Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 308

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The recent attack at the Istanbul airport rips one’s heart. Blogger Nia quickly came to my mind because I know she’s a kind, sensitive person who is unhappy with the political turmoil and the regional violence. I encourage you to visit her blog to offer your support to her and the good people in Turkey.

Although I continue to believe my personal mantra that the majority of the world is good, this and similar incidents challenge my view …. but I continue to hang on! Meanwhile, the key to defeating ISIS (in my opinion) starts within the Arab world.

Loud cheers to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for allowing the Cincinnati Reds to honor Pete Rose by retiring his number and allowing him to enter the Reds Hall of Fame. The previous commissioner felt the need to extend Rose’s punishment to the Reds organization, Reds fans, and the city of Cincinnati.

Hey hey hey – it looks like our Argentine Tango class will be extended by one week!

The distance separating Cincinnati and West Virginia isn’t very much. Whereas very little rain has fallen at my residence, West Virginia is flooding. I think it’s President Obama’s fault.

My life has been one of major adjustments the past 3 months. My wife’s retirement and my part-time job have affected whatever time is left in a day – therefore, my poor attendance among the blogs.

Thanks to all who participated in Colors: The Musical! As of this writing, I’m way behind on replying to comments, but I’ll get there! Thanks for your patience.

This is a long holiday weekend in the US (4th of July), so no Explore post this weekend.

The combo came to mind by using the subject lines in my email spam folder: Rock-hard Trump destroys Cialis implant

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I found interest in this week’s Supreme Court ruling regarding the abortion laws. Although Ohio was not on the list of states with similar laws, my state has also been on the restrictive path.

Polls and studies showing the majority of Americans say that Congress is doing a bad/poor job make me laugh because the vast majority of elected officials in Congress get re-elected. Which best describes the voting public: anger or complacency?

The recent BREXIT vote created many shock waves across the world. Around all the chaos, it is important to remember the primary cause: It’s President Obama’s fault.

Be cause of the US process for electing a president, I know national polls are essential meaningless – but the closeness of the polls is both fascinating and disturbing.

This week’s aFa Power Rankings for Donald Trump’s running mate: 5) Mitch Pence, 4) Chris Christie, 3) Bob Corker, 2) Jeff Sessions, 1) Newt Gingrich

The first week’s aFa Power Rankings for Hillary Clinton’s running mate: 5) Sherrod Brown 4) Elizabeth Warren, 3) Xavier Becerra, 2) Thomas Perez, 1) Tim Kane

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To lead us into the satire portion of this post, The Onion provides tips for handling social anxieties.

Weekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)
Man driving while making YouTube video to explain how PC culture destroying America
‘Five-Second Rule’ disproven
Black mark on birth control manufacturer’s record weighs in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces
Factory robot working on some of its own designs after hours
Three-year-old announces plan to point out fat people all day long.
Only news source man trusts has logo of eyeball with crosshair

Interesting Reads
A moderate working in a polarized environment
Classic music and new technologies (Thanks Tim)
A collection of matchbook boxes from India
Education in Estonia
The Irish pirate queen
Has physics made philosophy and religion obsolete?
(Photos) The Night Skies

Here’s one of my all-time favorite music videos. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 281

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For those celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you had a bountiful day.

Volunteering in an English Second Language (ESL) class continues to bring rewards. A student (a gentleman from Libya) wrote an article about learning English, and it was published by a national publication – Easy English Times. It’s a wonderful read, but unfortunately I couldn’t find an online version. Before reading it to the combined classes of different levels, I helped him prepare. When the time came, he stood in front of his peers and nervously read it. His last line touched me – “We need the person who sows hope in our hearts, who smiles, in our faces, who motivates us to go forward, and we need them to hug us when we win.” At the end, I knew he was proud … so when he came back to me, I hugged him.

For at least a year, I published lists of monthly, weekly, and daily celebrations. Did you know Gnocchi Day is the 29th of every month? Here are the links to the two sites I used the most to compile my list of celebrations: Brownielocks and Gone-Ta-Pott.

Sky: The Musical’s Act 3 features clouds, so song titles must include Cloud, Clouds, or Cloudy. Curtain time is Tuesday, December 1st at 9:30 pm (Eastern US). Acts 4 and 5 information is on the Hear Ye page, along with another important announcement.

No Explore post this weekend.

Samantha Swallows sent me an email this week, but she didn’t say want she wanted – only a link. Oddly, I can’t recall ever meeting her, … I’m not sure why I received the email ..  so I didn’t follow the link.

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The number of Democrats who worry about the possibility of Republicans nominating Ben Carson surprises me. Although I would tell them that wasn’t worth worrying, some people just like to find angst. Meanwhile, Carson’s poll numbers are now declining nationally and in Iowa.

The gaggle in the field seeking the Republican nomination continue to provide its share of nonsense and fodder to consider. I appreciate this words by George Will (columnist, Washington Post) – Every day that errant nonsense sloshes through the Republican nominating debate is a day when the party’s claim to represent what the country craves – adult supervision – becomes less credible.

As Donald Trump (R-NY) continues to bloviate about the thousands who are pouring into the US across the southern border, here’s a Pew Research report about the net result (immigration minus emigration).

