Dr. Laura discourages callers from marrying young, usually by citing statistics on divorce rates, and then talking about how young people in their late teens and early 20s still need to grow up and find out who they are, before they can be ready for marriage. What might this mean? Marriage should not be an escape for people, especially women, who don't know what to do with their lives. Nor should it be a way of finding some sort of emotional security that is lacking due to poor relationships in the past, including a bad relationship with their father. Is Dr. Laura encouraging a sort of individualism with her advice? Or is she just acting the part of a value-neutral psychologist or counselor, and not giving moral advice or vocational guidance? Young people do need to sort out their desires, which may be conflicting--they need to prioritize, harmonize and reconcile their desires into some sort of coherent life-plan. Dr. Laura will encourage those who think they want to get married to put children first and plan accordingly, but she doesn't give much more guidance beyond that. What is missing is an emphasis on community and social obligations. Rather, it is advice geared to those living in America as it is currently and want to maintain the American way of life. Hence, those who are secure in their vocation and identity only need to worry about finding the right spouse--their youthfulness is not a problem, since they have already attained some measure of maturity.

Recently, I have heard her say that [most] people will not be ready for marriage until they are 28 or 29. Perhaps that is an accurate observation of American young adults. But does her encouragement of young people to discover who they are lend itself to an extreme, and undermine her opposition to [radical] feminism? Might not the American individualism and radical feminism share some common assumptions about how life should be lived? Dr. Laura does think that what really matters in life is loving and giving to others, but does one really need 8, 9, 10 years in order to know one's self in this way? Gaining emotional and character stability so that one can love others well shouldn't require that much time. But she does seem to think that people should try out different activities and see what their interests are. To an extent this is necessary for fleshing out one's vocation, but too often experimentation covers up indecision and a lack of resolve. It can potentially reinforce a failure to recognize one's limitations. (Though of these too Dr. Laura tries to make callers aware.)

If instead one concentrates on fleshing out one's vocation, anxieties about what kind of job one should get and so on should be lessened, since it will be shown to be of secondary importance for most people. After all, given the current political economy, most work will not be that fulfilling. The acquisition of the sort of interests and hobbies and leisurely activities, as well as domestic skills, that people need to be prepared for married life should begin when one is still an adolescent. One needs a certain kind of independence from one's parents in order to become a mature adult, but this needs to be balanced against one's obligations to others. Otherwise, I can see how Dr. Laura's advice could be [mis-?]construed to give support to adultlescence, in the name of fostering 'independence' and 'identity-seeking'.

Sierra Mist commercial with Dwayne Johnson

here or here

The models seem to be rather thin--did they really need them to have the intended effect?

Sierra Mist

Julianne Hough Shoot & Intv

Give Way

The New Scot might like this group. Their website. MySpace.

Give Way
Scottish Music from Give Way

GiveWay March 2008 Neil Gow Festival


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

I've been thinking of my students this weekend... I am reminded that it is part of my duty to be a father-figure, and to show the boys what a model father should be like, and for the girls, what a husband should be like--it is a heavy responsibility, and one needs to atone for failures.

Kathleen Parker was recently interviewed by Raymond Arroyo in preparation for Father's Day. I caught part of the interview on the drive down to SLO on Saturday. Mr. Arroyo also had Kathryn Lopez on his show--apparently they're friends. Too bad she's so much of a light-weight on so many issues.

Save the Males by Kathleen Parker - Hardcover - Random House
Interview on Hail the Male on National Review Online
"SAVE THE MALES" - New York Post
Conservative Musings: "Save the Males"

I thought John Zmirak was kidding

but he really has co-authored a graphic novel, which Tom Piatak recommends:

Regular Takimag contributor John Zmirak has written a graphic novel called The Grand Inquisitor, which I have just finished reading. I can report that John’s novel is well-written, inventive, and sometimes even profound, and deals with an issue of importance to non-Catholics as well as Catholics--the loss of vitality of much of the Catholic Church since Vatican II. Despite the efforts of John Paul II and now Benedict XVI, many established Catholic institutions in the West now seem to believe in nothing more than liberalism, and the resulting loss of faith in Europe has had serious spiritual and secular consequences. I doubt, for example, that men filled with the faith of Charles Martel, Jan Sobieski, or Don John of Austria would have allowed Europe to be overrun by a quiet Islamic invasion, such as the one we have witnessed in the past few decades. Zmirak’s novel presents an ingenious explanation for how this weakening of the Faith has come to pass, and offers an equally ingenious hope for recovering the former vitality of the Church Militant.

