Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Marriage
The second Mrs. Vache Folle is a citizen of Ukraine (not "the" Ukraine, they don't even have a word for "the") and a permanent resident alien in the United States. She passed her citizenship test a few weeks ago and is waiting to take the oath and become naturalized.
In order to bring Mrs. VF2 to the United States (she was living in Ukraine when we met), I had to declare to the government that I intended to marry her, and in order to keep her and her daughter here, I actually had to go through with it. We went to Vegas and got married before a JP a few days after they arrived in America. I absolutely had to get some state to "legitimize" our relationship within 90 days or they both would have become undocumented aliens and subject to deportation.
Because Mrs. VF2 decided to stay at home and study English full time at a local community college for a while, I found that getting her and her daughter insured required me to have that stupid piece of paper from Nevada.
To make matters worse, the US government assumes that anyone who marries a foreigner and brings them to America does so fraudulently; therefore, I had to prove that Mrs. VF2 and I were really, genuinely, honest to gods married. Three times. First time, you get a conditional green card. Then after two years you have to produce a bunch of documents and be interviewed to show that you are really married (not just on paper). I sent in affidavits from friends and neighbors, evidence that they lived with me, evidence that we had bank accounts and bills and insurance together, evidence that we parented together. The US government did not believe this evidence because we didn't own a house together, and real married people don't have arrangements like ours where only one spouse is on the title. So we had to appeal. I had to get Mrs. VF1 to make out an affidavit explaining that we still owned the house together because it was "underwater" and we couldn't sell it or change the title. The government was satisfied until we had to prove our marriage yet again when Mrs. VF2 applied for naturalization.
I wouldn't have bothered to get the paper from Nevada if I didn't have to. I don't see what business it is of the State of Nevada or New York or the USA whom I love and with whom I share domestic arrangements. Of course, that piece of paper allows me to compel my insurers, my employer, my stepdaughter's schools, hospitals and others to recognize our arrangement. It gets me favorable tax treatment and keeps my spouse from testifying against me. It is not what makes us married, as the US government says, but it sure does confer a lot of rights vis a vis the government and private persons that I never thought much about before. I see why same sex partners are keen to get these rights, and I don't see any good reason for the government to privilege one kind of domestic arrangement over another even if they are in the business of documenting and registering such arrangements. We all ought to recognize and affirm our neighbors' rights to make these arrangments without compulsion of law, but we are basically a**holes who can't be trusted to show each other basic respect. The documenttaion and registration of domestic arrangements is justified to the extent that it strengthens the institution of the household, whatever its composition, and not as a means of regulating what households are supposed to look like.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
What Kind of Racist Are You?
I grew up in the Deep South. When I was child, we had segregated schools, water fountains, bathrooms, you name it. Then we became technically "integrated" and had to work a little harder to maintain segregation. I remember that my family started going to a private swimming pool when the public pool was integrated so we wouldn't have to swim with black people. The N-word was part of everyday vocabulary. I absorbed racism from the culture even though nobody ever sat me down and gave me explicit instructions as to how to be a racist.
As I became a more sophisticated and educated person and encountered a wider society, I became less and less racist. I decided at some point to try to be a better human being, to face reality, and to be less stupid. It required a conscious effort, however, and many years after I had departed the South I would find some irrational racist idea popping into my head. The biggest steps for me were (a) acknowledging that I had this indoctrination, and (b) realizing that it was not enough just to claim to be "color blind". Pretending that racism doesn't exist doesn't make it go away in yourself or in society at large. I don't claim to be racism-free. I think of myself as a recovering racist, and I know that I need to be self aware and on the look out for subconscious biases and irrational ideas.
I have identified several categories of American racists over the years. The smallest category (thanks be to God) includes folks who are openly racist and proud of it. These include subcategories of people who have animosity toward black people and regard them as evil and people who, while claiming to bear black people no ill will, regard them as inherently inferior on some dimension or another. I include them in the same larger category because the impact on society is pretty much the same. The patronizing variety is not always distinguishable from the hateful variety, and the former often enables the latter.
