Posted On: Thursday - November 23rd 2023 10:46AM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Pundits Race/Genetics Holiday from Stupidity
(Thanks go to Adam Smith for the graphic.)
The one topic key rarely used is Holiday from Stupidity, for obvious reasons. However, the reader may notice the other here 3 this time, as I gotta put a plug in for Ann Coulter yet again. This does relate to being thankful though.
I can't tell if it's the VDare editor or Miss Coulter who wrote at the top of This Thanksgiving, Joy-Ann Reid Has Much To Be Thankful For, "My new Thanksgiving tradition." I like it, but I do imagine Miss Coulter could find some new ungrateful one every year rather than just this Guyanan immigrant I've honestly never seen talking*.
I'll just excerpt this small part of Ann Coulter's take on why this Joy-Ann Reid should be thankful:
In the sage words of the Instapundit, Heh! and Indeed.
• You were admitted to Harvard with SAT scores that would have gotten an Asian kid disowned by his parents.
• You manage to keep your show at MSNBC with ratings that would get a white person canceled.
• People try harder to laugh at your excruciating jokes than they would for a male of any race.
• Plus, I have it on good authority that no one at MSNBC has pestered you about touching your hair.
OK, enough about these two ladies and America's problems... for today. I am thankful for family and friends, our health, for peace here for now, for our good and stable financial situation (no, not America's!), for the wonderful weather, and for the enjoyment of the internet for some purposes including this blog and the great commenters and other readers (gotta assume the latter are great, or they wouldn't be here).
I'm also thankful I can write what I'm writing right now without being told to call this Happy DeColonized day by a couple of not-so-thankful Injuns named Sean Sherman and Chase Iron Eyes. Pass the turkey, Mr. Eyes, and no, Sean, no more stuffing, thanks, before I end up in a triptophanic trance. (Actually, we're having a duck.)
I hope you all have plenty to be thankful for too!
T HA N K S G I V I N G !
See, now the graphic above would have been something to be proud of, some real HTML fu, back in 1996. Now, not so much... We're pretty old school here and will have to change, but NO tweeting, excuse me, Xing!
* Being off TV, almost 24 years running, is another thing to be thankful for. The internet, well, I'm not so sure...
Comments:
Fred the Gator
Wednesday - November 29th 2023 8:47AM MST
PS Hale asks: "I wonder though, Mr. Gator, if you have written thoughts and observations elsewhere that we might be privy to read, as on a political-commentary blog of your own?"
The story of how I got to be "Fred the Gator" is funny IMHO. I have a friend who planted a church and invited me to attend and speak there. His name is Fred also. Someone asked how they could disambiguate between the two Freds. My friend weighs about half what I do (he's Chinese and I'm on the large side). So I said, "I'm 'Fred the Greater' and he's 'Fred the Lesser'. That's quantity, not quality."
One of the high school students mis-heard it and thought I said "Fred the Gator" and the rest is history. People gave me gator socks and someone did an icon for me. I'm actually more comfortable being Fred the Gator because it helps me avoid any incipient megalomania.
I have a blog but it's mostly not political. I do biblical interpretation, theology, a few stories, poetry, translations and other miscellaneous things. Here's the link: https://pastorfred.blogsite.org/
Thanks for asking!
The story of how I got to be "Fred the Gator" is funny IMHO. I have a friend who planted a church and invited me to attend and speak there. His name is Fred also. Someone asked how they could disambiguate between the two Freds. My friend weighs about half what I do (he's Chinese and I'm on the large side). So I said, "I'm 'Fred the Greater' and he's 'Fred the Lesser'. That's quantity, not quality."
One of the high school students mis-heard it and thought I said "Fred the Gator" and the rest is history. People gave me gator socks and someone did an icon for me. I'm actually more comfortable being Fred the Gator because it helps me avoid any incipient megalomania.
I have a blog but it's mostly not political. I do biblical interpretation, theology, a few stories, poetry, translations and other miscellaneous things. Here's the link: https://pastorfred.blogsite.org/
Thanks for asking!
Hail
Tuesday - November 28th 2023 11:10PM MST
PS
RE: Fred The Gator
I appreciate your several comments here and read your views, insights, and perspective with interest. I had previously believed you were from Florida before you told us, in your last comment, that you live in California.
Something made a lot of your story "click" for me when you say you have been a longtime California resident. A state I have never lived in but visited occasionally since the 1990s, and the political (or ethno-political) situation of which interests me (a few years ago I published a long essay titled "Who Lost California?" pondering the much-pondered question).
I wonder though, Mr. Gator, if you have written thoughts and observations elsewhere that we might be privy to read, as on a political-commentary blog of your own?
RE: Fred The Gator
I appreciate your several comments here and read your views, insights, and perspective with interest. I had previously believed you were from Florida before you told us, in your last comment, that you live in California.
Something made a lot of your story "click" for me when you say you have been a longtime California resident. A state I have never lived in but visited occasionally since the 1990s, and the political (or ethno-political) situation of which interests me (a few years ago I published a long essay titled "Who Lost California?" pondering the much-pondered question).
I wonder though, Mr. Gator, if you have written thoughts and observations elsewhere that we might be privy to read, as on a political-commentary blog of your own?
Hail
Tuesday - November 28th 2023 11:03PM MST
PS
Fred The Gator wrote:
"A significant portion of Chinese adults, those who are not still attached to the "home country", think this way," referring to pro-Christian Nationalist beliefs. "There is a strong 'pro-Trump' contingent among them and this caused some actual arguments that I know about..."
I have encountered such people, who stand as an interesting (and smaller) cultural phenomenon when stood up against the (substantially larger) pro-Wokeness element of Asians active in the USA.
One of the flagship organizations of the type of politics or culturo-political mindset to which you refer is The Epoch Times. I'd say it's generally not well known that The Epoch Times is an anti-PRC ethnic-Chinese operation. Well known in recent years for its right-wing politics in the USA, that explains its unusually-high interest in China.
The PRC has been pumping huge sums into trying to distribute a newspaper to counter The Epoch Times by name of The China Daily, I think. This pro-PRC paper is ineffective for being so hamfistedly pro-China, anachronistic "state media" propaganda, maybe employing such people as the notorious pro-PRC advocate Godfree Roberts but mostly just Chinese reporters churning out "PRC-China good, USA bad" material cleaned up by English-natives.
The political division partly mirrors the pro-Taiwan vs. pro-PRC division in the USA.
Fred The Gator wrote:
"A significant portion of Chinese adults, those who are not still attached to the "home country", think this way," referring to pro-Christian Nationalist beliefs. "There is a strong 'pro-Trump' contingent among them and this caused some actual arguments that I know about..."
I have encountered such people, who stand as an interesting (and smaller) cultural phenomenon when stood up against the (substantially larger) pro-Wokeness element of Asians active in the USA.
One of the flagship organizations of the type of politics or culturo-political mindset to which you refer is The Epoch Times. I'd say it's generally not well known that The Epoch Times is an anti-PRC ethnic-Chinese operation. Well known in recent years for its right-wing politics in the USA, that explains its unusually-high interest in China.
The PRC has been pumping huge sums into trying to distribute a newspaper to counter The Epoch Times by name of The China Daily, I think. This pro-PRC paper is ineffective for being so hamfistedly pro-China, anachronistic "state media" propaganda, maybe employing such people as the notorious pro-PRC advocate Godfree Roberts but mostly just Chinese reporters churning out "PRC-China good, USA bad" material cleaned up by English-natives.
