Da Hawg Frog Blog

In my hometown, St. Petersburg, FL, we had a full field of candidates running for mayor this year. It was hard to make a choice because our local politicians all run on a non-partisan ballot. Personally I think this is a cowardly way to run for office and it made it difficult to make a choice. Finally the field was narrowed to two candidates, Bill Foster and Kathleen Ford.

Now the runoff election will determine who becomes our next mayor. Yet, even though both of these names are familiar with St. Petersburg voters, not a lot is know about where they really stand. But with a little research and some information from our local newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, we’ve learned a few things about Mr. Foster.

St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Bill Foster believes, contrary to the overwhelming majority of scientists, that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. He believes the world was created in six literal days, and he once complained to school officials when his son was taught about Darwin’s theory of evolution in fifth grade.

Is that relevant to the campaign for mayor of Florida’s fourth-largest city?

“This city is trying to increase its employment base with respect to scientific organizations and trying to recruit scientific concerns to come here,” said St. Petersburg architect Michael Dailey, who supports Kathleen Ford, Foster’s opponent. “If our mayor has a belief system that basically rejects science, how can people take him seriously?” (Source: St. Petersburg Times)

This was enough information for me to make up my mind. I am sick and tired of these religious fundamentalist, lunatic fringe, creationist destroying our credibility in the eyes of the world’s scientific community. Their medieval ideas about the origins of man and the world around them quite frankly scares me.

Normally, candidates in the Tampa Bay area are not asked about dinosaurs or whether they believe the world is billions of years old or thousands, as some creationists maintain. (Ford said billions, Foster declined to answer.)

But in this election Foster has been dogged by questions about his religious beliefs after he sent a controversial letter to the Pinellas School Board, urging members to allow discussion about alternatives to the theory of evolution, such as the Genesis account. His letter suggested that Darwin contributed to the rise of Hitler and the Columbine massacre

Foster insists he was merely promoting free speech for students. (Source: St. Petersburg Times)

I simply can’t vote for anyone who believes the Flintstones were real people. I’m fed up with these loonies running our country. And though he failed to reveal his true party affiliation during this race, I think everyone can pretty much figure it out. Our youth deserve better. I’m tired of us sending a bunch of dumbbells into the job market that are not equipped to survive in the world today. Bill Foster would like to take us all back to the dark ages.

In the early 1970s I was serving in Germany. At that time we had two dog handlers and their partners patrolling and protecting our missile site at all times. Everyone loved these wonderful animals and their devotion to the troops they protected was unsurpassed. But even though he was every troop’s friend, those he didn’t know approached at their own peril. Then one day a group of Bader-Meinhof gang members probed our tactical site and in the process shot one of our dogs. To this day I’ll never forget Rex and his warm nature. I also remember the tears we all shed when he died in the snow by our guard shack.

There is a movement here in the United States to finally recognize the contributions of man’s best friend.

These have always been the virtues against which soldiers are measured. For these distinguishing qualities, a soldier is given medals and the recognition of his country. Military working dogs also possess these qualities. They have served without compensation or recognition, nor been honored for their sacrifice. These gallant dogs have more than earned the right to be fully recognized for their service to this country. That recognition will be the National War Dogs Monument.

For nearly a century, an estimated 100,000 dogs have served in the United States military, doing jobs in explosive and mine detection, tracking, and scouting. Dogs have carried messages and stood watch as sentries. Early on, dogs were donated by the civilian population in order to fill military needs. Later they were specially bred for the job. Dogs have served all over Europe, Vietnam, Bosnia, Kosovo, and today, are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Source: National War Dogs Monument)

Not only have these courageous animals protected and served along side our soldiers in combat, they have also been instrumental in helping our wounded heal. Therapy dogs have been visiting and comforting our returning wounded quietly across the nation.

VA hospitals nationwide are integrating service dogs into treatment plans for disabled vets, said Will Baldwin, a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the VA in Denver. The program was formed after Freedom Service Dogs, a Denver-based nonprofit, recently partnered with the VA.

Training takes up to nine months and costs $23,000. Service Dogs doesn’t charge its clients but relies on private donations and foundation grants.

“The population is growing exponentially down in Fort Carson with the Wounded Warriors program,” said Freedom Service Dogs’ Diane Vertovec, referring to the Army unit that prepares wounded Soldiers for civilian life. “We feel like a dog can help a vet meet physical challenges but, more importantly, can really, really help them overcome a lot of the mental instability that they’re feeling.” (Source: Military.Com)

At a VA hospital in Maine Petty Officer 2nd Class Johnson and his partner, Sierra, a Great Dane, visit and help wounded veterans recover. Not only do they bring joy to the wounded they visit, they also help heal.

