Comment to “Trump cannot get its story straight…”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/06/18/daily-202-trump-team-cannot-get-its-story-straight-on-separating-migrant-families/5b2701f030fb046c468e6ef6/?utm_term=.4fad262b503d
Gosh, the inhabitants of this continent over a thousand years ago had a lousy immigration policy. First they let those drunken, war-mongering Vikings in. Then they let some murderous Spaniards in.
Pete Seeger captured this mistake with his tale of two Indians watching a little boat come ashore from a bigger boat. A man stepped out of the little boat and said "Buenos dias, señores." One Indian looked at the other and said, "Well, there goes the neighborhood!"
And this invasion from Europe just grew and grew until it was a flood that overwhelmed and often killed the original inhabitants.
I think these illegal aliens should go back where they came from.
Gosh! What am I going to do? I am a descendant of these illegal aliens. But how can I "go back where I came from"? I would have to be sent back in pieces. I have known ancestors from England, Germany, and Poland, and probably as my name suggests, from Ireland.
Interestingly, many of the ancestors of these "illegal" immigrants once upon a time freely crossed the Rio Grande, moving back and forth for trade and for better weather. Then a bunch of these Europeans decided they wanted the land north of the Rio Grande, and...
Showing posts with label ancestors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ancestors. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2018
Monday, April 15, 2013
I was right to be positive about a negative
This morning my urologist called me. He was pleased to tell me that there was no sign of cancer in the biopsies of my prostate. See "The Impatient Outpatient". However, he wants to see me again next February and his staff called me back with a specific date.
Where are my get-young pills?
Ah, this is a good place to stick in my notes about Ponce de León and the Fountain of Youth. Ponce did not discover Florida. "By 1513, when Ponce de Léon first arrived, so many Europeans had visited Florida that some Indians greeted him in Spanish." The fountain of youth at St. Augustine was concocted by Washington Irving over 300 years later. See "Ponce de León, Exposed", T. Allman, New York Times, 2013-04-01.
About the only Fountains of Youth are to pick long-lived grandparents, don't smoke, drink moderately, eat your vegetables, and exercise regularly. I've failed at some time or another on all five, but I have followed the second for over 30 years and I try to follow the last three every day. Plus I have Magree's push-up rule of longevity - you'll live as many years more as you can do pushups. I have been doing between 22 and 26 most mornings. See "The Magree Inexpensive Heart Stress Test".
Where are my get-young pills?
Ah, this is a good place to stick in my notes about Ponce de León and the Fountain of Youth. Ponce did not discover Florida. "By 1513, when Ponce de Léon first arrived, so many Europeans had visited Florida that some Indians greeted him in Spanish." The fountain of youth at St. Augustine was concocted by Washington Irving over 300 years later. See "Ponce de León, Exposed", T. Allman, New York Times, 2013-04-01.
About the only Fountains of Youth are to pick long-lived grandparents, don't smoke, drink moderately, eat your vegetables, and exercise regularly. I've failed at some time or another on all five, but I have followed the second for over 30 years and I try to follow the last three every day. Plus I have Magree's push-up rule of longevity - you'll live as many years more as you can do pushups. I have been doing between 22 and 26 most mornings. See "The Magree Inexpensive Heart Stress Test".
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
What nationality are you? An irrelevant question!
Asking "What nationality are you" seems to be an American social game. But is it really a relevant question? When people ask me this, I answer, "I'm American." How can I be anything else?
Three of my grandparents were born in the U.S. and one in a part of Germany now in Poland. I hardly knew my German-born grandmother when I was growing up. I certainly was not German when I went to Germany.
Four of my great-grandparents were born in Germany. See above. I never met any of them. Three of my great-grandparents were born in England. I only knew one of my great-grandmothers and about the only English custom observed when we visited her was drinking tea, with Carnation milk! I certainly was not English when I went to England.
One of my great-grandfathers, the one with the "Irish" name, was born in Williamsburgh, New York, now a neighborhood of Brooklyn. I never knew him, and I only drove through Brooklyn to get to JFK. I doubt anybody anywhere would consider me a Brooklynite.
I've known several people who've called themselves Swedish or Italian, but I bet I've spent more time in those countries and know more of both languages than many of these people's parents. Not all by any means, but enough to wonder why these people call themselves Swedish or Italian rather than Americans.
Ironically, Americans often consider Canadian, Australian, and New Zealander as nationalities. But these countries are populated with people from all over the world, just like the United States.
Even more ironically, many of the "nationalities" represent nation-states that are themselves made of people with ancestors outside the borders of the nation states. Consider the often beleaguered nation Poland. Most of the people there have German, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Latvian, and other ancestors. The French skier, Jean-Claude Killey's grandfather was a Kelly. And what nationality is the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy? According to American custom he is Hungarian-Greek-Jewish-Spanish-… Are there any French "birthers" demanding to see Sarkozy's birth certificate?
Three of my grandparents were born in the U.S. and one in a part of Germany now in Poland. I hardly knew my German-born grandmother when I was growing up. I certainly was not German when I went to Germany.
Four of my great-grandparents were born in Germany. See above. I never met any of them. Three of my great-grandparents were born in England. I only knew one of my great-grandmothers and about the only English custom observed when we visited her was drinking tea, with Carnation milk! I certainly was not English when I went to England.
One of my great-grandfathers, the one with the "Irish" name, was born in Williamsburgh, New York, now a neighborhood of Brooklyn. I never knew him, and I only drove through Brooklyn to get to JFK. I doubt anybody anywhere would consider me a Brooklynite.
I've known several people who've called themselves Swedish or Italian, but I bet I've spent more time in those countries and know more of both languages than many of these people's parents. Not all by any means, but enough to wonder why these people call themselves Swedish or Italian rather than Americans.
Ironically, Americans often consider Canadian, Australian, and New Zealander as nationalities. But these countries are populated with people from all over the world, just like the United States.
Even more ironically, many of the "nationalities" represent nation-states that are themselves made of people with ancestors outside the borders of the nation states. Consider the often beleaguered nation Poland. Most of the people there have German, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Latvian, and other ancestors. The French skier, Jean-Claude Killey's grandfather was a Kelly. And what nationality is the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy? According to American custom he is Hungarian-Greek-Jewish-Spanish-… Are there any French "birthers" demanding to see Sarkozy's birth certificate?
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