Despite evidence that the Taliban insurgency had grown significantly in 2010, the U.S. intelligence community failed to revise its estimate for Taliban forces as part of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan in December.
That unusual decision was in deference to Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan, who did not want any official estimate of the insurgency's strength that would contradict his claims of success by Special Operations Forces in reducing the capabilities of the Taliban in 2010.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Gareth Porter, Deferring to Petraeus
Counterpunch
Triple Aught Design, Ranger Hoodie LT
page (The Apparel section for TAD)
There is a review over at Gear Scout.
More Coverage:
Acquire
Soldier Systems
Tactical Survivor blog
There is a review over at Gear Scout.
More Coverage:
Acquire
Soldier Systems
Tactical Survivor blog
One More Thing on Barefoot Running
This time over at LLVLC - The LLVLC Show (Episode 444): Dr. Daniel Howell Promotes The Health Benefits Of Going Barefoot
Daniel Howell, The Barefoot Book
The Barefoot Professor blog
Related:
Living Barefoot interview
Barefoot Runners Society links to this podcast
Richmond Times-Dispatch article
Indyposted
Daniel Howell, The Barefoot Book
The Barefoot Professor blog
Related:
Living Barefoot interview
Barefoot Runners Society links to this podcast
Richmond Times-Dispatch article
Indyposted
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
(via Living Barefoot)The Only Redeeming Feature of Michael Bay Movies?
Something I had not considered before while I was sitting through his productions: Pre and Post Obama America on Display: The Natural vs. Idiocracy. Which do you choose?
What is objectionable is not the use of ethnically diverse casts when it reflects reality, whether present reality or historical reality. Rather, it is the forced use of ethnically diverse casts in order to serve an ideological agenda and is counter to reality (or the original setting of a work). (For example, the complaints about the lack of blacks in depictions of World War II and the casting for The Hobbit, and the decision to cast a black actor as a Norse god in Thor.)*
We're all used to seeing rainbow harmonies on television and movies, but how much of this is just wishful thinking on the part of writers and execs? (How many of them actually live in multicolor communities? And what is more likely to happen outside of workplaces, self-segregation along ethnic and racial lines, or integration?)
*I set aside a discussion of the updating of Shakespeare productions for now.
What is objectionable is not the use of ethnically diverse casts when it reflects reality, whether present reality or historical reality. Rather, it is the forced use of ethnically diverse casts in order to serve an ideological agenda and is counter to reality (or the original setting of a work). (For example, the complaints about the lack of blacks in depictions of World War II and the casting for The Hobbit, and the decision to cast a black actor as a Norse god in Thor.)*
We're all used to seeing rainbow harmonies on television and movies, but how much of this is just wishful thinking on the part of writers and execs? (How many of them actually live in multicolor communities? And what is more likely to happen outside of workplaces, self-segregation along ethnic and racial lines, or integration?)
*I set aside a discussion of the updating of Shakespeare productions for now.
Martin Mosebach at the Church of Our Saviour, NYC
Mediocrity in the Anglophone World
The British intelligentsia is unable or unwilling to distinguish between cultural elitism and social exclusivity - Theodore Dalrymple argues this explains the unutterable mediocrity of contemporary Britain
What Happens in Vagueness Stays in Vagueness by CLARK WHELTON
The decline and fall of American English, and stuff
Jerry Salyer, Is Western Civilization Un-American?
What Happens in Vagueness Stays in Vagueness by CLARK WHELTON
The decline and fall of American English, and stuff
Jerry Salyer, Is Western Civilization Un-American?
Any Letter-Writers Out There?
Swell & Dandy: Gone By The Wayside: Letter-Writing
Is the activity too beta and therefore unappreciated?
Is the activity too beta and therefore unappreciated?
Rhonda Vincent on Prairie Home Companion
February 12, 2011
"Coming to you this week from the John S. Glas Fieldhouse in Bemidji, Minnesota, a live broadcast performance of A Prairie Home Companion. With Special Guests, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, jazz guitarist Sam Miltich, and the diva of the Dakotas, vocalist Andra Suchy. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Acting; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith, Richard Dworsky and The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon."
"Coming to you this week from the John S. Glas Fieldhouse in Bemidji, Minnesota, a live broadcast performance of A Prairie Home Companion. With Special Guests, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, jazz guitarist Sam Miltich, and the diva of the Dakotas, vocalist Andra Suchy. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Acting; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith, Richard Dworsky and The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon."
Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada of Tokyo on the Neocatechumenal Way in Japan
UCA News Heading the wrong Way for Japan
The country's Neo-Cats need some time for reflection that will pave the way for dialog
(via Catholic Church Conservation)
The country's Neo-Cats need some time for reflection that will pave the way for dialog
(via Catholic Church Conservation)
New trailer for There Be Dragons
There Be Dragons Official Movie Trailer - In U.S. Theaters May 6
I wish they could have just done the movie in Italian, Spanish, etc., instead of English. When the actors speak, I am reminded of bad voice dubbing (like what you'll hear in some of those foreign-made movies put out by Ignatius Press about various saints).
I wish they could have just done the movie in Italian, Spanish, etc., instead of English. When the actors speak, I am reminded of bad voice dubbing (like what you'll hear in some of those foreign-made movies put out by Ignatius Press about various saints).
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Celebrating of CNY
While I was walking to go inside St. Joe's this morning, I considered how many non-Chinese people might be wearing some sort of Chinese clothing today for the lunch in the parish hall. It might have been the practice of the useless rich to throw parties or dinners in which the attire and food of another culture becomes the theme (the British aristocracy dressing up like Indians?); this practice seems to have spread downwards to the middle class. Why can't everyone be Chinese "for a day"? But is it respectful to the members of that culture? Defenders would say they are paying tribute to that culture (or civilization). It seems a rather superficial way, one consonant with consumerism -- dressing up and enjoying the food. "But I also have Chinese friends!"
On FB I have now seen photos of two weddings in which the bride or members of her bridal party dressed up in saris. The brides were "white," while the grooms were Indian. The weddings took place in Catholic churches, and I suspect the brides and grooms were Catholic. In such instances, wearing clothing from another culture is usually intended as a way to show respect to the culture of the other person. In a way it might even be appropriate in certain cultures and situations that the bride do so, since she is leaving her family and entering a new household.* But, they are all living in the United States. (I note that the grooms did not wear Indian dress, but tuxedos. A compromise? Or were they not as interested in doing the ethnic thing as their brides?) Someone could say that clothing is insignificant with respect to representing a culture--one can wear the clothing or eat the food without embracing the culture's beliefs, values, and customs. The donning of foreign garb can thus be an acknowledgement of another's cultural and ethnic heritage and at the same time be a rather superficial action. The wearer may look different on the outside, but he is still the same on the inside. Similarly, for a member of that cultural or ethnic group, the act of wearing his native clothing can just be a symbol of ethnic pride or a matter of "remembering one's roots."
Maybe homogeneity with respect to clothing and food and other things (for the sake of preserving identity) should not be taken to an extreme -- it's the spirit of being assimilated that matters. Still, I had second thoughts about whether or not I would ask my bride to wear Chinese clothing for the wedding, if she were not Chinese. Would this phenomena of cross-cultural dressing be diminished once the cheap energy that enables consumerism is gone? Probably, except in multicultural communities with local clothing makers. As the wearing of another culture's fashion happens only for special occasions, it does not seem to be a serious problem, if it is a problem at all. But if it becomes established as daily wear by members of that culture, it can be a means of upholding a different identity. Family lineage, association with others of that ethnicity, beliefs and customs are more important with respect to developing and reinforcing identity, but clothing is a symbol of a culture and represents a group. (That sort of association exists because we are not angelic beings, nor do we live by pure reason alone; we make use of the senses in our knowing.)
The observance of Catholicized ancestral rites during the Liturgy -- is this something that is done in China or Taiwan? When Pope Pius XII said the ancestral rites could be observed, was this immediately put into effect in China? Or have the Chinese and Taiwanese been slower to re-adopt such practices than Chinese-Americans? Do Vietnamese or Korean Catholics, either here or in Vietnam or Korea, do something similar? (I can't remember if the local Chinese Catholic community celebrates New Year in this way, with a special liturgy. It may just be something that was developed by the pastor of the local parish when he was an associate.) Was there a special liturgy dedicated especially to the new year in China? Members of the Roman-rite do not have a special liturgy for the New Year on the Gregorian calendar--that day is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (or the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord).
In addition to the three customary bows (and the ringing of the Chinese bell), at Mass several of the faithful came up to place items in front of the ancestral tablet. The offering of food and other items to one's ancestors: I was again reminded of what St. Augustine said about the North African practice in the Confessions. Why shouldn't the reasoning also apply to the Chinese custom? (I don't think the medievals talk about the practice of making sacrifices/offerings to human beings.) Even if a sacrifice is not intended by Catholics (as it might be by Chinese who believe that the offerings do have an impact on the well-being of the deceased), does their observance lend credence to the superstition? And is there something wrong with the act itself? What if it is a gesture of gratitude instead? But the meaning of a gesture is determined by convention -- it cannot be changed arbitrarily by one person or even a group.
