February 17th, 7:00 pm - Berkeley, California
when: 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Thursday, February 17th
where: Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar Street (at Bonita Avenue), Berkeley
there will be a $10 suggested donation at the door - no one turned away for lack of funds; first come, first seated.
for more information, please email the BFUU
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Another local showing of The Economics of Happiness
Again in Berkeley:
Fr. Aidan Nichol's Homily for the ‘Primiz’ of Father Andrew Burnham
Fr Aidan Nichols OP: Homily
The Homily preached by Fr Aidan Nichols, O.P., at Fr Andrew Burnham’s mass in Oxford on Sunday, 16 January.
The Homily preached by Fr Aidan Nichols, O.P., at Fr Andrew Burnham’s mass in Oxford on Sunday, 16 January.
NPR: Reynolds Price: A Southern Writer, A Lyrical Gift
(mp3)
Reynolds Price Obituary
Charlie Rose
I hadn't heard of him until today. Is he a good representative of the Southern writing tradition?
(mp3)
Reynolds Price Obituary
Charlie Rose
I hadn't heard of him until today. Is he a good representative of the Southern writing tradition?
The Nov./Dec. Gilbert Magazine at the printer!
And what an issue this one is! The October/November/December issue of Gilbert Magazine is devoted entirely to the difficult and sublime topic of Distributism. Helping us in this endeavor are a slew of guest contributors from The Distributist Review, our fellow warriors in the ongoing battle to educate people about the benefits of the practical appliction of the Catholic Church’s social doctrine, i.e., Distributism.
Joining us in this issue are David Cooney, Bill Powell, Donald P. Goodman III, John Médaille, Ryan Grant, and Thomas Storck. Rounding out the roster are Dale Ahlquist, Richard Alemen, Fr. James V. Schall, and of course G.K. Chesterton himself, who invites readers, at the outset, “Let us cross-examine ourselves, as if preparing for a confessional, about exactly how much there is of anything worth calling Democracy in the welter of wealth and poverty and wage-slavery and world-wide worship of millionaires, that goes to make up the fashion and public opinion of our time.”
Ashley MacIsaac
Fiddle Medley, Ashley MacIsaac and Friends
I took down the Sleepy Maggie MV out of consideration for the weak.
There is this one girl I've known since she was in 2nd grade, 3 years ago.
I can't remember what brought this on, I think I said no when she asked for something, but she then said, "Sh--." She apologized quickly, but I was a bit shocked. My first reaction: who has been such a bad influence upon her? One of her friends from last year, who had attitude problems? Or her sister, who must now be in middle school or just starting high school.
She has somewhat of a bad attitude now. Sometimes she can be sarcastic in her answers, and there is not a little lack of respect towards school. Earlier this week I asked her if her teacher said anything about her class's behavior and she replied, "I don't know. I wasn't listening. She just says, 'Blah blah blah blah.'"
What is wrong with her attitude towards study? Is she just lazy? Is it a real lack of interest? Is it frustration and a lack of self-confidence because she isn't getting good grades? Or has she given up on learning because she isn't very good at it and she believes this?
This suggestion might seem wrong to a liberal, but would she better off learning a manual trade and basic life skills?
At any rate, there isn't much that I can do to change her attitude, and I wouldn't be surprised if in 5 or 6 years she's a single mom. Since when have public schools acted in loco parentis rather than bureaucratic institutions that are trying to reduce their liability?
If administration can show neglect or some other failure, how long will it take for this Oakland teacher to be fired? And will any of the parents sue the district?
I can't remember what brought this on, I think I said no when she asked for something, but she then said, "Sh--." She apologized quickly, but I was a bit shocked. My first reaction: who has been such a bad influence upon her? One of her friends from last year, who had attitude problems? Or her sister, who must now be in middle school or just starting high school.
She has somewhat of a bad attitude now. Sometimes she can be sarcastic in her answers, and there is not a little lack of respect towards school. Earlier this week I asked her if her teacher said anything about her class's behavior and she replied, "I don't know. I wasn't listening. She just says, 'Blah blah blah blah.'"
What is wrong with her attitude towards study? Is she just lazy? Is it a real lack of interest? Is it frustration and a lack of self-confidence because she isn't getting good grades? Or has she given up on learning because she isn't very good at it and she believes this?
This suggestion might seem wrong to a liberal, but would she better off learning a manual trade and basic life skills?
At any rate, there isn't much that I can do to change her attitude, and I wouldn't be surprised if in 5 or 6 years she's a single mom. Since when have public schools acted in loco parentis rather than bureaucratic institutions that are trying to reduce their liability?
If administration can show neglect or some other failure, how long will it take for this Oakland teacher to be fired? And will any of the parents sue the district?
Maybe the actors of The Pacific are no more mature than their peers in Hollywood, but at least they look like men, not boys. (That is probably due to deliberate casting choices?) And the material requires that some version of masculine maturity be portrayed, so one sees it in how they talk and hold themselves.
(Is it possible to compare them with the actors of Band of Brothers on this score?)
(Is it possible to compare them with the actors of Band of Brothers on this score?)
Watching the first episode of the new season of Kitchen Nightmares tonight (Hulu), I was thinking that it was good I wasn't born and raised in New York or New Jersey. I'd hate to have that accent. The grandfather who originally started the restaurant is from Spain, but both of his grandsons speak with that accent. I think one of our classmates from Christendom was from New Jersey, but she didn't have a strong accent. (Besides, her friendliness, cuteness, and intellectual curiosity would have made up for it.)
I don't think I could sit through an episode of Jersey Shore, because of the accent alone.