A larger category includes people who are racist but who are at least somewhat embarrassed about it. In times like the present a lot of these folks jump into the first category if they perceive safety in numbers. Some identifying characteristics of this category are incessant whining about political correctness and queasiness about the dating habits of the Kardashians.
The largest category is comprised of folks who are racist but don't seem to know it. They tend to deny that racism is a problem and get really upset when people bring it up. Identifying racism is worse than racism itself, and uppity black folks who complain about being discriminated against or having their relatives or neighbors murdered by police are said to be "fanning the flames" of nonexistent racism. As far as these folks are concerned, we have just the right amount and maybe too much racial justice. The consequences of racism are, in their view, black folks' own fault. They can be frequently heard to preface statements with "I'm not a racist but..." They think that black people want them to feel guilty even though, as far as they are concerned, they never did anything wrong to a black person (how could they have what with having arranged their lives so as to have as little interaction with black people as possible?). They are willfully clueless. Black peoiple don't need their guilt; black people need them to open their eyes and acknowledge the truth. This category is the most insidious and probably the most harmful. These people stand in the way of solving the problem because they deny that it exists and that they themselves contribute to it.
Then there are folks like me who are in recovery. Maybe we are helpful. Maybe not. At least I hope we do less harm.
There is also a theoretical category of persons whose hearts and minds are unsullied by the defect of racism. My dream is to pass over into that state.
As I became a more sophisticated and educated person and encountered a wider society, I became less and less racist. I decided at some point to try to be a better human being, to face reality, and to be less stupid. It required a conscious effort, however, and many years after I had departed the South I would find some irrational racist idea popping into my head. The biggest steps for me were (a) acknowledging that I had this indoctrination, and (b) realizing that it was not enough just to claim to be "color blind". Pretending that racism doesn't exist doesn't make it go away in yourself or in society at large. I don't claim to be racism-free. I think of myself as a recovering racist, and I know that I need to be self aware and on the look out for subconscious biases and irrational ideas.
I have identified several categories of American racists over the years. The smallest category (thanks be to God) includes folks who are openly racist and proud of it. These include subcategories of people who have animosity toward black people and regard them as evil and people who, while claiming to bear black people no ill will, regard them as inherently inferior on some dimension or another. I include them in the same larger category because the impact on society is pretty much the same. The patronizing variety is not always distinguishable from the hateful variety, and the former often enables the latter.
A larger category includes people who are racist but who are at least somewhat embarrassed about it. In times like the present a lot of these folks jump into the first category if they perceive safety in numbers. Some identifying characteristics of this category are incessant whining about political correctness and queasiness about the dating habits of the Kardashians.
The largest category is comprised of folks who are racist but don't seem to know it. They tend to deny that racism is a problem and get really upset when people bring it up. Identifying racism is worse than racism itself, and uppity black folks who complain about being discriminated against or having their relatives or neighbors murdered by police are said to be "fanning the flames" of nonexistent racism. As far as these folks are concerned, we have just the right amount and maybe too much racial justice. The consequences of racism are, in their view, black folks' own fault. They can be frequently heard to preface statements with "I'm not a racist but..." They think that black people want them to feel guilty even though, as far as they are concerned, they never did anything wrong to a black person (how could they have what with having arranged their lives so as to have as little interaction with black people as possible?). They are willfully clueless. Black peoiple don't need their guilt; black people need them to open their eyes and acknowledge the truth. This category is the most insidious and probably the most harmful. These people stand in the way of solving the problem because they deny that it exists and that they themselves contribute to it.
Then there are folks like me who are in recovery. Maybe we are helpful. Maybe not. At least I hope we do less harm.
There is also a theoretical category of persons whose hearts and minds are unsullied by the defect of racism. My dream is to pass over into that state.
The Return of Vache Folle
For the last few years I have been too busy and, to tell the truth, too depressed to blog. I went through a painful (as opposed to delightful) divorce, a difficult remarriage accompanied by stepfatherhood, and overwhelming financial difficulties. I suppose that not blogging was just another manifestation of the crippling social phobia that I experienced. Moreover, my extreme self loathing made it seem clear to me that nobody could possibly give a rat's patootie about my disjointed and incoherent ramblings. What do I know? Less than nothing. What do I have to contribute? Less than nothing.
