George Washington's Birthday

I have been reading Sam Francis in Shots Fired; he argues that the old holiday of celebrating Washington's birthday should be restored since we should not exalt one branch of the Federal Government, poiting out that we do not do the same for the two other branches. (Let's not give Congress any ideas.) Moreover, we should not celebrate the bad presidents. (And this would include Lincoln, who is usually linked to Washington on this day, even by "conservatives.") Paleos and traditional conservatives make it a point of defending the achievements of great American men such as the "Founding Fathers," while not forgetting their flaws. What identity can we have when we fail to honor those who came before us? Respect for the constitutional order of a polity is not the same as the venerating of ancestors, but part of the basis for honoring one's ancestors are their achievements for the community.

Leftists will talk about how the country was founded upon imperialism. While they may be right in some of their criticisms, how can white leftists hate their past or dissociate themselves from it, even when they raise themselves up for admiration as one way to compensate? Perhaps their narcissism is not so extreme -- they'll remember the radicals that came before them or look to them as role models. Still, it is more than likely that their predecessors viewed themselves as being "separate." Any natural basis of identity is slowly squeezed out in favor of sharing a common ideology, a new church as it were. (And Christianity does not even go so far as to blot out natural distinctions of identity. They may not be the most important aspect of a Christian's identity, but they do inform our roles and vocations.) What can be done to repair the disconnect between them and those who came before them, the discontinuity in history? Very little.

It irked me somewhat that many people were cheering when Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States was mentioned by one of the Stairwell Sisters during their performance, but what else should I expect from Berkeley. (They also talked about being part of the 99%.)

Nonetheless, how many of us are simply pretending to have an American identity, when we have very little connection to the United States of the late 18th century and 19th century either in our own family history or through the people with whom we associate? We hold on to the national myths because we identify with the "nation" in the abstract, possessing citizenship and consuming American mass marketed culture...

It is not just the leftists who disavow the founding fathers; some traditionalist Catholics also do the same in the name of combating liberalism. It would seem that a people can remain the same, for the most part, while the constitution of their polity changes. If we follow Aristotle: the formal element of the community is its constitution, the material element the people who compose it? Consequently, when the constitution is changed, the old community no longer exists and is replaced by another. Is it possible, though, to distinguish between the achievements of a community as such and that of a people?  

If the state of Virginia were to pass away and some Virginians remain in the area, would they need to adopt a new name for their people? Or could they [their tribe?] retain the name as a memory of what once was?



Fr. Rutler: The Father of Our Country
Out of Virtue, Greatness: Washington as Aristotle's Magnanimous Man by Dr. Jose Yulo (via Insight Scoop)
Face it Buchanan, America is Changing

The analysis probably doesn't go far enough for the manosphere: Why Men Are Slackers and Women Are Single by Suzanne Venker, at least with respect to characterizing men's behavior as "immaturity." Might men have reasons for avoiding marriage beyond "Why buy the cow..." After all, the same author also wrote Marriage: What's in It for Men?, which is somewhat better at identifying the nature of problem.

Items of Interest, 20 February 2012

State Capitalism by Yves Pernet

Andrew Bacevich, Scoring the Global War on Terror

Know Your Gnostics By Gene Callahan
Eric Voegelin diagnosed the neoconservatives' disease.

Daniel Larison, Ghosts of Empire

Oz Conservative: The Orthosphere - a new blog

PAM MARTENS, Occupy the SEC Pitches An Extreme Makeover of Wall Street

Creator of "The Story of Stuff" shows what's at stake with commons assets
Jay Walljasper, On the Commons (EB)

Relocalization:
The Ooooby Local Economic Model by Pete Russell (EB)

Ideas to Reduce Your Trash Waste by 80%

Via EB:

The Entropy of Capitalism & Urban Ag: Interview with Robert Biel
Luke Miller Callahan, The Socio Capitalist, GroAction

The Entropy of Capitalism & Urban Ag: Interview with Robert Biel from GroAction on Vimeo.

Film review: The Forgotten Space
Kalvin Henely, Slant Magazine

The simpler way: a practical action plan for living more on less
Samuel Alexander, Simon Ussher and Ted Trainer, Simplicity Institute

Catholic:
Interview with Prior of Monastère Saint-Benoît, Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon by Shawn Tribe
There Never Was a ‘Catholic Moment’

Feminism and Misandry:
A Man Wants a Wife, Not a “Co-Worker”
At The Intersection of Racialism and Misandry

Diet and Health:
A roundup at Free the Animal includes a link to an audio file with Robert Lustig.

