Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 153

On Politics
Mitt Romney’s selection of Rep Paul Ryan (R-Wis) did not surprise me. What has surprised me is the comparison by some partisan pundits of Rep. Ryan to Sarah Palin. He may be an ideologue, but he is not a nincompoop.

Selecting Gov. Chris Christie to deliver the keynote address at the Republican convention is a good choice.

As the Medicare rhetoric wars heat up, here are two interesting articles: one and two.

In his campaign for Congress, Joe the Plumber’s “Put a damn fence on the border going to Mexico and start shooting” is more than a goofy comment by someone who has no business being in Congress. It is a sign of the tone, tenor, and lack of sincerity in today’s political arena. Let’s hope that the majority of citizens in Ohio’s First District have enough sense. Sadly, even if he loses, he will receive too many votes.

Because VP Biden’s “chains” gaffe and the political aftermath received much media play, I sought and listened to the entire speech. (I wonder how many people did that.) Although it was a not the best metaphor, it still goes back to context – thus didn’t deserve the attention it got. Interestingly, Sen. McCain said the President Obama should replace Biden on the ticket. Senator, are you speaking as a partisan or from your experience?

Does anyone have friends who still believe President Obama was not born in the U.S.?

The Mute button on my TV remote is still working on the campaign ads and interviews with surrogates!

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Michael Phelps Returns to His Tank at Sea World
New Dating Site Matches Users with Partners They Deserve
Subway Introduces Pool-Water-Soaked Sandwich to Honor Michael Phelps
Long Jumper Imagines Transatlantic Flight as One Big, Long Jump
Herman Cain Lifts Suspension of Presidential Campaign

Interesting Reads
Disavowing Super PACS
Brush up on Your Fake Science
Washington Post graph of global temperatures since the late 1800s
Soul of the Olympics
The craft of ancient Belgian beer
An initial Christian response to Darwin

On Potpourri
As I wrote yesterday, the college football season is around the corner, which also means the bowl season is not far away. Given the number of teams required to fill the bowls, the NCAA standards for selections by the bowls, and the number of high-profile schools ineligible for bowls, the NCAA pathetically put their best foot forward by changing the standards.

These are for any enjoying Italy. Debra, an Australian who spends time in Italy, had this wonderful post from the area of both sides of my family. Earlier in this week, I posted about cruising into Portofino. On the same day, Margie also posted about this picturesque village.

William Shatner returns to Priceline ads, which means he survived the crash.

Sadly, I will not have a Saturday Morning Cartoon post this week. After all, it’s time for me to take a break. Although you may see me stopping by, I will return here in about 3 weeks. Meanwhile, I encourage everyone to visit the delightful bloggers I provide in the sidebar. Until my return, be safe, enjoy life, and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch … and enjoy this fun video.

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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 139

On Politics
Looking back at the Arab Spring, it’s interesting to notice a different US position in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, and Bahrain. Is that because of national values or national interests?

I about choked to death last week when I watched John McCain explain how the most important factor for selecting a potential vice president is the VP’s ability to step into the position if necessary. At the time in 2008, both my wife and I were undecided voters leaning to McCain, and it did not take long for his decision to lose our votes.

Gov. Romney says he deserves credit for the recent success of US Automakers. Really? On well, he will flip on the issue if the companies start to falter.

President Obama’s statement about gay marriage caught me a bit off guard. I’m not sure it will get him votes, but he may lose votes from independents over 50. No, it wasn’t a diverse from the economy. So I figure his reason must be campaign money.

As many rush to fix on VP Biden’s statement about supporting gay marriage as a key reason President Obama made his statement, I say the administration planned the Biden’s statement to gauge the next step.

As if we don’t have enough of these types on Capitol Hill, Indiana Republicans voters nominate (through their primary process) a self-proclaimed, non-compromising obstructionist. Good news is, there still is a general election.

