There’s an advice column at Slate called Dear Prudence, to which a reader recently wrote asking what she should do after a boyfriend asked her to get rid of her nine-near-old dog before the boyfriend would marry her. The dog-owner wanted to postpone marriage until the dog dies. I have a simpler option as a…
Poll
Cycling, Poll
Friday Poll: Lance Armstrong Doping Charges
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
There are new doping charges against Lance Armstrong, from the US Anti-Doping Agency. (These are new charges, but not new allegations.) Unexpectedly, some of the most thorough newspaper coverage of doping investigations about Lance Armstrong has come from the Wall Street Journal. What do you think? Armstrong Doping Charges: Yes, No, Not Sure
Poll
Favorite Summer Food
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Poll
Friday Poll: Will you vote in the recall election?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Poll
Memorial Day Weekend Grilling Choices
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
For those who are grilling this weekend, here’s a poll about some of the likely possibilities to grace the grill. Multiple answers are possible. What will you be grilling? At the House of Dissenting Opinion, we’ll have steak and fish, but lamb is always tempting if one can find something suitable… Memorial Day Weekend Grilling…
Poll
Friday Poll: Is Facebook a Fad?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 6 Comments
Update, 5.19.12: a middling first day for Facebook (Facebook Falls Back to IPO Price – WSJ.com). Facebook’s had a successful IPO, but there’s a poll from AP-CNBC where a majority think Facebook a passing fad. What do you think? (I’ll venture no, and say it’s likely to be around for a good while.) Do you…
Poll
Friday Poll: “Do you think Whitewater teaches and embraces free thinking?”
by JOHN ADAMS • • 6 Comments
A smart reader wrote and offered an idea for a poll topic — “Here’s my suggestion for a poll question for your blog: Do you think Whitewater teaches and embraces free thinking?” Well, here we are, with that very question. Quick assumptions: (1) This question was about our schools, principally, but you may think of…
Animals, Crime, Poll
Update: Trainer videotaped hitting horse to be cited for animal abuse
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Here’s an update on the story that prompted last week’s poll, Animal Abuse or Necessary Technique?, about a trainer recorded hitting a horse with a plastic bat. Seventy-seven percent of respondents thought that kind of treatment was abusive, about fifteen percent weren’t sure, and nearly eight percent said it wasn’t. Dane county officials will cite…
Film, Poll
Friday Poll: Most-Awaited Summer Films
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
Summer is a season of blockbusters films, and Hollywood’s seen things that way at least since Jaws, a generation ago. This summer, some big-screen adventures await: The Avengers (today, 5.4), Men in Black III (5.25), The Amazing Spider-Man (7.3), and The Dark Knight Rises (7.20). Of these big-budget films, which looks good to you (multiple…
Poll
Friday Poll: Animal Abuse or Necessary Technique?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Poll
Friday poll: Ban non-rescue pets?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 7 Comments
In Los Angeles, there’s a proposal to ban non-rescue pet sales. See, L.A. Council Proposes Ban on Non-Rescue Pet Sales from the Palos Verdes Patch. (“The Los Angeles City Council moved Tuesday to ban stores in the city from selling dogs, cats and rabbits that are not from shelters, humane societies or registered rescue organizations.…