Better (?) late than never.

1. Cat representing fonts.
2. Weight loss and the bike.
3. Speaking of the bike … is this a example of the effects of rapid temperature drop in the Eurozone harsh winter while riding?
4. And a final bike link, a cute folder/travel bike.
5. About that Detroit rebound.
6. Lunchbox inspectors … stimulus?
7. Speaking of stimulus, looking at the coordination of the stimulus programs and jobs.
8. A question for the drug warriors.
9. Grist for the redistributive government/size of government discussion.
10. Art.
11. The upside of dyslexia?
12. Abortion and Capital punishment, a modest suggestion.

The Missouri Skillet, from Flappy Jack’s Pancake House, in Orange, CA.

A Route 66 roadhouse that is off of Route 55… oh well. The Missouri Skillet combines loads of potatoes, two eggs, ham, bacon, tomatoes and onions topped with Monterey jack and cheddar cheese. Yowser! Toast or pancakes side, and I always add some coffee. A very tasty combination of savory breakfast flavors in this dish. Be forewarned, however, you’ll have leftover potatoes for the family!

Enjoy!

– image © 2011 A R Lopez

Good morning.

1. Chicago, home of our President, on top?
2. Perceptions and realities, part one.
3. Another here.
4. Somebody somewhere very confused as to how an infusion of hundreds of billions of (free) taxpayer dollars might help your company.
5. Child abuse and cover-up.
6. Faith healing.
7. Not a socialist … so what is someone who thinks controlling for excess profits is part of normal ordinary market methods?
8. FOX for racist lowlifes (on the right)? We’ll be waiting for his “MSNBC for bigoted lowlifes” link.
9. Speaking of bigots … I found this quote interesting ” Tebow is a theocrat, so reasonable people – even including other believers – find him to be an odious, thick-skulled ass” … uhm, exactly how/why do you come to the conclusion that Mr Tebow is a theocrat? Point to one quote actually from him that lends any credence to that statement, or perhaps “odious thick-skulled” might apply better to the blogger not the football player.
10. Oil and recession.
11. Pattern and predator.

‘God help anyone who would …get in the way of TBN’
This is truly scary stuff. From the OC Register,

We told you last week that the granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Paul and Jan Crouch has accused the world’s largest Christian broadcaster of unlawfully distributing charitable assets worth more than $50 million to the company’s directors.

…

On Thursday, Feb. 9 — the same day that our story ran online — Paul Crouch and his son, Matt, were having a live chat on TBN’s “Behind the Scenes.” Paul was reminiscing about how TBN began back in 1973 — God spoke to him as he was driving on MacArthur Boulevard — and the conversation took a turn that Koper’s attorney finds somewhat menacing.

“You know what’s funny Dad?” Matt said (at minute 8:38 on the video). “There have been a few attempts in the TBN history to upset TBN, to stop TBN, to — there have been a few fools in the 38, 39 year history, coming up on 40 years, and you know what, any attempt at stopping TBN — they have no idea who they’re actually pushing into the corner. You and Mom get pushed in a corner, God help you. That’s a lesson I’ve learned from you, seriously.”

Paul Crouch responded: “God help anyone who would try to get in the way of TBN, which was God’s plan. … I have attended the funerals of at least two people who tried….

I wonder what Crouch’s rationale was for attending the funerals of people who, supposedly, stood directly against God?

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Slab City
From the article,

Slab City…, is a squatters’ camp deep in the badlands of California’s poorest county, where the road ends and the sun reigns, about 190 miles southeast of Los Angeles and hour’s drive from the Mexican border. The vast state-owned property gets its name from the concrete slabs spread out across the desert floor, the last remnants of a World War II–era military base. In the decades since it was decommissioned, dropouts and fugitives of all stripes have swelled its winter population to close to a thousand, though no one’s really counting.

Flickr photos here.

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Entire school staff removed at Miramonte Elementary School
after two teachers arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct.

About three dozen parents and supporters protested in front of the main doors of the school earlier Monday, some carrying a banner that read, “We the parents demand our children be protected from lewd teacher acts.”

Sounds like a reasonable request to me.

