WARNING CANADA! Don't give Stephen Harper and the Conservatives a majority

THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011

Don’t do it, Canada! I implore you! Don’t give Stephen Harper the majority government he so hungrily craves. I know you are weary of minority government. I realize that this is the fourth election in seven years. Before you mark your ballot on May 2, however, please consider these points.

Minority government can work extremely well with the right prime minister, one who truly respects democracy and the opposition parties. From 1963 until 1968, Lester Pearson's minority governments introduced universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan, the Order of Canada and the Canadian maple leaf flag. Not a bad record, eh?

If you think our current prime minister is controlling, secretive and ultra-partisan now, he’ll be far worse if he leads a majority government. In fact, he’ll be insufferable. You’ve seen how he has governed with a minority government. Those with whom he disagrees have had their funding cut off and documents tampered. A House of Commons committee has found the Harper government in contempt of Parliament for stonewalling on the full cost of its crime bill, including its plans for big prison expansions.

Consider that Bruce Carson, a former top advisor to Stephen Harper, was convicted of five counts of fraud. He defrauded two different banks with regard to the rental of a Toyota vehicle from a car-rental company. Although Harper has denied any knowledge of his former senior aide’s criminal past, a proper security check would have revealed the truth. Why wasn’t that done on someone who was hired to be in the Prime Minister’s Office?

What about Canada’s place in the world? Under the leadership of Stephen Harper, Canada suffered the embarrassment of losing a seat at the United Nations Security Council. Canadians are no longer as respected around the globe as we once were. We have lost our reputation as an “honest broker” and a leader among peacekeeping nations. Our environmental record is a joke.

Stephen Harper is the most ideologically-driven prime minister in Canadian history. He wants to change the very nature and character of this country. The Conservative Party, under his leadership, is not the party of John Diefenbaker, Joe Clark, Robert Stanfield or Brian Mulroney. Those men were certainly economic conservatives, but they were not neo-conservatives. They differed significantly from the far-right Republicans of the United States. Harper’s ideology is more akin to that of the Tea Party movement south of the border. The Tea Partiers are his soul mates and he would be right at home with them.

It is noteworthy that during this election campaign, the Conservatives unveiled a flashy 60-second ad titled “Our Country.” The ad bears remarkable similarity to an ad used by former Minnesota governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty has Tea Party support and his ad is a panorama of patriotic moments in United States history. It is a display of America’s geographical beauty and the military might of its fighter jets, set to orchestral music and a speech by Pawlenty.

Not surprisingly, The Conservative Party’s “Our Country” has an almost identical theme. It features clips of the 1988 Olympic torch relay, Paul Henderson’s 1972 goal, fighter jets, marching soldiers and views of Canada’s geographical splendour.

A Harper majority will continue to spend your hard earned tax dollars on jails and fighter jets. This money should be spent on health care and education. If you are truly concerned about poverty or the environment, don’t expect a Conservative government led by Stephen Harper to do anything about it. These are not priorities for this government.

Diefenbaker, Clark, Stanfield and Mulroney never would have killed such a valuable resource as the long-form census. They never would have been so unconcerned about the environment. They had some decency, some degree of social conscience.

The Harper government likes to take credit for steady economic leadership. The Conservatives point to how well Canada has weathered recession. They consider themselves to be good economic managers. Don’t forget, however, that this country had a budget surplus when Paul Martin left office. It now has a large deficit.

The Tories were quick to associate themselves with stimulus programs that helped Canada recover from the recession. They portrayed “Canada’s Economic Action Plan” as a “Conservative” economic action plan. Remember, however, that the money for stimulus programs came from you, the taxpayer. Remember too, that conservatives do not generally support spending money on public works. That is considered Keynesian economics. Keep in mind that Canada weathered the storm of the recession better than most countries because of the regulations on our financial institutions. Conservatives are ideologically opposed to such regulation.

Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has wasted millions of taxpayers’ dollars on F-35 fighter jets, prisons and a G20 summit in Toronto. The G20 summit was a $1 billion boondoggle. It was unnecessarily inflicted on Toronto and it transformed Canada’s largest city into an armed camp. The summit should have been held at a military base, not in the centre of a large metropolis.

Don’t expect a majority Harper government to protect Canada’s precious health care system. It will implement cuts in health spending and in social programs in order to pay for tax cuts for large corporations. As head of the right-wing National Citizens’ Coalition, Stephen Harper supported private health care.

 If you support gun control, you should be concerned about the fact that Stephen Harper is determined to scrap the long gun registry.  The prime minister makes no secret of this and he clearly reiterated his intention during the television debates.  If his government wins a majority, you can be sure he'll do everything in his power to abolish the registry.  This will result in more guns falling into the wrong hands.  It will mean more gun-related deaths in this country.

This week, I watched both the English and French language debates. Yes, Stephen Harper appeared reasonable, calm and collected – but look beneath the surface! Did you notice, for instance, the contemptuous manner in which he looked at his political opponents? While they spoke, he stood there with a smirk on his face. There is no doubt that the Tory leader has been placed on a leash and that the Conservative Party is running a tightly-controlled campaign. This, of course, is classic strategy for a front-runner.

Harper has limited the number of questions he will answer. He keeps stressing that this election is unnecessary and sticks to his mantra that the only thing people care about is the economy. Democracy, it seems, is just an annoying inconvenience. The campaign is merely something he has to endure in order to achieve his goal of a majority government.

Don’t be fooled by negative ads and simplistic slogans such as “tax cuts” and “tough on crime.” Don’t be sidetracked by Conservative fear-mongering about a coalition. Harper himself was willing to make a deal with the Bloc Quebecois in 2004. Remember that in our parliamentary system of government, the party which governs is the party that holds the support of the House of Commons. This is not an American presidential campaign. We are not voting for a head of state. It is not simply a contest between leaders named Harper, Ignatieff and Layton. We are voting for the party we believe is best suited to govern this great nation.

On May 2, restore the “Government of Canada” and reject the “Harper Government.” Our government belongs to you, not to Stephen Harper or the Conservative Party. This is a wake-up call to Canadians. Let it never be said that I didn’t warn you.

- Joanne

Walter Riddell: The Canadian at the League of Nations who tried to stop Mussolini

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011

In the early 1920s, Canada was a young country with a population of less than 9 million. It was casting off the remnants of colonialism and trying to establish itself as a nation. The post-World War I era presented Canadians with an opportunity to enter the world stage. This was a fitting time to join the newly formed League of Nations. The League, a multilateral international organization, was the brainchild of Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States.

Woodrow Wilson was a man of vision. He dreamed of a general association of nations to broker a lasting and effective peace. Horrified by the carnage of World War I, Wilson made the creation of a League of Nations a priority and the final point of his famous Fourteen Points. Sixty-three nations, including Canada, signed on with the League. The United States, ironically, was not a signatory.

In spite of the president’s efforts to promote and establish the League, his own country never became a member. Sadly, Wilson was unable to reach accommodation with influential members of the Republican Party. The Republicans controlled the U.S. Congress and they ultimately prevented American entry into the League. Although an ailing Wilson survived long enough to see his dream come to fruition, the League never lived up to Wilson’s ideals. Hampered from the start by the absence of America’s power and influence, it was tragically incomplete.

The League of Nations came into existence on January 10, 1920 and was based in Geneva, Switzerland. Switzerland was an obvious choice for the League’s headquarters. The Swiss were neutral and Geneva was the city where the Red Cross was founded. From the outset, Canadians played an active role in the League of Nations. Montreal-born businessman and philanthropist, Sir Herbert Ames, was the League’s first Financial Director. He held the position until 1926. Renowned Canadians such as future prime minister Lester B. Pearson and future governor general Georges Vanier played significant roles at the League during the early years of their diplomatic careers.

