No doubt, this is fallout from the Kermit Gosnell incident.

The Arizona Daily Sun reports the ‘Women’s Health Protection Act’ or HB2284 pro-life bill has passed through the Arizona state House by a 34-22 vote on Tuesday. This came after an hour of debate on whether legislation is needed to make unannounced inspections at abortion clinics.

The Center of Arizona Policy states abortion clinics are the only health care institutions in Arizona that the Department of Health Services (DHS) can’t immediately inspect when a violation is believed to have occurred. In order to have an inspection, a warrant must be obtained by government authorities. In addition after a clinics initial inspection when licensed and follow-up inspection a year later, no further inspections are mandated for the next two years.

This is most certainly not a “restriction” on abortion or the availability thereof. It’s simply protecting women from unscrupulous abortion providers, and brings them in line with other health care institutions.

So, in Sunday’s service (St. Basil Liturgy now that we are in Lent) the phrase “God is [..] adorable” appeared. The word “adorable” in its original meaning actually came from Christian contexts meaning “worthy of adoration” but now mostly is applied to small mammals meaning “very cute”. “Oh, he’s so adorable” is not usually applied to God but to kittens, small seals, and babies.

Which brings to mind the question, is there a word in English that means “worthy of adoration”? If so what is that word?

I think “venerable” has gone through a similar degradation, and similarly I don’t know a word meaning “worthy of veneration” in the English language.

Do you?

Well, I’m back to exercising regularly, and when I added the Clean Week (first week of Lent) services-every-night to my schedule, blogging went south. Which means it is likely that Holy week will suffer similarly at this spot. Links are backed up. So … without further ado

1. One post on the Ukraine.
2. Moral lessons for other countries in similar situations.
3. A question posted to the left of the aisle.
4. At hourly wages … that’s a lot of money for little business. In the “real world” they’d be bankrupt. Alas, they’re working for the government so the bankruptcy is just moral.
5. And for their anticipated not-profits, a 5 billion dollar bailout already planned.
6. Heh.
7. This is not “a truly appalling story”, if true, a whole passel of school administrators should be rotting in jail after having the crap beat out of them. If I was that girl’s father, I’d be on the warpath with my new life’s purpose to ruin the lives of a bunch of idiot.
8. Speaking of which, a little more “taking of law” in to own hands leads to this nonsense.
9. Creativity? or not.
10. A homily.
11. An anti-drug campaign.
12. Drones, fun for everyone.
13. Blech!
14. A dad grows up.
15. On death panels.
16. An unintended consequence of Obamacare, many more doctors running for the opposition party.
17. So, the IRS scandal “nothing to hide” which is why emails are not being passed on and Ms Lerner (having been fired) takes the fifth.
18. Tech and teaching.

Great line by James Taranto, summarizing the latest ObamaCare delay: "If you like your plan, and your state insurance commissioner likes your plan, and your insurance company likes your plan, you can keep it, possibly until after the next presidential election."

How blatantly political.

So, Lent has begun (and will begin tomorrow for y’all in the West … and some suggestions). I would suggest for any in the Western tradition would be, in the next few days (through Thursday night) to look up a local Orthodox parish and see if they are doing the Canon of St Andrew (in English). Nothing exemplifies the spirit of Lent more than that service.

1. So, the Ukraine is in the news. Alas for the administration as noted here and noted here.
2. Guns in Crimea. One of the interesting things I learned reading this book, was that the “Charge of the Light Brigade” contrary to popular conceptions was not the failure it was pretended to be.
3. More we can learn from the Crimea.
4. Whales, not Wales, and the significance of “White”.
5. Global warming, 17 years and counting.
6. Walmart and Logistics.
7. Them beaches.
8. Noting the obvious.
9. Folding tech.
10. Hammurabi and Middle Eastern Courts.
11. Archaeology and tooth decay.
12. For Christians allergic to, uhm, Christian tradition. Why invent “31” days?
13. So, why complain about gay marriage, marriage is already broken?
14. Well, one “time to stop correcting” it is when “it” is grammatically correct.
15. For the Palin fans.
16. Publish or perish, or perish the thought?

“A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged by reality”, so the cliché goes. Well, if only it were that easy. Usually, they stay liberal.

Take Hollywood, please. This bastion of liberalism is now trying to get lower taxes to bring business back to California. Turns out that high tax rates have been pushing filmmakers out of the Golden State, into other states that don’t take as much of your gold.

The result is job loss there, and gains in states like Louisiana and North Carolina, with more business-friendly policies. The group Film Works has started a petition to have taxes cut on the filmmaking industry to bring back those jobs and economic development.

Now let’s see; high taxes push out business, and the solution is to cut taxes in order to jump start the economy and bring jobs back. If I didn’t know better, I’d say these folks were prime candidates for inclusion in the Tea Party. But of course, I do know better. One would hope that, seeing this economic reality mugging them, these Hollywood liberals would realize that this works for other industries, or the state as a whole. One would hope.

