West Point cadet quits, cites ‘criminal’ behavior of officers

Updated Dec. 5, 2:25 p.m. ET: Cadet Blake Page has learned from his superiors at West Point that he will be given an honorable discharge and not be required to pay “recoupment” costs for three and a half years at the military academy. He told NBC News that when out-processing is finished, he will move to Minnesota and “continue the work I’ve started in whatever way I can.”

Original Post: A West Point cadet publicly announced his decision to quit the prestigious military academy just months before graduating to protest what he sees as the illegal infusion of military procedures and events with fundamentalist Christian proselytizing.

To call attention to his move, senior Blake Page wrote a scathing commentary on West Point, published Monday in the Huffington Post.

Read on

It’s Wednesdog!

Screen shot 2012-12-05 at 11.54.13 AM

We’re giving this Wednesdog to Colonel, a 7-month-0ld bull terrier who lives in our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the happiest of happy Wednesdogs of all time.

There’s a local story that’s getting press about a guy who was getting ticketed for parking violation outside of his own home. The owner of the home went out to talk to the police officer and was followed by his dog Colonel.

The way the story was originally told, Colonel was off leash, and for some reason the cop pulled his weapon, shot the dog and went back to writing the ticket almost immediately.

This story from the local FOX affiliate says,

“My little bull terrier followed me out,” Phillips explains. “Then, all I hear is boom! Boom! Two shots. You shot the dog!”

One eyewitness, Charlene Dezego, told FOX 32 News that she heard the officer warned Phillips about the dog being loose, but the officer never sounded like he was in danger.

“All of sudden I heard him say, ‘get your dog,’ and then the next statement was ‘get your dog,’ and then he just pulled out his gun and shot twice,” says Dezengo.

The story has raised many eyebrows, and our community CAPS meeting is coming up. I don’t plan on going, but I’m curious what the local precinct will say about the officer who shot the dog.

I’ve shared the story with Xina, whose husband is a police officer in North Carolina. They were disturbed by the story, and her husband assuredly would go out of his way to avoid such a incident.

I couldn’t imagine shooting anything, let alone a dog. And I’m quite sure I could defend myself against a 20 lb pup anyway.

So go hug your pup and follow what the law says.

Especially here in Chicago.