On Politics
Cincinnati is in the final six for hosting the 2016 Republican convention. Given Ohio’s swing-state status and the fact that no Republican has never won the White House without winning Ohio, odds are good that the GOP will reward either my city or Cleveland.
Here’s one thing I find in common with the four Congressional leaders (Boehner, Pelosi, McConnell, and Reid). Whenever they have a new conference, I change the channel – which is what I also do with White House spokesperson Jay Carney’s daily briefings.
At the time of the passing the law, I told a friend (and reader here) that the abortion clause in the Affordable Care Act should have been something Democrats gave up. Now, we await word from the US Supreme Court regarding the Hobby Lobby challenge.
This week the US Supreme Court ruled (McCutcheon v. FEC) that money is a form of free speech regarding campaign contributions. I can accept this under two conditions: 1) No tax-exempt status for Political Action Groups, and 2) Identification/disclosure of donors and amounts – thus increasing transparency.
On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Parents reminisce to children about dating algorithm that brought them together
Lowly mortal opens portal to Hell
Mom leaves sweet little note for sixth grader in ADD prescription bottle
Levi’s factory implicated in cruel treatment of denim cows
Study finds majority of non-shark-related fears completely unjustified
New law requires Richard Gere to personally inform residents when he moves into a new neighborhood
Bonus Onions
- Tips for getting in shape
- Ten mistakes parents always make
- US Secretary of State sits in shadows of Kiev cafe awaiting woman only known as Dasha
- Ukrainian-Russian tensions dividing Americans along ignorant, apathetic lines
Interesting Reads
Reforming political polarization from Brookings Institute (Link to abstract with download)
Columnist Ruth Marcus on a budget item
A view about dealing with Russia
Map animation of Europe between the two World Wars
Learning and pseudoscience
On Potpourri
This past Wednesday was Autism Awareness Day; and April is Autism Awareness Month. Here’s an article about the brains of autistic children.
I wonder this question about Vladimir Putin’s move regarding Crimea and Ukraine: Is he a good chess player or are his actions out of political necessity?
As the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of Northwestern University athletes being able to unionize, I wonder if colleges should offer “Sports” as a major.
Erin Andrews, the new Dancing with the Stars co-host, does much better than previous host Brooke Burke-Charvet.
My wife and I celebrated our 37th anniversary this week with a wonderful dinner at Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant.
I moved a few bloggers to my sidebar, and several onto the More Bloggers page. From the sidebar, checkout Claudine, Cindy, Dreamwalker, Hudson, List, Mind Margins, Pauline, and Trent. I hope to move a few more very soon.
Here are your weekend celebrations
- (Weekend) Mule Days
- (Fri) Walk to Work Day, Stray Animals Day, Vitamin C Day, Rat Day, Blame Someone Else Day, Chocolate Milk Powder Day, Cordon Bleu Day, Square Root Day
- (Sat) Deep Dish Pizza Day, Pillow Fight Day, Tangible Karma Day, Every Day is Tag Day, Rubber Eraser Day, Dandelion Day, Caramel Day, and Raisin & Spice Day
- (Sun) New Beers Eve, Hostess Twinkie Day, Tartan Day, Teflon Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Free Tomato Day, Sorry Charlie Day
Here’s a classic gold song from the past to send you into the weekend – Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress (The Hollies). Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
“Lowly mortal opens portal to Hell”—I believe that was either Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber…
Happy 37th Anniversary! Impressive!
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Carrie,
Miley and Justin are two head shakers that I wish would go away. Thanks for the wishes!
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I usually don’t do mash-ups, Frank, but Every Day is Rat Day here in New York.
Happy Anniversary to you and Mrs. AFA!
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Lame,
NYC rats are legendary, thus deserve perpetual recognition. Thanks the the best wishes!
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Fantastic song!
For whichever cities get the conventions, all hell will probably break lose.
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Guapo,
Oh yes … conventions do bring in dollars, but also outsiders for the protests. Glad you enjoyed the song!
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Walk to work day tomorrow? I can actually celebrate that! I’ll just have to to walk from the bedroom to the living room – unlike most days when I have to drive to work to another state. 🙂
Happy anniversary, 37, wow.
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X,
Don’t overexert yourself on your walk …. you may want to stop somewhere on the way. What state are you in? Thanks for the greeting!
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If mules could be harvested for denim the world would be a better place!
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GFB,
Now there is an outstanding idea that hasn’t crossed by mind.
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Highly amuling!
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I had no idea there was an Autism Awareness Day Frank.. I am pleased there is.. having worked with adults with Autism… Its something which has a vast range of problems.. I know from my own experience and taking the person I supported out and about in the community how afraid many people are of someone not expressing themselves as ‘Normal’ ..