The political division partly mirrors the pro-Taiwan vs. pro-PRC division in the USA.
Hail
Tuesday - November 28th 2023 10:52PM MST
PS
-- on Money-making, the USA, the meaning of the USA, the Chinese, the Jews, and Amy Chua ---
Re: Moderator comments about the origin of the idea that the USA is all about money --
I think the idea of the USA being all about money-making is a persistent idea that gets occasional boosts to its seeming credibility. While events and trends of the 1980s being a notable one for our time, I think the idea can be identified back for centuries.
I have seen the good Mr. Kief on these very pages bring up variants of the idea, though he is not necessarily critical of the USA for that reason. He is drawing on a common notion, and if needs be can cite plenty of evidence, but for me the idea never fully "lands" because it doesn't accord with my own experience, nor that of any of my extended family, really (and all branches of my family are American back a number of generations, with many late-19th-century branches tied to Northern Europe, including a few possibly not-far-off kin of Mr. Kief, depending upon where his own ancestral-lines were present 150-200 years ago).
Now, we'd have to say that the presence of the Chinese and certain other groups within the USA, from the mid-19th century onwards, is itself a point IN FAVOR of the "USA is all about money-making idea," as many Asians in the USA do indeed explicitly see things that way, and as the historical experience of the West Coast Chinese was entirely oriented towards money-making back then, generally to the exclusion of community-building.
Another relevant phenomenon to the dispute over whether or not the USA is "all about money and has little other basis," is great conflict between the East-European Jews and the old Anglo-Protestant elite. That conflict had emerged by the 1890s and really continued for decades until the 1960s or beyond (by the 1970s, the Jews had clearly won and established themselves as a central and non-negotiable part of a new elite). Ron Unz writes perceptively abut the conflict, which is largely not even commented upon in the USA of our time, but was hugely important, probably indeed the central political development of the 20th century for the USA.
The victory of the East-European Jews in the long-running conflict with the Anglo-Protestant elite is so complete as to the extent that most recent presidents have Jewish grandchildren. To say nothing of the huge number of them in the Biden cabinet and many other possible examples. The whole thing is also a point in favor of the seeming plausibility of "the USA is all about money."
By the way, the Chinese admire what the Jews were able to do for themselves in the USA and aspire to do the same. There are best-selling books in China in the 2000s, 2010s, 2020s with titles like: "The Secrets of Jewish Power," "Successful money-making methods as used by Jews," and even the anti-Christian book known as "the Talmud" sells quite well in parts of Asia, people looking for more insights into the game.
This is one reason that Amy Chua has long fascinated me. Of East-Asian origin (of Philippine-born parents but mostly of Chinese ancestral origin), she gave birth to two daughters with an elite-Jewish man whom she met at law school. The girls, b.1990s, were been raised by the quintessential Tiger Mother in the USA's multi-racial domestic-multicultural-empire. They emerged into being something of Jewish Ethnonationalists and self-conscious members of the New Elite in the USA. This process is, to me, so bizarre as to attract my attention like the proverbial moth to a flame, unable to escape the allure.
The idea that the USA is all about money has been used by various people for various purposes over the many generations that the idea has existed, almost qualifying as a "myth" in both senses of the word: in the sense of a story that gives coherence to things, and in the sense of something untrue (as I see it, at least for the USA's core-population). But the idea is a POWERFUL TOOL in the hands of those who wish to keep the displacement process rolling along at a steady clip. In other words, I see a DIRECT connection between "the USA is a nation of immigrants" (read: 'immigrants' are more-American than losers who are native to the USA), and the idea that the USA is "all about money-making" with no real civic core at at all, nothing to hold it together, no higher purpose or aspirations, no ethnocultural core. This is a delightful reading of the landscape to a certain mindset, and very attractive to a common mentality among Chinese, IMO.
-- on Money-making, the USA, the meaning of the USA, the Chinese, the Jews, and Amy Chua ---
Re: Moderator comments about the origin of the idea that the USA is all about money --
I think the idea of the USA being all about money-making is a persistent idea that gets occasional boosts to its seeming credibility. While events and trends of the 1980s being a notable one for our time, I think the idea can be identified back for centuries.
I have seen the good Mr. Kief on these very pages bring up variants of the idea, though he is not necessarily critical of the USA for that reason. He is drawing on a common notion, and if needs be can cite plenty of evidence, but for me the idea never fully "lands" because it doesn't accord with my own experience, nor that of any of my extended family, really (and all branches of my family are American back a number of generations, with many late-19th-century branches tied to Northern Europe, including a few possibly not-far-off kin of Mr. Kief, depending upon where his own ancestral-lines were present 150-200 years ago).
Now, we'd have to say that the presence of the Chinese and certain other groups within the USA, from the mid-19th century onwards, is itself a point IN FAVOR of the "USA is all about money-making idea," as many Asians in the USA do indeed explicitly see things that way, and as the historical experience of the West Coast Chinese was entirely oriented towards money-making back then, generally to the exclusion of community-building.
Another relevant phenomenon to the dispute over whether or not the USA is "all about money and has little other basis," is great conflict between the East-European Jews and the old Anglo-Protestant elite. That conflict had emerged by the 1890s and really continued for decades until the 1960s or beyond (by the 1970s, the Jews had clearly won and established themselves as a central and non-negotiable part of a new elite). Ron Unz writes perceptively abut the conflict, which is largely not even commented upon in the USA of our time, but was hugely important, probably indeed the central political development of the 20th century for the USA.
The victory of the East-European Jews in the long-running conflict with the Anglo-Protestant elite is so complete as to the extent that most recent presidents have Jewish grandchildren. To say nothing of the huge number of them in the Biden cabinet and many other possible examples. The whole thing is also a point in favor of the seeming plausibility of "the USA is all about money."
By the way, the Chinese admire what the Jews were able to do for themselves in the USA and aspire to do the same. There are best-selling books in China in the 2000s, 2010s, 2020s with titles like: "The Secrets of Jewish Power," "Successful money-making methods as used by Jews," and even the anti-Christian book known as "the Talmud" sells quite well in parts of Asia, people looking for more insights into the game.
This is one reason that Amy Chua has long fascinated me. Of East-Asian origin (of Philippine-born parents but mostly of Chinese ancestral origin), she gave birth to two daughters with an elite-Jewish man whom she met at law school. The girls, b.1990s, were been raised by the quintessential Tiger Mother in the USA's multi-racial domestic-multicultural-empire. They emerged into being something of Jewish Ethnonationalists and self-conscious members of the New Elite in the USA. This process is, to me, so bizarre as to attract my attention like the proverbial moth to a flame, unable to escape the allure.
The idea that the USA is all about money has been used by various people for various purposes over the many generations that the idea has existed, almost qualifying as a "myth" in both senses of the word: in the sense of a story that gives coherence to things, and in the sense of something untrue (as I see it, at least for the USA's core-population). But the idea is a POWERFUL TOOL in the hands of those who wish to keep the displacement process rolling along at a steady clip. In other words, I see a DIRECT connection between "the USA is a nation of immigrants" (read: 'immigrants' are more-American than losers who are native to the USA), and the idea that the USA is "all about money-making" with no real civic core at at all, nothing to hold it together, no higher purpose or aspirations, no ethnocultural core. This is a delightful reading of the landscape to a certain mindset, and very attractive to a common mentality among Chinese, IMO.
