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| Thanks to Patrick Cleburne in VDARE |
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Cultures often differ on whether they have a bride price or a dowry system for contracting marriages. In cultures where wives pay their own way, such as in New Guinea and African hoe agriculture economies, where much of the farm work consists of light weeding in light soil, it's common for grooms to pay their brides' families for their new wife's future services, often in cows or other valuables (Borat says that in his country, a wife costs "15 gallons of insecticide").
In cultures where men do much of the farm work (e.g., heavy plowing in rich soil), however, it was common for the bride's parents to pay a dowry to the groom.
Now, anthropology is full of exceptions (what Robin Fox calls "ethnographic dazzle"), but this is something of a general pattern.
In normal American culture, we don't have either, at least not explicitly. And yet, my wife contends that the standard wedding protocol provides an in-direct dowry from the bride's parents laundered through the guests.
I am the last person to pose as an expert on etiquette, so I may be getting this wrong, but her parents shelled out for a big wedding and big reception. My parents paid for the smaller rehearsal dinner the night before (largely attended by my relatives and friends from out of town) and, perhaps, the alcohol at the reception (I can't remember). But my brides' parents bore the bulk of the costs.
At the reception, lots and lots of people came up to us and handed us money. Others bought presents (some of which we returned for cash -- I especially recall six small plain water glasses that I was about to give away until I turned them over and saw "Baccarat" stamped on the bottom -- we returned them for $350, which was nice money in 1987).
The general idea is that guests should give the couple cash or a gift roughly equivalent to their share of the cost of the reception provided by the bride's parents. In other words, the gifts functioned more or less as a dowry from my in-laws to set us up, but indirectly routed through the guests.
Does this interpretation make sense?
As part of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's complex, multi-faceted plan to get Congress to pound down computer programmers' salaries further, the Big Zuck recently launched the FWD.US immigration deform advocacy umbrella group (a.k.a., the National Association for the Advancement of Billionaire People). Now, FWD.US has launched twin Republican and Democratic subsidiaries: Americans for a Conservative Direction and Council for American Job Growth, which are running ads supporting politicians backing the Gang of Eight's plan.
Yes, I know this sounds like I've been dipping into Umberto Eco again, but it's true.
The two subsidiary websites have identical little symbols come up on tabs in your browser, just red for the Republican "Americans for a Conservative Direction" and blue for the Democratic "Council for American Job Growth." The Republican site has headlines in red and subheads in blue, while the Democratic site has headlines in blue and subheads in red.
Try it and see for yourself!
Zuck's Republican sock puppet website has videos up of ads it made for Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio. The site's text reads:
Fixing a Broken Immigration System
Our country has a broken immigration system and a broken border, both of which present huge obstacles to the businesses, job creators, and legal immigrants who have played by the rules and will help continue to grow our economy. It’s well past time for Congress to get to work on real solutions to secure our border, hold those who have broken our laws accountable, and improve our legal immigration system to meet our country’s needs and boost America’s competitiveness in a global economy.
Here's Zuck's Rubio ad:
And here's Zuck's Republican front men:
Our Board
Haley Barbour
Former Governor Haley Barbour served as the 62nd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012 and served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee in the mid '90s.
Sally Bradshaw
Sally Bradshaw worked as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Chief of Staff from 1999-2001, and served as a Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee’s Growth and Opportunity Project.
Joel Kaplan
Joel Kaplan is currently Vice President of US Public Policy at Facebook. Joel also served as Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush.
Dan Senor
Dan Senor is former chief advisor to Representative Paul Ryan on the Romney-Ryan 2012 campaign
Rob Jesmer
Rob Jesmer worked as the former Executive Director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2008 – 2012.
Meanwhile, Zuck is also funding for the Democrats the Council for American Job Growth, whose boilerplate reads:
Commonsense Principles to Create Jobs
The U.S. has been built on the ingenuity and drive of immigrants – but right now, our broken immigration system and broken border are stalling job creation, hurting families, and hindering America’s competitiveness in the global economy. Congress must act to reform the legal immigration system to help small businesses continue to create and fill good jobs, and strengthen communities and American families.
Here's Zuck's ad for Sen. Mark Begich (Democrat-Alaska).
Both the Graham and Begich ads are triple-bankshots intended to burnish their respective recipients' conservative, economic populist, patriotic credentials in the eyes of their Red State voters to give them cover to ram through amnesty and guest workers. For example, Zuck's blue ad credits Begich with wanting to open Alaska National Wildlife Reserve to oil drilling, a stance popular with blue collar Alaskans voters. Meanwhile, Zuck's red ad has Lindsay! pointing out that Obama is against the Keystone XL pipeline. Neither ad mentions immigration.
But the Sierra Club is mad at Zuckerberg for his attempt at finesse. From ABC News:
Less than three weeks after Mark Zuckerberg officially launched his pro-immigration reform group, the billionaire technology mogul seems to be experiencing the Facebook equivalent of a liberal de-friending. ...
