The below image is from the Gallup Poll organization. Someone emailed this to me, and I don’t remember who did. First, thanks to whomever that is 🙂
First, my views:
Divorce: Acceptable
Gambling: Acceptable
Death Penalty: Wrong
Stem Cells: Acceptable
Unmarried Sex: Acceptable
Medical testing on Animals: Acceptable, for medical purposes only. I keep changing my mind on this. I understand it’s needed but there has to be a more humane way of doing it. (I am opposed to cosmetic testing on animals. Use people. It’s all for vanity anyway.)
Baby Outside of Marriage: Acceptable
Fur: Wrong (except for indigenous peoples for whom I find it tolerable)
Doctor Assisted Suicide: Acceptable
Homosexual Relations: Acceptable
Abortion: Acceptable (with consent of both parents where possible — two people made it happen so two people should agree)
Cloning Animals: Wrong
Suicide: Acceptable
Cloning Humans: Acceptable
Polygamy: Wrong (I’m willing to be convinced otherwise — but my objection is not with the act itself but with the fact usually you end up with a bunch of people forced into it against their will.)
Affairs: Wrong — the most wrong thing on this list.
There’s all sorts of interesting stuff here. The original post (click on the image to go to the article on Gallup’s website) is about homosexual relationships but that’s not what fascinates me about this survey. I have obviously identified myself as a raging liberal because of my opinions above. That should surprise nobody. What does surprise me is that 30% of people find divorce morally wrong. And 32% of people find gambling morally wrong. I challenge all of them to a debate — meet me in Las Vegas to discuss it this November. I also find it amazing that 7% of the people think having an affair is okay. If you’re married, you’ve made a commitment. Get a divorce if you can’t live up to it. A promise is a promise. I was shocked at the out-of-wedlock baby numbers. I thought it’d be further down the list. To me, the whole list shows a very conflicted populace who just doesn’t get what matters and what doesn’t. Shout out to Erin who has a new cast on her leg. Shout out to Evan for this post on his FaceBook account: proving he’s a decent human and that I pick some good people for friends. I’ve found three properties in London that I’d like to buy. I cannot afford any of them. However, I thought I’d share with you. If you’d like to buy one of them for me, I’d be ever so grateful.
Property One: The cheapest of the lot at £1,950,000 or $3,120,000. It’s 2517 square feet and is comparable to what I have now. I would be happy to live here and it’s in a decent neighbourhood, has a good floor plan, and is near West Brompton tube. It’s in the Royal Borough of Chelsea.
Property Two: This one’s a bit further afield from my normal stomping grounds but at 3576 square feet and an annual council tax of just £1376, it’s a bargain. It’s priced at a measly £4,995,000 or US7,992,000 and gives me everything I want in a home except central air-conditioning. London didn’t used to need AC, but it does now. It’s in the City of Westminster which is why, I suspect, the council taxes are so much lower. The sole minus is it’s further from a tube stop than any other place, triangulated by Paddington, Lancaster Gate, and Marble Arch. On the plus side, there’s full access to a plethora of tube lines as well as National Rail.
Property Three: This one is out of my league and is in Ovington Square in Knightsbridge. Priced at £12,000,000 pounds or US$19,200,000 for 4700 square feet of spectacularity. I actually know where this is. It’s a short walk to Harrods and is in one of my favourite neighbourhoods. I will never live here because it’s way out of my league. If I won PowerBall, I couldn’t afford it. That’s how pricey this is. (I included this because it was too nice not to.) These homes are shown so you can see how bad it really is. I looked at an 800 square foot flat way out in Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs at this same website and it was nearly £400,000 or $640,000. Nice view but little else to recommend it. If I would be willing to live in Shoreditch (as if) prices drop considerably, but having been in that neighbourhood, let me tell you, not going to happen. Finally, my tickets for my annual Europe trip are now in hand. The trip in the middle isn’t planned, but once again have used miles so the flight was free save for taxes. I will be leaving a little earlier this year and coming back a little later, so the trip will be longer. If anyone wants to meet up with Karen and I for part of the trip, it could be fun for you. Details on private request. In a few days, I will spout vitriol at Siemens who runs our fire alarm, burglar alarm, and fire-sprinkler systems. A bunch of idiots who all blame the other department. Look for it.