Moving Naturally? The 10 MovNat Principles©
MovNat Trainer Certification
Some local workshops coming up in March.

Mass Culture:
Elmore Leonard's Raylan -
People who get on marshal's bad side mess with wrong guy
By Sharon Galligar Chance

Apparently the first episode of the latest season of Survivor puts sex differences on display.

.

I missed an opportunity to see Pat Buchanan in person when he was campaigning at Boston College in 2000. Maybe I can show some support by purchasing a copy of Suicide of a Superpower.



Is Obama's America God's Country?

From Jim Antle: Crossfired.

Alamo Drafthouse theater in San Francisco?

A poor business opportunity?

The radical liberal democrat

One who has bought into the nationalist myth regarding the nature of the Federal Union - The War on Women by Jack Random.

With the adoption of a constitution replacing the Articles of Confederation, we announced to the world that we were one nation, united in principle and purpose. We became a union with a strong federal government that could defend our borders and guarantee the rights of our citizens enumerated in the Bill of Rights.


We reformed our democracy by empowering the people to elect not only our representatives in the lower house but also our senators in the upper chamber of congress. We expanded our franchise by eliminating property as a condition of voting. We survived a bloody civil war, abolishing slavery and eventually welcoming all races to the full rights of citizenship.

Count the # of errors...

Traditional family systems of Europe

A few questions I had regarding the information presented in Steve Sailer's "Was Beowulf an Empty Nester?" I find the adjectives used to describe the families unhelpful. I see Scotland, England, Wales is mostly characterized by the "absolute nuclear family," which some have touted as being the cause of Anglo-American civilization's "success." Even if the adult children did not live with the parents, how many of them moved to another village or region? I would imagine that they mostly stayed in close proximity to their parents, even if they did not live under the same roof, and there may be some psychological and moral advantages of this arrangement over all adult children living under the same roof or the eldest child (the son's?) family living with the parents.

Would "authoritarian" and "community" families have adult female children living in the home? Or would they be married into another family?

A not entirely good day. While I was in line at the car show I was listening to some podcasts, including many with James Howard Kunstler. What pointed remarks would he make about a car show? It was "hella ghetto" in the queue. A lot of people cutting in line; the show itself didn't seem to start on time. There was very bad planning either by those responsible for the show or by those in charge of security, who refused to police the barriers as they should have. The fear of the odds and what might happen was understandable but a disappointment nonetheless, and eventually the crowd took matters in its own hands, setting aside barriers so that those who had been waiting the longest might have a chance to take away some of the advantage gained by the cutters and enter the show sooner. A lot of people brought drinks and food to the line. Alas, some of them left their trash on the ground. But many were stayed in line as long as possible and displayed restraint. Those who didn't behave well spoiled the mood for everyone else.

When I left, I ended up having car trouble. I hate cars; a necessary evil but still burdensome.

Edit. Since they didn't have evaluation forms at the event, I should call out Wekfest for poor planning and preparations. Lucky because no one got hurt?

Too much accomodationism?

The Dangers of Anti-Sharia Laws by Robert K. Vischer

The author appeals to the First Amendment to defend a certain notion of religious liberty. Can his argument be harmonized with a correct understanding of the Constitution in which the First Amendment is seen as applying only to the Federal Government and not the states?

Agroinnovations interview with Rob Hopkins

(From 2009) Parts 1 and 2:
Episode 69 (mp3)
Episode 70 (mp3)

Related: Episode #127: Peak Moment Television (mp3)
Episode #124: Back in the Saddle (mp3)

John Plaster

How to Shoot Through Barricades & Cover: The Ultimate Sniper III: The Video


Paladin Press

AK-12

The Pittsford Perennialist posts the documentary, AK-47 - The King of Guns, along with a link to an article about the new Kalashnikov, the AK-12. The AK-47 has become popular recently here in the US with various instructors like Gabe Suarez, Travis Haley, and Larry Vickers making videos or offering classes in its use.

What would the manosphere make of this?