Fred the Gator
Tuesday - November 28th 2023 2:07PM MST
PS The Moderator wrote: "Fred, I read through your most recent comment again. You say "your refer to [your daughter's] two kids who we refer to as 'the grandkids'." Are they her own kids or from her husband?"
Sorry! Here I go clarifying my clarification...ironic considering I think of myself as a writer these days! The grandkids are from my daughter and her husband. We just got into the habit of calling them "the grandkids". But now we have a third grandkid, 1-1/2 years old, from my son and his wife, and, if all goes well, we'll soon have a fourth grandkid. But they'll all be "the grandkids" I guess.
My parents divorced when I was 7 and this had a pretty devastating effect on me and my 3 brothers and one sister. I'm the only one who hasn't been divorced. I attribute this to becoming a Christian at an early age (16).
My dad was in the navy and that was really hard on my mom, and she wasn't really stable to begin with because her family was really terrible. She used to tell me stories about her family and start crying.
I think again that the stability of my family and those of my kids and other relatives is due to the fact that we all took our faith pretty seriously. It certainly got me and my wife through a few tough spots considering we both grew up in disfunctional families.
As far as Christian nationalism is concerned, I am thinking of the notion that Christians should try to do some kind of "reverse long march through the institutions" and try to re-Christianize the culture and government of the country. So I may be using the term wrongly. A significant portion of Chinese adults, those who are not still attached to the "home country", think this way. There is a strong "pro-Trump" contingent among them and this caused some actual arguments that I know about.
Note that I am far more in agreement with Trump's policies than either Clinton or Biden or Obama for that matter. But I think it's a mistake to think that we can build the kingdom of God here on earth through political and legal action. How can one expect people to act like Christians if they aren't, and if even Christians who supposedly have the Holy Spirit still have a hard time with it? But just as some people saw Obama as a kind of messianic figure, so others saw Trump in the same way.
The last time I voted for president was as a kind of thumb-in-the-eye to Dan Rather and his "fake but accurate" (or whatever he said) documents about G W Bush. Since I live in California I knew it wasn't going to make any difference anyway.
I see evangelicalism as more or less captured by various social justice concerns and basically running along about 20-30 years behind the trends of society (as most conservativism seems to do, unfortunately).
I think that when as Christians we say "Jesus is Lord" that is actually a political statement. "Lord" and "Messiah" both mean "king" which is a political claim. But it has the implication that, as the Bible says, "Our citizenship is in heaven...." Our "political action" is to live out our lives as "lights to the world" and to "be ready to give answer for the hope that is within us."
Hope this is not TMI. I don't want to hijack this blog to be a pulpit. Feel free to call foul if it gets too much!
That's also to say I really enjoy this blog and the commentators!
Sorry! Here I go clarifying my clarification...ironic considering I think of myself as a writer these days! The grandkids are from my daughter and her husband. We just got into the habit of calling them "the grandkids". But now we have a third grandkid, 1-1/2 years old, from my son and his wife, and, if all goes well, we'll soon have a fourth grandkid. But they'll all be "the grandkids" I guess.
My parents divorced when I was 7 and this had a pretty devastating effect on me and my 3 brothers and one sister. I'm the only one who hasn't been divorced. I attribute this to becoming a Christian at an early age (16).
My dad was in the navy and that was really hard on my mom, and she wasn't really stable to begin with because her family was really terrible. She used to tell me stories about her family and start crying.
I think again that the stability of my family and those of my kids and other relatives is due to the fact that we all took our faith pretty seriously. It certainly got me and my wife through a few tough spots considering we both grew up in disfunctional families.
As far as Christian nationalism is concerned, I am thinking of the notion that Christians should try to do some kind of "reverse long march through the institutions" and try to re-Christianize the culture and government of the country. So I may be using the term wrongly. A significant portion of Chinese adults, those who are not still attached to the "home country", think this way. There is a strong "pro-Trump" contingent among them and this caused some actual arguments that I know about.
Note that I am far more in agreement with Trump's policies than either Clinton or Biden or Obama for that matter. But I think it's a mistake to think that we can build the kingdom of God here on earth through political and legal action. How can one expect people to act like Christians if they aren't, and if even Christians who supposedly have the Holy Spirit still have a hard time with it? But just as some people saw Obama as a kind of messianic figure, so others saw Trump in the same way.
The last time I voted for president was as a kind of thumb-in-the-eye to Dan Rather and his "fake but accurate" (or whatever he said) documents about G W Bush. Since I live in California I knew it wasn't going to make any difference anyway.
I see evangelicalism as more or less captured by various social justice concerns and basically running along about 20-30 years behind the trends of society (as most conservativism seems to do, unfortunately).
I think that when as Christians we say "Jesus is Lord" that is actually a political statement. "Lord" and "Messiah" both mean "king" which is a political claim. But it has the implication that, as the Bible says, "Our citizenship is in heaven...." Our "political action" is to live out our lives as "lights to the world" and to "be ready to give answer for the hope that is within us."
Hope this is not TMI. I don't want to hijack this blog to be a pulpit. Feel free to call foul if it gets too much!
That's also to say I really enjoy this blog and the commentators!
Moderator
Tuesday - November 28th 2023 9:00AM MST
PS: Hello, Mr. Hail. Sorry for the late reply to your comment.
Regarding that Oregon Shakespeare Festival that both you and I had a few posts on, I think it's the women primarily, who will go hard woke on you in an instant. If that's what they see the other elite members of the boards acting like, they figure that's what it demands. Women don't have so much problem going against principle and breaking their word, if that's part of the deal too.
Because these yuppie Oriental (I think there was an Indian or 2 also?) women really want to be part of "society", they will do what it takes to have this status of enablers of art, or what have you. Then, since none of what goes on in Shakespeare's plays has thing one to do with their own culture, they don't care if there are black actresses playing Romeo and Juliet. (Yes, I mean both of them actresses, haha!)
I completely agree with this: "Supposedly Americans are obsessed with money (not most of them in my world/family/circles, but the view seems strongly embedded in Europe and elsewhere); but anyone who knows Chinese knows well that, all else equal, they are a lot more interested in "money" per se. Far more. It is not even close. This interest overlaps with their constant use of (what we see as) unethical business behavior. What's the norm for Chinese business-ethics would be shocking and even unthinkable to an ordinary Middle-America-White-Christian type, I think."
That whole myth about Americans only caring about money started with the Yuppie appellation in the 1980's, were I to take a wild-assed guess - which this IS. The thing is, the movie "Wall Street" with Gordon Gecko and all was really about the move toward Big Finance becoming the be-all-to-end-all of our economy*, as manufacturing might was starting to decrease (relatively speaking). The mid-80s though were still nothing like the mid-00s, only 20 years later, as far as the devastation from the outsourcing.
* If you recall, the happy ending was when the old business guy - I can't keep up with the people - approved a plan to start BUILDING STUFF again, ships it was? Of course, you usually don't take that advice from a whore though...
Regarding that Oregon Shakespeare Festival that both you and I had a few posts on, I think it's the women primarily, who will go hard woke on you in an instant. If that's what they see the other elite members of the boards acting like, they figure that's what it demands. Women don't have so much problem going against principle and breaking their word, if that's part of the deal too.
