Pixar, for the win.

Steve Sailer's review of Toy Story 3.

By 1984, Lasseter’s team showed they could achieve a fuzzy sort of 3D solidity in the short Andre and Wally B. In 1986, Pixar delivered 90 seconds of perfection with Luxo Jr., a father-son tale about table lamps playing catch. In retrospect, it established Pixar as the guy alternative to Disney’s gay pandering to the daddy’s little princess market. Pixar movies are made by men who have managed to extend their childhoods (Lasseter says, “Every animator is a child at heart”) into fatherhood. Lasseter, for instance, has five sons, now ages 10 to 29.

Pixar Animation Studios

Any possibility of Pixar becoming independent? Its association with Disney repels.

Deepwater Horizon: the best-case and most-likely scenarios

Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute

What would make the difference between the worst and best cases? That difference would flow not just from a single factor, but from a confluence of many through three main tributaries: luck, competence, and courage.

Dave Lindorff, The Oil Industry's Go-To Judge Comes Through

That Rolling Stone interview

The Runaway General by Michael Hastings
Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House

"The entire COIN strategy is a fraud perpetuated on the American people," says Douglas Macgregor, a retired colonel and leading critic of counterinsurgency who attended West Point with McChrystal. "The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense.

Douglas Macgregor (youtube channel)

Kelley Vlahos, Stan the Man and the people who own the war
Obama’s McChrystal Gaffe--Thomas Fleming
Patrick J. Buchanan, From MacArthur to McChrystal

Counterpunch: Deepak Tripathi,The Obama-McChyrstal Showdown
Jayne Lyn Stahl, The McChrystal Shield

AP: Source: Petraeus chosen to succeed McChrystal (via Drudge)

Sarge just called to say that it's happening right now.

Michael Ruppert on NY PIX

Documentary 'Collapse' Explores Peak Oil/Energy's Effects On Economy (via Michael Ruppert)

Still spinning...

Life after RC on the new RC handbooks: "We are a work in progress"

The propaganda that still comes out of official LC/RC mouthpieces is anything but "fair" (in an older sense of the word, "morally pure, unblemished."

A reaction to de Benoist's essay

I read Alain de Benoist's "Monotheism vs. Polytheism: The Dilemma at the Heart of the West,"
and I was disappointed. (I believe he had been praised by certain paleoconservatives.) De Benoist encourages Westerners to rediscover a pre-Christian identity, but he can only do it but writing an anti-Christian polemic, blaming Christianity for all of our modern political ills. (Is writing a genealogy an European thing? Or did he pick this up from Nietzsche?) Some seek to separate Jerusalem from Athens; de Benoist (and the translator Tomislav Sunic) seek to separate Athens from Jerusalem. But this is impossible. Up to this point I had not read much of de Benoist's writings, content to look at him as a possible source of good European "rightist" thought. Now, I have my doubts. Does he take the modern nation-state for granted?

Once the polytheism of values "disappears, we face totalitarianism." Pagan thought, on the other hand, which fundamentally remains attached to rootedness and to the place, and which is a preferential center of the crystallization of human identity, rejects all religious and philosophical forms of universalism.

This would seem to take the "particularity" endorsed by paleoconservatives and traditional conservatives to an extreme? Does de Benoist argue for moral relativism? Or should one instead distinguish between moral norms that are universally binding, and their different instantiations in human law? Traditional conservatives recognize the order of charity and the distinctions between people upon which our duties are based, while rejecting the obliteration by liberalism of these differences. If there is a God, are not all people bound to love Him?

Is the anti-Christian direction of this essay the reason why Alt Right published it?

AP: US general in Afghan war at risk of losing his job

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama rebuked his Afghanistan war commander for "poor judgment" Tuesday and considered whether to fire him in the most extraordinary airing of military-civilian tensions since Harry Truman stripped Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command a half-century ago.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal is prepared to submit his resignation at a meeting with Obama on Wednesday at the White House, two military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

ISAF Who's Who


WASHINGTON - MAY 10: US military commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal listens during the White House daily briefing May 10, 2010 at the White House in Washington, DC. McChrystal and Eikenberry briefed the media prior to the visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Washington. (Getty/Daylife)

ARLINGTON, VA - MAY 13: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (C) visits Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery with Commander U.S. Forces Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal (L), and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (not pictured) May 13, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia. Section 60 is where the majority of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried, including 140 casualties from Afghanistan. (Getty/Daylife)

WASHINGTON - MAY 13: Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and Commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal speaks during a news briefing at the Pentagon May 13, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia. McChrystal spoke on the current situations happening at the war in Afghanistan. (Getty/Daylife)

Arizona’s Next Immigration Battle
By Russell Pearce

It could be over the 14th Amendment and “birthright citizenship,” says the senator who introduced the Grand Canyon State’s controversial enforcement law.