Now, however, thanks to modern medicine, I am no longer crippled by anxiety, depression and phobias and I can once again delude myself into thinking that my thoughts are worth writing down. I started by posting on Facebook short statements of my opinions on political and social issues. I quickly discovered that a disturbing number of my Facebook "friends" were overt racists, homophobes and other varieties of reactionary troglodyte. I had to start whittling them down until I only have a few whose posts I can tolerate. On the positive side (at least I think it is positive), I rediscovered the urge to think about things besides the quotidian and to write down some of my thoughts and opinions for what I hope will become a readership in at least the double digits.
I still advocate freedom, but I no longer see the state as the only or even primary enemy of liberty. I would not "push the button", as they say. Pushing the button would just leave the existing power structure in place and would, in all likelihood, lead to a reduction in overall liberty. Sure, our feudal overlords would have liberty out the wazoo, but the rest of us would have just as much liberty as they let us. I suspect that this would be less liberty than the dreaded state allows us now.
I am looking to optimize liberty, to provide for the most liberty for the most people, to expand the concept of liberty beyond mere freedom from interference by the state. Maybe this makes me "collectivist" in that I care about other people's liberty almost as much as my own and recognize that those of us who are not in the likely feudal overlord category need to band together and collaborate.
I don't know that it makes much difference whether the agency that threatens our liberty is "governmental" or "private". The lines seem blurrier than I used to believe.
I probably won't always write about my brand of libertarianism. Who knows? Maybe I will devote a lot of space to gardening or what it's like to live in a house full of Ukrainians, half of whom speak no English. Or to religion or to what it's like to be mentally ill. I just know that I feel a need to express myself in some manner. Thank you for enabling me by allowing me to imagine that someone might actually read this.
Now, however, thanks to modern medicine, I am no longer crippled by anxiety, depression and phobias and I can once again delude myself into thinking that my thoughts are worth writing down. I started by posting on Facebook short statements of my opinions on political and social issues. I quickly discovered that a disturbing number of my Facebook "friends" were overt racists, homophobes and other varieties of reactionary troglodyte. I had to start whittling them down until I only have a few whose posts I can tolerate. On the positive side (at least I think it is positive), I rediscovered the urge to think about things besides the quotidian and to write down some of my thoughts and opinions for what I hope will become a readership in at least the double digits.
I still advocate freedom, but I no longer see the state as the only or even primary enemy of liberty. I would not "push the button", as they say. Pushing the button would just leave the existing power structure in place and would, in all likelihood, lead to a reduction in overall liberty. Sure, our feudal overlords would have liberty out the wazoo, but the rest of us would have just as much liberty as they let us. I suspect that this would be less liberty than the dreaded state allows us now.
I am looking to optimize liberty, to provide for the most liberty for the most people, to expand the concept of liberty beyond mere freedom from interference by the state. Maybe this makes me "collectivist" in that I care about other people's liberty almost as much as my own and recognize that those of us who are not in the likely feudal overlord category need to band together and collaborate.
I don't know that it makes much difference whether the agency that threatens our liberty is "governmental" or "private". The lines seem blurrier than I used to believe.
I probably won't always write about my brand of libertarianism. Who knows? Maybe I will devote a lot of space to gardening or what it's like to live in a house full of Ukrainians, half of whom speak no English. Or to religion or to what it's like to be mentally ill. I just know that I feel a need to express myself in some manner. Thank you for enabling me by allowing me to imagine that someone might actually read this.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
A Jobs Program the GOP Can Get Behind
Americans need jobs, but the GOP is determined to keep the economy sluggish in an attempt to bolster its chances in the 2012 elections. A jobs program has to be totally irresistible in order to get past the GOP. I propose that the US create at least 1,000,000 jobs quickly by invading Iran.
Iran has over 600,000 active military forces and some 3 million combat ready paramilitary personnel, so it will take a sizeable force to conquer that country and to subdue it after the initial conquest. I reckon 1,000,000 troops would not be too many, and additional support personnel will also be needed. This means jobs aplenty, especially for young people.
