The New Beginning: 2/8/15

So Korea House was featured on Restaurant Redemption? I was thinking of going there to see if the quality of the buffet had improved. Maybe I'll wait another month and then check Yelp.

Reaction to the episode: EW, Examine.com

Related:
Ching-He Huang

Guy Ritchie's Remake of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Will they reuse the television theme in the movie soundtrack?

Looks like an origins movie. As for Henry Cavill's accent, it doesn't make me forget Robert Vaughn.

Looks like they made it a rated-R movie, more along the lines of Bond than the TV show.

JoBlo
h/t AICN

What Cameron Crowe Has Been Up To

Aloha

Love triangle involving a military contractor and two empowered women? How fun can that really be?

via AICN
Vanity Fair

The German Federal System

German Federalism as Punishment or Fiction by Joseph R. Stromberg

Can a Tyrant Be a Great Statesman?

Bruce Frohnen asks the question,"Was Lincoln a great statesman?" I won't be commemorating his birthday next Monday (or today).

Related:
All Hail Abe! By Brion McClanahan

Truths Stated Better By the Manosphere

Feminism Kills and Mother Up

Rather than... "Fifty Shades..." and the Sexual Objectification of Women: An interview with Catholic talk show host and author, Teresa Tomeo, about the disturbing "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon (Insight Scoop)

Brunette para-educator was cute, reminded me of a M--a (or Fr. M's assistant); alas, she is married. Likes gardening and takes care of her skin, and seems rather sensible. Even made a comment about the taxation under the current administration. Must not be from around here.

Aristotelian Patriarchy

An exposition of Aristotle by a woman... does she agree with him regarding the inequality of man and woman in the family and in the political community?

Understanding Aristotle’s Account of the Relationship of the Household to the State by Beatrice Freccia

Part 2

FB

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Importance of Place

written from a different perspective: Reflections on the Rights of Nature Conference (Resilience)

Byzanfest

Orthodox Arts Journal: Byzanfest, an Orthodox short-film festival.

The festival is on Youtube: Orthodox Filmmakers and Artists

Second Thoughts About Watching Leviathan

Some Russian Orthodox have condemned the movie, but here is a positive appraisal of the movie by an Orthodox Christian.

Gianni Gennari v. Raymond Burke

Rorate Caeli: Attacks on Cardinal Burke by old-time feminists by Cristina Siccardi

A Better Red-Pill Grasp of Reality

Over at First Things, in comparison with Teresa Tomeo. (via CH, of all places) But it still misses the mark, as it ignorant of women's contribution to their problem.

Fifty Shades Against Gender Neutrality by Joseph Heschmeyer

Related:
Yiayia and the empress’s new clothes

800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta

Website - FB
Salisbury Cathedral
Magna Cartas united at British Library to celebrate 800th anniversary

Protecting rights of nobles at first, its meaning was then appropriated by the so-called republicans of the 16th and 17th centuries to encompass all Englishmen...

From England to America: Magna Carta and the Supremacy of Law by Russell Kirk

How well known was the story of King Arthur and his knights to the English elites of the 13th century?

Eric Bana to play King Arthur's father in Guy Ritchie's KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE!

I don't think he can top Boorman, even if he is doing a 6-movie series.

In the Audacious Promos for This Story, They Referred to "White People"

Apparently these Brownies have a message for them. Young Oakland Girls Called ‘Radical Brownies’ Learn Social Justice Instead Of Selling Cookies

Next Time I'm Near One

I'll have to drop by to pick up some guacamole -- Chavez Supermarket; it's not as thick/creamy as the one from Whole Foods, but it is probably cheaper, especially since Whole Foods recently reduced the size of the containers while keeping the prices the same.

"Why the Strong Need the Weak"

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Can't wait until the solar farm is nationalized.

After Apple goes out of business.

Apple To Build Huge Solar Energy Farm In Monterey County To Power ‘Spaceship’ Complex, Retail Stores

Related:
Some renderings of Apple Campus 2.

St. Edward Orthodox Church

Post by Orthodox Christian Network.

St. Edward Orthodox Broterhood

True Detective, series 2

It's hard work being a bad cop! Colin Farrell is covered in sweat as he faces off with Rachel McAdams on set of True Detective

Reminds me of... the Miami Vice movie.

Who reads Femail? Does it get much traffic compared to the website as a whole?

Not a PC Saint

One of the reasons his canonization seemed to have stalled for so long.

CNA: Statue of Pope Francis' new saint could be kicked out of US capitol (via Cal Catholic Daily)

An Endorsement That Makes You Wonder

The Revolutionary Gospel
The Martydom of Archbishop Oscar Romero
by MICHAEL K. SMITH

An endorsement of heroic Christian virtue may not be enough... proof of Christian orthodoxy?

Catholic Socons

Still pedestalizing women (that is themselves, in some case)...

