Border

Americans are a bit schizophrenic on the matter of immigration this election season. We can't seem to decide whether we want to send them all back where they came from or put the child of immigrants on the Republican ticket for president. (For the record, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio calls his Cuban parents "exiles," not "immigrants," although they left before Fidel Castro took over.) In the midst of this volatile conversation - are we going to build a wall along the Mexican border or simply ask everybody in the American Southwest to carry papers?

A woman in her 70s was badly injured when she fell out of a moving antique pickup truck in Baltimore County Sunday morning near the Pennsylvania border, police said. Details of how the woman fell out of the 1949 black Chevrolet pickup were not available, and Baltimore County police were investigating the matter but it has not been determined whether charges will be filed, Lt. Rob McCullough, a police spokesman, said. The woman was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center as a precaution, but her condition was stable and she was able to answer questions from detectives, McCullough said.

Egypt has closed its border with Gaza and is building a 10 millimeter thick steel wall there to defend against Hamas. We hear no howls of outrage from the international community. The U.S. has hundreds of miles of security fencing to keep illegal immigrants from crossing our borders. Hundreds of millions of our tax dollars pay for it. China has a wall that is thousands of years old, originally built to defend her boundaries. We travel thousands of miles to walk on it. Hamas is a declared terrorist group with a charter that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel.

In June 2009, my husband Sam and I slammed down the hatchback of our Honda CRV, the interior bulging with containers of Legos and books, school supplies and board games, and a box of shoes, a tin of Old Bay in the glove compartment. On the roof was a plastic carrier with as much clothing as we could stuff into it: the necessities of five soon-to-be expatriates. Everything else was in the basement of our Lutherville home, with a new family moving in at the end of the month. Our mission: to give our three children a taste of life in a foreign country, where the language, food, and culture would be vastly different from suburban Baltimore.

I resent the time and effort being wasted by our local lawmakers and now our governor over the proposed Arizona immigration law. Your editorial ("Issue migrates from Arizona," July 13) fails to clarify the difference between immigration and illegal immigration. Arizona's law only relates to those in the country illegally. When the federal government won't do its job, and a situation becomes so bad, local authorities have to act. In May, the Baltimore City Council passed a resolution opposing Arizona's proposed law, and some council members wore buttons created specifically for the occasion.

It was ridiculous to read that the Maryland National Guard is being sent to Texas to patrol the border ("Md. National Guard to aid patrol of Mexican border," April 19). The only people coming over the southern border are the very poor who are desperate for some semblance of a decent life. If the Maryland Guard is in need of work, I think a better use of its members would be to go after the corporate tax cheats. For example, the guard should be arresting the CEO and the board of Wells Fargo.

THOUSANDS of guns and other dangerous weapons routinely purchased in the United States and smuggled into Mexico are hampering anti-crime efforts along the border, where violent drug wars and kidnappings - including those of at least 27 Americans - have left hundreds of people dead. The Bush administration must address this problem or it will seriously strain overtaxed U.S. border security and anti-smuggling efforts. Mexican officials, as well as Canadians, frequently voice frustration that their restrictive gun regulations are being undermined by America's more permissive guns laws.

WHEN MEXICAN President Vicente Fox was asked recently if he thought an immigration deal might be reached today when he meets with President Bush in Texas, Mr. Fox did not mince words. "Absolutely not," he responded, voicing his resignation that the U.S.-Mexico migration agreement he once believed was possible may not even happen during his presidency. Who could blame him? For the last five years, Mr. Bush has been promising Mr. Fox an immigration reform plan that would provide willing workers for American employers and paying jobs for unemployed Mexicans.

San Diego. -- Think of Upper and Lower (Baja) California as the two shanks of your arm. Where they meet at the elbow there should be a nice round olecranon bone and lots of soft material to allow smooth movement between the two.Right now, at the U.S.-Mexico border, it's just two bits of hard bone butting painfully up against each other.It is, of course, la frontera that is the problem, with its boundary fence perpetuating vast differences of language, economy and culture. It dictates an abrupt end of one civilization and the sudden beginning of another and creates a siege mentality on both sides.