Fist Assembly of the League of Nations

Canada's delegation to the League - 1920

In 1927, Vanier held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was sent to Geneva as a Canadian military advisor to the League of Nations on disarmament: He left in 1931 to take a diplomatic posting as High Commissioner in London. Vanier went on to become Canada’s first governor general from Quebec. Lester Pearson participated in sessions of the League of Nations in 1935. For Pearson, this served as a launching pad to an outstanding diplomatic career which culminated in his winning the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.

Canada had an excellent opportunity to exert its influence when it served on the League’s council from 1927 to 1930. Although the League of Nations was often ineffective and its members unable to agree, Canada did have its successes at the world organization. One occurred in 1929 when the Canadian representative on the council, Raoul Dandurand, proposed improving the League procedures in overseeing the treatment of linguistic and religious minorities in Eastern Europe. It is interesting that in 1924, Dandurand uttered the classic statement of Canadian isolationism when he declared, "We live in a fire-proof house, far from inflammable materials."

In the 1930s, members of the League were unable or unwilling to stop the aggressive actions of Japan, Italy and Germany. One Canadian, however, made a noteworthy effort. His name was Walter Riddell and he was the leader of Canada’s delegation to the League. Riddell’s actions put him on a collision course with the government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

Walter Alexander Riddell was born on August 5, 1881 in Stratford, Ontario, the son of a locomotive engineer and ardent labour activist. The young Walter and his family migrated to Denver, Colorado in the 1880s, but returned to Canada in 1892, this time to a Manitoba farm. Riddell’s father had a hunger to work the land and become a pioneer-settler. He moved the family to a homestead north of Boissevain, Manitoba where his growing son soon experienced the hardships and challenges of pioneer life.

After graduating from the University of Manitoba, Riddell spent a year as a student missionary in British Columbia. Later he was given charge of a mission in Weston, Manitoba, just outside of Winnipeg. Much of Weston’s population was comprised of Old Country Labour and was of a decidedly leftist bent. When citizens came to the mission house, they were eager to put forth their opinions on Marxism - as soon as they had dealt with their spiritual welfare, of course.

Walter Riddell went on to attend Columbia University and he eventually received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1912.  He became a clergyman, scholar, public servant and labour specialist. This multifaceted man was also an accomplished author. He wrote about the early social history of Quebec. One of his books, The Rise of Ecclesiastical Control of Quebec, was a major authority on the subject for many years.

In 1919, W.A, Riddell was appointed Ontario’s first deputy minister of labour. During his short term as deputy labour minister, Riddell made his mark by playing a role in drafting the provincial Mother's Allowance Act and the Minimum Wage Act. In May of 1920, he left Toronto to begin a long and distinguished career as a diplomat. Riddell went overseas to serve as Canadian delegate to the International Labour Organization in Geneva where he led the Immigration and Employment Section. It was, however, during his tenure as Canadian Advisory Officer to the League of Nations, that Riddell made his greatest impact.

From the beginning, Canada was regularly represented at League assemblies. Still, it was not until January of 1925 that Riddell became Canada’s permanent advisory officer. In 1931, the League of Nations faced a major crisis when Japan brazenly invaded the province of Manchuria in northern China. Although the League condemned Japan, it took no strong measures to hold back Japanese aggression. Canada also refused to support any active resistance to the occupation of Manchuria.

On February 24, 1933, the Japanese delegation walked out of the League Assembly after its approval of the Lytton Report which rejected the legitimacy of Japan's occupation of Manchuria.  A motion was then raised to declare Japan the aggressor in the conflict whereupon he leader of the Japanese delegation, Yosuke Matsuoka, stormed out of the hall proclaiming “We are not coming back.” On March 27, the Japanese government announced its formal withdrawal from the League of Nations and made it abundantly clear it had no intention of abandoning its military ambitions.

The League’s handling of the Manchurian crisis demonstrated that it was too weak to enforce its decisions. Japan had shown that it could blatantly defy world opinion with impunity. The lesson was not lost on other nations with aggressive intent. When Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party assumed power in Germany, the regime’s first significant step in the area of foreign policy was the announcement of Germany's withdrawal from the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations (October 14, 1933).

In the autumn of 1935, Italy’s Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, demanded extensive territories in Ethiopia (historically known as Abyssinia). Mussolini was emboldened by Japan’s aggressiveness in China and the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations to prevent it. He promised the Italian people a “place in the sun” and was determined to have an empire in Africa.

On October 3, 1935, the Italian army crossed the Mereb River and attacked Ethiopia. The Ethiopians were no match for the modern military might of the Italians. It would only be a matter of time before Ethiopia would fall to its European invaders. The League Assembly denounced Mussolini’s actions. Economic sanctions against Italy were recommended and a committee was duly set up to study their application.

Although members of the League were not permitted to supply goods to Italy, there was one glaring omission on the list of sanctions – oil. Oil was essential to Mussolini’s army. The Italian dictator threatened that the imposition of oil sanctions would mean war.

In the Canadian election of October 14, 1935, the Liberals defeated the Conservative government of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. Mackenzie King was returned to power with a strong majority government. The Liberals were willing to support the four economic sanctions against Italy already recommended, but refused to recognize a binding commitment of military sanctions.

Walter Riddell was a member of the committee studying the application of sanctions against Italy. Riddell decided to take the initiative. Without his government’s instruction or approval, he advocated further sanctions. On November 2, after being advised by none other than Lester B. Pearson, Riddell proposed ceasing all exports of oil, coal and steel to Italy. The scholarly Canadian diplomat caused an immediate sensation and set tongues wagging. The “Riddell Incident” succeeded in putting Canada in the spotlight, much to the consternation of Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

The prime minister was wary of involvement in foreign wars. By the end of World War I, most Canadians had had more than enough of such entanglements, especially French-speaking Canadians. King's goal was domestic harmony and he was well aware that foreign policy issues divided Canadians profoundly. With the Conscription Crisis of 1917 never far from his mind, King certainly did not want to polarize the country yet again. His attitude can be summed up in a statement he made in the House of Commons in March of 1939, just months before the outbreak of World War II. He declared that “A strong and dominant national feeling is not a luxury in Canada, it is a necessity. A divided Canada can be of little help to any country and least of all to itself.”

Within days, Ottawa disavowed the stand taken by Riddell at Geneva. Riddell was publicly repudiated by his own government. On December 2, 1935, King’s trusted Quebec lieutenant Ernest Lapointe (the acting prime minister at the time) stated that in adding oil to the list of economic sanctions against Italy, Dr. Riddell had been expressing his own opinion, and not the opinion of the government of Canada. A front page headline in the December 3, 1935 edition of The Toronto Daily Star blared that the United Kingdom knew that Canada was not behind Riddell.

After the stir created by Dr. Riddell, Canada maintained a low profile at League meetings. On May 5, 1936, the Italians occupied Addis Abba, Ethiopia’s capital city. Four days later, the country was formerly annexed. Canada, Britain and Australia soon decided to abandon sanctions against Italy. On June 30, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie made a dramatic appearance before the League of Nations in Geneva to plead for assistance. He condemned the use of poison gas on his people which he said killed both civilians and soldiers

The following year, Walter Riddell was withdrawn from Geneva and sent to Washington as counsellor at the Canadian embassy. By 1939, the world was once again at war, a war the League of Nations failed to avert. Riddell completed his diplomatic career with a posting as Canada’s High commissioner to New Zealand in 1940. After World War II, the League of Nations was dissolved and replaced by the United Nations.

