Last Friday, as usual, Mrs. Animal and yr. obdt. went off to the local grocery store nearest our temporary New Jersey digs to do our normal weekly trading.  As discussed in yesterday’s post, there was, of course, an epic amount of panicky pants-shitting on display.  People were loading up entire shopping carts full of bottled water, apparently not realizing that it’s a virus, not a hurricane, and viruses almost never shut the water systems or electricity off.  Paper products were not to be had.  Frozen and other prepared foods were taking a beating.  What utter stupidity.

With that said…

On To the Links!

Just call him Czar Vladimir I.  Somewhere, Joe Stalin is smiling in admiration.

How do they plan to ban fossil fuels?  Short answer:  They can’t.  Not without some yet-to-be-discovered hypothetical dramatic new technology.  More on this tomorrow.

The Weld County (CO) Sheriff may be challenging Colorado’s rather idiotic red flag law.  This should be interesting.

Three Colorado counties have announced “You know what, fuck the First Amendment!”  Look, avoiding large gatherings, cancelling get-togethers, this is absolutely the prudent thing to do.  But no level of government can mandate that we do so.   Why?  This is why:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

And also this.  The proper response to government overreach like this is, of course, “fuck off, slavers!”

Meanwhile, the reaction to this virus has things shutting down all over.  Reducing interactions is how you beat this thing.

This guy may be the most rational and measured person at any level of government right now.  I’m not sure what that says about everyone else in the Imperial City.

Last Sunday evening saw an epic bout between a daffy old Commie and a senile old man.  It was the Special Olympics of political debates.

I… didn’t understand much of this.  Then again my science background is in biology, not physics.  Ask me to explain allopatric speciation, ring species or r-selected and K-selected reproductive strategies and I’m your guy.  Quarks and dark matter?  Not so much.

Well, this doesn’t sound ominous or anything.

Don’t panic.

This Week’s Idiots:

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is an idiot.  Twice over, in fact.  Honestly, who keeps sending these lackwits back to Congress?

Bill De Blasio is an idiot.

Champaign, Illinois Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen is an idiot who needs to read the Bill of Rights, to learn how big an idiot she is.

The New York Times’ Charles Blow is (again) an idiot.

And So:

I expect the next few weeks will give us plenty of opportunities for facepalming and bemoaning the stupidity of some of our fellow citizens.  Over the last week or so I’ve been disturbing my own dear Mrs. Animal by facepalming so repeatedly that it is sounding like a round of applause at the Royal Albert Hall.

But that’s OK.  Here’s some bonus totty from the archives to cheer us all up:

And so, we return you to your (probably isolated) Wednesday, already in progress.

The circus in the Imperial City continues apace, China has produced a possible pandemic, some sportsball guy and his daughter was (sadly) killed in a helicopter crash.

On the other hand, the sun still came up this morning; children are still playing, business is still humming, pretty girls haven’t lost their appeal, and back home in Colorado, the mountains are still there, waiting on my next visit.

Sometimes a fella just has to calm down and remind himself to take an even strain, you know?  And, with that said…

On To the Links!

I’ll take “Shit That Never Happened” for $500, Alex.

The House is considering rescinding the ban on earmarks.  Of course they are.

Angling to emigrate to the U.S. for the generous welfare benefits?  Not so fast.

And in that same case, Justice Gorsuch lays a beat-down on some lower-court judges.  About damn time!

I Love a Happy Ending.

Consider the curious case of one Hunter Biden, whose main accomplishments in life have been 1) getting kicked out of the Navy for cocaine use, 2) conducting an affair with his dead brother’s widow, 3) knocking up a stripper, and 4) inexplicably parlaying those previous three assets into a million-dollar-a-year gig with a Ukrainian energy company.  I’m sure his family connections have nothing to do with that last bit.  Now, if his name was Cheney, that’d be a much different story.

(The U.S. Senate):  “Wait, wait – there were eighteen witnesses?”

Gun Dog Magazine is at the 2020 SHOT show, and they are presenting the best upland game shotguns for 2020.  Many nice pieces, but I’ll keep my Citori and my Model 12s.

Peace in our time?

This Week’s Idiots:

The Colorado Legislature in increasingly the habitat of idiots.

David Hogg is an idiot.

Prince Charles is an idiot.

CNN Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is an idiot.

Need to take away the sting of this week’s idiots?  I think we need to take away the sting of this week’s idiots.  Let’s end the day with some bonus Hump Day totty from the archives.

And Now…

On that toothsome note, we return you to  your Wednesday, already in progress.