Monday, December 24, 2007

Holiday Mish-Mash

Either I am mellowing, or I have said all I have to say. That said, couple of thoughts/observations:

Had a huge ice dam on my roof the other day, causing melted water to pour down inside my walls. Called around for some help. The roofers that came by were hired on the spot (and, really, could have named a much higher price). My wife was asking if I thought these guys would do a good job; I responded, "Well, they have a business card, they are here, and English is not their native language."

In other words: they had emblems of a legitimate business, no one else had responded, and clearly they were not lazy, good-fer-nuthin' American losers. Racism? Maybe. But those guys spent four hours whacking away at a couple of tons of ice on my roof, then cleaned up my driveway to boot. And all I had to do was cough up some benjamins (versus, say, breaking my back falling onto my neighbors picket fence).

So, is "racism" in favor of so-called under-opportuned minorities bad?

Other observations (after my wife asked what I meant about English not being their native language: she asked "are the Greek?"): Guy #1 had coffee colored skin an tiger eyes (don't know how else to describe it)--I am sure the girls find him very handsome. Guy #2 had darker skin and eyes, but was clean-cut, trim, and worked like the dickens. I will likely be hiring them in the spring for a full roof job.

So, the mantra is that immigrants are oppressed and will only be hired to do crap jobs, the jobs Americans refuse to do. That may be so but, in my observation, the Americans refusing such work are found among the laggards, drunkards, and losers, whereas these disadvantaged immigrants are working their butts off and driving some awfully nice automobiles. Sure, the work is hard, but if you do enough, the pay mounts. Aren't these the kinds of folks we WANT here in the good ole U.S. of A.?

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Note the second: I remain one of the luckiest men I know, and I here give a hearty shout out to Those Powers That Be (If Any) just to say, "Thanks!" Carrying around this big ball of gratitude is pretty warming this time of year, and I look forward to sharing it with the deserving, regardless of all the usual regardlesses. All you cranks and capital 'L' Liberals and capital 'F' Feminists, Marxists, evangelical atheists, anarchists, and various other social engineers can, well, kiss my big ole inclusive American Azz. Life is good. 'Nough said.

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Just got back from a trip to the American Interior, you know, those kinds of places totally discounted by Liberals ("But no one *I* know voted for Nixon!"), where Christmas remains merry and folks say hello even if'n they don't know you all that well. Refreshing (and, to be honest, a bit scary: way more churches than I am used to, what with my residence in one of the secular humanist snot-nosed enclaves...). That said, I really, honestly, truly can think of worse things than passive Christianity...

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WSJ had a GREAT piece on the origins of our two Christmases, A Brief History of Christmas.

Also, I am thinking of moving towards the WSJ's OTHER take on Christmas, or simply adopting a Festivus for the rest of us! And, just FYI, I am not kidding (I never kid about these things). Festivus appeals to my sense of irony and to my pre-Christian roots (my people, as it were, were so lately conquered that they still hark back to their pagan rituals).

Did I say Merry Christmas already?

Monday, December 10, 2007

Uh Oh

So for some time I have laughed about "Child Free" or "I'm Not Kidding" rants; you know, those who have chosen not to reproduce lording their self-righteousness over others. Well, it's gotten worse: environementalists are now haranguing and harassing families with more than two children (I can't WAIT for this to happen to ME, by the way!). I will find the article and link it when I can.

In any case, this is on my mind because just recently I have noticed that my wife is no longer praising her non-pregnantness; indeed, she has begun to talk about how she misses that the youngest is no longer a baby...

I'd better check my finances...

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Random Chance

My town is in apoplectic apology mode: seems that Ole Saint Nick has offended someone, so now any mention of Christmas is being wiped from the community. Huzzah.

I was thinking about white guilt; part of its stance is in the "random chance" mode, e.g., "it is totally random that you hold such a position of power and privilege." I am sure you have heard this on college campuses: "I could have gone to your school; it is only random chance that you got to attend, and you only got that because you are a member of the white power hierarchy, and that too is random" or similar claptrap.

But you see, it is definitely NOT random, not at all. When my wife and I decided to make our children, we knew in advance and with complete certainty that they would have us as their parents, that they would enjoy a certain standard of living, that they would be able to claim "legacy" status at some reasonable colleges, and a whole host of similar "privileges." We made our children consciously (indeed, we even know the dates of conception), and consciously provide them with every advantage ("privilege") at our disposal. It is not surprising in the least that they are reasonably intelligent, healthy, and good-looking, with sufficient familial assets to back up their training and education; their creation was not random.

They could not "just as likely have been brown" or Bangladeshi or bastards--we were there, nay, ARE there to make sure that things go their way to the best of our abilities. I do not want them feeling guilty for laying claim to a good family, a good education, or all the gifts and achievements of Western Civ.

No, they should not feel "entitled" to their advantages, they should feel just as they do: damn grateful. So far as I can tell, they do indeed feel that way.

Such a weird world we live in: my community seeks to foster and applaud "pride" in all cultures but its own, seeking there to instill shame and regret. Bosh!

I do not hold one "people" above another, but I certainly hold some cultures over others: the tolerant, forgiving, mobile, striving AMERICAN culture is, in my opinion, the best that Western civilization has to offer (despite such egregious flaws as McDonald's...), and I am rather tired of hearing about how terrible is these United States. Funny, I don't see people lining up to flee; in fact, quite the opposite.