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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 181

On Politics
The Republican Party admits to having an image problem – (a Sherlock Award for the statement) – but are their words similar to whitewash? Here’s one a good read for this thought.

The attack of the US Embassy in Benghazi is unquestionably a political football. I heard this quote this week (paraphrased): “If we knew there would be a second attack, we would have prepared to it.” (Yep – another Sherlock Award)

Cheers to The Onion for discovering the real schedule of the recent NRA convention.

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion

  • EPA warns Americans not to breathe
  • No one in limo going to prom with the one they wanted
  • Malicious focus group convinces marketers Cinnamon Mountain Dew is the next big thing
  • Woman places poison in Starbucks orange juice
  • Rescue chip sent in to save broken Tostito submerged in 7-layer dip
  • Snooze button time traveler sets coordinates for 5 minutes in the future

Interesting Reads
Pope Francis update
Absoluteness of the Bill of Rights
For those who know Bazooka Joe
Speaking ill, with skill: a book review
The criminal mind and the anatomy of violence

On Potpourri
28_CompHappy Mother’s Day to all the moms! Mine passed away in 1987, and I am now older than she was then.

Earlier this week I had this post about Amber (the LD student), Bette (the LD teacher), and me (the science teacher). I heard from Bette, and she appreciated the post.

Last Saturday was an anniversary that isn’t fun to remember – May 4, 1970 – the shootings at Kent State University. Here’s a historical perspective of that day from Kent, and a classic song marking the occasion.

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Cheers to the following bloggers (so far) for meeting the A Frank Angle A-to-Z Challenge: Fasab, Red, and Tom – so, give them a visit.

My wife was off Thursday, so we saw Iron Man 3. Whew …. only 10 people in the theater for this weekday matinée. I imagine it will be a tad more crowded this weekend. Oh yes – it’s a fun movie. By the way, stick around through the lengthy credits. Well, try counting the number of names listed.

Sorry – no Saturday Morning Cartoon feature this weekend.

You may recall that last weekend our handbell choir did our first-ever concert. It was fun and a success for a volunteer group. A friend of our told me that she that rings bells, but we play them. I’ll send you into the weekend with us doing the first song on the program. Have a good weekend! In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

52 thoughts on “Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 181”

  1. My husband took my youngest to see Iron Man. They both loved it but I think I can live without it. Why is someone suggesting you Americans stop breathing? Here we’re allowed to breath but it’s now taxed xx

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    • Spiced,
      Maybe hubby decided to go take your son so you wouldn’t have to. Cheers to his effort! As for the breathing, EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency … but overall, our air is OK.

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  2. A couple other notable dates – Wednesday (or Thursday, depending on where you live) marked the 68th anniversary of V-E day, the end of World War 2 in Europe. And this coming Saturday marks the 70th anniversary of a Very important battle in “The Forgotten Campaign”. Don’t worry – I not only post about it, but my WW2 Air Corps persona from my re-enacting days was from the Army Air Force that flew in theatre. (I’d tell ya the number, but it’d give the post away, so stop in at 1:59 Saturday so you can read the post “Attu”. 😉 ) Hopefully I can take up some of your Saturday slack, provided I don’t put too many people in a coma! 😀
    Have a good Friday!

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  3. Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Knox Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer

    Four Dead in Ohio, most don’t know their names.

    I loved your concert, so pretty. What a great article you posted, thanks!

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  4. The Kent State massacre happened on my birthday. Definitely a blot. That was just so wrong and so shocking. It still upsets me 43 years later. I remember riots and sit ins at SF State College (since renamed SF State University) and seeing the campus swarming with cops, some on horseback. I grew up very near that school. The unrest brought on by the policies of the Nixon administration was scary. Those were very turbulent times.

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        • Society might appear to be more benign but it seems to me that in today’s world the nuts are angrier, they know how to get their mitts on guns and they’re okay with using them.

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        • That seems to be the big problem – the length the loonies are willing to go to. I remember studying in school that people thought JFK was going to name the Pope to be the King of the US, being the first Catholic President – yet nobody talked about him as sub-human or worthy of extermination (with one obvious exception). We passed some very restrictive gun legislation in Chicago, but nobody seriously talked about task forces roaming the streets to take the guns away. (At least, not anybody that people paid any attention to. There were ALWAYS the “black helicopter” gang, but they were more comedy relief than serious threat.)
          These days, while “Freedom of speech” is alive and well, “common sense” is on life support.

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  5. I recognised the song, althoug I had no idea about the story behind it. Interesting article and heartening to read that the faculty found a way to keep going even when their university was suspended.

    Thank you for the Mother’s Day wishes – our boat is back in the water and we are off for a quiet weekend. Grill and sauna on the programme – not much more needed than that 🙂

    Although I know next to nothing about handbell choirs, your choir plays very well together, very nice tune.

    I’m looking forward to Iron Man 3 – I’ll make sure we sit through the credits 🙂

    Finally, The Onion have outdone themselves with their EPA headline.

    Wishing you and yours a great weekend Frank!

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  7. Re Benghazi and similar – makes one wonder just how effective all those billions of dollars spent on “intelligence” are!

    Re Kent State – the late 1960s and early 1970s were turbulent times, I fear there will be more in the future.

    Re The Onions, this one made me chuckle – No one in limo going to prom with the one they wanted – comic tragedy perhaps???

    Finally re the bells, actor Leslie Phillips says it best

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  9. I really enjoyed your bell choir. One thing I had never heard before was the rapid ringing technique which suggests a trill. Thanks also for the Kent State clip, which was painful to watch and remember, but hopefully won’t be forgotten.

    Also wanted to say thanks for your Villages post yesterday. I plan to visit Debra at “Bagni di Lucca and Beyond” in the future.

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    • Tim,
      Thanks for your your musical knowledge into the bells. Close observation shows a variety of techniques. Meanwhile, because you enjoy travel, you will enjoy Debra’s blog from Bagni.

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  19. Frank, thanks so much for the article on Kent State. I was in a small school in Ohio about 20 minutes from Kent and we all used to go their to party. We had an event about two weeks or so after Kent which was supposedly started by the same elements that instigated the ROTC building burning. The plot was foiled and our school made sure they kept it under wraps, but we were never the same after what happened at Kent. Thanks for sharing the history because there is a lot of misinformation about the event. Take care.

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