Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed

Jonathan Chapman, born in Massachusetts on September 26, 1775, came to be known as “Johnny Appleseed.” Chapman earned his nickname because he planted small orchards and individual apple trees across 100,000 square miles of Midwestern wilderness and prairie.
…

Chapman, sometimes referred to as an American St. Francis of Assisi, was an ambulant man. As a member of the first New-Church (Swedenborgian), his work resembled that of a missionary. Each year he traveled hundreds of miles on foot, wearing clothing made from sacks, and carrying a cooking pot which he is said to have worn like a cap. His travels took him through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana.

Library of Congress

Victory at Sea

Recent movies like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line have vividly depicted the face of land battle in the Second World War, but the story of the American war is incomplete without the sweep and strategic stakes of the war at sea, in which 104,985 American sailors and Marines were wounded, 56,683 were killed, and more than 500 U.S. naval vessels were sunk.

The Atlantic posts a 1999 article by David Kennedy, Victory at Sea, “the dramatic story of the war as it was waged upon the oceans.” Kennedy is a highly-regarded, prize-winning historian at Stanford.

What does the weakening of the dollar mean for me?

The U.S. dollar fell to a new low against the euro on Tuesday, thanks to more bad news about home sales. One American greenback is now worth about 0.71 euros, or 0.49 British pounds. Five years ago, the dollar and the euro were about the same in value, which means that a Roman holiday has gotten significantly more expensive. But continental vacations aside, how does the weak dollar affect the average Joe?

Slate Magazine

September 25th is the birthday

… of Barbara Walters. She’s 76. Damn, that’s old enough to be on 60 Minutes.

… of SecDef Robert Gates. He’s 64.

… of Michael Douglas. He’s 63. And of Mrs. Douglas. Catherine Zeta-Jones is 38 today.

… of Cheryl Tiegs. She’s 60.

… of Mark Hamill. Luke is 56.

… of Heather Locklear. She’s 46.

… of Scottie Pippen. He’s 42.

… of Will Smith. The Man-in-Black is 39.

The Shakespeare of sportswriters was born on this date 102 years ago. That’s Red Smith. Here he is on the 1951 World Series (after the Giants’ miraculous playoff win to be there):

Magic and sorcery and incantation and spells had taken the Giants to the championship of the National League and put them into the World Series … But you don’t beat the Yankees with a witch’s broomstick. Not the Yankees, when there’s hard money to be won.

And on Seabiscuit:

With that established, let’s talk about the death of Seabiscuit the other night. It isn’t mawkish to say there was a racehorse, a horse that gave race fans as much pleasure as any that ever lived, and one that will be remembered as long and as warmly. If someone asked you to list horses which had, apart from speed or endurance, some quality that fixed the imagination and captured the regard of more people than ever saw them run, you’ve had to mention Man o’ War and Equipoise and Exterminator, and Whirlaway, and Seabiscuit. And the honest son of Hard Tack wouldn’t be last.

And on sports fans:

I’ve always had the notion that people go to spectator sports to have fun and then they grab the paper to read about it and have fun again.

And: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is sit at a typewriter and open a vein.”

Oh, and William Faulkner was born on this date 110 years ago.

‘When was the last time a New York Times ad ever killed somebody?’

[MSNBC guest host David] Shuster: “Let’s talk about the public trust. You represent, of course, a district in western Tennessee. What was the name of the last solider from your district who was killed in Iraq?”

[Rep. Marsha] Blackburn:”The name of the last soldier killed in Iraq uh – from my district I – I do not know his name -”

Shuster: “Ok, his name was Jeremy Bohannon, he was killed August the 9th, 2007. How come you didn’t know the name?”

Blackburn: “I – I, you know, I – I do not know why I did not know the name…” [Snip]

Shuster: “But you weren’t appreciative enough to know the name of this young man, he was 18 years old who was killed, and yet you can say chapter and verse about what’s going on with the New York Times and Move On.org.” [Snip]

Shuster: “But don’t you understand, the problems that a lot of people would have, that you’re so focused on an ad — when was the last time a New York Times ad ever killed somebody? I mean, here we have a war that took the life of an 18 year old kid, Jeremy Bohannon from your district, and you didn’t even know his name.”

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Not in My House

Every so often I think, “maybe we should buy a TV”. Then I read stuff like this catch at Amygdala:

Katie Couric just led off the opening story on tonight’s CBS Evening News by announcing that “President Ahmadinejad of Iran, an enemy of the United States, arrived tonight….

That’s just the sort of neutral reporting I want to expose myself and my family to on a nightly basis.

As Gary Farber says, is there an official national enemies list somewhere?

Michael Froomkin

Listening to Lectures

NewMexiKen was disappointed in the history course mentioned in my post about American History for the iPod. To be honest I didn’t get through the first lecture, which is much like judging a book by its cover, I know, but . . .

I have started listening to Cal Professor Brad DeLong’s American Economic History (Economics 113) lectures, extracted from his Coffee and Tea Audio Podcasts. Skipping through all the administrivia in the first lecture, the rest of the first and second lecture have been interesting.

