Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 174

On Politics
The Republican Party releases a major report about ways they can compete in 2016. All is join and dandy in print, but in reality, as long as organizations as Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) keeps trotting people like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, and Donald Trump in front of the cameras, welcome to reality.

Thanks to The Onion: Authorities on alert as hundreds of crazed psychopaths enter Congressional chambers

Most people know that history comes in several forms. For instance, the US Revolutionary War from the US perspective probably differs from the British perspective. Well, when it comes to the US Constitution, we now have the Texas Republican Party perspective, which is also lawmakers are pushing into Texas schools. For evidence, this will introduce you to Texas’ newest senator – ladies and gentlemen – Mr. Ted Cruz.

James Madison, the Father of the US Constitution, had a recent birthday (March 16th). Here’s some interesting tidbits about him.

Republicans criticizing President Obama for waiting so long to visit Israel is funny because they don’t realize the past history of Republican presidents.

I’m not a Bill O’Reilly fan, but cheers to him for blasting Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN).

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Cruel owner chains bike outside in freezing weather
Groundhog beheaded for inaccurate prediction
FDA relaxes definition of Smoothie
Baseball star David Ortiz listed as season to season
NASA designers release 50 new space skirts
Boss gets on man’s ass about finishing NCAA bracket
Another job interview ruin as sutures popping open during handshake

Interesting Reads
About wine ratings
Are polar bears really disappearing?
Why ballroom beats the treadmill
Respites and autism from M3 Red, someone we see here at times
Darwin’s observations on biogeography
Stephen King (author and gun owner) on gun control
Lina and the Wolf: A book review about a Prokofiev and his soprano wife
Can man survive on beer alone?

On Potpourri
Cheers to Robin (Life in the Bogs) as she moves to a new location – Breezes at Dawn. Besides being a good photographer and one who finds the right words for the photographic moments, I’m confident that she’s also – and most importantly – a good person. Visit her new location and if you are new, tell her I sent you.

This week’s post On a Coin Analogy received interesting comments. On a related note, I appreciate these words by Dennis Vemena:

In common English usage, “theory” means something like “guess” or “hunch”. It means something speculative, uncertain. In science, however, the meaning is almost exactly the opposite. In science, a theory is an idea that has stood the test of time. This difference between the common usage and the scientific usage of the word is a frequent source of confusion for nonscientists. In science, a theory is a well-tested idea – an explanatory framework that makes sense of the current facts available, and continues to make accurate predictions about the natural world.

It’s college basketball March Madness in the US, which means my alma mater continues having the 12th longest streak in the country of not participating. How’s this for a catchy marketing phrase: Bowling Green Falcon Basketball – not since 1968

On the SEC getting only 3 teams in the tournament: “This is a BSC league … that shouldn’t happen! (Tennessee Head Coach Cuonzo Martin). Coach Martin, good job at identifying the problem because the BSC is about football, not basketball.

The University of Kentucky didn’t (and thankfully so) make the tournament. Hey UK – sell yourself to the devil in favor of winning at all costs, things like this happen. How many of your recruits the past four years are on target to graduate? Answer – not many!

I will feature another classic cartoon character on Saturday.

Readers surprised with the amount of praise for last Monday Morning’s Entertainment post of Donald O’Conner. To send you into the weekend, enjoy Gene Kelly’s famous bit from the same movie: Singin’ in the Rain. Have a good weekend! In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.