An Empress and the Warriors trailer (subbed)

plus the MV, @ Twitch

David Mamet piece for this election season

David Mamet: Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal'

Via Drudge, thanks to Pete Takeshi.

Ennio Morricone - Gabriel's Oboe from "The Mission" concert

Ennio Morricone conducts The Mission (Arena di Verona)

"Practical Distributism"

via the ChesterBelloc Mandate, a list of recommendations from JustPeace.org

There are some that I would question, but they are generally worth consideration and practice.

Lind's suggestions for military reform

Dollars and Sense

PCR, How to End the Subprime Crisis

@ Counterpunch

It is certainly true that securitized subprime mortgage instruments were a bad idea, that a lot of people who should have known better opened floodgates to greed and fraud, and that “somebody should pay.” But it shouldn’t be the general public and the economy that pays.

It is also true that without the Federal Reserve’s irresponsible low interest rate monetary policy, which produced a housing boom, the subprime instruments would not have been created, or at least not in such amounts. Rapidly rising real estate prices were expected to make the risky loans good. What were issuers and the Federal Reserve thinking?

No doubt but that greed, fraud, and bad policy all played their roles. But at the heart of the problem is a 1999 “reform” that repealed an earlier reform known as the Glass-Steagall Act.

In 1933 the Glass-Steagall Act separated commercial banking from the securities business. It prevented securities speculation from destroying bank capital and shrinking bank deposits from bank failures and runs on banks by depositors. Congress and President Bill Clinton foolishly repealed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999.

The repeal of the 1933 law was driven by profit lust in the banking industry and by “free market” ideology, which claims the unfettered marketplace is always superior to regulation. In pushing the repeal forward, Congress and Clinton ignored warnings from the General Accounting Office that the banks needed to build up their capital levels before being permitted to enter a broad range of securities businesses. The GAO also noted that there were no regulatory structures in place to monitor the new financial networks that would result from removing the wall between commercial and investment banking.

Keeping Holy Water available during Lent

via Fr. Z: Empty holy water fonts during Lent… GRRRRRR!

Prot. N. 569/00/L

March 14, 2000

Dear Father:

This Congregation for Divine Worship has received your letter sent by fax in which you ask whether it is in accord with liturgical law to remove the Holy Water from the fonts for the duration of the season of Lent.

This Dicastery is able to respond that the removing of Holy Water from the fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted, in particular, for two reasons:

1. The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being praeter legem is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.

2. The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the [sic] of her sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The "fast" and "abstinence" which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church. The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday).

Hoping that this resolves the question and with every good wish and kind regard, I am,

Sincerely yours in Christ,
[signed]
Mons. Mario Marini [Now the Adjunct Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei]
Undersecretary

How would St. Ignatius of Loyola respond to this?

via Fr. Z, "Jesuits Affirm Obedience to Pope," Carlo Casalone, S.J., "the Jesuit superior in Italy, explained that it is always accompanied by “many commonplaces” and is interpreted “in militaristic terms.” He says:

“In reality, obedience understood as uncritical obedience to the will of another is not a virtue,” he observed, emphasizing that in reality it is a matter of “seeking the will of God together with another person, that is, seeking the good to be done.”

Now, perhaps this is a proper understanding of the limits of obedience, acknowledging that it must be in conformity to divine and natural law, and just commands, but--St. Ignatius of Loyola acknowledges as much--one should obey in all matters except sin, iirc. So does he agree with the ideal of obedience to the pope that St. Ignatius puts forth for the Jesuits or not?

Zenit: Benedict XVI Meets With Taizé Prior

Benedict XVI Meets With Taizé Prior

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI received in audience the prior of the ecumenical Taizé community, continuing an annual tradition begun by Pope John XXIII.

The Vatican press office reported that the Pope met with Brother Alois Loser on Monday.

This was his third private audience since he succeeded Taizé's founder, Brother Roger Schutz, as prior of the group. Brother Roger, 90, was killed by a mentally disturbed woman in 2005.

Brother Roger went to Rome each year to meet with Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II. Brother Alois has continued this tradition, meeting with Benedict XVI in January 2006 and in March 2007.

