Good morning.

1. In the zone, with others in the same place.
2. One categorization of “two kinds of people” … I like the adage “there are two kinds of people, those who think there are two kinds of people and those who don’t.”
3. Them wimpy gymnasts. Or not.
4. So … off the radar or just hidden motivations. We have a President who is keen on not revealing his actual reasons.
5. On good faith in discussion and actions.
6. See. The compromise that wasn’t wasn’t even.
7. Pointing at self in Lent (by self I mean myself not the author).
8. Oh, heck, on the use of expletives which generally just demonstrate the lack of intelligence and education on the part of the speaker.
9. Oh, honey … he won’t call you … you’re a conservative so you’re not really a woman.
10. Why does this question even get asked? Isn’t the answer completely obvious.
11. Touching in part on the question (recently discussed) on the relationship between Christianity and Greek Philosophy, to whit “unless contemplated through philosophy …”
12. Statistics.
13. Whence liberty and Mr Santorum?
14. How close to that are we here?

Good morning.

1. Apparently the Wash Post is reviewing last summer’s debt negotiations.
2. Chesterton apparently didn’t anticipate Mr Hofstadter’s Godel, Escher, Bach and his the dialogs. I defy anyone to come up with a “truth” stranger than “subjunctive TV” set to “how would that (football play) have gone if … thirteen wasn’t prime?”
3. A challenge for the left wing spin monkeys.
4. Free market healthcare.
5. No silly, he won’t help pay for it because she doesn’t want him to, the primary criterion for her selection of law school was lack of coverage for contraception. A point which completely escapes people like this.
6. And, here’s a summary of the kerfuffle.
7. Oddly enough my wife didn’t find this as funny as my daughters and I.
8. Back in the day, our President speaking in Cairo talked about how much he enjoys and seeks to read history. Apparently very little of what he reads remains with him. I mean, geesh … is there anything historically correct that he asserts?
9. Speaking of getting history wrong, here’s some of that atheist religion-hates-science getting it wrong (repeatedly) in a continuing won’t die-meme, i.e., Hypatia.
10. This kid is very good.
11. Global warming skeptics and the typical straw men arguments hoisted in their vicinity.

Good morning.

1. Inequality and crises.
2. Shot “something” … likely piece of paper or clay pigeon. The horror! (gun tech vid here)
3. Iranian nukes, for big or little “satan”.
4. Of Uganda and Columbia.
5. Failure of imagination … gosh is there any difference in the family past between GOP candidates and Mr Obama? Hmm, one has a foreign parent, no reason to imagine that might make a difference, eh?
6. A primer for the arguments in the upcoming Obamacare SCOTUS discussion.
7. Feminists against porn.
8. Two for Lent, St. Basil on sin and
9. for this Sunday … the cross.
10. Marking inconsistencies … or consequences of ownership?
11. In short, no.
12. Ooooh, Obamacare not as insolvent as suspected, with a windfall of unanticipated fines and taxes. And that’s a good thing?
13. A local hero and her bike(s).
14. Student given life sentence for burning “To Kill a Mockingbird”  … oh, wait.
15. Tea party and Hunger Games.

Good morning.

1. A real long historical correlation=causation stretch.
2. Philosophical patterns … and I think I have to look up the word lacunae.
3. The DC Regulatory menace, killing fun and profit everywhere it stomps.
4. Google’s next search move.
5. Aside from the academic knee-jerk gratuitous insult, the left finally moves against Soros and company.
6. More on the slut/Fluke kerfuffle.
7. Liberal blind spots and health care reform.
8. 2%? Hmm. Of oil, ignoring oil shales, oil sands and other fossil fuels. Lie, damned lie or statistics?
9. Grist for the stupid party.

A la carte Catholics need a la carte priests
Or, Doctrinal statements are there for a reason.

Remember the recent incident where a lesbian was denied Holy Communion at her mother’s funeral? From the OC Register comes an example of personal preference attempting to force its way into Christian belief. In Do Catholics love and accept others? Not this priest, we read (emphasis added),

I’m what you’d call an a la carte Catholic.

