The recent deployment of members of the National Guard along New Mexico’s Mexican border delicately straddles the Posse Comitatus Act, and smudges the already blurry lines between police, military and private contractors.

To see Callie’s Galley motoring down the road or parked at one of its several regular locations is to have a comedic encounter with an archetypal beast.

New Mexico now has offices in Munich, London and Paris! Sort of. According to an Aug. 25 press release issued by the New Mexico Tourism Department, European management and consulting company Mangum Hills Balfour will “consolidate the Department’s activities under one agency and act as the office for New Mexico in Europe.”

Even descending the stairs from the expansive view at Koi’s third-story, downtown Santa Fe perch to find that one’s bicycle has been stolen cannot ruin the sly exuberance one feels after a meal at Joel Coleman’s new eatery.

It makes sense that firefighters need to be in good physical shape: running into burning buildings, scaling trees to rescue cats, freeing injured people from mangled cars, handling heavy equipment—it’s best we weed out the wheezing, overweight, weakling masses.But Santa Fe’s firefighters aren’t just fit—they’re well-oiled cyborgs.

City Councilor Rosemary Romero wins the award for “most reasonable proposed ordinance” this summer. In a season that has seen suggestions for panhandling permits and bans against nudity and quasi-nudity, Romero’s proposed revamp of the city’s ethics code is stunning in its legislative relevance.

The roomy and welcoming nature of Pizzeria da Lino is belied by a cramped storefront entrance on N. Guadalupe Street and a parking situation more suited to flocks of Italian scooters than oversized American cars. Once inside, however, there’s an intimate bar and multiple rooms full of well-spaced tables. The outdoor courtyard is one of the more relaxing and friendly courtyards in town.

According to popular definitions for “mission creep,” there has been a recent textbook example here in Santa Fe. The Plaza Roundtable, established by city resolution in March 2009, recently delivered its recommendations on how to manage and maintain the Plaza.

It doesn’t take much in Santa Fe to turn drought into abundance. Fans of affordable, flavorful Vietnamese food who have filled from the tap at Lan’s Vietnamese Cuisine and Saigon Café can now add Pho Kim to the once half-empty cup that may soon runneth over.

I don’t know why we’re fighting a multi-fronted war on terror if it isn’t to preserve the God-given right to finish up a hard day’s work and crack open a cold one. In fact, the only thing more American than fighting to feed the military industrial complex may be our propensity for self-medicating.