EWTN Bookmark 02-12-2012 - Men, Women and the Mystery of Love by Dr. Edward Sri

Xanga appears to be down. I've gotten that error message for the past 2 days.

On the occasion of Lent I should really give up soda, since it does me no good. And I should recommit to sprinting at least 3 times a week. I tried to do it today but was loathe to do so; I can't blame my shoes as the cause. Laziness or the aversion to the discomfort. It would be better to lose a few more pounds before subjecting the body to that kind of stress, though.

The best thing to give up for Lent is sin.

Items of Interest, 17 February 2012

Finished this response; will try to finish a couple of more on community and contemporary communitarianism before I take a break.

Thomas Fleming, American Idols and A Christian Defense of the Unspeakable Dawkins

Lessons in Empire

Marriage of Rights and Duties

Daniel Larison informs us that Andrew Bacevich is the editing a new book - The Short American Century: A Post-Mortem and American Exceptionalism

Oakeshott and Conservatism

Patrick Buchanan, Blacklisted But Not Beaten

I know there are some who are enthusiastic about Elizabeth Warren as a candidate in MA, but this (and her purported support for the feminist legal system) should give them some pause: Elizabeth Warren’s Rhetorical Extremism.

Mary Jo Anderson, Journalist for EWTN – and Professor Kevin Gutzman, Author of James Madison and the Making America – Join for Throwdown Thursday

Woods on Schiff with Rockwell and Gutzman

Faith and Marriage Under Attack

Patrick Deneen, Our Libertarian Future and Religious Liberty?

Obamacare:
Religious Freedom and the Triumph of the Therapeutic by Thaddeus Kozinski
Paul Gottfried, Immaculate Secularism
Rod Dreher, Liberalism's Assault on Catholicism and Has the Catholics Moment Passed?

Fast and Furious:
James Antle, Mission Implausible

Obama:
'Obama Girl' Turns on President, Slams Him in New Video

Economics:
The Fight of the Century by Richard Heinberg (EB)
Free online showing of The Economics of Happiness, followed by a live Q&A with Helena Norberg-Hodge (co-director and producer of The Economics of Happiness), Steven Gorelick (co-director of The Economics of Happiness), Manish Jain (founder of The People's Institute for Rethinking Education and Development) and Charles Eisenstein (author of Sacred Economics).
URL to be announced.

Relocalization:
The challenge of re-localisation by Graham Barnes (EB)
Book Review: Urban Homesteading by Oliver Lazenby (EB)
Big government and big corporations befriend the local food movement by Olga Bonfiglio
MDA: The Art of Crafting with Your Hands
Taproot Magazine

Farming:
Why Farms Want Cold Winters

Energy and Peak Oil:
World oil supply debate between ex-Shell chief and ASPO-USA professor
by Karen Rybold-Chin (EB)

Will Occupy Wall Street start drilling for peak oil?

How reliable are U.S. Department of Energy oil production forecasts? by Roger Blanchard (EB)
World energy consumption - beyond 500 exajoules by Rembrandt Koppelaar (EB)
Peak Oil and the Importance of EROI (review of Fleeing Vesuvius, Part 2)
The Grey, a peak oil flick quick take

Monsanto:
Open Seeds: Biopiracy and the Patenting of Life by grtv

Catholic:
Robert J. Araujo, SJ: What is freedom?
Introducing Chant into the Domestic Church
Culture, Liturgy, Beauty and Anthropology by David Clayton

Diet and Health:
Ask the Low-Carb Experts 6: ‘All Things Lipids (Cholesterol 101)’ | Chris Masterjohn (mp3)

Karen De Coster, Functional Medicine vs the Conventional Approach
How 1-minute intervals can improve our health

Feminism:
James Taranto Takes on Hypergamy

History:
Let It Not Happen Again by Clarence Moriwaki
Reflections on the 70th anniversary of Japanese American incarcerations.
If only immigration had been restricted... would there have been a  question of loyalty about a subset of the population? Why do we let Muslims immigrate to this country?

Which reminds me, I dreamt about SO a couple of days ago. I think she lives in Hawaii now. I saw some recent pics on her brother's FB. She has two or three kids, I can't remember. When I saw those photos I recalled how she defended "the right to an abortion" in high school. The details of the dream are lost to me now - I think it was related to HS drama/relationship problems.