About 40,000 U.S. troops will be returning from Iraq this year. Why not put those who can't find jobs on their return to work patrolling our 1,969-mile border with Mexico? They might not be able to patrol the entire length. However, they could watch the areas where illegals and drugs are known to cross over or tunnel under the border. This would serve two purposes. It would keep the military employed and ready for future problems and it would protect the United States in its quest to stem the tide of illegal drugs and people entering our country.

This is good news. Mari Luna Latin Grille is back open. Last Monday, a truck smashed into the front of the Pikesville restaurant, causing some serious damage. The restaurant reopened on Tuesday. The kitchen and dining areas are fine, but there is still work to be done on the front areas. General manager Salvador Khadra says that customers should use the restaurant's entrance from the back parking lots, off Deriso Lane. (You know, just make that turn onto Sudbrook). Mari Luna Latin Grille is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.

A Baltimore County senator is engaged in a bitter public clash with a giant energy company over its plans to build an underground natural gas pipeline that would run through land alongside his Owings Mills home and through the yards of many of his neighbors. Sen. Robert A. Zirkin has introduced more than a dozen bills in Annapolis that take aim at the gas pipeline industry and its federally granted powers to seek condemnation of private property. Zirkin says he is doing everything he can to protect the environment and the safety of his constituents.

Since the beginning of the republic, there has been a dynamic tension between constantly expanding diversity driven by immigration and the relentless homogenizing force of common American culture. And there's nothing like a long drive on an interstate highway to remind a person of that reality. Last week, I traveled 600 miles on I-5 cutting through the center of California, from Redding to Los Angeles. The force of homogenization was apparent at every major exit and interchange. I was hungry, but I was hoping to find something beyond McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Wendy's, Arby's or Taco Bell.

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When Maryland plays at West Virginia on Saturday, the two schools will continue a rivalry appearing to possess all the elements required for healthy football hostility. There is history - 48 meetings dating back to 1919. There is proximity - the campuses are within a four-hour drive. In many years, there has been competitive balance. West Virginia leads the series 25-21-2. The Mountaineers have won the past six meetings, with Maryland's last victory coming in the 2004 Gator Bowl.

The Orioles open their three-game series here with their third straight day game. The O's are coming off a big series win over the Yankees in the Bronx and hope they can continue that at Rogers Centre, where they are just 7-33 in their past 40 games. Some pregame fodder for you: -- The Orioles added left-handed reliever Zach Phillips before the game today and designated right-handed Jason Berken to make room for him on the 40-man roster. Phillips was already in the Orioles' September roster plans, but they need the extra left-handed arm. Brian Matusz has pitched in three straight games and Randy Wolf threw 3 1/3 innings in yesterday's 8-3 win over the Yankees.

WASHINGTON -- Before Sept. 11, 2001, Mexico and the United States were on the threshold of a tremendous breakthrough. President Vicente Fox and President Bush came to power with a shared commitment to deepen and widen the economic gains of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by defining a new bilateral partnership that would bring our two countries even closer, for the mutual benefit of the citizens of both nations. At the core of this partnership would be a new approach for the movement of people across our 2,000-mile border.

Americans are a bit schizophrenic on the matter of immigration this election season. We can't seem to decide whether we want to send them all back where they came from or put the child of immigrants on the Republican ticket for president. (For the record, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio calls his Cuban parents "exiles," not "immigrants," although they left before Fidel Castro took over.) In the midst of this volatile conversation - are we going to build a wall along the Mexican border or simply ask everybody in the American Southwest to carry papers?

There's a fun new neighbor at Harborplace. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. moved into the Light Street Pavilion in May, and the old mall, which had been looking down in the mouth, feels lively again — like a place people might actually have chosen to visit. Founded in Monterey, Calif., in 1996, the chain of casual seafood restaurants was inspired by a shrimp-loving character in the movie "Forrest Gump. " The Bubba Gump menu is packed with shrimp dishes, and the decor of a typical Bubba Gump restaurant is meant to suggest the waterside shrimp restaurant that the characters in the movie might have opened.