Those television commercials led the Sierra Club to post a message to the environmental group's Facebook page on Monday urging Zuckerberg to "re-think his priorities."
"Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is bankrolling political ads that push dangerous, dirty projects like the Keystone XL pipeline and drilling in America's pristine Arctic Refuge," says the message accompanying a thumbs-down graphic dripping with oil.
"Just last week, the Sierra Club announced our support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants -- so we know how important immigration reform is to the future of our country," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement to ABC News. "The way to achieve reform, however, isn't by pushing dirty fuel schemes that threaten our future and our families. Mark Zuckerberg has made comments in the past recognizing that we need to pursue a clean energy future, and there is no reason he needs to trade those principles for a few political points."
"Maintaining two separate entities, Americans for a Conservative Direction and the Council for American Job Growth, to support elected officials across the political spectrum -- separately -- means that we can more effectively communicate with targeted audiences of their constituents," FWD.us spokeswoman Kate Hansen said in a statement.
In contrast, when the Sierra Club's stance on immigration gets bought, it stays bought.
In other news, Bill Gates (net worth $66 billion) and Steve Ballmer ($15.9 billion) have just joined Zuck's FWD.US umbrella group to reduce programmers' wages, because you can never be too rich or too low-paying.
Oh, that reminds me to ask you for more money, because I can only afford to have one entity.
First: you can make a non-tax deductible contribution to me by credit card via WePay by clicking here.
Second: you can make a tax deductible contribution to me via VDARE by clicking here.
Third: You can mail a non-tax deductible donation to:
Steve Sailer
P.O Box 4142
Valley Village, CA 91607-4142
Thanks.
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| Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, from Boratstan but Straight Outta Cambridge |
Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, were charged Wednesday with conspiracy to obstruct justice by conspiring to destroy, conceal and cover up tangible objects belonging to [Djoker] Tsarnaev, namely a laptop computer and backpack containing fireworks. ...
Kadyrbayev, a citizen of Kazakhstan who entered the United States on a student visa, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
UMass Dartmouth says Kadyrbayev is no longer a student there. His profile on the VK Russian social network site says he is a member of the class of 2015 at the School of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, Sara McDonnell, assistant media relations manager at MIT, said, "There is no registered MIT student of that name." ....
Kadyrbayev first met Tsarnaev in the fall of 2011 at UMass and became better friends with him the following spring, he told investigators. ...
Kadyrbayev's VK "world view" is Islam, his "personal priority" is listed as "improving the world" and next to "Important in others" he has listed "kindness and honesty." He has listed his views on smoking and alcohol as "very negative." ....
Kadyrbayev indicates his music preferences are Gucci Mane, Ralph Cieli and Juicy J.
...Azamat Tazhayakov is a Kazakhstan national, a pretty good soccer player and a 19-year-old accused of helping the suspected Boston Marathon bomber get away with the crime.
In Kazakhstan, Tazhayakov grew up in Atyrau and graduated from Miras International School in Astana, according to his Facebook page. At the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, he played in the indoor soccer league and made the all-star team, league records show.
The school said Wednesday he has been suspended pending the outcome of the case.
West Kazakhstan Today [is that like the USA Today of West Kazakhstan?] reported April 26 that Tazhayakov's father, Ismagoulov Amir Tazhayakhovich, a deputy on the city council of the family's hometown Atyrau, planned to fly to Boston to see his son, who had been arrested on immigration charges.
The father is a "well-known businessman" who chairs the board of directors of Abylaikhan Group JSC, a residential home builder, the newspaper reported. ...
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| Robel Phillipos |
Robel Phillipos, charged with lying to authorities investigating the Boston Marathon bombings, was the first friend to recognize Dzhokar Tsarnaev's photo on TV news and alert the two other university students accused of aiding the suspect, according to the FBI affidavit released Wednesday.
Phillipos, Tsarnaev and Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov attended the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, was studying marketing, but the university said Wednesday he is not currently enrolled.
With Tsarnaev, he was a 2011 graduate of the prestigious [?] Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, the city schools' superintendent's office said.
Phillipos, a U.S. citizen, lives with his mother, who is from Ethiopia and works with refugees, WHDH-TV reported. Their Cambridge apartment is next to the gas station where the Tsarnaev brothers carjacked a vehicle before getting into the shootout with police in which 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed.
"Robel is a nice boy, very nice kid," said neighbor Tecleverhan Mengistu, who has known the family for 15 years.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
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| The Little Brown Church is little, brown |
To get a sense of how things have changed, consider one wedding that took place not far from where I grew up. I would sometimes walk past a church called, aptly, the Little Brown Church. It's made out of wood, has virtually no decor, and is extremely little. It's belltower is about 13 feet tall. Seating capacity might be 60 people. It's the least pretentious church imaginable.
Yet, it was the site of a 1952 wedding that turned out to be of historic importance. Ronald Reagan married starlet Nancy Davis in the Little Brown Church on March 4, 1952.
