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Showing posts with label Mexico–United States border. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico–United States border. Show all posts

Monday, December 16, 2024

Did You Know the History of the Poinsettia Flowers has Texas Ties?

Poinsettias: Texas' Mark on the Festive Flower

‘Tis the season of anticipation, and all around us are signs of the upcoming celebration.  In church courtyards, three wise men eagerly look upon still-empty mangers. Elsewhere, some unsuspecting Texans have already seen their first snowfall of the season – or even the decade.  All across the state, Christmas lights twinkle at nightfall, while during the day, vibrant red poinsettias keep the mood merry and bright.


Image credit:  glitter-graphics.com

Poinsettias have become a staple of the season, but did you know the Christmas flower has ties to the Texas border?

xmas decorations



In 1825, President John Quincy Adams appointed the first U.S. Minister to Mexico: Joel Roberts Poinsett.  Poinsett traveled south to Mexico with the task of renegotiating the U.S.-Mexico border and bringing Texas into the U.S. once and for all.  At that time, the southern border of the U.S. sat at the Red River, north of modern-day Texas. President Adams dreamed of the United States extending all the way south to the Rio Grande River, and he was willing to pay one million dollars for that prize.

Of course, Mexico saw great value in Texas and did not budge.

Unfortunately for him, Poinsett never succeeded in his mission of purchasing Texas.  However, during his failed attempt in moving the U.S.-Mexico border, the amateur botanist discovered a plant near Taxco de Alarcón so beautiful that he cut its stems and had them sent back home to the United States.

He mailed the vibrant red blooms to friends, fellow botanists, and botanical gardens across the country, and by 1836 – the very same year Texas won its independence from Mexico – the flowers had become widely known across the country not by their scientific name (Euphorbia pulcherrima), but by the name of the diplomat who brought them here: poinsettias.

Today, Texas is a top poinsettia producer, although cultivating the red Christmas poinsettias is no easy feat. To grow the brightest blossoms, poinsettias require at least five consecutive twelve-hour nights and warm, bright sunny days.  These plants still grow best in the Taxco region of Mexico, where Joel Roberts Poinsett found them almost two centuries ago, and where they’re still known as Flores de Nochebuena (Christmas Eve flowers).  Texas’ own native poinsettia has a distinct splash of red-orange, and is therefore aptly called the “Painted” Poinsettia or the “Fire on the Mountain” Poinsettia.


During Christmastime in Texas, poinsettias of all kinds adorn town squares, gardens, and homes.  In Big Spring, Texas, the annual ‘Poinsettias in the Park’ attraction features multiple enormous metal poinsettias wrapped in Christmas lights.  The Concho Christmas Celebration is also known for its life-like poinsettia light exhibit.  And the winter wonderland display at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Garland, Texas boasts more than 2,000 live poinsettias in all.


As you see these famed poinsettia displays and others in Texas this season, I hope you’ll take a moment to remember their history.  To all Texans who produce, decorate with, and admire the beauty of poinsettias, I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas.

Original article published via The Lonestar Weekly rec'd via eMail

Senator John Cornyn info@cornyn.senate.gov



glitter-graphics.com

Monday, June 17, 2019

Dear Joe and Jane Illegal: Why Come to US? (An Opinion Piece)

Responding to a blog post titled "There’s a Reason Why so many Illegal Immigrants come to the United States", which presents a very interesting point of view. This blog post is my further elaboration and discussion of the subject.



There are only two reasons people risk slipping across the border to enter a country when they know they could be locked up if they caught or shot dead where they stand. Either they are coming in the hopes of a better life OR they are coming to do some damage in that country. They got an agenda and it's not pretty! For the sake of this discussion, let's ignore the ones with bad intentions. Let's talk about the ones that are only coming to another country for a better life.

  • Here's my observation.  They keep coming!  It's not a matter of being prejudiced or being unwelcoming.  It's just scientific fact.  A country can only support so many people.  What can we do to stop them from coming? 
  • Here is a possible solution. How about the government of the countries these people are running TO get into together with the countries they are running FROM and see if they can come up with ways to make things better for those folks who are living there. Common sense! If you got a happy home you don't want to leave it! If life is good for you where you live you don't want to move!

Wouldn't it be nice if we could do that?  Think about it.  How did the foreign businesses get set up in a country? The owners must have negotiated with somebody! They didn't just waltz into the country, pick a piece of land, build on it, and then start hiring the locals! Foreigners just don't walk into other countries and start transacting business. Do they? (O.o)

If businesses can move their factories to a country and create jobs for citizens, why can't governments negotiate with other governments to create better-living conditions for those same citizens? It sounds “doable”. Doesn't it? Seems like a win-win for both. Make for good relations between nations.


Of course, that's just wishful thinking on my part. This solution probably won't work because nine times of out of ten, the country that people are running away FROM is either physically suffering from famine or some other disaster, or life there is unbearable because of oppressive corrupt government officials and/or criminal gangs and/or both! A famine or a natural disaster can be handled by humanitarian assistance. But not if corrupt government officials and thugs intercept the aid that is intended to help those in distress.


As long as there are countries that mistreat and abuse THEIR OWN CITIZENS, those human beings are going to FLEE FOR THEIR LIVES!! They do not care that they are illegals in a foreign country, because in their country they left they were citizens with no human rights! So they probably figure, what the difference of their status in either country? They got no rights either way!


As for folks who hire illegals.  As the old expression goes: If you're not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem.  Unfortunately, there are evildoers on both sides of the fence. For the person coming across the border, they run away from one oppressor into the arms of another oppressor. What does the poor human being do just to live? They rationalize and think: ‘Sure this person's is treating me wrong. But they're not treating me near as bad as where I came from!'


To this day, I don't know why the folks who hire illegals are not to sent to prison and/or made to pay hefty fines and penalties. They're breaking the law too!  They are not providing a solution and just adding on to the problem.


NOTE: Content first appears at LiteracyBase, Nov 17, 2016.


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