Was Beowulf an Empty Nester?
Interview with Author Nancy Bilyeau (via Supremacy and Survival)

Music:
Alison Krauss & Union Station Commemorate The Simpsons 500th Episode with a Song
Brumel’s Missa “Et ecce terrae motus” (mp3)
Stile Antico on BBC3 (4 days left to listen)
Natalie MacMaster has a new album, Cape Breton Girl.

Misc:
Tim Kennedy - in a Gerber video for a giveaway contest

Cecile Corbel - Arrietty's song

Cecile Corbel - Arrietty's song Vidéo Milano-san sélectionnée dans Musique

Good decision by Liturgical Press

It is publishing Chalice of God: A Systematic Theology in Outline by Aidan Nichols, OP.

The ISI Experience: Community, The Limits of Individualism (registration required to access links)

"Intermediate associations" are important, but they are not perfect communities; what of the polis? Is that being ignored here? Or is the problem of scale as it relates to the American states simply being ignored?

Happy Happy Joy Joy

(via ClubOrlov)

But it stars Leelee Sobieski!

She plays an ex-Marine MP. Yeah, right. NYC22 - another police drama (set in NYC) filled with female characters/rookies. Getting a bit tired of seeing NYPD on the small screen. It premieres April 15.

But I'll probably watch it for Leelee. A fansite and some pictures.

Go apply to be a contestant for the new CBS dating reality show 3.

East of Byzantium teaser Vardan Mamikonyan

John Michael Greer begins an exposition of empire

The Nature of Empire

An interesting aside about David Korten:

We can start with the verbal habit of using empire—or, more exactly, the capitalized abstraction Empire—as what S.I. Hayakawa used to call a snarl word: a content-free verbal noise that’s used to express feelings of hatred and loathing. The language of politics these days consists largely of snarl words. When people on the leftward end of the political spectrum say "fascist" or "Empire," for example, these words mean exactly what "socialist" or "liberal" mean to people on the right—that is, they express the emotional state of the speaker rather than anything relevant about the object under discussion. Behind this common habit is the most disturbing trend in contemporary political life, the replacement of ordinary disagreement with seething rage against a demonized Other on whom all the world’s problems can conveniently be blamed.

In too many cases this sort of thinking is taken to frightening extremes. Consider David Korten’s The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, which manages to be both one of the most popular works in the anti-Empire canon and one of the most profoundly antidemocratic tracts in recent memory. Korten’s argument is based on the theory that certain people—quite explicitly, those who share his background and opinions—belong to a higher "developmental stage" than anyone else, and the world’s problems can only be solved if power is taken away from those who have it now and given to the gifted few. If you want thoughtful analysis of the ideas and motivations of the supposedly less evolved people who hold power nowadays, don’t look for it in Korten’s book; what you’ll find instead is an unusually crude version of the standard left-wing caricature of right-wing thinking.

Empire, in Korten’s book, amounts to the whole of the existing order of society, portrayed in the shrill language of apocalyptic rhetoric—unless the gifted few who have "spiritual consciousness" get the power they ought to have, one gathers, all life on Earth is doomed. It’s interesting to note, though, that exactly how the utopian state of Earth Community will deal with the flurry of planetary crises luridly depicted in the first part of The Great Turning is nowhere detailed. The reader who is able to step back and cast a cold eye on the book’s argument may thus be forgiven for thinking that Earth Community is simply Empire with the ruling class Korten prefers, just as the "emerging values consensus" that guides Earth Community can be hard to distinguish from the ideologies that guide Empire, and so on down the list of inevitable parallels.

"Empire" as an emotivist word...

Assuming this is an accurate representation of Korten's politics, then Korten is wrong to think that having correct opinion by itself qualifies someone to rule. One must have the proper moral character. The appropriate practical and speculative sciences can aid the ruler, but having good character is first.

The stupidity continues

51-year-old mom holds her own during Basic Combat Training

Watered-down.

Went to a school near the Cupertino-San Jose-Santa Clara border today. There were a lot of white faces in that classroom. I would be surprised if the percentage is higher in any Cupertino school.

Had a craving for Togo's. I missed the taste but the wheat is probably messing my insides up.

Ron Paul, Stop V.A.W.A. & Title IV d

2008

(via a comment at The Spearhead)

Just remembered Blue Valentine -- mandatory watching for women for Valentine's Day? If they'd learn anything from it...