Racism and DNA Testing

DNA testing for ancestral heritage is all the rage these days.  You have likely seen ads from Ancestry.com, 23 and Me, and Family Tree DNA.  You may have seen the TV series, "Who Do You Think You Are?" or one of the other programs devoted to identifying the ancestry of celebrities and sports figures.

Almost everyone who takes an ancestry DNA test, or whose ancestral history is researched by a professional genealogist, comes to the inevitable conclusion, "I'm not who I thought I was."  "I did not know that I have ancestors who were_______" (insert the ethnicity or geographical locale of your choice).

A number of genealogy websites beat me to it this morning, but the question I have is "what does DNA testing say to those who identify themselves as `white' nationalists?" (BTW--You can include any racially motivated group in this question--surely there are racists in every culture and ethnic group).  Racism is a fruit of Adam's fall and the consequence of human sinfulness (Genesis 6 comes to mind).  We are all prone to hate our neighbor, but it is much easier to hate him or her if they do not look like we do, if they speak a different language, or if they come from a different place with different customs.

My ancestral DNA is as "waspy" as you can get.  Genetically speaking, I am a 99% white European--predominantly from the British Isles, Swiss on my dad's side, with my mother's mtDNA line (U5b3b) probably coming to the British Isles a couple of thousand years ago during the Roman occupation.  But my y-DNA (my father's father's father's DNA), as well as my "trace" ancestral DNA, goes back through Switzerland to the ancient Middle East.  My y-DNA is H2-P96--very old and very rare.  The oldest H2 DNA was found in the skeletal remains of a man who lived about 8000 years ago in what is now Israel.  My H2 ancestors were among the first inhabitants of Europe after the retreat of the Ice Age. 

But how waspy am I, when all of my DNA traces back beyond Europe to a common ancestor whom I share with you (Adam, then Noah)?  And on the genetic path back to Adam is the realization that my H2 DNA is an ancient branch of "H," from which many Indians and Pakistanis come.  Way back when, one brother headed west (taking his line into Europe), while another brother went east and is the genetic father of millions today who are citizens of India and Pakistan.

Contemporary discussions of race (especially in the heated shouting matches of our 24/7 news cycle) are clouded by Darwinian propaganda that there are multiple "races":  Caucasian, Negroid, and Mongoloid.  The reality is all of us share common DNA ancestors, many of us who take DNA tests discover that we are ethnically mixed to some degree or another, and that ultimately, we are all of one race--regardless of where our ancestors lived in the last twenty-five or so generations.

How many white nationalists have DNA from ancestors who belonged to "races" they now regard as inferior or deficient?  Imagine a white nationalist discovering a Jewish ancestor?  An African ancestor?  An Asian ancestor?  How many militant racists, of whatever stripe, have the "pure" DNA of their recent national or racial identity?  Certainly not all.  Likely most do not. 

DNA testing proves we are all of one race because we have a common ancestor.  We are all children of Adam, who is the biological and federal head of the human race.  The Scriptures teach this, and the Reformed confessions echo the biblical teaching.  We may have different ethnicities, come from different cultures and places, but we are all of one race--Adam's.  And that race is fallen, one poisonous fruit of which is racism.

My Sentiments, Exactly . . .

I had the Weirdest Dream Last Night . . .

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, I had the weirdest dream last night . . .  

Donald Trump was elected president. 

The Cubs won the world series. 

The UK left the EU. 

And then the Clintons just disappeared . . .

But at least I can now get stoned if I want, even if I can't buy bullets or use a plastic bag when I go to the store.

The turnout numbers from this election help put things in proper perspective--Americans stayed home or didn't vote top of the ballot.

From Ben Sasse's twitter feed this morning:  Republican vote was down, but HRC's vote was down much more  . . .

2008 -- Obama 69 million
2012 -- Obama 66 million
2004 -- Bush 62 million
2012 -- Romney 61 million
2008 -- McCain 60 million
2016 -- Clinton 59.6 million (with a few more to go)
2016 -- Trump 59.4 million (with a few more to go)

Twenty-Six Political Theses for Your Consideration

Twenty-Six Political Theses
_______________________________

1).  If you pay no federal income tax, you have no right to demand that the top 1% of earners pay more in federal taxes.