The GOP loves land wars in Asia and hates caution, and they haven't shut up about the threat that Iran poses for nigh on a decade now. So I don't see how they could credibly oppose a war of conquest and subjugation in Iran. The Christianist right loves instability in the Middle East in the hope that it will trigger Armageddon, so those folks will be on board with the plan.
Aside from creating jobs in the short term, the O'Bama administration would benefit in a variety of other ways from a Persian War. Firstly, it is difficult to criticize the President during wartime, especially if you are a mindless nationalist as many of the GOP are. Secondly, O'Bama can do just about anything in the name of national security, including silencing dissent, and nobody in the opposition will be able to gainsay him without sounding like a defeatist or an America hater. Thirdly, O'Bama can credibly argue that America can't afford to experiment with a GOP administration in time of war since the GOP has demonstrated its incompetence in both governing and in war fighting.
It's time to mobilize America and get her people working again. Let's attack Iran without delay.
Iran has over 600,000 active military forces and some 3 million combat ready paramilitary personnel, so it will take a sizeable force to conquer that country and to subdue it after the initial conquest. I reckon 1,000,000 troops would not be too many, and additional support personnel will also be needed. This means jobs aplenty, especially for young people.
The GOP loves land wars in Asia and hates caution, and they haven't shut up about the threat that Iran poses for nigh on a decade now. So I don't see how they could credibly oppose a war of conquest and subjugation in Iran. The Christianist right loves instability in the Middle East in the hope that it will trigger Armageddon, so those folks will be on board with the plan.
Aside from creating jobs in the short term, the O'Bama administration would benefit in a variety of other ways from a Persian War. Firstly, it is difficult to criticize the President during wartime, especially if you are a mindless nationalist as many of the GOP are. Secondly, O'Bama can do just about anything in the name of national security, including silencing dissent, and nobody in the opposition will be able to gainsay him without sounding like a defeatist or an America hater. Thirdly, O'Bama can credibly argue that America can't afford to experiment with a GOP administration in time of war since the GOP has demonstrated its incompetence in both governing and in war fighting.
It's time to mobilize America and get her people working again. Let's attack Iran without delay.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Somali and Norway
I spent an idyllic week in Nantucket ignoring the news. Now that I'm back I have two observations. Firstly, I am glad I never got on the bandagon with the "Somalia is the proof that anarchy works" crowd.
Secondly, anti-Islamic wingnuts spend a lot of time arguing that all Muslims are somehow responsible for all Islamist terror because Islam is a religion of violence. Given that, isn't it fair to argue that anti-Islamic wingnuts are culpable for the acts of the anti-Islamic Norwegian nutbag who killed all those people because militant anti-Islamicism is a philosophy of hate?
Secondly, anti-Islamic wingnuts spend a lot of time arguing that all Muslims are somehow responsible for all Islamist terror because Islam is a religion of violence. Given that, isn't it fair to argue that anti-Islamic wingnuts are culpable for the acts of the anti-Islamic Norwegian nutbag who killed all those people because militant anti-Islamicism is a philosophy of hate?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Rob Bell
This morning I started reading Rob Bell's "Love Wins". It is deceptively pithy, and it took me longer to read a few pages than I would have expected given the large type and simple writing style. An earlier work of Bell, "Velvet Elvis", was very influential in my spirtitual journey and very liberating.
I suspect that this book will advocate some form of universalism. I have universalist tendencies myself. Hell makes no sense to me at all. The whole concept of this fleeting life as a test with eternal ramifications makes even less sense to me. It causes me to question the very notion of an afterlife.
In one passage, Bell writes about how someone had once remarked that the great peacemaker Gandhi is in hell. I have been thinking about this all day. Some folks reckon that Gandhi is right there with Hitler in eternal torment. And maybe Hitler was introduced to the Four Spiritual Laws in his bunker in Berlin and prayed the formulaic prayer to receive Jesus as his "personal Lord and Savior" right before he died, in which case Hitler's in heaven! Does this make any sense at all?