But hold not thy breath.

Since I know there are some folks who deny that ObamaCare is impacting workers’ hours, here’s a NY Times article that notes that even the public sector is feeling the pinch already.

Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, state and local officials say.

The cuts to public sector employment, which has failed to rebound since the recession, could serve as a powerful political weapon for Republican critics of the health care law, who claim that it is creating a drain on the economy.

President Obama has twice delayed enforcement of the health care law’s employer mandate, which would subject larger employers to tax penalties if they do not offer insurance coverage to employees who work at least 30 hours a week, on average. But many public employers have already adopted policies, laws or regulations to make sure workers stay under that threshold.

Harry Reid recently claimed, ”There’s plenty of horror stories being told [about Obamacare],” Reid said. “All of them are untrue.” Tell that to the workers of this country, Harry.

A pen and a phone. That’s what President Obama recently said he had which could circumvent Congress on policy topics he wanted to get moving. Conservatives, like me, compared him to a king, giving orders and expecting everyone to jump. The Left took this opportunity to show that the number of executive orders that have been issued by Obama was less than any President in at least the last half-century. True enough, but as is usual, it’s a cherry-picked data point. There is more than one way to dictate.

Take ObamaCare, please. The number of times Obama has delayed, changed, or outright repealed parts of the law is staggering. If the law has that many problems, fix the law. Instead, he’s doing the very thing he campaigned against when running for President. He said that George Bush had taken too much power into the executive branch.

And now, with his pen and with his phone, he’s changing laws that he has no Constitutional powers to change.

Lately, he’s been doing the same thing with marijuana laws. John P. Walters, writing at the Weekly Standard, observes:

First, the administration made a unilateral decision to curtail enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act in states where smoked marijuana has been defined as medicine (the only “medicine” that cannot meet modern medical standards). Next, the administration announced it would not enforce the federal law when the states of Colorado and Washington sought to permit the open sale of marijuana.

Ted Cruz, in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, had more examples:

When Mr. Obama disagreed with federal immigration laws, he instructed the Justice Department to cease enforcing the laws. He did the same thing with federal welfare law, drug laws and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

None of these are executive orders, but they are just as empowering of the Executive branch, and are, in fact, worse, because you can’t easily count the number of times these power grabs have been done. Executive orders are numbered. Sitting on your hands and not enforcing something goes below the radar of the average American.

When we say we are a nation of laws, not men, we mean that it is the laws that govern us, not the whims of a particular man or group of men that have no accountability. If you’re a Democrat, would you be fine with this sort of behavior from a Republican? If not, make your voice heard. Because if you don’t, we will once again get the government we deserve. The government only has what power we give it. If you want a king, you’d better be happy with a king from either party.

G’day.

1. Shakespeare.
2. A book for your Lenten journey.
3. So the latest Obamacare lockstep talking point is “where are the people badly harmed if it is o bad” (which seems to me a really really low bar to set). Well, they asked.
4. Information and state vs people.
5. Afghanistan. I think multicultural “Star-Trek” thinking is what is (was) hurting us most in Iraq and Afghanistan. We were too afraid to be American’s and walk in and ask what American’s usually ask, how can we make a buck here (and in exchange you make a buck too). We should be going in like Poul Anderson’s Falkayn or Van Rijn, not like Picard.
6. Gay activists remark on the Collins/Sam coming “out” and that is on side of the coin. What is missed by all of these remarks is the other side. How Collins and Sam are barely-in-the-game (Collins a 12th man and Sam a late round draft possibility) by their “brave” action getting national attention and SI covers. How brave is it to do something which yields fame and fortune?
7. So, much has been made of the Thomas/Tobin not talking during oral argument things, e.g., here. Here is from an observer post-remarks. It’s interesting that the negative remarks by Tobin get lots of talk and coverage, but the more damning negative remarks of racism and the North-East elites by Justice Thomas get so little. Could he liberal east coasters be in denial about their own racism?
8. How not to think about stand your ground.
9. Oooh, hate crime?
10. Hypocrisy, for those who are confused on what that term means.
11. Mr Walker, so liberal attention is making me like him more. Is that their intent I wonder?
12. And no, brother-sister normally means they share parents. If you share one parent, there is a different word for that. I’ll bet you knew that already though.
13. Goverment unfairness.
14. Truth and advertising.

Well, now I’m in South East California (Visalia).