Loved reading through the various bits and pieces here Frank…. I hope you and yours are settling in nicely… Enjoy your weekend… 🙂 xxxx
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Sue,
Thanks for sharing a bit of your work with autism. We are settling in, and I hope to get more reorganization done today because I don’t have many errands to do.
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Happy 37th Anniversary, Frank! May you both enjoy many many many more beautiful and loving anniversaries!!! 🙂
Today is also Stray Animals Day! 😉
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Marina,
Many thanks for the anniversary wishes. How and the heck did I miss Stray Animals Day? …. thus I updated the post!
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I only found out today too!!! 😉
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Oh my goodness, 37 years! Congratulations and here’s to many more happy days.
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Catherine,
Many thanks!!!
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Happy Anniversary – 37 years … fantastic and the marriage survived the removal too. *smile
I know you will have a fantastic evening .. and I wish you good luck with every day that will be given to you from now on too.
A tip to get more space – your blogging months you can put into what I can “drop down” – that will free up loads of space.
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Viveka,
Thanks for your best wishes … and for the suggestion (and I just made the change).
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See … I’m not only a pretty face *smile .. glad it works for you.
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Your two conditions for accepting this week’s US Supreme Court decision (McCutcheon v. FEC) that money is a form of free speech regarding campaign contributions, have merit. (No tax-exempt status for Political Action Groups, and Identification/disclosure of donors and amounts.) I look forward to continuing the discussion “stressing the importance of critical thinking and reasoned skepticism” as encouraged by organizations like the New England Skeptical Society, the James Randi Educational Foundation, and the Center for Skeptical Inquiry.
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Tim,
I’m sure we will discuss the issue … but, honestly, I don’t expect anything to be done … thus my skeptical nature on the issue.
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My monies on Cleveland, they have a fancy smancy shopping mall at the airport.
Thanks for the autism link, Frank. My nephew’s son is autistic (and a hoot to be around).
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Until I read E’s comment I completely missed the anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SHTUFFFS! Must be quite the gal to put up with the likes of you. Thirty seven years is longer than I’ve had a fully functional brain.
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Hudson,
I slid the anniversary note in my post, so it was easy to miss. Thanks for the best wishes.
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Hudson,
An interesting contrast between Cincinnati and Cleveland is that the Cleveland corner of the state is Democratic … while the Cincinnati corner is Republican. Given the two and all other things considered equal, I could see Cincinnati selected because it would serve to energize the base here. After all, President GW Bush campaigned here several times to energize the base and gather dollars. Thanks for sharing your link to autism.
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Well reasoned and logical, Frank. Makes perfect sense. But from this side of the border, in recent times, illogical stands out when it comes to Republican planning and strategies (whispers ever so softly Sarah you know who). You maybe making a case for Cleveland.
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I understand making a case for Cleveland …. on the other hand, the other four cities will put their best foot forward for the cash cow. Meanwhile, Nincompoop has no say with me.
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First things first: Happy 37th Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. A! May you be blessed with many more years of love, good health (don’t know about you, but something new aches on me every morning), fun travels, and delicious food and wine.
I agree with Hudson, my monies are on Cleveland. I also agree with you in that I’m turning off more and more TV these days because it is robbing my peace. If I start hearing ways our politicians are compromising and trying to get along, then they will capture my attention again.
I think I’ll choose Friday’s celebration, especially “walk to work” day. But wait a minute: I’m retired, so how is that going to work? 🙂
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E-Tom,
Many thanks for the anniversary wishes! Just wonder when we will run into you and WW on a cruise. 🙂
Given the two Ohio cities, I can make a case for Cincinnati (see my reply to Hudson). Then again, there are 4 non-Ohio cities also in the mix.
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I’m fully in agreement with 2), Frank, but 1) is a problem, and it is one that’s at the heart of both McCutcheon and Citizens United, i.e., the issue of free speech under the First Amendment. If we subject speech to tax we are thereby “abridging” it. It seems to me that taxing political ads would limit the voices of those with less disposable income and empower the wealthy who have oodles of it.
I am still wrestling with this conundrum in my mind and at the heart of it is this question: to what extent can professional propaganda influence voters and to what extent is such influence proportional to funding? Exemplar: Triumph of the Will.
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Jim,
Donors can give straight to the campaigns … heck, raise or even remove the cap. After all, as I look at the IRS guidelines for 501(c) exemptions, I can’t see how political advocacy groups qualify … other than stretching the for-the-general-welfare phrase. Shortly after the IRS “scandal” broke regarding targeting conservative groups, I was quick to say target all them on all sides of the aisle. Better yet, I would like to see the IRS change the guideline effective in 01 Jan 2015.
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Happy Anniversary, Frank (& your wife) ! It’s a wonderful thing!
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Resa,
Many thanks!