I'm not saying that Gandhi deserves to be in heaven and Hitler deserves to be in hell. Nobody deserves anything. For me, it ain't about deserving. It's about what a loving God might be expected to do. It's about the boundaries, or lack thereof, of grace. Would a loving God create weak mortals, predestine them to act in certain ways and then torment them forever because they acted as they were ordained to act? I suppose that it's possible, but it boggles the mind and confuses the heart to contemplate it. I suppose that if I end up in hell, it might be for my own good or for the furtherance of some grand unfathomable purpose.
Maybe the suffering of the damned is meant to entertain and amuse the saved in heaven and to enhance their experience by serving as a contrast to the bliss which they enjoy. Think how lucky and grateful you would feel if you were spared the torments which were inflicted on people who had been no worse than you in life, maybe even better. Of course, if you really enjoyed the suffering all that much, you'd be kind of a douche.
I suspect that this book will advocate some form of universalism. I have universalist tendencies myself. Hell makes no sense to me at all. The whole concept of this fleeting life as a test with eternal ramifications makes even less sense to me. It causes me to question the very notion of an afterlife.
In one passage, Bell writes about how someone had once remarked that the great peacemaker Gandhi is in hell. I have been thinking about this all day. Some folks reckon that Gandhi is right there with Hitler in eternal torment. And maybe Hitler was introduced to the Four Spiritual Laws in his bunker in Berlin and prayed the formulaic prayer to receive Jesus as his "personal Lord and Savior" right before he died, in which case Hitler's in heaven! Does this make any sense at all?
I'm not saying that Gandhi deserves to be in heaven and Hitler deserves to be in hell. Nobody deserves anything. For me, it ain't about deserving. It's about what a loving God might be expected to do. It's about the boundaries, or lack thereof, of grace. Would a loving God create weak mortals, predestine them to act in certain ways and then torment them forever because they acted as they were ordained to act? I suppose that it's possible, but it boggles the mind and confuses the heart to contemplate it. I suppose that if I end up in hell, it might be for my own good or for the furtherance of some grand unfathomable purpose.
Maybe the suffering of the damned is meant to entertain and amuse the saved in heaven and to enhance their experience by serving as a contrast to the bliss which they enjoy. Think how lucky and grateful you would feel if you were spared the torments which were inflicted on people who had been no worse than you in life, maybe even better. Of course, if you really enjoyed the suffering all that much, you'd be kind of a douche.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Public Schools
Is it morally wrong for me to enroll my newly acquired daughter in public school while at the same time opposing the coercive organization of education? After all, I have been paying school taxes out the wazoo for years now while reaping no benefit, and the alternative is to pay tuition at a private school in addition to school taxes. I'm going to do it anyway and rationalize it somehow, but I'd prefer to learn that I've still got some antigovernment cred even though I receive a government benefit.
Friday, July 08, 2011
Retiring the R-Word
I've been finding out lately that I can't use the R-Word any more when talking about stupid people and stupid things. For the time being I've reverted to "feebleminded". I did the same thing when the word "illegitimate" and "illegitimacy" became problematic. I dusted off "bastard" and "bastardy".
Stop Saying the American People Aren't Stupid
I frequently hear pundits of all stripes state "the American people aren't stupid." They don't really believe that, do they? A quarter of us are positively feebleminded. Half of us cluster around average intelligence where abstract thought and complex reasoning are just beyond our ken. The remainder of us have the theroetical capacity for abstraction and reasoning but lack the inputs to utilize this capacity. Clearly, the American people ARE stupid.
Look at the evidence: a GOP majority in the House; the existence of the WWE; the use of the word "intellectual" in connection with Jonah Goldberg; the election of GW Bush, twice.
Look at the evidence: a GOP majority in the House; the existence of the WWE; the use of the word "intellectual" in connection with Jonah Goldberg; the election of GW Bush, twice.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Debt Ceiling
If I were O'Bama, and Congress failed to raise the debt ceiling, I'd just keep paying the country's debts anyway on the basis of the 14th amendment. They could try to impeach me for all I'd care. Then again, I'm not like O'Bama.
