Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Finland: Asian or European?
VDARE: Finland At 100—Frozen By Fear, Dragged To A Multicultural Grave by Harri Honkanen
Given that Finns were clearly reacting against the Establishment and its plans for mass Third World immigration, why didn’t the Finnish Right strike? The answer lies in the Finnish national character itself. Political Correctness is more dangerous in Finland than elsewhere in Western Europe. Like East Asians (some geneticists argue Finns have relatively high East Asian admixture by European standards), Finns are conformist. They can’t stand disagreement. They’re chronically shy, conflict averse and rule-governed. As I argued above, this may reflect adaption to extremely harsh yet predictable conditions, where cooperative groups are more likely to survive. Society is harmonious and efficient but with a tiny gene pool everyone thinks similarly. You don’t risk being shamed. Indeed, scholars have highlighted the way that Finland has an effectively East Asian “shame culture”.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Bright
Is the Netflix movie as bad as "critics" think? Let's set aside the casting of Will Smith (and his ghetto bravado) as the main human protagonist; the world-building for the movie is rather lazy. The last great conflict between the different races was 2000 years ago (how convenient -- no need for Christianity to be shown in the movie) and yet everything else since then has turned out to be the same, at least in Los Angeles. The city just some orcs and elves and centaurs (and maybe drawves, but they are not seen in the movie) thrown into the multicultural mix. And the impact of this race-mixing on contemporary interethnic conflicts is of course mostly ignored. Can David Ayer write better than this? (Police corruption is shown to be mostly white, with an Asian [female] thrown into the mix. Was this on purpose)
But I thought it was all right as rather mindless action entertainment, with some fantasy elements thrown in. Though if elves are so superior to humans in intellect and agility and speed, then how is it possible for them to be defeated by a human or an orc? Still, the fanboys will like seeing the hottie elves and probably wish there were more of them. If you like fantasy and have nothing better to do that afternoon...
(Has any SJW complained yet about the equivalence made between the orcs and minorities who live in the ghetto and participate in gang activity?)
But I thought it was all right as rather mindless action entertainment, with some fantasy elements thrown in. Though if elves are so superior to humans in intellect and agility and speed, then how is it possible for them to be defeated by a human or an orc? Still, the fanboys will like seeing the hottie elves and probably wish there were more of them. If you like fantasy and have nothing better to do that afternoon...
(Has any SJW complained yet about the equivalence made between the orcs and minorities who live in the ghetto and participate in gang activity?)
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Even Bishop Barron Gets It
And, more surprisingly, is willing to say it. CWR Dispatch: How the “Star Wars” franchise lost its way
The Hero of Little Round Top
In comparison, when did American academics become such a soft, sorry bunch of men? (And let us not even talk about the women who deign to be academics, and wrongly believe that they are entitled to hold authority over men because of a credential representing their miseducation.)
If male academics, social conservative and/or Catholic, wish to have some role in helping restore order, then they must first learn how to be men, just like every other man. They cannot assume that just because they have some measure of authority that they are qualified to hold political leadership roles.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Monday, December 25, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
The Writers Wrote Themselves Into a Corner
with respect to the ending/big reveal for How I Met Your Mother? I didn't watch it, this is my opinion based on what others wrote about the ending. Anyway, apparently the character of Lily is not cute and quirky but a witch. Another reason to flush the show down the memory hole.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Santa Claus is not St. Nicholas of Myra
at least by popular convention...
The Death of Christmas by Joseph Pearce
In Defense of Santa Claus by Nathan Stone
The Death of Christmas by Joseph Pearce
In Defense of Santa Claus by Nathan Stone
Her Privates We
The Imaginative Conservative: Frederic Manning’s “Her Privates We”: A Mystery of the Great War by David Hein
Since AmConMag Published This
Maybe there is something to those 20th century Christmas songs after all. Just kidding. Maybe.
No One Writes Great Christmas Songs Anymore by Addison Del Mastro
But maybe those midcentury classics weren’t really Christmas songs at all.
No One Writes Great Christmas Songs Anymore by Addison Del Mastro
But maybe those midcentury classics weren’t really Christmas songs at all.
Friday, December 22, 2017
JHK in AmConMag
Beyond Cynicism: America Fumbles Towards Kafka’s Castle
On America's 'long emergency' of recession, globalization, and identity politics.
On America's 'long emergency' of recession, globalization, and identity politics.
Ed Lee
The first "Asian"-American mayor of San Francisco was no friend to tradition and a participant in leftist subversion of identity and tradition. Kyrie eleison.
Know your target audience
These songs may be based on personal experiences, or not, but they definitely do resonate with women.
And Taylor Swift's "A Better Man" sung by Little Big Town.
Miranda Lambert's "Tin Man" received nominations for Grammy awards; so did "A Better Man."
