Denis McNamara

A review of his Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy.

The Institute for Sacred Architecture
The Liturgical Institute
Shadow, Image and Reality: The Church as Sacramental Building
"Sacred Architecture: A Balthasarian Approach"
NLM: Hillenbrand Lecture by Dr. Denis McNamara: Gothic Architecture and the Inheritance of the Temple

A recommendation for Downton Abbey

NPR: For Anglophiles, Three New TV Shows To Enjoy by David Bianculli

Sissel - Shenandoah

Her website.

Dominicans in Macau!

Their website. Maybe they can take on those Jesuits there!

Bloomberg: Gates Proposes Troop Cuts, $78 Billion Reduction in Defense Budget by 2016

Col. Robert Howard

Sarge brought him up in a conversation. Robert L. Howard Tribute Website

His obituary from the Boston Globe in December 2009: Colonel Robert L. Howard, 70; despite wounds, Green Beret rescued fellow soldiers in Vietnam. NYT. Washington Post.
article
Citation for the MOH.
D Magazine
Arlington Cemetary









COL Robert L Howard MOH

Some photos from 2009.

Perpetual Union in the Articles of Confederation

In a certain magazine devoted to the "Civil War," a reader writes to tell us that it is obvious that secession is illegal, because in the Articles of Confederation it is stated that the states seek perpetual union. (An argument that Lincoln himself resorted to.) But is it so obvious?

Is this wording just an instance of wishful thinking, with no legal ramififaction or mandate on the part of the Federal government to prevent secession? What happened with the ratification of the Constitution? Arguably, it was secession, as the states withdrew and ratified a new constitution.

AN ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LEGAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST SECESSION by Jim Ostroski
The Constitutional Right of Secession by James Spence
The Legality of Secession
Secession - A Peculiar Concept by Scott T. Whiteman, Esq.
A discussion on FB
A Southern View of History - The War for Southern Independence, Part 1
The Legality of Secession
The Right of States to Secede, New York Daily News, November 16, 1860

A yankee sees secession as traitorous: How the South rationalizes secession.

Downton Abbey

Starts next Sunday on Masterpiece Theater.

ITV

Will our HS class have its reunion this year? No word yet. I haven't decided whether I'd go, but I'm not inclined to. I imagine that if I went, those who weren't friends but nonetheless knew who I am would not say hi. Maybe I'd do the same as well. When everyone has spread far apart and has few connections with people in their class, a reunion might seem like a pure exercise in nostalgia. Reunions show how little community there is in a high school, even among the cliques. We were too young to know what friendship was on our own, and no one every tried to teach us what it is to be a friend.

That hated show.

The latest season of The Bachelor has started. I mention it only beecause someone from a certain Catholic school professes to be a fan, which I find rather bizarre.

Are the "contestants" typical young American women? And how truthful are their answers? Lot of women with tattoos. If the answers are accurate, then I wouldn't be surprised if they were called entitled princesses. And they're all in pursuit of an alpha, not for a comfortable beta. I don't know how any serious man would not be tempted to misogyny listening to them talk and watching their behavior (especially their fake friendliness towards the other women). I haven't watched any of the recent seasons, but even if it is just reality TV with some predictability, I think there is some basis in reality for their behavior, especially if they are really looking for "true love" and not a ticket to becoming a Hollywood star.

Stuff from Grist

How to get your city to allow backyard chickens
Guy stops using soap for a year, loves it
U.S. military sees great value in distributed renewable energy
Gulf oil spill methane bloom disappears

Misc: The Homebrew Industrial Revolution

Gerald Celente clips

I don't remember if I posted this link before: Official Gerald Celente Media Blog. (I believe I did post his youtube channel.)  Mr. Celente was on Coast to Coast AM last night, but you have to subscribe if you want to hear that interview.

Gerald Celente: Top trends analyst looks at unemployment statistics.
A fan blog.

Dean Baker on the housing bubble

How Many Economists Does It Take to See an $8 Trillion Housing Bubble?
By DEAN BAKER.
Sticking the Taxpayer (Not the Banks) With the Tab

And: The Urge to Surge
By TOM ENGLEHARDT
War is a Drug

The ordinariate is happening, at an unprecedented pace
The speed of the operation is possible because of the Pope’s personal knowledge of those involved
By WILLIAM ODDIE

(via Atonement Online)

FPJ: Burke and the American Tradition of Ordered Liberty by Ian Crowe

Phillip Blond video

Phillip Blond - Red Tory: The future of progressive Conservatism?

Sharon Astyk reviews The Resilient Gardener.