SnookTV
Snookie
CBS cast interview
Speech Therapy (which suggests Speech Accent Archive and Atlas of North American English)
I don't think I could sit through an episode of Jersey Shore, because of the accent alone.
SnookTV
Snookie
CBS cast interview
Speech Therapy (which suggests Speech Accent Archive and Atlas of North American English)
Medal of Honor for Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller
(alt)
I didn't post a video of the White House ceremony last October.
Army page
Washington Post article and video
Some other videos:
(alt)
CNN story
Kirkpatrick Sale on the Growth of the State
"Small is Bountfil: The Secession Solution" was published in the October 2010 issue of Chronicles.
You can find a version of the article at LRC.
There have been four major periods of great state consolidation and enlargement in the last thousand years. The first (1150 to 1300) came with the establishment of royal dynasties, which replaced medieval baronies and city-states in England, Aquitaine, Sicily, Aragon, and Castile. This resulted in rampant inflation of nearly 400 percent and almost incessant wars, with increasing battle casualties from a few hundred to more than a million.It appears that his focus is primarily on Western European. How do the Byzantine Empire and non-Christian empires that did not survive the modern Western powers fit into this historical analysis? To what degree did they become centralized in their later years?
The second (1525 to 1650) involved the consolidation of national power through standing armies, royal taxation, central banks, civilian bureaucracies, and established state religions. Inflation rose to more than 700 percent in just 125 years. There was also an unprecedented expansion of wars, a war intensity seven times greater than anything Europe had seen before, with casualties increasing to as many as eight million, perhaps five million in the Thirty Years War alone.
Third, from 1775 to 1815, the period of modern state government in most of Europe, including national police forces, conscripted armies, and centralized power a la the Napoleonic Code, inflation rose over 250 percent in just 40 years, and war casualties amounted to 15 million (perhaps 5 million during the Napoleonic Wars).
Finally, from 1910 to 1970, all European states consolidated and expanded power, resulting in the worst depression in history and inflation of 1,400 percent, not to mention the two most ruinous wars in all human history, which contributed to casualties, mostly deaths, of 100 million or more.
You can find a version of the article at LRC.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Would rationing be enough?
If Britain starts fuel rationing, could US be next? by Erik Curren (EB)
Would those with long commutes be able to adjust in time? How would the mass transfer of residences be facilitated?
Would those with long commutes be able to adjust in time? How would the mass transfer of residences be facilitated?
William Oddie, The call for a new Syllabus of Errors, this time on Vatican II, should be heeded (via Fr. Z)
The text of the address by Bishop Athanasius Schneider (via Fr. Z and Rorate Caeli)
If such a syllabus were to come out, I do not think it would be issued before negotiations with the SSPX ended?
The text of the address by Bishop Athanasius Schneider (via Fr. Z and Rorate Caeli)
If such a syllabus were to come out, I do not think it would be issued before negotiations with the SSPX ended?
A comment over at The Spearhead:
Originally posted as a comment to The Art of Manliness?
See also Coming of Age: The Importance of Male Rites of Passage.
Life: An Ongoing Journey from Passage to Passage
Today…rites of passage are almost extinct. Boys [or girls] lack clear markers on their journey to becoming a man [or woman]. If you ask them when the transition occurs, you will get a variety of answers: “”When you get a car,” “When you graduate from college,” “When you get a real job,” “When you lose your virginity,” “When you get married, “When you have a kid,” and so on. The problem with many of these traditional rites of passage is that they have been put off further and further in a young man’s life. 50 years ago the average age an American man started a family was 22. Today, men [and women] …. are getting married and having kids later in life. With these traditional rites of passage increasingly being delayed, many men [and women] are left feeling stuck between [childhood] and [adulthood]. College? Fewer men are graduating. And many that do “boomerang” back home again, spending another few years figuring out what the next step in their life should be. As traditional rites of passage have become fuzzier, young men are plagued with a sense of being adrift. _ArtofManliness
The long transition from the incompetence of infancy to the competence of a skilled, well-rounded, and confident adulthood, should provide many opportunities for acquiring personal competence and for discovering one’s own pace and direction of discovery and mastery over challenges. If a society — such as ours — is profoundly neglectful and negligent in providing for these successive rites and opportunities for competency acquisition, it will be rewarded with lifelong adolescents who lack both competency and confidence.
Although it may never be too late to have a happy childhood, it may be too late to learn competencies at your peak learning window. That is a pity, but only one of many, and not to be cried over. The lesson to be learned from it is to not repeat the same mistake for your students, children, or grandchildren.
If you are 30 or 40 years old and still trying to find your “vision quest” or “rite of passage”, you have been ill treated by well-meaning parents and society. Do what you can to make up for it in yourself, but try not to perpetuate the crime on future generations.
Baby birds have to first crack their way out of their hard shells. Then they have to learn to leave the nest without killing themselves. They have to learn to fly, feed, survive. Then they must find mates, raise their young, migrate with the seasons, over and over again.
Modern humans of affluent societies wish to spare their young from all of those difficulties. That is the worst thing they could do. Modern college professors too often tell students what to think rather than preparing them to competently mind-wrestle all comers. Such indoctrination — a hallmark of a modern university education — is likewise the worst possible approach. And so it goes, as government takes the place of parents and schools, creating an artificial layer of regulation and “protection” around the citizen.
As new generations of incompetents work their way further into the control rooms of government and society, expect things to get harder for almost everyone. These are the times when you want maximum competence for yourself and those around you.
Labels: competence, rite of passage
POSTED BY AL FIN AT 12:54 AM 0 COMMENTS LINKS TO THIS POST 1/19/2011
Originally posted as a comment to The Art of Manliness?
See also Coming of Age: The Importance of Male Rites of Passage.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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