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CORRECTION – It is still LEGAL to toss a frisbee on a beach in Los Angeles County

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Lesbian couple – basis for California’s Propostion 8 – are getting divorced
Well, gays and lesbians have stated that they are just like heterosexuals.

Good morning (and yes, I’m on the left coast, it’s still morning here)

1. Evil and theology.
2. For valentines day, belated I guess.
3. On the Obama = Socialist term.
4. A pre-Xi primer.
5. How soon will you walk/bike to work? At what cost/price of gas do you change your habits substantially?
6. Or its just a nod to their buddies installing cat-5 in walls.
7. No taxes raised on those making less than 250k? Oh, wait by 250k that’s not dollars, he means micro-dollars. Didn’t you read the text, when he said 250k he didn’t specify units. You just assumed he meant dollars.
8. Well, as Freddy Mercury said, get on your bike and ride! (or run up the mountain 7 miles a day).
9. MLK Jr and Zombies, they value you for your brains not the color of your skin, eh?
10. The snow tortoise.
11. For the cook.
12. Gold value.
13. National defense and the nearby star.

Good morning.

1. So … if you hear (or gasp, repeat) that 98% of Catholic women use birth control … just remember to support that statement you have to be a liar or just plain dumb.
2. Braaaaap.
3. Mr Lin basketball phenom?
4. Democrats … against democracy?
5. How Mr Obama approaches the budget deficit … make it as big as possible as fast as possible?
6. Inconvenient fact for the anti-piracy crowd.
7. I overheard this from an airport news TV … One fact struck me, apparently the Justice was robbed for $1k in cash at knifepoint. Who carries $1k in cash as walking around money? That seems just a bit excessive.
8. Credit ratings.
9. Of Mr Nixon and Mr Reagan.
10. eSchool.
11. A principled man.
12. Free market supporter he is not.
13. Mr Obama and South America?

Good morning.

1. Two books to note, one from here on a mix of faith and humor from Moscow.
2. And for fans of Sewer, Gas and Electric … Matt Ruff has a new book. So get it and read it.
3. About that “worst case” Iran  straw man scenario.
4. When you believe spending and income need not match … and people get too used to sucking on the government teat.
5. Either they (requiring viewing ultrasounds and requiring Catholic hospitals provide free contraception) are both totalitarian or neither are.
6. Speaking of which, an atheist libertarian is not impressed.
7. Speaking of that topic, Mr Obama’s so-called compromise. Frankly, calling that a compromise is an outright lie.
8. Also see this pdf, on this topic you’ll see the left whacking lots of straw men in this kerfuffle. That pdf links to some actual arguments, which alas you will not see mentioned by any Congressional or White House defense of their policy.
9. Al Qaeda merger.
10. Suicide and legality.
11. Of big “O” and calculus.
12. To avoid spoilage? Hmm. One recipe for great bacon is to take frozen bacon, fry it directly without thawing on a very low heat for a long time until crisp. It will melt in your mouth (hint: this is a good thing taste-wise).
13. Bike tricks (done by the bike not so much by the rider).
14. Waterboarding and Mr Washington.
15. Are the tea party and ows the nucleus of something that will emerge in decades?
16. Lots of links to this, Himalayan non-warming.
17. Our future in adventures in state medicine.
18. Not likely.
19. And it’s a bad thing.
20. What is tradition? (hint: not just a song in Fiddler).

The HHS Mandate Edition

Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate
Read the entire post,

1.The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals.

2.The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral.

3.The mandate forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and devices as well as contraception.

4.Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate

5.Many other religious and secular people and groups have spoken out strongly against the mandate.

6.The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates.

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Message from Chuck Colson
If the administration does not back down, religious liberty—as clearly articulated in the Constitution and in court cases—will be gravely impaired. And your organization, like mine, will face the question of civil disobedience.

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Manhattan Declaration – Sign it

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Tightening the Screws
From the article,

Perhaps the Government’s own attempt to kick this can down the road until after the elections will be cited as evidence. In its announcement of January 20, 2012, HHS stated that “birth control… is the most commonly taken drug in America by young and middle-aged women.” If contraception is already the most commonly taken drug in America, then it seems hardly necessary to shove a requirement to provide it down the throat of the Catholic Church and other religious organizations.

