The Laughing Wolf

Some Quick Thoughts

First, I am going to be discontinuing comments for now. Seems a spammer or three are abusing my bandwidth so until I have the time to get the MT anti-spam stuff up and running, I am just going to shut down comments

Second, I was relieved to see Judge Roy Moore gone, though he will be back in politics. What he was trying to do was dangerous, and I have no doubt that he can ride the issue to high office in the state. Feh.

Third, while I haven’t seen anything on it in about a week, there was a brief flash in local coverage of the case of Child Abductive Services and Marta Alonzo, a teenage mother and child they separated. This case, out of Athens, Alabama, has drawn the attention of Misha, myself, and others and it has gotten even weirder. According to the Huntsville Times, DHR was presented as saying, in best China style, that continuing publicity could hurt the mother and chances for a reunion. According to Channel 48 that night, there was a rally and it was said that the people who originally took the child were not DHR, but that no charges had been filed. Other stories say that the agency did reverse itself and say that they were DHR employees. My thoughts on the DHR comments in the paper, especially given that they have both the mother, who is a minor, and the child in separate custody, are that such do DHR and the state little credit and raise a LOT of questions. As does the fact that if the original takers were not DHR, then why haven’t arrest warrants been issued, and if they were why was it denied for so long? Maybe this needs Federal investigation for possible kidnapping or other malfeasance? At the least, it needs a lot of light shined on it to drive away the darkness.

Fourth, I will make this simple comment on the chickenblogger fracas. I don’t consider myself a warblogger, simply because I don’t think that action/violence/war should be the first thing a person considers. It may have to be the first action taken, but never the first or only consideration. That said, and acknowledging that I have never served my country in uniform, I will say the following: Back when Iran was holding our people hostage, I was in AFROTC and going into the military was very much a part of my plans. This did not keep me from going to the proper officer and volunteering to serve in any potential rescue operation, and stating that I was willing to take enlistment to do so. My offer was declined, on the basis that there were already some very well trained people involved in such an effort, and for the fact that my initial training could not possibly be finished in time to have me take part in any possible action in regards this issue. When the first Gulf War broke out, I made a backchannel offer once again to serve, and once again offered to accept enlistment rather than commission in order to do so. My offer was, probably wisely, declined. While I have never served in uniform, I have been willing to do so and remain willing to do so, if they will take someone in somewhat worn condition. Call me a proud chickenhawk…

That’s all for now. Thanks for all who continue to visit, and for the patience of all.

LW