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?
Young people do stupid things. it’s a fact. And Prince Harry is young and stupid. That being said, though, Prince Harry is a prince. and a public figure. i DO NOT think was an acceptable choice of outfit. The swastika is a symbol that represents a time in history that should not in any way be glamorized. my grandparents each lost their entire families to Hilter and the holocaust. i don’t, in any way, think that Harry was trying to make a point by wearing the armband. i just think he’s stupid. he was in the wrong.
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?
it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Vending machines are a huge mistake in today’s schools. When children are unsupervised, of course they are going to go for the less healthy snacks and drinks – chips, cookies, and pop. By putting these foods at their fingertips, we are doing today’s youth a great disservice.
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?
i HATE being cold, so none of these things are all that appealing to me. but, if i had to choose one, i’d probably say the Ice Hotel….at least that way i could visit Sweden…and feel like i’m on the Amazing Race!
Q4: Much has been made over the last month or so about the $40-$50 million price-tag for yesterday’s Presidential Inauguration 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?
this is private money. it’s not my money being spent, so i really don’t care all that much. these companies and people are fortunate that they have all this money to blow on an inaugural event. and, let’s be honest, the democrats will do the exact same thing in 4 years when they elect the next president. 🙂
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