And Taylor Swift's "A Better Man" sung by Little Big Town.
Miranda Lambert's "Tin Man" received nominations for Grammy awards; so did "A Better Man."
Tradt(non)hots
The alt-right has its tradhots, women posing as journalists and social media content providers -- how many of them see themselves as teachers or as authority figures? Probably only a few, if any. At worse, it is more likely that they are seeking now to tell men what to do, but to be celebrities with male followers giving them attention or perhaps even donations, as rooshv and others believe.
But then there are the traditional women who are blog, or have even earned a graduate degree of some sort who think they are qualified to lecture men on what they should be doing.
So who is a greater offender against feminine virtue?
But then there are the traditional women who are blog, or have even earned a graduate degree of some sort who think they are qualified to lecture men on what they should be doing.
So who is a greater offender against feminine virtue?
Thursday, December 21, 2017
What would Boyd Cathey Say about the new movie Hostiles?
"All I Want to Do Is Enter My House Justified!"
The Classic American Western As Emblem of Historic American Culture
Ride the High Country: An Elegy on Leadership
The Classic American Western As Emblem of Historic American Culture
Ride the High Country: An Elegy on Leadership
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Empire for Me, Not for Thee
The North’s Colonial Empire by Joseph R. Stromberg
The Setting Postcolonial studies have been all the rage for many decades. A great number of contributors to the field have come from India and their work wrestles (in part) with the socio-psychological situation of… »
The Setting Postcolonial studies have been all the rage for many decades. A great number of contributors to the field have come from India and their work wrestles (in part) with the socio-psychological situation of… »
Watkins on Jaffa
Foundering Inventions by William J. Watkins
A review of Original Intent and the Framers of the Constitution by Harry Jafffa, (Regnery, 1994). When Professor Harry Jaffa, in his new book Original Intent and the Framers of the Constitution: A Disputed Question,… »
A review of Original Intent and the Framers of the Constitution by Harry Jafffa, (Regnery, 1994). When Professor Harry Jaffa, in his new book Original Intent and the Framers of the Constitution: A Disputed Question,… »
The Best Part of The Polar Express Movie
Not the song itself, which is trash (especially the l yrics) but because of Josh Groban's voice.
I never cared for the book, as I found it to be sentimental tripe about Christmas, too focused with the subjective, secularized meaning of Christmas rather than the divine objective meaning. I was never interested in watching the movie because of its creepy animation visuals, but I did see it (or hear it) for the first time today. The movie of course had some additions in order to fill out the screen time, and I can't think of any one of them that actually improved the movie. It was made in 2005 but of course there is the SJW element of the black girl who shows "leadership." The elves are rather creepy, too.
I never cared for the book, as I found it to be sentimental tripe about Christmas, too focused with the subjective, secularized meaning of Christmas rather than the divine objective meaning. I was never interested in watching the movie because of its creepy animation visuals, but I did see it (or hear it) for the first time today. The movie of course had some additions in order to fill out the screen time, and I can't think of any one of them that actually improved the movie. It was made in 2005 but of course there is the SJW element of the black girl who shows "leadership." The elves are rather creepy, too.
I was thinking watching The Last Jedi would be like this
Was it that bad? Well, not every single minute, but close enough. Plenty of negative reviews out there for you to read if you want to know why; my biggest complaints remain: (1) they defecated upon Luke's character arc in the first trilogy (in this respect, the movie doesn't even measure to fan fiction, or the decent products of the "Expanded Universe", and (2) Mary Sue Skywalker is still a problematic protagonist, created solely for feminist purposes. Of course there was plenty of SJW service, and the constant denigration of men was wearisome.
But there were plenty of idiocies in the plot as well. For example, the whole First Order chasing the "Rebel" fleet seems to have been borrowed from Master and Commander. It may have made sense in the age of sail, but you're telling me that the First Order fleet is limited to a few star destroyers, and that they couldn't call upon reinforcements to surround the rebel fleet and pound it to bits? Or that they didn't have enough TIE fighters and bombers to finish the ships off? After all, it seemed that the Rebels had only a squadron of star fighters, if that, and most of that was eliminated when Kylo Ren attacked the cruiser.
You wouldn't think that professionals could create a story this lousy. There is fan fiction out there that is probably better than this garbage.
Star Wars fans remind me of Proverbs 26:11.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
Running a Proper Business
St. Benedict Wore Prada By Ryan Girdusky
A fashion designer determined to preserve the cultural and beautiful offers a model for conservatives.
A fashion designer determined to preserve the cultural and beautiful offers a model for conservatives.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Friday, December 15, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
#findyourtribe
A comment at CH; hopefully this idea is catching on, especially when election results look bad and the deep state seems to be intact:
Begin locally. Strengthen your community networks. Find like minded men and recruit more to your cause. Sharpen your minds and bodies for the coming resistance.
