Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 318

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The recent attack on the Ohio State University (OSU) campus is another example of the warped nature of today’s world. OSU is less than a two-hour drive for us, and to think my nephew is employed at the OSU Medical Center and I also know a pastor who leads a campus ministry there.

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) recently released their latest results regarding science and mathematics education. Interestingly, the Internet allows us to compare reactions by different countries. Here’s the TIMSS site with the results.

Now these 30 seconds will cause a smile.

We are enjoying The Crown on Netflix.

My wife and I recently took a local food tour, which was fun and interesting!

I’m craving Spumoni ice cream, so I hope a nearby grocery store has it! … and if I can’t, I know who is to blame.

The first Monday without Dancing With the Stars is always a bit weird for us.

Until this week, I’ve been aware of Fidel Castro my entire life. The BBC did his life in pictures, so click here to see it.

Seems like a French presidential candidate is taking a page out of the US election by promoting free-market reforms, cutting government spending, supporting traditional family values, cracking down on immigration and Islamic terrorism, and better relations with Putin.

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Advice for President-Elect Trump: You are your worst enemy, so you have a way of acting like an ass. Here are some suggestions. 1) Develop a very thick skin; 2) Learn to bite your tongue; 3) Control your use of Twitter.

Jill Stein and the Green Party’s request for recounts in a few states is a waste of time and money … and President-elect Trump’s response was almost as pathetic.

Anything wrong with this picture? Those complaining about racism and disrespectful behavior now are the ones who weren’t complaining about it before the election.

I still support the Electoral College system, and this article from Brookings makes a strong case for it. If anything, I may favor removing the actual vote by the delegates, but keeping the scoring system.

Here’s an interesting read co-authored by a Democrat and a Republican.

With Gallup reporting a slight majority of Americans disapproving the Affordable Care Act, I add that besides partisanship, a key reason can be traced back to the poor job the administration, the Congress, Democrats, and the government as a whole did a poor job educating the public. Interestingly, this is nothing new because I stated this position many years ago.

President Obama’s Five Faults of the Week
Fidel Castro’s death
Donald Trump making ridiculous tweets
Fire in the Smoky Mountains
The Cincinnati Bengals continued winless streak
Fidel Castro taking power in Cuba

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To lead you into this week’s dose of satirical headlines, The Onion offers tips on having the perfect surprise party.

Weekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)
Doggy in the window costs $1,500
Man to continue drifting into middle of restaurant until hostess redirects him
Siblings hoping the other one will take care of aging parents someday
Deep-sea Godiva rig taps world’s largest offshore ganache deposit
National Institute of Health finds obesity may be caused by too little sleep, too much sleep

Interesting Reads
The Learning Metrics Task Force
Pandas and their thumbs 
The myths behind Harry Potter
A life at sea
Sunflowers following the sun
The new power couple: grapefruit and salt
(Photos) 25 pictures from the People’s Choice Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest

To lead you into the weekend, here’s an oldie from 1982. Hope all is well with you, and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On Ideas for Democrats

Recent results in Massachusetts stung Democrats. As they scramble and make excuses, I find it hard to believe that their ways will change. I normally listen to the State of the Union, but not tonight because watching Democrats stand, applaud, and yell while the Republicans sit and pout supports my notion of the problem. Besides, I’m not in the mood for political rhetoric.

Although I doubt if they are interested, here are 10 ways (in no particular order), Democrats can regain support of independent moderates.

1. Whether through resignation or vote, replace Speaker Pelosi with a moderate, maybe even a Blue Dog. The public does not support her, and she misjudged this 2008 election results.
2. Replace Senator Reid as Senate Majority Leader. If not, the people of Nevada may deal an additional credibility blow to the party.
3. Freeze Congressional salaries without a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and then only ties raises based on the degree of overall annual government budget surpluses.
4. Cut budgets for Congressional staffing by 10% and limit staff increases to COLAs.
5. Govern from the center, and if the White House doesn’t like it, tough nuggies! Governing from the center means helping the people while being fiscally responsible. By the way, the public will abandon obstinate Republicans.
6. Its jobs, jobs, jobs! Besides being laden with pork, the first stimulus aimed at helping public agencies to support the needy people and funding temporary public projects. Unfortunately, President Obama did not sell it that way. A suggestion – Instead of giving businesses money to do something (which could be whatever), give tax credits for businesses doing something that established employment in the 50 states – not elsewhere.
7. Health insurance reform is possible, so get out of your financer’s pockets, and think outside the box to legislate something the majority of the public can support.
8. Stop using the “inherited situation” as an excuse. The people know the situation and are tired of hearing that excuse.
9. President Obama using the veto pen on this own party.
10. Step down from your pompous throne and get down to governing. I imagine the percentage of Congressional liberals in Washington is higher than the percentage of liberal Americans.

During the campaign, President Obama used Yes we can. In this recent article after the recent results in Massachusetts, Ben Feller (AP) used Yes I hear it. I use this phrase from a commercial, Can you hear me (us) now?

Interesting Reading

• John Avalon
• Maureen Dowd

On Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 27

On 1984
Unexpectedly, I discovered this week is the 60th anniversary of George Orwell’s 1984. Interestingly, our electronic society monitors so much. Here’s a column taking a retrospective look at the novel.

On Health Care Reform
The talk about health care is intensifying, and not to anyone’s surprise, the partisans are continuing to drive their stakes. Surprisingly to some, this is a topic that I haven’t wrapped myself around, so I feel inadequate about commenting at this point.

The need for health care reform is obvious. Here’s the part that scares me the most. The public runs two things: government and schools. Doesn’t that say enough? On the other hand, the government has the power to cover the need.

On Pelosi and Boehner
Since it’s been some time since I’ve said anything about these two House leaders, here’s a good point about each – which, from me, is a rarity. Well done Speaker Pelosi for not saying much, thus staying out of the news. Well done Minority Leader Boehner for continuing to not bring the bacon to your home district.

On Independents
I’m a moderate independent, and defined its meaning in this past post. Columnist and author John Avlon wrote this wonderful column for the Wall Street Journal about the growing number of independents and their role in politics. And I vividly remember someone commenting to me not all that long ago that (and I paraphrase) “we liberals are in charge and the moderates are weak, thus get out of the way.” Here’s the Pew Research Center report Avlon mentions.

By the way, Avlon also selects Wingnuts of the Week from both the left and the right. This week he selected two who speak from the pulpit. These comments from these two are pathetic.

On the Court Nomination
I suggest reading the Common Ground column written by a conservative and a liberal for some refreshing though.

On Woes in Education
Here’s an interesting report: The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools.

On a Lighter Note … or a Brighter One … Whatever