Immigration — and the Curse of the Black Legend

A must read essay from Tony Horwitz includes this:

This national amnesia isn’t new, but it’s glaring and supremely paradoxical at a moment when politicians warn of the threat posed to our culture and identity by an invasion of immigrants from across the Mexican border. If Americans hit the books, they’d find what Al Gore would call an inconvenient truth. The early history of what is now the United States was Spanish, not English, and our denial of this heritage is rooted in age-old stereotypes that still entangle today’s immigration debate.

Amen.

Read it all.

Mass market monopoly

Did you know that the 32 commercial radio stations that earned a share in recent audience rankings for the Albuquerque market are owned by just six companies and one Albuquerque church?

• Clear Channel of San Antonio operates nine AM or FM stations.
• Citadel Broadcasting of Las Vegas, Nevada, eight.
• American General Media of Bakersfield and Univision of Los Angeles five each.
• Entravision Communications of Santa Monica, California, and Vanguard Media of Albuquerque two each.
• Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque one.

Once upon a time, not very long ago (1981), a broadcaster could own and operate just one AM and one FM station in the same market — and only seven of each nationwide. Clear Channel now owns more than 1,200 radio stations.

New Ron Howard’s brother film trailer

Danny Boy, starring Clint Howard and Gabriel Damon.

The film itself is 10 minutes. This trailer is 3:54. Go figure.

States Ban Hunting of Live Animals over the Internet

Louisiana has joined 21 other states in banning Internet hunting, the practice of using a mouse click to kill animals on a distant game farm.

The cyber-shooting idea was the brainchild of Texan John Lockwood, who started the web site Live-Shot.com.

The idea was this: Hunters sign up on the web site and pay some $1,500 or more. They schedule a session, then log on at their appointed time to watch a feeding station on the computer screen. The animal that was ordered–from wild hogs to antelope–is in the area, and when it approaches the food, the hunter moves on-screen crosshairs into place. A click of the mouse fires a rifle to kill the animal.

The armchair hunter’s trophy animal would then be mounted and shipped for display.

LiveScience.com

You know what it means, of course, that 22 states have banned internet hunting? It means 28 have not. Click/Bang!

Or this

Because you really can’t see this too many times

It’s the birthday

… of Anjelica Huston. The third generation Oscar winner is 55. Anjelica won the best supporting actress Oscar for Prizzi’s Honor; she has two other nominations. Her father John was nominated for 15 writing, directing or acting Oscars, winning director and writing for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Grandfather Walter was nominated four times for acting Oscars, winning the supporting award for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

… of Kevin Bacon. He’s 48. And no, Kevin Bacon has never been nominated for an Oscar. He’s only a few degrees of separation however, from many who have.

Nelson Rockefeller, grandson of John D., was born on his grandfather’s birthday in 1908. Rockefeller was governor of New York 1959-1973 and vice president 1974-1977. He died in 1979. NewMexiKen once witnessed Rockefeller stirring his coffee with the temple of his eyeglasses. It was kind of endearing.

Tycoon

John D. Rockefeller was born on this date in 1839. The world’s first billionaire, Rockefeller essentially retired from Standard Oil in 1911. Even so, his taxable income in 1918 was $33,000,000 and his personal worth was estimated at more than $800,000,000. By then, he had already donated about $500 million to charitable causes.

When Rockefeller died at age 97 in 1937 The New York Times obituary had extensive details, including this:

He believed in conserving his strength. After he was 34 he made it a practice to take a nap of an hour or two after luncheon every day and frequently took three or four afternoons away from his office for golf or puttering around his country estate, laying out roads and paths and planting trees. He never bustled and never was excited. He used to say that after he had established himself he could hardly be called “diligent in business” in the copybook sense and that he was only a fifth wheel in the Standard Oil organization.

Mr. Rockefeller took up golf in 1899 and played it constantly thereafter. It was his sole exercise in his later years. When well past 80 he played a good nine holes in 41 to 45, and was delighted when he defeated an opponent or when his side won in a foursome.

On his eighty-second birthday he played a round of golf with his physician and lifelong friend, Dr. H. F. Biggar of Cleveland, also 82, and planned a game of golf for his 100th birthday.

He played the game all the year round on his private links at Pocantico Hills and at Ormond Beach, Fla. In his eighties he sometimes played on hot Summer days with an attendant following him around to hold an umbrella over his head to protect him from the sun.

Early in 1928 he cut his daily course from eight holes to six at Ormond Beach, remarking that eight holes was too much for a man of 88 and that it was better to play a good game for six holes than to be a dub for eight.

Ron Chernow has written a recent highly-regarded biography, Titan.

Last But Not Leashed

Scott Adams doesn’t seem pleased to see a kid on a leash:

My first reaction to the kid on the leash is that it was humiliating and wrong. But the kid seemed happy enough. And so it made me wonder if the father is ever tempted to take it to the next level, i.e. walking the kid naked and picking up the turds with a plastic bag. That has got to be easier than changing a diaper. If it weren’t, dogs would wear diapers. I think that’s obvious. And once you’ve decided that humiliation isn’t an issue, all bets are off.