FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1 - Public Speaking: What is the largest group of people you have ever spoken in front of, and what was the focus of your talk/speech?
It was to a group of about 200 students and faculty. I was part of a panel discussing GLBT issues.

Q2 - Freedom of Speech: Earlier this week, former Miami Heat basketball player Tim Hardaway said on a sports radio talk show that he would not want a gay player on his team. "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States." National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern, upon learning of the remarks, banished Hardaway from this weekend's NBA's All-Star activities in Las Vegas. Despite what you think about Hardaway's comments, do you think the NBA took the right, appropriate or just action in barring him from the League's All-Star functions?
I believe everyone has the right to say what they want, as long as it is not hateful. From the above quote, I would not say it meets my definition of hateful. Bigoted, yes.
Did the NBA have to right to spend him, yes. He is a spokesman for the NBA and therefore what he says reflects badly on the NBA.
We can legislate how people behave towards one and other but we cannot legislate what they think

Q3 - Food Poisoning: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat from certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee (a bacterium that causes food borne illness). The affected jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter have a product code located on the lid of the jar that begins with the number "2111." Have you ever had food poisoning? If so, what made you sick, and can you still eat that particular food? If a restaurant was involved, can you still eat food from the establishment that contributed to your food poisoning?
Nope, but my father did at one time. It was so bad he needed to be hospitalized. The state public health officials came to our house to interview him when he got home to trace where the contamination came from. It was from bad roast beef he got a local deli.


Q4 - Purchases: What was the last thing you purchased, and what do you think you will purchase next?
The last purchase was a digital voice recorder that I got so that I can record interviews that I have to do for a class. My next major purchase is a 500G external hard drive and that will be followed by a MP3 player.
The digital voice recorder can also hole 1 hour of music and when I saw how easy it was to record my CD, I got hooked. So I want to record my whole CD collection to MP3.