A Vatican communiqué reported, "Brother Alois spoke to the pope in particular about the community’s ministry among young adults, and the recent youth gatherings organized by Taizé in Bolivia and Geneva, and the forthcoming meetings in Kenya and in Brussels."

The superior is in Rome to participate in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the San Lorenzo International Center. On Friday he will preside at a prayer vigil in the center.

The Taizé Community
Taizé - MP3 and podcasts
GIAmusic.com - Taize Community
Patrick J. Burke: The Spirituality of Taize
youtube: Taizé
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . FEATURE . Taize . September 20 ...

And, Communion and Liberation Superior Reelected.

Father Julián Carrón
Lesson by Fr. Julian Carron Sunday Morning, January 14, 2007 (pdf)
John Rod's Life and Interests: Letter from Fr. Carron to CL Movement
ZENIT - Reflection by Father Julián Carrón at Vigil
Notes from the Synthesis by Julián Carrón
CROSSROADS - New York Cultural Center

CL: Official Site of Communion and Liberation
alt
www.Traces-cl.com Official Site - Magazine of Communion and ...
communion and liberation crusaders for catholic integrity
CL Canada
Communion and Liberation: A Movement in the Church - Google Books Result
The Pittsburgh Oratory » Communion & Liberation

Monsignor Luigi Giussani


giussani, come è nato il cristianesimo


Misc:
Community of Sant'Egidio
Community of Sant'Egidio USA

The Lost Boys 2?

For Sarge

Kevin Phillips

The Cousins' Wars
wiki for Kevin Phillips
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Who's Winning the Revolutions?

But with the end of the American Civil War which assured democracy and a republic, capitalism ran amok. It took the the Populist and Progressive Movements and the likes of Teddy Roosevelt to reign in the rampant abuses. We've fallen off the track again, according to Mr. Phillips, who joins critics of today's unbounded capitalism from both the political left and right. He decries today's condition as financial mercantilism focused on aggrandizing only the financial sector of the economy.

That's a questionable assertion--one could make the argument that it is the American Civil War that paved the way for certain economic elites to take power. Still, how does the rest of his thesis play out?

Online NewsHour: The Cousins' War, March 15, 1999
| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 104.5 | The ...
The Emerging Puritan Majority

David Hackett Fisher

author of Albion's Seed

History Department Faculty | Brandeis University
wiki

David Hackett Fischer on Bush's and Gore's Regional Heritages by ...
Right Wing Nut House » AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID HACKETT FISCHER
David Hackett Fischer
The American Enterprise: "Live" with David Hackett Fischer
the talking dog: July 20, 2005, TD Blog Interview with David ...

Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement by David Hackett ...

Technocracy, Inc.

Learned of this through the comments for JHK's latest post.

official website
wiki
Technocracy Study Course
The Technocracy Movement
Howard Scott - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Howard Scott
Technocrat - TIME
technocracy.ca

Hmmm...

New url for Abbot Joseph's blog

wordpress

I just noticed the change, as I had not gone to the blog for a while. His reasons for moving, given last year. (According to CSO, Blogspot/google is now "reformed."

Interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider

@ NLM

Kellie Pickler, I Wonder

MV

At the 2007 CMA Awards:


On The View:


Good Morning America:


I'm posting it not because I'm a fan, but because I came across a mention of it being nominated for the 2008 CMT Music awards. Judge the song for yourself...

Patrick Deneen on sailing and government

Second Sailing

He takes a look at the work of Amitai Etzioni (who is still blogging).

Zenit: B16--On the Resurrection of Lazarus

On the Resurrection of Lazarus

"The Last Great 'Sign' Worked by Jesus"

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before reciting the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our Lenten journey we have arrived at the 5th Sunday, characterized by the Gospel that narrates the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-45). This is the last great “sign” worked by Jesus, and after it the high priests will convene the Sanhedrin and will decide to kill him; it is also decided that Lazarus himself will be killed. Lazarus was the living proof of Christ’s divinity and Christ is the Lord of life and death. In reality this Gospel passage shows Jesus as true Man and true God.

