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Politicizing a Pandemic Presidency

The coronavirus, the rising threat of Covid-19, is nobody’s fault. Viruses are wild. Viruses happen. As long as humans keep eating animals, we will have viruses transferring from the animal world to the realm of the human being, but let there be no doubt that the “Wuhan Virus” and the “Democrat Hoax” and the “China Virus” will, very soon, be known as “The Democrat Pandemic” if Donald Trump has his way naming himself a “War President” as he leaves the cities to rot, and fold, while he claims victory in doing nothing.

Donald Trump is, without pause or preservation, “An Enemy of the People” in the truest possible manner as warned in writing by Henrik Ibsen in 1882.

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Our 2013 Trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida

For months, my wife Elizabeth and I had discussed going to Orlando and taking our son Chaim Yosef to Walt Disney World so that he could see Mickey Mouse and his friends as well as Lightning McQueen from his favorite movie — Cars. We spent quite a lot of time working out finances and started putting the plan in motion when we saw that the airline JetBlue had announced a sale — only $89 each way, quite a discount.  I called my mother and told her that we were thinking about going to visit Chaim’s pals in Florida and she lovingly started asking me if we had the money to go and how it was possible that we could afford it.

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The Cats of My Lap in the Alentejo Shed

David mentioned to me the other day that I had broken one the cardinal sins of the internet, in that I had mentioned my cats in a post and had not provided pictures of them.

I introduced Black Momma and Touriga in my last post. These are the matriarchs of the tribe.  Next in seniority is Fleabag. Fleabag holds a special place in my heart. His mother Touriga sought sanctuary in the house after a particularly loud and vicious fight during my first weeks here. She arrived meowing on the doorstep with this tiny little scrap of a kitten audibly begging to be let in.

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Dollars Rule and Rhinos Face Extinction

The all mighty dollar is responsible for some of the worst destruction the world has ever known. The dollar, unlike the natural disasters which do not discriminate directly based on who has money and who does not, makes swift decisions on who lives and who dies, what architecture is worth saving and what gets destroyed.

If it wasn’t for celebrity adoption, after all, many people wouldn’t have even heard of some of the countries from which babies are being adopted — Namibia, anyone? The people of Haiti count themselves fortunate that the dollar came to rebuild, while anyone visiting New Orleans can see where the dollars flow and where they do not.

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The Cruelty of The Circus

When I was growing up I always wanted to go to, but never managed to go to the circus. My dreams of the circus were filled of images that I saw in books that I read — the elephant parades, the lion tamer, the tigers and monkeys, not to mention the plethora of acts involving clowns, trapeze artists, acrobats, and the like. I would on occasion get a box of animal crackers with the standard animals from the circus and enjoy munching on them when thinking about how much fun it must be to be that lion, getting the opportunity to perform in front of so many people every year. It was at a certain point, growing up, that I found out how badly the animal performers are treated.

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A Cat by Any Other Name

When I was growing up, I had a friend in West Windsor who had a pet cat. He told me one day that it didn’t matter what he said to the cat as long as he used a soothing tone when he said it. He proceeded to demonstrate by saying some of the most ugly things I had ever heard a twelve year old boy say all with a cooing tone. I noted at the time that the cat didn’t seem to mind all too much.

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The Cutest Cat in the Hat

Sometimes a rough day can be made better with an animal intervention, and yesterday was just such a day when the lovely Janna SMS’d me this image of her modeling the cutest cat hat I ever did see saw.

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