Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 189

On Politics
Regardless who is president and the parties involved, the Senate politicizing presidential appoints is a prime example of the level of unnecessary, self-serving, pathetic behavior.

I cringe when hearing politicians use phrases like “Americans want.” After all, outside of the ideologues, I confident that most Americans want Washington has not be able to deliver: constructive problem solving,

An area letter to the editor caught my eye this week. After a rabid Republican mistakenly stated the majority of Americans are Republicans, the writer when on to say that “people will always go with the stronger horse.” Yep, and that’s a reason why more and more people are shying away from Republicans.

Cheers to these moderate columnists for their excellent columns about the current Republican party: Kathleen Parker and David Brooks.

Liz Cheney, daughter of former VP Dick Cheney, announced she’s seeking the US Senate seat from Wyoming. She is also famous for saying that Nincompoop is “more qualified than Obama and Biden combined.”

I haven’t said much about the Trayvon Martin case. The event was tragic and unnecessary, and reasonable doubt dominated the trial. That said, politicizing the result is not a good idea. Meanwhile, I appreciated this column by Ruth Marcus.

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion

• US border patrol increases staff by hiring cheap immigrant labor
• Republican leader pressuring wife to try new political position
• Heat wave doesn’t bother local contrarian
• Employee at electronics store tells customer what he has at home
• Man who couldn’t defeat George W Bush attempting to resolve Israel-Palestine conflict
• George Zimmerman wins Florida State Lottery

Interesting Reads
Believing science or not?
Visiting WW I battlefields in France and Belgium
13 sites for creative inspiration
A book review about The Enlightenment Period
Why mosquitoes bite some people more than others
Reviewing train travel in Italy
Tips for treating sunburn from The Onion
For National Ice Cream Month, 12 strange ice cream flavors

On Potpourri
I first encountered Angela (Mind Margins) just prior to my time away in Italy. Upon my return, I noticed she wasn’t posting, so I figured just another blogger who stopped. Now she is posting about battling ovarian cancer. For those interested, start here – but beware, she is positive and determined.

With a heat wave blasting the eastern US getting, do you realize that heat is the top weather-related caused of deaths in the US? In addition, heat-related deaths are more than deaths from hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and lightning combined.

I’m hoping to get a cartoon post ready for Saturday.

Friday starts National Scrabble Week. Weekend celebrations include (Saturday) Moon Day, Space Exploration Day, National Hot Dog Day, and Toss Away the “Could Haves” and “Should Haves” Day; while National Ice Cream Day leads the way on Sunday, so that’s another chance to get some Graeter’s. (Read about it or where to buy it.)

Being in the last half of July, time is running out for celebrating Share a Sunset with a Lover Month. To send you into the weekend, here’s a song from the past for those celebrating International Blonde and Deborah Harry Month. Have a good weekend. In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.