In 1946, Riddell resigned his post in New Zealand. After 26 years of diplomatic service to his country, he returned to Canada to become director of international relations at the University of Toronto. On July 27, 1963, he died at his cottage in Algonquin Park

There will always be an intriguing question surrounding the career of Walter Riddell. What would have happened if the Mackenzie King government had supported him in 1935? We can only speculate. It is, however, interesting to note that author Pierre Berton once expressed his opinion on the matter.

In November of 2001, the outspoken Berton gave his view of Canada’s wars to the Kitchener-Waterloo Record. “Three of them – the Boer War, the Great War and Korean War – we shouldn’t have been in” he declared. “And the fourth – World War II – could have been avoided if our prime minister had backed the Canadian representative to the League of Nations in 1935.” “No other country had the guts to stand up and say let’s stop Mussolini, “Berton told the Record. “When King undercut Riddell he paved the way for Hitler.”

It is debatable whether the imposition of an oil blockade would have stopped Mussolini. After all, the Americans controlled much of the oil trade and they did not have membership in the League. Furthermore, Nazi Germany was not willing to assist in blockading Italy. Whether one agrees with Pierre Berton’s staunchly pro-Riddell assessment or not, there is little doubt that Walter Riddell was a man of principle and courage. He was willing to take a stand and accept the consequences.  

- Joanne

Robert Peary: The North Pole at last! - But was he the first to get there? And who was Matthew Henson, the black American who accompanied him?

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011

The Pole at last!!! The prize of 3 centuries, my dream & ambition for 28 years. Mine at last.

- Journal of Robert E. Peary, April 6, 1909



Peary aboard his ship, the Roosevelt

Robert Peary and long-time associate Matthew Henson claimed to have been the first persons to reach the North Pole on this day, 102 years ago. They were accompanied by four Inuit men, the rest of the crew having retreated. Although Peary is usually credited with the accomplishment, there have been many doubters and sceptics. The veracity of his claim has been widely debated and Peary himself remains a controversial figure, often criticized for his treatment of the Inuit.

Robert Edwin Peary was born in Cresson, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1856. After the death of his father in 1859, he moved to Maine. He studied engineering at Bowdoin College and graduated in 1877. His home in Fryeburg, Maine is still in existence and is known as “Admiral Peary House.”

Peary was 24 years old when he entered the United States Navy in 1881. The young naval officer met his future bride, Josephine, at a popular dance spot in Washington, D.C. Josephine Cecilia Diebitsch was born in Forestville, Maryland on May 22, 1863. Her father, Herman H. Diebitsch, was a linguist at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. Josephine studied at Spencerian Business College and graduated as valedictorian in 1880.

Embarking on a rather progressive career route for a woman of her era, Josephine began her professional career with employment as a clerk/copyist at the Department of the Interior. After taking competitive exams, she later earned a position at the U.S. Census Bureau. At the age of 19, however, Josephine left the Census Bureau to take over her ailing father’s duties at the Smithsonian Institute, until his death in 1883. She was still working at the Smithsonian in 1886 when she resigned upon her engagement to Lieutenant Robert E. Peary of the Civil Engineer Corps of the U.S. Navy.

That same year, Robert Peary was granted a six-month leave of absence from the navy for Arctic exploration. On June 8, 1886, he and a companion, Danish Lieutenant Christian Maigaard, set out from the west coast of Greenland. They travelled by dogsled over the Greenland ice sheet for 161 km. (100 miles). The following year, Peary and Mathhew Henson went on an expedition to explore Nicaragua for a canal route survey, but plans to build the canal never came to fruition. Upon his return to Washington, Peary wed Josephine on August 11, 1888, a stifling hot day. The newlyweds travelled by train to Atlantic City for their honeymoon and then moved into a Philadelphia apartment.

Josephine Peary in Greenland 1892

In 1891, Peary returned to Greenland with seven companions, including his wife, Matthew Henson and Frederick A. Cook (the man who would later claim to have reached the North Pole before him). During that second expedition, Peary discovered Independence Fjord and found evidence of Greenland being an island. He also encountered a remote Inuit tribe, the “Arctic Highlanders,” who assisted him significantly on future expeditions.

Peary’s first attempt to reach the North Pole came during his journey of 1893-1894 in which he again sledged to northeastern Greenland. His wife Jo, six months pregnant when they set out, had insisted insisted on being part of the expedition. She gave birth to the couple’s first child; a daughter named Marie Ahnighito, at Inglefield Gulf, Greenland. Born September 12, 1893, Marie was dubbed “Snow Baby” by the press and the Inuit who had never seen a child with fair hair and blue eyes. She was the most northerly born Caucasian up to that time.

Marie Peary, The Snow Baby

Robert Peary’s second attempt to reach the pole was supported by a $50,000 gift from George Crocker, the youngest son of railroad executive Charles Crocker. Peary used the money to build the Roosevelt, an exceptionally strong new ship that would smash through ice. He sailed the Roosevelt to Cape Sheridan on Canada’s Ellesmere Island in 1905. The sledging season, however, was unsuccessful due to unfavourable weather and ice conditions. As a result, Perry’s party fell far short of its goal.

For his final attempt to reach the North Pole, Robert Peary and 23 men set off aboard the Roosevelt from New York City on July 6, 1908 under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett, a Newfoundlander. The crew spent the winter on Ellesmere Island and departed for the pole on February 28 – March 1, 1909.

It is noteworthy that when Robert Peary purportedly reached the North Pole on April 6, 1906, the man standing beside him, Matthew A. Henson, was an African American from Maryland. Henson was born on August 8, 1866. He was orphaned at an early age and set out to find a job on the waterfront when he was only about 12 years old. He eventually worked as a cabin boy on the merchant ship Katie Hines.

It was at sea that Matthew received his education. An elderly sea captain tutored him in mathematics, the Bible and the classics. Under the guidance of Captain Childs, the young Henson learned to be a navigator and a competent seaman. After the death of Childs, Henson left the Katie Hines and went back to the United States. For two years, he worked at odd jobs in Boston, Providence, Buffalo and New York.

At the age of 19, Matthew Henson returned to Washington, D.C. While working as a stock clerk at a hat store, he was introduced to Robert Peary, then a naval civil engineer. In 1897, on the recommendation of the store owner, Henson was hired as Peary’s valet for the Nicaragua Canal route survey. Matt’s position as “man servant” was short lived. During the Nicaragua journey, he proved himself to be a capable seaman who could perform many tasks competently. Peary promoted him to the transit crew.

In 1889, Robert Peary once again employed Henson, this time to assist him in Philadelphia. It was in the City of Brotherly Love that Matthew met his first wife, Eva Helen Flint. His long and frequent absences were not easy on the relationship and the couple divorced after six years of marriage. Shortly before leaving on Peary’s polar expedition of 1907, Henson married for a second time, to Lucy Ross, a bank clerk. They did not have any children

Matthew Alexander Henson accompanied Peary on eight expeditions to the Arctic over 18 years (1891-1909) and became indispensible to him. Due to racial prejudices at the time, however, he was never accorded the recognition he so richly deserved. Matthew had a great affinity with the Inuit people. He learned Inuktitut, the language of the polar Inuit, ate their food and adapted to their culture and lifestyle. He was also a skilled hunter and an expert builder of boats and sleds. The Inuit fondly referred to him as Maye-Paluq, “the kind one.”