The website for Crossroad appears to be down for the moment.

Edit: Some bizarre responses by Dr. Gutzman to Mr. Zmirak at the bottom of the post. Logically weak, and disappointing. Is Dr. Gutzman Orthodox? Or just a fan of Dostoevsky?

In defense of Dr. Zmirak (not that he needs one, but the comments section has been closed)--
1. It is not an instance of the tu quoque fallacy if one is not trying to deny the critique, but to put it into context and understand what is being conveyed in the novel. Did Dostoevsky intend a serious critique of the Inquisition of the Catholic Church? Or was he resorting to caricature for the purposes of the parable?

2. And the adjective of "silly" was not modifying the novel, but the slur on the Jesuits. (That the group is interested only in amassing wealth and temporal influence and power, etc.) Let us remember that this slur was first promoted by those who opposed the formation of the Society of Jesus, and was later adopted by those who wished to see it dissolved, free-thinkers, men in positions of high power, and so on.

Via NOR: Pope Benedict XVI sets up anti-terrorist squad
By Malcolm Moore in Rome

And--Alessandra Borghese: the prodigal daughter

Alessandra Borghese's personal wealth - her mother, Countess Fabrizia Citterio, was one of the heirs to the San Pellegrino water fortune- funded her very own cultural centre in Rome, and she married into more money in the form Greek shipping tycoon, Constantine Niarcose. All of which feels a million miles away from the slight, guarded woman sitting opposite me, sipping an espresso in a London café, her clothes simple, her face without a hint of make-up, and her conversation all about God.

Her websites: Alessandra Borghese; Alessandra Borghese

Nuovo Libro Per Alessandra Borghese

The Conversion of Gloria TNT: Fame & Scandal: vanityfair.com

Gloria bought a small palazzo close to the Palazzo Borghese, the ancestral home of Alessandra's father's noble Roman family, which has included the 17th-century Pope Paul V and St. Catherine of Siena. (Her mother's family fortune came from Citterio salami and San Pellegrino mineral water.) In 2000 the two princesses co-authored Our Etiquette: The World of Good Manners from A to Z, which became a best-seller in Germany and Italy. Four years later, Alessandra published With New Eyes: The Story of My Conversion, a memoir about jettisoning her discotheque lifestyle and re-discovering her Catholic faith. Her new book, Thirst for God, has been on Italian best-seller lists for months.

Alessandra has said she owed her conversion to the late Leonardo Mondadori, the socially prominent publisher who had not long before brought out a book about his own conversion. Mondadori, a sympathizer with Opus Dei, introduced Borghese to the powerful Catholic lay organization and also made her Vatican correspondent for the newsweekly Panorama.

Meanwhile, when Gloria told her old friend Monsignor Schmitz, from the Institute of Christ the King, that she was moving to Rome, he was delighted. He encouraged her, she said, "to create a salon" to help restore the relationship between the Vatican hierarchy and the old Roman aristocracy—families such as the Borgheses, the Corsinis, and the Colonnas—whose titles went back to the Papal States and whose privileges had been curtailed by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s.

"I said, 'That's a difficult task, but I will see what I can do,'" Gloria recounted. "And I was really lucky, because la divina provvidenza saw to it that Alessandra became very interested in doing that. I couldn't push her too much in the beginning, because I didn't want her to feel that I was using her. But she started to get a kick out of me wanting to meet people in the Vatican and to go regularly to the Pope's Masses."

