Update

They haven't found the little girl or the mother. The father (who has legal custody) has filed kidnapping charges against the mother. We'd actually bundled up some more clothes which we're just holding now in a wait and see mode. My wife's aunt obviously has no dog in this fight and is just waiting.

It is interesting because "relative" in Vietnam goes far and wide. Somehow this little girl is related both to the aunt and my wife, but the relation seems so distant that I don't think anyone can place exactly how they are related. I sometimes make my wife play the game of "OK, how is this person related to you?"

The little girl is something else. The aunt went to go visit the father to check on him. The little girl told her that she wanted to come and visit my wife's aunt. When the little girl came to visit she told the aunt she wanted to stay. No one came to pick her up (the father doesn't have a telephone) so she stayed. She seems to be the survivor type, but I think everyone hopes she's okay.

Just in case anyone's curious it costs about $40 to send a pretty good size bundle of clothes to Vietnam (the bundle is somewhat smaller than a sleeping bag.) We've never had any problems with customs or anything and just send them through the mail from the post office.

Bummer!

My wife is from Vietnam. She has several relatives still in Vietnam. One of them is her aunt. There was a little girl in their village. The mother had abandoned the father and the child. The father after the mother left had a motorcycle accident which left him with a head injury. The child was living a hand-to-mouth existence and was unkempt and often hungry. One day she came to visit my wife's aunt and she just stayed.

She enjoyed and was thriving at the aunt's house. My wife had sent my daughter's old clothes over to Vietnam and for this little girl it was like manna from heaven. She loved the clothes from the nguoi my (Americans) and just felt quite special to have such clothes.

She's been living with my wife's aunt for around 9 months. Last night, the mother came in the middle of the night and kidnapped the little girl (I suppose it might not really be kidnapping since this was the mother of the child); however, the mother came in the middle of the night for a reason. She sold the little girl.

More details to come as we find out more.

Ecumenical

Despite claims by fundamentalist Christians that this is a Christian nation, it appears that the US is really very ecumenical. In June, Pew Research did a study that found 70 percent of Americans said that they believed religions other than theirs could lead to eternal life. This, of course, drove the Bible thumpers into fits of consternation.

I guess Pew was fascinated by this research, so they asked the question again this time asking which religions. The results were close to the June poll with 65% of the respondents saying other religions could lead to eternal life. When asked which religions, the respondents basically said that all religions could lead to eternal life.

The interesting part of this research is 42% of the respondents thought atheists would go to some afterlife. It makes for an interesting thought picture to envision some God they don't believe in dragging them kicking and screaming into some place they claim doesn't exist.

For those who like the hard data, here's a summary from Pew:

Oysters for Breakfast

One blog I follow regularly is Grits for Breakfast. I think it's simply the best criminal policy blog in Texas. A number of criminal lawyers have great blogs, but often intermix policy with trial strategy. Grits points out what's broken, and why it needs to be fixed.

I'm resurrecting one of his stories because it's simply just the kind of bizarre thing my mind just loves.

Grits points out that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,324 felonies on the books in Texas. When you look at that figure you have to think, "Wow, we have way, way too many crimes on our books."

If that number doesn't blow you away, then Grits will point out that Texas has 11 oyster related felonies alone.

I was shocked. I never knew there were so many felonious things you could do in connection with oysters.

What sort of felonious oyster conduct is there? Fortunately one person educated Grits readers in a comment.

Some oyster related felonies:

illegal oyster distribution, dredging for oysters in public at night, taking oysters from restricted areas, taking a cultured aquatic animal, selling a saltwater product without a license, theft of shells or seeds planted for the development of oyster beds, interfering with oyster bed markers, selling sport oysters, fishing for oysters without a license

Fortunately as one comment noted none of the crimes require sex offender registration. Well, at least not yet.

Anyone tried oysters in grits?

Word Associations - Bush Edition - Then and Now

Pew did a survey of the words people associate with President Bush.

In 2004 here are the top 5 in order:

Honest
Leader
Good
Arrogant
Incompetent

In 2008 here are the top 5 in order

Incompetent
Honest
Idiot
Arrogant
Good

Incompetent far outweighed any other word in 2008.

Robin Williams

Robin Williams has always been a favorite of mine. I wonder how many folks remember Mork and Mindy? Here's Robin doing what he does best - stand up comedy.

Must Have Been the Witches

Sarah Palin's church was badly damaged in a fire. Police believe it may be arson, but I have my own theory.

It was the witches they drove out. After years of being burned by religious believers, I think the witches are striking back.

The authorities need to save their money because their continuing witchcraft will only prevent an arrest.

Ug- Me Man - Me Cook with Fire

I've often wondered about men and the connection with the barbecue pit. I don't consider myself much of a cook; however, when it comes to the pit, I can fix some very tasty dishes.

Yesterday was Ron plays with fire day. I grilled lemon grass marinaded beef skewers, shrimp with a basil leaf wrapped in bacon, and scallops with rosemary.

I do understand why people like to cook. You get a sense of satisfaction watching people enjoying the fruits of your labor.

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday and we ended up with a bunch of very tasty leftovers.

Countdown 36 days - When the Other Shoe Drops Edition

Apparently, throwing your shoe at someone is a horrific insult in Iraq. Since Bush has been throwing a metaphoric shoe at everybody not on his side, it's only fitting that someone threw one back.

An Iraqi journalist threw his shoe at Bush while saying in Arabic, "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog." You have to give Bush some credit, he's nimble. He dodged the shoe throw. He also said he's used to it. Now, that's something out of Bush's mouth that I can believe.

What Was I Going to Do a Post About?

When I was younger, I had a phenomenal memory. As I've gotten older, I've noticed my memory is not near as good as it was when I was younger.

Not surprising, but what you eat can have an impact on your memory. Researchers at Tufts University have determined that low carb diets can have a strong impact on thinking and cognition.

The researchers found after a week of severe carbohydrate restriction, memory performance, particularly on difficult tasks, is impaired.

Let me go have some bread so maybe I can remember what I was going to post about.