Civilization is built upon truth and strength. We are close to collapse, as weakness and falsehood are currently the state mandated edicts promulgated by our kosher komissars. No society can withstand prolonged falsehood and weakness. The center cannot hold.
Woman, thy name is Discontent.
Women more unhappy than men until they reach mid-80s
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat... (Genesis 3:4-6)
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat... (Genesis 3:4-6)
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Greta Gerwig's Latest
“Lady Bird” and the Breakthrough of Grace by Bishop Robert Barron
Running underneath Greta Gerwig’s complex story of love and conflict is religion, more precisely, Catholicism.
Running underneath Greta Gerwig’s complex story of love and conflict is religion, more precisely, Catholicism.
Why?
Liberals, Blacks, Catholics, and Jews watch more pornography.https://t.co/98vzeXxfad pic.twitter.com/jRRMvrUXwr
— Rolf Degen (@DegenRolf) December 12, 2017
#Repealthe19th
The brains of male and female homosexuals exhibit less pronounced sex differences than those of heterosexuals. https://t.co/HQBhGLXeyi pic.twitter.com/jXpz3Qdch2
— Rolf Degen (@DegenRolf) December 12, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Saturday, December 09, 2017
Typical SoCon Posturing?
The Crisis of Masculinity is One of Scarcity, Not Excess By David Masciotra
"Are we not men?" is a more salient question than ever.
"Are we not men?" is a more salient question than ever.
Pat Gelsinger
Jesus is Coming …To Silicon Valley By Geoff Koch
In this post-faith tech paradise, a lone evangelical CEO spreads the word.
Obstacles to evangelization? The aggressive secularism of California, the multiculturalism/ethnic diversity of the Silicon Valley, SJWs, what else?
In this post-faith tech paradise, a lone evangelical CEO spreads the word.
Obstacles to evangelization? The aggressive secularism of California, the multiculturalism/ethnic diversity of the Silicon Valley, SJWs, what else?
Beauty, Health, and Fitness
How fascist to be concerned with such social constructions! Just like those ancient Greeks!
Meanwhile, Rooshv has something to say about alt right hotties who have taken on the task of being alt right spokeswomen:
Meanwhile, Rooshv has something to say about alt right hotties who have taken on the task of being alt right spokeswomen:
Friday, December 08, 2017
Thursday, December 07, 2017
Empire
Don't like the acceptance of imperium as a necessity in the struggle for life, but I do like the martial spirit of the essay.
With Our Children, We Will Conquer by Jacoby Sommer
A pro-natalist attitude is so fascist!
With Our Children, We Will Conquer by Jacoby Sommer
A pro-natalist attitude is so fascist!
Naturally the Fan-fic Writer Must Be a Woman!
Why would anyone want to watch a movie about a male geek trying to get his Star Trek script turned into a movie? "MOAR womyn in STEM!"
(aicn)
(aicn)
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
Was würde Luther tun?
Beim Konzert der lutherischen geistlichen Musik gab es heute eine junge, brünette Frau im Chor, die war eine Ablenkung. Sie trug schwarz wie alle anderen auch, aber ihr kurzes Kleid war für den Club passender als die Musikhalle oder Kirche. Ihr Verhalten erinnerte mich an Taylor Swift oder ein Importmodell.
Das Publikum bestand, wie immer, hauptsächlich aus älteren Leuten, aber da war eine junge, brünette Frau, die auffiel, weil sie strickte und einen Schal trug.
Was für ein Kontrast!
Der Priester merkte an, dass die Musik katholischer sei als das, was heutzutage oft während der katholischen Messe gesungen wird.
Würde Luther sich mit den Lutheranern von heute identifizieren?
Beim Konzert der lutherischen geistlichen Musik gab es heute eine junge, brünette Frau im Chor, die war eine Ablenkung. Sie trug schwarz wie alle anderen auch, aber ihr kurzes Kleid war für den Club passender als die Musikhalle oder Kirche. Ihr Verhalten erinnerte mich an Taylor Swift oder ein Importmodell.
Das Publikum bestand, wie immer, hauptsächlich aus älteren Leuten, aber da war eine junge, brünette Frau, die auffiel, weil sie strickte und einen Schal trug.
Was für ein Kontrast!
Der Priester merkte an, dass die Musik katholischer sei als das, was heutzutage oft während der katholischen Messe gesungen wird.
Würde Luther sich mit den Lutheranern von heute identifizieren?
Will the show inspire dreams about military religious orders?
Seems like it is more historical fiction than fact. (The Holy Grail?) Knightfall premieres tonight on History.
Something on the costuming.
Something on the costuming.
