Stick to what your teleprompters say. The whole Henry Louis Gates debacle (if you’re not familiar with the story, read about it here) has shown that race relations are strained in America, however, people seem to be rushing to judgment before getting all the facts of the story. (That statement is directed at you, Mr. Obama – don’t call our police officers “stupid.”)

I’m sure the true story of what happened lies somewhere between what Mr. Gates and the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley have to say. I don’t believe it was a case of racial profiling based on what I’ve read, however, I can understand that Mr. Gates may be sensitive to issues such as that. It is an unfortunate case, but my biggest problem with it was the fact that Mr. Obama weighed in during a national address, admitting that he didn’t know the facts, and automatically sided based on race. He is President of the United States, and he should be bigger than that. It doesn’t matter what he thinks personally – attacking Sgt. Crowley (and all Police Officers) is completely uncalled for, and shows Mr. Obama’s true colors. (We shouldn’t be too surprised, however, based on the church Obama attended for 20 years…)

I’ve been training all summer for a 1/2 marathon I’ll be running next month. It’s great exercise, and I’ve really come to love running. It’s also helped me lose the last of my baby weight, which is a plus as well!

I’ve recently run into some trouble while running through different neighborhoods – dogs. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m an avid animal lover. I just don’t like dogs. Or rather, dogs that people don’t keep control of as I’m running.

This past week alone, I’ve been chased by six different dogs, and just today, had a huge black Lab jump up on me. I don’t know if he was friendly or not, but when a 100 lb dog comes chasing after me as I’m running and jumps on me, I’m not in the mood to find out if he’s nice. I yelled at him to get off me, and gave him a swift kick to the ribs. He backed off, but it really scared me. (It brought back memories of being bitten by a lose dog and then going through the rabies shots series…)

I can’t say that I really blame the dogs – they’re either protecting “their” territory that I’m running past, or they’re just looking for a new friend. Owners really need to take responsibility for their animals. If they know their dogs will run after people, they need to keep them in the backyard, locked up. There was no one around when this big black lab chased after me – in other words, no one supervising him at all. This has been the case for all the dog problems I’ve had over the past week (and several months).

I’m sure people will be upset that I kicked a dog, and honestly, I would NEVER advocate violence against animals, but I had to protect myself and make sure this dog didn’t hurt me. I just have to figure out how to handle this dog problem in the future, since I hate running on treadmills and I love running outside. Maybe if I get one of those chain-mail suits people wear when swimming with sharks…