Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Uhmericans - ignorance disguised as "facts"

See the comments to this post on Judge Napolitano's Facebook, along with the video, which is of an Austrian economist talking about whether we are running out of resources or not. (A misleading question, since peak anything is not the same as running out.) Those who are commenting talk about shale oil and other fantasies that will not come to fruition. Uhmericans are content to consume as much as they can, while living with the cornucopian delusion that this will be possible forever. I can't say that we don't deserve what we're going to get.

From the Archdruid's latest:
A great many of the flailings and posturings that have defined American culture from the Eighties to the present, in other words, unfolded from what Jean-Paul Sartre called “bad faith” – the unspoken awareness, however frantically denied or repressed, that the things that actually mattered were not things anyone was willing to talk about, and that the solutions everyone wanted to discuss were not actually aimed at their putative targets. The lie at the heart of that bad faith was the desperate attempt to avoid facing the implications of the plain and utterly unwelcome fact that there is no way to make a middle class American lifestyle sustainable.
Chant Cafe: Interview with Fr. Christopher Smith

Interview with Fr. Christopher Smith by Jeffrey Tucker of the ChantCafe.com from Church Music Association of Amer on Vimeo.

NPR: Wu Man: Tiny Desk Concert

audio and video



her official site

John Buntin on Ed Glaeser

The Triumph of the City by John Buntin

Edward Glaeser, Triumph of the City (in which he responds to Jane Jacobs)

Do either pay enough attention to natural limits and sustainability? I can't help but be suspicious of those who would laud megapolises as being or approaching the human ideal.



NPR
NYT review
Slate

Kirkpatrick Sale responds to Will Moredock

Will Moredock is wrong about me and the reasons for secession
No Need for Debate
by Kirkpatrick Sale

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Robb Wolf and Mat Lalonde on The Healthy Skeptic

Podcast info (mp3)

Alison Krauss on The Tonight Show

The episode -- you'll have to FF to the end.

Dr. Fleming on the kinds of jerks

Scala Jerkitudinis: The Subspecies by Thomas Fleming

On not answering unasked questions --

I may not object to hearing you tell me, unasked, how cold it is today or how you are feeling, but I am quite sure I don’t want your opinion on how flat my column fell, how sorry you are that one of my children is a Jerk, or how badly my striped tie goes with my checked jacket. You may have heard that I have been having problems with someone, and you probably think it is kind to offer advice on how to handle the situation. Perhaps it is, but only if I invite the advice.

If I may quote from a great American poet and philosopher, Hiram King Williams: “Why don’t you mind your own business, cause if you mind your own business, you won’t be minding mine.” Or, as he advises in the conclusion, “If you mind your own business, you’ll stay busy all the time.”

It's a piece of advice that do-gooders who would justify their actions under the obligations of charity should take to heart.
Obama's MexicoGate By LAURA CARLSEN
Gunwalking Across the Border

CBS News: Ron Paul on launch of 2012 exploratory committee



His appearance on The Colbert Report.

Carolyn Steel: How food shapes our cities



youtube

Hungry City; the author's professional profile.

Los Zetas

Sarge brings to my attention something about the Zetas. It has links to the following video:

Gangland: Los Zetas 1/4
Gangland: Los Zetas 2/4
Gangland: Los Zetas 3/4
Gangland: Los Zetas 4/4

Sunday, April 24, 2011

60 Minutes feature on Mount Athos now available for viewing

story with extras

Part 1:


See the link above for part 2.

Behind-the-scenes travelogue to holy Mt. Athos
Sorrow and Joy by Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula
I've noticed on Facebook that a lot of the Protestants have been writing "Happy Resurrection Day" instead of "Happy Easter" -- is this particular to one denomination (Evangelicals) who wish to avoid the taint of paganism? I've been trying to use Pascha more than Easter since of its connection to Passover...
Zenit: Benedict XVI's Holy Saturday Homily
Benedict XVI's Easter Message



VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 24: Pope Benedict XVI attends Easter Mass at St. Peter's Square on April 24, 2011 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Getty/Daylife)
Gear Scout: Triple Aught Design’s Force 10 pants now in NyCo

TAD
Grist: Organic agriculture: deeply rooted in science and ecology by Eliot Coleman
With Ron Paul's announcement that he is forming an exploratory committee, I was still thinking that it might be a sign of something, or another mark of the end, as if we will not see a politician like Ron Paul on the national scene ever again. I don't know of any young paleolibertarians in American politics.

Obligatory service in the militia

IT TAKES A MILITIA: A COMMUNITARIAN CASE FOR COMPULSORY ARMS BEARING
by Brannon P. Denning and Glenn Harlan Reynolds

While looking for some sources on left communitarianism I found the above.

Martina McBride, "Teenage Daughters"

CMT

Wishing you a Blessed Pascha!