Too convenient? Maybe.

Especially in times like these, when a priest like Rev. Marcel Guarnizo uses his position in the church to deny someone like Barbara Johnson, who happens to love another woman instead of a man, communion during her own mother’s funeral.

Now, there are many reasons I’m an a la carte Catholic, one of which is that I see nothing wrong with homosexuality; nor do I believe in a God who would turn his back on his own children just because of their sexual orientation. Dare I say that a large portion of the heterosexual marriages among us don’t put the whole man-woman union thing in the best light. Besides, who are we to deny anyone the experience of looking at their husband or wife 10 years in and wondering, “Was I high as a kite the day I committed my life to you?”

And captioning a photo of the Holy Sacraments (emphasis added),

To me, Holy Communion is symbolic of God’s love for us; a priest has no right to deny that to anyone who comes searching for it

Now, the writer of this piece is certainly entitled to her own beliefs. And she’s certainly entitled to attempt to push her beliefs on others. But she’s sorely lacking doctrinal knowledge and clear thinking by proposing that Catholics – or even this particular Catholic priest – do not love others simply because they follow the tenets of their faith. That she disagrees with the tenets of the Catholic faith is irrelevant.

You see, the issue of faith – religious faith – in our culture has become not one of objective reality but of subjective experience. When someone makes claims or statements such as “I see nothing wrong with…” or “nor do I believe in a God who…” or “who are we to deny…” or “To me…” we are seeing the expression of personal preference as the determining factor in one’s belief system. As I stated above, there is nothing inherently wrong with such a worldview and, as the tolerant individual I am, I believe people are certainly free to think that way.

But if they consider themselves to be tolerant, then they need to stop pushing their views into realms that are inconsistent with their own. The Catholic church, via the Word of God, has declarative statements on the meaning of Holy Communion. What you or I happen to want it to mean is irrelevant. Taken a step further, God, through His Word, has made declarative statements regarding His character, who he is, what he is owed, etc. Whether or not you or I agree with him, or would want to believe in a God like him again, is irrelevant.

UPDATE:

Lo and behold, the priest in question has come forward with his account of what transpired. From Crisis Magazine (HT: Joe Carter),

A few minutes before the Mass began, Ms. Johnson came into the sacristy with another woman whom she announced as her “lover”. Her revelation was completely unsolicited. As I attempted to follow Ms.Johnson, her lover stood in our narrow sacristy physically blocking my pathway to the door. I politely asked her to move and she refused.

…

If a Quaker, a Lutheran or a Buddhist, desiring communion had introduced himself as such, before Mass, a priest would be obligated to withhold communion. If someone had shown up in my sacristy drunk, or high on drugs, no communion would have been possible either. If a Catholic, divorced and remarried (without an annulment) would make that known in my sacristy, they too according to Catholic doctrine, would be impeded from receiving communion. This has nothing to do with canon 915. Ms. Johnson’s circumstances are precisely one of those relations which impede her access to communion according to Catholic teaching. Ms. Johnson was a guest in our parish, not the arbitrer of how sacraments are dispensed in the Catholic Church.

###

And, the rest of the Lesbian vs. Catholic Church story
Not an Only in California story, but related. It seems that the lesbian-denied-holy-communion is a practicing Buddhist as well as a gay rights activist. Hmmm.

Good morning.

1. Car tech of interest.
2. So is the White House inconsistent or biased? Or is there another narrative?
3. What is this “poor in spirit” thing.
4. Slavery or taxation in a barter economy?
5. Progress of progressivism? Or consequences of Ms Delsol’s Unlearned Lessons.
6. Perhaps further context is required … after all Mr Biden might have continued by noting that “… and neither, of course, do we.” But I tend to doubt it.
7. Speaking of progressivism … future medical mandates?
8. A few interesting moments might be spend considering the nature of intelligent life on that planet, eh?
9. TARP and expense, or hide the cost.
10. Short answer … no.
11. No problem? Does this mean a new war/wag-the-dog is planned for the late summer?
12. Grist for the conversation going on right now in the comment trail on women and men and their power struggle.
13. Iran and demographics.
14. Speaking of demographics.
15. Some verse.
16. I don’t think the term “McCarthyism” makes a bit of sense in that context. McCarthy and the red scare was about painting with little evidence members of industry and government as “red” and banning them thereby from their position and place work. What parallel is pretended?
17. Of States and immigration.
18. Ten! Just ten and they’re “on track?” On track for what?
19. Training priests and/on abortion.
20. Liberal vs conservatives and one measure of tolerance.