I enjoyed Ted Sorensen’s talk on the Cuban missile crisis and the rule of law very much. David Brion Davis’s discussion of how he came to be a historian and the study of slavery was good, too.

All of the above require iTunes, of course.

I thought it was going to be multiple-choice

What do Henry Hudson; Christopher Columbus; Mississippi River; cotton gin; Sutter’s Mill; tobacco; corn; smallpox; Boston; Philadelphia; Alexander Hamilton; Andrew Jackson; Erie Canal; New York Central Railroad; Central Pacific Railroad; Ohio River; beaver fur; interchangable parts; tariff; and New Orleans have in common?

They’re all things you need to state the importance of if you take Brad DeLong’s mock American Economic History mid-term. And there’s more.

The City Different

NewMexiKen sees that Santa Fe has slipped behind Albuquerque suburb Rio Rancho and is now just the Land of Enchantment’s fourth most populated city. (Albuquerque is first; Las Cruces is second.)

Is it no wonder?

The appearance of the town defies description, and I can compare it to nothing but a dilapidated brick-kiln or a prairie-dog town. The inhabitants are worthy of their city, and a more miserable, vicious-looking population it would be impossible to imagine. Neither was the town improved, at the time of my visit, by the addition to the population of some three thousand Americans, the dirtiest, rowdiest crew I have ever seen collected together. Crowds of drunken volunteers [American soldiers] filled the streets, brawling and boasting, but never fighting; Mexicans, wrapped in serapes, scowled upon them as they passed; donkey-loads of hoja—corn-shucks—were hawked about for sale; and Pueblo Indians and priests jostled the rude crowds of brawlers at every step. Under the portals were numerous monte-tables, surrounded by Mexicans and Americans. Every other house was a grocery, as they call a gin or whisky shop, continually disgorging reeling, drunken men, and everywhere filth and dirt reigned triumphant.

[George F. Ruxton, an Englishman, who visited in 1846. Quoted in David Dary’s The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends, and Lore.]

NewMexiKen loves Santa Fe, a city that works very hard at maintaining its image. Still, it’s good to throw a little reality about their past at them from time-to-time.

Anne Kornblut, the dumbest person on earth

The Daily Howler has this from Anne Kornblut in today’s Washington Post:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on all five talk shows yesterday morning and demonstrated a particularly senatorial skill: the art of the filibuster.

Asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos whether she would withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq during a first term as president, Clinton (D-N.Y.) gave a simple answer: She did not know.

But she used more than 225 words to say so…

Guess what, the Howler did his homework —

That took us back to Sunday, August 5, when Rice appeared on Face the Nation. Her first answer ran 172 words–but soon, she was expounding at greater length. Her next uninterrupted answer ran 198 words, and soon she was ripping off replies of 212, 238 and 268 words. Meanwhile, on that day’s Fox News Sunday, Rice gave answers which totaled 319, 269 and 268 words. But a search of the next day’s Washington Post finds no complaints–in alleged “news reports”–about the way Rice “filibustered.” Instead, the complaint pops up today, with pseudo-evidence, as the Post’s small loudest yapping dog expresses her distaste for her subject.

They have already begun to crucify Democratic candidates with innuendo in the so-called “liberal media.” The last time they did this we ended up with the worst president in American history.

The Bottom 10

Thanks to an item at Sideline Chatter, NewMexiKen learned that Steve Harvey’s The Bottom 10 (Colleges) is back. This is from last Thursday (follow the link to see the rankings):

On strike for 13 years, Bottom Ten selectors were so inspired by the miserable Fighting Rash of Notre Dame (0-3) that they put aside their grievances about press box hot dogs and went back to ranking the worst football teams in the nation.

Charlie Weis’ weaklings, to no one’s surprise, were rated No. 1, just ahead of the red-faced Orangemen of Syracuse (0-3). The teams could well meet in the postseason Woes Bowl, tentatively set for Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The Bottom Ten is a set of rankings based on second-hand information, rumors, gossip and grudges. In other words, it is compiled in much the same manner as the top 10 rankings.

The Bottom Ten, by the way, should not be confused with the Big Ten, though both are composed of horrible teams.

America’s First National Monument

President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower a national monument 101 years ago today. It was the first landmark set aside under the Antiquities Act.

Devil's Tower

The nearly vertical monolith known as Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet above the meandering Belle Fourche River. Once hidden below the earth’s surface, erosion has stripped away the softer rock layers revealing Devils Tower.

Known by several northern plains tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians. The rolling hills of this 1,347 acre park are covered with pine forests, deciduous woodlands, and prairie grasslands. Deer, prairie dogs, and other wildlife are abundant.

Source: National Park Service

NewMexiKen, who has circumnavigated Devils Tower, thinks it should be renamed Bears Lodge.

Roosevelt added several more monuments after Devils Tower, including El Morro, Montezuma Castle, Petrified Forest, and Chaco Canyon within the first year of the Act.