(via Daniel McCarthy)

Movies about Confederates

Not surprisingly, Dr. Wilson recommends in the latest issue of Chronicles two independent movies about Southerners during the War to Prevent Southern Independence: Firetrail and The Last Confederate. (I wrote about The Last Confederate, which I still haven't seen, here.) Dr. Wilson writes: "Contemporary manners-challenged Americans might find the dialogue a little slow and stilted. But it captures truly the times and people portrayed." Is that what gives the impression that the acting is bad?

Items of Interest, 22 June 2010

Peter Hitchens, Treading on dreams - my struggle with 'Stan'
Rod Dreher, The big mouth of Stanley McChrystal
Richard Spencer, The McChrystal Crackup
Alain de Benoist, Monotheism vs. Polytheism
Fabius Maximus, We are following Japan’s path of decline. The real test comes later this year.

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Expansive Reading of Material Support Law

Zenit:
Papal Address on 400th Anniversary of Matteo Ricci's Death
"An Example of Balance Between Doctrinal Clarity and Prudent Pastoral Action" [2010-06-21]

Papal Homily for Rome Diocesan Ordinations
"This Is the Sure Road to Find True Joy" [2010-06-20]

On the Power of the Cross
"Taking up the Cross Means Committing Oneself to Defeating Sin" [2010-06-20]

Asia Times:
Compulsory retirement irks 'old guard'
An ex-senior Chinese Communist Party member's call that retired officials should not meddle in state affairs is either an admonishment of aging former leaders who cling to influence rather than accept the end of the dynastic system of lifetime tenure, or an early warning for present leaders to abide with new retirement ages. - Wu Zhong

Asia News:
US military pressure increasing in the Persian Gulf by Maurizio d'Orlando
Govt less and less sincere with the people, Card Zen says by Annie Lam
Chinese state-owned banks buy a lot of dollars, yuan loses values
Number of Catholics in Korea continues to grow by Theresa Kim Hwa-young

I have some bug -- cough, fever, sore throat. I've been spending much of my time sleeping, but I really need to get some applications out.

Sandro Magister,Christians in the Middle East. Who's coming, who's going

The old communities are becoming few and far between. But from Asia and Africa millions of new faithful are coming, mainly, to the Gulf and Saudi Arabia. Where, however, religious freedom is still a myth

Items of Interest, 21 June 2010

Fabius Maximus, How Obama failed in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the most common indictments of him are wrong, and overlook his biggest errors.

Energy Bulletin:
Deepwater Horizon: the worst-case scenario

Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute

Already Deepwater Horizon is the not only the worst oil spill, but the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Multiplying the scale of this existing catastrophe multiple times sends us into truly uncharted territory. ... The consequences for the oil industry as a whole would also be dire. More regulations, soaring insurance rates, and drilling moratoria would lead to oil price spikes and shortages.

Counterpunch:
Ralph Nader, Festering Corruption
Ronnie Cummins, Generation Monsanto
Thomas H. Naylor, Vermont and Israel: Silence of the Liberals
Joshua Brollier/Kathy Kelly, Is Pakistan Unraveling?

Ugh. I feel like ____. Is it because of lunch, the nap, or the cold?

The Pertinacious Papist has a post up about Jero and enka: And now, for something to make your heads explode.

My post in January about Jero.

I'll keep my money, thank you.

So Newt Ginrich is trying to solicit money from Catholics for the "Pope John Paul II Documentary Film Campaign," through the Citizens United Foundation. (I received something in the mail today from his organization.) Catholic Republicans should learn more about this fake conservative.

Cardinal Ratzinger's intervention for Mulieris Dignitatem

Here (Spanish only) -- the text is dated September 30, 1988.

The relevant passage, which affirms the headship of the husband:

En el momento en que se suprime el derecho del hombre a repudiar a su mujer, es necesario establecer entre los dos una relación nueva desde sus bases. Estas consecuencias están delineadas en la Carta a los Efesios (5, 21-33) donde el texto de la creación sobre el matrimonio ha de ser releído e interpretado a partir de Cristo. Con los más recientes exegetas, el Papa considera el versículo 21 del capítulo quinto como título de todo el párrafo: “Sed sumisos los unos a los otros en el temor de Cristo”. En esta sumisión recíproca, que se opone a la precedente dominación, el Santo Padre descubre la “novedad evangélica”, la fundamental superación de la discriminación de la mujer provocada por el pecado. Este nuevo y decisivo paso hacia adelante no se cancela en absoluto por el hecho de que a continuación en el texto bíblico el hombre es designado como cabeza de la mujer, De hecho esta formulación recibe su significado auténtico mediante su referencia cristológica: ser cabeza significa, a partir de Cristo, entregarse a sí mismo por la mujer (Ef 5, 25; VII, 24). Por lo demás, si lo antiguo aparece todavía en el lenguaje, esta novedad, que deriva justamente de Cristo, “ha de abrirse camino gradualmente en los corazones... en las costumbres. Se trata de un llamamiento que, desde entonces no cesa de apremiar...” (Ef 5, 25; VII, 24).

