Author: NewMexiKen

Laugh break

“The White House said that the ‘Newsweek’ report had damaged the U.S. image overseas. And believe me, when it comes to damaging the U.S. image overseas the White House knows what it’s talking about.”

Jay Leno

Brown v. Board of Education

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Brown on this date in 1954. A little background from the National Park Service:

This case was initiated by members of the local NAACP chapter in Topeka, Kansas. Thirteen parents volunteered to participate. In the summer of 1950, they took their children to schools in their neighborhoods and attempted to enroll them for the upcoming school year. All were refused admission. The children were forced to attend one of the four schools in the city for African Americans. For most this involved traveling some distance from their homes. These parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of their twenty children. Oliver Brown, a minister, was the first parent listed in the suit, so the case came to be named after him. Three local lawyers, Charles Bledsoe, Charles Scott and John Scott, were assisted by Robert Carter and Jack Greenberg of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

The case was filed in February 1951. The U.S. District Court ruled against the plaintiffs, but placed in the record its acceptance of the psychological evidence that African-American children were adversely affected by segregation. These findings later were quoted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1954 opinion.

Here’s the Supreme Court Decision.

A nation of historical dunces

According to the most recent statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in U.S. history, only 17 percent of fourth-graders, 14 percent of eighth-graders, and 11 percent of 12th-graders scored proficient on the assessment; further, more than half of 12th graders did not reach the basic level.

No Child Left Behind — A Desktop Reference — Pg. 26

That’s all for now

  1. Harriet Ross Tubman — escaped slave, put her life on the line to help more escape; women’s rights leader
  2. Harry Truman — among the top Presidents surely
  3. Helen Keller — overcame obstacles most of us can’t even imagine
  4. Henry Ford — for the $5 dollar day and the assembly line; pay people enough so they can buy your product
  5. Hillary Rodham Clinton — not yet
  6. Howard Hughes — too many fatal flaws
  7. Hugh Hefner — for publishing photos of nude women; I don’t think so; Hefner is on the list but not Hearst, nor Pulitzer, nor Luce, go figure
  8. Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson) — superb athlete but makes the list for grace under fire
  9. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — points for style and grace; but nothing more
  10. Jesse Owens — rose to the occasion and dispelled the Aryan myth in front of the world

Ten more

  1. Elvis Presley — of course; changed popular music
  2. Frank Sinatra — NewMexiKen would rather listen to Frank than Elvis, but Frank was not a revolutionary
  3. Franklin D. Roosevelt — America’s most conservative president; willing to accept change to preserve the system
  4. Frederick Douglass — a great presence when one was most needed
  5. George H. W. Bush — if your claim to greatness is being President, you have to be re-elected
  6. George W. Bush — name one accomplishment
  7. George Lucas — ruined movies forever, but great at it
  8. George Patton — eccentric, daring, an ass; my vote is with Omar Bradley
  9. George Washington — the indispensable American; second only to Lincoln
  10. George Washington Carver — there are sufficient African-American leaders now; Carver can be retired

Another set of ten

  1. Charles Lindbergh — heroism isn’t by itself greatness; Nazi sympathizer
  2. Christopher Reeve — tragedy isn’t greatness
  3. Chuck Yeager — a cool guy; but bottom line just a test pilot
  4. Clint Eastwood — Harry Callahan makes the list maybe; Clint I think not
  5. Colin Powell — failed to respect his own conscience
  6. Condoleezza Rice — 9/11
  7. Donald Trump — other moguls have done more with less
  8. Dwight D. Eisenhower — won the war; didn’t try to undo the New Deal
  9. Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt) — first First Lady to lead publicly; important change for women
  10. Ellen DeGeneres — not even funny; Fanny Brice gets my vote

