At least one lawmaker has proposed a radical alternative. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., wants to reinstate the draft.
His proposal would require all U.S. residents ages 18 to 42 to perform two years of national service, either in the military or as civilians working in ports, hospitals or some other public-service role. The only people exempted would be high school students up to age 20, conscientious objectors and those who are too unhealthy to serve.
Oh my, what an incredibly hectic time it’s been. Every time I’ve sat down to write a blog post, the words have eluded me. I’ve found something else to do, whether that’s adding a new auction to sell something, or to respond to questions on current auctions, or to pack or organise something, or to have a chai latte with Ken, or to catch up with someone who wants to see me/us off, or to have farewell parties, or to…
Well, I’m sure you get the picture. But let me give you a few details about some of the more interesting ‘challenges’ along the way.
Let’s assume you travel to China for some reason, and you and a friend are picked up by their police force. You didn’t do anything wrong, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens. You’re not told why you are being detained, and you’re not allowed to contact your family, an attorney, or the US embassy.
Today is Thursday, and two Thursdays from now - at this very time - I’ll be in Sydney looking for a car to buy. I did another check this morning for Ford Fairmonts, and it looks like I’ll be able to afford a 2000 model instead of just a ‘96-’98 model. The question I have to ask myself is, do I get the model that I wanted 10 years ago, or do I get the model that’s newer and better? I think I’ll be getting the newer model, ’cause it makes sense to do so. It’ll last longer without needing as much maintenance, so ongoing costs are likely to be cheaper. It handles fuel efficiency slightly better than the older one, so it’ll be cheaper in fuel costs. So I think we’ll be getting the newer one.
Emelie and Reine have gone, and I already miss them heaps. It was fantastic to have them here, to meet them, and to show them around Wellington. I think they had a good time. They don’t have Starbucks in Sweden, and so it’s unfortunate that I’ve got them addicted to Chai Lattes… I’m sure they’ll find other addictions though.
Now that they’re gone, however, I’ve become very busy. Organising photos and details of the household items that we’re selling on an auction website has been keeping me busy. And now we start packing things, and throwing things out, and getting ourselves organised.
I love sitting at Starbucks here in Wellington a lot, enjoying the atmosphere and the relaxation. I’ve been very lucky that the wifi hotspot provider has been the same provider as my home internet connection, which has meant that I get free wifi hotspot access. Unfortunately, it looks like this bit of luck isn’t available for me in Canberra.
So I did a Google search this afternoon for free wifi in Canberra. I was very happy to find that there are actually a few free wifi hotspots around the place! All I have to do once I get to Canberra is check them out and see if I can get a similar relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere as I’ve had here. Part of that atmosphere includes good opportunities for people watching…
Over at The Last Word is the code for you to add to your Blogger HTML. When you’ve done that, you can use smilies!
Wheee!
If you have padding or borders around your images, you may need to add the following code to your CSS (thanks again to Ramani, via comments he left on The Last Word):
I have to laugh at the recent news of a mystery smell in Manhattan. I’m not laughing that there’s a smell, I’m laughing at how much they use a particular series of words…
Mayor Bloomberg said the city does not know what the puzzling odor wafting over Manhattan and N.J. is, but “it does not appear to be dangerous.”‘
“Our sensors do not show any high concentration of natural gas that would give us cause to be concerned,” Bloomberg said at a morning press conference.
Someone told me that maybe we shouldn’t get mad when people do stupid shit, because they probably don’t know they’re doing anything wrong. This is interesting. I will consider this and report back.
It reminds me of a quote from somewhere else…
Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.
Forgiveness is something we all need to learn, especially in this changing world where more people are becoming stupid and forgetting their common sense.
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