Politics are for the Dogs

The time has come! It is indeed election day. And, alas, the future is not bright. This morning, my father returned from the voting booth and informed us that he had done his best, and voted for the best candidate available--our dog. He wrote in the name of our little Cocker Spaniel, and voted for her. Now, Birdie (the dog) didn't do much campaigning, so we're not sure how far she'll get; but there may be hope yet at the end of this dark political tunnel.  

Every year the State will be the dog that chases its own tail... engaging in a futile attempt to close a perpetual budget gap. -Richard J. Codey

I would rather be beaton and be a man than to be elected and be a little puppy dog. -Davy Crockett

Dogs are great assets to candidates, and the feeling seems to be engendered that if a dog loves the candidate, he can't be all that bad. -Dick Gregory

Politics are not my concern.... They impressed me as a dog's life without a dog's decencies. -Rudyard Kipling

During the Prince's visit, King Timahoe will be referred to only as Timahoe, since it would be inappropriate for the Prince to be outranked by a dog. -Richard M. Nixon (writing to White House staff on how to address the president's Irish Setter, during a visit by Prince Charles)

You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. -Harry S. Truman

Dogs are great assets to candidates, and the feeling seems to be engendered that if a dog loves the candidate, he can't be all that bad. -Dick Gregory

Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie!"... till you can find a rock. -Unknown

I may have grown cynical from long service, but this is a tendency I do not like, and I sometimes think I'd rather be a dog and bay at the moon than stay in the Senate another six years and listen to it. -John Sharp Williams

God Bless Update

31. 9:01 p.m. - Pedro Cortez, 25, an electrician, helped install the communications system used to talk back and forth with the surface. He lost a finger in an earlier mining accident. He and his wife are separated and have one daughter.

32. 9:28 p.m. - Ariel Ticona, 28, was still awaiting rescue when his wife gave birth to their second daughter. They named her "Hope." He worked with Cortez to install the underground communications system.

33. 9:55 p.m. - Luis Alberto Urzua, 54, shift foreman at the time of the collapse, is widely credited with helping the men survive by enforcing tight rations of their limited food, lights and other supplies. Speaking for the miners shortly after their discovery, he told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera: "We hope that all of Chile shows its strength to help us get out of this hell."