In 1999 the Princesses Borghese and Thurn und Taxis organized a Mass combined with a concert at the Santa Maria in Aracoeli Church. Cardinal Ratzinger delivered the homily, and his brother's choir sang. The following year, they invited Giuseppe Sinopoli to conduct the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra at a requiem Mass in San Paolo Fuori le Mura, one of Rome's four major basilicas. The German ambassador gave a dinner. "It was very Vatican-oriented, with old Roman families, not café society at all," said Marina Cicogna. "There were several cardinals, as I recall, including Ratzinger."

In the Footsteps of Joseph Ratzinger by Alessandra Borghese
PAPA RATZINGER FORUM - PEOPLE AROUND THE POPE
Italian Princess in the Vatican - Spero Forum - Baptist ...

The book: Noblesse oblige. Le nostre buone maniere dalla A alla Z

Misc: The Roving Medievalist

Trailer for Miracle at St. Anna's @ Yahoo Movies; official site (alt)

Directed by Spike Lee--I think he was on the losing end in his little spat with Clint Eastwood, but I may watch this. The movie opens on Sept. 26--I don't think it will get a R rating; the violence doesn't look as graphic as that of SPR or Band of Brothers.

Photos: Cobie Smulders

When it first aired, I had hopes that How I Met Your Mother would be a family-friendly look at modern dating, since the narrator is recounting how he met the mother of his children to them, but it turned out to be a disappointment in this regard instead. Still, Cobie Smulders looks good in these photos:





yeah--makeup, photoshop, etc. etc.

SuperiorPics Celebrity Forums: Cobie Smulders X24
Cobie Smulders Fan • your online fansource for Cobie
Cobie Smulders - TV.com
Cobie Smulders Picture Gallery

Now she's the only reason I would watch the show, but since the show condones shacking up and fornication, she isn't a good enough reason. Also, from the photos at the CBS site, it appears that her character has had a one-night stand (or is it ongoing?) with Barney as well. Eh--Youtube has the answer. The same objection that is applied to claim that SATC, Friends, and other shows are worth watching because of their "positive" portrayals of friendship could be applied to this one as well. I thought I wrote this down before, but the objection is this--the friendship that is shown may have some affinity to genuine love, but it is mostly based on a common disordered desires and a common "ethics"--hence you never hear any objections from the other characters to promiscuity and the like. Ted is Barney's best friend, even though Barney is a self-absorbed yuppie who lives for the next score. What does this say about Ted as a person? The virtuous cannot be friends with the vicious, for the simple reason that the virtuous wish to live well with others, and this means living virtuously (and loving God above all things). They also seek the true good for all, including the vicious, while the vicious have no desire for it.

Death Race trailer @ Yahoo Movies

official site

Opens on August 22. Think you'll see a copy over there, Sarge?

Natalie Martinez (wiki): Yahoo TV; Fashion Model Directory; PRPhotos; Absolutely.net; Stuff; OYE Mag; Bastardly

Set Visit III
Bloody Disgusting - Interview Death Race Set: Interview with Star ...
joblo.com interview


YouTube - MY SECRET by Natalie Martinez

via Pete Takeshi: Mall of misfortune

I think this is the website for South China Mall. Also from the article:

Consider the mall-building craze underway in the Emirates. Its largest shopping center, the 2.4-million-square-foot Mall of the Emirates, is only three years old, but will relinquish its throne this year to the even bigger Dubai Mall – which in turn will be superseded in 2010 by the gargantuan Mall of Arabia. (Together, the three properties will contain about 10 million square feet of leasable space – more than two square feet for every resident of the country.) And it’s not enough for a 21st-century mall to have shops; it must also have gondolas, trams, water slides, “Olympic-sized” hockey rinks, ice palaces or – in the case of the Dubai Mall – one of the world’s largest aquariums, to be filled with 41,000 fish.