2).  If you are not registered to vote, you forfeit all right to complain or pontificate about anything which goes on in the political arena.

3).  If you choose not to vote in any given election, then you must remain silent about politics until the next election rolls around (and you do vote).

4).  Every registered voter should take at least one course, or read at least one book on the US Constitution–its history, and/or the debates about its ratification.  Listening to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, or NPR doesn’t count.

5).  Do not vote for any political candidate until you have actually read their political (or professional) resume, carefully reviewed their legislative/administrative accomplishments, and considered any scandals and controversies they have generated, or of which they have been a part.

6).  If you choose a candidate merely because they are telegenic, witty, or capable of a good sound bite, you are part of the problem.

7).  Our current presidential “debates” have more in common with the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show than they do with real “debate.”

8).  The less cable news you watch, the better equipped you’ll be to make a sane choice when voting.

9).  If any politician wants to reach deeper into my wallet, they better have a darn good reason and an established reputation for finding government waste and cutting government spending.

10).  Every household in America knows what to do in economic hard-times–cut household spending across the board and then earn additional monies to pay down debt (i.e, add a temporary part-time job).  This solution is completely unthinkable to politicians, who, apparently, have never tried it and do not know that such practices actually exist.   

11).  Our government solves its economic woes by turning on the printing press and adding to the money supply, and then (figuratively speaking) opens 10 new credit card accounts to pay existing credit card debt.  John Maynard Keynes is turning over in his grave.

12).  The massive and rapidly growing debt is the greatest threat to our national and economic security, as well as to the American way of life.  Any candidate for political office unwilling to address this crisis head-on will not get my vote.

13).   If any political candidate thinks he or she can manage my life and my family better than I can, they will never get my vote.

14).  Cutting the rate of a proposed increase in spending is not a budget cut!

15).  Do not robo-call me.

16).  Professing Christians are often far-too partisan, and embarrassingly ill-informed about history of the political ideologies they espouse.

17).  Furthermore, professing Christians rarely evaluate those political ideologies to see if they are compatible with their Christian profession.  

18).  Instead of serving as the “world’s greatest deliberative body” the US Senate has become the epitome of partisan politics.  If these people spent half of their time back in the legislatures of their home states (as the founding fathers intended), they would do far less damage to the country because of their partisan factionalism.  Repeal the seventeenth amendment!

19).  The better presidents in our history have had the rare ability to do what was best for the nation without any sacrifice of their personal governing principles.  At the same time, the better presidents were usually willing, when necessary, to depart from their political party’s “sacred” platform.

20).  As defined constitutionally, the office of the President of the United States is that of commander in chief, and therefore is the “President” to all Americans–not just those of his own political party.

21).   The intangible but essential skills of leadership are a requirement for a President as the chief executive–not so much for a senator or a congressperson (who are legislators).  This is why governors (i.e., those with executive experience) are much better candidates for President than Senators.

22).  I don’t want to hear (although I know I will) another clueless celebrity blame mass shootings and acts of terrorism solely upon the 2nd Amendment, especially when these same people frequently utilize hired (and armed) security to protect them from their adoring and/or crazy fans.

23).  There is something terribly wrong with a society which humanizes pets and dehumanizes the unborn human fetus.

24).  You may claim your pet has rights and is a “member” of your family, but if Fido bites me, I’m suing you, not Fido, and I’ll win.

25).  Because far too many of our contemporaries think that sexual gratification is the most important activity in life, our culture is increasingly unwilling to address the havoc brought about by pornography, prostitution, and other deviant sexual behaviors (incest and sexual abuse of children).

26).  Bruce Jenner may change his name to “Caitlyn,” alter his appearance with long hair, make-up, and woman’s clothes, he even may alter his physique with hormones and surgery.  But every cell in his body has a “y” chromosome.  He is and always will be a man in a dress.  Technically, he’s a transvestite, not a “transsexual.”
 

