Jonathan D. Blundell

From e-mail:

Maybe you’ve seen her on TV.
She’s a 22-year-old evangelical Christian and a volunteer with No More Deaths, an organization that searches the Arizona desert rescuing immigrants overcome by heat and exhaustion.
Her name is Maryada Vallet, and she’s making a difference. She’s made the national news recently, talking to reporters and meeting with politicians. She tells them about the desperate border-crossers she’s met. She speaks of separated families and overwhelming poverty.
And when they ask why she does it, she speaks of her faith. She reminds them about Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan.
Maryada is exactly the kind of young, emerging leader that our movement needs. Which is why, last year, Call to Renewal awarded her an Emerging Leader Scholarship to our annual Pentecost Conference on overcoming poverty.
This year, we want to offer scholarships to more young leaders like Maryada. But we need your help to do it.
We hope to strengthen our Emerging Leaders program for Pentecost 2006: Building a Covenant for a New America, June 26-28, here in Washington, D.C. More than 180 Emerging Leaders have already committed to being a part of this year’s Pentecost gathering. We want to be able to provide this opportunity to many more!
You can build the program by giving online through our secure donation page.
Across the country, young people are following Jesus’ call to give of themselves for others. At the Pentecost conference, we’ll help emerging leaders like Maryada learn new skills for faith-based advocacy to overcome poverty.
Help us raise the next generation of progressive Christian leaders. Make a gift today to the Pentecost 2006 Emerging Leaders program
Blessings,
Jim Wallis
Executive Director, Sojourners
Convener, Call to Renewal
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The mission of Sojourners is to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.

From the Star Telegram:

Democrat Chris Bell’s fundraising during the recent 30-day special legislative session on school finance was nearly on par with that of Republican Gov. Rick Perry and slightly ahead of independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn, according to reports filed Wednesday.
Bell, a one-term former congressman from Houston who has been seen as an underdog in this year’s governor’s race, reported collecting more than $333,000 from April 17 through May 16. Perry, who is seeking his second full term, reported raising just over $375,000. Strayhorn, the state comptroller who quit the Republican Party in January to run as an independent, raised about $307,000 during the period.
“This report shows that Chris Bell is consolidating his support in the Democratic Party in a serious way,” Stanford said. “People are beginning to realize that he is the only guy who can beat Rick Perry.”
Author and entertainer Kinky Friedman, who is also making an independent bid for governor, reported raising $149,142.

Texas Monthly will be covering the Governors Race in their July issue. Here’s an excerpt:

Yet I knew that the space separating us across the table was symbolic of something more: the unbridgeable divide that puts politicians and their close associates at a distance from the media. We would never agree on what it meant to be a great governor. Perry’s boosters insist that he has proved himself to be a leader with his toll road plan and his deregulation of college tuition. They point to tort reform passed on his watch—the strongest such measure in the country, and the model for others—and now they are touting his tax cuts. Even I would acknowledge that he did Texas proud by opening the Astrodome to Katrina evacuees and sending Department of Public Safety troopers to the border to meet the threat of violence from Mexican drug cartels. But I would also say that being a great governor means principled governance on behalf of everybody, not just slavish obeisance to your biggest campaign contributors. I would say that it means putting policy ahead of ideology, that it means addressing problems by doing what has to be done but not going overboard, that it means giving everybody a place at the table. In short, I believe that if the process is fair, the outcome will be fair, and that is about all that can be asked of politicians. This is not as hard as it sounds. Perry served with people who governed like that—Bill Hobby, Bob Bullock, Pete Laney, Bill Ratliff, and, before he went to Washington, George W. Bush. For that matter, I have seen Perry himself govern that way. But not often.

Just an FYI – from Wikipedia:
Any of my British mates know where this is? Wanna get a pic for me?
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, England and is home to Grimsby Town. In 2004 Blundell Park was listed in The Observer as one of the ten worst football grounds in the England.