Almost as bad as the artificial islands being built off Dubai and the UAE.
Futurism: Terraforming Dubai's Next Artificial Island City
The Palm Island/Islands Dubai [Jumeirah, Jebel Ali & Deira] - TEN ...
The World Islands [Dubai] - Property Development - TEN Real Estate ...
dubai islands
World Islands - Dubai's Groundbreaking Megaproject is Completed
Dubai's artificial islands have high environmental cost

Such a scandalous squandering of the wealth that they have gained through the sale of petroleum.

Check out DeadMalls.com. Vallco/Cupertino Square isn't on it yet.

If that would be the case!

From Fr. Z: UK: Card. Castrillon Hoyos - TLM in “Not many parishes – all parishes”!

Let's see what the document clarifying Summorum Pontificum says... when is it going to be released!?

Summorum Pontificum

I thought I remembered seeing a Carino's on 101--last night when I was driving back from SLO I looked for it in Salinas, but it wasn't there. It's in Gilroy. There's another one in Fremont. I wouldn't mind going there again, instead of Macaroni Grill. I'd go to the one in Fremont, instead of driving all the way down to Gilroy, unless I happened to be in Gilroy again for some reason. It's a chain restaurant, but choices for Italian restaurants in the South Bay are rather limited.

I had fun at niece #2's party--"Mama Mat" and "Avee Avee." And niece #1 put a handkerchief on her head and said, "I am Saint Therese." Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take her to the park, but maybe next weekend, since they are coming up. Otherwise, some other time...

Why I think Dr. Fleming remains one of the leading paleos

Due probably in no small part to his Catholicism--from his most recent comment on Nationalism, Patriotism, and Internationalism I:

Races and ethnic groups within races are significantly different and that those differences have implications for the way of life they lead and the political institutions they develop; that two widely diverse groups have a slim chance of coexisting except where one group dominates the other or the two groups live within their own cantons under a federal or imperial umbrella; that mixing of groups creates many difficulties, including confusion of identities, people who cannot function in either society, and a dilution of both cultural backgrounds. The result, in political terms, is a coercive tyranny, which is the only alternative to anarchy. This sketch is only broadly true, however, since anyone who gets around has met, I have, good men and women who are, say, half-Chinese/half-German, but they usually end up identifying strongly with one background, even if they do maintain an appreciation for the other.

The problem is not really created by the occasional mixed race marriage but by a political system that aims at the elimination of the dominant historical identity, in this case Anglo-American and European American. That is what we are up against, and it seems to me that two solutions have been proposed–setting aside acquiescence–and the first is racial nationalism, which requires the nationalists to seize power and impose their will; the second, is Christianity, which requires every believer to do his best to lead a Christian life even in the degrading circumstances of postmodern America. Quite apart from any moral problem with the racial nationalist position, it is both impractical and nostalgic: impractical in the sense that-setting aside our basic differences–people like us have no power and are unlikely ever to improve our position. Here, my good friend Sam Francis and his inspiration Don Warren were absolutely wrong. There will be no Middle American Revolution. It did not work in the late 60’s and that generation seems positively heroic compared with people today. We have become slaves of our appetites. It is nostalgic, because it longs for the good old days of segregation, which are not coming back without a bloodbath that no one has the taste for. Believe me, things are going to get much much worse, and all we can do is to do what the early Christians did: lead the best lives we can, form little communities of faith and civility, and spread the word.

Zenit: Benedict XVI's Homily on Corpus Christi

Benedict XVI's Homily on Corpus Christi

"God Created Us Free But He Did Not Leave Us Alone"

ROME, JUNE 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave May 22 during the Mass for the solemnity of Corpus Christi, which took place in the square of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

After the strong season of the liturgical year which, focusing on Easter spreads over three months -- first the 40 days of Lent, then the 50 days of Eastertide -- the liturgy has us celebrate three Feasts which instead have a "synthetic" character: the Most Holy Trinity, then Corpus Christi, and lastly, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What is the precise significance of today's Solemnity, of the Body and Blood of Christ? The answer is given to us in the fundamental actions of this celebration we are carrying out: first of all we gather around the altar of the Lord, to be together in his presence; secondly, there will be the procession, that is walking with the Lord; and lastly, kneeling before the Lord, adoration, which already begins in the Mass and accompanies the entire procession but culminates in the final moment of the Eucharistic Blessing when we all prostrate ourselves before the One who stooped down to us and gave his life for us. Let us reflect briefly on these three attitudes, so that they may truly be an expression of our faith and our life.