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Monday, December 04, 2017
Sunday, December 03, 2017
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Friday, December 01, 2017
Thursday, November 30, 2017
More on Young Adult Groups
Asssembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops (of the USA): Young Adults and Young Adult Ministries in American Orthodox Christian Parishes (via Byz TX)
How many of these young adults will remain "practicing" faithful? Too soon to tell? Is the young adult group a pastoral strategy whose time has come and gone and needs to be replaced by something that acknowledges sex differences?
How many of these young adults will remain "practicing" faithful? Too soon to tell? Is the young adult group a pastoral strategy whose time has come and gone and needs to be replaced by something that acknowledges sex differences?
A German girl, 4th gr: "You remind me of my uncle [who lives in Germany]." Thought that was humorous.
And one of the 4 year-olds, Ibero-American: "I am Jason. He is a bad guy." Why do their parents let their very young children watch horror movies? I don't understand, even if we are not getting their best and brightest.
And one of the 4 year-olds, Ibero-American: "I am Jason. He is a bad guy." Why do their parents let their very young children watch horror movies? I don't understand, even if we are not getting their best and brightest.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Something Critical of Mark Regnerus's Cheap Sex
Finally.
How Not to Analyze the Modern Family Crisis by Stephen Baskerville
How Not to Analyze the Modern Family Crisis by Stephen Baskerville
None of these dynamics are to be found in this book. From the standpoint of the most important crises in family and sexual relations, the result is a huge red herring. It provides a bromide for conservative family values conservatives because it effectively leaves them very little to do. Short of restoring female chastity—not impossible but not very effective in the short run either—it renders their efforts hopeless and provides an unanswerable excuse for their repeated defeats. There is, quite simply, no solution to the family crisis.
It is this apolitical stance—more than his virtue signaling over homosexuality or “sexual abuse”—that explains why the book can be published by a liberal publisher like Oxford University Press and praised by radicals like Anthony Giddens of the London School of Economics. Apolitical approaches to changing family dynamics are, logically enough, politically paralyzing. They may well ingratiate us with liberal-left academia, but that merely provides cover for more policies that weaken the family and strengthen the state.
Bill Kauffman on Shelby Foote
We Could Use a Shelby Foote Today by Bill Kauffman
One of the greatest Civil War historians saw nobility in the stars and bars.
One of the greatest Civil War historians saw nobility in the stars and bars.
Another Young Adult Group/Movement in the Making
Yesterday I posted about the Frassati groups; today I see something geared towards Latin traditionalists: You suggest: Young adult traditional movement group and Rorate Mass in Nebraska. Just a traditionalist version of current Catholic young adult strategies and group models?
The New Tradangelization podcast & FB
The New Tradangelization podcast & FB
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
What are the stats?
Frassati Fellowships: Young Adults Building a Catholic Culture
"According to Father Zeiler, the group has grown organically by word of mouth and through Facebook. Young adults tend to move on as they get married—often to fellow Frassati members."
"According to Father Zeiler, the group has grown organically by word of mouth and through Facebook. Young adults tend to move on as they get married—often to fellow Frassati members."
Monday, November 27, 2017
Sunday, November 26, 2017
The Jade Pendant
Looks like the Chinese title is no longer 唐人街 but 金山. What is the purpose of the filmmakers? To remember the ugliness of hate/xenophobia and its consequqences? To claim victim status for Chinese people? To uphold the myth of America as a "nation of immigrants"?
Should the Chinese who came here to seek wealth be treated unjustly? No. But should they have been allowed entry in the first place? And if they were allowed entry, what should have been the conditions for staying, the restrictions and duties placed upon them as well as the duties of the host? Questions that will not be asked by liberals pushing for the leveling of everything in the name of equality.
So Close and Yet So Far
The Challenge of Racism Today: Cardinal Donald Wuerl vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
Does his characterization of neo-pagan racism matter? Are there some who fall under that description? Perhaps. Is that whom the SJWs are criticizing? Not really.
Does his characterization of neo-pagan racism matter? Are there some who fall under that description? Perhaps. Is that whom the SJWs are criticizing? Not really.
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Auto traffic was light yesterday on the local roads, but I didn't go anywhere near Valley Fair/Santana Row, so I don't know if those places were packed or not. I didn't go to Target or Walmart either.
Black Friday in the SF Bay Area is unreal. The fact is that the Upside Down is not somewhere else; we are living the Upside Down. The commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord has been transformed into a secularized, inoffensive festivity ofChristmas, with no connection to the Passion or the Resurrection. (How long before they toss away Santa Claus as a symbol of patriarchy or replace him with some gender-neutral figure?)
