Dog-Fighting Trend – “Trunking” – No Depths to Cruelty when it comes to Man’s Best Friend

The Puppies shown above were recovered from a "trunking" suspect - image local10.com

From Local 10 Florida: “Animal Services recued a group of dogs believed to have been used for trunking”. “Trunking” by definition is placing two dogs in the trunk of a car and in order for them to fight to the death, once one of the dogs is dead; the “winner” is then locked in the trunk again with another dog. Local News 10 reported that those who participate in this latest “sport” drive around, with music blaring, and then simply pull over the car once the “fight” is over.

There are a few articles online, one dating back to 2011 from WMCTV in Memphis - Police there called it a “disturbing new trend” in dog fighting, and suggested that those participating were mainly young kids, and it was becoming increasingly popular.

The next time you hear loud music from the car next to yours, pay attention. According to Memphis Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Karen Rudolph, the people inside may be committing a crime other than violating a noise ordinance.

"There's other things to look for just than the loud music," she said. "There could be a cover up for the dog fighting, which is called 'trunking.'"

Dog-fighting is a felony, regardless of the circumstances in which the animals are tortured, and the possible gain that the individuals may receive from participating. Dogs, in general, and regardless of breed, are devoted to their owners and will do what it takes to please them. From a personal perspective, one fitting punishment might be to stuff these perpetrators into the truck of a car, with another animal, a little less defenseless than a dog, and see what happens. A large cat perhaps. As a dog owner, it is beyond comprehension that anyone could hurt an animal under any circumstances. It is this type of cruelty that has led to a misconception about specific breeds, mainly pit-bulls and pit-mixes. When going to the local dog park with my dogs (mini-doxy, puggle, and field beagle) they play quite nicely with all breeds, including pit bulls. It goes without saying, that if one were to take a dog of any breed, and place them in a situation such as that described above, the animal would, instinctively fight to save itself.

It is mind-boggling, to say the least, that our youth are so spoiled, mentally and emotionally, that they find this type of “sport” to be acceptable. There have to be several levels of cruelty taking place to allow for this type of scenario. It is our society’s lack of compassion when it comes to the defenseless, children and animals specifically that is at the root of the care-less attitude that allows for this to take place. This calls for moral outrage all the way around.

MA Dem Game Plan – Paint Gomez as a Right Wing Republican – The Next Scott Brown – Who are they Kidding?

Gabriel Gomez – image from the Boston Globe From Middle Class Beginnings Gomez Forges Unconventional Path

The dust has settled on the Mass. Senate Special Election primaries, with less fanfare than that received by the ice-cream man making his rounds in the streets of Massachusetts. The results, the dinosaur from Congress, Markey, Democrat, versus, Gomez, the young, Hispanic, Businessman, Republican. Granted so much is wrong with this picture it is almost laughable – given the fact that there appears to be a role reversal going on in Massachusetts Politics, and to boot, over half the states’ electorate could care less (and that may be a higher figure).

First, it spears as if the news outlets, try and they might, can’t generate enough interest in this particular contest – there are few Google News alerts compared to other similar contests in special elections nationwide. Secondly, the articles are predictable: The national media are suggesting that Republicans Hope Gabriel Gomez is the next Scott Brown” (ABC News), and “A Gomez Upset of Markey Don’t Count on It” (Washington Post).

Secondly, trying to prop up Ed Markey is proving difficult: Example: Veteran Democrat, Republican newcomer win Massachusetts Senate primaries” (Chicago Tribune), and Where Ed Markey Should Watch His Back (Washington Post)

On Gomez, he is hardly Scott Brown, or the Hispanic Equivalent to Scott Brown, he is Gabriel Gomez – Brown had a record to run on, and by all that is rational should have been reelected to the Senate, except he had the bad fortune to run in a general election where any Republican in Massachusetts would have had difficulty getting on the ballot – Brown’s record spoke for itself, and those low-information voters, the dead, the aged, turned out in droves. Brown was an underdog from the start – The only thing remotely connecting Brown and Gomez, is the fact that they shared the same party designation. Gomez is not an underdog, although he will be painted in that manner and has been against the “veteran” Congressman, Markey. Gomez is his own man – and unabashedly proud of who he is, comfortable in his own skin. Too bad for Markey there.

The Washington Post suggests that the electorate in Massachusetts is Democrat – and the likelihood of a Republican wining is very slim indeed – except – it does happen. The fact that Obama bested Romney in his own state is not something that should be help up as anti-Republican – it was, more to the point, anti-Romney. Outside of the bubble that is Boston, Romney was never overly popular in his home state. The fact that Obama won Massachusetts handily against McCain in 2008 was also not a shocker – it as youth versus the old guy.

The Chicago Tribune Headline is the one that Markey will have to count on, to get anywhere, without seriously stuffing the ballots, putting poling locations in every senior center, nursing home and bodega, and enlisting the help of the Mayor of Bridgeport. The fact that Markey has experience in Congress, decades and decades of experience, a solid Democrat vote since Carter was elected.



Meet Ed Markey - Image Salon.com

Markey is Markey – he’s part of the machine, heck he probably can claim he built the machine that is Congress. That’s the one favorable that Markey has going into the race in a state that is made up of an electorate who a) does not care and b) is over 50% unenrolled – or non-partisan if one will.

Gomez on the other hand looks like a shiny new dime.

The Republican’s, from outside of Massachusetts, don’t hope or think that Gomez is another Scott Brown, they know he is Gabriel Gomez, with every single attribute the Democrats would have killed for in a candidate.

