by

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 254

Breaking News: (Friday, 7:15 AM edit) Sadness in Cincinnati as Lauren Hill has passed away, but she leaves a powerful example of perseverance  and a strong message of hope.

Given the Republican uproar over the deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program, I say that if President Obama negotiated the Republican preferences, the Republicans would disagree with the outcome.

A Federal grand jury has  charged Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) with bribery. Someone in Washington involved in a bribery scheme? Say it ain’t so, Joe! No way! To clear his name, he needs to get in front of one of the two great oxymorons – the Senate Ethics Committee.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced his candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination for President. Although he is interesting, and given his history of comments, I await the debate Sen. Paul has with himself. I chuckle at the contradiction of “returning to the Constitution” followed by calls to amend it.

In support of presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) It’s time for truth, here’s his scorecard on his statements rated by PolitiFacts.

From PolitFacts.com

From PolitFacts.com

Although the majority of Christians celebrated Easter last weekend, Happy Easter (this weekend) to my Christian Orthodox friends.

Sharna Burgess is one of my favorite pros on Dancing with the Stars … but I don’t like her current hair color.

Congratulations to Duke University for representing ABK as college basketball champions. (ABK stands for Anyone but Kentucky.) This means that I was happy that the University of Kentucky didn’t win the tournament, but their loss to Wisconsin didn’t pass my 3-prong test for my happiness.

Fortunately, I wasn’t drinking or eating anything (thus no spew) when I heard former Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig say, “The job of the Commissioner is to protect the integrity of the sport.” At least not being in the job hasn’t stopped him from making an ass of himself.

Act 2 of Meals: The Musical should take to the stage next week, so I will announce the theme on the next Monday Morning Entertainment.

Saturday Morning Cartoons returns with the next post!

To lead you into The Onion, here is their introduction to Rand Paul.

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Narcissist convinced total strangers would want his organs
New app lets you work for your company even while you sleep
Geologists unearth fully intact rock
Conversational lamprey slowly draining life from dinner party
Sea World responds to California drought by draining animal tanks halfway

Interesting Reads
Anti-Obamacare Republican governors taking Obamacare grant money
American Pie: Obsessing its lyrics 
Gluteus and the Maximus (Sounds quite Shakespearean)
Everybody can sing?
Start baseball season with an article about Ty Cobb
Sex by the Numbers

Your Weekend Celebrations

  • (Weekend) National Pie Championships
  • (Fri) Audubon Day, Cinnamon Crescent Day, Farm Animals Day, Safety Pin Day, Siblings Day, ASPCA Day, Encourage a Young Writer Day, Golfers Day
  • (Sat) Eight Track Tape Day, Barbershop Quartet Day, Louie Louie Day, Baby Massage Day, Pet Day, Teach Children to Save Day, Chinese Fondue Day, Parkinson’s Disease Day, Table Top Day, Submarine Day, Slow Art Day, Education and Sharing Day
  • (Sun) Licorice Day (I love black licorice), Drop Everything and Read Day, Big Wind Day, Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, Look Up at the Sky Day, Reach as High as You Can Day, Day for Street Children, Day of Human Spaceflight, End Child Sexual Abuse Day

Given the celebrations, there should be any doubt what song will send you into the weekend, Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

70 thoughts on “Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 254”

  1. Great video! Gotta love them pointy boobs… 😉
    Guess I’ll be nice to my sisters tomorrow and encourage my writer-niece; Hmmm… on Saturday, Chinese fondue would have been nice but both boys are working, sigh, but there’s always good Barbershop Quartet Music to be found! If not, I’ll just log onto Jimmy Fallon’s YouTube channel and watch any one of the ones like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hHhELPERm4
    Sunday, I shall drop everything and read while I eat grilled cheese sandwiches followed by black licorice (I knew we were soul mates! I always get the whole pack because I am alone in loving the stuff!)
    Have a simply marvellous week-end, mon ami!

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  2. Louie Louie brings memories of my mis-spent youth.

    Even if everyone can’t sing, still everyone should sing…at home, in the shower, while putzing around with chores. You may be off-key, but do it with enthusiasm Our ancestors knew that….it’s good for the soul.

    And just as I observed No Housework Day last time, I will observe Drop Everything And Read on Sunday. (I love when the celebration is what I always do anyway). Have a nice weekend, Frank.

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  4. As always, Frank, such variety in one post. I really enjoy your political observations, and it occurs to me that one of the best things I could imagine would be some kind of “truth meter” that would register on the candidate in real time. The PolitiFacts scorecard is so telling and yet so few people ever research the veracity of the statements that keep perpetuating outright lies. And much less distressing to me, I really enjoyed the article on the words to “American Pie.” That song continues to be a favorite of mine. I’ll try to get the rules straight in next week’s musical presentation! 🙂

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    • Debra,
      One thing for sure, politically speaking, I’m not an ardent partisan. In the sidebar, scroll down to Resources, you’ll find three fact checks … Annenberg, PolitiFacts, and The Fact Checker. Meanwhile, your love for American Pie doesn’t surprise me. Glad you enjoyed the article.