Matthew Henson

Robert Peary retired as a rear admiral in 1911 and moved to Eagle Island on the coast of Maine. He settled in the town of Farawayville and his home there is now a Maine State Historic Site. Peary passed away in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 1920 at the age of 63. He is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Josephine Diebitsch Peary lived a long life and is also buried at Arlington National Cemetery, near the grave of her husband. She died in Portland, Maine on December 19, 1955 at the age of 92. Jo was an Arctic explorer in her own right and travelled farther north over the ice fields than any other white woman. She wrote a book titled The Snow Baby (published in 1901), about the birth and early childhood of her daughter, Marie in the Arctic. She also co-authored Children of the Arctic with Marie, an account of the Peary family’s visits to Greenland.

In 1913, by order of President William Howard Taft, Matthew Henson was appointed a clerk in the U.S. Customs House in New York, a position he held until he retired in 1936. He died on March 9, 1955 in New York City at the age of 88. Although he was originally buried in The Bronx, Matthew was reinterred near Peary’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery in 1988.

The “snow baby,” Marie Peary, married a Washington attorney named Edward Stafford in 1917 and gave birth to two sons. She became President of the International Society of Women Geographers and was recognized as a respected lecturer and author. In 1932, Marie returned to the Arctic to erect a monument in her father’s memory. After the deaths of both her mother and Edward in 1955, she moved to Bowdoin, Maine and married her second husband, retired sea man William Kuhne, in 1967. Marie lived the rest of her life in Bowdoin and died there in 1978.

Marie Peary and Robert Bartlett unveil the dedication plaque on Peary monument 19

 Robert and Josephine Peary had two other children. Their second child, a daughter named Francine, died at the age of seven months. Their youngest child, Robert Edwin Peary, Jr., was a civil engineer for 40 years, he made career-related visits to the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland where he helped design and construct military bases and radar systems. A resident of Augusta, Maine, Robert Jr. died of cancer on March 9, 1994 at the home of his daughter in Sarasota, Florida. He was 90 years old at the time of his death.

Robert Peary with son, Robert Jr.

During their expeditions, both Robert Peary and Matthew Henson fathered children by Inuit women. The existence of these children was hushed up and not widely known. The truth was finally brought to the attention of the public in the 1980s by S. Allen Counter, author of North Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo. After hearing rumours of an Inuit son of Henson’s, Counter travelled to northwestern Greenland to see what he could unearth.

In Greenland, Dr. Counter discovered that Matthew Henson had fathered a son and that Robert Peary had sired two sons. Peary’s sons were named Anaukaq and Kali. Both were born aboard Peary’s ship Roosevelt. Their mother was a woman named Ahlikahsingwah whom Perry first met during his 1893-1894 expedition while taking photographs of local Inuit. Matthew Henson and a woman named Akatingwah had a son – Henson s only child – also named Anaukaq.

S. Allen Counter wrote about his findings in the centennial issue of National Geographic (September 1988). He also brought the descendents of the two explorers to the United States to visit their American relatives.

In the 1980s, an examination Robert Peary’s expedition diary and other documents placed doubt on whether Peary actually reached the North Pole. Due to a combination of navigational miscalculations and record-keeping errors, Peary may on have ended up 50-100 km. (30-60 miles) short of his destination. The truth remains shrouded in uncertainty.


RIDDLE ME THIS

Why did the thief get for stealing a calendar?

ANSWER

12 months


SPORTS

Hockey

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost in a shootout against the Washington Capitals last night and all pretence of them playing in the postseason has disappeared.  This will be their seventh spring without competing in the playoffs, although they have certainly played admirably since the all-star break. If only they had performed as well during the first half of the season. Alas, that did not happen! So, it’s time to take out the golf clubs. Leafs fans will just have to watch other teams compete for Lord Stanley’s jug – as usual. 

- Joanne

Take me out to the ball game . . . It's a new baseball season!

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011

(Baseball) breaks your heart. It was designed to break your heart. It begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1988 - 1989
From The Green Fields of the Mind [1977]

It’s April Fools’ Day, spring is in the air, and baseball is back in town.  The Toronto Blue Jays play their opening game at the former SkyDome today against the Minnesota Twins.  As a tribute to the great game of baseball, Number 16 presents some amusing and poignant quotes about this wonderful sport.

If people don’t want to come out to the ball park, nobody’s going to stop ‘em.

- Attributed to Yogi Berra


Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.

- George F. Will
From Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball [1990]


When I was six, my father gave me a bright-red scorebook that opened my heart to the game of baseball. After dinner on long summer nights, he would sit beside me in our small enclosed porch to hear my account of the Brooklyn Dodger game. Night after night he taught me the odd collection of symbols, numbers and letters that enable a baseball lover to record every action of the game.

- Doris Kearns Goodwin
From Wait Next Year

Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what it most truly is, is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.

- Willie Mays
Source: Willie Mays (Arnold Hano)


I never realized that batting a little ball around could cause so much commotion. I now know how (Charles) Lindbergh must have felt when he returned to St. Louis.

- Stan Musial
Wrigley Field Press Conference, May 13, 1958


What is life, after all, but a challenge? And what better challenge can there be than the one between the pitcher and the hitter.

- Warren Spahn


In pitching we want to produce delusions, make a man misjudge.  We fool him - that's the whole purple of the game.  The ethics of the game of baseball would be violated if man did not practice to become proficient in deception.  In other words, you can't go to heaven if you don't try to fool the batter.

- Branch Rickey
From Branch Rickey's Little Blue Book: Wit and Strategy from Baseball's Last Wise Man


 “TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME”

Jack Norworth

Songerwriter, singer and vaudeville performer Jack Norworth composed the lyrics for Baseball’s signature song, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” (music by Albert Von Tilzer) in 1908. Surprisingly, the Philadelphia-born Norworth was not a baseball fan. In fact, it wasn’t until 1940 that he even attended a Major League game. Norworth wrote the words to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” while riding a New York City subway train. He had noticed a sign reading “Ballgame today at the Polo Grounds” and baseball lyrics came into his mind. He brought the lyrics to his friend Von Tilzer who had never been to a game either. Von Tilzer, the great Tin Pan Alley composer, wrote the melody for Norworth’s lyrics.

To listen to a 1908 recording of Take Me Out to The Ball Game sung by Edward Meeker, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-gsdLSSQ0

The complete version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame is seldom heard by most people. Baseball fans are only familiar with the chorus. The complete song, however, tells the simple tale of a woman who wants her boyfriend to take her to a baseball game rather than to another popular spot.

On June 27, 1940, Jack Norworth witnessed his first baseball game when he visited Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field and the Dodgers honoured him with “Jack Norworth Day.” He first heard “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” sung at a game in 1958 at the celebration of the song’s 50th anniversary during the Dodgers’ first season at the Los Angeles Coliseum (the seventh-inning tradition dates back to 1976 when famed broadcaster Harry Caray belted out the tune for Chicago White Sox fans).

To watch a video of the late Harry Caray leading a Chicago Cubs crowd in a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo9fEADUqPs

Here in Toronto, baseball fans sing two songs during our seventh-inning stretch. First we have our own little ditty called “Okay Blue Jays (Let’s Play Ball).” That’s followed by “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” with “root, root, root for the Blues Jays” substituted for “root, root, root for the home team.”

Jack Norworth spent the latter years of his life running a novelty shop in Hollywood. He died in Laguna Beach, California on September 1, 1959 at the age of 80. Although he wrote hundreds of songs in his career, including “Shine On, Harvest Moon,” he will always be remembered for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

On July 16, 2008, the United States Postal Service issued a 42-cent stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the song. Below is a picture of the beautiful, nostalgic stamp with period typography. It depicts the first six notes of the song on a music staff.

