Thursday, January 26, 2006

Such a clever explanation, Mr. Secretary

Can you believe it? Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez suggested American soldiers disguised as Mexican troops may have been in the military-style Humvee filmed earlier this week protecting a marijuana shipment on the border. He says our boys had done it before.

Only I have a difficult time believing any American soldier would be willing to impersonate a Mexican soldier.

Let's see, Secretary Derbez, you say our guys snuck over to Mexico, donned Mexican uniforms (how believable would the impersonation be if they were wearing American uniforms?), came back across the Rio Grande to help some drug smugglers escape back to Mexico after a botched delivery, then changed out of the Mexican uniforms and crossed back to the U.S.?

Why?

I can see the money, but for what reason would any drug lord want to make the Mexican authorities look bad to the U.S.? Why pay American soldiers to look like Mexican soldiers? Wouldn't it be cheaper for the drug lords to dress up locals as Mexican soldiers? Or hire mercenaries?

He can't prove it, but neither can we.

I know! Let's go ahead an apprehend a few and really find out! Mr. Secretary, do we have permission to engage and detain your troops, if we catch them doing this again?

I didn't think so.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Maybe they thought we'd invited them for dinner...

Is it any surprise that Mexicans for the most part cross the U.S. border with impunity, when we have turned a blind eye as a government to incursions by Mexican soldiers (14-day link) into Texas?

Why do we even bother with border patrols any longer? Does Texas even have a border with Mexico any longer? There was a day when foreign troops crossing our border without permission was considered an act of war. Now, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says many of the incursions could have been mistakes, blaming bad navigation by military personnel.

Right. Across the Rio Grande. Easy to make that mistake.

Mexico denies the incidents. Of course it does. It makes them look bad. It isn't enough to have your soldiers crossing the border without permission, but they are apparently doing so under the pay of some local drug lords.

Chertoff suggested the soldiers might be criminals in disguise. Well, Mr. Chertoff, why don't you tell your border officers to try to arrest them and find out? Any way you look at it, the border crossings are illegal, so for Pete's sake, act on it.

Look, we have known for a long time our borders aren't secure, but isn't it time we did something about it? No, I'm not saying walls... but I am saying we should give our officers the authority and ability to stand up to Mexican soldiers (on the assumption the Texas government won't dispatch the Texas National Guard to lend assistance, which, given Texas' history, equally surprises me).

I mean, enough's enough!

Friday, January 20, 2006

Getting the wrong job offers

Still on the job hunt, waiting patiently for the various interviews (how many people really need to talk to a guy before he gets hired, anyway?). Having not accepted any offers, yet, the resumes still go out...

And I get inquiries from people to whom I never sent a resume. I believe these come from the obligatory copies I have on file with CareerBuilder and Monster (no, I'm not linking them; everyone should know how to reach them by now). What gets me about these inquires is that they have nothing to do with the position I'm seeking. No, I don't want to be a:

Car salesman (used or otherwise).
Insurance salesman (three have tried, but different companies are still trying this; I'm a licensed adjuster, not a salesman).
Lawn-care salesman (this company has asked for me twice, and I said no both times).
Security alarm installer (at least this one comes kind of close to being part of the IT world).

Don't these recruiters bother to read the resume before writing me? I'd call it spam, but the line is pretty fine between soliciting me to apply for one of these jobs and asking me to apply for a real IT job. I doubt there are filters that good at sorting between them, and I dare not miss an opportunity for something I'd prefer to do.

After all, Bocona still reminds me that hurricane season is only a few months away. Funny thing about that: not too many insurance companies want to hire inexperienced adjusters who aren't fresh out of college. I guess even Bocona can be wrong on occasion... but I better not say that in her ear shot!