The first action, therefore, is to gather together in the Lord's presence. This is what in former times was called "statio". Let us imagine for a moment that in the whole of Rome there were only this one altar and that all the city's Christians were invited to gather here to celebrate the Saviour who died and was raised. This gives us an idea of what the Eucharistic celebration must have been like at the origins, in Rome and in many other cities that the Gospel message had reached. In every particular Church there was only one Bishop and around him, around the Eucharist that he celebrated, a community was formed, one, because one was the blessed Cup and one was the Bread broken, as we heard in the Apostle Paul's words in the Second Reading (cf. I Cor 10: 16-17). That other famous Pauline expression comes to mind: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3: 28). "You are all one"! In these words the truth and power of the Christian revolution is heard, the most profound revolution of human history, which was experienced precisely around the Eucharist: here people of different age groups, sex, social background, and political ideas gather together in the Lord's presence. The Eucharist can never be a private event, reserved for people chosen through affinity or friendship.

The Eucharist is a public devotion that has nothing esoteric or exclusive about it. Here too, this evening, we did not choose to meet one another, we came and find ourselves next to one another, brought together by faith and called to become one body, sharing the one Bread which is Christ. We are united over and above our differences of nationality, profession, social class, political ideas: we open ourselves to one another to become one in him. This has been a characteristic of Christianity from the outset, visibly fulfilled around the Eucharist, and it is always necessary to be alert to ensure that the recurring temptations of particularism, even if with good intentions, do not go in the opposite direction. Therefore Corpus Christi reminds us first of all of this: that being Christian means coming together from all parts of the world to be in the presence of the one Lord and to become one with him and in him.

The second constitutive aspect is walking with the Lord. This is the reality manifested by the procession that we shall experience together after Holy Mass, almost as if it were naturally prolonged by moving behind the One who is the Way, the Journey. With the gift of himself in the Eucharist the Lord Jesus sets us free from our "paralyses", he helps us up and enables us to "proceed ", that is, he makes us take a step ahead and then another step, and thus sets us going with the power of the Bread of Life. As happened to the Prophet Elijah who had sought refuge in the wilderness for fear of his enemies and had made up his mind to let himself die (cf. I Kgs 19: 1-4). But God awoke him from sleep and caused him to find beside him a freshly baked loaf: "Arise and eat", the angel said, "else the journey will be too great for you" (I Kgs 19: 5,7). The Corpus Christi procession teaches us that the Eucharist seeks to free us from every kind of despondency and discouragement, wants to raise us, so that we can set out on the journey with the strength God gives us through Jesus Christ. It is the experience of the People of Israel in the exodus from Egypt, their long wandering through the desert, as the First Reading relates. It is an experience which was constitutive for Israel but is exemplary for all humanity. Indeed the saying: "Man does not live by bread alone, but... by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord" (Dt 8: 3), is a universal affirmation which refers to every man or woman as a person. Each one can find his own way if he encounters the One who is the Word and the Bread of Life and lets himself be guided by his friendly presence. Without the God-with-us, the God who is close, how can we stand up to the pilgrimage through life, either on our own or as society and the family of peoples? The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the God who does not leave us alone on the journey but stays at our side and shows us the way. Indeed, it is not enough to move onwards, one must also see where one is going!

"Progress" does not suffice, if there are no criteria as reference points. On the contrary, if one loses the way one risks coming to a precipice, or at any rate more rapidly distancing oneself from the goal. God created us free but he did not leave us alone: he made himself the "way" and came to walk together with us so that in our freedom we should also have the criterion we need to discern the right way and to take it.

