Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 255

Two new candidates for 2016 race for US President are officially in the race: Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Although neither is unexpected, it will be interesting to see if Mrs. Clinton implodes and if Mr. Rubio becomes the second choice of most Republicans.

Here’s an interesting closing by Aaron David Miller (Woodrow Wilson International Institute for Scholars) in this Op-Ed at CNN about Hillary Clinton.

Clinton’s biggest challenge on the campaign trail and in office should she win is whether she can develop a foreign policy vision and an effective approach to the world that strikes a better balance between the risk-readiness of George W. Bush and the risk-aversion of Barack Obama. And given the cruel and unforgiving nature of the world America now inhabits, this will be no easy task.

I appreciated Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus’ take about the situation involving President Obama, Republicans, and Iran.

Last Friday morning I added the news about the passing of Lauren Hill. I was surprised how the positive message and stories continued. Here’s one of the early tributes.

After Lauren Hill played her first game, I wrote about some of the other positive aspects of that game, which included the role of Hiram College and its players. The mere fact that their team made the 4-hour trip to Cincinnati for the memorial service says a lot about how they were impacted.

This week included anniversaries of the Lincoln assassination and the Titanic disaster. I included an article about each in the Interesting Reads.

Act 2 of Meals: The Musical featuring fruit was a big hit. Choices were numerous as my prep list included apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, casabas, cherries, elderberries, grapes, grapefruit, kiwis, lemons, limes, mangoes, oranges, peaches, pears, plums, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, and watermelon .. then toss in grapevines. Well done!

No Saturday Morning Cartoons this weekend, but Saturday will bring a new Explore post.

Here’s an interesting trivia question to ponder. Hopefully, I will remember to give the answer on Monday. Category is US Geography. Person X is standing in State Y. No matter if Person X travels directly north, south, east, or west, the next state encountered will always be State Z. Where (what state) is Person X standing, and is the next state?

To lead you into it’s headlines, The Onion introduces us to the latest presidential candidate.

Embed from Getty Images

This Week’s Headlines from The Onion

  • Report: Only 40% of celebrities marrying their stalkers
  • Teacher arranged desks in giant circle
  • Fast food drive-thru just cow carcass and bucket for money
  • New evidence suggests Middle East conflict predates all human civilization
  • Obama fantasizes about ordering drone strike against self on last day of presidency
  • US encouraging Cuba to shift toward Democratic system of corruption

Interesting Reads

Your Weekend Celebrations

  • (Weekend) Youth Services Days
  • (Fri) Blah! Blah! Blah! Day, Day of Silence, Malbec Day, Nothing Like a Dame Day, Bat Appreciation Day, Ellis Island Family History Day, Ford Mustang Day, Haiku Poetry Day, Cheeseball Day, Sherlock Hemlock Day, Daffy Duck Day, Petunia Pig Day
  • (Sat) Jugglers Day, Animal Crackers Day, Adult Autism Day, Columnists Day, Golf Day, Pet Owners Independence Day, Amateur Radio Day, Husband Appreciation Day, Original Yankee Stadium Day, Auctioneers Day, Poem in Your Pocket Day, Paul Revere Day, Laundromat Day, Record Store Day
  • (Sun) Hanging Out Day, Amaretto Day, Bicycle Day, Garlic Day, Humorous Day, Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day

To send you into the weekend, here are two big hits by big starts eligible for Act 2. Well … at least until I add them. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On a Mad Monday

For the record, I’m not mad that it’s Monday … nor am I mad that the weekend is over … nope, the hectic nature of the holiday season doesn’t make me mad. Therefore, I’ll explain later.

The holiday season is in full swing, and the weekend before Christmas is always hectic. How was your weekend? Ours involved an evening of ballroom and a whirlwind cross-state trip (3+ hours each way). After returning home, tango formation practice and a Christmas party concluded our weekend.

My wife knows many Christmas carols, but I was surprised to discover that she didn’t know this one. Do you know it?

An important reminder to everyone. The Kennedy Center Honors is one of the shows that we love at this time of year. It’s simply several hours of outstanding entertainment and tributes. This year’s honorees are Al Green, Tom Hanks, Sting, Lily Tomlin, and Patricia McBride, so there will be a plethora of outstanding performers participating in the tributes. The event occurred earlier this month, but CBS will air it on December 30 9-11 pm (Eastern US) … and it’s worth the watch!

Celebrations for your week and ahead

  • (Week) Bird Count Week continues
  • (Mon – 22) Haiku Poetry Day, Date Nut Bread Day
  • (Tues- 23) Festivus, Human Light Day, Roots Day, Pfeffernuesse Day
  • (Wed – 24) Egg Nog Day, Last-Minute Shopping Day
  • (Thurs -25) No ‘L’ Day, Pumpkin Pie Day, Merry Christmas
  • (Fri – 26) Whiner’s Day, Boxing Day, Coffee Percolator Day, Candy Cane Day, Thank-You Note Day, Day of Goodwill
  • (Sat – 27) Howdy Doody Day, Visit the Zoo Day, Fruit Cake Day, Holocaust Remembrance Day
  • (Sun -28) Chocolate Day, Endangered Species Day, Card Playing Day, Call a Friend Day, Chocolate Candy Day
  • (Mon – 29) Tick Tock Day, Pepper Pot Day
  • (Tues – 30) Bacon Day, Falling Needles Family Fest Day, Day of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute Day, Relaxation Day, Bicarbonate of Soda Day
  • (Wed – 31) Leap Second Time Adjustment Day, Make Up Your Mind Day, No Interruptions day, One Voice Day, Champagne Day, Universal Hour of Peace Day, Dice Day, Look on the Bright Side Day, World Peace Meditation Day, New Years Eve

To send you into the week, nope – not a holiday song – but a leftover from Life: The Musical – Act 14: Negative Emotions … thus the reason I’m mad … very mad.

On a Growing Idea for Monday

How was your weekend? Hopefully you had a chance to enjoy yourself. Did you have good weather? Come on … tell us about your weekend!

We had warm, dry weather, so our weekend was full of activities and interactions – such as out to dinner with a group of new neighbors, ballroom time, hosted our first family gathering, the handbell choir played at two services (I couldn’t find a recording or video), my first trip to the golf driving range, and watching the Masters golf tournament.

Life: The Musical returns this week with a curtain time of 9:30 PM (Eastern US) Wednesday. The theme for Act 2 is “Born” – so get your song title that includes any of these words: born, birth, baby, or babies.

Your celebrations for the week

  • (Week) Wildlife Film Week, Crime Victim Rights Week, Environmental Education Week, Robotics Week, Library Week, Undergraduate Research Week
  • (Mon) Dictionary Day, Moment of Laughter Day, Pecan Day, Pan American Day, Ex-Spouse Day, Dolphin Day
  • (Tues) Take a Wild Guess Day, That Sucks Day, Bicycle Day, Art Day, Library Day, Rubber Eraser Day, Stress Awareness Day, One Day Without Shoes Day, Glazed Spiral Ham Day
  • (Wed) Bookmobile Day, Save the Elephant Day, Eggs Benedict Day, Day of the Mushroom
  • (Thurs) Bat Appreciation Day, Blah! Blah! Blah! Day, Ellis Island Family History Day, Haiku Poetry Day, Nothing Like a Dame Day, High Five Day, Ford Mustang Day, Get to Know Your Customers Day, Poem in Your Pocket Day, Cheeseball Day

We went from harvesting spaghetti from trees to marshmallow farm, so the journey continues with the wonders of M&M farming. Enjoy and have a good week!