God Bless

Rescue order men pulled from Chilean mine
By The Associated Press (AP) – 33 minutes ago
In order, the men pulled from the San Jose mine in Chile, with some details on each:
1. 12:04 a.m. - Florencio Avalos, 31, the second-in-command of the miners, was chosen to be first because he was in the best condition, and best able to deal with any difficulties that might arise.
2. 1:10 a.m. - Mario Sepulveda Espina, 40, captivated Chileans with his engaging personality in videos sent up from underground.
3. 2:08 a.m. - Juan Illanes, 52, is a married former soldier who urged his fellow miners to be disciplined and organized while trapped.
4. 3:09 a.m. - Carlos Mamani, 24, the lone Bolivian, started at the mine five days before the collapse. One of 11 children who emigrated because he could not find work, he has been promised a house and a job by Bolivian President Evo Morales.
5. 4:10 a.m. - Jimmy Sanchez, at 19, is the youngest miner and father of a months-old baby.
6. 5:34 a.m. - Osman Isidro Araya, 30, a father of three, had planned to quit the mine at the end of August because of the risk.
7. 6:21 a.m. - Jose Ojeda, 47, is a widower with no children who has diabetes. Two of his nephews were at the site to greet him.
8. 7:02 a.m. - Claudio Yanez, 34, is a drill operator who requested cigarettes be sent down while awaiting rescue and expressed disgust at the nicotine patches he received instead.
9. 7:59 a.m. - Mario Gomez, at 63, is the oldest of the miners. He also is the most experienced, having first entered a mine shaft to work at age 12.
10. 8:52 a.m. - Alex Vega, 31, who is married with two children, had been saving to buy a house and move out of his parents' home. His father helped in rescue efforts - using a false name because officials prohibited relatives from doing the dangerous work.
11. 9:31 a.m. - Jorge Galleguillos, 55, was injured in at least two earlier mining accidents. He has 13 brothers and requires medication for hypertension. Officials have promised to help his son, who is a university student.
12. 10:11 a.m. - Edison Pena, who is 34 and married, was reportedly among the most depressed of the trapped men and asked rescuers to send down a photo of the sun. He tried to run every day for exercise, and is a fan of Elvis Presley.
13. 10:54 a.m. - Carlos Barrios, 27, is the father of a 5-year-old boy. He is separated from his wife.
14. 11:30 a.m. - Victor Zamora, 34, was an auto mechanic and laborer who has worked at the mine for five years. He sent up poems to his wife, who is pregnant, and is the father of a 4-year-old boy. While underground, he complained of tooth pain.
15. 12:07 p.m. - Victor Segovia, 48, kept a diary of life below, asking those above to send down more pencils and paper. He has five children, is an electrician and plays guitar.
16. 12:49 p.m. - Daniel Herrera, 37, was a truck driver and taxi driver. Herrera is single; his mother and sister have been waiting for him at "Camp Hope," the relatives' encampment outside the mine.
17. 1:38 p.m. - Omar Reygadas, 56, helped organize life below ground and reportedly survived other collapses in the mine. A widower, he has six children, 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, including one born while he was trapped.
18. 2:49 p.m. - Esteban Rojas, 44, proposed a church wedding "once and for all" in a message to the woman he married in a civil ceremony 25 years ago. They have three children.
19. 3:27 p.m. - Pablo Rojas, 45, reportedly went to work at the mine six months ago to help pay university fees for his son, who is studying medicine. He is married.
20. 3:59 p.m. - Dario Segovia, 48, is a lifelong miner whose father first took him underground at age 8. Twice married, he had three children from each marriage. He had worked at the mine for three months, drilling holes for dynamite. He has 12 brothers and sisters.
21. 4:31 p.m. - Johnny Barrios Rojas, 50, worked for 25 years at the mine and served as the medic for the group because he'd had first aid training. Awaiting above are relationships that need healing as well: his wife and his lover met at Camp Hope.
22. 5:04 p.m. - Samuel Avalos, 43, is married with three children, had been working as a street vendor and got a job at the mine for more money.
23. 5:32 p.m. - Carlos Bugueno, 26, found himself trapped alongside a childhood friend, Pedro Cortez. A passionate soccer fan, he asked to have game broadcasts piped below. Relatives said the former security guard went to work at the mine to earn money for a car and house.
24. 5:59 p.m. - Jose Henriquez, 55, formed and led a prayer group while trapped and had friends send 33 small Bibles down the tiny supply hole. Chilean reports say that in January he helped save several miners who had passed out in the mine, apparently due to gas, and had to be rescued himself when he was overcome returning for another miner. Married with twin daughters, he has spent 33 years in the mines and survived a landslide on the surface in 1986.
25. 6:24 p.m. - Renan Avalos, 29, is the brother of the first man out. He had worked at the mine five months.
26. 6:51 p.m. - Claudio Acuna, 35, proposed to his girlfriend Fabiola Araya from below ground. He has two children.
27. 7:18 p.m. - Franklin Lobos, 53, a former professional soccer player, drove the bus that carried the miners to work. Lobos was a midfielder on the Chilean teams La Serena, Iquique and Cobresal, and was on the national team that qualified for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He has two daughters.
28. 7:44 p.m. - Richard Villaroel, 23, is returning to his wife, who is in the late stages of pregnancy.
29. 8:13 p.m. - Juan Carlos Aguilar, 46, has worked as a miner since he was 19. He is married with two children.
30. 8:37 p.m. - Raul Bustos, 40, a hydraulic engineer, was caught up in both of Chile's two recent tragedies. The tsunami caused by February's earthquake destroyed the shipyard where he worked. So he journeyed north to work in the mine — two months before he was trapped there. He would travel back 20 hours by bus to visit his wife and two children.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

My younger brother has a wonderful sense of humor. Everything is a joke to him. And often, regardless of whether or not something is truly funny on its own, somehow anything that bounces off Caleb becomes funny.

My family is full of laughter.

When I really get laughing, I have this horrible habit of flailing my arms in this fanning-like motion and hopping around demonstrating my newly intense need to pee. It's quite the scene--believe me. The flailing arms have been a joke in my family since I was little, and my mother often mocks this motion while I do it, which only increases the laughter and intensifies the need to pee.

Once you get us going, the picture is nothing short of this: My laugh dance, Mom's snorts, Grace and Tabitha's loud-mouth quacks, Josh's snickering convulsions, Dad's tears, Sarah's unbridled giggles, Caleb's half muffled chortle, and Camilla's bubbly teehee.