Because these yuppie Oriental (I think there was an Indian or 2 also?) women really want to be part of "society", they will do what it takes to have this status of enablers of art, or what have you. Then, since none of what goes on in Shakespeare's plays has thing one to do with their own culture, they don't care if there are black actresses playing Romeo and Juliet. (Yes, I mean both of them actresses, haha!)
I completely agree with this: "Supposedly Americans are obsessed with money (not most of them in my world/family/circles, but the view seems strongly embedded in Europe and elsewhere); but anyone who knows Chinese knows well that, all else equal, they are a lot more interested in "money" per se. Far more. It is not even close. This interest overlaps with their constant use of (what we see as) unethical business behavior. What's the norm for Chinese business-ethics would be shocking and even unthinkable to an ordinary Middle-America-White-Christian type, I think."
That whole myth about Americans only caring about money started with the Yuppie appellation in the 1980's, were I to take a wild-assed guess - which this IS. The thing is, the movie "Wall Street" with Gordon Gecko and all was really about the move toward Big Finance becoming the be-all-to-end-all of our economy*, as manufacturing might was starting to decrease (relatively speaking). The mid-80s though were still nothing like the mid-00s, only 20 years later, as far as the devastation from the outsourcing.
* If you recall, the happy ending was when the old business guy - I can't keep up with the people - approved a plan to start BUILDING STUFF again, ships it was? Of course, you usually don't take that advice from a whore though...
Moderator
Tuesday - November 28th 2023 8:49AM MST
PS: Fred, I read through your most recent comment again. You say "your refer to [your daughter's] two kids who we refer to as 'the grandkids'." Are they her own kids or from her husband?
Anyway, the church helps with assimilation, unless it's majority Chinese. Sure, the kids born here are American in culture in many ways. Again, that depends on whether they are brought up in areas that still are majority (traditional) American vs. say, in a Chinatown, or even in an area in a university town with loads of Chinese families that hang together.
It's very hard for the Chinese people to lose the materialism, at least those not born here. Churchgoing even, they have the arguments about buying the van or not and "what is my [tithe] money going to?" They may suspect the Chinese pastor's going overseas on a mission trip as a boondoggle, and I think, I hate to say, it's more likely to BE one!
About this part: "When the George Floyd thing hit, there was a strong division in the church between the parents, who were law-and-order types, and the kids, who had learned all about systemic racism and saw micro-aggressions everywhere."
I take it these kids were still in high school? It's a shame their parents didn't get them into church or private school early enough to stop that brainwashing. Perhaps they think of the "best" schools only in terms of the numbers - more AP classes, more students getting into ... ANYTHING but DeAnza (or wherever). Yes, that is a status thing for the parents, and well worth the stress on their kids, as they see it. (Probably both, but maybe that's the cause of some of that insecurity for the girls...)
What do you mean by Christian Nationalists, Evangelicals?
Anyway, the church helps with assimilation, unless it's majority Chinese. Sure, the kids born here are American in culture in many ways. Again, that depends on whether they are brought up in areas that still are majority (traditional) American vs. say, in a Chinatown, or even in an area in a university town with loads of Chinese families that hang together.
It's very hard for the Chinese people to lose the materialism, at least those not born here. Churchgoing even, they have the arguments about buying the van or not and "what is my [tithe] money going to?" They may suspect the Chinese pastor's going overseas on a mission trip as a boondoggle, and I think, I hate to say, it's more likely to BE one!
About this part: "When the George Floyd thing hit, there was a strong division in the church between the parents, who were law-and-order types, and the kids, who had learned all about systemic racism and saw micro-aggressions everywhere."
I take it these kids were still in high school? It's a shame their parents didn't get them into church or private school early enough to stop that brainwashing. Perhaps they think of the "best" schools only in terms of the numbers - more AP classes, more students getting into ... ANYTHING but DeAnza (or wherever). Yes, that is a status thing for the parents, and well worth the stress on their kids, as they see it. (Probably both, but maybe that's the cause of some of that insecurity for the girls...)
What do you mean by Christian Nationalists, Evangelicals?
Hail
Monday - November 27th 2023 3:29AM MST
PS
-- More on Asians' role in the USA, Assimilation, and the Future of the USA --
Fred The Gator wrote: "Many of them (Asian-origin persons raised partly or wholly in the USA?) end up resenting the success that their parents empowered, and become leftist."
Yes, an important observation. I would go so far as to say that this is a common sight, maybe almost even "more common than not" (!).
The phenomenon of Asians going to the Left is not explained by existing framework, still quite widespread in conservative Middle America-type circles, about Asians (really this means "Asians in the USA"; this view think little about Asians in Asia) and their role or "place" in the semi-chaotic U.S. system.
The USA seems to me to run itself, even internally!, a lot like an empire, balancing groups of subjects off each other. I have never liked this at all, after I began to get a sense of it many years back, realizing I was in the middle of it. Probably that also extends to other Peak Stupidity readers.
a commenter named Wilkey at the Steve Sailer blog, a longtimer who if I remember correctly may have also said he has an East-Asian-origin wife, wrote something earlier in 2023 about the decline of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival organization through an aggressive-Wokeness problem. When I looked into it and found that Asian-Females were a majorly important part of the Board of Directors and other leadership that did the push to Wokeness, I tried writing something about "the role of Asians in the USA" which I'm not sure worked or not.
Given that Asian-origin persons do indeed have the ambition, talents, and networking abilities or drive to gobble-up elite slots all over the map, this seems to me a hugely important question for the future of the USA, but it's one of those many things I almost never hear talked about. The closest I ---ever--- see in the semi-mainstream is indirect mentions of supposed anti-Asian discrimination by Ivy League colleges, which broaches the subject but then all discussion meets a brick-wall because of the implications. The question that is avoided is: "Who are the USA, and its institutions, 'for'?"
To return to your interesting comments, Fred The Gator, I would tweak the wording of one thing: "the education cult" is a powerful phrase/idea, but I don't think it does justice to the phenomenon, at least as I understand it. The real object of this "cult" is not "education" for most of the types of people you're describing. The real object is status, prestige, power. Money as a symbol of high-status.
Supposedly Americans are obsessed with money (not most of them in my world/family/circles, but the view seems strongly embedded in Europe and elsewhere); but anyone who knows Chinese knows well that, all else equal, they are a lot more interested in "money" per se. Far more. It is not even close. This interest overlaps with their constant use of (what we see as) unethical business behavior. What's the norm for Chinese business-ethics would be shocking and even unthinkable to an ordinary Middle-America-White-Christian type, I think.
The bigger question of "assimilation," whatever one means by it, presents serious difficulties not only because of Multiculturalism or 'Wokeness' of our era, but because different groups do seem to have different quasi-spiritual visions of the good and meaningful life.
The way this can work out is it did in parts of Southeast Asia, where Chinese migrated-in and took over the economy entirely, thus controlling the society. In many cases this happened under British liberal-empire protection. These Chinese in some cases "assimilated" locally to a partial degree and adapted certain local traits and intermarried creating a new class in the local areas; in other cases, less so.
As for the USA, I have for some years felt the exact same thing has been ongoing as happened in Southeast Asia. The history of these countries is peppered with tragedy and strife, often associated with the phenomenon to which I refer. In many places, the tensions still simmer even in the comparatively-happy 2020s. These same tensions are now embedded deeply in the USA. These kinds of tensions were also known well in the USA for decades, in the 19th- and early-20th century, of course.