John Cranley, a Democrat, is Cincinnati’s mayor. Let’s just say that I’m providing an interesting timeline.

• March 28, 2014 – While announcing a new initiative is in the planning stage – “If you’re fleeing political persecution anywhere in the world, we want you here,”
• July 2014
  • When announcing the formation of his Task Force on Immigration, he explains his desire to make Cincinnati “the most immigrant-friendly city in the United States.”
  • FYI: Mayor Cranley’s Task Force on Immigration website states it is “working to make Cincinnati a great place for immigrants to call home, start a business and thrive.”
• Oct 28, 2015 – Mayor Cranley states, “Obviously, there’s political rhetoric around the country that suggests it’s not a good thing and we are emphatically saying we love immigration, we want more immigration, we believe that it’s key to our economic future and you’re a better, more just society.”
• November 16, 2015 – “However, in light of recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and Egypt, the federal government should halt its actions until the American people can be assured that exhaustive vetting has occurred,”
• November 17, 2015 – I feel horrible that I unintentionally caused harm.”

To lead you into The Onion, see their suggestions for avoiding distractions while working online.

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Weekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)
Grin Slowly Spreads Across Mom’s Face As Meal Revealed To Contain Healthy Ingredients
Girlfriend Promises To Not Cry So Much
Making Pancakes Best Idea Man Has For Saving Relationship
Sudden Death Of Aunt Creates Rupture In Family Gossip Pipeline
Healthy mashed potatoes made with cauliflower

Interesting Reads
How American view their government (from Pew Research)
Scientific faith is different than religious faith
About stupidity 
Drunk animals
The last perfumer in Belgrade
The glowing sea turtle
Lighting bicycles

To send you into the weekend, here’s a fun song with a video that makes me chuckle. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 276

Obviously, the Running Late edition.

At last count, Dance: The Musical – Act 2 had 22 songs. Meanwhile, the theater crew is working overtime to prepare for next week’s Act 3 (Tuesday, 9:30 pm Eastern US). It’s a little tricky,

• Songs titles with dancer, dances, or compound words including dance
• (EX) Dancehall is an acceptable compound word,but happy dance is not acceptable because it is not a compound word.
• Exception: dancehall, dance hall, dance-hall, dancefloor, dance-floor, and dance floor are acceptable – but this exception is not applicable to other compound words

No Explore post this weekend. Not only was this post late, I had a poor week with visiting other blogs … so hopefully this weekend will help me get back on the track. I’m even behind on replying to comments on the previous post.

Evangelist Pat Robertson recently blamed the recent drop in the stock market on the ills of Planned Parenthood .. but he changed his mind to blaming homosexuals.

Earlier this week Queen Elizabeth became the long-running British monarch. To most of us, including myself, she is the only queen we’ve ever known. A tip of the cap to her! Here’s a pictorial of her life.

How many people realize the difference between staring/having a conversation and having the final word?

Jackie at Breathe to Write is having a birthday party on September 12th … so make your calendar to stop by that day.

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As Kim Davis (Kentucky County Clerk) continues to make the news and serve as a martyr for loud, this situation is full of ridiculous comments by people who should know better. Being ignorant can be excused by not knowing better, which is different that stupidity.

Yes, Judge Bunning did the right thing in letting her (Kim Davis) out of jail because his order was being fulfilled. I wonder how long it will take her to return to jail.

Yes, I believe Hillary Clinton using a private server was wrong. I also believe all government business should be conducted on government servers, thus any allowance by government is a poor choice. Even though her apology and acknowledge is predictably a bit late, I also believe much of the hub-bub is politically driven, and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

This delivers an important message: Donald Trump (R-NY), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Sarah Palin (R-AK) shared the stage at the same event.

I missed the first Republican “debate” of the campaign season, and I also plan on missing next week’s second encounter hosted by CNN. It’s simply a waste of my time.

In last week’s OITS, Alisha made this wonderful (worth repeating) comment about the US building a border wall . So, we build a wall against Mexico… then another against Canada… then 2 more to keep the rising ocean levels from flooding our coastal cities… then a dome as a futuristic missile defense system… and voila! We’ll officially live in an Ameri-Can! I’m sure read a sci-fi book about this.

For those worried about the polls, here’s something to ponder: The entire college football season (regular season and bowl games) will be completed before voters cast a ballot.

To lead you into this week’s satire, here’s The Onion’s help to parents talk to children about death. 

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Weekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)
6-Year-Old Data Entry Prodigy Already Entertaining Offers From Major Temp Agencies
Glade Introduces New Air Freshener Mask
Cockroach Worried About What Kind Of Kitchen Cupboard He Leaving To Children
Pathetic 4-Year-Old Needs Father To Stand On Merry-Go-Round Platform For Entire Ride
Study Finds Earth’s Animals One Giant Creature Before Breaking Apart Millions Of Years Ago
Depression Symptom Checklist Speaking To Area Man As No Poem Ever Could

Interesting Reads
The trend in births by unauthorized immigrants 
Enduring myths
Will the world population reach 10 billion?
The DJ who brought down the USSR
Composition of the universe

Here’s a two-fer to send you into the weekend: an unused classic from Act 2 and one of my favorite music videos Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.