Good morning.

1. Gosh, liberal aghast Romney using the Obama camp SOP. Watch and wait, pretty soon Romney will have a catchy meaningless slogan like Hope/Change.
2. Why is the government solution to everything “hand out bags of money” and wait for the bubble to bust and make everything worse?
3. When you get banned from a comment “for profanity” it works better if the banned content contains actual profanity.
4. The Buddhist banned from communion still in the news. Truth is stranger than fiction.
5. An attempt to help the poor.
6. Unintended consequences.
7. Naivete as argument, there (apparently) is not “a variety of facts.” “Fact” has only one “kind” … the fact that you love your wife, that the revolutionary war was about taxation, that you are conservative (or liberal), and that the mass of the electron is .5 Mev are exactly the same sort of facts. Riiiight.
8. Here’s the memo. Not getting the memo … for example here. What part of “dead relatives” do people not get? Or is she angry that she’s related to Mormons?
9. Mr Gore now encourages electoral fraud.
10. So, do you wish you were there?
11. Grist for the insurance and coverage debate (follow the two linked links).

Thinking Sheriffs Dept offer free CCW classes for women
From WISTV,

The Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department says a gruesome crime lead them to open up a free concealed weapons class for women.

According to Sheriff Jim Matthews, the department opened up the course and waived an $80 fee to sign up in response to the brutal murder of Beverly Hope Melton.

###

Thinking Canadians end government waste
By ending long-gun registration. From John Lott,

Despite spending a whopping $2.7 billion on creating and running a long-gun registry, Canadians never reaped any benefits from the project. … Even though the country started registering long guns in 1998, the registry never solved a single murder. Instead it has been an enormous waste of police officers’ time, diverting their efforts from patrolling Canadian streets and doing traditional policing activities.

###

Non-thinking gun-control advocate San Francisco Sheriff arrested for domestic violence
AND he surrenders over 3 of his handguns. From David Codrea,

“Although San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was a strong advocate of gun control while on the Board of Supervisors, he surrendered 3 handguns when police recently booked him on misdemeanor domestic violence charges,” KCBS reports.

Mirkarimi apparently owned them while sponsoring legislation last summer to bolster San Francisco gun control laws against a lawsuit by the National Rifle Association.

What was that about trusting only the police with possessing firearms?

###

No! 4 year-old shoots his 3 year-old brother to death
Gun Safety. Gun Safety. Gun Safety. From KDFW,

Police say the woman had put the handgun on top of a chest of drawers, thinking the weapon was out of the children’s reach.

Police say the 4-year-old boy managed to get the gun and shoot his little brother.

Have a firearm and have kids? Then you make sure that the firearm is secured at ALL times (which either means locked away or secured on your person). Kids WILL find a way to the firearm. Also, you teach children about firearms – especially the kid’s rules of gun safety if they happen across an unattended firearm:  STOP! Don’t touch! Leave the room! Tell an adult!

###

ND = Negligent Discharge. In this case, deadly.
From FoxNews,

Authorities say a Florida pastor’s daughter who was accidentally shot in the head in a church died Saturday at a hospital.

The round came from a gun owned by a CCW carrier in the church. From the article (emphasis added),

Investigators have said Moises Zambrana was showing his gun in a small closet to another church member interested in buying a firearm. The St. Petersburg Times reports that the other church member, Dustin Bueller, was Hannah Kelley’s fiancee.

Zambrana reportedly removed the magazine from the Ruger 9mm weapon but did not know that a round was still in the chamber. The gun went off, firing a bullet through a wall. Kelley was struck in the head.