Fifty Shades of Grey = Fifty Shades of Desperation by Teresa Tomeo (via Insight Scoop)

"In fact, in the movie trailer, Anastasia is shown strapped to a bed with satisfied look on her face as if this is normal bedroom behavior. Deep down what we really desire is healthy male leadership. But because many women rejected our natural design, today’s thoroughly modern woman, as sophisticated as she thinks she is, has really no idea who she is at all. As a result we’re settling for the most unnatural and perverted substitutes."

Leadership defined in what terms, though? As for what women "really" desire - women who have been trained to understand themselves and act accordingly and virtuously, perhaps. But women who accept feminism and want to be like men in every other aspect of life? And finally, is it possible that the example of Anastasia is just female sexual desire taken to another degree? Unless you want to argue that that sort of consensual bedroom behavior, aside from the fornication, is intrinsically immoral? Too sensual or tied to the gratification of animal (~base) desires? That is, any exhibition of male domination and female submission other than [invitation,] initiation, consent and missionary position is counter to reason?

Right before this she writes:
"Somewhere along the way we lost ourselves in the process and this is where we ended up: believing that agreeing to be a man’s “submissive” and hanging out in a red room of pain can equate happiness and fulfillment."

The perversion begins not with the sex but with the female desire for authority and to be like a man. As contributors to the androsphere points out, the extremes in sexual behavior is a (unconscious) reaction against this that cannot but be exaggerated because of how she conducts herself otherwise in daily life.

Having a Role...

(More on this post.)

“to ensure freedom of choice for women, so that they have the possibility to take on social and ecclesial responsibilities in a way that is in harmony with family life.”

Let us be clear, the egalitarians are not interested in upholding women's social and ecclesial responsibilities -- what they seek is authority, leadership, a place in the hierarchy.

"For some time, we have left behind us, at least in Western societies, the model of the social subordination of women to men, a secular model which, however, has never been spent of all its negative effects."

Social subordination of women to men? Not only as wives to husbands, that is true. But women cannot have the same place as men do in the "public sphere" (poorly-named, especially since it has been perverted with the rise of the modern nation-state to mean rather little), as the public sphere is the sphere of relations and responsibilities between men as heads of families and co-citizens. What is subordination but hierarchy, a recognition that some are subject to the authority of others, by nature, though perhaps contrary to the desire of some?

"It is, furthermore, to encourage and to promote the effective presence of women in many areas of the public sphere, in the world of work and in places where the most important decisions are taken, and at the same time to uphold their presence and preferential attention, altogether special, in and for the family."

Just as it is a part of prudence to consider the particulars and to solicit not only counsel from others but to get help in understanding the concrete circumstances, so men should be open to the input from their wives and to women in general, not just information but even suggestions. And this contribution to political discussions need not only be done mediately, through husbands/fathers/guardians, but may be even done in a communal forum. But women do not have a place in public deliberation and decision-making.

Not only are men more attuned to thinking about justice (which the division of responsibilities and burdens requires) but they are the ones who must carry those burdens. If women are unable to exercise the duties of fathers or husbands because they do not think or behave like men, then they should not be exercising political authority (to any degree - deliberation only, or deliberation and decision-making), since that is essentially male thinking concerning the males in a community.

I see Pope Francis as carrying the Catholic feminist line further, decrying patriarchy but also radical egalitarianism, offering a compromise solution that acknowledges sex differences (sex complementarianism) but not accepting what those differences entail with respect to political (or ecclesial) organization. While it is almost certain that he takes the modern nation-state for granted, it is very likely that he also takes modern institutions and bureaucracies as legitimate political developments (I do not, seeing them as instruments for monopolizing power) and therefore it is right for women to have jobs in those institutions and bureaucracies.

Han Hyo Joo!

Post by SOOMPI.com.

Monday, February 09, 2015

A Bigger White Knight Than His Predecessors

For some time, we have left behind us, at least in Western societies, the model of the social subordination of women to men, a secular model which, however, has never been spent of all its negative effects,” Francis noted. “We have also overcome a second model, that of mere equality, applied mechanically, and of absolute equality. A new paradigm was configured, that of reciprocity and in equivalence and in difference. The man-woman relationship, therefore, should recognize that both are necessary in that they possess, yes, an identical nature, but with their own modality.” The second theme was “"Generativity" as symbolic code. This turns an intense look to all mothers, and widens the horizon to the transmission and to the protection of life, not limited to the biological sphere, which we could synthesize with four verbs: desire, give birth to, take care of and let go.”

Patriarchy bad!

Francis calls for a more incisive female presence in Church and society and an end to violence

The push for "complimentarianism" seems to be a compromise between egalitarianism and the "old model" but leaning more towards egalitarianism. Even if there are sex differences, men and women should have equal access to all roles, though women should have special protections that men don't have, right? Or should men be given "paternity leave" just like women? Taking "Catholic" feminism even further...

Marketing Liberal Wisdom

Saw this on the Chipotle bag: Steven Pinker’s Two-Minute Case for Optimism

Post by Chipotle Mexican Grill.

How much of the decrease in violence is due to the increase of wealth (thanks to cheap energy), rather than a positive advancement in people's character? (Although emasculation by capitalism and the state may have had a role in the decrease in violence, I wouldn't see that as a positive advancement.)

Pinker's website