Sorry for the late lunch, but I had a rare mid-morning meeting. I confess it involved eating pancakes while sitting in the sun, but it was a meeting nonetheless.

Here are some midday news/views treats you might enjoy with syrup:

* Malaysian authorities confirm belief that Flight 370 crashed into Indian Ocean with no survivors.

* Think Progress‘ Ian Millheiser traces the Hobby Lobby case to its origins in the 2009 Manhattan Declaration of militant Christian conservatives.

* Oh, brother: Business Insider announces Anthony Weiner as its new political columnist.

* Conservative groups have been laying groundwork for Scott Brown candidacy by wave of anti-Shaheen ads.

* At The Atlantic, Mike Konczal examines the long, failed history of claims that private charity can take care of the poor.

And in non-political news:

* 108 people still unaccounted for after Washington mudslide.

As we break for lunch, here’s another one of those Doors songs that upset decent folk back in the day: “The Soft Parade.”

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.