I don't assume that my opponents have the interests of the country at heart, and I don't think that the problems of government can be fixed simply by manning it with good people. Every 4 years, the electorate is apt to put a complete douchenozzle in the White House, and then the structural deficiencies of the system become glaringly manifest. We need to restructure the system so that evil and incompetent administrations simply can't do that much harm. Also, I don't generally like to start negotiating from the point where I think me and my opponents should probably end up. I like to let my opponents negotiate for what they want after I put what I want on the table. That way, if my opponents are not negotiating in good faith, I won't have bargained against myself.
I don't assume that my opponents have the interests of the country at heart, and I don't think that the problems of government can be fixed simply by manning it with good people. Every 4 years, the electorate is apt to put a complete douchenozzle in the White House, and then the structural deficiencies of the system become glaringly manifest. We need to restructure the system so that evil and incompetent administrations simply can't do that much harm. Also, I don't generally like to start negotiating from the point where I think me and my opponents should probably end up. I like to let my opponents negotiate for what they want after I put what I want on the table. That way, if my opponents are not negotiating in good faith, I won't have bargained against myself.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Bachmann Paradox
Michelle Bachmann has a problem. A major part of her core constituency, the radical right wing evangelical branch, reckons that folks with vaginas are disqualified for leadership roles and should just shut their cake holes.
Bachmannspeak
Here's my translation of some of Congresscritter Bachmann's ravings when she announced her fringe candidacy for President.
"I'm a peace through strength conservative." Translation: I aim to give the military industrial complex a blank check.
"I'm a fiscal conservative." Translation: I am insufficiently self aware to understand that this is completely inconsistent with that first thing I said.
"I'm a social conservative." Translation: I think I know better than everyone else how to live and I will use violence to impose my preferences upon society.
"I'm a Tea Party conservative." Translation: I am doubling down on my incoherence.
"I'm a peace through strength conservative." Translation: I aim to give the military industrial complex a blank check.
"I'm a fiscal conservative." Translation: I am insufficiently self aware to understand that this is completely inconsistent with that first thing I said.
"I'm a social conservative." Translation: I think I know better than everyone else how to live and I will use violence to impose my preferences upon society.
"I'm a Tea Party conservative." Translation: I am doubling down on my incoherence.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Victory
I can hardly believe that victory has finally been achieved in Afghanistan and Iraq. I reckon that it would be cool to travel to Kabul or Baghdad and eat in the Olive Garden and have a drink at the Hard Rock Cafe in each downtown area. I wonder where our soldiers like to hang out when they are off duty now that the war is over. Probably wherever the women are. I imagine that we'll see a lot of war brides now that the troops can mingle with the populace in safety. They won't just be limited to the brothels and strip clubs in the immediate vicinity of the bases.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Optimism Bias
I listened to an interview on PBS the other day of a scientist who has researched the phenomenon of "optimism bias". It turns out that humans tend to be optimistic and to imagine positive outcomes even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. That explains the invasion of Iraq. It also explains the many boneheaded business decisions that I have seen made over the years. I'm trained as a corporate lawyer to point out the possible downside to every "exciting new opportunity" and where appropriate to dampen the unwarranted enthusiasm of the business folks. I try not to get too cozy with the business team lest I catch the infection of optimism and overlook the potential problems that I'm paid to bring up. This is not usually difficult for me since most of the busness folks dislike me and will get me involved only when they are required to under operating procedures. They think I'm a downer with my pesky reasoning.
Optimism bias puts bread on my table. Long live optimism bias.
I'm not immune to it, of course. I imagine that my future will be happy and bright even though there are an infinite number of scenarios, mostly beyond my control, where my future is bleak and miserable or brief. How would I drag myself out of bed every day if I didn't imagine that I'd survive? Why would I bother with those Lotto tickets if I didn't see myself winning? Nobody would ever do anything if they imagined the worst all the time.
Optimism bias puts bread on my table. Long live optimism bias.