I was tipped off to the existence of the document by this discussion at Traditional Marriage.

For Father's Day

George Strait, "Love Without End, Amen":


We took loh dau to Sweet Tomatoes tonight for dinner. He told my mom that he likes Indian food. Not news to me, but I had forgotten. Maybe that's where we'll go next time.

A reader writes to the Thinking Housewife about President Obama proclamation for Father's Day: I Proclaim All Fathers to Be Milquetoast. Why does he denigrate traditional fatherhood? Is it because he is a cultural Marxist? Or because of his childhood? (Or something else?)

California Catholic Women's Forum

I was thinking about the group in connection to "Catholic" feminism and the Thinking Housewife's recent post on John Paul II. Is the group still active? There is supposed to be a conference this year, which has been postponed. One of the scheduled speakers is a Legionary. Does the group have any ties to LC/RC?

Totally Yours: Walking in the Footsteps of Pope John Paul II

Postponed Date TBA

An all day conference on the life and work of Venerable Pope John Paul II, and the woman he loved most, Mary. Join Catholics from across California to build a Culture of Life. This dynamic event brings together speakers and leaders from the Culture of Life who share their vision for our culture and how our living faith calls us to action.

I'm looking at the old brochure from last year, and the group advertises itself as being "True Feminism for Real Women." How would the founders of this group define feminism? A forum from 2007 is described as follows:

11-10-2007 True Grit: Women Confront Life
The Feminine Genius Realized

The fourth conference in our series continued it's exploration of Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter of 1988, Mulieris Dignitatem (no. 19), with an exploration of what Pope John Paul II calls 'suffering', especially the kind of suffering that women put up with on a daily basis, how God has permitted this, and how the way we weather these tribulations can add or subtract from our happiness as people. This "heroic virtue" in everyday life IS True Feminism for Real Women!

I don't think they were promoting a new sort of victimhood for Catholic women, but i could be wrong.

The group's Facebook page.

Redlight

From Amy Chanthaphavong I learn about the movie Redlight.

Trailer

REDLIGHT Trailer from jillian selsky on Vimeo.

I'll Make Music - Hayley Westenra sings Karl Jenkins (exclusive preview)

How can Karl Jenkins top this?

More on Gross National Happiness

Pursuing happiness in hard times (original)
Carl Etnier, Pacifica Radio Network

Is there something in new research that gives clues as to how we can maintain happiness at a time of industrial contraction?

There's good information out there on how to contract sustainably--some of it surprising. Everyone who's looked at the topic finds compelling reasons to use indicators other than GNP, Gross National Product, to guide policy.

Living with moderation, living with less, and living simply. Are the promoters of Gross National Happiness trying to re-invent the wheel? Are the sources for their ethical insights from non-Western traditions? While not all Christians in the past lived with wealth, one must keep in mind that the vast majority were poor but content, and if we look at the consumption of energy and resources, the average citizen of a First World Country has more than medieval kings.

The problem with the Western tradition is that it is Christian. While it is laudable to live sustainabily (and it is a matter of general justice, since one should take care of the environment not only for one's self but for future generations), how many of those who support causes like Gross National Happiness have difficulties living well with others, because they subscribe to "progressive" values with regards to sex, marriage and family? Divorce, a failure to parent well, and so on...

Related:
website
FB
AlterNet article; TIME; Utne Reader
Youtube: Gross National Happiness - Bhutan
Arthur Brooks

NOM: Obama's Father's Day Proclamation: Dads Not that Special

Too much temptation.

The arrest incident in Seattle did turn up on the LRC blog: Imagine What Would Have Happened if They Were Actually Committing a Crime. For at least one LRC blogger, the opportunity to make a dig against law enforcement was too good to pass up. David Kramer writes:

Look at how an incident of jaywalking (a non-crime, in my Libertarian opinion) turned into a major altercation with a Fascist Fuzz. What I greatly admire is how these two women kept fighting back. How many of us would have had the courage to do the same? (By the way, doesn’t this Fascist Fuzz have anything better to do with the tax dollars stolen from the citizens of Seattle to pay his salary to protect them from criminals than looking out for jaywalkers?)

Those who live in the area and have commented on the video have pointed out that there are a lot of jaywalking incidents on this street, some of which have caused accidents. For the sake of public safety, it makes sense that a police officer be assigned to the street until the number of jaywalking offenses goes down. Mr. Karmer admires the women fighting back, when one is resisting a lawful arrest and the other is interfering with that arrest? He thinks that is praiseworthy behavior? What an incredible statement.