Kurt Harris, Paleo 2.0 - A Diet Manifesto and Why Paleo 2.0?

SF sniper course

Tactical Life: Sneek Peak: XM25 (video)

Today there was a special Ching Ming Mass sponsored by the SJCCC at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

The chapel at the cemetery is all right; the interior resembles colonial Spanish architecture. Behind the altar is a sculpture of the resurrected Christ, which was modern but ok; still, there is no crucifix. Having both would be ok, if they matched, unless there is a prohibition against having the depiction of the resurrected or glorified Christ. (And there isn't.) The Stations of the Cross are simple, and only Christ is depicted. The added benefit of the sculpture behind the altar is that it can serve as the final station? I should take some photos next time I am there. The monthly Mass for the dead is next Saturday.

At the end of the liturgy was a rite for the veneration of ancestors. The priest offered incense, flowers, and wine. (No comment about the lay ministers present.) The liturgy was a mix of the good and bad in contemporary Mandarin Chinese liturgical worship. I've attended worse Mandarin Chinese liturgies. An example of the bad would be the Communion song -- typical contemporary Mandarin Chinese worship music? "I will love Jesus forever." A bit presumptuous, and could be (semi-)Pelagian.

There was a nice reception after the Mass, and I saw Mr. W (the husband of my mother's friend); he was there along with his two sons, the second daughter-in-law, and his daughter. I hadn't seen him during Mass (I think his family was sitting outside in the foyer to the chapel). I thought about approaching him and his family but my mother had already met with them and she was in a rush to get home. (She's off to babysit for my sisters.)

Someone bought "organic" soda (organic sugar cane sugar instead of HFCS) from Costco? I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect it won't be much different from Hansen's. How much is a case? (100 pack?) Sandwiches and egg rolls were from Lee's Sandwiches -- sufficient to satisfy my craving for a sandwich.

Their idea of an April Fool's Joke

But almost anything would be better than the current regulations: Stetson hat to be new Army standard headgear. Army Cav still wears such hats?

Whose dream job?

flickr


Tactics training


Michael Pannone, a former Marine and U.S. Army Retired Special Operations Force soldier and now a professional firearms and tactics trainer, teaches a class to scouts with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team March 21-24, 2011, at Fort Bragg, N.C. Pannone, who is donating a week of his time to train several dozen paratroopers, emphasizes knowing the capabilities of one’s tools, knowing the desired end-state, and modifying generic solutions one has learned to create a dynamic solution that best fits the situation. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)

California Catholic Daily: Recorded during long and violent storm
Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey produce soon to be available third album

Propositionalists

Lydia McGrew, Shouldn't We All be Propositionalists:

So after the manner of boring analytic philosophers the world over, I propose that we disambiguate the term, separating it into propositionalism1 and propositionalism2. I say that propositionalism1 is naive and foolish while propositionalism2 is sensible and importantly right. Here we go:

Propositionalism1 includes, but may not be limited to, the following theses:

1. All groups of people the world over, regardless of ethnicity or cultural background, are equally likely (or approximately equally likely) to produce good naturalized American citizens.

2. All that is necessary to turn people into good naturalized American citizens is to teach them certain propositions about the nature of politics, freedom, and the like, which they will eagerly embrace as soon as they understand them.

Therefore,

3. It would be wrong to discriminate in any way in immigration policies on the basis of ethnic or cultural background.

4. The success of the American form of government can readily be repeated in other countries with vastly different cultural backgrounds from America's.

Propositionalism2 includes, but may not be limited to, the following theses.

1. America has become great in no small measure because of the nature of the form of government put together by America's founders, who were right in their propositional ideas concerning the wisdom of the details of their system--e.g., checks and balances, separation of powers, freedom of religion, and the limitation of federal powers to those enumerated.

2. There is another set of important ideas presupposed by the American form of government which are not, unfortunately, exemplified in all other countries of the world and are centrally important to America's greatness. These include the evil of government corruption, the equality of persons under the law, the value of honesty and hard work, and the importance of the rule of law.

3. An understanding and love of the ideas in #1 and #2 is a crucial part of being a good American citizen.

4. It is not only theoretically possible but also a live, practical possibility that some people not born in America will develop this understanding.

5. If people can come to embrace these ideas, there is a good chance that they will make good naturalized American citizens. In fact, Americans born in America from generations of American citizens who scorn these ideas may be worse and less loyal citizens than those naturalized who have a deep understanding and love for these ideas. Those who have no concept of these ideas have suffered from a sad gap in their American civics education which should be remedied if and when at all possible.

6. Being of non-Caucasian lineage is not by itself sufficient to make it so highly unlikely that one will embrace these ideas and become a good citizen that all persons of non-Caucasian lineage should be debarred from coming to the United States and attempting to become citizens. While race and ethnicity are closely bound up together and can be important cultural markers, race by itself is not everything and does not automatically designate cultural fitness or unfitness for presence in the United States and future good citizenship.

7. Loving one's soil and kindred is not enough to make one a good American, per se, as opposed to a patriotic citizen of some country (any country) or other.

Is AMC that desperate for revenue?

Their MovieWatcher program is being replaced by AMC Stubs -- sure there are some improvements, rewards expire after 90 days instead of 30, and so on. But customers have to pay an annual fee of $12 to be a part of this program. ($6 if they sign up now!) Unbelievable.

Hanna

The movie about a teenaged-girl raised by her burned spy father to become an assassin who avenges the injustice done to him. I did not watch the trailer when it first came out; I saw it only a few months ago, and didn't think much of it. Recently, it struck me that this was similar to the story of the "heroine" of Kick-Ass. This is "girl power" magnified with "girl" being taken literally; it is not so different from a live-action version of The Powerpuff Girls.