At this point we cannot forget the beginning of the "Decalogue", the Ten Commandments, where it is written: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex 20: 2-3). Here we find the meaning of the third constitutive element of Corpus Christi: kneeling in adoration before the Lord. Adoring the God of Jesus Christ, who out of love made himself bread broken, is the most effective and radical remedy against the idolatry of the past and of the present. Kneeling before the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: those who bow to Jesus cannot and must not prostrate themselves before any earthly authority, however powerful. We Christians kneel only before God or before the Most Blessed Sacrament because we know and believe that the one true God is present in it, the God who created the world and so loved it that he gave his Only Begotten Son (cf. Jn 3: 16). We prostrate ourselves before a God who first bent over man like the Good Samaritan to assist him and restore his life, and who knelt before us to wash our dirty feet. Adoring the Body of Christ, means believing that there, in that piece of Bread, Christ is really there, and gives true sense to life, to the immense universe as to the smallest creature, to the whole of human history as to the most brief existence. Adoration is prayer that prolongs the celebration and Eucharistic communion and in which the soul continues to be nourished: it is nourished with love, truth, peace; it is nourished with hope, because the One before whom we prostrate ourselves does not judge us, does not crush us but liberates and transforms us.

This is why gathering, walking and adoring together fills us with joy. In making our own the adoring attitude of Mary, whom we especially remember in this month of May, let us pray for ourselves and for everyone; let us pray for every person who lives in this city, that he or she may know you, O Father and the One whom you sent, Jesus Christ and thus have life in abundance. Amen.


© Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Byrd, Ave Verum Corpus

Tallis Scholars

Pinecrest Chamber Ensemble - Ave Verum Corpus



Pinecrest Presbyterian Church

Ave Verum Corpus de William Byrd (Amici del canto)


Amici del Canto


Fond du Lac High School Concert Choir


台北市大直高中合唱團

Spartan Tactical

I picked up the latest issue of Guns and Ammo: Combat Tactics and came across a profile of the company and its owner and founder, Jim Smith, whose background includes being a member of an "elite special forces unit." Want to guess which one? Here's a hint, he was a sniper on one of the choppers that was shot down in Mogadishu.

spartan tactical
SPARTAN TACTICAL TRAINING GROUP, LLC & TEAM SPARTAN NETWORK

Surefire

There was also an article on the Santa Monica Police Department. It looks pretty good--a better place of employment than LAPD?

Finally, there was something about Grayman Knives. The West Nile Warrior:


and the Grax:

Grey Group Training Pro Shop

Off to SLO for niece #2's birthday party. Be back online on Sunday.

Claes Ryn references this article in Humanitas: The Unraveling of American Constitutionalism: From Customary Law to Permanent Innovation, Joseph Baldacchino (pdf)

The deep roots of American constitutionalism in English political tradition and culture have been succinctly and persuasively demonstrated by Joseph Baldacchino in "The Unraveling of American Constitutionalism: From Customary Law to Permanent Innovation," Humanitas, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 1 & 2 (2005). The American colonists wanted independence not because they subscribed to ahistorical, abstract principles but because they saw King and Parliament as violating precedent and custom and introducing unacceptable innovation. The colonists protested a breach of continuity and sought to reclaim their historically evolved rights as Englishmen.

From Pete Takeshi:
Steak For Dinner, Cheap And Delicious
America's Test Kitchen's Chris Kimball Tells How, Offers Recipes

FPJ: The Decline of Common Law Constitutionalism in Canada by Bradley C. S. Watson

Casa Balthasar now has a website

here

John Robb: JOURNAL: GG Progress

More observations on Mexico.

via EB: City, Country, Suburb? It isn’t Where You Live, But How You Live There.
Sharon Astyk, Casaubon's Book

I have not fried a steak for a long time, if ever... tonight I did so instead of broiling it (the method I've been using for the past 3 or 4 years), and the results weren't too bad. The meat was still tender on the inside, even if the outside was more burnt than I would have preferred. I think the Balsamic vinegar does help keep it tender...