And some jokes never die in our house.

Years and years ago a young man began taking ballet at our local studio with us. His name is Noah, pronounced NO-ay. One of the first times we used his name at home, my mother thought we were saying "no way." Now nearly EVERY TIME someone says "no way," my mother quickly counters with, "Noah doesn't dance anymore!" And then she cracks up into a snorting laugh at her own joke.

But sometimes, humor can be inappropriate. As I said, my brother has a joke for everything, and this does not exclude off-color humor.

Sometimes cultural, stereotypical, and racial humor can be honestly funny, and I may even try to muffle my own chuckle. But that doesn't make them right.

James Willie Jones publicly apologized this week after his outburst earlier this month on a public school bus where he threatened children for bullying his cerebral palsy inflicted daughter. Bullying actions allegedly escalated to the point of hospitalizing the girl due to stress. Jones said the children even threw a condom at her head.


We may think something is funny in private, but the humor we allow to infiltrate our soul will undoubtably infiltrate our society.

Now, don't be too quick to judge me either. I'm not a straight arrow, and I do know how to "take a joke." But I also know how to recognize when something is not a joke.

I'm not trying to be prudish. I'm just asking for us to take a look at our culture, the way our society is slipping.

Mack Bawden, a senior at Copper Hills High School, was spotlighted in an article in today's Deseret News. He was spotlighted because he has done something unique.

Amy Donaldson began her article,

"Mack Bawden wants his best friend, Cameron Judd, to experience everything he does--dances, dates and even the pain of getting up early to train for the Copper Hills cross-country team.

"The problem is that Judd couldn't do any of those things without help.

"The 17-year-old West Jordan boy has cerebral palsy and, were it not for the help of his friends, he'd likely be stuck on the sidelines.

"But sometimes, the kindness of a single person changes everything."

Copper Hills senior Logan Anderson, left, and Mack Bawden push fellow senior Cameron Judd, who has cerebral palsy, in a cross-country meet in Herriman.

Pictures

Next time you begin "I shouldn't say this, but..." or "This is horrible, but..." or "This joke is just awful, but..." or any other sentence that leads into your lightly jesting about another's handicap, color, or way of living differently than you do, try to be the exception.

And while we're at it, if we're no longer judging by physical appearance, let's not judge based on what someone might wear over that physical appearance, or the car that might drive that physical body around, because in the end, we're all the same--each having a mother, each wanting to find love and acceptance, each making it through the ups and downs of life.

While the old adage, "Boys will be boys" may work for my younger brother, it doesn't work for the men who need to be men that lead in politics but lack in statesmanship, who represent our religious groups but not our religious ideals, and who have children but fail to understand the meaning of father.

Saturday evening, President Thomas S. Monson, the Prophet and authoritative leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made a worldwide address asking us to see beyond the mortal casings of those we see every day.

And although I more than doubt that our future is one of loving deeds. And I doubt that kind and higher road wont always be so unique as to be make the front page of a newspaper.

But maybe, as the jokes fade and we laugh with people and not at them, we can reach beyond ourselves and touch the soul of another--we can be the "single person [who] changes everything."

Maybe we can make our own way of living "differently."

Maybe we can take the road less travelled by.

Been There

Rachel and I used to run a trail along the Provo river.

It was pleasant.

I even went there by myself to ponder life.

Never again.

What a tragedy.

This makes me angry and sick, and sick and angry.

A crime in my backyard.

I feel violated.

But she was violated.

I may forget this happened.

But she never will.

Deseret News Reports:

PROVO — Police are still looking for the man they say brutally raped a 19-year-old woman and left her to die near her Provo apartment Wednesday.

The woman had left her residence at the Branbury Apartments, 425 W. 1720 North, Provo, and was heading to school using a trail near her apartment and the Provo River when she was taken into a nearby wooded area and raped, Provo Police Capt. Cliff Argyle said. He did not know which school she attends.

The incident happened very near to the woman's apartment, less than 15 feet from the trail and roughly 40 feet from another Branbury apartment, he said.

After she was raped, the woman was left by her attacker with a broken jaw, broken facial bones, a severe head injury and several missing teeth, police said. Because of the severity of the injuries, police believe the attacker either thought she was dead or would soon die.

But instead, the woman mustered enough strength to crawl about 30 feet to a sidewalk near the apartments, until people saw her and called police, Argyle said.

