Be sure to read the post directly below this one. It is my column from today's Western Tribune, where I explain the significance of Barack Obama's election to the gay community.
This story, seen on NBC News last night, will touch your heart. Well, it did mine. Because I think we should do a better job in caring for our vets who come home with physical or mental wounds. And because it involves dogs. I am still a veterinarian, you know. And even though I focused on cats during my career, what dogs can do is amazing.
Service dogs, being trained to assist wounded service persons, are being trained by veterans with PTSD, and the training is part of their therapy as well. This is great.
Shifting gears a bit...
Boyzone, the boy band from Ireland (now more of a "man band") with openly gay heartthrob Stephen Gately, will be releasing a new song in December. "Better" is a cover of a song recorded by Tom Baxter last year and is touted as being the first "boy band" music video that shows a gay couple in love. The band first wanted to use their real love interests in the video but the partners would not agree. The other pairings are straight couples.
This song reflects the feelings that any couple, gay or straight, might have as they consider a life together. And separate but equal institutions of recognizing those lives are not right. So watch the video, consider how you feel about your husband, wife, partner, bf or gf or whoever, and think about how everyone in love should have equal rights.
At any rate, Tom Baxter recorded the song in 2007, and his video is just as diverse.
So, which video, and which version of the song, do you like?
But "gayish" videos go way back. Some of us remember Pet Shop Boys "Being Boring" from 1990. Don't let the bare bunned guy at the first scare you, the video is really just about life when you are young, and the song is actually in remembrance of people lost to AIDS.
But what memories...(although our parties never featured donkeys or chimps on bicycles).
The Year of Moving Forward
At our 4 person wedding reception in DC
11 comments:
"I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be.
But I thought in spite of dreams
You'd be sitting somewhere here with me."
PSB are great.
Just 2% of voters who supported Barack Obama on Election Day obtained perfect or near-perfect scores on a post election test which gauged their knowledge of statements and scandals associated with the presidential tickets during the campaign, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows.
Zogby Statement on Ziegler poll
Only 54% of Obama voters were able to answer at least half or more of the questions correctly.
The 12-question, multiple-choice survey found questions regarding statements linked to Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his vice-presidential running-mate Sarah Palin were far more likely to be answered correctly by Obama voters than questions about statements associated with Obama and Vice-President–Elect Joe Biden. The telephone survey of 512 Obama voters nationwide was conducted Nov. 13-15, 2008
That is pretty stupid because if you go to http://www.zogby.com/news/wf-dfs.pdf
and read the questions and the results you can tell the questions are slanted. Regardless of Zogby's claim that this was not a push poll, it was.
And where are the results that would show McCain voters were any better?
"The Zogby Poll was "Pushing Polling" and illegitimate"
This pile of horse manure was pushed by a guy, who until today, I thought was pretty credible. Nate Silver runs a website devoted to political polling. He pretends to be objective in his reporting but I learned today that he is a total left-wing hack who has no idea what he is talking about. He wrote this bogus column (which, of course, was picked up by most of the usual "nutroot" websites) laughably claiming that the Zogby poll was a "push poll." A push poll is usually thought of as a tactic used to spread negative information through polling by one campaign to do damage to another, or to get a desired result . It is rather obvious that Silver (whose website is devoted to polling!!) doesn't even understand what a "push poll" is!
I lok at it as very strange when people start posting comments that has nothing, n-o-t-h-i-n-g, to do with the original post. Helping veterans? Equal rights? Love?
Knock it off trying to steer progressive opinions toward division and hatred, OK? I might have to start deleting comments again.
Oh come on Joe. If this survey showed the same results from McCain voters you would be all over it. Let's see some real news on this blog rather than a bung of propaganda.
Again you have to be reminded what a blog is. Let me quote "Oh Brother" from October 20: "The keyword here is BLOG. A blog is kinda like a personal diary of ones thoughts and views. This isn't the Associated Press and Joe doesn't have to give equal time if he doesn't want to."
A blog is also not a forum, where opposing views are exchanged.
Now, like Oh Brother also said, I allow opposing views, and I usually refute them. But bringing up something about the intelligence of Obama voters in an effort to make it appear that he was elected because of the stupidity of the electorate is not related to the post of the day.
And you are damn right, I would be all over it if the survey showed results from McCain voters. But I guess they were afraid to run that poll.
God, I love the Pet Shop Boys. The lyrics of their music is so insightful and I find them to be as relevant today as they were twenty years ago. Thanks for sharing the Boyzone version of "Better." It is timely (though a little simplistic.)
Wow I got quoted. I have that special little feeling in the tips of my toes now. Anywho, I'm back! Hey Joe!
I too read that poll. It was commissioned by a former conservative radio host doing a documentary on liberal media bias. I won't comment on whether I think the results are valid but I will say that I believe (and I usually don't like to speculate) that if a poll was done to gauge the knowledge of McCain supporters you would get similar results. I base this assumption on the fact that I have heard some ridiculous stuff come out of the mouths of the supporters of both candidates at an equal degree.
Back on topic. Dogs do some amazing stuff and are used in amazing ways. That was a neat story you linked to. I don't think that there is any thing a don't can't do as long as it doesn't require opposable thumbs. Have you ever read anything about "war dogs", the dogs used in military service? Neat stuff.
Also, I had a relative that was a dog handler on a police force. His dog could do just about anything from sniff out contraband to take down a criminal. They grew close and after work everyday they would share a beer together. After the police department retired the dog due to medical reasons my relative adopted him.
Oh Brother where ya been?
That retired police dog didn't retire due to liver problems did he?
Jeff, I forgot to mention that "Better" was recorded by Baxter for the movie "Run, Fatboy, Run." I might have to rent it.
I agree with ya about Pet Shop Boys.
Been around, just busy this time of year. Can't remember what issues the dog had that caused the retirement.
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