Preening and Grooming in the Age of Coronavirus

Democrats Dedicated To Proving America’s Best Years Are Behind Us: Case File #548,391:

In case you’re wondering why the Senate adjourned yesterday without approving additional funds for small business loans:

Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer say they favor more money for small businesses but also want more coronavirus response funds for state and local governments and hospitals, as well as food assistance for the poor. [etc. etc. etc.]

As the saying goes, “it ain’t rocket science.”

In other news: Is it just me or does it seem like everyone needs a haircut these days?

And some of us could really, really use a color touch-up as well.

Get some highlights they said, they’ll really bring out your eyes they said.

You  are now free to carry on…as long as you wash your hands and stay home.

Your tax dollars at work

Double-Plus Good!

Merriam-Webster Definition of life-sustaining: helping someone or something to stay alive: supporting or extending life

Michigan’s Governor Whitmer, explaining why abortions are deemed essential under her house arrest rules but hip/knee replacements are not:

“You know, we stopped elective surgeries here in Michigan, and some people have tried to say that that type of a procedure is considered the same, and that’s ridiculous,” Whitmer responded. “You know, a woman’s health care, her whole future, her ability to decide if and when she starts a family is not an election, it is a fundamental to her life.”

Whitmer continued, “It is life-sustaining, and it’s something that government should not be getting in the middle of.”

Gretchen would have you believe that death is life-sustaining.

As an aside I find it interesting that the Left has finally found something that they don’t think government “should be getting in the middle of.”  It’s as close as they’ll ever get to identifying a “god-given right” and wouldn’t you know it, it’s a right to play God.

And that’s double-plus good!

“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.” – George Orwell, 1984

Until Then…

Don’t worry, Underdog is on the way.

But until then…

Don’t Forget How We Got Here

"Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course." – Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III

But embracing adversity does not require the abandonment the principles that brought us this far.

A gentle reminder:

once we’ve forgotten how you got here we are doomed.

“If the provisions of the Constitution be not upheld when they pinch as well as when they comfort, they may as well be abandoned.” — Justice George Sutherland (1862-1942)

The Worst Part of the Chinese Wuhan Cootie Plague So Far

As Ed Driscoll points out, the Chicom terrorists have won. And, he asks, Is This Really the Sort of Hellish Dystopia You Want to Live In? COVID-19 Delays Release of New Emojis.

Can you even imagine? A year without a single new emoji? Life has lost all meaning, or as commenter tu3031 put it: “unemployed Seattle sex workers, tranny's that can't get their surgeries, ignored feminists, fatphobia, no new emojis...how much can one nation be expected to take!”

It’s not quite as bleak as it sounded at first though, as there are some new emojis already in the pipeline that can be released this fall:

Some new emojis that were part of Unicode's 13.0 standard will be released this fall, including the transgender flag and a gender-neutral Santa Claus.

Thank goodness! We needn’t weather this plague without benefit of an emoji that can embed gay pride right into our texts.

Available with either a pink or blue background

I am curious to see how they will appropriate an old, cisgendered white guy into something the woke culture can embrace.

Oh wait, here it is:

Shoot. I was certain it would look a bit more like Bernie Sanders in drag.

Lord Love a Duck!

Idiom. Interjection:

“Lord love a duck!” 

1. An exclamation of surprise, shock, frustration, exasperation, anger, alarm, or annoyance.

Keep it in mind; the phrase will undoubtedly come in handy in the following weeks.

That’s all I’ve got.

Other than to say it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a soft landing.

Easter 2020

And he said unto them, Be not amazed: you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen;

Thor’s Hammer at sunrise, Bryce Canyon National Park (closed this year)

He is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. - Mark 16:6

Sunrise, Zion National Park, closed this year

And Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Sunrise at Mesa Arch Canyonlands National Park Moab, Utah (closed this year)

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? — John 11: 25-26

Sunrise in Arches National Park (closed this year)

On this day when Christians around the world celebrate this most holy of Christian holidays I would like to wish all who gather here a very happy and blessed Easter. If you are a believer celebrate with joy the miracle of the Resurrection and the promise of salvation. And if you are not take this beautiful, joyful spring day to rest, reflect, renew. The old world will pick up and continue on its way tomorrow and, God willing, we shall too.

Raj and I are fixing a rack of lamb again this year. A couple of years ago we did a non-traditional Easter meal  - paella on the grill – because it was unseasonably warm and we had guests coming for dinner. This year, after a lovely spring-ish week it’s turned unseasonably cool again with snow expected by mid-day. So we’ll be tossing the rack - which has been marinating for 2 days in a honey/curry mixture - into the oven where it will be finished off with a hoisin glaze.

The Lamb Genghis Khan recipe comes from The Lark Restaurant in West Bloomfield, MI where it first appeared on the menu in 1981. They served over 75,0000 racks before the Larks closed the doors of their charming restaurant in 2015. Doesn’t matter, they’d be closed this year anyway.

I do hope all of you find a way to celebrate with family and friends as best you can given the constraints of lockdown and quarantine. Keep an eye on the weather as well as your blood sugar and remember…let’s be careful out there!

Chocolate bunnies will not be permitted in Easter baskets this year unless they are wearing approved facemasks (at least not in Michigan).