In the first place the evangelist insists on his friendship with Lazarus and the sisters Martha and Mary. He emphasizes that “Jesus loved them very much” (John 11:5), and for this reason wants to work the great prodigy. “Our friend Lazarus has died, but I am going to awaken him” (John 11:11). This is how he spoke to the disciples, expressing God’s view of physical death with the metaphor of sleep: God indeed sees it as sleep from which one can awaken. Jesus shows an absolute power in the face of this death: One sees it when he gives life back to the young son of the widow of Nain (cf. Luke 7:11-17) and to the 12-year-old daughter (cf. Mark 5:35-43). Of the young girl he says, “She is not dead but sleeping” (Mark 5:39), provoking the derision of those present. But in truth this is precisely what it is: The death of the body is a sleep from which God can awaken one at any moment.

This lordship over death does not impede Jesus from experiencing sincere compassion for the sorrow of parting. Seeing Mary and Martha crying and, along with those who had come to console them, Jesus too “is deeply moved and disturbed” and in the end “he wept” (John 11:33, 35). Jesus’ heart is divine-human: In him God and man have perfectly met, without separation and without confusion, he is the image, indeed, the incarnation of the God who is love, mercy, paternal and maternal tenderness, of the God who is Life. This is why he solemnly declares to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, he will live; whoever lives and believes in me, will never die.” And he adds: “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

It is a question that Jesus addresses to each one of us; a question that certainly overwhelms us, it overwhelms our ability to understand, and it asks us to entrust ourselves to him, as he has entrusted himself to the Father. Martha’s response is exemplary: “Yes, O Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (John 11:27). Yes, O Lord! We too believe, despite our doubts and our darkness; we believe in you, because you have the words of eternal life; we want to believe in you, who gives us a trustworthy hope of life beyond life, of authentic and full life in your kingdom of light and peace.

We entrust this prayer to Mary Most Holy. May her intercession strengthen our faith and our hope in Jesus, especially in the moments of great trial and difficulty?

[After the Angelus the Pope said the following in Italian:]

In these last days, violence and horror have again bloodied the Holy Land, feeding a spiral of destruction and death that does not seem to have an end. As I invite you to insistently implore the Almighty Lord for the gift of peace for those regions, I desire to entrust to his mercy the many innocent victims and to express solidarity with the families and the wounded.

Moreover, I encourage the Israeli and Palestinian authorities in their proposal to continue to build, through negotiation, a peaceful and just future, and I ask all in the name of God to abandon the tortuous ways of hatred and vendetta and to responsibly travel the ways of dialogue and trust.

And this is also my wish for Iraq, while we are still concerned over the fate of His Excellency Monsignore Rahho and of many Iraqis who continue to suffer from a blind and absurd violence, certainly contrary to the wishes of God.

Next Thursday, March 13, at 5:30 in the evening, I will preside at a penitential liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica for the young people of the Diocese of Rome. It will be a powerful moment of preparation for the 23rd World Youth Day which will celebrate on Palm Sunday and which will culminate in July with the great meeting in Sydney. Dear young people of Rome, I invite all of you to this appointment with the Mercy of God! To the priests and leaders I recommend that you promote this participation of young people making the words of the apostle Paul your own: “We are ambassadors of Christ … let yourselves be reconciled with God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

[After the Angelus the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

My greetings to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims, especially to the members of the European Parents Association and to the staff and students of Saint Patrick’s Evangelization School from Soho, London. In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear how Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. We also hear how Martha, in the midst of her grief, was able to make her great profession of faith: "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." As we approach the season of Our Lord’s Passion, we pray that our own faith may be strengthened, so that we too can place all our hope in him who is the resurrection and the life. Upon all of you here today, and upon your families and loved ones at home, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.

© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Righteous Kill teaser

@ Yahoo

Red Baron trailer

@ Twitch

The CGI looks better than Flyboys, and there's less of that Star Wars cartoonish feel to the action--except at the end of the trailer, when there is a shot of a group of planes flying, plus the dirigibles...