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Phil 3:18-19)
Silicon Valley is marked by the pursuit of wealth and the increasingly difficult to obtain level of bourgeois comfort, the primary good shared by the disparate inhabitants of the area to the detriment of community. There is no social manifestation of materialism or consumerism without corresponding vices, and ignorance of the true good does not preclude the development of vice. We run away from death and avoid thinking about it, but death is certain to visit us, without needing a team of flying reindeer.
Even for many Christians their Gospel has been replaced by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: God loves us so much that He wanted to be with us in the form of Christ, because we are such special snowflakes.
"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17)
Black Friday in the SF Bay Area is unreal. The fact is that the Upside Down is not somewhere else; we are living the Upside Down. The commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord has been transformed into a secularized, inoffensive festivity of
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Phil 3:18-19)
Silicon Valley is marked by the pursuit of wealth and the increasingly difficult to obtain level of bourgeois comfort, the primary good shared by the disparate inhabitants of the area to the detriment of community. There is no social manifestation of materialism or consumerism without corresponding vices, and ignorance of the true good does not preclude the development of vice. We run away from death and avoid thinking about it, but death is certain to visit us, without needing a team of flying reindeer.
Even for many Christians their Gospel has been replaced by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: God loves us so much that He wanted to be with us in the form of Christ, because we are such special snowflakes.
"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17)
Funny
Although what inspired it may still be a cause of grief for traditional fans.
NuWho is dead.
And nobody wants to hear the opinion of an actor.
NuWho is dead.
And nobody wants to hear the opinion of an actor.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Shopping Time Is Here
Some online retailers don't even wait until Black Friday to commence the sales period.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Commander Iden Versio
Because what man doesn't want to play a female Imperial soldier who seeks to eradicate the Rebellion?
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Waiting for a Thanksgiving Post
Lee, Kelly, and the Marxists by Boyd Cathey
You would think that David Duke had somehow been elected president. Or, maybe in this topsy-turvy, Alice-in-Wonderland period of history we are living through, that that reactionary “bad guy” Vladimir Putin had somehow actually taken… »
The Extreme Northern Position by Brion McClanahan
If you listen to the modern historical profession, Southern secession in 1861 represented “treason.” David Blight, Professor History at Yale University, has made this belief the part of the core of his attack on Confederate… »
You would think that David Duke had somehow been elected president. Or, maybe in this topsy-turvy, Alice-in-Wonderland period of history we are living through, that that reactionary “bad guy” Vladimir Putin had somehow actually taken… »
The Extreme Northern Position by Brion McClanahan
If you listen to the modern historical profession, Southern secession in 1861 represented “treason.” David Blight, Professor History at Yale University, has made this belief the part of the core of his attack on Confederate… »
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
An Interview with JHK
AmConMag: An Interview With James Howard Kunstler by Addison Del Mastro
America’s foremost critic of suburbia talks strip malls, environmentalism, and Christianity.
America’s foremost critic of suburbia talks strip malls, environmentalism, and Christianity.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Saturday, November 18, 2017
The Fortress
The Fortress (남한산성/南漢山城) is not the best movie for a brief escape from reality. It can be a rather depressing movie, with a limited number of action sequences, so it may not be that appealing to a modern audience. It may be too dreary even for a Korean audience, but I don't know what the Korean reviews of the movie have been like..
The movie is critical of the hypocrisy of the royal court (and of most officials in general). The pro-democracy sentiment expressed briefly by one of the characters in the movie was perhaps anachronistic, even if we might agree with it. (And it is this sentiment which leads to the small emotional pay-off at the end of the movie.)
Some may think that the characterization of the minister of the interior Choi Myung-kil and the minister of rites Kim Sang-heon is inadequate. I thought the conflict (and limited cooperation) between them was sufficient enough to draw a contrast between the two men. (Does the original novel pay more attention to court intrigue and conflicts between the various officials?) Their different understandings of what duty and loyalty require are the engine of the story. (Is the movie, or novel, an adequate representation of the neo-Confucian mindset, though?)
The movie does raise an important moral question: of the prudence for waging a just defensive war against an invader when the defeat seems more likely than not.
Given the historical circumstances of the story, watching the movie can be a bit of slog, and the character arcs of the two officials may not be enough to keep most people's attention.
Still, LBH should do more saeguk -- he's good in these roles.
The movie is critical of the hypocrisy of the royal court (and of most officials in general). The pro-democracy sentiment expressed briefly by one of the characters in the movie was perhaps anachronistic, even if we might agree with it. (And it is this sentiment which leads to the small emotional pay-off at the end of the movie.)
Some may think that the characterization of the minister of the interior Choi Myung-kil and the minister of rites Kim Sang-heon is inadequate. I thought the conflict (and limited cooperation) between them was sufficient enough to draw a contrast between the two men. (Does the original novel pay more attention to court intrigue and conflicts between the various officials?) Their different understandings of what duty and loyalty require are the engine of the story. (Is the movie, or novel, an adequate representation of the neo-Confucian mindset, though?)