Gomez is aggressive in campaigning, and does not need to have the support of NARAL and the SEIU, Unions, et.al behind him – He just smiles and opens with a phrase in Spanish, then rips into his issues like a well-oiled machine. He makes no wild claims, is humble at the same time, and, although made mistakes such as writing a letter to Governor Deval Patrick, which was chock full of support for Obama, he did not apologize for being – Gabriel Gomez, not to the Republican’s – all 11.5% of them. He just noted he also liked McCain in 08 – enough said. He’s proven that he can win the Republican nomination in a three way fight, even with that letter to Deval Patrick. One might say that letter is money in the bank.

What Markey needs to win this race – Markey needs to be Gomez, that won’t happen.

What Gomez needs: troops to watch the opposition and keep them from stuffing ballots in nursing homes – He needs plenty of lawyers at the polling stations - That’s it.

The only other thing Gomez should do is campaign in Western Massachusetts – especially in the urban areas: Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, Pittsfield – Heck he may even get those hippies in the hill towns who would have voted for Markey – one swing or two in the next few weeks should do it.

Scott Brown won, or gave real hard chase in the aforementioned areas in 2010, because he was not Martha Coakley, and because they went door to door in the flats, in Holyoke – they took a page from the playbook of the Democrats, heck they were Democrats! Isn’t Gomez a former Democrat? That’s what all those, who are digging for dirt on Google: Gomez right wing, Is Gomez Right wing, Gomez Tea Party, etc. are finding out.

Some in the media are billing this as a race……while others are pointing to a reliable win by Markey- one would have thought so on the later, had one not realized that the hand has been expertly played. It may well end up being no race at all.

MA Special Senate Election – Match-up: Markey vs. Gomez - Youth and Diversity versus the Old Established White – Wait a Second! Gomez is a What?

Compare and Contrast: Ed Markey (Top) and Gabriel Gomez (Bottom) –– image wickedlocal.com

Something odd happened in the Massachusetts Special Election yesterday, there appears to have been a role reversal in the way one views the status quo of political parties. Normally speaking, the Republican on the ticket is viewed by low information voters (and die-hard progressives, etc.) as the “angry old white man” while the Democrat on the ticket is viewed as the hip, young, diverse “rock star”.

If, against the odds, Mike Sullivan had bested Gabriel Gomez in the Republican Primary, that would have resulted in a match of angry old white man against semi-angry old white man, Ed Markey. If Stephen Lynch had bested Markey, the matchup would have been kindly old-time Democrat against angry old white man. Although Sullivan could hardly be cast in the role of angry, but he is older, and he is definitely white. This nonsense is illustrative – given the fact that the mantra for decades has been that the Democrats are the party of diversity, while the Republican’s are made up of nothing but angry, old, rich, white men. This is taught on campuses, it is seen in the news, it is discussed, ad nauseum on MSNBC, yet there appears to be a flaw in this theory. There has been for eons, as one Senator Rand Paul attempted to point out recently while visiting Howard University, but, was lambasted for bringing up the past of the Republican Party, not the present. There are facts and then, there is propaganda. The facts are that regardless of race, gender or ethnicity, individuals choose a political party by their own ideology, for the most part.

Gomez, is young, attractive, a newcomer to politics (sort-of), a first generation Hispanic American, served the nation in the Navy, went on to become a very successful businessman – in other words, living the American Dream. He is the Republican, so those who are unaware can pick up their jaws off that floor.

Ed Markey, on the other hand, is the old guy, normally hair is somewhat askew, and he appears to be grimacing rather than smiling. One might say he is rich, given the fact that he lives in DC, while maintaining his parent’s home in Massachusetts, though rarely setting food in the state. (Boston Globe) In advertising for the primary against Stephen Lynch, he pushed his NARAL rating, and his love for Planned Parenthood. NARAL rates political leaders on their support for unfettered abortion up to and including terminating a "fetus" that is born alive and breathing. (See the Gosnell Horror Abortion Trial in Philadelphia) (Bucks County Courier) – Markey is for Obamacare, higher taxes and no cuts to the Federal Government. Markey is the Democrat Party of today.

What a conundrum!

Once the ads start, it’s going to be a tough one – as Gomez is well-funded, and Markey has the weight of the Progressive wing of the Democrat Party behind him. The Polls suggest that Markey is the favorite, which, at present may be the case – against all the rules of logic, in the upside down world in which we live in Massachusetts.

One might suggest that Markey is going to have to get a lot of help from his friends come the election in June – this one might take a bit more “ballot stuffing” creativity than previous elections to ensure that Markey goes over the top with a 5 to 10 point finish. If Gomez can get out the vote, and ensure he plasters the state, and guilts those racially sensitive (i.e. racists) Democrats and Democrat leaning Independents (more important) into voting for him – Markey may have a rougher time of it. If this race grabs national attention, and it already has (Gomez has ground troops coming in from other states for the primary –young, college students), then there may be an upset. That’s a long-shot – again – maybe.

This is, in all seriousness, a chance for a first in the Bay State, which elected the first African American to the Senate (a Republican), and now has a chance to elect the state’s first Hispanic to the Senate (where he would join the growing Hispanic Republican Caucus in that august body.) This just became the race to watch.

Election date: June 25th, 2013 - In that election, one may vote for the candidate of their choice - for example, if one is a Democrat, one can go into the booth and vote for the Republican, and vice versa.

Visit: Gomez for Senate

Visit: Ed Markey dot com

Compare and Contrast!