Rebuild of Evangelion trailer

Twitch

Which includes a link to the following trailer (which is for the first movie, I think):

A General's Spiritual Journey

by the driver of Lt. General Hal Moore

website
A Hero Among Heroes
A General's Spiritual Journey - Christian Newswire
Armchair General Magazine » 10 Questions for General Hal Moore
Hal Moore
Lt. General Hal Moore on For the Record
The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Lt. Col. Harold G.(Hal) Moore - Sep ...
Lieutenant General Hal Moore - Video of Lieutenant General Hal ...
wiki

Two on the Surge

Couterpunch: Scoring the "Surge" and What Lies Beyond by Col. DAN SMITH

And from DNI: Doug Macgregor on the “surge”

An interview with Steve Paikin on Ontario public television.

Streaming video - takes about half an hour (you’ll need a good broadband connection, but well worth a few hiccoughs).

Step Up 2
Brianna Evigan, Cassie Ventura

BRIANA EVIGAN, ANDIE, TALKS ABOUT "STEP UP 2 THE STREETS"


Briana Evigan interview for Step Up 2 the Streets

Saturday's events

First we dropped by Guns Plus in Spring Lake--it was busy, so we decided to go to lunch first.

We then had lunch at Pierros' Pizzeria (on Ramsey Street) in Fayetteville, just down the road from his yimo's house. The food there was pretty good. We both ordered the chicken marsala--the sauce was good, and the chicken breast meat, though rather thick, wasn't dry. (Usually it's sliced thinner because chicken breast meat can get dry rather quickly.) There was only one waitress to cover all of the tables, but I think we had adequate attention.

Then we dropped by another gun store (actually Jim's Pawn Shop in Fayetteville). Employees at both stores were carrying firearms (open carry)--as a deterrent and for protection? That did surprise me, though I don't know why it should. Apparently the guns at both stores are over-priced, but that's normal for the area? Jim's gun shop actually had the HK45c plus a couple of M1As (different models). The shotguns were interesting, too.

After dropping some leftovers at Sarge's apartment, we decided to try Guns Plus again, since I really wanted to try out Sarge's HK USP and do some shooting. It was still busy, but we stuck around this time--the waiting period was about 30 minutes. While we were waiting, we took a look at what they were selling in the store. A video from Suarez International on the use of the AK was being played--I thought that was interesting.

Anyway, there were plenty of guys from the base shooting there with friends (and girlfriends).

I had an ok session--Sarge was giving me directions on using the USP and shooting. A spent casing (I think from the USP and not from the next lane) landed inside my glasses, so there was a minor burn under my eye. Next time I need better eye protection. (But since my pair of glasses broke the night before I need new glasses as well. It's an old pair--I think I've had them for maybe 15 years or so.) I was able to shoot about 40 rounds or so.

Even though it was a 45, the recoil wasn't too bad, though maybe if I shot 100 rounds my hands would feel differently. The grip and the use of the slide were rather awkward for me, and I was feeling somewhat uncomfortable and not focused--I think it wasn't because things were being rushed, but because I was nervous. As a result, I couldn't get into a comfortable stance and I was very slow in pulling the trigger. I did ok with respect to the target, but of course I wished I had done better. "Practice makes perfect" but we'll see if the nervousness goes away next time.

Aftewards, we went to North Hills shopping center in Raleigh for dinner and a movie. We decided to go to Cinelli's Pizzeria (chain); Firebirds looked a bit too upscale for us (though there were plenty of patrons who were dressed casually. The hostess and waitress at Cinelli's were attractive. It's fast-food Italian. I ordered the chicken scarparielli, Sarge the chicken monachina.
The service there was all right (though it was better at Pierro's, despite being understaffed). As for the food--I thought the sauce for my chicken dish was salty and spicy but otherwise without much taste--I think the base was tomato, but it was hard to tell. The sausage was ok, but perhaps sliced too thinly, and I wonder how the chicken was cooked. (Perhaps heated might be a better word.) Sarge's chicken was overcooked...

There were plenty of teenagers at the shopping center. We saw The Bank Job--probably a better movie than The Other Boleyn Girl. The trailers before the movie were groan-worthy...
Amercan movies and the other patrons of the shopping center make one lament the state of culture in the U.S. (and in the South). I sympathize even more with the "grumpy old men" over at Chronicles now.