Political Satire At Its Best

P. J. O'Rourke strikes again--a wonderful piece of political satire from which no one emerges unscathed.

Democrats hate your guts.

Democrats need your vote and they’ll do anything—no matter how low and degrading—to get it. They hate you the way a whore hates a john.

All politicians hate people. Politics is a way to gain power over people without justification for having that power. Nothing in the 11,000-year history of politics—going back to the governing elites of Mesopotamia—indicates that politicians are wiser, smarter, kinder, more moral, or better skilled at any craft (aside from politics) than we are.

But political rulers need the acquiescence of the ruled to slake the craving for power. Politicians hate you the way a junkie hates junk.

Politicians gain power by means of empty promises or threats, or both when they’re on their game. Should you vote for people who are good at politics? No. You should vote for Republicans. We’re lousy.

  You can read the whole thing here:  They Hate Your Guts

It Snows in LA Too!

As our friends in the East get clobbered with yet another severe winter storm, we in the West, especially in California, are in the midst of a severe drought.

But it does snow here too--just in small amounts and every twenty-five years or so.  LA got two inches of snow in 1932 (the record).  The local mountains get a decent amount of snow, but it is rare in the LA basin.  Snow in Los Angeles

Orange County has had small amounts of snow (flurries, really) in isolated areas the last couple of winters--with quite a bit up in the foothills in December.  But we've seen nothing like the winter of 1947 when it snowed for three consecutive days!

Meanwhile, it is in the mid-70's as I write this.  If we don't get a whole bunch of rain before the end of March, we are gonna have a miserable hot and dry summer of fires and state-wide mandatory water rationing.  No watering of lawns, dirty cars, and two minute showers.

"Je Suis Charlie"! Not so Fast

David Brooks' editorial I Am Not Charlie Hebdo in the New York Times is spot on, and I encourage you to read it in its entirety.

A couple of salient quotes from Brooks:

Public reaction to the attack in Paris has revealed that there are a lot of people who are quick to lionize those who offend the views of Islamist terrorists in France but who are a lot less tolerant toward those who offend their own views at home.

Just look at all the people who have overreacted to campus micro-aggressions. The University of Illinois fired a professor who taught the Roman Catholic view on homosexuality. The University of Kansas suspended a professor for writing a harsh tweet against the N.R.A. Vanderbilt University derecognized a Christian group that insisted that it be led by Christians. 

The first thing to say, I suppose, is that whatever you might have put on your Facebook page yesterday, it is inaccurate for most of us to claim, Je Suis Charlie Hebdo, or I Am Charlie Hebdo. Most of us don’t actually engage in the sort of deliberately offensive humor that that newspaper specializes in.

In most societies, there’s the adults’ table and there’s the kids’ table. The people who read Le Monde or the establishment organs are at the adults’ table. The jesters, the holy fools and people like Ann Coulter and Bill Maher are at the kids’ table. They’re not granted complete respectability, but they are heard because in their unguided missile manner, they sometimes say necessary things that no one else is saying.

Healthy societies, in other words, don’t suppress speech, but they do grant different standing to different sorts of people. Wise and considerate scholars are heard with high respect. Satirists are heard with bemused semirespect. Racists and anti-Semites are heard through a filter of opprobrium and disrespect. People who want to be heard attentively have to earn it through their conduct.

Brooks concludes,

The massacre at Charlie Hebdo should be an occasion to end speech codes. And it should remind us to be legally tolerant toward offensive voices, even as we are socially discriminating.

Badgers? We Don't Need No Stinking Badgers!

If you live in an urban setting like Orange County, you know that it wasn't all that long ago that various critters (coyotes, foxes, martens and weasels, etc.,) were commonplace.  Driven into the local foothills by human encroachment (areas which are now being developed as well) these various species adjust to life with humans, and slowly but surely begin re-populating their former turf.  Seems that badgers are now moving back into urban areas like the City of Orange.  Badgers Are Back!