LANGUAGE CORNER

Here are a few examples of baseball jargon.

Tools of Ignorance: A catcher’s equipment

Tape Measure Home Run : An especially long home run.

Tater: A home run

Three bagger: A triple

Took the collar: Went hitless

Ride the pine:  Sit on the bench


END NOTES

As a child, I was a fan of the New York Yankees.  At that tiime in Toronto, we were able to watch Yankee games on Saturday afternons on a Buffalo station.  I admired Yankee greats such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and the rest.  When the Blue Jays arrived on the Toronto scene in 1977, they stole my heart.  When the Jays won back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993, I was over the moon.  Sadly, they have not qaulified for post-season play since those heady days. Nevertheless, I reamin a loyal and steadfast fan. So far, I am impressed with General Manager Alex Anthopolous and the direction he has taken the team.  It's a new season, so let's play ball and let's go Toronto Blue Jays!

-  Joanne

Robert Frost and the road he took: His meeting with Khrushchev in 1962

SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2011

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I  took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost
From The Road Not Taken [1916)

Today is the 137th anniversary of the birth of Robert Frost, one of my favourite poets. Born Robert Lee Frost in San Francisco on March 26, 1874, he was the son of William Prescott Frost, the editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, and Isabelle Moodie, a homemaker. Robert’s early years were difficult. His father died of tuberculosis in 1885 when he was 11 years old. Left with very little money, the family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts with the support of William Frost, Sr. (Robert’s grandfather). In 1892, young Robert graduated from Lawrence High School and shared valedictorian honours with Elinor Miriam White, his classmate and future wife.

Robert Frost sold his first poem, "My Butterfly: An Elegy," for $15. It was published in the New York Independent on November 8, 1894 after which he proposed marriage to Elinor White. They wed on December 19, 1895. The first of their six children, a son named Elliott, was born on September 25, 1896. The following year, Robert entered Harvard University to study liberal arts. In 1899, he dropped out of Harvard without finishing his degree and returned to Lawrence, Massachusetts to support his growing family. On April 28, 1899, the Frost’s second child, and first daughter, Lesley was born.

Lesley Frost Ballantyne died in 1983. It is interesting to note that of the six Frost children only Lesley and her younger sister Irma outlived their father. Elliott Frost, the eldest child, died of cholera on July 8, 1900, about two months before his fourth birthday. After Elliott’s death in October of 1900, the Frosts moved to a poultry farm in Derry, New Hampshire that was purchased for Robert by his paternal grandfather. Their third child, a son named Carol, was born on May 27, 1902. Sadly, Carol Frost committed suicide in 1940 at the age of 38.

On June 27, 1903, Elinor gave birth to the fourth Frost child, Irma. Irma was committed to a mental hospital in 1947 and died about twenty years later in 1967 (There appears to have been a strain of mental illness among the Frosts as Robert’s sister Jeanie died in a mental hospital at the age of 52, on September 7, 1929).The family’s fifth child, Marjorie, was born March 29, 1905. She died on May 2, 1934 at the age of 29, of puerperal fever after childbirth.

Robert Frost began teaching English at Pinkerton, Academy in Derry in 1906.  On June 18, 1907, the sixth and final Frost child, Elinor Bettina, was born. She died just days later. In 1911, Robert quit farming and took a position teaching English at New Hampshire Normal School in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

Robert Frost and his family moved to Britain in 1912, living first in Glasgow, Scotland and later in Beaconsfield, outside of London. His first collection of poetry, A Boy’s Will, was published in 1913. He followed that with a second collection titled North of Boston, published the following year. Both were well-received and successful. During his years in Britain, Robert Frost became friends with such literary notables as Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas.

In 1915, as World War I raged, the Frost family returned to the United States, purchasing a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire. This former Frost homestead is now a museum dedicated to Robert Frost. It is called The Frost Place and is also a centre for poetry and the arts.

Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" was first published in 1916 in a collected titled Mountain Interval. It is not a long poem as it consists of only four stanzas, but it is one of Frost’s most well-known and oft-quoted works. Its theme, about the choices and paths in life, resonates strongly with many people. The poem is provocative and open to interpretation. The speaker sighs about the path he has chosen, but is it a sigh of contentment and relief, or is it a sigh of regret? Is The Road Not Taken a stirring rejection of conformity? Does it advocate individualism and self-reliance?

Of "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost stated, “You have to be careful of that one; it’s a tricky poem – very tricky.” According to Frost, the poem was written about his friend Edward Thomas. The two men had often walked in the woods near London. Frost said that during their walks, Thomas would fret about the path they had followed and speculate about what they had missed by not choosing the other path.

In 1920, the Frosts relocated to Shaftsbury, Vermont. They resided in a home named Stone House, but retained the farm in Franconia as a summer home. In 1923, Robert was honoured with the first of his four Pulitzer Prizes for a collection of poetry entitled New Hampshire. The collection included “Walking By Woods on a Snowy Evening,” which gained him much recognition and acclaim. The famous final lines of the poem have been quoted by politicians such as John F. Kennedy (during the 1960 presidential election campaign) and Canada’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau. In February of 1980, Trudeau ended his electoral victory speech with Frost’s ”But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep.”

Frost went on to win his second Pulitzer Prize in 1931 for his book Collected Poems. He won his third Pulitzer for a poetry collection called A Further Range in 1937.  His fourth and final Pulitzer Prize was awarded to him in 1943 for A Witness Tree.

On March 20, 1938, Elinor Miriam White Frost, Robert Frost’s wife of 42 years, died of heart failure in Gainesville, Florida  at the age of 65.  In 1941, the widowed poet purchased a house on Brewster Street  in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  It became his home for the remainder of his life.  He lived alone there but enjoyed the companionship of his dog, a black-and-white Border collie named Gillie.

In 1943, Frost began a six-year appointment as the George Ticknor Fellow in the Humanities at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.  The fellowship included a stipend of $2,500 and $500 for expenses,  Back in 1892, at the age of 18, Frost had entered this same Ivy League university as a student.  Bored with college life, the young man had abandoned his studies at Dartmouth within several months.

In 1959, Robert Frost predicted that fellow New Englander John F. Kennedy would be the next President of the United States. On March 26 of that year, prior to his 85th birthday gala at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York, Frost was asked to comment on the alleged decline of New England. He replied, “The next President of the United States will be from Boston. Does that sound as if New England is decaying?”

At the age of 86, Frost was invited to perform a reading of his poetry at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. Due to the strong sunlight, he was unable to read “Dedication,” the poem he had prepared for the occasion. Instead, he recited “A Gift Outright” from memory, a poem he described as “a history of the United States in a dozen (actually 16) lines of blank verse.”

To listen to Robert Frost as he recites "A Gift Outritght," click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i_Ajyek2YA&NR=1

In 1962, at the urging of JFK, Frost accepted an invitation from Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, to meet with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. On August 30, a frail and elderly Frost embarked on a goodwill tour of the Soviet Union. For most of the trip, his meeting with Khrushchev was in doubt. Near the final days of his tour, he received word that the meeting had been arranged. Determined to meet the Soviet leader, an excited Frost flew to Crimea to meet with him at the premier’s summer resort on the Black Sea. When the 88-year old poet fell ill with severe stomach cramps, there was talk about cancelling the meeting. Frost, however, insisted that it take place – and it did!

