Some of these I really just learned today; others I've "re-learned"
There is no work for TB at Halo
There might be work for him in Cranbury, NJ
There is a winter storm warning for heavy snow this weekend
I don't know what to do about the kids and their SATs if there is a lot of snow on the ground!
Motherhood is a mixed blessing
Things can always get worse!
Q1: Last week's published pictures of England's Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party caused outrage around the world. In the days and weeks following the uproar, a poll published in a London newspaper showed that while 70 percent of those interviewed thought Harry was wrong to sport the uniform and accompanying swastika armband, more than half of those between the ages of 18 and 24 said the choice of outfit was acceptable. What's your take on all of this? Was young Harry in the wrong on this one or do you feel the outrage reported in the media was blown out of proportion? If you were offended, upset, or disappointed by Harry's choice of costume, would your opinion change if you learned that for thousands of years Hindus from across the world have regarded the swastika as a highly-sacred sign of wisdom?
Well, that's all well and good that the Hindus have regarded the swastika as a sign of wisdom. On the uniform that Prince Harry wore, however, it's a symbol of something else much worse -- hatred, bigotry, murder. I think we're beginning to "forget" what happened and that's why the prince made such a terrible mistake in judgement.
Q2: In a move that many see as an admission that marketers do share blame for the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S., Kraft Foods last week announced that it would stop advertising snacks such as Oreo cookies and Kool-Aid, and instead shift its advertising budget to new lines of healthier "Sensible Solution" food products for children. Many food industry observers fear that Kraft's strategy bolsters the position of consumer advocates who favor a ban on the business of marketing junk food to children. How long do you think Kraft's new childhood obesity-sensitive advertising strategy will last, and how do you feel about vending machines placed in schools that dole out candy and soda?
I hate to sound cynical but Kraft's new advertising reminds me of the cigarette companies warning their addicted consumers that smoking can kill them and they should quit. I think they will go on using the obesity-sensitive advertising for as long as it's "popular" to do so. I really think vending machines selling candy and soda in the schools should be removed!
Q3: Assuming you've never done any of the following, which would you pick to do this winter if forced to pick one: Learn to ice fish and spend a week with anyone you wanted doing so? Travel with anyone of your choosing to the town of Jukkasjarn, in northern Sweden, for a week's stay at the Ice Hotel, a palatial facility built each winter entirely out of ice? Or, attend a fantasy figure skating camp which culminated in your mandatory participating in a public performance in front 1,000 people, some of whom you know and work with?
Oh, boy, I think I'd like to learn how to ice fish and spend a week with TB doing that.
Q4: Much has been made over the last month or so about the $40-$50 million price-tag for yesterday's Presidential Inauguration here in the U.S., paid almost entirely from non-governmental sources, i.e., private donations. Former Enron executive, Rich Kinder and his wife Nancy, donated $250,000 to the inauguration, while Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens--who put $2.5 million of his own money behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that ran during the 2004 election--also donated $250,000 to the inaugural event. On the corporate side of the equation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Goldman Sachs, Sallie Mae, Time Warner, SBC, Home Depot, Northrop Grumman, the National Association of Realtors, Morgan Stanley's PAC, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Bank of America, BlueCross BlueShield of Florida, and Cisco Systems, just to name a few, each donated $100,000 or more. How do you feel about the amount of private money raised and spent on these inaugural events?
It makes me sick! That seems decadent, spending all that money on a bunch of balls and parties. We have people going hungry and who are homeless and who have no medical insurance. That's a crying shame!
Posted by Cassie at January 21, 2005 06:56 PM