1. When I saw this, a question occurred to me. If it is (allegedly) illegal to refuse a same sex couple on top of a cake if you run a cake shop. Can you refuse to put a stripper pole on a wedding cake? If you can, … then I’m afraid I don’t see the reasoning behind the first being illegal. If you can’t, that’s also wrong it seems to me.
2. Tactics and Ukrainian resistance.
3. Alas, more politicians in the beltway don’t do this.
4. Wisconsin liberals show their liberal colors.
5. Conservative vs liberal notions of diversity.
6. In answer to the question, no it doesn’t insult the child or the mother, it indicates the speaker is either misogynistic moron or is trying to shock the listener with the how the pro-abortion crowd sees things.
7. Just remember, an elephant is just a mouse that the government spec’ed and built.
8. Of sport and danger.
9. Yes, it might be best, but the FDA has no mechanism for approving a treatment like that.
10. Punny.
11. McCain puts his mark on where Obama stands in the stupid vs evil choice. Liberal outraged that McCain called Obama stupid, apparently they prefer willful evil.
12. Mr Holder has apparently gone on record telling prosecutors to stop prosecuting gun laws like background checks and what types of gun are allowed and how/when you can carry, oh wait … it was a different law. If you’re a liberal cheering his “not stopping SSM in states where it is not legal” … how would you feel if it was about not holding to your states gun laws?
13. Yet another racist liberal.
14. Progress.

Is it un-Christian-like to refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding? If so, isn’t it then hypocritical if the baker doesn’t look into every other wedding ceremony to see if any sin is being committed?

No, says Russel D. Moore. The two questions are completely different issues. The former defies the Biblical definition of marriage. He discusses the difference, complete with citations from the apostle Paul, in "On Weddings and Conscience: Are Christians Hypocrites?"

Moving the week right along. With Links!

1. From where I come from, “black bodies” brings to mind not racial politics but Planck’s constant and black body radiation. ‘Tis a better place I deem.
2. Death comes to all men.
3. Law and international relations, part one and two. In which it is admitted that all attacks on civilian objects not in time of war is an international war crime. Drone fans take note.
4. Mr Kerry is anti-science.
5. Wolves and their large scale construction projects.
6. Oh, that’s going to play well with the grandchildren.
7. A well played reverse fisking.
8. The intrinsic problem with the “GOP war on women” tactic. ‘Tis feminists and the pro-abortion left which war on women.
9. Apparently in outer space mass is not conserved. Who knew? Perhaps however there is another hypothesis.
10. Tourism and the Black Sea.
11. Curling participation apparently involves more than beer.
12. Cinema. If the Ark has a rudder, the Noah being portrayed is Gilgamesh with a pseudonym.

And so it goes (as they say … whomever constitutes “they” is not something I understand).

1. So, you want to commit horrible crimes?
2. Playdough law.
3. Cui bono. I’m still confused on who benefits from this law.
4. Re-design .. the axle?
5. Say it ain’t so Joe, err, James. (but note … new blog)
6. The hair makes the man, holds for other species.
7. Snerk.
8. A wordy math proof.
9. Oh, joy.
10. Gosh, I haven’t heard the President using the bully pulpit to denounce this. I’m thinking I didn’t miss it.
11. That’s really cool.
12. This may be a little offensive (which is kinda the point) but it does make good point about PC speech.
13. Going off the deep end (in two ways) … the writer finds someone who went off the rails … and the does so himself. Seriously, when you write “is now how quickly adults are willing to shoot teenagers” … re-read that. Then … count the number of adults in this country. Count how many of those adults actually “quickly shoot teenagers”.  How many is that? Then make your decision, write stupid things or shut up. Alas …..
14. Putting the IRS in its place.
15. How the beltway will doom us all with its good intentions.

So. More snow was apparently what someone influential in the Mid-West ordered. And we got it.

1. Exploiting God and other notions.
2. Speaking of snow and ice.
3. Actually, untrue. Chicago’s “paper of Record” page 2 columnist (Kass) had a page 2 column at the beginning of the Olympics in which he went to the Stalin residence. Well, let me correct that, he didn’t ignore it, but he also noticed that the Olympics and the rest of the crowds were mostly ignoring the site noted.
4. Yikes.
5. The world’s ugliest equation on record.
6. 10 bullet points on Orthodoxy for Western protestants.
7. Reverse colonization.
8. How to watch those Olympics.
9. Speaking of the Olympics and those graceful ice artists.
10. Losing or gaining freedoms and pedagogy.
11. The only way to construe this statement as reasonable, is to be clever about what you mean by “largest”. He must mean by volume, not be any count of deaths or damages.
12. A dangerous marine noted.
13. What science has to say to the feminist.
14. Yah, yah. Valentines day was last week, but heh.

Well, I got home last night. Woo.

1. Government intrusion into market, what could go wrong after all it can be “more just”?
2. So the courts have some gun control rulings, a few remarks here and here and … here.
3. Bad metrics matter.
4. Speaking of economic metrics.
5. Our balanced Olympics coverage.
6. Zoom.
7. Obsession.
8. In the “do as I say not as I do” department.
9. And the First Lady follows suit … w.r.t. “what to eat”. I have to say that “12k” dress wasn’t worth $10. Looks horrible.
10. Following the IRS matter.
11. Say it ain’t so!
12. Codes of the Vikings.
13. An hypothetical question.