At the height of the Cold War, on September 7, 1962, Robert Frost discussed U.S. Soviet relations with Khrushchev at Frost’s bedside in the guest house where he was resting. The two men conversed for an hour and a half and Frost told the Soviet leader that “A great nation makes great poetry, and great poetry makes a nation.” During the course of their discussion, the aged poet even implored Khrushchev to reunite East and West Berlin. Not surprisingly, the premier declined, telling Frost that it was important for the Soviet Union to maintain the status quo.

Robert Frost died in Boston on January 29, 1963 of complications from prostate surgery at the age of 88. After learning of his passing, then-President Kennedy said, “The death of Robert Frost leaves a vacancy in the American spirit.” He great poet was buried at the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont. He wrote his own epitaph. It reads, “I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.”

- Joanne

In Praise of Libraries and Librarians : Who was the real Marian the Librarian?

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011

I have always imagined Paradise as a kind of library.

- Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Argentinian writer
From Seven Nights [1984]

Jose Luis Borges

In 1937 Jorge Luis Borges found employment as a cataloguer at the Miguel Cane branch of the Buenos Aires Municipal Library. There were not enough books to catalogue and Borge would often disappear into the basement to read, write and translate. When Juan Peron assumed power in Argentina in 1946, Borges lost his job. He was removed from his post due to his opposition to the Peron regime and his distaste for fascism. After the overthrow of Peron in 1955, Borges was appointed director of the National Library of Argentina. One of Jose Luis Borges’ most well known short stories, The Library of Babel (1941), portrays the universe as a vast, colossal library. It was inspired by his years of relentless cataloguing.

I have spent a large portion of my life working in a library. It is not surprising, therefore, that I have a great fondness for libraries and a tremendous appreciation for librarians. Most librarians possess a good sense of humour and the ability to laugh at themselves. Above all, they are truly dedicated to their profession.

Public libraries are more than storehouses of the world’s greatest literature. They are more than just rows of bookshelves. They are community centres, art galleries and free Internet Cafes. They have programs and displays for people of all ages and all walks of life. In this age of the Internet, they are needed more than ever.


QUOTES ABOUT LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS

No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes, than a public library.

- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English poet, critic and lexicographer
In The Rambler, March 23, 1751

What is more important in a library than anything else – than everything else – is the fact that it exists.


- Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982), American poet and public official
From “Promise of Meaning” in American Scholar, June 5, 1972


A library is thought in cold storage.

- Lord Samuel (1870-1963), British politician
From A Book of Quotations [1947]


FICTIONAL LIBRARIANS

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl

In Batman comics, Barbara Gordon is the librarian daughter of Gotham City’s police commissioner, James Gordon. Barbara’s alter ego is Batgirl. Yvonne Craig played the role of Batgirl in the 1960s Batman television series. In 2004, the American Librarian Association (ALA) launched a “Librarians are heroes every day!” campaign featuring Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. The campaign included posters and bookmarks promoting the work of librarians. Here is how the ALA described the red-headed librarian superhero.

Gifted Barbara Gordon works at the Gotham Public Library during the day then takes to Gotham City’s crime-ridden streets as Batgirl at night. As a crimefighter, information is Barbara’s true weapon. Her near-perfect memory and never-ending energy make her a critical ally of Batman and all crimefighters.”

Desk Set

Katharine Hepburn played a reference librarian in the 1957 film Desk Set. Hepburn portrayed Bunny Watson, the head of the research department at a major television network. Bunny’s life is turned upside down when Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) arrives on the scene to observe daily activities in her department. Unknown to Bunny, Sumner has been assigned by the network president to introduce computers into some of the department’s functions. He has been given orders to keep his mission a secret. It is interesting to note that Desk Set opens with a grateful acknowledgement to International Business Machines (IBM) for its cooperation and assistance.

Marian the Librarian

Marian the Librarian is the central female character in Meredith Wilson’s musical, The Music Man. The character’s full name is Marian Paroo. Marian the Librarian is based on Marian Seeley of Provo Utah. Seeley and her husband, Frank, were in California during World War II. Composer Meredith Wilson (full name Robert Meredith Wilson) and Frank Seeley, long-time friends in New York, were both stationed with the American Radio Service. Seeley’s wife was a medical records librarian and every time Wilson saw Marian Seeley, he declared, “There’s Marian the Librarian!” It was not until The Music Man debuted on Broadway in 1957 that she became aware that Wilson has used her nickname The Music Man went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1958.

Meredith Wilson died on June 15, 1984. As for Marian Seeley, the most recent information I have found on her dates back to a November 16, 2008 article by Erica Hansen in the Desert News of Salt Lake City, Utah. In the article, the then 89-year-old Seeley is quoted as saying that she sometimes “gets tired of being “Marian the Librarian,” but generally “feels great” to have unwittingly contributed to the world of musical theatre. “How else could I feel? I’m a librarian and my name is Marian,” she told the Desert News.

To watch a video of Shirley Jones as Marian the Librarian in the 1962 film version of The Music Man, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhJ-hLyKNds


LIBRARIAN STEREOTYPE

Believe it or not, there is a Librarian Action Figure. Introduced in 2003 by Angus McPhee, it was designed to cash in on the stereotype of the librarian with horn-rimmed glasses and hair in a bun. Modelled after Nancy Pearl, a real-life librarian in the Seattle area, the Librarian Action Figure even has “amazing push button shushing action.” It is also comes with a little plastic book, an authentic-looking check-out card in a library sleeve, book marks and a Nancy Pearl trading card. Note: When I checked the Angus McPhee website, there was a message indicating that the product, which was selling for $8.95, was no longer available.

Nancy Pearl agreed to an interview with Angus McPhee. When asked about the shushing stereotype, she replied, “Every time that I think that we’re finally done with that, I meet someone who wants to tell me how awful she/he thinks it was, but at least it’s happening mush less often now than it did at first. Most librarians, and most people, I am glad to say, see the LAF as what it was – a real tribute to librarians and the work they do.”

To watch a video on the Library Action Figure, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJdEXb8bRQ0&feature=player_embedded


DEWEY DECIMAL VERSUS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Let me state my bias. I am much more comfortable with the Dewey Decimal System than the Library of Congress System. Introduced by Melvil Dewey in 1876, it has been expanded and modified through the years. I prefer Dewey because, for example, if I need a history book, I simply go to the 900 classification. If I want works on philosophy and psychology, I go to the 100 classification. Yes, I realize the Library of Congress has many advocates, but my heart belongs to Dewey.


RIDDLE ME THIS

Library groaners

How come the librarian slipped and fell in the library?

Answer: Because she strayed into the non-fiction section.


What do you do when pets start eating your library books?

Answer: Take the words right out of their mouth.


- Joanne

Witty campaign slogans: Are they a lost art?

A campaign slogan is like a soufflé. A good one rises to perfection. A bad one falls like a stone off a ledge.

- American political analyst Ron Faucheux


I’ve got to ask. Whatever happened to the soufflé? Whatever happened to fun-filled, hard-hitting and provocative political slogans? Songs and ditties seem to be passé and negative advertising is definitely on the rise. In the 2008 Canadian election campaign, we were bombarded with ads telling us that Stephane Dione is not a leader. How witty is that?

South of the border, Republican John McCain used the rather flat and stodgy Country First in his 2008 bid to become president. But wait! A crowd at a McCain rally chanted Use your brain. Vote McCain. That was more fun, but how does it compare with some slogans and ditties of the past?

Let’s look back at some memorable and not-so -memorable campaign songs and slogans. These election ditties were often witty, effective and highly amusing. They could also be disastrous, especially if the timing was wrong.

