Deep Dish Pizza Day

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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 253

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Interesting how much Governor Mike Pence (R-IN) danced around answering questions about recent religious freedom legislation in his state, then changed his dance. Answering questions with direct truth must be against a politician’s credo … and the Republicans don’t have a corner on that market.

In this speech announcing his candidacy for the 2016, Republican presidential nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stated, “It is the time for truth” – and in that spirit, here’s a fact-check of his speech.

The Naked Cowboy is one of New York City’s multitude of personalities. Did you know he is from Cincinnati and a University of Cincinnati graduate? Here he is.

We booked a future vacation with Vacations To Go. A tip-of-the-cap to them for discovering a mistake at their end AND correcting it beyond our satisfaction.

Monday is Opening Day in Cincinnati, which means baseball season starts. If the weather is nice, I hope to spend a few hours in the city among the many dressed in red. As of now, the weather is iffy.

My time for reading your wonderful blogs continues to be small. Yuk!

Thursday was our 38th anniversary, thus a tribute to 38 is about ready. Because I know the throngs outside the aFa Theater for the Performing Arts were getting restless, I chose to debut the musical on our anniversary instead of next week. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful dinner at this local restaurant.

Opening Night for Meals: The Musical provided quiet the variety of songs, so we are off and running. To my surprise, you provided more songs that I didn’t know. 🙂 I believe Act 2 will be easier than Act 1, but you will have to wait for the theme.

My selection of Frank Zappa opening Meals: The Musical surprised some. Here’s an interesting explanation of the musicality behind St. Alfonzo’s Pancake House.

Last week’s Explore took us to the Iguazu Falls along the Argentina-Brazil border. It turns out the a visitor here posted about her visit, which brings a personal touch to this wonder. Thanks, Madhu!

Prepare yourself for a journey on the Explore series this weekend.

To lead you into The Onion, here’s their take on paying college athletes.

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This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Siblings quietly relieved oldest brother setting bar so low
Cost-cutting measures force company to start hiring more female employees
Man who baked banana bread spends entire party anxiously watching it go uneaten
Senior citizen keeps mind active by contemplating death
Man thinks going to Vegas for things other than gambling somehow less sad

Interesting Reads
Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech that mentions my birthplace
The grand piano in Gaza
Studying the DNA of a nation
From National Geographic: Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science?
Urine-based recharging of phones
A Nazi hangout in Argentina?
Technology improving sex

Your Weekend Celebrations

  • (Fri) Chocolate Mousse Day, Walk to Work Day, Hot Cross Buns Day, World Party Day, Workplace Napping Day, Sow the Seeds of Greatness Day, Don’t Go to Work Unless It’s Fun Day, Tweed Day, Pony Express Day, Find a Rainbow Day
  • (Sat) Walk Around Things Day, Vitamin C Day, Hug a Newsperson Day, Chicken Cordon Bleu Day, Tangible Karma Day, Rat Day, Birding Day, Victims of Violence Day, Tell a Lie Day, Square Root Day, Kids Kick Butts Day (anti-tobacco), Pillow Fight Day, Every Day is a Tag Day, Chocolate Milk Powder Day, Mine Awareness Day
  • (Sun) Lava Lamp Day, Bell Bottoms Day, Deep Dish Pizza Day, Plum Pudding Day, Go for Broke Day, Caramel Day, Read a Roadmap Day, Raisin & Spice Day, Dandelion Day, Stories Day, Check Your Batteries Day, Baked Ham & Pineapple Day, Accelerate ACL Awareness Among Young Women Day

Here’s a 2-fer to send you into the weekend. First is a leftover from Act 1, while the second has a fitting title for the 2-fer. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

(Double Vision, Foreigner)

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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 214

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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

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.