On Headlines from The Onion
Half Sleeve of Oreos Lost in Home Fire
Man Confidently Strides through Beaded Curtain without Parting
Paula Dean Sponsors .05K Walk for Diabetes Research
Loophole in Curse Lets Archeologist Off the Hook
Nation’s Moms Invent New Recreational Drug to Worry About
Lone Wolf Gets Rookie Partner

Interesting Reads
A short read about modern genetics
Emergency Rooms and the Health Care Gap
Water: A Wonder of the Universe
Unemployment Rates and Government Cuts
Vampires, Spirituality, and Danish Teens

On Potpourri
I claim not to write fiction. Any idea why I wrote the following last Saturday morning?

It was a normal Wednesday night on Trinniberg. On one side of town, Hanson went to the well one more time to give a rousing sermon about Alpha and the liaison. At the same time at El Padrino’s Café, Bodemeister, a local gemologist, finished discussing with Dullahan his perspective why daddy nose best – so it was time for him to finish this monthly short story for the Union Rags – “After eating a daddy longlegs, and being the optimizer that he is, the sabercat responded to Indy, his bartending friend, “Before I take charge Indy, I’ll take another.”

At this weekend’s services is our final handbell ring of the season. One of the two we play includes the “singing bell” technique, which involves moving a one-inch dowel rod about the rim of various big bells. (Explanation is similar to moving a finger along the rim of a wine glass to create a “singing glass”. Click here for the video of song with the technique.

My recent post about zinfandel received spam from Zinfandel Burger with a URL about custom sexual aids.

I have a classic cartoon post planned for tomorrow. Hint: It’s a Looney Tunes character.

To help with readers with the the email avalanche from WordPress, I disabled the following comments by email option.

Because we traveled to the microscopic world this week, let’s travel into the weekend with a smile of place to visit. Have a good weekend everyone. In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 106

On Thoughts and Prayers
To the people of Norway for their violence
To the people of Korea dealing with their mega rain

On Politics
GOP Presidential Candidate John Huntsman (R-UT) endorsed the Boehner deficit plan and the need for a Constitutional amendment regarding a balanced budget. Consider this as his first major faux pas for my vote.

Although Senator McCain (R-AZ) recently criticized the Tea Party, he also criticized Senator Reid (D-NV) and President Obama in the same speech. Let us not forget that he is the one who brought The Nincompoop into the spotlight.

The debt ceiling stalemate is all about political positioning by both sides. Here’s a quote from Speaker Boehner (R-OH): (to this party’s members) “Get your ass in here. I can’t do this job unless you are behind me.”

The Tea Party expanded it’s “our way or the highway” approach by stating it is time for Speaker Boehner to go and be replaced by a Tea Party Speaker of the House.

The magic number is $4 trillion over 10 years – the number to stop growth – thus both Boehner and Reid plans fall short.

It’s Week 29 of the Boehner-led House without a jobs bill. To quote Speaker Boehner, “Where are the jobs?”

Interesting Reads
John Avlon
New York Times editorial
Columnist Ruth Marcus
Texting transcript between a Norwegian teen and her mother

Interesting Headlines I Saw this Week
Rupert Murdock is King Lear on steroids
Latex Casey Anthony mask fetches almost 1 million on eBay
Bachmann warns of Dictator Obama
Bad weather, busy roads mean more Ohio potholes
Emergency team of 8th grade civics teachers dispatched to Washington

On Potpourri
My Cincinnati Reds have won consecutive games only once in the past 5 weeks. Going into the trading deadline, it’s time to be a cautious seller.

With the NFL labor strife over, we Cincinnati fans are eagerly anticipating a routine lousy season.

For those remembering the Volkswagen commercial with the kid in the Darth Vader costume, CNN’s Dr. Gupta recently did a wonderful story about the kid who was born with a rare heart defect.

Last fall, George Clooney used Cincinnati for an upcoming film. Here is the just released trailer for Ides of March. Have a good and safe weekend everyone!