The movie does raise an important moral question: of the prudence for waging a just defensive war against an invader when the defeat seems more likely than not.
Given the historical circumstances of the story, watching the movie can be a bit of slog, and the character arcs of the two officials may not be enough to keep most people's attention.
Still, LBH should do more saeguk -- he's good in these roles.
And Here Is the Problem with Roman Catholic Leadership
Catholics Mixed on Boy Scouts' move to family scouting
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting’s executive committee simply announced it accepted the BSA’s girl membership proposal.
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting’s executive committee simply announced it accepted the BSA’s girl membership proposal.
George Sparks, the NCCS’ national chairman, told the Register that the organization did not have an objection to BSA’s proposal to admitting girls into traditional pack and troop units, while maintaining single-gender programming, since the vast majority of Catholic youth-ministry programs are already coed.
Sparks said the BSA wants to have a model of “family scouting” that brings both parents and children into its programs as a family. From the Church’s point of view, packs and troops chartered by Catholic parishes are part of a “youth-ministry program” that allows the parish to minister to people who otherwise do not engage in their other youth programs.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
MakeApp
The female is immunized against all dangers: one may call her a thot, roastie, slut, it all runs off her like water off a raincoat. But take off her makeup and you will be astonished at how she recoils, how injured she is, how she suddenly shrinks back: "I've been found out."
— Р. Голливуд (@pachkacigaret) November 14, 2017
Waiting for the first panderingly sincere TOBs-er to say #MakeApp is demeaning to women because it reduces their value to their appearance and that all women deserve to be loved. Count the # of fallacies there--here's a hint: there's one non-sequitur and one fallacy of equivocation.
All women should be loved with agape, but not all women inspire eros, nor should all women be wifed up. As for the objectification of women simply by looking: Men objectify everything -- it is a feature of male psychology and is tied to their being visually-oriented and primarily directed towards the external
world and action. In addition, visual markers of health and fertility are important for male-to-female attraction. Feminists, despite their credentials and "education," simply hate the Other because they don't understand him/them. Unfortunately some of their biggest allies and enablers in this respect are social conservatives.
Daily Femail article and video
The mental gymnastics and outrage of feminists over MakeApp is very amusing.
Ted Lieu, Useless Partisan Tool
CNN just roasted @TedLieu for his conduct during the Sessions hearing pic.twitter.com/DNmVNIm6Td
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 15, 2017
What Future for Catholic Higher Education?
Taking Catholic Out of Catholic Universities
Are the small Catholic colleges really doing a better job when it comes to fighting cultural Marxism and feminism? The book smarts they deliver may be better than that of the large dechristianized Catholic universities, but it is far from being thorough, and the practice of life that their campus arrangements offer is is deficient. Hard to say who as a group will be the last to take the red pill, but conservative Catholics are certainly in that contest.
Are the small Catholic colleges really doing a better job when it comes to fighting cultural Marxism and feminism? The book smarts they deliver may be better than that of the large dechristianized Catholic universities, but it is far from being thorough, and the practice of life that their campus arrangements offer is is deficient. Hard to say who as a group will be the last to take the red pill, but conservative Catholics are certainly in that contest.
If investing and profiting from water rights sounds repugnant to you, then how about speculation on housing? The claim that housing is a fundamental human right, even if it can only be justified partially and conditionally upon the existence of a political-economic system, has more substance to it than the claim that a house is a mere financial asset.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Amazon Makes LOTR Deal
Press Release
Deadline
Does Christopher Tolkien have (or think he has) creative control and veto over the project? Or is someone else now in charge of the Tolkien Estate?
Deadline
Does Christopher Tolkien have (or think he has) creative control and veto over the project? Or is someone else now in charge of the Tolkien Estate?
Monday, November 13, 2017
The USCCB Plenary Meeting: The AmChurch in Action
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Saturday, November 11, 2017
A student asked me if i know the flag he had drawn on his paper; he had drawn the well-known (battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia). I asked him how he knew about the flag and he said he just knew it. I suppose he knew that it was not something PC to draw.
Friday, November 10, 2017
Thursday, November 09, 2017
Christopher Tolkien, Have You Capitulated?
And betrayed your father's legacy?
There is news that Warner Brothers and Amazon are in negotiations, along with the Tolkien estate, to create a new TV series based on Lord of the Rings. Is this a new adaptation (in which case the rights are not possessed by the estate) or a new story based on Tolkien source material? Why would Christopher Tolkien choose to collaborate? Or is he no longer in control of the estate?
What's to prevent Hollywood from adding even more SJW elements to this new LOTR story? More gay hobbits? More invented female warriors for girl power?