(This also applies to many other groups; and notably, especially?, for South Asians. Peak Stupidity reader PeterIke, who is from the New York City area, has said that in his experience the very-worst type of immigrant, all else equal, is the South Asian. I didn't really appreciate what he meant until last year or this year spending some time in northern New Jersey, parts of which are literally dominated by them to a shocking degree. And now we see two South Asians, Vivek and Nikki Haley, running at the top for U.S. president; two of five? for a group said to still be firmly under-2% of the population? Why? How?.)
-- More on Asians' role in the USA, Assimilation, and the Future of the USA --
Fred The Gator wrote: "Many of them (Asian-origin persons raised partly or wholly in the USA?) end up resenting the success that their parents empowered, and become leftist."
Yes, an important observation. I would go so far as to say that this is a common sight, maybe almost even "more common than not" (!).
The phenomenon of Asians going to the Left is not explained by existing framework, still quite widespread in conservative Middle America-type circles, about Asians (really this means "Asians in the USA"; this view think little about Asians in Asia) and their role or "place" in the semi-chaotic U.S. system.
The USA seems to me to run itself, even internally!, a lot like an empire, balancing groups of subjects off each other. I have never liked this at all, after I began to get a sense of it many years back, realizing I was in the middle of it. Probably that also extends to other Peak Stupidity readers.
a commenter named Wilkey at the Steve Sailer blog, a longtimer who if I remember correctly may have also said he has an East-Asian-origin wife, wrote something earlier in 2023 about the decline of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival organization through an aggressive-Wokeness problem. When I looked into it and found that Asian-Females were a majorly important part of the Board of Directors and other leadership that did the push to Wokeness, I tried writing something about "the role of Asians in the USA" which I'm not sure worked or not.
Given that Asian-origin persons do indeed have the ambition, talents, and networking abilities or drive to gobble-up elite slots all over the map, this seems to me a hugely important question for the future of the USA, but it's one of those many things I almost never hear talked about. The closest I ---ever--- see in the semi-mainstream is indirect mentions of supposed anti-Asian discrimination by Ivy League colleges, which broaches the subject but then all discussion meets a brick-wall because of the implications. The question that is avoided is: "Who are the USA, and its institutions, 'for'?"
To return to your interesting comments, Fred The Gator, I would tweak the wording of one thing: "the education cult" is a powerful phrase/idea, but I don't think it does justice to the phenomenon, at least as I understand it. The real object of this "cult" is not "education" for most of the types of people you're describing. The real object is status, prestige, power. Money as a symbol of high-status.
Supposedly Americans are obsessed with money (not most of them in my world/family/circles, but the view seems strongly embedded in Europe and elsewhere); but anyone who knows Chinese knows well that, all else equal, they are a lot more interested in "money" per se. Far more. It is not even close. This interest overlaps with their constant use of (what we see as) unethical business behavior. What's the norm for Chinese business-ethics would be shocking and even unthinkable to an ordinary Middle-America-White-Christian type, I think.
The bigger question of "assimilation," whatever one means by it, presents serious difficulties not only because of Multiculturalism or 'Wokeness' of our era, but because different groups do seem to have different quasi-spiritual visions of the good and meaningful life.
The way this can work out is it did in parts of Southeast Asia, where Chinese migrated-in and took over the economy entirely, thus controlling the society. In many cases this happened under British liberal-empire protection. These Chinese in some cases "assimilated" locally to a partial degree and adapted certain local traits and intermarried creating a new class in the local areas; in other cases, less so.
As for the USA, I have for some years felt the exact same thing has been ongoing as happened in Southeast Asia. The history of these countries is peppered with tragedy and strife, often associated with the phenomenon to which I refer. In many places, the tensions still simmer even in the comparatively-happy 2020s. These same tensions are now embedded deeply in the USA. These kinds of tensions were also known well in the USA for decades, in the 19th- and early-20th century, of course.
(This also applies to many other groups; and notably, especially?, for South Asians. Peak Stupidity reader PeterIke, who is from the New York City area, has said that in his experience the very-worst type of immigrant, all else equal, is the South Asian. I didn't really appreciate what he meant until last year or this year spending some time in northern New Jersey, parts of which are literally dominated by them to a shocking degree. And now we see two South Asians, Vivek and Nikki Haley, running at the top for U.S. president; two of five? for a group said to still be firmly under-2% of the population? Why? How?.)
Moderator
Sunday - November 26th 2023 11:03AM MST
PS: Thanks for the elaboration, Fred. I'll write back later with more on your points about assimilation AND Chinese church-going.
Fred the Gator
Sunday - November 26th 2023 8:42AM MST
PS Thanks for the comments about my comment!
Just to clear up some confusion (on my part) about who's who in my family---not that I'm confused but I gave a confused description. My wife is from Taiwan. We have two kids, a daughter and son. My daughter married a man whose parents are from Singapore. My son married a woman whose parents are from China. My daughter has two kids whom we refer to as "the grandkids". My son has a son and his wife is pregnant with a second child. My son-in-law is a prof at Berkeley and HIS sister is an actress. She's married to a photographer and they live in LA but come up for holidays like this one.
All of us are involved with church; my kids met their spouses through the church we all went to until I became a pastor and started going to a different church (the kids kept going to the original church). I knew their spouses for years, one of them since elementary school.
I think this may have had something to do with the way everyone has assimilated. While the original church is bilingual, the younger generation goes to the English service and the youth group is English. Also, there's a very strong cult of education among the parents, not always to the tiger-mom extent but sometimes approaching it.
The kids all buy into the education cult. Note that I call it a cult because it's that level of all-encompassingness. Education may not always come before God but it often seems to.
The kids complain about the stress of education but they still buy into it. The youth leader told me about a conversation he had where the kids were complaining to him about AP tests, applications, massive homework, extra-curriculars and so on, and he said, "Why don't you just go to DeAnza?" (DeAnza is the best 2-year college in the area.) He said that their reaction was "DeAnza??? Who wants to go to DeAnza?" So they embraced their fate.
The result is that most everyone is successful, some wildly so. Ironically many of them end up resenting the success that their parents empowered, and become leftist. When the George Floyd thing hit, there was a strong division in the church between the parents, who were law-and-order types, and the kids, who had learned all about systemic racism and saw micro-aggressions everywhere.
I've also noticed that many of the girls struggle with anxiety and self-worth. Doesn't matter what they do; they can be top of their class, get scholarships to great schools, get great jobs; they are still unsure and emotionally struggling. I think this is a dysfunctionality peculiar to Asian families. My son-in-law said that my daughter was the only woman he dated that did NOT have that problem.
My kids and their spouses are all rational beings and so are neither hard left nor Christian nationalists (nor am I). My son-in-law, who is one of my best friends, is strongly influenced by leftist critiques but is actually a-political (as am I, more or less).
I am not for tradition for its own sake, but I realize that right now tradition serves as a kind of bulwark against the forces that so often destroy peoples' lives. Unfortunately many people associate Christianity with tradition as such, and I think this is a theological error. (But that's for another discussion on another blog....)
Anyway this year I was struck again by how wonderful my family is, and how this year Thanksgiving just seemed really Thanksgivingy and how surprising that was considering the backgrounds of the participants!