Speaking of critters, I, for one, am sick and tired of Orange County residents being told by city and county officials that the uptick in the coyote population is something "we'll just have to learn to live with."  Citizens of one local community--whose missing pets number in the dozens--are demanding that city officials quit bowing to the Animal Rights activists and that those paid to protect them and secure the public welfare, actually do something to remove the coyotes from the area.  I've had them in my yard, and you see (or hear) them all over the place at night.  Enough!  Sadly, it will take a child or an elderly adult getting attacked for anything to be done.  No, coyotes do not have rights!  Coyotes Need Killin'

Air-Traffic Controllers are worth their weight in fine gold.  This is an amazing video of them guiding flights into Atlanta during a recent spate of thunderstorms.  Truly amazing.  Air-Traffic Controllers in Action

The Bone-Dry Dog Days of Summer

For those of us living in So Cal, the dog days of Summer are finally here.  Because of a severe two-year drought, the state legislature has mandated a whole bunch of new water restrictions.  We can't wash our cars, wash-off our sidewalks or driveways (so, if you come to my house and step in bird poop, its not my fault), and any water run-off from poorly-aimed sprinklers or from over-watering will bring down the wrath of the water police--yup, "water police."  These are code enforcement folk now looking for water-wasters.

The sad thing is that many of our contemporaries blame the "drought" on human activity.  The fact is that California has always been a desert, although the last one hundred years have been some of the wettest on record.  Sure, we've had miserably low rainfall totals the past few years, but this is our historic pattern.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  The current drought was predictable--just take a look at the Farmer's Almanac.

To add insult to our thirsty misery, state officials are reacting to a genuine water emergency, while at the same time failing to realize that the water emergency is largely their own doing.  Since the early 1970s--when the last state water project was approved--California's population has exploded.  Yet, no new water infrastructure or water sources have been added.  Instead, environmentalist groups have lobbied to preserve small and isolated fish populations in the delta region, while diverting life-sustaining water from the world's bread basket, the central valley of California.  This has put thousands of our poorest residents out of work, ruined once fertile farm land, and crippled the state agribusiness.  And if you want lettuce, Kale, or soybeans, you are going to pay much more for it.

Our state legislature (with the federal transportation people's help) is spending billions on a high-speed rail service from LA to SF which no one wants, and which our state does not need.  But add new water sources (i.e., desalinization), or new water infrastructure?  Nope, not even on the radar.

Despite what it will do to my sinuses, I'll now use my leaf-blower on my sidewalks.  But my neighbors will complain (one in particular) about the dust and the noise.  The same environmentalists who oppose new water sources will guilt-trip me that my 2-cycle leaf blower pollutes the air.  They want me to use an electric powered blower--which I can't use until after 6:00 p.m., because of rolling brown-outs and a state-wide electricity shortage.

You gotta love state politicians . . .  Clueless.

"Peace in Our Time?" Maybe Not

With all of the prophecy pundits speculating about the doings of Vlad Putin, "Blood Moons," and Israel's deteriorating relationship with Syria, Iran, and the Palestinians, it might be helpful to consider these matters from the well-informed, critical stance of a seasoned diplomat.  Does the return of geopolitics and the failure of liberal pluralism mean that the threat of regional wars is a real and present danger?  Might that tenuous "peace in our time" actually be facilitating war in the near future?  This author raises the possibility and discusses why (h.t. Rod Rosenbladt).  Click Here

On a far less ominous note (albeit, still a serious one), I thought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar raised several very salient points regarding the Donald Sterling/Clippers fiasco.  Granted, racism is sinful, and as Kareem and many others have now pointed out, institutional racism is a far deeper problem than the recent thoughts of a misogynistic, pathetic, old man like Donald Sterling.  But Kareem also addresses the troubling precedent arising from the taping of private conversations which are then used to destroy someone's public life--and few seem to care.  No doubt, the dangers of allowing private rants to become public are ignored, in this case, because everyone in the NBA wants the worst owner in the history of pro sports kicked out the league--white owners as well as black players.  Sterling is a racist and inept as an owner, and both the players and other owners hate dealing with him.  The greater good, right?  Abdul-Jabbar on Donald Sterling

I knew it.  Meat-eaters live longer!  I love my Nutri-Bullet.  But for dinner, I always strive to eat something which had parents.  Meat-eaters live longer