“The interaction between the dogs and patients encourages healing, lowers blood pressure, and helps develop emotional relationships,” said Alice Workman, the administrator of Courtland Rehabilitation and Living Center in Maine. “Not only is this beneficial to patients, it is also a great way to strengthen the bond between the dogs and their owners.”

There are two types of animal-assisted interactions. Animal-assisted therapy, where the dog or other animal works with a patient to achieve set goals, and animal-assisted activities, such as visitation, in which the dog visits with the patient, stands quietly and allows the patient to pet it.

“Animals bring unconditional love and caring to the bedside,” Johnson said. “And patients, if they are animal lovers, truly respond.” (Source: Military.Com)

But it doesn’t stop there. These wonderful creatures help preserve the sanity of our men and women serving. Recently we’ve heard many tales of our troops befriending indigenous canines in Iraq. Sometimes they have managed to bring their faithful friends home with them. And then sometimes their beloved friends have come home without their masters. And they have helped the families of those who lost loved ones cope with the pain of that loss.

Over 100,000 dogs have served our country in war. They have saved thousands of lives and given comfort and friendship to many. If you, like I, believe that is time we honor these wonderful creatures then visit the National War Dogs Memorial and lets give them the recognition they deserve.

And to my old friend Rex, who sacrificed his life for us in Germany, you are not forgotten.

This is a question on everyone’s mind. The internets have been all over this rumor the past few days. And rather than provide the evidence necessary to prove he did not, Glenn Beck has chosen instead, to attack the First Amendment Rights of the blogger who posed this rhetorical question to the American public. Mr. Beck, a conservative comedian with the Fox News Network, is now the brunt of tactics he uses regularly on his show to damage the reputations of those he does not like or agree with.

The controversy started a week ago in the Fark forums, where someone picked up on an old Gilbert Gottfried roast of the “comedian” (scare quotes fully intended) Bob Saget. During the roast, Gottfried repeatedly said (watch the video) that Saget had “not raped and killed a girl in 1990.” The Fark forums took the joke about the power of insinuation and applied it to right-wing talk show host Glenn “Obama is a racist” Beck.

One of the Fark readers then took the forum meme to the next level, registering a domain name and launching a web site in order to make a point about talking head TV demagoguery. “Why won’t Glenn Beck deny these allegations?” asks the site. “We’re not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990—in fact, we think he didn’t! But we can’t help but wonder, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won’t he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?” At the very bottom of the page was a small text disclaimer saying that the site was satirical.

I spoke to the anonymous owner of the site, who tells Ars that launching it “just felt right”—it flipped the “birther” non-falsifiable conspiracy theories about Obama’s birth and citizenship around and applied the same tactics to one of the biggest talking heads (no pun intended?) on cable news. It’s just “using Beck’s tactics against him” and is a small way of “directing all this frustration” with Beck and others into action. (Source: ARS Technica)

Like everyone else who’s read about this online rumor I have questions about its verity. So like so many others I went to the Yahoo answers page and found some enlightening and thought provoking answers to the question “Did Glenn Beck Rape and Murder a Young Girl in 1990. Their best answer was:

Look, I don’t know if it’s true that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a girl in 1990, but if it isn’t, Glenn Beck, alleged 1990 murderer and rapist, should produce the girl he didn’t rape and murder in 1990 so that this matter can be cleared up. All we want is proof. What is he trying to hide?

Oh, and when he produces the girl he allegedly did or didn’t rape and murder in 1990, it won’t be accepted unless she’s in the long form.

Source(s):

No sources, as the MSM seems to be covering up the story of Glenn Beck allegedly raping and murdering a girl in 1990. (Source: Yahoo)

Needless to say this was a very disturbing non-answer to my question and left more questions than answers. We all know that Mr. Beck is not beyond talking about murdering Nancy Pelosi. And we also know about Mr. Beck’s perchance for violence. In 2001 he talked about people he’d like to beat to death. None of this readily available information reflects kindly on Mr. Beck.

So then we had to visit the website that brought this whole fiasco to the public eye. It is an obvious parody site, full of satire, but very fair and balanced in its presentation.

But like so many in America, now we will wonder why Glenn Beck hasn’t produced the police report clearing him of these insinuations?