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Happy anniversary! The latest SCOTUS decision is very disappointing, especially when there seems to be overwhelming support from the 99% to get big money out of politics.
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Angela,
Whether we like it or not, SCOTUS rulings are changing the landscape – so big money will rule. Thanks for the anniversary wishes.
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Mom leaves sweet little note for sixth grader in ADD prescription bottle–this is actually probably more truth than Onion fiction! Happy Anniversary, Frank. New home and the start to a wonderful new year, I trust. I just took a peek at the “Map animation of Europe between the two World Wars” and that really interests me. I’ll have to study that one a little bit. Now I will contemplate what I could possibly do to celebrate Mule Days! Quite a problem for me, perhaps. Enjoy yours!
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Debra,
Good satire has a good sense of realism, so the ADD hits that mark. Glad you enjoyed the animated map …. lots of history to be learned! Thanks for the best wishes.
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I’m late getting here, and later wishing you and Right Angle a happy anniversary! I love the name of that restaurant!
Even without reading your post, I managed to celebrate Cordon Bleu day without even knowing it was existing. It was the lunch special at the new office — which I cannot walk to. Which is good because it is a depressing place …
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Elyse,
The server told us that the restaurant was named after a royal dog. Unfortunately, they aren’t along the east coast yet, but coming to Richmond this summer.
Cheers to celebrating Cordon Bleu day … so what kind of view did you get?
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Named after a royal dog? Cooper was MY dog! But a cooper’s hawk is a bird: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper%27s_Hawk so you have me a little bit confused.
My view is horrible, Frank. I wasn’t kidding about the brick wall and the a/c units. Everything about the new place is horrible, except that I still have a job. The commute is longer and filled with 528 stop signs with a zillion cars stopped at them so that I cannot get above 25 mph; heavy traffic; a route that is prone to serious flash floods; there is no getting out of traffic there, once stuck — all the roads off the main road lead to neighborhoods; when I get there, we are in the middle of nowhere — no restaurants, no place to walk. We’re in the back of beyond. And everybody is very unhappy. I still have a job. I still have a job. I still have a job.
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Bummer about the office move with numerous negatives. Hang in there!
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Happy Anniversary, Frank! 37 years is just wonderful and something to be proud of these days. (LOVE the song)
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Hood,
Many thanks for the best wishes from the long cool woman from a hood in Arkansas.
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Hey Frank, thanks for the shout out! And please explain all your politics down there…. I cna’t keep track of all this.
Married for 37 years? That’s awesome.
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Trent,
Well, a difference is that the US system of government is a tad different than most of the world … yet a similarity is that we are also governed by the selfish who love to say they represent the people, but actually don’t.
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Wow, married for 37 years. That’s a sentence, grammatically speaking of course 🙂
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Fasab,
Thank you for the wishes and the chuckle!
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hey, Frank! well what’s an anniversary if Fred does not visit…http://youtu.be/DINuAWoxy4Q
wishing you all the best!
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Sun,
Good choice … and many thanks!
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Happy Anniversary!!!
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Nancy,
Many thanks!
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Frank, that is one of my favorite songs! I like to picture myself as a long, cool woman even though I’m neither long nor particularly cool.
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Sandy,
For sure, for sure … it is a great song … but hey, anyone who enjoys dancing must be cool.
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Mom leaves sweet little note for sixth grader in ADD prescription bottle to open the Portal to Hell.
Happy Happy Happy Anniversary (belated but heartfelt).
Love that song Frank.
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Val,
Many thanks for the anniversary wishes! …. and there’s a lot of truth in your combo! 🙂
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Ewww…RAT DAY???? “Non-shark-related fears”….AAAACCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!
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Suzanne,
Interesting connection that I hadn’t made. Thanks!
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37 years–fantastic! Congrats. Have a great week Frank.
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Audra,
Many thanks …. and hope you have a good week as well.
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Where were those parental tips when I needed them? LOL
Happy 37th Anniversary to you & your wife. And – wishes to you for many more years of love, blessings & happiness.
{Hugs} to you both
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RoSy,
Although you didn’t get the tips in time, make sure to tell expecting, first-time parents. Many thanks for the anniversary wishes.
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Oh – of course!
You’re welcome. 🙂
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I like your conditions on the use of money for political contributions…
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Shimon,
Thank you … but the chances of those two points happening are slim.
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sports is already a major, that’s for sure.
i don’t accept that money equal speech because that means those with more money are entitled to more speech. one vote is one vote. one voice is one voice. more money seems like more voices within one person. don’t like it. not a bit. however, i do accept that someone’s private money is theirs to spend.
transparency is only working for those who don’t need it.
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Rich,
I also don’t like the last two rulings on the issue … and you touched on one of the problem related to money.
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