Cold Comfort

Told You So

If you can explain what this slogan means, I'll buy you a latte...

Every once in awhile I'm reminded that just beneath the surface of the friendly, common- sense Midwestern values Iowa is known for lurks an ugly streak of authoritarian progressivism.



Recently an organization with the Orwellian title of Iowa Civil Rights Commission published some "guidance" on how "public accommodations" must bend the knee to the current LGBT agenda regarding "gender identity."

Once upon a time, conservatives like me sounded the tocsin about where this push for "equality" would lead: Government suppression of 1st Amendment freedoms (expression, association, exercise of religion). Our concerns were dismissed as wild-eyed speculation and fear-mongering. Then the spate of lawsuits began, leading to precisely the sort of 1st Amendment violations we warned about.

The ICRC has now determined that even church services and facilities must bend the knee and conform to the new orthodoxy or face punishment.

If you examine the "Case Resolutions" tab on the group's website, you can see that it is basically an old-fashioned extortion racket, collecting financial penalties from hapless victims, the money no doubt going to fund even more shakedown proceedings. Nice work if you can find it. And did I mention that some of the commission's members are hateful bigots themselves?

The commission's ukase is being challenged in court, but given recent events that isn't very encouraging for those of us who still value religious freedoms...

"Do you ever get tired of being right all the time?"

Sometimes, yes...

Cruise Update

Today my best friend Skip and his wife Elaine spent their day visiting Nuuk, the capital and most populous city of Greenland...

...including a visit to the Statue of Hans Egede, the Lutheran missionary who founded the city in 1728...

Good News, Bad News

My beloved Kansas City Royals placed four players on the American League All-Star team: 1B Eric Hosmer (his first All-Star selection) and C Salvador Perez (the leading vote-getter in either league) were voted into the starting lineup, and relief pitchers Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis made the squad for the second consecutive season.

19 saves, 1.23 ERA

Unfortunately, Wade will miss the game, as he was placed on the 15-day Disabled List on Tuesday.

This injury comes at a bad time, as the team is on a three-game losing streak and is trying to avoid getting swept by the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre in Toronto tonight.

"They still haven't figured out how to win on the road yet, have they?"

No, not this season they haven't...and they're running out of time to do so...

Great Seal of Lawlessness

From the pen of Lisa Benson, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

I'm still grieving the loss of my cat Roy last Friday. From time to time when I'm feeling like this I turn to an iTunes playlist called "Tearjerkers" to stimulate a little catharsis. One of the songs in that playlist I will always associate with my love of animals, thanks to an ASPCA advertising campaign which used it.

Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan's hit song "Angel" first appeared on her album Surfacing, which was released in July 1997. Released as a single in November 1998, it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and helped propel the album to No. 2 on Billboard 200 Albums chart.

The song is about Sarah's grief over the death of fellow musician Jonathan Melvoin. The combination of her beautiful voice and the song's lyrics still moves me to tears every time I hear it, even after all of these years.

I found comfort in Roy's company for 18 years. I am hopeful that he is at peace in the arms of the angels, and that we will see each other again one day...

Today's send-off is the official video of the song from Sarah's VEVO channel. Enjoy...