There is news that Warner Brothers and Amazon are in negotiations, along with the Tolkien estate, to create a new TV series based on Lord of the Rings. Is this a new adaptation (in which case the rights are not possessed by the estate) or a new story based on Tolkien source material? Why would Christopher Tolkien choose to collaborate? Or is he no longer in control of the estate?
What's to prevent Hollywood from adding even more SJW elements to this new LOTR story? More gay hobbits? More invented female warriors for girl power?
(((Stranger Things)))
Apparently the concern I had about Stranger Things going in a PC direction of girl-power was justified. But then again
this may have been the plan of the Duffer brothers all along, with El. First they hook you then they feed you propaganda.
That the show received praise from a writer for The American Conservative should have sparked suspicion that all was not right? And even if SJWs, who might prefer their antifa wet dream that is Bushwick, are critical of the series for being too white or some other reason, it does not mean that "conservatives" should embrace the show as their own.
The actress who plays Eleven, Millie Bobby Brown, reminded me of a young Nathalie Portman in The Professional. It turns out that she is also a Jew. And then there's Paul Reiser and Winona Ryder and at least one other actor, Finn Wolfhard. What about the creators, the Duffer Brothers? Are they Jewish? One of them has married a staunch Jew.
More of a resonance with Talmudic Judaism than just the portrayal of outcasts, the nerds of Stranger Things? Will Eleven turn out to be a Super Pharisee? Another orphan girl with super powers who saves the day, like Rey of nuStar Wars? Are the Duffer Brothers engaging in more Pharasaical subversion of American pop culture, once again through 80s nostalgia, following the footsteps of Jar Jar Abrams? ("Hello fellow white people"?) Avoiding the sentimentalism of Steven Spielberg is not enough to make their show good.
A story that has the moral that one should do good, avoid evil, is not sufficient to make it a good American story, if what is "American" is understood as properly having a Christian facet, even if only implicit, like in the fantasy of Tolkien. What is the Divine component of Stranger Things, if there is one? How is the embodiment of evil in the Upside Down to be understood? Even if the series is a good riff of or homage to 80s horror and fantasy, this would not be a point in its defense, as much of that genre wasn't Christian either, even if some element of truth can be found in it.
The evil thing reminds me a bit of the smoke monster of Lost. Is there any connection between the two series? And how is it "evil," other than being destructive of life or causing death? (Is there an equivalence being made between science of sci-fi and magic of fantasy?)
What about the supposed Biblical allusions?
Season 3
The Duffer Brothers Recap Stranger Things 2 The Lost Sister
"Stranger Things" and the sinister innocence of Reagan's America
NBC 'Think' piece: Netflix's ‘Stranger Things’ is racist
How Stranger Things 2 Explores Trauma
this may have been the plan of the Duffer brothers all along, with El. First they hook you then they feed you propaganda.
That the show received praise from a writer for The American Conservative should have sparked suspicion that all was not right? And even if SJWs, who might prefer their antifa wet dream that is Bushwick, are critical of the series for being too white or some other reason, it does not mean that "conservatives" should embrace the show as their own.
The actress who plays Eleven, Millie Bobby Brown, reminded me of a young Nathalie Portman in The Professional. It turns out that she is also a Jew. And then there's Paul Reiser and Winona Ryder and at least one other actor, Finn Wolfhard. What about the creators, the Duffer Brothers? Are they Jewish? One of them has married a staunch Jew.
More of a resonance with Talmudic Judaism than just the portrayal of outcasts, the nerds of Stranger Things? Will Eleven turn out to be a Super Pharisee? Another orphan girl with super powers who saves the day, like Rey of nuStar Wars? Are the Duffer Brothers engaging in more Pharasaical subversion of American pop culture, once again through 80s nostalgia, following the footsteps of Jar Jar Abrams? ("Hello fellow white people"?) Avoiding the sentimentalism of Steven Spielberg is not enough to make their show good.
A story that has the moral that one should do good, avoid evil, is not sufficient to make it a good American story, if what is "American" is understood as properly having a Christian facet, even if only implicit, like in the fantasy of Tolkien. What is the Divine component of Stranger Things, if there is one? How is the embodiment of evil in the Upside Down to be understood? Even if the series is a good riff of or homage to 80s horror and fantasy, this would not be a point in its defense, as much of that genre wasn't Christian either, even if some element of truth can be found in it.
The evil thing reminds me a bit of the smoke monster of Lost. Is there any connection between the two series? And how is it "evil," other than being destructive of life or causing death? (Is there an equivalence being made between science of sci-fi and magic of fantasy?)
What about the supposed Biblical allusions?