I'm not immune to it, of course. I imagine that my future will be happy and bright even though there are an infinite number of scenarios, mostly beyond my control, where my future is bleak and miserable or brief. How would I drag myself out of bed every day if I didn't imagine that I'd survive? Why would I bother with those Lotto tickets if I didn't see myself winning? Nobody would ever do anything if they imagined the worst all the time.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Hoops
I fell in love with someone who lives on the other side of the imaginary dotted line of death known as our national border, and in order to enjoy the privilege of living with my loved one I am required by the government to jump through a series of hoops. Unlike anyone else, I am obliged to prove that I can afford a wife. Also, unlike anyone else, we are obliged to prove that we want to get married for legitimate federal government sanctioned reasons. For six months, our petition for a visa worked its way through Citizenship and Immigration Services and is now in the hands of the State Department where it will take some more months of processing.
Unlike other brides, mine has to prove to a bureaucrat that she knows me well enough to win the Newlywed Game in order to earn the right to live with me. Unlike other brides, she has to pass a physical and to prove that she's never been a troublemaker or a prostitute. We have to gather reams of documents and get them translated and notarized and stamped by all manner of officials.
What would be the downside of simply taking our word for it that we love each other and want to spend our lives together just like any other engaged couple?
Unlike other brides, mine has to prove to a bureaucrat that she knows me well enough to win the Newlywed Game in order to earn the right to live with me. Unlike other brides, she has to pass a physical and to prove that she's never been a troublemaker or a prostitute. We have to gather reams of documents and get them translated and notarized and stamped by all manner of officials.
What would be the downside of simply taking our word for it that we love each other and want to spend our lives together just like any other engaged couple?
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Social Conservative
What do these people have in common?
They're "Social Conservatives". When they were alive, they wanted to establish authoritarian governments to impose by force and violence their views as to how to live.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Missing Snakes, etc.
My northern water snakes seem to have disappeared. Year after year, a family of water snakes has made its home in my pond. They were present in April after the thaw, but I have not seen them since. My hypothesis is that the pit bull (who went to live with my ex) used to keep their predators away and that they have been eaten. I also have been abandoned by my hummingbirds despite faithful maintenance of two nectar silos. The hummers showed up as usual in the first week of May but disappeared.
A Five Guys burger restaurant has opened in Fishkill. They make a damn good burger and fried taters, possibly the best I've ever had. Yesterday, I stopped by after picking up my cholesterol medication at the Walmart and ordered a double bacon cheese burger with the works.
I didn't watch the GOP debate. I figured it would just be a contest to establish who is the craziest and most authoritarian. The GOP will pick Pawlenty or Romney, whichever one can convince the most people that he has lost any vestiges of sanity.
I became addicted to George RR Martin sword and sorcery fiction after watching Game of Thrones on HBO. I don't know what to do until the next installment comes out in July. I've read a couple of decent novels to fill in the gaps: Everything is Illuminated, about an American who travels to Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandparent from the holocaust, and The Anarchist, about the assassin of Wm McKinley. Usually, I hate sword and sorcery fiction. It always seems like the authors wrote down their D&D escapades, but I found Martin's work very enjoyable.
I enjoyed Pentecost/Music Sunday. I couldn't help wondering what the congregation would do if I stood up and started speaking in an unknown tongue. Presumably, I'd still be confined for another 24 hours or so.
A Five Guys burger restaurant has opened in Fishkill. They make a damn good burger and fried taters, possibly the best I've ever had. Yesterday, I stopped by after picking up my cholesterol medication at the Walmart and ordered a double bacon cheese burger with the works.
I didn't watch the GOP debate. I figured it would just be a contest to establish who is the craziest and most authoritarian. The GOP will pick Pawlenty or Romney, whichever one can convince the most people that he has lost any vestiges of sanity.
I became addicted to George RR Martin sword and sorcery fiction after watching Game of Thrones on HBO. I don't know what to do until the next installment comes out in July. I've read a couple of decent novels to fill in the gaps: Everything is Illuminated, about an American who travels to Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandparent from the holocaust, and The Anarchist, about the assassin of Wm McKinley. Usually, I hate sword and sorcery fiction. It always seems like the authors wrote down their D&D escapades, but I found Martin's work very enjoyable.