The next 10

  1. Barbara Bush — when Jeb gets elected president maybe, but until then my vote goes to Abigail Adams
  2. Benjamin Franklin — top five; the first American
  3. Bill Clinton — was unfairly attacked but provided the ammunition; best president to hang out with, not great
  4. Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.) — one of several people on the list NewMexiKen has seen in person, so gets extra credit; integrated television, no small thing
  5. Bill Gates — another I’ve seen in person; capitalism is what America is about
  6. Billy Graham — anti-Semitic remarks to Nixon
  7. Bob Hope; wasn’t funny; Bing Crosby gets my vote
  8. Brett Favre; Johnny U maybe, not Brett; only one ring
  9. Carl Sagan — role was to popularize science, especially space; look where he’s left us
  10. Cesar Chavez — labor and ethnic leader; changed perceptions

Considering the first 10

  1. Abraham Lincoln — NewMexiKen’s greatest American
  2. Albert Einstein — came to America at age 54; important work done more than 25 years earlier
  3. Alexander Graham Bell — Canadian
  4. Alexander Hamilton — if you’re on the currency you make the list
  5. Amelia Earhart — does a woman get to be great simply for being the first to do what men did?
  6. Andrew Carnegie — for philanthropy more than steel
  7. Arnold Schwarzenegger — not a good actor, not a good governor
  8. Audie Murphy — most highly decorated soldier of World War II (28 medals), all before age 21
  9. Babe Ruth — yes, made professional athletics part of popular culture
  10. Barack Obama — one speech, one big-time election; we’ll see

“The 100 Greatest Americans”

Here’s the whole AOL/Discovery Channel list:

Abraham Lincoln
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Hamilton
Amelia Earhart
Andrew Carnegie
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Audie Murphy
Babe Ruth
Barack Obama
Barbara Bush
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Clinton
Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.)
Bill Gates
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Brett Favre
Carl Sagan
Cesar Chavez
Charles Lindbergh
Christopher Reeve
Chuck Yeager
Clint Eastwood
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Donald Trump
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt)
Ellen DeGeneres
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Frederick Douglass
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Lucas
George Patton
George Washington
George Washington Carver
Harriet Ross Tubman
Harry Truman
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Howard Hughes
Hugh Hefner
Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jesse Owens
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Stewart
John Edwards
John Glenn
John F. Kennedy
John Wayne
Johnny Carson (John William Carson)
Jonas Edward Salk
Joseph Smith Jr.
Katharine Hepburn
Lance Armstrong
Laura Bush
Lucille Ball
Lyndon B. Johnson
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone)
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
Marilyn Monroe
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Martha Stewart
Martin Luther King Jr.
Maya Angelou
Mel Gibson
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan
Michael Moore
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.)
Neil Alden Armstrong
Nikola Tesla
Oprah Winfrey
Pat Tillman
Dr. Phil McGraw
Ray Charles
Richard Nixon
Robert Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
Rosa Parks
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Rush Limbaugh
Sam Walton
Steve Jobs
Steven Spielberg
Susan B. Anthony
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Edison
Thomas Jefferson
Tiger Woods
Tom Cruise
Tom Hanks
Walt Disney
Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright)

Don’t they teach anything in schools anymore?

AOL and Discovery Channel are producing a TV series in June to count down the 100 Greatest Americans. They created the list from nominations made by 500,000 voters (ignoramuses I’d say).

Let NewMexiKen share just some of the most absurd from the list to get you agitated:

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Barbara Bush
Brett Favre
Christopher Reeve
Ellen DeGeneres
Hugh Hefner
John Edwards
Lance Armstrong
Laura Bush
Martha Stewart
Michaels Jackson, Jordan and Moore
Pat Tillman
Dr. Phil
Tom Cruise

These are listed to compete with others of similar importance; you know, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain.

Professor Bainbridge has a good discussion.

Thanks to Ken for the pointer.

Good questions

Professor Bainbridge asks a couple of pretty good questions:

The LA County Sheriff’s deputies who shot up Compton last week have apologized to the residents of the neighborhood they terrorized. (Link) This astonishing incident raises two burning questions:

  1. What the heck possessed the cops to fire 120 shots at Winston Hayes?
  2. Having fired so many shots, how the heck did they only manage to hit him 4 times?