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  8. It’s going to be an interesting election season, no doubt. In fact, I might just make every day “Drop Everything and Read Day.” I’ll need something to distract me from the political noise. 😉

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  9. I think I’ll be celebrating Slow Art Day by figuring out how to decorate the scrounger’s garden with a pile of pots and pans we found. Maybe I can make them look like flowers. 🙂
    Have a great weekend, Frank. 🙂

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  10. I’m sure Saturday Night Live is already rehearsing Rand Paul debating himself on “returning to the Constitution.”

    I think you should tell your readers what parts two and three are of your 3-prong Kentucky loss criteria.

    Thanks for reminding me that this Saturday is “National Eight Track Tape Day.” 1963 was the year the Lear Jet Corporation developed the “Stereo 8.” These car players typically stunk! Remember having to cram a piece of cardboard underneath the tape to “cram” it tightly into the player? That was done to get rid of the dreaded “warble” when the tape head on the player didn’t align correctly with the tape. This oftentimes eventually resulted in the player “eating” the tape and also weakening the splicing that enabled the endless loop. Nonetheless, today’s car restorers particularly value car players since no self-respecting muscle car of the early 70s would have gone without an 8 track player.

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    • Tim,
      Sen. Paul is simply saying he’s changed his mind … and his recent interview with Savannah Guthrie (Today Show) supports this. Regarding my 3-prongs of UK, I ran out of time for creating a graphic. Knowing your love for 8-track players, here’s something for you. http://tinyurl.com/nn7uclq … .enjoy.

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  11. So sad about Lauren. She left a wonderful legacy though. What a brave and inspirational young lady she was. Interesting that there’s a ‘Day for Street Children’. These unfortunate kids really do need and deserve some help and support. Happy weekend to you, Frank. 🙂

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  12. Hi Frank I’m so saddened by the passing of Lauren Hill. She was such an inspiration. I am involved in numerous organizations on behalf of pediatric cancer and brain tumors due to my own experience with my son. Losing a young life to one of these tumors is unacceptable, and it emboldens me to keep up the fight. Hope you have a good weekend – thank you for another interesting post!

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  14. AH, the old days.. dancing seemed so civilized and the music seemed so much better. As for politics then and now, I can’t say. I ignored it then because of youthful indifference. I ignore it now out of self-preservation. The only news story that I’m following is the tainted hummus. Scandalous!

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  16. Please don’t get me started on the ignorance that is Chris Christie. Trust me when I say, the man is an idiot and just about all New Jersey-ans know it if you ask them. I hope no one votes for him and use their common sense. But then again, as I learn everyday, most people don’t have much common sense anymore lol. Can you tell I’m a native of NJ? ;). Loved the video. Have a great weekend

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    • Kay,
      OMG … you usually take the high-road and now I know what gets your blood pressure up! 😉 Many thanks for sharing. Meanwhile, I’m not convinced that he will get into the race because I’m not sure there’s room.

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  17. Love the vid Mr Frank. Nothing like a bit of Louie Louie to get you into the swing of a Friday just before you have to head out in the semi darkness to walk 2 most determined dogs. I can’t think of any better brainworm for the duration 🙂

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  18. Sad about Lauren. But isn’t it amazing how much someone can accomplish in such a short life? Inspirational.

    You certainly nailed it on this one, Frank: “I say that if President Obama negotiated the Republican preferences, the Republicans would disagree with the outcome” — that’s exactly what they did with Romney care/I mean Obamacare … Oh, and anything else Obama does including breathing. They’re against it.

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    • Elyse,
      Media reports about Lauren continue to the positive. There is a public memorial on Monday at Xavier’s arena (I think) but the services are private.

      No question about GOP actions … but were we differ is that I also expect similar obstinate actions from the White House.

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  19. Geologists unearth California Narcissists lowly draining life while you sleep.

    Loved the articles this week Frank, a couple of them were quite interesting. Especially Sex by Numbers and why men like, well you know.

    I am taking the entire weekend, it is all worthy! I love Black Licorice too.

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    • Val,
      Yippee … another lover of black licorice! Meanwhile, because they are so far in California, it takes a geologist to find a narcissist. Meanwhile, I’m must return to the numbers to determine your meaning about men.

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  20. So sad about Lauren Hill. May she rest in peace.

    As for politics – what a joke. And – I’ll leave it at that (for now).

    I better get Fenway to post on his Facebook page today with it being Pet Day.

    My dad, brothers & oldest nephew are in Cincinnati today for the Reds game. If you’re in the hood & don’t already have plans – let me know & I can message my brother & the crew to meet up with you for some Cincinnati Chili. I don’t think they have plans after the game other than to head back home.
    Any recommendations on a location in the area to catch a good meal after the game?

    Have a great weekend!
    {Hugs}

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