In 1972, Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals boldly proclaimed that The Land is Strong. The slogan failed to resonate with Canadians. It felt flat because it was the wrong message during a time of high unemployment and rising inflation. Unimpressed voters reduced Trudeau’s majority government to a slim minority.

Back in 1935, with the country having suffered through the worst years of the Depression, Mackenzie King’s Liberals came up with a much more successful slogan. They offered voters a choice between King or Chaos. Canadians, feeling that Prime Minister R.B. Bennett was insensitive to their hard times, overwhelming chose King.

One of the most famous and effective presidential campaign slogans in American history was based upon Dwight D. Eisenhower’s nickname. Eisenhower, the Republican candidate in 1952, used the slogan I Like Ike. Voters liked him so much that he twice prevailed over his Democratic rival, Adlai E. Stevenson.

In 1956, Dwight Eisenhower ran for re-election. With the Korean War ended, Eisenhower campaigned on a platform of peace and prosperity. Adlai Stevenson, Eisenhower’s opponent for a second time, campaigned under the slogan All the way with Adlai. It turned out, however, that Americans still liked Ike - at least enough to return him to the White House.

In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican, also sought a second term as president. He urged Americans to Grant us another term. His request was granted (pun intended) and he won the election handily.

Rhymes sometimes make very potent election slogans. A case in point is William Henry Harrison’s well-known 1812 presidential motto, Tippecanoe and Tyler too. This catchy little ditty served to remind voters that Harrison led United States forces to victory in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. It even included the name of Harrison’s vice-presidential running mate, John Tyler.

It’s interesting to note that Benjamin Harrison resurrected his grandfather’s old slogan when he ran for the presidency in 1888. His motto was Tippecanoe and Morton too. That doesn’t have quite the same ring too it, but it was still good enough to help Benjamin Harrison win the election.

During the 1852 presidential race, Franklin Pierce ran under the slogan We Polked you in ’44, We shall Pierce you in ’52. The 1844 reference was to James K. Polk, a fellow Democrat, who was elected president that year. Pierce himself went on to become the fourteenth president of the United States.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election declaring that He Kept Us Out of War. During the campaign, Wilson spotlighted his ability to keep the peace. By April of 1917, a matter of months later, the United States had officially entered the First World War.

Some campaign songs are unintentionally amusing. During the1908 presidential contest, William Howard Taft’s supporters sang a ditty entitled Get on a Raft with Taft. His detractors must have pointed out gleefully that it wouldn’t have been very safe to get on that raft. Taft was a big, portly man who weighed over 300 pounds, but his campaign, however, did not go overboard. He won the 1908 election over his Democratic adversary, the great orator William Jennings Bryan. Bryan’s campaign song was called Line Up For Bryan. Not enough Americans joined the queue.

When it comes to lyrics, it’s difficult to top John Quincy Adams’ 1824 presidential campaign song. Based on a Scottish melody Little Ye Know Who’s Coming, it was a litany of all the apocalyptic disasters that would befall voters if they failed to elect John Quincy Adams. This happy little ditty warned of fire, swords, famine, slavery, plunder and plague. Even "hatin’ and Satan" would be coming if John Quincy "not be comin’."

Sometimes campaign slogans contain no deep message. Far from being profound, they merely play on a candidate’s name. In the 1924 presidential campaign, Calvin Coolidge’s slogan was Keep Cool with Coolidge. In 1928, Herbert Hoover asked the great rhetorical question Hoo but Hoover? Both Coolidge and Hoover succeeded in winning their respective elections. Fellow Republican Alfred M. Landon was not so fortunate.

In 1936, Republicans called upon Landon to prevent the wildly popular Franklin D. Roosevelt from winning a second term in office. It was a Herculean task and Landon bravely campaigned under the slogan Let’s Make It a Landon-Slide. He had no chance against the formidable FDR.

Some slogans just beg for a retort or a parody. During the British election campaign of 1957, Harold Macmillan’s Conservatives told voters that they had Never had it so good. In response, the Labour Party suggested that Britons had never been had so good.

Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate for president in 1964, used the slogan In Your Heart, You know He’s Right.  Goldwater’s Democratic opponents responded with In Your Guts, You Know He’s Nuts. They also countered with In Your Heart, You Know He Might, an allusion to Goldwater’s hawkish reputation and his musings about the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons in Vietnam.

One of the most popular political buzzwords seems to be “change.” In 1984, Walter Mondale ran for president with the slogan America Needs a Change. Americans, however, disagreed and re-elected Ronald Reagan. In 2003, Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty urged voters to Choose change. The province was decidedly in the mood for change and McGuinty’s Liberals toppled the Progressive Conservative government of Ernie Eves.

In the American presidential race of 2008, Hillary Clinton advised voters that if we’re ready for change, she’s ready to lead. The Democratic candidate for president, Barack Obama, spoke incessantly of change and renewal. Obama’s campaign slogan was originally Change You Can Believe In. It was later altered to Change We Need. Obama insisted repeatedly that “change is coming to America,” and he set himself up as the agent of that change

Obama’s strategy worked for the Democrats in 2008. History shows that political themes are usually successful if the time is ripe. To be effective, campaign slogans must strike a chord with the electorate. If, they don’t, they end up in the ash heap of losing campaigns – unless they are recycled. Remember Stevenson’s All the way with Adlai? In 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson’s slogan was All the way with LBJ. 

- Joanne

Here's to the Irish on Saint Patrick's Day

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011

When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, ‘tis like the morn in Spring.

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

And when Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, they steal your heart away.

- The lyrics to When Irish Eyes are Smiling were written by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr. and set to the music of Enerst Ball for Ocott’s production of The Isle O’ Dreams.  The music was published in 1912.

A Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all! Everyone is Irish on this day. I’m no Maureen O’Hara and I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me, but today I can share in the spirit of the Irish.

On St. Paddy’s Day, Number 16 presents some amusing and thought-provoking quotes about Ireland and the Irish.

In Ireland the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs.

- John Pentland Mahaffy (1839-1919], Irish writer
From Mahaffy; W.B. Stanford and R.B. McDowell [1971]


Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.

- James Joyce (1882-1941), Irish novelist
From Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man [1916]


I'm Irish. We think sideways.

- Spike Milligan (1918-2002), Irish comedian
In Independent on Sunday, June 20, 1999


God made the grass, the air and the rain; and the grass, the air and the rain made the Irish; and the Irish turned the grass, the air and the rain back into God.

- Sean O’Faolain (1900-1991), Irish writer
From Holiday {June 1958}


English, Scotchmen, Jews, do well in Ireland – Irishmen never; even the patriot has to leave Ireland to get a hearing.

- George Moore (1852-1933)
From Ave [1911]. Overture


I am troubled. I’m dissatisfied, I’m Irish.

- Marianne Moore
From Spenser’s Ireland [1941]


And if ever ye ride in Ireland,
The jest may yet be said,
There is the land of broken hearts,
And the land of broken heads.

- Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936)
From The Ballad of the White Horse {1911], book V

 
I could wish that the English kept history in mind more, that the Irish kept it in mind less.

- Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), Anglo-Irish novelist
From Notes on Eire, November 1949

 
The moment the very name of Ireland is mentioned, the English seem to bid adieu to common feeling, common prudence, and common sense, and to act with the barbarity of tyrants, and the fatuity of idiots.

- Sydney Smith {1771-1845, English clergyman and essayist
From Letters of Peter Plymley [1807]


* For an island with a small population, Ireland has produced a number of the world's most acclaimed writers and poets.  Among them are William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Moore and the great James Joyce.  It has also produced great actors of the stage such as Siobhan McKenna and Peter O'Toole.