Just to clear up some confusion (on my part) about who's who in my family---not that I'm confused but I gave a confused description. My wife is from Taiwan. We have two kids, a daughter and son. My daughter married a man whose parents are from Singapore. My son married a woman whose parents are from China. My daughter has two kids whom we refer to as "the grandkids". My son has a son and his wife is pregnant with a second child. My son-in-law is a prof at Berkeley and HIS sister is an actress. She's married to a photographer and they live in LA but come up for holidays like this one.
All of us are involved with church; my kids met their spouses through the church we all went to until I became a pastor and started going to a different church (the kids kept going to the original church). I knew their spouses for years, one of them since elementary school.
I think this may have had something to do with the way everyone has assimilated. While the original church is bilingual, the younger generation goes to the English service and the youth group is English. Also, there's a very strong cult of education among the parents, not always to the tiger-mom extent but sometimes approaching it.
The kids all buy into the education cult. Note that I call it a cult because it's that level of all-encompassingness. Education may not always come before God but it often seems to.
The kids complain about the stress of education but they still buy into it. The youth leader told me about a conversation he had where the kids were complaining to him about AP tests, applications, massive homework, extra-curriculars and so on, and he said, "Why don't you just go to DeAnza?" (DeAnza is the best 2-year college in the area.) He said that their reaction was "DeAnza??? Who wants to go to DeAnza?" So they embraced their fate.
The result is that most everyone is successful, some wildly so. Ironically many of them end up resenting the success that their parents empowered, and become leftist. When the George Floyd thing hit, there was a strong division in the church between the parents, who were law-and-order types, and the kids, who had learned all about systemic racism and saw micro-aggressions everywhere.
I've also noticed that many of the girls struggle with anxiety and self-worth. Doesn't matter what they do; they can be top of their class, get scholarships to great schools, get great jobs; they are still unsure and emotionally struggling. I think this is a dysfunctionality peculiar to Asian families. My son-in-law said that my daughter was the only woman he dated that did NOT have that problem.
My kids and their spouses are all rational beings and so are neither hard left nor Christian nationalists (nor am I). My son-in-law, who is one of my best friends, is strongly influenced by leftist critiques but is actually a-political (as am I, more or less).
I am not for tradition for its own sake, but I realize that right now tradition serves as a kind of bulwark against the forces that so often destroy peoples' lives. Unfortunately many people associate Christianity with tradition as such, and I think this is a theological error. (But that's for another discussion on another blog....)
Anyway this year I was struck again by how wonderful my family is, and how this year Thanksgiving just seemed really Thanksgivingy and how surprising that was considering the backgrounds of the participants!
Moderator
Saturday - November 25th 2023 3:55PM MST
PS: I've written on assimilation before, Fred. This was way back:
https://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=481
"Immigration invasion, assimilation, and refugees" (Hmmm, I didn't use to capitalize so much back then.)
Anyway, it's not hard for anyone to see that assimilation does not happen when groups (of the like foreigners) come over in BIG numbers. It's not personal - I'd be the very same way, were I to bug you to Uruguay (best thing going?) and live among a colony of bugger-outers (that doesn't sound right!). I'd want to talk American politics, eat mostly American food, give the place shit about some of the stupid ways, and hang with the people I feel comfortable with.
10,000 a year, even 50,000 a year, over the last 50 years, fiance visas, a few bright scholars that stay, etc., well, the scene wouldn't be the mess it is now.
The thing is, people KNOW it doesn't work. They either don't care - that'd be Big Biz, housing developers etc. that want the cheap labor and the D's that just want the votes - or they WANT it this way. After all, for some reason, all that melting pot talk, at least encouragement of such, went away 25 to 30 years back. It used to be, you'd here people be very encouraging - "the kids all learn English". "They go to the football games with us and talk about the Seahawks and 49's." (as per your family, Fred).
No, multiculturalism has been pushed for those arguably 25 - 30 years now, and it is directly in contradiction to assimilation. Why'd they start pushing it? I think we here all know. It's finally getting said out in the open regularly. Tucker and Candace talk about it on TV! (Sort of TV, I guess). It's very late in the game though...
https://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=481
"Immigration invasion, assimilation, and refugees" (Hmmm, I didn't use to capitalize so much back then.)
Anyway, it's not hard for anyone to see that assimilation does not happen when groups (of the like foreigners) come over in BIG numbers. It's not personal - I'd be the very same way, were I to bug you to Uruguay (best thing going?) and live among a colony of bugger-outers (that doesn't sound right!). I'd want to talk American politics, eat mostly American food, give the place shit about some of the stupid ways, and hang with the people I feel comfortable with.
10,000 a year, even 50,000 a year, over the last 50 years, fiance visas, a few bright scholars that stay, etc., well, the scene wouldn't be the mess it is now.
The thing is, people KNOW it doesn't work. They either don't care - that'd be Big Biz, housing developers etc. that want the cheap labor and the D's that just want the votes - or they WANT it this way. After all, for some reason, all that melting pot talk, at least encouragement of such, went away 25 to 30 years back. It used to be, you'd here people be very encouraging - "the kids all learn English". "They go to the football games with us and talk about the Seahawks and 49's." (as per your family, Fred).
No, multiculturalism has been pushed for those arguably 25 - 30 years now, and it is directly in contradiction to assimilation. Why'd they start pushing it? I think we here all know. It's finally getting said out in the open regularly. Tucker and Candace talk about it on TV! (Sort of TV, I guess). It's very late in the game though...
Moderator
Saturday - November 25th 2023 3:42PM MST
PS: Yes, a waltz, Tim - I'm pretty good with lyrics, not sure about the tunes.
That sounds pretty hokey, Adam - no energy required? Wait, but physics!
Very interesting and sounds like a happy family, Fred the Gator. I have ragged on all things Sociology before, but Berzerkely is kind of another world. They've got smart people all over that campus, many of them plain nuts, but still, smart. Maybe you could turn your S.I.L on to Peak Stupidity. It should be part of any Sociology curriculum.
Congrats on the (3rd, at least) Grandkid, Fred!
That sounds pretty hokey, Adam - no energy required? Wait, but physics!
Very interesting and sounds like a happy family, Fred the Gator. I have ragged on all things Sociology before, but Berzerkely is kind of another world. They've got smart people all over that campus, many of them plain nuts, but still, smart. Maybe you could turn your S.I.L on to Peak Stupidity. It should be part of any Sociology curriculum.
Congrats on the (3rd, at least) Grandkid, Fred!
Moderator
Saturday - November 25th 2023 3:35PM MST
PS: You're welcome, Mr. Hail. I enjoy it most of the time, not the stupidity but the writing about it. It'll be 7 years in a few days.
Mr. G, very nice. I like that fast version much better than the slow "They Love Each Other", which was all I knew until a few years back. Yeah Dead & Co sound great! They got fans young and old too. Nice.
Thanks for "airing", haha, your thankfulness here, Adam. I am thankful for leafblowers, if I'm going to get into microthankfulness. I quit raking cold turkey about 5 years back, speaking of cold turkey, just had some given by a relative we visited on a road trip. I am so thankful for the 2 3/4 buck/G gas prices that Brandon has gifted us (by half emptying the SPR?). One more year! (of low prices, and he's a shoe-in.). No, kidding, I sure hope not.
Mr. G, very nice. I like that fast version much better than the slow "They Love Each Other", which was all I knew until a few years back. Yeah Dead & Co sound great! They got fans young and old too. Nice.