Season 3
The Duffer Brothers Recap Stranger Things 2 The Lost Sister
"Stranger Things" and the sinister innocence of Reagan's America
NBC 'Think' piece: Netflix's ‘Stranger Things’ is racist
How Stranger Things 2 Explores Trauma
Wednesday, November 08, 2017
Tuesday, November 07, 2017
He definitely needs to go back.
Another Asian-fake-American politician; worse he's in the Air Force Reserve (but of course as a lawyer). And a beneficiary of Hart-Cellar.
Democrat Ted Lieu Walks Out of Moment of Silence for Texas Victims
Democrat Ted Lieu Walks Out of Moment of Silence for Texas Victims
Monday, November 06, 2017
Straussians Are No Conservatives
The Imaginative Conservative: Harry Jaffa, Walter Berns, & American Conservatism
The Fashion Sense of the First Lady
I haven't been paying much attention to it, but it seems to be better than that of the previous First Lady.
"We are bossy and sassy too."
Youtube Red: We Are Saavy
Because of forces like this, Canadian and American girls are increasingly unfeminine.
Because of forces like this, Canadian and American girls are increasingly unfeminine.
Sunday, November 05, 2017
Patriarch of SJW-Land
Audience with the members of the International Federation of Catholic Universities, 04.11.2017
Pope Francis highlights importance of education for migrants and refugees
Pope condemns xenophobia, calls migration a ‘sign of the times’ by Inés San Martín
Related: International Federation of Catholic Universities
Pope Francis highlights importance of education for migrants and refugees
Pope condemns xenophobia, calls migration a ‘sign of the times’ by Inés San Martín
Related: International Federation of Catholic Universities
Saturday, November 04, 2017
Friday, November 03, 2017
Thursday, November 02, 2017
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
What Do the Chinese Have to Be So Proud of?
Especially when comparing themselves to white Americans?
I've never heard a Chinese person express such a sentiment, not that I can recall, with one possible exception (family). But maybe such a sentiment does exist and is more widespread than I am aware of.
Possible reasons:
1. The love of education? Not when it is ordered solely to the pursuit of wealth.
2. Language and a 3000-yr old civilization? Do they really embody the highest values of this civilization merely because they speak a language in the Sinitic family of languages? Is that language superior to English with respect to its versatility in philosophy or theology? How about poetry? Or is just the felt superiority through being associated with a superior group?
3. The entrepreneurial spirit? Some Chinese are industrious and successful at making a buck in a foreign country, but is that really something to be proud of, if we take into account what they are neglecting?
4. A superior moral code or etiquette? This is questionable as well.
I've never heard a Chinese person express such a sentiment, not that I can recall, with one possible exception (family). But maybe such a sentiment does exist and is more widespread than I am aware of.
Possible reasons:
1. The love of education? Not when it is ordered solely to the pursuit of wealth.
2. Language and a 3000-yr old civilization? Do they really embody the highest values of this civilization merely because they speak a language in the Sinitic family of languages? Is that language superior to English with respect to its versatility in philosophy or theology? How about poetry? Or is just the felt superiority through being associated with a superior group?
3. The entrepreneurial spirit? Some Chinese are industrious and successful at making a buck in a foreign country, but is that really something to be proud of, if we take into account what they are neglecting?
4. A superior moral code or etiquette? This is questionable as well.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Sunday, October 29, 2017
When is Enough Enough?
At least the Orthodox realize they are at an impasse with the Protestants.
Latin Catholics are hardly ones to tell their Protestant brothers to "man up" though.
Latin Catholics are hardly ones to tell their Protestant brothers to "man up" though.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
More Based and Papabile than Most European Bishops
or even Western bishops, including the current bishop of Rome. May God grant him many years.
Cardinal Sarah: every nation has a right to distinguish between refugees and economic migrants
Cardinal Sarah: every nation has a right to distinguish between refugees and economic migrants
The Protestant Reformation Led to the Rise of Feminism?
A link suggeted by Amy Welborn: Women and the Protestant Reformation
Luther and the Reformers went to war against the evangelical counsels as ideals and as the core of a vowed, religious life. Every woman—it was assumed—was meant for marriage, children, and homemaking.
Luther and the Reformers went to war against the evangelical counsels as ideals and as the core of a vowed, religious life. Every woman—it was assumed—was meant for marriage, children, and homemaking.
Friday, October 27, 2017
7 Handguns...
Also...
5 Viable Options for the New 5.56 Secret Service Rifle by Fred Mastison
The story behind the 'not-so-secret' Secret Service Rifle and five contenders that have a legitimate shot at landing the contract.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Truth
Must truth always be expressed through a proposition, or can it be expressed through other forms, such as poetry or rhetoric?
Aaron Barruga
Unfortunately even warriors can be susceptible to ideological myopia and virtue-signalling:
Nonetheless, it is disappointing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)