Israel strikes a weapons convoy in Sudan, claiming Iran is using Sudan to get arms to Hamas. The US mounts raids on supposedly Taliban-controlled Pakistan. And this week, Pakistan's Taliban threatened to attack Washington.

In the middle of all this, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending a conference on Afghanistan where she says the priority will be bolstering Afghanistan's border security.

Border Security? Except where it comes to that good old border with Mexico, the whole idea's beginning to sound like an awfully old fashioned notion.

Without seeking to condone cross border attacks by anyone, it's getting hard to keep track.

Hamas rocket attacks bad; Israeli aerial bombardments alright; Pakistani Taliban attacks terrible; but US attacks on Pakistan fine? The US apparently at the very least stood by while Israel bombed a supposed Iranian weapons convoy in Sudan, killing up to forty.

As Bernice Johnson Reagon would say -- Help Me Now!

And to top it all off, the self-righteous wall building continues: to police border crossers -- Palestinians into Israel, Mexicans into Arizona, Iraqis from one part of Baghdad to another.

Weapons good, people bad? Killing across borders ok, but not migrating to make a living?

If you can make sense of all this, let me know. I'm stumped. And oh yes, by the way. Happy Cesar Chavez Day. Chavez wasn't always so great on migrants issues back in his day, but I bet he would have wised up by now. Barack Obama's in favor of making the great United Farm-worker leader's birthday a federal holiday.

Eight states have done it already. There's a national petition drive going on for a national Chavez day of service and learning. I'm for it. We need it. Especially the learning.