Guns don’t just go off. The firing pin or hammer of the handgun must strike the chambered cartridge and that happens when the trigger is pressed, either by one’s finger or by any object that is situated inside the trigger guard.

###

Stupid
And stupidity is not limited to those “trained” to work with firearms.

Good morning.

1. A narrative of why the current President has continued so many policies of the former with which he allegedly strongly disagreed … this one claims he still disagrees but his hands are tied by the Constitution.
2. Uncertainty primer.
3. Methodist theology and the early Church Fathers.
4. The end of the status quo in the US, might not be gradual.
5. Which needs to confront this notion.
6. Freedom and the left.
7. Yah, they don’t watch FOX, they don’t actually listen to Mr Limbaugh … they just bang the echo chamber drum (whilst complaining about the right wing echo chamber and not noticing that they do the same thing).
8. Logic.
9. Arab Springly thinking.
10. So, is he right? Would ABC run the alternative?
11. A question for the Fluke/contraceptives-for-free supporters.
12. A question about options and Iran.
13. The kindness of strangers in flyover land.

Good morning.

1. Economically speaking.
2. Putin and the Russian Republic election.
3. A car, which appears to be designed to blow up when it hits a speed-bump. But, it looks kewl, eh?
4. Rockwell meets Lucas.
5. Interesting locution there, mocking the ivory tower distance on the one hand and at the same time figuring the term “medical zombies” is about creatures you have to run away or shoot (in real life).
6. A look behind a faux controversy.
7. I’ll bet dollars to donuts this wasn’t what you were taught in school about that little narrative. Heh.
8. I know it’s all traditional and everyone just loves that color, but I’ve never liked overmuch.
9. Becoming human?
10. Least worst … kind of like how we view democracy (vs the other forms of government) in a nutshell.

The Danish Pancakes, from Ellen’s Danish Pancake House, in Buellton, CA.

I like breakfast. But one thing I don’t care for at most restaurants are thick, thick pancakes. Too much expansive mass makes for a full stomach after only a few bites. Now Danish pancakes are very thin and not heavy handed in the least. At Ellen’s Danish Pancake House they serve up some delightful pancakes, generously sprinkled with powdered sugar, and a couple of slices of bacon to boot. Very nice change of pace (once in awhile) from the savory breakfasts I usually get. Mind you, while tasty, the plates are pricey here.

Enjoy!

– image © 2011 A R Lopez

Good morning.

1. Trends and criteria vis a vis Afghanistan.
2. Our mostly dysfunctional government.
3. Does anyone remember the kerfuffle over the refusal of communion to the lesbian in a Catholic church, turns out … there’s more to the story. I guess the story “Catholic refuses communion to a Buddhist” doesn’t have the same cachet.
4. Woops.
5. Consider this. (HT)
6. For the Orthodox smartphone set.
7. Zuh zuh zuh zooooooom. Or not.
8. A smooch.
9. A taxpayer feel (not so) good story.
10. Parasites.
11. Mr Holder and liberties.
12. So … if after all that you need a dose of really cute.

October Baby
“Every life is beautiful”

From Brett Kunkle,

Mark your calendars for March 23. That’s when a new movie, October Baby, will hit movie screens. I was able to preview the film last week and suggest you go see this one in the theater. I’ll be up front, it is a strong pro-life movie dealing head-on with abortion. But it was powerful and compelling, without being preachy. The message comes through loud and clear, but in a way that stirred my soul (yes, yes…I cried like 4 times — it was intense). And ultimately, the message is hopeful.

Trailer here.

###

Tatts for Jesus! Except…
these are done FOR Lent.

From Joe Carter,

Although Christians have been getting inked for centuries, the recent rise in popularity and mainstream acceptance of tattoos is leading many Christians to reflect on the meaning and prudence of the practice.

“Nearly 40 percent of young adults aged 18-28 have tattoos now, which is more than four times the number in the Baby Boom generation,” noted Matthew Lee Anderson in his book Earthen Vessels: Why our Bodies Matter for our Faith. “While tattoos mark a desire for significance within a destabilized world, they are a live option for most young people precisely because we have not escaped the clutches of the consumerism and the individualism that are so often criticized.”