My ticket cost $38...

but it was worth it to see Rhonda Vincent and the Rage tonight. It was my first time at Freight and Salvage, but it was enough to convince me that it is really a jewel of the Bay Area. I wish I had more money to spend on performances. I'll write a post later about the day. Here is a heads-up on a future performance: Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas will be performing at F&S on February 11.












Also, Laurie Lewis will be performing the evening after, as part of the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival. (The schedule for this year's festival.)

Going to drop by the old alma mater, and then it's off to see the Queen of Bluegrass tonight.

Interview with Roland Joffé

Zenit: ST. JOSEMARÍA ESCRIVÁ, CIVIL WAR AND FORGIVENESS
Interview With "There Be Dragons" Movie Director

The interview does not inspire confidence with me, though it may be possible to interpret the story in accordance with what the Church teaches about grace and caritas. But the movie could be in keeping with the spirit of Vatican II -- modern man is looking for love, he is capable of love, and all religions teach about love, etc. etc.

Left communitarianism that is sensible.

Homo Economicus versus person-in-community
by Herman Daly
(archived at EB)

As a "right communitarian," I see very little that is objectionable in this piece.

Can't quit on Counterpunch yet.

Gareth Porter, How Afghanistan Became a War for NATO
Ray McGovern, Why Obama Should Read Wikileaks on Afghanistan

Ralph Nader, Tweeting Away the Time

Russell Mokhiber, Big is Bad Nassim Taleb Says No to Big Corporations and Big Government

Dave Lindorff, Serfing USA: How Corporate America is Robbing American Workers
Paul Craig Roberts, Our Lickspittle Press

Some food for thought:
Joshua Sperber, The Subversive Conservatism of "True Grit"

I saw True Grit last week with one of my cousins...

On temperance, again.

Zac Alstin, Obesity and the ethicist’s diet (via the Western Confucian)

The author writes:

The prevalence of obesity in modern western societies is widely acknowledged as one of the great healthcare challenges of our time. Yet the problem of obesity and diet is less of a mystery now than it has ever been. As the World Health Organisation states: "The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed on one hand, and calories expended on the other hand."

With Gary Tabues and other proponents of low-carb diets in mind, I wrote this post on temperance, which is in need of some revision but this is my main point -- obesity is not just due to a greater adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle but also to the effects of a diet high in sugars and carbohydrates, which have an impact on the signalling of hunger. If a healthy body can be relied upon to tell us when we should eat and when we shouldn't and we have become sick because of a diet that is too high in sugars and carbs, how much moral responsibility can we have for not being temperate, if we are responding to what our body seems to be telling us? The mean of temperance is determined relative to us, but this does not necessitate that we always calculate how much is enough (e.g. counting calories). We should be surprised if the Author of Life did not include with the human body a mechanism for signalling satiety, or what our nutritional requirements are. (One does not see obese animals in the wild.) Through the virtue our appetite is made subordinate to reason, in that we choose not to eat more than we need to. The definition of virtue does not require that we that the judgment of the mean be arrived solely through intellectual means.

I think we shouldn't be so quick to judge those who have followed the FDA and other "experts" regarding dietary/nutrition guidelines (which just gives a more sanitized version of the SAD, standard American diet) and exercise but still can't lose fat. With that said, I think there is some room to criticize those who have no self-control at all when it comes to sugar, and cannot even bring themselves to cut out sugars and junk food from their diet.

Gary Taubes's new book can be previewed at Google Books.

Why We Get Fat: Adiposity 101 and the Alternative Hypothesis of Obesity

Sandro Magister, Cardinal Biffi Breaks Another Taboo. On Dossetti

(via NLM)

"The Catholic historian Roberto de Mattei recently published a new history of Vatican Council II that is causing a great deal of discussion, because of its method and conclusions."

Dr. Fleming:

By the way, my friend Roberto di Mattei has just come out with a long and detailed book on the Second Vatican Council. I have only read the opening chapter, but it is quite hard hitting against all the modernists and ecumenists who paved the way for that disaster. I don’t know if there are any plans to translate it into English, but since he has excellent contacts in France, I have little doubt it will be out in French before too long. He is none too kind to messers Chardin, Lubac, Murray, et al, though he has excellent remarks on Msgr. Fenton. I have nothing more to say on this, but I do hope that others will refrain from posting any more links to ipse dixit arguments.

Back in CA

I was in Arizona for a few days to visit relatives, as usual, but I flew back with my mother this morning. I was able to get on the morning flight; it was unexpected. My mother of course attributes it to the efficacy of prayer.