Trigger happy cops are bad enough. But trigger happy cops who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn are even worse.

Henry Fonda …

was born 100 years ago today in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Seems hard to believe but Fonda was only nominated for an acting Oscar twice — for Grapes of Wrath and On Golden Pond. He won for the latter in 1982, a few months before his death. Particular favorite Fonda films (other than those two): 12 Angry Men, Mister Roberts, My Darling Clementine (he played Wyatt Earp), The Ox-Bow Incident (with sidekick Harry Morgan, aka Col. Sherman Potter) and, maybe best of all, as Clarence Earl Gideon in Gideon’s Trumpet (made when Fonda was 75).

Just looking for low prices

NORFOLK, Neb. – So exactly how do you stop a charging deer in Wal-Mart? You take away its credit card.

Shoppers at the Wal-Mart here wish they would have thought of that. It would have been a whole lot easier.

A deer without a grocery list entered through the doors of the supermarket part of the store Thursday.

The store’s greeter didn’t see the deer enter through the exit, but she did see the critter when it hit the slick floor and fell. It quickly recovered and went scurrying down the aisles.

After doing a little looking around, the deer was tackled by a customer. Others of the human persuasion then tied the deer’s legs so it couldn’t kick, placed it in a shopping cart and pushed it outside.

Officials took the animal to nearby Ta-ha-zouka Park and released it.

Yahoo! News

The deer obviously knew the secret of getting past the annoying “greeter.” Never — never — make eye contact.

Seems strange …

but the actress Debra Winger and the gymnast Olga Korbut both turn 50 today. Winger has been nominated for Best Actress three times. Korbut is the Belarusian gymnast who, pixie-like, revolutionized gymnastics. She became it’s first TV superstar while winning three gold and one silver medals at the 1972 Olympic Games. For a few days she was the talk of the planet.

Only a Sith thinks in absolutes

A.O. Scott in The New York Times generally likes “Revenge of the Sith;” indeed, if I read him correctly he thinks it ranks with “The Empire Strikes Back” as the best of the six “Star Wars” films. Some of his keenest observations:

“Mr. Lucas’s indifference to two fairly important aspects of moviemaking — acting and writing — is remarkable.” …

“Yoda, the spry green Jedi master voiced by Frank Oz, some of his finest work in this film does.” …

“[T]he sheer beauty, energy and visual coherence of “Revenge of the Sith” is nothing short of breathtaking.” …

“Mr. Lucas has surpassed Peter Jackson [blashphemy to some NewMexiKen readers, I know] and Steven Spielberg in his exploitation of the new technology’s aesthetic potential.”

Sounds to me like it’s worth $9.

I don’t know if money can buy happiness …

but it sure can buy art. Sam Walton’s daughter Alice bought Asher B. Durand’s lovely “Kindred Spirits” at auction last week for $35 million. It was sold by the New York Public Library to raise funds.

Reportedly another interested party was Bill Gates.

Here’s a look at the painting, in case you wondered what $35 million gets you these days.

Committee of Vigilance

On May 15, 1856, residents of San Francisco organized a Committee of Vigilance to combat crime in their rapidly growing town. Like other gold rush boomtowns, San Francisco’s population explosion raised crime levels and left residents feeling insecure. Although the Committee of Vigilance turned alleged criminals over to law enforcement officials, it is known to have taken matters into its own hands more than once.

Led by Republican businessmen, the eight-thousand-member committee attempted to clean up politics as well as the streets. Perhaps coincidentally, targets of these rehabilitation efforts tended to be Democrats.

Edward McGowan, a former Pennsylvania legislator and police superintendent whose political dealings earned him the nickname “the ballot box stuffer,” was among the Democratic politicians run out of town by the second committee.

…

Although popular among residents, the Committee of 1856 disbanded after a few months. Hardly unique, the San Francisco Vigilance Committee is just one example of efforts to tame the Wild West.

Library of Congress