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National Petition to Stop HHS Mandate – Sign it

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Obama Tries to Spin His Way Out
From Mere Comments,

Abstinence for 15-year-olds is considered impossible–how in the world can they possibly control themselves? But obesity is something we can fix by teaching them to control their appetites for certain foods and eating veggies. What a country.

Your call is very important to us… [click]
It seems that the recession has hit California so hard that calls to the Employment Development Department sometimes go unanswered – to the tune of 9 out of 10 call! From the OC Register,

More than nine out of 10 callers who wanted to talk to a state Employment Development Department agent were unable to get through on the phone at the peak of layoffs in 2008-09, according to a state audit released Thursday.

Callers got so frustrated that they dialed in an average 23 times — and sometimes as many as 80 times — trying to get through to an EDD agent, according to a customer satisfaction survey last June.

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Man arrested after weapon is fired at apartment complex
What’s particularly interesting to note about this story is that, evidently, the man is had a restraining order prohibiting him from being at the apartment complex, and he is a felon – which prohibits him from possessing a firearm. But, hey, since when do criminals care about the law?

Meanwhile, it’s next to impossible for a law-abiding citizen to obtain a concealed carry weapon permit in southern California.

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Two men arrested after cache of weapons is found in their home
But owning weapons (of the legal variety) is not against the law. Oh, read further into the story and you’ll find out that both of these guys were also barred from possessing firearms. Dang! Are we noticing a pattern here? From the OC Register,

The search turned up a variety of weapons, including an AK-47, high-powered rifles, at least one assault rifle that had been altered to be automatic, a baton, flak jackets and ammunition, Bertagna said.

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Well, at least we’re safe from sex offenders
Nope. Not in Rancho Santa Margarita, anyways. Again, from the OC Register,

City officials on Wednesday approved an ordinance to keep sex offenders out of parks.

The ban, based off the County’s Child Safety Zone Ordinance developed by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas in April, is tailored for the city and its privately home owner association-owned parks. The ordinance would require sex offenders to receive written permission from the city’s chief of police to enter a park. A specific location, time and date would be required before permission could be granted. The city’s proposed draft has received approval from the District Attorney’s office.

The City Council unanimously approved the ban even though it may be largely unenforceable unless local HOAs come on board, City Attorney Greg Simonian said. All 25 parks in the city are privately owned. City officials have contacted the individual HOAs about the proposed ordinance but have been turned down.

I think we’re going to be doing evening links posts this week. I’m leaving early in the morning each day to beat traffic to get from South of Chicago to North of Chicago to a job site.

Links?

1. Hard to amend, a bug or a feature. I’m leaning toward feature.
2. Well, that counters conventional wisdom I think.
3. Gun ownership and demographic opinion movement noted. So were you once “anti-gun” (or are now) and why did you soften your views (or have youfelt any notion to soften your views)?
4. Of unions and markets.
5. Geometry and 19th century land reform.
6. Another way to “hide the decline” …
7. If you don’t think moral trumps legal, that’s just one more thing you’ve got wrong.
8. On decency and public standards. Should public standards have scare quotes?
9. Speaking of scare quotes.
10. On the return from the depths.
11. So … do you agree? Will Mr Obama blink?

Always be wary of customer reviews at online shopping sites
Especially if customers are being offered bribes for 5 star ratings. From the NY Times,

In the brutal world of online commerce, where a competing product is just a click away, retailers need all the juice they can get to close a sale.

Some exalt themselves by anonymously posting their own laudatory reviews. Now there is an even simpler approach: offering a refund to customers in exchange for a write-up.

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They said “refurbished”, not “wiped clean”
From Engadget,

Usually, when passwords and personal information are exposed, it’s because someone hacked a company’s not-so-secure system. Motorola, however, managed to put people’s info at risk without such malfeasance when it failed to wipe the memory of a batch of refurbished Xooms.

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Tattoos – What happens when/if you grow up?
Or, like the popular philosopher Jimmy Buffet, tattoos are “a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.”

