I’m sorry to hear that too.
I had three dogs my self. I feel with you.
11th Day of the 11th Month
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Columbus Day seems like it should be more of a Hemisphere, with a motto that goes like “Thank God I’m not celebrating Divine Right of Kings Day”.
MLK is celebrating the ideals more then the man. Whereas President’s Day was created by Mattress Store Lobbyist to try and increase awareness of their place in the free market…
GG
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@Cmdr:
@Cmdr:
@ncscswitch:
This vet spent most of the day with his more important half (which also happens to be our dating anniversary… 5 years since Angel and I became ‘an item’ ) :-D
As for the “Observed” holiday yesterday… Well this vet works for a company that gives MLK as a holiday but not Veterans Day. Go figure… :roll:
Seems typical. Affirmative Action is shot down in LA, but the rest of the nation is still stuck worshiping the acts of one man
like Christmas?
Well, at least for Christmas you can make your children’s eyes light up with glee with some candy on St. Nicholas’ Day and some toys of Christmas Eve.
What do you get for MLK rememberance day? And why can’t we remember Lincoln, Washington or Columbus anymore, but we have to have MLK day?
MLK day, it’s MILK with no I!
Columbus… hmmm… yes, we should instead remember a murdering tyrant instead of a civil rights leader. Good thinking, Jen. :roll:
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@stuka:
@Cmdr:
@Cmdr:
@ncscswitch:
This vet spent most of the day with his more important half (which also happens to be our dating anniversary… 5 years since Angel and I became ‘an item’ ) :-D
As for the “Observed” holiday yesterday… Well this vet works for a company that gives MLK as a holiday but not Veterans Day. Go figure… :roll:
Seems typical. Affirmative Action is shot down in LA, but the rest of the nation is still stuck worshiping the acts of one man
like Christmas?
Well, at least for Christmas you can make your children’s eyes light up with glee with some candy on St. Nicholas’ Day and some toys of Christmas Eve.
What do you get for MLK rememberance day? And why can’t we remember Lincoln, Washington or Columbus anymore, but we have to have MLK day?
MLK day, it’s MILK with no I!
Columbus… hmmm… yes, we should instead remember a murdering tyrant instead of a civil rights leader. Good thinking, Jen. :roll:
Yes, well, history has vilified the man. However, how about we remember the audacity and temerity of a man who decided to prove his scientific theory by risking his own life to do so? How about we remember a man who had the courage and fortitude to explore the unknown?
Instead of a guy who gave some pretty words to the world, but really did nothing to further science, man or any other altruistic event or ethic or moral. All he did was incite people to resist authority and become a bother.
If he had any legitimate desire to improve the world, he should have run for public office and been elected. It’s easy to chant from the curb, harder to stand up and prove it. Al Sharpton, Don Imus and others shout from the curb as well, but like MLK, they don’t actually risk losing by running for office.
Not to turn it into political. Just saying that Columbus at least had the “testicular fortitude” to put his money where his mouth was at the risk of his own life. MLK did not even have the testicular fortitude to run for a Congressional Seat. Why worship MLK when we have much better candidates who stood up for human rights? Paulo Friere, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, I’d even go so far as to say Lenin was more altruistic then MLK. His ideas were proven wrong under the hammer and steel of history, but at least his intent and his proof of convictions were good and valid.
Balance them against a man who incited criminal to near criminal behavior and civil disobedience in an effort to improve his own life and I say there’s no real competition on who’s actions should be extolled through history.
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Columbus’ voyage has even less meaning for North Americans than for South Americans because Columbus never set foot on our continent, nor did he open it to European trade. Scandinavian Vikings already had settlements here in the eleventh century, and British fisherman probably fished the shores of Canada for decades before Columbus. The first European explorer to thoroughly document his visit to North America was the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto, who sailed for England’s King Henry VII and became known by his anglicized name, John Cabot. Caboto arrived in 1497 and claimed North America for the English sovereign while Columbus was still searching for India in the Caribbean. After three voyages to America and more than a decade of study, Columbus still believed that Cuba was a part of the continent of Asia, South America was only an island, and the coast of Central America was close to the Ganges River.
Unable to celebrate Columbus’ exploration as a great discovery, some apologists now want to commemorate it as the great “cultural encounter.” Under this interpretation, Columbus becomes a sensitive genius thinking beyond his time in the passionate pursuit of knowledge and understanding. The historical record refutes this, too.
Contrary to popular legend, Columbus did not prove that the world was round; educated people had known that for centuries. The Egyptian-Greek scientist Erastosthenes, working for Alexandria and Aswan, already had measured the circumference and diameter of the world in the third century B.C. Arab scientists had developed a whole discipline of geography and measurement, and in the tenth century A.D., Al Maqdisi described the earth with 360 degrees of longitude and 180 degrees of latitude. .