* According to its Central Statistics Office, the Republic of Ireland has an estimated population of just under 4.5. million people.  A new census will  be conducted in the Republic of Ireland on April 10, 2011. 

* According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the estimated 2011 population of Northern Ireland is 1.8 million.  A 2011 census will be carried out in Northern Ireland on March 27.  It will be possible to complete the questionnaire online


ON THIS DAY

On March 17, 1845,  Stephen Perry patented the rubber band in England.  Perry, of the London manufacturing company Messers Perrry and Co., invented the rubber band to hold papers or envelopes together.  His corporation made products from vulcanized rubber.  Hence. the first elastic bands were made of vulcanized rubber.


AN IRISH BLESSING

On the feast day of  St. Patrick, the great patron saint of Ireland, I leave you with an Irish blessing.

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields and,

Until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.      


- Joanne

Beware the Ides of March!

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011

Caesar: The Ides of March are come.

Soothsayer: Aye Caesar, but not gone.

- William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar, Act III, scene i

Yes, today is the fateful Ides of March. The mighty Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15 in 44 B.C. in the Roman Senate. He was stabbed to death in the Theatre of Pompey by a group of conspirators probably led by Marcus Junius Brutus and his brother-in-law Gaius Cassius Loninus, a Roman senator. Caesar was 55 years old at the time of his death.


LANGUAGE CORNER

In the time of Julius Caesar, March 15th was a festive occasion dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war. The term “ides” was used to describe the 15th day of the months of March, May, July and October, and the 13th day of all the remaining months.


BIRTHDAYS ON MARCH 15th

Penny Lancaster

British model and photographer Penny Lancaster was born on March 15, 1971. She turns 40 years old today. Penny, the wife of singer Rod Stewart, was born in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Lancaster and Stewart were married on June 16, 2007 at La Cervara near Portofino, Italy. They have two sons, Alastair Wallace Stewart (born November 27, 2005 and Aiden (born February 16, 2011).

David Cronenberg

Canadian horror film director David Cronenberg was born in Toronto, Ontario on March 15, 1943. David celebrates his 68th birthday today.


SPORTS

Hockey

Well, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been playing much better lately, although not last night (They lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 6-2). A large part of the credit goes to goaltender James Reimer. Some Leaf fans think the Leafs still have a chance to make the playoffs. Forget it! It’s too late in the season. If they had played this well earlier, they would be on their way to post-season play.

- Joanne

Secretariat follow-up and photo of winning ticket: What was Big Red's number in his final race?

SUNDAY MARCH 13, 2011

Eddie Maple

Nobody could run like him . . . still can’t.

- Jockey Eddie Maple on Secretariat
as quoted in the American Press


He might have taken to the air and flown.

- Heywood Hale, television commentator, on Secretariat


On Sunday October 13, 2010, I wrote about the great Secretariat and his last race in the Canadian International at Woodbine Racetrack here in Toronto, Canada. I mentioned that I was at Woodbine on that cold and rainy day to witness Big Red’s final race. I have received a great deal of response to that posting and many people seem to be interested in Secretariat’s number in that race. I can tell you that it was number 12.

I have since viewed the movie Secretariat. I enjoyed the film immensely.  I was disappointed. although not surprised, that the legendary racehorse’s final race was not depicted in the film. I guess the race was not deemed of great importance to American audiences.  John Malkovitch, wo played trainer Lucien Laurin, didn't quite suit the part.  He appeared too tall to be a former jockey and he failed to convince me that he was a francophone from Quebec.

Secretariat’s regular rider, Canadian Ron Turcotte, did not ride Secretariat in his farewell race on October 28, 1973 because he was under a five-day suspension for a riding infraction in New York. Turcotte was replaced by Eddie Maple who guided the Triple Crown winner to a 6 1/2 length victory. According to an Associated Press story by Ed Schuyler Jr., Maple, now retired, remembers being nervous on that October day in 1973. Although Maple says he “wasn’t any more nervous than anybody else would have in that situation,” he admits that before the race he thought, “If he doesn’t win, they just might tar and feather me." 

Eddie Maple, a native of Ohio, retired in 1998 with 4,398 career wins to his credit.  He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in  2009.  Eddie will always have the distincton of being the last jockey to ride Secretariat.  Nothing and no one can take that away from him. 

- Joanne

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, NHL! Bettman and the league bury their heads in the sand

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011

I grew up in Toronto as an avid hockey fan and an ardent supporter of the Maple Leafs. The Blue and White have always been my team. Now, however, I am thoroughly disgusted with the National Hockey League and its Commissioner, Gary Bettman. I am also appalled by the ownership, management and coaching style of the Leafs, but that’s another story.

During Gary Bettman's 18 year tenure as head of the NHL, the number of teams in the NHL has grown from 24 to 30.  Overall revenues have increased significantly. The league has also lost its soul.  Something is rotten at its very core.

The Almighty Buck has ruined professional sport to a great extent, but hockey more than most. There are too many teams and too many games and the playoffs are far too long. Unlike baseball, hockey is not designed to be played four or five times a week. Baseball moves at a slower pace and starting pitchers play every fifth game.

The product has been diluted and it is often watered down to a shadow of its former glory. As long as money controls the game, that is not going to change. Those of us of a certain age, however, remember a time when almost every game was special and important.

Professional hockey has always been rough, but now it is becoming downright perilous. It is quickly and inexorably turning Roller Derby on ice. For me, this latest incident involving Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara is the final straw. On Tuesday, March 8, at the Bell Centre, Chara, a 6 foot 9 inch giant of a man, hit Montreal Canadiens left winger Max Pacioretty into the boards. Pacioretty was severely injured. His head slammed into the metal support holding up the glass. He was knocked out cold and collapsed to the ice.

Max Pacioretty found himself in the hospital with a broken vertebra and serious concussion. He was released yesterday. Zdeno Chara received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. He was not, unfortunately, suspended by the league. On Wednesday, the NHL ruled that Chara would receive no further discipline.

Commissioner Bettman does not see a problem. According to Bettman, “Our hockey operations people are extraordinarily comfortable with the decision that they made.” Yesterday, during an appearance before a U.S. congressional panel, he declared that there is no need to “over-legislate” head hits. He also suggested that the increase in reported concussions is a result of accidental collisions, not head hits.

Well, of course, Mr. Commissioner, that has to be the reason. Under your stewardship, Gary, the NHL has no problems whatsoever. Its franchises in Atlanta and Phoenix and Nashville are doing extraordinarily well. It’s unfortunate Sidney Crosby, the league’s biggest star suffered a concussion, but it’s all part of the game. Don’t worry, be happy! 

Despite the NHL’s delusions, the Pacioretty/Chara story is far from over. Montreal police are investigating the incident and there is the possibility that Chara could be charged with assault. In a letter addressed to Bettman, Air Canada has expressed its extreme displeasure with the NHL. I am pleased that the airline, which just happens to be one of the NHL’s largest financial corporate backers, has threatened to remove its sponsorship of the league if it doesn’t take “immediate” and “serious” action on headshots.

Geoff Molson, chairman and owner of the Montreal Canadiens, has stated that he does not agree with the NHL’s decision. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to his credit, has urged the league to assess the “growing number” of serious injuries and headshots.

What has to happen for the NHL to take this seriously? What will it require to awaken Gary Bettman and the league from their stupor? Does a player have to die? Is that what it will take? Sadly, I’m beginning to think so. Then again, maybe even a death won't wake them up. They may just repeat their usual mantra that it’s part of the game.

- Joanne