It seems that one can remember those who have passed during the Divine Liturgy. But the celebration of such rites within the Divine Liturgy? It may be better to do that outside of the Liturgy (before or after?). If we should have intentions for the New Year--should we be our secular peers who talk about New Year's resolutions and such? Conversion should always be on our mind--this is not something to be postponed to the new year. If we have something to prepare for Spring (as the Chinese seem to do), we can pray, as we do on Rogation Days in the EF, for good weather and growing season, adequate rainfall, and so on.
The priests were wearing red, as red is the color for celebrations/happy occasions in Chinese culture.
MISSION WORK IN NON-ORTHODOX LANDS: ARE THERE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE “RITES CONTROVERSY”?
*A wedding is not a "bare biological fact"--since individuals are "dependent rational animals" who are formed through tradition, there is more to marriage (and the determining of compatibility) than an individual male encountering an individual female. It may be that both parties of an interethnic marriage are culturally Americans (or Uhmericans). Other times there may actually be differences in cultures (and ways of thinking) which become obvious only later, when the spouses are living together. In such cases, cultural conflicts may be resolved through compromise on both sides. Or one spouse may begin to adopt the other's culture. Now some feminists may demand that the husband accomodate the wife in all instances, but it seems to be more natural for the woman to do so.
On FB I have now seen photos of two weddings in which the bride or members of her bridal party dressed up in saris. The brides were "white," while the grooms were Indian. The weddings took place in Catholic churches, and I suspect the brides and grooms were Catholic. In such instances, wearing clothing from another culture is usually intended as a way to show respect to the culture of the other person. In a way it might even be appropriate in certain cultures and situations that the bride do so, since she is leaving her family and entering a new household.* But, they are all living in the United States. (I note that the grooms did not wear Indian dress, but tuxedos. A compromise? Or were they not as interested in doing the ethnic thing as their brides?) Someone could say that clothing is insignificant with respect to representing a culture--one can wear the clothing or eat the food without embracing the culture's beliefs, values, and customs. The donning of foreign garb can thus be an acknowledgement of another's cultural and ethnic heritage and at the same time be a rather superficial action. The wearer may look different on the outside, but he is still the same on the inside. Similarly, for a member of that cultural or ethnic group, the act of wearing his native clothing can just be a symbol of ethnic pride or a matter of "remembering one's roots."
Maybe homogeneity with respect to clothing and food and other things (for the sake of preserving identity) should not be taken to an extreme -- it's the spirit of being assimilated that matters. Still, I had second thoughts about whether or not I would ask my bride to wear Chinese clothing for the wedding, if she were not Chinese. Would this phenomena of cross-cultural dressing be diminished once the cheap energy that enables consumerism is gone? Probably, except in multicultural communities with local clothing makers. As the wearing of another culture's fashion happens only for special occasions, it does not seem to be a serious problem, if it is a problem at all. But if it becomes established as daily wear by members of that culture, it can be a means of upholding a different identity. Family lineage, association with others of that ethnicity, beliefs and customs are more important with respect to developing and reinforcing identity, but clothing is a symbol of a culture and represents a group. (That sort of association exists because we are not angelic beings, nor do we live by pure reason alone; we make use of the senses in our knowing.)
The observance of Catholicized ancestral rites during the Liturgy -- is this something that is done in China or Taiwan? When Pope Pius XII said the ancestral rites could be observed, was this immediately put into effect in China? Or have the Chinese and Taiwanese been slower to re-adopt such practices than Chinese-Americans? Do Vietnamese or Korean Catholics, either here or in Vietnam or Korea, do something similar? (I can't remember if the local Chinese Catholic community celebrates New Year in this way, with a special liturgy. It may just be something that was developed by the pastor of the local parish when he was an associate.) Was there a special liturgy dedicated especially to the new year in China? Members of the Roman-rite do not have a special liturgy for the New Year on the Gregorian calendar--that day is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (or the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord).
In addition to the three customary bows (and the ringing of the Chinese bell), at Mass several of the faithful came up to place items in front of the ancestral tablet. The offering of food and other items to one's ancestors: I was again reminded of what St. Augustine said about the North African practice in the Confessions. Why shouldn't the reasoning also apply to the Chinese custom? (I don't think the medievals talk about the practice of making sacrifices/offerings to human beings.) Even if a sacrifice is not intended by Catholics (as it might be by Chinese who believe that the offerings do have an impact on the well-being of the deceased), does their observance lend credence to the superstition? And is there something wrong with the act itself? What if it is a gesture of gratitude instead? But the meaning of a gesture is determined by convention -- it cannot be changed arbitrarily by one person or even a group.