El Grande Mexican Restaurant has opened in Waxahachie, where the old Busy Bee Bakery was.
The restaurant is owned by Jose and Rosalia Garcia and is their first venture in restaurant ownership.
The restaurant had a classy Texas decor and the food was fresh and tasty.
I usually look for three things at a Mexican restaurant, the beans, hot sauce and chips.
The chips were fresh and not heavy laden with grease. The hot sauce was good but a bit watery for my taste. The taste was reminiscent of Chili’s salsa. I didn’t try the beans, but my taco salad was great.
I tried to only have a small bite of the salad shell, but it was so light, fluffy and flavorful and I ended up eating most of it before I realized it. Doh.
Check them out at 1200 Ferris Ave, at the corner of Ferris Ave. (Hwy. 77 and Sycamore).

By JONATHAN BLUNDELL
Daily Light staff writer

There’s always a fear when purchasing new computers or technology that the product will be out of date before you get home.
But new online software, released yesterday by GoldenRam, hopes to take the worry and fear out of upgrading your PC.
The online ActiveX software, UpgradeDetect, will perform a detailed inspection of a computer system, analyzing more than 3,000 pieces of data down to the chip level. After analyzing your system the software will compile a complete report, listing suggested upgrades and including exact part numbers from which to choose.
Users are now one click away from a detailed list of possible upgrades for their PC compatible machines.
“The dirty secret of the computer industry is that corporate profits are based on users believing that the ‘state-of-the-art’ computer sold to them a few years ago is now outdated and worthless,” Betsy Scherzer, a spokesman for GoldenRam, said. “It is a selling cycle called ‘planned obsolescence’ and while it is keeping computer manufacturers happy, it sends mixed and often erroneous signals to consumers. For most PC users, their current system is more than adequate when properly configured. Furthermore, the cost difference between upgrading an existing system and buying a new one is substantial.”
The software works fine on a Windows XP machine, but tests in the office look like Mac users, including users of new systems with Intel processors, are out of luck. With the list, users can simply click-to-buy upgrades of preference and purchase add-ons like warranty protection, phone support and on-site installation.
With my Toshiba Satellite Laptop, UpgradeDetect recommended a RAM upgrade from my current 512 MB to 1 GB as well as internal and external hard drive upgrades.
The prices are about average for most of the parts bought online, but bargain shoppers can simply take the information and do a quick search on Froogle.com to search for the best deals — of course then you lose the assurance that you’re buying the correct part for your machine.
The site works great if you know what hardware requirements you need but for the computer novice, the options may get a bit confusing.
There’s nothing to tell you what your best options for upgrading are.
You’ll need at least a basic understanding of computer hardware to use the site to its fullest potential.
With Microsoft’s new operating system Windows Vista expected to be released early next year, many system owners will be looking to make major upgrades to run the graphic heavy OS, but while running the software for my laptop, no options were given for possible graphic card upgrades.
Currently Microsoft is recommending a PC with a minimum processor running at least 800MHz, 512 MB of system memory and a graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.
Many industry insiders are suggesting that users double those requirements to run the OS properly.
For a premium system, Microsoft recommends a 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1 GB of system memory, a graphics processor that runs Windows Aero, 128 MB of graphics memory, a 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space, DVD-ROM Drive, audio output capability and Internet access capability.
A DirectX 9 class graphics processor that supports a WDDM Driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, 32 bits per pixel and at least 64 MB of graphics memory is recommended to run Windows Aero, the high-end graphics portion of Windows Vista properly.
Users getting ready for Windows Vista will be best served using the UpgradeDirect site in conjunction with Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/
getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx. Otherwise, with a basic understanding of computer hardware and knowledge of basic system requirements for certain tasks, UpgradeDirect can become a highly useful tool.
To access the free software or for more information, visit UpgradeDirect.com. Jonathan Blundell is a staff writer with the Waxahachie Daily Light. He may be reached by e-mail at j.blundell (at) waxahachiedailylight (dot) com