Here’s this week’s OpinionList.
Nyad, No Excuses: The week started with the incredible feat of Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba to Key West. The story is amazing on several levels. It took Nyad 2 days and 2 nights, nearly 53 hours to complete the swim. This was her 5th attempt. The first when she was 28 years old, and this last one at 64 years old. Nyad’s story has touched many as one of perseverance and, of course, as a shining example that we can accomplish what we set our minds to at any age. In her own words,”… we should never, ever give up… you never are too old to chase your dreams.” As for me, she will be my 3-word-go-to phrase when I’m hesitating to do something, “Nyad, no excuses,” a living incarnation of my all-time favorite “just do it.”
Castro Dead, Ariel That Is: The man who kept 3 women locked up, chained, undernourished, sexually-abused and psychologically controlled for 11 years hung himself in his solitary-confinement cell. Most people have expressed satisfaction that he’s dead, others contempt, such as his prosecutor, Timothy McGinty, who said, “This man couldn’t take, for even a month, a small portion of what he had dished out for more than a decade.” As for me, I loved @DiegoUk’s tweet: “Sarah Palin heard Ariel Castro killed himself and immediately tweeted her support for the Cuban people.”
Weiner Is A Real Dick: We already know what he likes to do with his penis. We already know that he’s blown away his political career twice because of it. We know that he’s, both, stubbornly shameless and shamelessly stubborn. He won’t drop out of N.Y’s mayoral race even though his chances of winning are less than zero, and he walks around like he owns N.Y. The last sighting was in a Brooklyn bakery where after he pranced around for a while, he engaged in a shouting match with a customer who called him a scumbag, deviant and disgusting (because he married an Arab). Yes, he was provoked. Yes, he had every right to be upset. But he’s running for office, and political candidates need to learn what to say, when to say it, and most importantly when to STFU.
Tea Party Attacks Mitch McConnell: The National Journal reports, “A leading tea-party group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, has booked a $340,000 television-ad buy in Kentucky attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his failure to join the movement to defund Obamacare.” I’m so glad. Of course, I don’t agree with their goal of defunding Obamacare, but McConnell deserves every political headache that comes his way. This is the first time I’m happy about anything that the tea party has done. Even so, there is absolutely no chance that I will say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Yahoo!, Yippee….Not: Yahoo has a new logo and according to Business Insider, “The new logo has widely been viewed as a let-down on the Internet, which has spent the past month hoping the teaser designs Yahoo released (one-a-day for the past month) were merely a set-up for a more exciting swerve on day 30…Matti Leshem, founder and CEO of the marketing strategy agency Protagonist, said Yahoo missed an opportunity to create a logo reflecting the ‘aspirational’ quality of the company under Marissa Mayer.” Personally, I like the new logo. I think that it’s more elegant, although it’s true I’m not wowed by it. I am really glad about one thing, though. That they got rid of Breaking-Bad-Marie’s shade of purple.
Size Is Everything: Rumor has it that Apple is testing wider screens. The Los Angeles Times: “Days ahead of the expected iPhone 5S announcement, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is testing iPhone designs with screens larger than any it has had before. The report says Apple is testing screens as small as 4.8 inches and as large as 6 inches, which would be a huge leap in size for the iPhone.” In case you’re getting ready to measure your iPhone 5, don’t bother, it’s 4 inches. I’ve been waiting and will continue to wait for this, which is why I still have an iPhone 4S. Hopefully, the bigger screens will be featured on iPhone 6. But do I want a 6-inch? I don’t think so. I’d like to be able to hold my iPhone in one hand without feeling that I’m dislocating my thumb. In any case, we should be happy that Apple has abandoned its past position (no bigger than 3.5 inches) on the iPhone screen size. Maybe we should tell Apple to give us 5…inches that is.
Bye Bye Boehner: It seems that John Boehner will not be seeking re-election in 2014. Considering how inefficient the House has been under his direction, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast has put together a list of possible candidates to replace Boehner once he leaves and in his own words it’s, “A grim menu. These people make Boehner look like Nelson Rockefeller. Under any of them, the point of the House of Representatives will be to throw as many wrenches into as many gears of government as they can possibly get away with.” Boehner arrived at the House crying with emotion. Don’t be surprised to see him leaving bawling in frustration.
Note: Original Publication date: 9-6-13. Publication date has been changed exclusively for display purposes.
