History & Comment for May 28, 2025

A look at historical and current events on this day, comment and humor so dry it would make a camel thirsty. 

Transcript

This is History and Comment for Wednesday the 28th of May 2025

We have a few leftover thoughts from the Memorial Day Weekend. Of course here in Indiana it was race weekend.   The 500 always seemed like a big deal growing up in Central Indiana.   We have talked in the past about Helio Castroneves, he is the only four-time winner who has a chance of becoming the sole five time winner.   He was also the older driver in the field this year.   He finished ninth and was never in serious contention to win.  

The winner was Alex Palou, a 28 year old, who was competing in his 6th Indy 500.   He finished 2nd in 2021 and had a total of 5 Top ten finished at Indy and a very successful racing career in general .    He started racing go-carts at the age of 6.   Which segues well into my next point.

The pole position was won by a rookie.  Robert Schwartzman was competing in his first Indy 500 and First Indy Car race.   He does have a long resume’   dating back to the age of 4, in Karting and the European Formula series from the lowest level of 4 to the Top tier in Formula 1.   There was a quote from him, talking about following your dreams.   Now the 25-year-old is very skilled, I will give him that.   He has 20 years of racing experience.    

The simple fact is both Schwartzman and Palou have had a large amount of help.   It might sound encouraging for Schwartzman to talk about dreams coming true, the fact is most 20 somethings do not have a clue of the road it takes the get there.   They were encouraged by their parents and folks around them.  

Another even younger driver made his mark at Indy.   A J Foyt was just 23 when he first raced at Indy. Again he had family help. His Father was a race car driver around Texas.   When he was unable to drive and was looking for a replacement, his mechanic said let the Kid race,  He has more time in the car than anyone else, driving the in backlot.  He was 18 at the time.   Foyt’s grandson is the youngest driver to start at Indy, he was just 19 when he qualified.   But again look at the history.  

In my archives I have a magazine article from a few decades back. It featured a rider that I followed a bit. Like Schwartzman he credits hard work for his success.   It did not hurt that he grew up in the center of the Motocross Universe of Southern California, nor that his step-father was a mechanic for Honda.   And not some local dealership. Honda Corporate Factory Teams.    

The story can be repeated over and over again and in various flavors.   Few folks reach the highest levels from whole cloth.  

The other day a minister who has connections to the region came up in a conversation.   He was known for having a couple of very rowdy boys. The rumour was that he physically tied them to the pew as toddlers.  I have it on very good authority that both are preachers in far flung regions of the Country today.   And there are other cases where that has happened also.    

Finland was getting lauded for their take on teaching critical thinking and contrasting this with banning books.       That needs some discussion.       First there is a very distinct difference between banning books and age-appropriate books.    Society should and for much of our history agreed that some subjects were too complex for younger readers.    Now if 3-year-old Buford finds a College Calculus book and finds it interesting, I cannot see anyone having an issue with that.   But we know the subject matter that Buford should be shielded from.   Those books should not be available for him to find on his elementary school bookshelf.    For that matter, there most likely is no room for the Calculus book either.   

Personally, I am all for teaching critical thinking skills. Provided the subject is not used as a cover or façade to tear at society and parental norms.    If Buford gets beyond Elementary School, it is not critical thinking to tear down his background beliefs by pointing out the flaws in only one side of an argument. That is not critical thinking but indoctrination.   

The Creation vs Evolution debate is a prefect case.   Critical Thinking is not portraying one as theological and the other scientific.   Neither is purely scientific and both contain large doses of Philosophy.   Critical Thinking would explore the biases on both sides and how to recognize such biases when they appear in other forms or debates.      I can think of a wide swath of ideas across the spectrum where that kind of scrutiny is not welcomed.  

Enough of that, let’s turn a corner.  pseu·do·nym.  That is from two Greek words, essentially meaning false name.    Pseudonyms are generally connected to using a different name for creative purposes.    It is similar to an Allias, but that is for more general purpose and often carries negative connotation.   A criminal might use an allias, while an author uses a Pseudonym.    There is a third case that I would like to consider.     America is at its foundation, largely an English country.  Those naming conventions are the most common and understood.  We might go so far as to say the default.    French and Spainish names often included locations or titles.   The French Explorer of the 18th Century was simply known as Robert LaSalle.    But his full name was René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.   Robert LaSalle we might say was Anglicized or made English.  

This happens frequently.   Our Indy Winner is of Spanish Birth.  His full name is Alex Palou Montalbo.    The Spanish tradition is more maternial than the English one.  Palou is his Father surname and Montalbo is his Mothers.   This is getting close to the point I want to discuss.    Our society is chocked full of folks who immigrated or are decendents of immigrants from different cultures, very commonly Eastern Europe and Jewish.    It was almost universal for them to adopt a more English sounding name when they came to America.   Part of this was to hide some ethnicities and part was to just simply blend in more easily.   There was a feeling that some of their culture has to be surrendered to be part of the American melting pot.    The Goal was to forsake old ideas and in some cases hostilities to be part of something new, America.   

I might be wrong about this but it seems there is a swing to clutch to the old culture and not want to assimilate into America.     Now there has always been some of this. South Boston is still very strongly Irish and most large cities have ethnic neighborhoods.   The lines also continue to hold old ethnic grudges.     Here in flyover Country it is much less of an issue.   And generally society welcomes some new traditions.   Most towns near by have a Mexican restaurant.   And if the service is acceptable and the food good, they do well.   

If you want to delve into the subject, start by looking at the original names of a large section of the entertainment industry.   Most of us known that John Denver’s given name of Henry Deutschendorf would not have fit well on a record label.   But then there was Engleburt Humperdink, that did not fit too well either.   And Marion Morison just does not invoke the same awe as John Wayne does.   But what about Melvin Kaminsky, Julius Marrix,  Allen Konigsberg, Lawrence Zigler, Chaim Witz or Issur Danielovitch.  Then there are times folks want to sound more ethnic than they are, who would think that  Caryn Johnson is one of the most successful people in Entertainment.  

I’m sure by now you have heard of the Passing of Duck Dynasty Patriarch Phil Robertson.  Robertson was doing quite well for himself and family before they became a reality show family and flooded into American Living Rooms.   I doubt it would be too much of a stretch to think the folks at A & E Network,  thought it more of a spoof or lampoon, yet the antics struck a chord.   Phil was relatable to much of Middle America.   What was lost behind the long beard and camo was an Educator with a Masters degree, who gave up a promising football career to pursue his personal interest.   They also did not try to hide that he had made more than a few mistakes in his life.    And then proceeded to preach of forgiveness and change.    Phil Robertson’s hunting and rugged persona made him relatable to many folks.  And he took that opening to preach a simple and down home Gospel.    This might be what the Apostle Paul meant when he said I will become all things to all people.   

                                                                  28