Jonathan D. Blundell

I think I’ve been inspired to start a new category for the blog. Not sure why, but I decided that rather than e-mailing or calling my friends to tell them about new recipes I’ve discovered, I might as well just blog them and share them with everyone interested (or not).
So, look for Casa de Blundell for any random recipes I try out or come up with – and feel free to share your own.

I sent a quick e-mail to the congressmen who voted against the fence along the border and actually have gotten several responses so far. Maybe it’s because of who it is, but I thought it was cool that I got an (automated) e-mail from Sen. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Thank you for your message. Hearing your views is important to me, because it allows me to better understand the constituents that I serve in the United States Senate. It makes me proud to know that my constituents take an active role in our government by corresponding with me, and I look forward to responding to your concerns in greater detail.
As you can imagine, my office receives a great number of messages every day regarding a variety of issues – this is particularly true of e-mails. In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that your e-mail has been received, and to ask for your patience until I send you a more detailed response.
Again, thank you for writing. Please feel free to visit my website http://kennedy.senate.gov to follow my work in the Senate and to learn more about the services my office can provide to you.
Warmest regards
Ted Kennedy

Doubt I’ll see anything else, but you never know.

From the e-mail files:

Thanks to your efforts and the efforts of many others working to create a lasting peace in Darfur, I am pleased to report we have seen significant progress in recent weeks.
On May 5, the Sudanese government and Darfur’s largest rebel faction signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, laying out a plan to end three years of violence and raising hopes for a lasting peace in Darfur. There is a much more to do, however, before that hope is realized.
In the next two weeks, the Sudanese government and the two remaining rebel factions must come to terms in order to ensure a strong building block for a lasting peace. With or without additional signers, it is imperative that the parties live up to their commitments to end the genocide and rebuild Darfur.
Another significant step forward was taken just yesterday, as the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution demanding strict observance of the peace agreement, and calling for a quick transition from the current African Union peacekeeping force to a stronger UN force. Prior to the signing of the peace agreement, Sudanese President Bashir opposed a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur by saying that there was no peace to keep. With this peace agreement, however, that argument has been rendered moot.
Soon there will be a joint UN-African Union assessment mission dispatched to Darfur to assess the situation. Following their return, the stage will be set for UN Security Council consideration of a second resolution to actually authorize the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force.
These are real, substantive steps forward, and you helped make them happen.
In fact, just one day after over 50,000 rallied on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and thousands more rallied at events across the country, President Bush dispatched Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick to the peace talks to make sure that an agreement was reached.
Upon his return, Deputy Secretary Zoellick personally called the Save Darfur Coalition to express his thanks for the level of U.S. activism which helped make the peace deal possible. In an interview last week, he said that “of all I’ve dealt with in foreign policy over some 20 years that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen as much broad support from churches, from communities and universities.”
Your collective voices have helped accomplish amazing results thus far!
But much more still remains to be done. Work at the UN is far from over, funding for humanitarian aid and peacekeeping falls short and puts millions of lives at risk. And above all, the people of Darfur still must contend with the dual threats of violence and starvation every day.
As we continue the fight, there will be many more opportunities for you take action and help make a difference.
Best regards,
David Rubenstein
Save Darfur Coalition

So the Senate passed a bill today that will build a 370 foot fence along the U.S./Mexico border.
The House has already approved a bill that would build a 700 foot fence.
Are we serious?
I think it was a congressman who said, “A 10 foot fence will only make the man with the 11 foot ladder very rich.”
Eric suggested that maybe it will be a white picket fence to help people understand the Amerian dream and increase property values along the border.

Some stretches of the 2,000-mile border are already marked by fencing, most notably a 14-mile segment dividing San Diego from Tijuana. The Senate measure calls for triple-layered fencing but does not specify a location.
No Republican voted against the fence measure, which attracted wide support from Democrats. The 15 Democrats who voted against it (as did the independent James Jeffords of Vermont) were Daniel Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye, both of Hawaii; Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico; Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both of Washington; Christopher Dodd and Joseph I. Lieberman, both of Connecticut; Richard J. Durbin and Barack Obama, both of Illinois; Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin; Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts; Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both of New Jersey; Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.

No word yet on how much it will cost – or how tall the ladders will need to be to let people climb over.
Here’s a picture of our current fence apparently (doesn’t look too menacing):

BTW – I did all the work finding contact pages and info, so you don’t have to.