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| Where are the other 14 people? |
The best man was Sunset Boulevard star William Holden and the matron of honor was Holden's wife Ardis.
A small reception followed at the Holdens' house in Toluca Lake. The bridal couple then went to the fanciest hotel in Riverside, CA, then on to Phoenix to visit Nancy's parents on their honeymoon.
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| You call that a wedding cake? |
It was Ron's second marriage, but Nancy's first.
It's hard to imagine anything like this today.
From the WaPo:
Obama tries to set realistic expectations on immigration
Meeting with liberal supporters, he says a deal might not have everything they want.
Remember the vast throngs of illegal aliens excitedly waving Mexican flags who took over American cities on spring days in 2006 to support the Kennedy-McCain amnesty bill? Wikipedia recounts:
Then on May Day 2006:
A major demonstration in Chicago on March 10, 2006 estimated at 100,000 people was the initial impetus for protests throughout the country.[1] The largest single demonstration occurred in Los Angeles on March 25, 2006 with a march of more than 500,000 people through downtown.[2] The largest nationwide day of protest occurred on April 10, 2006, in 102 cities across the country,[3][4] with 350,000–500,000 in Dallas and around 300,000 in Chicago.[5] Most of the protests were peaceful and attracted considerable media attention.
Then on May Day 2006:
An estimated 400,000 marched in Chicago, according to police, though organizers pegged the total at closer to 700,000; ... An estimated 400,000 marched in Los Angeles, according to police.
Well, that kind of humongous turnout (large driven by funny Spanish-language drive time radio DJs) has never been repeated. From today's Los Angeles Times:
Two sets of marchers converged on the Civic Center in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon in what police described as a peaceful and modestly sized crowd compared to previous years.
The LAT's short video is well-worth watching to show how non-formidable these people are: a white activist chants slogans in Spanish while a limited number of short brown marchers echo his lead with an attempt at enthusiasm.
The NYT article tries to be upbeat, but it's infused with flop sweat:
Across the Country, Supporters Rally for Immigration Overhaul
By JULIA PRESTON
Published: May 1, 2013
Tens of thousands of immigrants, Latinos and other supporters of an overhaul of the immigration system turned out on Wednesday to mark May 1 with marches, rallies and prayer vigils, hoping to show Congress that momentum is building in favor of a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.
First, some excuses:
Instead of concentrating their forces for one large demonstration on May Day, the immigrant and labor groups organizing the events said they chose to hold smaller actions in more than 100 cities to draw more local supporters. ...
Many immigrants who support overhaul legislation now before the Senate do not have legal immigration status, so they cannot travel easily across state lines and they think twice about turning out in public. ...
Now, some reporting.
In Richmond, Va., about 150 people had a minirally and then marched to the headquarters of the Republican Party, chanting, “Yes, we can” in English and Spanish. In an impromptu speech, Jaime Contreras, vice president for Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, told Republicans, “There’s no honor in being on the wrong side of history as the last stronghold fighting against civil rights.”
150 people? Okay, well that was Virginia. What about in the Southwest?
In Tucson, 250 people turned out for a morning march in desert heat, accompanied by indigenous dancers and Mexican music. The marchers said the prospect of immigration action in Washington had created an upbeat mood in southern Arizona.
“There is hope for everyone," said Rosalva Fuentes, 43, an immigrant from Mexico who lives in Tucson. “Ten years ago people were so scared.. Now we fight for equality.”
Tomás Rodríguez, 41, said he had lived in Tucson for two decades without immigration papers, working in construction. Mr. Rodríguez, who attended with his 17-year-old daughter, Stephanie, a United States citizen, said he was not afraid to join the march. ..
Leading organizers of the May 1 events included the Service Employees International Union and other labor unions; Mi Familia Vota, a Latino voter registration organization; and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a coalition of immigrant community groups.
250 demonstrators in Tucson? That's pathetic.
“The big strategy is to point the people power of the movement towards getting Congress to finish the job in 2013,” said Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, one of the main organizers. “Tremendous hope and expectation has been raised in the community.”
Deepak is, what, an Aztec name? Mayan?
... Eliseo Medina, a top official of the Service Employees International Union, spent the day in what he called “our war room” at its headquarters in Washington, monitoring the activities.
“We were not particularly looking to have huge events," Mr. Medina said, "we are going for expanding.” ...
In 2006, when major immigration legislation came before Congress, many hundreds of thousands of immigrants and advocates took to the streets in cities like Los Angeles and New York.
Way back then, I attended a minor march in Van Nuys and it was still pretty gigantic even though an enormous march was going on simultaneously in downtown LA 20 miles away. But, I noticed something electorally important: the march was immense but the marchers were tiny. They weren't big Chicanos like the American-born Mexicans I'd grow up with, who all have the vote. The marchers were short immigrants; in other words, they weren't being joined by taller Mexican-American voters. And that said a lot about how much Hispanic voters care about amnesty (i.e., not too much).
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