It seems that one can remember those who have passed during the Divine Liturgy. But the celebration of such rites within the Divine Liturgy? It may be better to do that outside of the Liturgy (before or after?). If we should have intentions for the New Year--should we be our secular peers who talk about New Year's resolutions and such? Conversion should always be on our mind--this is not something to be postponed to the new year. If we have something to prepare for Spring (as the Chinese seem to do), we can pray, as we do on Rogation Days in the EF, for good weather and growing season, adequate rainfall, and so on.
The priests were wearing red, as red is the color for celebrations/happy occasions in Chinese culture.
The Chinese Rites Controversy:
A piece by Richard McBrien (!) on Fr. Matteo Ricci and the Chinese rites controversy: Matteo Ricci after 400 Years.
CULTURE AND LITURGY: ANCESTOR VENERATION AS A TEST CASE by Peter C. Phan, The Catholic University of AmericaMISSION WORK IN NON-ORTHODOX LANDS: ARE THERE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE “RITES CONTROVERSY”?
*A wedding is not a "bare biological fact"--since individuals are "dependent rational animals" who are formed through tradition, there is more to marriage (and the determining of compatibility) than an individual male encountering an individual female. It may be that both parties of an interethnic marriage are culturally Americans (or Uhmericans). Other times there may actually be differences in cultures (and ways of thinking) which become obvious only later, when the spouses are living together. In such cases, cultural conflicts may be resolved through compromise on both sides. Or one spouse may begin to adopt the other's culture. Now some feminists may demand that the husband accomodate the wife in all instances, but it seems to be more natural for the woman to do so.
Into Eternity trailer
Apple
Apple synopsis: "INTO ETERNITY is a mind-bending film that explores the utter impossibility of storing nuclear waste for 100,000 years, the time estimated by scientists to render it safe. It is, on the one hand, a documentary about the Onkalo storage facility presently under construction in Finland, and on the other hand, a startlingly beautiful work of art and an urgent provocation that ponders the question of who - or what - will remain on this earth when that time frame has elapsed."
website
Apple synopsis: "INTO ETERNITY is a mind-bending film that explores the utter impossibility of storing nuclear waste for 100,000 years, the time estimated by scientists to render it safe. It is, on the one hand, a documentary about the Onkalo storage facility presently under construction in Finland, and on the other hand, a startlingly beautiful work of art and an urgent provocation that ponders the question of who - or what - will remain on this earth when that time frame has elapsed."
website
"The Best of Eric Taylor"
(source)
The best of Coach Taylor, when he's acting as Coach at least. His family life is a different story--and the series finale (which I haven't seen) seems to confirm my judgment of him as a character and the story of FNL as a whole--Coach is a beta when it comes to dealing with his wife and worse with respect to his children, and the show, despite being set in Texas, advances Hollywood's values, not the conservative values of middle America. Only in the minds of those working in Hollywood can a woman "have it all." While I have enjoyed watching the interaction between coach and his players, I disagree with those critics who believe the show to be so great -- they're wrong, because they agree with the show's values. (They also love the drama, which is all right, but must be subordinate to the moral framework of the story.)
Time blog post about the series finale (contains spoilers).
The Era of Cheap Energy
Today at lunch the friend of a HS friend showed us some notes of Israeli currency. He called it "plastic money" and "Monopoly money" because the notes are made of plastic, not paper. (He showed us some older notes, which were made from paper, and we compared the texture of the two.) He told us that it was cheaper to make plastic money than paper money -- a good illustration of how cheap oil still is? For how much longer will this era last? $90/barrel isn't that bad, even if we think we are being bitten at the gas pump.
Fabius Maximus: Excessive optimism is our enemy, with Coal-to-liquids as a case study
The week of the game changer in oil, or was it? by Kurt Cobb (EB)
Fabius Maximus: Excessive optimism is our enemy, with Coal-to-liquids as a case study
The week of the game changer in oil, or was it? by Kurt Cobb (EB)
That VW Commercial
Regardless of what you might think about cars (or VWs in particular), Star Wars, or George Lucas, one can praise the commercial for not showing dads as idiots, right? Although you might say he is being a bad dad because he is wrong in letting his son think that he has the power of the Force to start cars... (and he doesn't know how to raise his kid to be respectful and greet him when he comes home--is that the accepted norm now in Uhmerican suburbia?)
Discussion initiated by Jeff Culbreath of Donald Livingston's article on Hume and Human Scale at WWWTW.
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