WATCH: Polish Government Releases Video Blasting EU’s Record on Migrant Crisis and Terrorism
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Auto traffic was light yesterday on the local roads, but I didn't go anywhere near Valley Fair/Santana Row, so I don't know if those places were packed or not. I didn't go to Target or Walmart either.
Black Friday in the SF Bay Area is unreal. The fact is that the Upside Down is not somewhere else; we are living the Upside Down. The commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord has been transformed into a secularized, inoffensive festivity ofChristmas, with no connection to the Passion or the Resurrection. (How long before they toss away Santa Claus as a symbol of patriarchy or replace him with some gender-neutral figure?)
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Phil 3:18-19)
Silicon Valley is marked by the pursuit of wealth and the increasingly difficult to obtain level of bourgeois comfort, the primary good shared by the disparate inhabitants of the area to the detriment of community. There is no social manifestation of materialism or consumerism without corresponding vices, and ignorance of the true good does not preclude the development of vice. We run away from death and avoid thinking about it, but death is certain to visit us, without needing a team of flying reindeer.
Even for many Christians their Gospel has been replaced by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: God loves us so much that He wanted to be with us in the form of Christ, because we are such special snowflakes.
"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17)
Black Friday in the SF Bay Area is unreal. The fact is that the Upside Down is not somewhere else; we are living the Upside Down. The commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord has been transformed into a secularized, inoffensive festivity of
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Phil 3:18-19)
Silicon Valley is marked by the pursuit of wealth and the increasingly difficult to obtain level of bourgeois comfort, the primary good shared by the disparate inhabitants of the area to the detriment of community. There is no social manifestation of materialism or consumerism without corresponding vices, and ignorance of the true good does not preclude the development of vice. We run away from death and avoid thinking about it, but death is certain to visit us, without needing a team of flying reindeer.
Even for many Christians their Gospel has been replaced by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: God loves us so much that He wanted to be with us in the form of Christ, because we are such special snowflakes.
"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17)
Funny
Although what inspired it may still be a cause of grief for traditional fans.
NuWho is dead.
And nobody wants to hear the opinion of an actor.
NuWho is dead.
And nobody wants to hear the opinion of an actor.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Shopping Time Is Here
Some online retailers don't even wait until Black Friday to commence the sales period.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Commander Iden Versio
Because what man doesn't want to play a female Imperial soldier who seeks to eradicate the Rebellion?
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Waiting for a Thanksgiving Post
Lee, Kelly, and the Marxists by Boyd Cathey
You would think that David Duke had somehow been elected president. Or, maybe in this topsy-turvy, Alice-in-Wonderland period of history we are living through, that that reactionary “bad guy” Vladimir Putin had somehow actually taken… »
The Extreme Northern Position by Brion McClanahan
If you listen to the modern historical profession, Southern secession in 1861 represented “treason.” David Blight, Professor History at Yale University, has made this belief the part of the core of his attack on Confederate… »
You would think that David Duke had somehow been elected president. Or, maybe in this topsy-turvy, Alice-in-Wonderland period of history we are living through, that that reactionary “bad guy” Vladimir Putin had somehow actually taken… »
The Extreme Northern Position by Brion McClanahan
If you listen to the modern historical profession, Southern secession in 1861 represented “treason.” David Blight, Professor History at Yale University, has made this belief the part of the core of his attack on Confederate… »
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
An Interview with JHK
AmConMag: An Interview With James Howard Kunstler by Addison Del Mastro
America’s foremost critic of suburbia talks strip malls, environmentalism, and Christianity.
America’s foremost critic of suburbia talks strip malls, environmentalism, and Christianity.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Saturday, November 18, 2017
The Fortress
The Fortress (남한산성/南漢山城) is not the best movie for a brief escape from reality. It can be a rather depressing movie, with a limited number of action sequences, so it may not be that appealing to a modern audience. It may be too dreary even for a Korean audience, but I don't know what the Korean reviews of the movie have been like..
The movie is critical of the hypocrisy of the royal court (and of most officials in general). The pro-democracy sentiment expressed briefly by one of the characters in the movie was perhaps anachronistic, even if we might agree with it. (And it is this sentiment which leads to the small emotional pay-off at the end of the movie.)
Some may think that the characterization of the minister of the interior Choi Myung-kil and the minister of rites Kim Sang-heon is inadequate. I thought the conflict (and limited cooperation) between them was sufficient enough to draw a contrast between the two men. (Does the original novel pay more attention to court intrigue and conflicts between the various officials?) Their different understandings of what duty and loyalty require are the engine of the story. (Is the movie, or novel, an adequate representation of the neo-Confucian mindset, though?)
The movie does raise an important moral question: of the prudence for waging a just defensive war against an invader when the defeat seems more likely than not.
Given the historical circumstances of the story, watching the movie can be a bit of slog, and the character arcs of the two officials may not be enough to keep most people's attention.
Still, LBH should do more saeguk -- he's good in these roles.
The movie is critical of the hypocrisy of the royal court (and of most officials in general). The pro-democracy sentiment expressed briefly by one of the characters in the movie was perhaps anachronistic, even if we might agree with it. (And it is this sentiment which leads to the small emotional pay-off at the end of the movie.)
Some may think that the characterization of the minister of the interior Choi Myung-kil and the minister of rites Kim Sang-heon is inadequate. I thought the conflict (and limited cooperation) between them was sufficient enough to draw a contrast between the two men. (Does the original novel pay more attention to court intrigue and conflicts between the various officials?) Their different understandings of what duty and loyalty require are the engine of the story. (Is the movie, or novel, an adequate representation of the neo-Confucian mindset, though?)
The movie does raise an important moral question: of the prudence for waging a just defensive war against an invader when the defeat seems more likely than not.
Given the historical circumstances of the story, watching the movie can be a bit of slog, and the character arcs of the two officials may not be enough to keep most people's attention.
Still, LBH should do more saeguk -- he's good in these roles.
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