Blog/October 2018/Oct 19th

October 19th

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Esther finished up her tax work this week, with some intense days (and nights). Now she’s past that, and can relax — and I’m just that much happier.

I was also mostly occupied with clients’ work. One of the jobs is quite interesting, and a new field of enquiry for me: image classification. It entails learning about “machine learning” algorithms, and image processing. So it’s as if I’ve gone back to school, but getting paid for it instead of the reverse.

So you’re interested in your ancestry? Thinking of doing a DNA test to determine what mix of peoples contributed to the “you” that you are? By all means go ahead, but don’t make the faux-pas that Fauxahontas did:

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., from Massachusetts) has claimed Cherokee ancestry many times in the past, and has listed herself as “Native American” in various places and at various times. Most prominently, while serving as a law professor. Donald Trump was having none of that. He mockingly called her “Fauxcahontas”. The media, predictably, came to Warren’s aid. Trump was labeled as “racist” etc. and so on; but nobody thought to actually determine the truth of Warren’s repeated claims.

Until she herself published DNA test results “showing Native American ancestry”. What a coup, she could now put all the derisive mocking to rest!

Well, maybe not. Because, you see, the report indicated that she might have a Native American (NA) ancestor between 6 and 10 generations ago. That means her ancestry is between 0.0977% and 1.56% NA. The average “white” person in the US has about 0.18% NA heritage, so she’s in that range somewhere. Not exactly enough to lay claim to Indian ancestry: it turns out her “minority blood” is in fact the minority of her blood. But it gets worse…

… because first of all, the scientist creating the DNA report had to use “Mexican, Peruvian, and Columbian” DNA to “stand-in” for NA DNA. So all the report might actually show is that 6-10 generations ago there was a dalliance with someone from South or Central America…

… and then, legitimate representatives of the Cherokee Nation condemned her, saying: “It makes a mockery of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.” Burned!

She made the same mistake everyone on the Left seems to be making. I’m not referring to getting involved in a land war in Asia, though that is, of course, a bad idea. No, I’m referring to letting Trump get under your skin. One of his favorite tactics is to goad his opponent into getting angry and obsessed with “getting theirs back”. It doesn’t work well for the opponent, because — let’s face it — Trump’s a natural brawler, and a pro at this tactic.

So poor Fauxcahontas really stepped in it. She could have ignored him and let it just fade into a “who cares?” moment; but she didn’t, and as a result she pretty much has undermined any chance she had at becoming President in 2020. Playing “identity politics” is a fool’s game.

Anyway, we’re looking forward to a quiet shabbat, with pleasant temperatures. However, this week’s cooling trend will apparently stop over the weekend, and we might have a couple warm-to-hot days in the week ahead. Still no rain, even though we started requesting it this week!

This shabbat, the menu will have (at least):
homemade ḥalla, pargiot, potato-leek soup, couscous, zucchini pashtida, various salatim, and honey-cake.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom!

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