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.

On a Skit for Monday

Warm weather arrived this weekend in Cincinnati. Then again, March has a tendency to be a big tease. After this winter, Sunday’s sun and warmth were simply marvelous.

How was your weekend? Mine was a bit full as it included a night of ballroom, ushering at the Playhouse (Peter and the Starcatcher), a wine tasting (our church group featuring wines from Paso Robles, California), working, and practice for the quick-step formation. As as I sit to prepare this post, whew … it’s great to be sitting at home.

FYI: The play serves a prequel to Peter Pan, but it’s written in a Monty Python sort of way – that is, with a lot of one-liners meant for adults. In other words, it really wasn’t a play for kids.

Saturday’s Donald Duck post was well received. Interestingly, did you notice that Donald Duck Day was this past Friday?

On the blogging front, the week ahead is a bit uncertain, so I’m aiming for resuming Wednesday’s Satire Bits, and Friday’s Opinion in the Shorts – and in the latter, I hope to announce the next musical.

Celebrations for Your Week

  • (Week) Straw Hat Week, Act Happy Week, Goof-Off Week, Well-Elderly Week, Wildlife Week, Folktales & Fables Week, Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week, YoYo and Skills Toys Days, Chocolate Week, Food Safety Awareness Week, Animal Poison Prevention Week, Termites Awareness Week, Poison Prevention Week, Shakespeare Week, Art Week, Clean Your Closet Week, Go Nuts Over Texas Peanuts Week, Clutter Awareness Week, Anonymous Giving Week, Spring Fever Week
  • (Mon) Lips Appreciation Day, No Selfies Day, Everything You Do is Right Day, Quilt Day, Freedom of Information Day, Goddard Day, Well-Elderly Day, Artichokes Hearts Day, Doctor-Patient Trust Day, Vitamin C Day, Panda Day, Pre-School Teachers Appreciation Day
  • (Tues) Rubber Band Day, Green Beer Day, Submarine Day, Corned Beef & Cabbage Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Right Angle Birthday
  • (Wed) Kick Butts Day, Awkward Moments Day, First Space Walk Day, Forgive Mom & Dad Day, Agriculture Day, Supreme Sacrifice Day, Sun-Earth Day, Sparky the Fire Dog Day, Sloppy Joe Day
  • (Thurs) Let’s Laugh Day, Chocolate Caramel Day, Client’s Day, Goddess of Fertility Day, Companies that Care Day, Swallows Return to Capistrano Day, Absolutely Incredible Kid Day, Social Work Day, Certified Nurses Day

It’s time to start your week with a smile – so enjoy these grins from the past. Have a good week!

On a Revved Engine for Monday

To say our life has been a whirlwind of late is an understatement. The old homestead (which we are still in) is officially not ours, and the new place should be ours Monday morning.

If moving isn’t enough stress, last Thursday we received VERY unexpected news regarding the new place … so unexpected, we sought legal counsel. Although there is progress and the closing should be smooth, the news took a huge bite out of packing time, thus now I’m fearful of not being ready.

Meanwhile, our move day is in a few days, our router will be going offline (maybe already so) and hopefully it will be up and running in the new place in short order … but only time will tell. But hey … the show goes on because the Explorer series continues.

I know you count on me to pass along chance to celebrate … and there are good ones in this list.

Celebrations for your week (17th-23rd)

  • (Week) Chocolate Week, Act Happy Week, Straw Hat Week, Clean Your Closet Week, Goof-Off Week, Clutter Awareness Week, Anonymous Giving Week
  • (Mon) Rubber Band Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Submarine Day, Irish Coffee Day, Green Beer Day
  • (Tues) Awkward Moments Day, Forgive Mom & Dad Day, Sun-Earth Day, Oatmeal Cookies Day, Supreme Sacrifice Day, Biodiesel Day
  • (Wed) Kick Butts Day, Chocolate Caramel Day, Swallows Return to Capistrano Day, Poultry Day, Social Work Day, Let’s Laugh Day
  • (Thurs) Snowman Burning Day, Big Bird Day (Sesame Street), Ravioli Day, Alien Abduction Day, Astrology Day (I’m Aquarius … your sign?), Jump Out Day, Proposal Day, Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day, Day of Happiness
  • (Fri) Dance Day, Down Syndrome Day (Trisomy-21), Memory Day, Common Courtesy Day, Puppy Day, Brain Injury Awareness Day, Poetry Day, Forests & Trees Day
  • (Sat) Goof-Off Day, As Young As You Feel Day, Day of the Seal, Roller Coaster Day, Bavarian Crepes Day, Badminton Day, Sing Out Day, Francophone Day, World Day for Water
  • (Sun) Turtle Day, Chip & Dip Day, Kick Butt Day, OK Day, Near Miss Day

My favorites above are Goof-Off Week (oh I wish I could), Snowman Burning Day, Dance Day, and my wife’s birthday (which I didn’t list). Meanwhile, I will have more Exploring posts this week.

For your Monday Morning Entertainment, here’s a comedian who defines hyper!  Enjoy, and have a good week.