: Sam Eaton

*****************

My reply:

Sam,

Thanks for clearing that up.  If you say you weren't photographing personal information on that sign-up sheet, then I'll take your word for it.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I suspect that the members of that audience would have appreciated the same level of privacy you extended to your anonymous source regardless of some ethical pass issuing from the fact that the meeting was widely advertised.

As far as "ethics" are concerned, it sometimes seems as if news people follow a code that is foreign to the rest of us.  Our mothers might have taught us that certain behavior was rude, but here's the apparent counter argument:  Everyone else was doing it.

Actually, I'm being very hypocritical.   I've been posting my own photos on this blog for less than a year, and up to now I've tried to avoid publishing photos of people who didn't give consent, either real or implied.  But I'm still kicking myself for not photographing you photographing that sign-up sheet.  For me, that was the story of the night.

Having said all of that, I want to thank you for leaving the comment and especially for being so civil about it.  Not everyone could have expressed himself as well as you did.  And if you like to write then you should consider starting your own blog.

George Johns

Minuteman Project in the Permian Basin

Thursday night Shane Marler made a presentation in Odessa to a group of people about the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and its application along the Texas border.  He is attempting to get volunteers for patrolling the Texas/Mexico border to spot people making illegal border crossings and report them to the Border Patrol.

Watch and Report

He emphasized that the job of the volunteers would be to watch and report, and nothing else.  He hoped that the organization could establish some patrols along the border in October, and the initial plan is to place four to eight people every eight to 12 miles armed with binoculars, radios, cell phones, and G.P.S. guidance systems.  They would be in regular contact with each other as well as with a base of operations.

And since the land along the border is private property then the owners permission would have to be obtained prior to any entry.

Mr. Marler was very emphatic about the need for restraint among those who participate.  Racists need not apply.  And there would be no violence anticipated.  He said that volunteers could not confront anyone they found attempting to enter the country illegally, but their job was to report it to the Border Patrol.  If someone initiated a confrontation with a volunteer the volunteer would be required to retreat, and any weapons could be used only in self defense.

Opposition Groups

The goal of the MCDC sounds simple enough, but their work in Arizona generated a great deal of controversy, and if you've seen news reports about them in recent weeks then you're probably aware of some of the hysteria displayed by opposition groups.

In anticipation of such a border-watching movement in Texas, U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, wrote a letter to Texas Governor Perry trying to stop them.   Governor Perry responded on May 20 by kicking the ball back into her court:

Thank you for your letter about the Minuteman Project and border enforcement.

As you know, I did not invite the Minuteman Project to Texas.  Nor do I, or any other elected official, have the authority to prevent law-abiding citizens from traveling to, from or within this state.

With that said, I fully understand and can appreciate the frustration that many Texans and others across the nation have with illegal immigration, its potential impact on our national security and the unacceptable burden it is placing on taxpayers, and state and local criminal justice, education, and health care systems.  A recent report issued by the Pew Hispanic Center found that there has been a 23 percent increase in illegal immigration in the past four years.  It is estimated that more than 10 million undocumented immigrants now live in our country with 1.4 million in Texas alone.  The continued flow of a significant number of undocumented immigrants into the United States is not acceptable, especially in the post-9/11 era.

Border control and enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration are the responsibilities of the federal government.  As a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, you are in a position to address this important matter.  The federal government can and must do more to close the border to illegal immigration.  Until that happens, these kinds of citizen-initiated efforts likely will be the result.  If you want to send the Minutemen home, I urge you to make sure we have enough federal agents on the border to secure it.

Sincerely,

Rick Perry

Governor

(Emphasis added.)

The Objective

Mr. Marler reminded the audience how inconvenient it is to board an airliner because of the security put in place after 9/11.  But that whole security mechanism is based on the idea that the next 9/11 will also involve airliners.  Of course the airlines should be secure, but to ignore the illegal border crossings seems very risky.  He pointed out that illegal border crossings were equivalent to someone boarding an airliner through the back door without having gone through any security check.

The point the Minuteman Project is trying to make is that the border enforcement agencies aren't doing their jobs.   And their ultimate objective is to pressure the U.S. Government into doing a better job of patrolling the borders.  There are a lot of people coming across the river just to get a decent job, and most people sympathize with them, but there could be others who mean us harm.  And at present there doesn't seem to be  much to stop them.

There was a lot of the finger pointing following 9/11, and we all wish it could have been prevented.  However, in light of the controversy surrounding the MCDC in Arizona then one has to wonder how the politically correct crowd would have reacted had someone tried to stop Muhammad Atta, et al., in advance.

Links

For another report of the same event, here's the OA Online report.  And Mr. Marler is attempting to set up a website which should be up and running on Monday at Texasminuteman.org.

Thunder Boomers -- A Rude Awakening

Today will be remembered as the day everyone fell asleep at their desks.  Or perhaps remembered as the day we all had to double up on the coffee.

The first thunder storm hit around 2:30 a.m., and just about the time we should have gotten back to sleep, the next one hit.  And it was quite a light show.

We humans will catch up on our sleep this weekend.  But I worry about the dog.  He sleeps all the time anyway, so how's he ever going to catch up?

Texas Railroad Commission railroad map

Most Texans think of oil and gas when the Railroad Commission comes to mind.  But, apparently they actually regulate railroads, too.

So I was flipping around the Railroad Commission website and stumbled on this map purportedly showing the rails in Texas.  The little blue lines labeled "Other Railroads" are intriguing.  Note the short line that appears to connect Pecos with Balmorhea.  And another one appears to connect Austin with Llano by rail.  That could make for a scenic ride.

Those rail lines may be long out of service, but it's fun to imagine a ride in the dining car along those routes while sipping on a Lone Star as the scenary passes by.

Tributes

Each of us pays tribute in his/her own way.  And on Memorial Day the group at the Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial paid tribute with a motorcycle rally.  There were some nice looking cycles there Monday morning, and the ride around town must have been a pleasure for those participating.

And here's an odd way to pay tribute.  On Tuesday evening, roughly 36 hours after Rolling Thunder rolled away, there remained what appeared to me to be an unusual way to memorialize the Vietnam veterans.  It was six bullets.  Six rifle cartridges left on a name plaque.  They appeared to be bullets for an AK-47 -- the North Vietnamese weapon of choice -- and an odd choice for a memorial.  Maybe that's become part of the tradition, but it certainly seemed to be an unusual way to pay tribute, not to mention dangerous.  These aren't toys for the tots who use the nearby playground.

I know what you're saying, "If bullets are so gol darn dangerous, why didn't YOU pick them up?"  Well, I don't have any way to dispose of them, but the Midland Police Department does, so when I got home I called them to report it, and hopefully the officer on duty at the airport collected them.  They'll probably go to the property room for a month, then they will be properly destroyed.  And to whomever left them there, I'm sorry I ruined your tribute, but live rounds really shouldn't be left lying around.  Stick with flowers -- the flower children might have been onto something.