Today, I have a smattering of things I’d like to share. First is a fairly unrelated story, but one I find interesting anyway. Yesterday morning, my friend Lara and I went running at South Lakes Park here in Denton, and on our loop around the walkway, we saw two dogs sleeping on the grass. One raised its head to look at us, but then went back to resting. We didn’t think much of it, but kept running (or walking, whichever we were doing at the moment). As we finished up our run and were stretching beside our cars, the two dogs came up to us. They were extremely friendly and allowed us to pet them, wagging their tails the whole time. They had collars on but no tags. Lara had to leave for work, so I decided to call Denton Animal Services and wait with the dogs until someone came to pick them up. For the record, Denton Animal Services is slow. Finally, it was getting close to the time I had to leave, and I saw a Parks and Recreation guy pull up in his truck. Apparently, someone had also called him about the dogs, and he had come to check out the situation. By this time, I had found two straps in the back of my car that I usually use to attach things to my roof racks, so I formed two improvisatory leashes from them and had the dogs tethered to a pole. I told the Parks and Rec man, Mr. Rodriguez, that I had to leave soon, so he agreed to stay with the dogs until Animal Services came. He was going to attach something else to their collars so I could take my roof rack straps with me, but the female dog, who I think was the mother of the other dog, started barking at him. So, I left him with the straps and he gave me his business card so I could pick up my straps from him later. This morning, I drove to South Lakes again to find Mr. Rodriguez waiting with the roof rack straps in hand. It turns out that when Animal Services picked up the dogs, they identified them as repeat offenders. The owner has already been fined multiple times for not keeping his dogs contained, and this time, it appears that he had actually dumped them at the park. I almost regretted calling Animal Services, since the dogs were returned to an owner who apparently doesn’t care for them. They really were sweet dogs, and had been content to follow me around the park and let me pet them for the hour I was waiting with them. So, if you ever see two medium sized dogs wandering around Denton, one white female with black spots and a younger brown male with black spots, you might consider giving them a good home. It doesn’t sound like they otherwise have one to go to.
Now, for something completely different. My friend Lindsey sent me a link to a Washington Post article today, and it’s definitely worth checking out. You can find it HERE. It’s about three American men who were arrested for traveling to Cambodia as sex tourists to have sex with children. Sex tourism is rampant in Cambodia. It’s one country that I hope is named one of the focus countries of the Child Protection Compact Act if it ever gets passed. The article even mentions International Justice Mission for their help in the case. Yay, IJM. I’m thankful to see that in this case, the pedophiles were the ones charged, not the minors used. In many cases, the children are punished as prostitutes, even though they should be considered the victims. Please support IJM as they continue their work in fighting the sex slave industry.
Also, the Enough Project’s blog has just been updated with a video of John Prendergast giving a briefing on current Sudan policy and the changes that are needed. At a little over three minutes long, it gives a succinct but informative view of the situation in Sudan and the U.S. part in it. Just ignore the silly person who made a comment on the post about Obama being a Nazi (if they don’t take it down). Sheesh.
And now, to the action I’m taking today. I recently received an email from Amnesty International concerning the current political situation in Honduras. I have not been following this crisis until now, but the information from Amnesty International is compelling. In brief, the president of Honduras (who was elected in a democratic election) was removed by a military coup d’etat two months ago, and since that time, the situation in Honduras has been spiraling downward. The de facto government has been using mass arrests, police and military-sanctioned beatings, and gender based violence against women to squelch any opposition. You can find a full briefing of the situation and a message to send to Secretary of State Clinton HERE. The message requests that Secretary Clinton pursue the restoration of democracy in Honduras and accountability for the abuses of the de facto government. Please join me! I’ll try to keep up more with the situation in Honduras now that Amnesty International has made me aware. Today, may God bless you and your neighbor through you!