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Christians making bad art

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If “truth trumps everything”, then does truth also trump faith?
From Revelation Movement,

In November 2011, I visited two classes at a Christian university in North America. I asked both: “How many of you would still believe Christianity if you found out tomorrow that Christianity was not true. That is: God never became a man; Jesus did not die for our sin; or, that he did not rise from the dead?”

Twelve hands went up in each class of about 25 and 45 students. These sincere and devout students had grown up in Christian homes, gone to church all their lives and studied in Christian schools. Some had been in that Christian university for three years! They respected their elders who taught them that Christianity was all about faith with little concern for truth.

I recently watched Rebel Without a Cause, for the first time, and decided to highlight a breakfast in Paso Robles because of it. Why Paso Robles? It’s near the spot where James Dean crashed his Porsche and died.

Vic’s Cafe is a little spot nestled away in the old town section of Paso Robles, a community with a rich cattle heritage that now also sports an upscale wine industry. The simple plate of bacon and eggs comes with hash browns and toast. Add the requisite coffee and you’re set!

Enjoy!

– image © AR Lopez

Well, morning it ain’t. Hope y’all had a good day.

1. A shot across the bows?
2. I can’t imagine how anyone thinks that is a good policy.
3. The Sec Council vetoes and why.
4. A book noted.
5. Another, very different.
6. And speaking of books, I read these all when I was younger.
7. More unanticipated consequences, green this time. Probably in more ways than one.
8. Data sets and warming.
9. Interesting tech? This is also interesting.
10. Midgely and another book to read (and re-read).
11. A font?
12. Assisted suicide, the B/P pair here and here.
13. Violence, America and numbers.
14. Whoops, Coptic variant.

Adoptions? That would be 0.26% of your business – that’s Zero-Point-Two-Six-Percent.

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Afghanistan – it’s over
From Michael Yon,

This war is going to turn out badly. We are wasting lives and resources while the United States decays and other threats emerge. We led the horse to water.

Importantly, there is no value in pretending that Pakistan is an ally. We should wish the best of luck to the Afghans, and the many peaceful Pakistanis, and accelerate our withdrawal of our main battle force. The US never has been serious about Afghanistan. Under General Petraeus we were starting to gain ground, but the current trajectory will land us in the mud.

The enemies will never beat us in Afghanistan. Force on force, the Taliban are weak by comparison. Yet this is their home. There is only so much we can do at this extreme cost for the many good Afghan people. We must reduce our main effort and concentrate on other matters. Time to come home.

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The Information Age, swallowed up by the Entertainment Age

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What?! Apple is greedy?

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Yes, Apple is greedy. And Ed Bott thinks they’re also saboteurs.

So… how’s that Facebook-led revolution in Egypt coming along?
Richard Fernandez comments on the not only the issues directly affecting Egyptians, but the incompetence in the Obama administration regarding such,

Remember when the Muslim Brotherhood was reckoned to be part of the movement for democratic change in Egypt? That was then. This is now. The New York Times reports that “Gaining Power in Parliament, Islamists Block a Cairo Protest”. Who could have seen that coming?

…

It’s a sad day indeed when President Obama has to hide behind the comparative resolution of Congress (only when compared to himself) to stiffen his spine. “They’re gonna make me do it!” he says. But the Egyptians have already got his number. They’ve got him figured out. Thus, they are probably betting that the administration will certify that Egypt has met every possible test of democracy and expression whatever they do since up until now he’s never missed a chance to stand up to Congress nor an opportunity to cave to foreign tyrants.

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And so goes American prestige

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As for the coming Global Warming crisis… oops
From a leading (one of many?) NASA scientist comes the conclusion…

The notion of another Little Ice Age, as happened in the last half of the 1600s, is no longer dismissed.

Dang! I just hate it when that happens!

For more, see here.

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Say what?
From one company’s website, regarding a corporate restructure,

In order to maximize [company department’s] contribution to the company’s strategic objectives for cost competitiveness, organizational efficiency, improved margins and continued excellence in execution – as well as to create new and innovative business opportunities, we are pleased to announce our new center-led [department] organization structure…

If such results are truly possible, one has to wonder why such a move wasn’t done long ago?

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Racism in South Africa
But not the kind you were thinking of.

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Ratio Christi
Looks good