Thanks for "airing", haha, your thankfulness here, Adam. I am thankful for leafblowers, if I'm going to get into microthankfulness. I quit raking cold turkey about 5 years back, speaking of cold turkey, just had some given by a relative we visited on a road trip. I am so thankful for the 2 3/4 buck/G gas prices that Brandon has gifted us (by half emptying the SPR?). One more year! (of low prices, and he's a shoe-in.). No, kidding, I sure hope not.
Hail
Saturday - November 25th 2023 12:05AM MST
PS
RE: Fred The Gator--
Thanks for your comments;
Interesting to hear you say that your Taiwanese and other Asian relatives, including in-laws, have taken to U.S.-Thanksgiving as if it were their own long-inherited tradition.
The process by which this kind of thing happens (or doesn't happen) is of great interest in the West today, to some, the preachers of the positive-version of Multiculturalism. Or at least an old version thereof recognizable in the late 20th century and a bit beyond, harder to hear in the 2020s preached explicitly.
I don't really recall hearing much about "assimilation" in the 2020s, or the old term "the melting pot," which your (Fred The Gator's) account of mostly-Asians pulling off a Norman-Rockwell-style U.S.-Thanksgiving reminds me of.
I recall in the 1990s, or maybe ca. 2000, when I was a school-boy, seeing the promotion of the concept of "Tossed Salad" as being superior to a grimy-old "Melting Pot."
Tossed-Salad referred to the idea that Migrants would be better off keeping their own ways. Salad still has identifiable ingredients or parts which one could identify and taste separately, but which all also kind of works together. The idea with this Tossed-Salad Multiculutralism metaphor was also that all the rest of us shall be blessed through those tossed-salad Migrants who keep their distinctive ways, and, by extension, the melting-potted people hanging around the USA and also Generic-Americans (losers), could still experience authentic culture through sampling the glorious Tossed-Salad.
RE: Fred The Gator--
Thanks for your comments;
Interesting to hear you say that your Taiwanese and other Asian relatives, including in-laws, have taken to U.S.-Thanksgiving as if it were their own long-inherited tradition.
The process by which this kind of thing happens (or doesn't happen) is of great interest in the West today, to some, the preachers of the positive-version of Multiculturalism. Or at least an old version thereof recognizable in the late 20th century and a bit beyond, harder to hear in the 2020s preached explicitly.
I don't really recall hearing much about "assimilation" in the 2020s, or the old term "the melting pot," which your (Fred The Gator's) account of mostly-Asians pulling off a Norman-Rockwell-style U.S.-Thanksgiving reminds me of.
I recall in the 1990s, or maybe ca. 2000, when I was a school-boy, seeing the promotion of the concept of "Tossed Salad" as being superior to a grimy-old "Melting Pot."
Tossed-Salad referred to the idea that Migrants would be better off keeping their own ways. Salad still has identifiable ingredients or parts which one could identify and taste separately, but which all also kind of works together. The idea with this Tossed-Salad Multiculutralism metaphor was also that all the rest of us shall be blessed through those tossed-salad Migrants who keep their distinctive ways, and, by extension, the melting-potted people hanging around the USA and also Generic-Americans (losers), could still experience authentic culture through sampling the glorious Tossed-Salad.
Moderator
Friday - November 24th 2023 8:09PM MST
PS: Thank you all for the great comments! More to say here tomorrow, but I was outta internet though the day and now want to write one post, to be somewhat timely.
Kid got me hooked up on a hot-spot from my phone. Why don't I think of these things?
Kid got me hooked up on a hot-spot from my phone. Why don't I think of these things?
Fred the Gator
Friday - November 24th 2023 10:17AM MST
PS Spent yesterday at my daughter's house. I made a dungeons-and-dragons like game and we played it until 10pm with my daughter's family including the grandkids.
During the festivities we were paying attention with half-an-eye to the 49ers' dismantling of the Seattle football team and its evil coach Pete Carroll.
My son told us that his wife is pregnant with their second.
My son's dog tried to eat my daughter's grandkids' guinea pig (named Pig-Pig) but they rescued it. They ended up putting it out in the garage (Pig Pig that is).
On the other hand, several recognized farm animals, including a turkey, were not as fortunate as Pig Pig. I never made it to the turkey, sitting at the head of one end of the table and having pork ribs and beef pot roast closer. I attribute that fact to my ability to be a Dungeon Master till 10pm and still drive home without falling asleep.
I don't think of myself as a traditionalist. My wife is from Taiwan; my son-in-law's family is from Singapore. My kids and grandkids are all geniuses (I kid you not). My sister-in-law is an actress who has played in an NCIS episode and some Apple-TV thing that I forget the name of. She's also been off-Broadway. My son-in-law's a sociology prof at Berkeley; so far he's avoided the woke inquisition because he's not a FDWM (future dead white male). My daughter-in-law is Chinese and works for LinkedIn and both my biological kids are on church staff.
We could hardly have had a more traditional Thanksgiving if we had gotten it professionally scripted.
During the festivities we were paying attention with half-an-eye to the 49ers' dismantling of the Seattle football team and its evil coach Pete Carroll.
My son told us that his wife is pregnant with their second.
My son's dog tried to eat my daughter's grandkids' guinea pig (named Pig-Pig) but they rescued it. They ended up putting it out in the garage (Pig Pig that is).
On the other hand, several recognized farm animals, including a turkey, were not as fortunate as Pig Pig. I never made it to the turkey, sitting at the head of one end of the table and having pork ribs and beef pot roast closer. I attribute that fact to my ability to be a Dungeon Master till 10pm and still drive home without falling asleep.
I don't think of myself as a traditionalist. My wife is from Taiwan; my son-in-law's family is from Singapore. My kids and grandkids are all geniuses (I kid you not). My sister-in-law is an actress who has played in an NCIS episode and some Apple-TV thing that I forget the name of. She's also been off-Broadway. My son-in-law's a sociology prof at Berkeley; so far he's avoided the woke inquisition because he's not a FDWM (future dead white male). My daughter-in-law is Chinese and works for LinkedIn and both my biological kids are on church staff.
We could hardly have had a more traditional Thanksgiving if we had gotten it professionally scripted.
Adam Smith
Friday - November 24th 2023 9:30AM MST
PS: A waltz of stupidity...
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/3-reasons-trump-should-send-americans-to-mars
☮️
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/3-reasons-trump-should-send-americans-to-mars
☮️
Tim Berline
Friday - November 24th 2023 7:57AM MST
PS
Read somewhere about the "waltz of stupidity".
There's a song waiting to happen.
Read somewhere about the "waltz of stupidity".
There's a song waiting to happen.
Ganderson
Friday - November 24th 2023 7:56AM MST
PS
Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving to you all. Maybe, like they do with the day after Xmas we could call today “Wrestling Day”, or “Kayfabe Day”
Mr. Mod; since you missed “US Blues” this summer here’s something worth posting:
https://www.youtube.com/live/MhNfaMu8R5c?si=XeQFpE6kZOS2FO7u
Song starts at about 27 minutes..
Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving to you all. Maybe, like they do with the day after Xmas we could call today “Wrestling Day”, or “Kayfabe Day”
Mr. Mod; since you missed “US Blues” this summer here’s something worth posting:
https://www.youtube.com/live/MhNfaMu8R5c?si=XeQFpE6kZOS2FO7u
Song starts at about 27 minutes..
Hail
Friday - November 24th 2023 7:34AM MST
PS
Thank you, Peak Stupidity, for your work in this difficult age of near-peak Stupidity conditions.
