“You feel like you’re the guy wearing the red shirt on Star Trek,” says Kirwin, referring to characters who often died on the TV show. He helped train his replacements in 2002. “It’s a very unpleasant situation. It’s unfair. These people appeared, and they’d sit and shadow us and watch what we do.” —Stephanie Armour —Workers asked to train foreign replacements (USA Today (will expire))

A wry bit of geek humor in an otherwise serious story about offshoring U.S. jobs. This reporter has a source observing that this emotional story is being milked by unions and anti-Bush groups during this election year; kudos to the reporter for putting that detail in what would otherwise be a formulaic (but gripping) story.