I enjoyed Pentecost/Music Sunday. I couldn't help wondering what the congregation would do if I stood up and started speaking in an unknown tongue. Presumably, I'd still be confined for another 24 hours or so.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Weinerville
I have had it up to here with coverage of Anthony Weiner's "sexting scandal". I turn off the news if they even mention it. I know all that I need to know about it. It is way past time to move on. It's not as if Weiner had sponsored anti-sexting legislation or had been otherwise hypocritical, in which case the story would be a little fun. Wiener sexted and then lied about it, as anyone would have. What is so fracking amazing about that? Nothing. When he was first asked about it, he probably should have said "Jealous much?"
Friday, June 03, 2011
Righteousness and Temptation
It's easy for me to point out how much more righteous I am than Tiger Woods or John Edwards or any other rich and powerful philanderer. I have never committed adultery. Shame on them and hooray for me.
On the other hand, I have never really been tempted in the same way that rich and powerful men are. No Waffle House waitress ever threw herself at me, and none is ever likely to.
Moreover, I don't think that my libido is as powerful as that of these philanderers. Illicit sex just smacks of too much effort as far as I am concerned.
On the other hand, I have never really been tempted in the same way that rich and powerful men are. No Waffle House waitress ever threw herself at me, and none is ever likely to.
Moreover, I don't think that my libido is as powerful as that of these philanderers. Illicit sex just smacks of too much effort as far as I am concerned.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Democratic Friends
I don't criticize my Democratic friends as much as I do my Republican ones, primarily because they don't make as many bizarre assertions. They're pretty much up front about what they believe and what they want, and they tend to be too embarrassed to make intentionally spurious arguments.
One area where I do have a bone to pick with my Democratic friends involves some of the assumptions which they seem to make about humanity. One is that all people are equally intelligent and educable. This has serious policy ramifications. Given enough money and resources, any pupil can grow up to be, if not Stephen Hawking, then at least a Certified Public Accountant. Everybody should be able to get a college degree if they wish. The key to American prosperity is more technical training in order to tap into American ingenuity and permit every American to get a high tech job.
Where does this assumption come from? We all know from experience that some people are smarter than others and that intelligence and educability vary significantly from person to person. In recognizing this obvious fact, it is not necessary to make any statement about the hereditability of intelligence or the correlation of its distribution with other factors. We need to admit that a significant proportion of the population is unsuited for high tech work or higher education and that what is needed are good manufacturing jobs which permit persons with more limited intellecual endowments to earn a decent living. The current system simply treats such people as if they don't exist and exposes them to unwarranted stigmatization. My Democratic friends are left making unneeded apologies for poor people who have failed to respond to educational opportunities which are of no real use to them and who have simply been left behind in an economy that has shed its manufacturing foundation.
I'm not saying that all poor people are stupid, but I am saying that most stupid people are likely to end up poor in a society that doesn't take them into account. Even people of average intelligence are increasingly being left by the wayside as opportunities for them to get high wage jobs disappear.
One area where I do have a bone to pick with my Democratic friends involves some of the assumptions which they seem to make about humanity. One is that all people are equally intelligent and educable. This has serious policy ramifications. Given enough money and resources, any pupil can grow up to be, if not Stephen Hawking, then at least a Certified Public Accountant. Everybody should be able to get a college degree if they wish. The key to American prosperity is more technical training in order to tap into American ingenuity and permit every American to get a high tech job.
Where does this assumption come from? We all know from experience that some people are smarter than others and that intelligence and educability vary significantly from person to person. In recognizing this obvious fact, it is not necessary to make any statement about the hereditability of intelligence or the correlation of its distribution with other factors. We need to admit that a significant proportion of the population is unsuited for high tech work or higher education and that what is needed are good manufacturing jobs which permit persons with more limited intellecual endowments to earn a decent living. The current system simply treats such people as if they don't exist and exposes them to unwarranted stigmatization. My Democratic friends are left making unneeded apologies for poor people who have failed to respond to educational opportunities which are of no real use to them and who have simply been left behind in an economy that has shed its manufacturing foundation.
I'm not saying that all poor people are stupid, but I am saying that most stupid people are likely to end up poor in a society that doesn't take them into account. Even people of average intelligence are increasingly being left by the wayside as opportunities for them to get high wage jobs disappear.
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