The woman had been beaten so badly that when an officer arrived, he had to kneel down and put his ear to her mouth to hear her, Argyle said.

The victim was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where Argyle said she remains in the intensive care unit. Based on information from the woman's roommates, police believe she left her apartment at around 3 or 4 p.m., which means the event likely occurred in broad daylight and the victim probably lay unconscious in the wooded area for several hours before moving to find help.

"She's a very strong-willed person," Argyle said. "First, that she survived, second, that she crawled 30 feet to be found, and then, that she was able to speak to an officer."

Because of the life-threatening nature of the injuries, police are saying it was an attempted homicide along with rape.

The victim described her attacker as a white male in his mid- to late-20s, of medium build with tattoos on his neck and arms that resembled letters, and she told police that she did not know him, Argyle said. At the time of the incident, the victim told police she remembers the man was wearing a baseball cap with a logo on the front and a black T-shirt with colors and printing on the front.

Detectives were able to gather some evidence at the scene and are hoping it can help them solve the case. Argyle said "flashers" are commonly reported in that area, but rapes are unusual.

"This affects everyone," he said. "You would like to think you could walk that trail at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and not have to worry."

Argyle said the woman's family is from Utah and is with her at the hospital.

Police are looking for information from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious on Wednesday. Argyle said police officers were questioning people on the trail this morning and even asked several homeless people who camp near the trail to watch for the attacker.

Anyone with information on this incident should contact provo police at 801-852-6210.

RIP Ethan Stacy

This story makes me so sick I can hardly breath. Thank heavens this little boy is now in the arms of a father who loves him.

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE:

As Ethan Stacy suffered from serious injuries sustained during a beating and needed medical attention, his mother and her boyfriend locked the 4-year-old boy in a room and went to get married.

Police documents released Wednesday detail the last days in the life of the boy whose body was found Tuesday buried near Powder Mountain.

On May 5, Ethan's eventual stepfather, Nathan Sloop, took the boy into a bedroom, closed the door and began slapping him and beating him around the head and face, according to an interview with the boy's mother, Stephanie Sloop, in police documents. When she walked in afterward, she saw Ethan's face was swelling and he needed medical attention, but she did not seek help, according to the probable cause statement filed by arresting Layton police officers.

The next day, the couple locked the boy in a bedroom by removing the inside doorknob and left to wed at the Davis County Memorial Courthouse in Farmington. They did not take Ethan with them because they worried someone would call police because of his injuries, Stephanie Sloop told officers.

During the next three days, Ethan would not eat, was lethargic, had a fever and was vomiting. The couple forced the boy to drink water, Kool-Aid and orange juice. They gave him Benadryl and Motrin to take down the swelling and subdue him, but did not seek medical attention, Stephanie Sloop said.

On Friday, Stephanie Sloop returned to their Layton apartment after shopping at Wal-Mart to find the boy was badly burned on his feet and legs from an overly hot bath. Nathan Sloop told her it was an accident. She said she did not believe him but still did not seek medical help because her husband would hurt her, the documents state.

She said Ethan was asleep in bed when she checked on him at 3 a.m. Sunday. She went to the pharmacy for a prescription for her husband, and when she returned at 5:30 a.m. that Mother's Day, he told her Ethan was dead. She said she did not call police then because her husband told her he would go to prison because of the bruises on the boy's body.

Instead, they took his body to an area near Powder Mountain and made efforts to disfigure the body in an apparent attempt to delay identification. After Nathan Sloop buried Ethan, he guided Stephanie Sloop to the grave to say her last goodbyes.

Monday night, Stephanie Sloop called police, saying her son had been wandering off for the past several nights and that she could not find him. After 40 officers spent 12 hours scouring the area, the Sloops' story unraveled and the investigation turned to Powder Mountain. Nathan Sloop led police to Ethan's makeshift grave, where they recovered his body at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

That night, officers arrested Nathan Sloop on suspicion of aggravated homicide, and both he and Stephanie Sloop on suspicion of child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body. The Davis County Attorney's Office plans to file charges against the couple Friday morning.

Conan vs. Jay

Have you been following the most recent scandal at NBC?
Well, most of the nation has.

And here's what Conan O'Brien thinks about it!



*****NBC removed this video from Hulu and all known YouTube posts. A friend of mine luckily downloaded the video before NBC removed it, and you can watch it on my link to his Facebook.