I find this sort of depiction to be rather twisted; who wants to watch little girls able to do such things? What kind of male would enjoy such a spectacle? (It's different with Cynthia Rothrock or Michelle Yeoh doing the ass-kicking, or contemporary Uhmerican heroines.) Are there some pervs out there who sexualize such girl characters? (It would be more creepy with respect to Kick-Ass, since the girl wonder is barely a teenager.)

I think the movie will bomb at the box office.

The Spearhead: Little Lies

I didn't now this about the "star" of Kick-Ass: 'Kick-Ass' star Johnson, 19, says pregnant girlfriend, 43, is 'fantastic mother'

I had a craving for an Italian sandwich

and cold cuts yesterday. A timely piece from Mark Sisson: Meat Musings: Are Cold Cuts Primal? I might have needed it yesterday, when it was published, but I had already decided I wasn't going to spend the money at Togo's.

Items of Interest, 1 April 2011

Scott Richert, Fool for the Truth
Thomas Fleming, Ancien Régime III, 1-3 and Book Diary

Paul Craig Roberts, The New Colonialism
Alexander Cockburn, Battling the Beast
NYT: C.I.A. Agents in Libya Aid Airstrikes and Meet Rebels

Kevin Carson, To Solve the Problem of Money in Politics, Just Get Rid of the Politics — and the Money

NLM: Creating an Icon of a Modern Saint by Aidan Hart

NLM: An Important Liturgical Reform of the Eighth Century

What is the ratio for abstaining from the celebration of the divine liturgy during Lent?

The ordination of Joseph Ratzinger to the priesthood

(via NLM)

gloria.tv

Chronicle of Higher Ed: Yale and National U. of Singapore Set Plans for New Liberal-Arts College

Aristotle Meets Confucius

Asian universities, by contrast, have traditionally stressed specialized, career-focused training. But the idea of a liberal-arts education, with an emphasis on critical inquiry, has begun to gain traction across the Asian continent, and Mr. Levin said he hoped the Yale-NUS collaboration could prove to be a model for the region.

That would be in keeping with Yale's history as a leader in the development of American liberal-arts education in the early 19th century, Mr. Levin said. This new breed of liberal education will marry Eastern and Western intellectual traditions and cultural perspectives. For example, Mr. Levin envisions a course comparing the works of Aristotle and Confucius, who lived less than two centuries apart.

Returning to Yale's roots as a liberal-arts innovator was "irresistible," Mr. Levin said, adding that Yale had passed on other offers of international partnerships.

But if employers don't respect the degree, will anyone enroll in the program?

AICN: Here's a trailer for CRISTIADA, a period war flick starring Andy Garcia and featuring the great Peter O'Toole!

I can't tell if Andy Garcia's character is supposed to be more liberal than Catholic. I haven't seen his movie tribute to pre-Castro Cuba, The Lost City.

Transition Voice and the author of the blog introduce Lindsay's List: "It’s a blog mostly geared toward women because we make the majority of buying decisions in a home and are therefore more likely to influence the material values of a family. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be things for the guys, too."

Ralph Nader on nuclear power

Obama’s March madness

Obama’s non-plan for reducing oil dependence
Lou Grinzo, The Cost of Energy

JMG advocates... the use of railway

Just like James Howard Kunstler... Too Much Energy?

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the viewing/wake of my mother's friend. Again, rather unreal to see the body of the deceased -- it just isn't the same as the living person you once knew. It isn't surprising that some think of the body as just a shell, as that the reality of the person is no longer present even though the body lies before you. While I was there I did what I could to honor and pray for her, but I couldn't really express sympathy and my condolences in words. A long day at work? Impairment of my mental faculties? Or I was just being shy and awkward. Hard to say... I think the family was appreciative that I was there nonetheless...

Are we too much of a stranger to death? That is to say, we lack enough personal ties to others in our community that we do not have to suffer the death of others except infrequently, until we get older? What sort of impact does this have on our maturation (confronting death and becoming aware of our own mortality can be the starting point of conversion).

I have to say that it was fun having a police escort this morning for the funeral procession. The funeral banquet was held at Fu Lam Moon in Mountain View... too much rice for me! I had a carb coma this afternoon, and I did not feel good when I woke up from my nap.

Fr. Edward McNamara on Why Dates of Easter Differ And More on Ash Wednesday

Breaking free from factory farms by Joel Salatin

Breaking free from factory farms by Joel Salatin (EB)

Getting the President to laugh
Gene Logsdon, The Contrary Farmer

To be able to get the president of the United States to laugh like that in front of the whole world in these awful times… well, that’s a real accomplishment. I am not surprised, however. If you know Wendell [Berry], he can make very funny remarks at the most unexpected times. I asked him what he whispered to the president but he’s not talking. Says he can’t remember.

His message, now and always, is that society is ignoring and abandoning ecological and economic common sense and we will pay for it. Is he right? Look around you.

Dr. Fleming's latest installment on jerks

Land of the Rude, Home of the Jerk

According to Robert Axelrod’s Theory of Cooperation, most people can be expected to play life’s little games by the rules, so long as they count on interacting in the future with the same people. But, if you are leaving town—or have even thought about leaving town—the incentives to cheat rise quickly. You can bounce a check, defraud a partner, abandon a wife and escape at least the social consequences by skipping off to greater Los Angeles.

Jerks are not tolerated in small-scale societies: they are talked about or driven into exile or sent to Coventry. But imagine if you constructed a city of 10 million people, most of them from out of town, who spend a good part of each day in the company of total strangers they will never see again. This city would not operate according to a single moral code, because it would include large numbers of Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Muslims, atheists and skeptics. There might be some common agreement against murder and theft but not on such large social issues as marriage, divorce, and abortion, much less on public drunkenness, proper behavior in public places, and the tone and volume of conversations in a restaurant.