Day: January 13, 2004

Who was illegal here?

NewMexiKen has been mulling the so-called “illegal” alien situation since the President announced his proposed “reform.”

In the mid-19th Century the United States used its superior military to take from the Republic of Mexico more than half its land. While some could argue that Anglos had settled east Texas, that claim could not be made for New Mexico, Arizona and California (the other area was unsettled). This was aggression pure and simple.

Now suppose that Mexico had retained its land. Suppose that Mexico controlled the California gold and Nevada silver. Suppose that Mexico controlled the west Texas and California oil reserves. Suppose that Mexico controlled the Pacific ports directly between the United States and Asia. Suppose that Mexico controlled the great valley of California, the world’s greatest agricultural land. Suppose that Mexico controlled the great ski slopes of the Rockies and Sierra. Just suppose.

Don’t we owe the people of Mexico something?

‘I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; Believe me, honey, rich is better.’

Sophia Kalish was born at a farm house along the road in Russia as her mother was emigrating to America on this date in 1884. As Sophie Tucker she was one of the great stars of vaudeville, the Ziegfeld Follies and early movies. In the 1930s she brought elements of nostalgia for the early years of 20th century into her show. She was billed as “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas.” Her hearty sexual appetite was a frequent subject of her songs, unusual for female performers of the era.

In addition to her performing, Sophie Tucker was active in efforts to unionize professional actors, and was elected president of the American Federation of Actors in 1938.

From birth to age eighteen, a girl needs good parents. From eighteen to thirty-five, she needs good looks. From thirty-five to fifty-five, she needs a good personality. From fifty-five on, she needs good cash.

Sophie Tucker

Interesting coincidence

On this date in 1966, Robert C. Weaver became Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the first black cabinet member. And on this date in 1990, Douglas Wilder took the oath in Richmond to became the nation’s first elected black governor.

Horatio Alger, Jr….

was born on this date in 1832.

The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans provides this background.

Horatio Alger, Jr. was the author of over one hundred books that inspired young people from the post-Civil War era through end of the nineteenth century. His novels of courage, faith, and hard, honest work captured the imagination of generations of young Americans and gave them a model of hope and promise in the face of hardships.

Born in Revere, Massachusetts, on January 13, 1832, he was the son of a Unitarian church pastor who instilled a strong religious belief in his son. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard, Horatio Alger, Jr., studied under Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and had intended to become a poet. Alger worked at one time as a teacher and a newspaper correspondent for the Boston Transcript and the New York Sun. Affected by asthma, Alger was rejected by the Union Army and eventually became a minister on Cape Cod.

Horatio Alger, Jr., wrote more than 120 books with the inspiring theme of onward and upward. He began writing his rags-to-riches tales just after the Civil War. He patterned the hero of his book, Ragged Dick, after the homeless newsboys and bootblacks he observed in his neighborhoods in New York. The heroes of his books almost always had the same qualities-moral, brave, generous, kind, diligent, industrious, and persevering. His novels told everyone, no matter how poor, orphaned or powerless, that if they persevere, if they do their best, if they always try to do the right thing, they can succeed. Success was earned by hard work and right action. Alger trumpeted the doctrine of achieving success through self-reliance, self-discipline, decency, and honesty. His books were always best sellers and almost every home, school, and church library in America boasted a large collection of his works. Horatio Alger, Jr. died in 1899 of lung and heart ailments at the age of 67. More than 250 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. Through his body of work, Horatio Alger, Jr., captured the spirit of a nation and helped to clarify that spirit.

MPR’s The Writer’s Almanac adds this to the story.

His career as a minister ended when he was accused of molesting two boys in his parish. He left New England, vowed to redeem himself by helping the poor, and set about writing novels about the homeless children who lived in the streets of New York City. His first novel, Ragged Dick; or Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, was serialized in a magazine, where it picked up more readers with every issue. When it was published in book form in 1867, it became an instant bestseller. Groucho Marx once said, “Horatio Alger’s books conveyed a powerful message to me and many of my young friends—that if you worked hard at your trade, the big chance would eventually come. As a child I didn’t regard it as a myth, and as an old man I think of it as the story of my life.”

Keeping the metaphor alive

TMQ writes:

Many readers, including Mary Ellen A. of Charlotte, N.C. and Aaron L. of Washington, D.C., supposed that since TMQ called Steve Spurrier Dobby the Elf, I must now refer to Joe Gibbs as Professor Dumbledore. For those whose kids do not compel them to follow the Harry Potter saga, Dobby the Elf is a sniveling, wretched creature — and somehow Spurrier seemed to get smaller each week on the sidelines, in another year he might have become an elf — while Dumbledore is an all-knowing good wizard.

Ye gods!

Tuesday Morning Quarterback

Ye gods, ay caramba, Jiminy Cricket was that ever a good weekend of football?! Often the divisionals round is a letdown, as bye teams that have been resting in hot tubs blow out tired visitors. Instead, four consecutive playoff games went down to the final snap. That’s the best four consecutive football games Tuesday Morning Quarterback has ever watched.