For what it's worth, moments after posting my rant I reversed the order in Google Reader from "Oldest" to "Newest", confirmed that the most recent entries were still sample entries, and wiped the whole thing. It's still pretty annoying though.

My geek cred has been diminished! It's been pointed out that Leia's line is to Tarkin, not Vader. So much for that theory.

Brendan, thank you for the reasoned, civil response. You make a good point, and I think most everyone would agree that we don't want anyone to be harrassed because of the color of their skin. I'm not exactly sure which portion of the bill you're referring to, but if it has to do with the law officer's discretion in identifying potential violators I think that's probably similar to the INS's discretion now.

My former brother in law was a police officer and highway patrol officers for a few years. We could be driving at highway speeds passing vehicles coming the other direction and he could tell you if the inspection sticter (slightly bigger than a business card) was out of date. Officers are trained to spot details that other people don't see, and I'd be willing to bet that after a while cops get really good at picking out illegal immigrants from legal ones. Will there be abuses? Yes. There are cops who abuse their power now, and they don't need an immigration law as an excuse. We have to operate under the assumption that A) most cops do not abuse their power, and B) those who do eventually get caught. If we don't accept those two articles then it means we've lost faith in one of the foundations of our civil government. That way lies madness.

I spent a dozen years in business communications (mostly marketing), I've been president of a publishing outfit, and I served multiple terms as a board member of my local chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators... and I'm STILL an introvert. This book sounds like it was written for me!

Stubbed her foot while letting Petey out in the middle of the night.