From CNN,

In a hip, artsy, area of Houston, a hip, artsy pastor is taking an unorthodox approach to Lent.

…

He asked them to get tattoos. Specifically, he asked congregants to get a tattoo corresponding with one of the Stations of the Cross, the collection of images that depict scenes in Jesus’ journey to his crucifixion.

…

Another member of Ecclesia, Joyce O’Connor, channeled her family when she was deciding what station of the cross to get tattooed onto her body. O’Connor, who has one biological child and two stepchildren, connected with the fourth station, Jesus meeting his mother.

“I am a mother and in just a minuscule way can relate to how Mary must have felt,” O’Conner said.

“The tattoo captured me and I love it,” she continued. “When I think of that image, I don’t feel tragedy or sadness because I know how the story ends and it makes me smile.”

Permanent images on your body using Biblical imagery as a metaphor for what has happened in your life?

It seems to me that this is nothing more than a carnal attempt at personalizing scripture or, in these cases, Biblical notions.

###

Could this be an Introvert’s weapon of choice for fighting smalltalk?
From Engadget,

Silence is golden, so there are plenty of times when it’d be awfully convenient to mute those around us, and a couple of Japanese researchers have created a gadget that can do just that. Called the SpeechJammer, it’s able to “disturb remote people’s speech without any physical discomfort” by recording and replaying what you say a fraction of a second after you say it. Why would that shut up the chatty Cathy next to you? Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) is based on an established psychological principle that it’s well-nigh impossible for folks to speak when their words are played back to them just after they’ve been uttered.

###

Postscript to the Open Letter to Praise Bands
Excerpts,

1. Worship is not only expressive, it is also formative. It is not only how we express our devotion to God, it is also how the Spirit shapes and forms us to bear God’s image to the world. This is why the form of worship needs to be intentional: worship isn’t just something that we do; it does something to us. And this is why worship in a congregational setting is a communal practice of a congregation by which the Spirit grabs hold of us. How we worship shapes us, and how we worship collectively is an important way of learning to be the body of Christ…

2. Because worship is formative, and not merely expressive, that means other cultural practices actually function as “competing” liturgies, rivals to Christian worship. …The point is that such loaded cultural practices are actually shaping our loves and desires by the very form of the practice, not merely by the “content” they offer. If we aren’t aware of this, we can unwittingly adopt what seem to be “neutral” or benign practices without recognizing that they are liturgies that come loaded with a rival vision of “the good life.” If we adopt such practices uncritically, it won’t matter what “content” we convey by them, the practices themselves are ordered to another kingdom. And insofar as we are immersed in them, we are unwittingly mis-shaped by the practices.

Read it all.

###

Yes, conservative women do get more of the “Rush-treatment”

###

Heh. Funny. Very funny.

© Day by Day

I would have never thought of this, but then, I have a difficult time understanding the entitlement mentality.

The Mark Twain Breakfaste plate at the River Belle Terrace, in Disneyland.

The Mark Twain breakfast includes scrambled eggs, homestyle potatoes, bacon, and a biscuit. It’s an excellent start to the day, whether the day will include hiking all over Disneyland, or simply stopping by for a taste of familiar sights.

Enjoy!

– image © 2011 A R Lopez

Good morning

1. Guantanamo stats.
2. A little more on the Fluke/Rush kerfuffle, here in which it is suggested that Mr Rush should have investigated prior to apologizing … and here where somewhat similarly some confusion over the faux outrage over the term slut is professed. I wonder if Ms Fluke has, for example, participated in the “slut walk” phenomena and if so  … why is this term problematic?
3. And one more … Ms Althouse wonders about the liberal double standard toward apologies.
4. Dressing dad.
5. Same sex marriage and Mr Sullivan.
6. Lovecraft and epistemology.
7. Trends in modern education and demographics.
8. Sierra Leone.
9. Supply and demand.
10. Our creepy Washington.
11. Mr Obama’s putative support for Israel.
12. Apparently liberal political leaders regularly review and disavow comments made by liberal entertainers. Who knew?