Four for Friday

(Link at left)

Q1 - God's Toys: Starting next month, more than 400 Wal-Mart stores will stock their shelves with faith-based toys. The toys will feature figures from biblical stories such as Samson, Goliath and Daniel. There is also a 12-inch-tall talking Jesus. The idea behind the line is to give children a faith alternative to action figures that have been so popular for many years. Would you buy these toys for your children?

Great, now a kid can hit her brother in the eye with Jesus in the middle of a meltdown.
Are these things going to have more realistic anatomy than 'regular' dolls, or is Samson (or Jesus!!) going to be a eunuch (actually, a worse-than-eunuch) like most male dolls? There is something REALLY REALLY wrong about that!
Obviously, with just one 14-year-old son in my household, buying these for my family is a moot point--though perhaps buying and keeping it in the box as a collector's item isn't a bad idea--but even if I had the proper child to give them to...I wouldn't. Eeeuw. The whole subject is just silly.

Q2 - Bones: How do you feel about eating meat off of a bone, i.e., chicken wings, turkey drumstick, ribs, etc.? Does eating meat directly off a bone gross you out or are you down with the bone?

This ranks up there as one of the weirdest questions I've answered recently. Uhm, I guess I'm down with the bone, especially when it comes to ribs and poultry. I don't pick them up and gnaw on them in public, i.e. at restaurants (well, ok, I would with ribs), but at home or at a picnic I would. I have been known to suck the last bit of steak off a T-bone, too.

Q3 - Iraq: While U.S. Senators on Wednesday blocked a bid to force a vote on U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds 61 percent of Americans think Congress should not continue to fund the situation in Iraq unless a timetable for withdrawal is put in place. Twenty-eight percent say funding should be continued without a timetable, while eight percent think all funding for the conflict should be blocked, no matter what. What do you think?

We
Need
To
Get
Out
Of
Iraq

I don't think we should block funding 'no matter what,' but we definitely need a timetable. Contrary to some people's belief in the DoD, that is not the same as giving information to the bad guys and being a traitor the the U.S.Q4 - Take 'em Off: Do you wear your shoes in your own house? How do you feel when someone else asks you to take your shoes off before entering theirs?

I prefer NOT to wear shoes in my house, but it's not a hard-and-fast rule. My parents always wanted me to have shoes on in the house. We have friends who keep a basket by the door for (primarily kids') shoes. I follow the rules of the house I'm in, leaning WAY towards the side of removing shoes if I'm staying for any length of time.