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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 59

On Republicans and Pork Earmarks
While many Republican House members are foregoing earmarks, let me set the record with these key points:

• Their pledge is only for one year – an election year
• They can still get earmarks through their senator

On the Republicans No to Financial Reform
As the Republicans have come out against financial reform, let us remember these points:

• The financial industry is the foundation of an economy.
• The GOP led the charge to deregulate the financial industry, which ran amuck.

As Senator McConnell says “No” to Democratic proposed regulation, he is also saying “Yes” to deregulation.

On the VAT
For whatever reason, the White House let the cat out of the bag that it is considering a Value Added Tax. That has to be one of the dumbest, poorly timed ideas I have encountered. Is President Obama actually trying to unseat himself? Here is a good column about the VAT from George Will.

On the Maverick
Senator John McCain faces a tough challenge in the primary for his current seat. Although he has served his country well, I personally wish he would step aside, thus actually go out on a high note. I appreciated this Leonard Pitts column.

On the Volcano
Although many understand the risk volcanic ash brings to air travel, some of the comments still cause me to shake my head. How about the complainers forming a human shield block the spewed ash?

On the Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are off to a pathetic start (6-9). The one thing worse than watching the batters is watching the pitchers. Even with lousy pitching and poor hitting leading the good news is that the long baseball season has many natural peaks and valleys. By the way, going into Thursday night’s game, the Reds are the only team without a win from the starting pitching.

On a Classic Angle
With baseball season underway, here are two of my most read posts about the game:

• On a Special Jersey
• On a Not-So-Famous Bowl that is Not a Bowl

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On Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 18

On I Didn’t Know
Whether due to my ignorance or stupidity, I’ve never heard of historian John Hope Franklin; but thanks to a fellow blogger that I respect, this NPR post enlightened me. In honor of his March 23rd passing at the age of 94, I encourage readers to listen to the All Things Considered interview (about halfway down), visit the Duke University tribute, and other NPR resources. Thanks Tim for introducing me to Professor Franklin.

• NPR
• Library of Congress
• Leonard Pitts column

On Evolutionary Thoughts
I’ve been reading Saving Darwin by Karl Giberson (which I found in my library). It focuses on the history of both evolutionary thought and creationism – and simply a delightful and interesting read, especially with the Texas Board of Education’s recent news.

On Sexting
Sending nude pictures, especially by teens to other teens, is providing a lot of news. Challenges to laws and punishment based on First Amendment rights will be interesting to watch.

On Newt Gingrich
Multiple divorcee and philanderer Newt Gingrich’s criticism of Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama for speaking at graduation clearly demonstrates he has too much time on his hands.

(From his Twitter feed)
It is sad to see Notre Dame invite President Obama to give the commencement address since his policies are so anti-catholic values.

On McCain
Sorry, not John … but Meghan. Seems the senator’s daughter is making a name for herself as an excellent blogger and a voice for Republican moderates. In this post she calls out Ann Coulter. Well done Meghan.

Not to leave out the respected senator, I can’t believe the news concerning his lack of endorsement of Governor Palin in 2012. He’s playing it close to the vest (as I would) … nothing more, nothing less; so there’s nothing in his comments. Meanwhile, a suggestion to journalists – stop asking the question!

On a Great Story
If you didn’t see this, NBC’s Jenna Wolf did a great story about a young paraplegic. The world would be a better place if more of us had Patrick’s attitude.

On a Wow

• Great job Valerie Bertinelli … you look great!
• Welcome back Tiger

On the Final Four
It’s been another great tournament. Coaching legends Izzo, Williams, and Calhoun make the trip, while Jay Wright has his first.

I started posting picks with round 2 and my record has been 12-4, 7-1, and 3-1 (22-6; 78.6%) – so on to the semifinals.

• North Carolina over Villanova
• Michigan State over UConn

On Site Updates
Since I’ve done a number of posts, today I’ve added to pages to this site: Rockpile and Perspectives; plus updating the About page. These provide another way to revisit some past posts.

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