Thank you, Peak Stupidity, for your work in this difficult age of near-peak Stupidity conditions.
Adam Smith
Friday - November 24th 2023 6:31AM MST
PS: Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm a late to the party (as Achmed noticed last post I've been busier than usual) but, Happy Thanksgiving!
Aside from being a bit extra busy at work (and getting up unusually early because of it) Mrs. Smith's family came to town for the holiday (so I gathered up a couple truck loads of fire wood for the fire pit, ran to Kroger and the liquor store in Dawsonville and played sous chef in the kitchen) and on top of that it's leaf season. (Blowing and burning leaves is almost a full time job by itself this time of year.)
I have so much to be thankful for that I would be hard pressed to tell all about it in the time I have this morning. (Mrs. Smith's family is on their way over for breakfast.)
Let's just say I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. I'm happy, healthy, have a great job, a great little woman 💕 that loves me (and is one of the best damn cooks in the world!) and I'm part of a wonderful online community where we can discuss some of the stupidity afflicting the world that I otherwise shouldn't talk about in polite company.
So cheers to another year of continued happiness and success!
I hope you all have enjoyed your thanksgiving as much as I have.
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! ☮️
I'm a late to the party (as Achmed noticed last post I've been busier than usual) but, Happy Thanksgiving!
Aside from being a bit extra busy at work (and getting up unusually early because of it) Mrs. Smith's family came to town for the holiday (so I gathered up a couple truck loads of fire wood for the fire pit, ran to Kroger and the liquor store in Dawsonville and played sous chef in the kitchen) and on top of that it's leaf season. (Blowing and burning leaves is almost a full time job by itself this time of year.)
I have so much to be thankful for that I would be hard pressed to tell all about it in the time I have this morning. (Mrs. Smith's family is on their way over for breakfast.)
Let's just say I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. I'm happy, healthy, have a great job, a great little woman 💕 that loves me (and is one of the best damn cooks in the world!) and I'm part of a wonderful online community where we can discuss some of the stupidity afflicting the world that I otherwise shouldn't talk about in polite company.
So cheers to another year of continued happiness and success!
I hope you all have enjoyed your thanksgiving as much as I have.
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! ☮️
Moderator
Friday - November 24th 2023 5:57AM MST
PS: Hello, Dieter!
Well, we're doing fine here without the vax, but my main point of pride bout it is that none of us were forced to take it - had 3 people threatened with job loss in the family, but, cue Tom Petty, we wouldn't back down.
See you on TUR too.
Well, we're doing fine here without the vax, but my main point of pride bout it is that none of us were forced to take it - had 3 people threatened with job loss in the family, but, cue Tom Petty, we wouldn't back down.
See you on TUR too.
The Alarmist
Friday - November 24th 2023 5:51AM MST
PS
Happy Thanksgiving again, y’all.
@Dieter, thank you for illustrating common source bias.
Happy Thanksgiving again, y’all.
@Dieter, thank you for illustrating common source bias.
Dieter Kief
Friday - November 24th 2023 2:25AM MST
PS
Happy Thanksgiving from me too Mod. & Peakers! - - - Here's a good ol' scientific reason to be a bit optimistic:
Covid-Vaccine-Doomsayers Debunked:
Vaccinated Much Better Off Post-Covid Than Unvaccinated - Big Swedish Study Debunks Covid Vaccine Alarmists
Unvaccinated Suffer
Three Times (!) More Often from
Post-Covid than the Vaccinated
https://pic.twitter.com/uQJ8xCXaFt
Happy Thanksgiving from me too Mod. & Peakers! - - - Here's a good ol' scientific reason to be a bit optimistic:
Covid-Vaccine-Doomsayers Debunked:
Vaccinated Much Better Off Post-Covid Than Unvaccinated - Big Swedish Study Debunks Covid Vaccine Alarmists
Unvaccinated Suffer
Three Times (!) More Often from
Post-Covid than the Vaccinated
https://pic.twitter.com/uQJ8xCXaFt
Moderator
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 7:53PM MST
PS: "I'm surprised you don't post the song Alice's restaurant every year." That's pretty classic, yes.
I even forgot Them US Blues last 4th of July. Shameful.
I even forgot Them US Blues last 4th of July. Shameful.
Dtbb
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 7:50PM MST
PS
I'm surprised you don't post the song Alice's restaurant every year
I'm surprised you don't post the song Alice's restaurant every year
Dtbb
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 7:45PM MST
PS
Happy Thanksgiving to all y'all!
Happy Thanksgiving to all y'all!
Moderator
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 5:30PM MST
PS: and to you too, Mr. Blanc.
Moderator
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 5:30PM MST
PS: Alarmist, the tweet you linked to, says:
"Shortly after a Navy P-8A overshot the runway and landed in Kaneohe Bay (everyone survived) I pointed out that the crew was diverse. For that I got a scathing community note saying it wasn’t true. The Navy is very proud of the fact that it’s P-8 fleet features the most diverse crews in military aviation. 1st Lt. Hailey Harms, a Marine spokesperson confirmed the crew was both diverse and alive. Because the MSM isn’t reporting the identity of the crew the community notes community decided my comment was wrong. Annoying and false. Before you apply a community note make sure you know what you’re talking about - your inability to confirm a statement isn’t proof it isn’t accurate.
Note: This crew photo is just the one the Navy distributed to show how diverse its P-8 crews are. They did not share one of the P-8 crew that went for a swim."
Thanks, that crew - the one in front of the INTACT P-8 - doesn't look American even. I guess they are pushing DIEversity into certain areas where they can do the least damage?
"Shortly after a Navy P-8A overshot the runway and landed in Kaneohe Bay (everyone survived) I pointed out that the crew was diverse. For that I got a scathing community note saying it wasn’t true. The Navy is very proud of the fact that it’s P-8 fleet features the most diverse crews in military aviation. 1st Lt. Hailey Harms, a Marine spokesperson confirmed the crew was both diverse and alive. Because the MSM isn’t reporting the identity of the crew the community notes community decided my comment was wrong. Annoying and false. Before you apply a community note make sure you know what you’re talking about - your inability to confirm a statement isn’t proof it isn’t accurate.
Note: This crew photo is just the one the Navy distributed to show how diverse its P-8 crews are. They did not share one of the P-8 crew that went for a swim."
Thanks, that crew - the one in front of the INTACT P-8 - doesn't look American even. I guess they are pushing DIEversity into certain areas where they can do the least damage?
MBlanc46
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 5:02PM MST
PS To all.
Moderator
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 1:56PM MST
PS: Thanks, RC, and my apologies for that comment of mine on TUR. I take it back.
The Alarmist
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 1:15PM MST
PS
I commented on Sailer’s blog on UR that it was diversity in the cockpit, not necessarily in ATC, that might kill people.
Appropo that ...
https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1726962427781087360
I commented on Sailer’s blog on UR that it was diversity in the cockpit, not necessarily in ATC, that might kill people.
Appropo that ...
https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1726962427781087360
RadicalCenter
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 12:04PM MST
PS - My wife and I wish a happy healthy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Achmed :)
Moderator
Thursday - November 23rd 2023 11:19AM MST
PS: BTW, for Alarmist: I thought for sure I had that "Don't call us, we'll call you" song by Sugerloaf on one of my posts early on. I couldn't find it at all. That's a neat song.
https://pastorfred.blogsite.org/?p=985