You see, Jen. Despite what you learned in your third grade class, your Columbus is a sham. And as far as your insulting civil rights, I understand why you like your fairytale columbus so much.
and btw, Columbus captured more Indian slaves than he could transport to Spain in his small ships, he put them to work in mines and plantations which he, his family and followers created throughout the Caribbean. His marauding band hunted Indians for sport and profit - beating, raping, torturing, killing, and then using the Indian bodies as food for their hunting dogs.
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everyone owned slaves back then. even black people owned black people in africa. and they were treated just as bad. why single out columbus?
hell in the america’s the aztecs took 10,000’s of slaves every couple of years so they had enough slaves to cut their hearts out for sacrifice. so who’s worse. the native american indians owned slaves up until american expansion. are all these people also monsters then. does that fit into your mindview?
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Of course it does, bung. was I supposed to mention others? the subject was columbus. But sure they were savage murderers too. Happy? So since we all agree that columbus was a slave selling murderer, why do you want to have a day to …. as Jen puts it… “worship him”?
Hell,… since, Hitler expanded his German borders for a few years, wanna give him a day too?
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no.
countries have all sorts of holidays for people. columbus wansnt any more terrible than anybody else around the world at his time. so why not give him a day for getting the west to look west again.
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Fair enough, bung.
Personally, I don’t really care. I would rather have a Christopher Walken Day or a Sid Vicious Day. -
Yeah if they had actually supplied something to the American Culture that was more powerful then iconic only…
I like Christopher Walken Day, only though if he has to do his Stand Up Act on National Television. Then the day would be complete…
GG
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Actually, Stuka, Columbus discovering anything or not is not the point. The point is he was told the Earth was flat and he’d fall off the end of it if he tried to sail to the Indies in the wrong direction.
Despite the common knowledge of the day and all the “scientists” and religious fanatics telling him it was suicide, he had the testicular fortitude to say he was right and prove it by actively going out and doing it.
I don’t care if he liked to rape 3 year old boys with black skin and purple eyes. That’s not germane to the discussion! What matters is at least he was a scientist that was so sure of his convictions he was willing to put his own life in jeapordy to prove them true. That’s something our kids should look up too.
Being willing to stand up and speak without actually putting anything in jeapordy is no reason to revere someone. Who would give a rat’s pah-toot about Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein or Sir Isaac Newton if they only talked about what they thought was right and never acted on their beliefs? No one, that’s who. But because this guy was speaking out for someone’s rights (instead of actually fighting for them or getting elected and trying to get them legislation to protect them) he gets remembered? Sounds to me like this is a guy who had no real skills, so he swindled people into giving him money and power. In other words, a good scam artist, but not really someone I want my kids to revere as some hero.
If they need to revere someone who is not a politician nor a tactician, they can revere Paulo Freire who rose from poverty and re-engineered the school systems so that people of color and people of poverty could learn material in a manner they can understand instead of by rote memory. In other words, he is responsible for the severe reduction of the banking method of teaching.
Next time you think “Thank goodness I don’t have to memorize the national and state capitols of the world” remember Paulo Freire. Next time you are allowed to give your opinion on an exam essay and only back it up with your opinions, thank Paolo Freire. He focused on thinking skills, not memorization.
His birthday should be a day off. Not some frazzin upstart who incited riots and civil disobedience. (BTW, Paulo is not Caucasian, so don’t go off half cocked about some racist crap. I know that’s next, just disarming the fuse now.)
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everyone knew the world wasnt flat. they just didnt know what was over there, b/c such a journey couldnt be done until then. they needed better bigger boats which finally came around at the right time. and couragous guys, or in columbus’ case, mixed with opportunism b/c he’s down on his luck with finances.
but ask any sailor or navy person……everyone thats been on a ship in the middle of nowhere can tell you that the world is round b/c you can see it on the boat. look out to the horizon and you’ll see the earths curve.
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@Cmdr:
I don’t care if he liked to rape 3 year old boys with black skin and purple eyes. That’s not germane to the discussion! What matters is at least he was a scientist that was so sure of his convictions he was willing to put his own life in jeapordy to prove them true. That’s something our kids should look up too.
That’s beautiful. You’re kids will look up to a pedophile if he invented the longer lasting light bulb. If my mother demanded me to respect a rapist because he was some brave scientific guru, I’d slap the sh*t out of her.
But because this guy was speaking out for someone’s rights (instead of actually fighting for them or getting elected and trying to get them legislation to protect them) he gets remembered? Sounds to me like this is a guy who had no real skills, so he swindled people into giving him money and power. In other words, a good scam artist, but not really someone I want my kids to revere as some hero.
. Not some frazzin upstart who incited riots and civil disobedience. (BTW, Paulo is not Caucasian, so don’t go off half cocked about some racist crap. I know that’s next, just disarming the fuse now.)
I don’t have to…. you did enough yourself.
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@stuka:
@Cmdr:
I don’t care if he liked to rape 3 year old boys with black skin and purple eyes. That’s not germane to the discussion! What matters is at least he was a scientist that was so sure of his convictions he was willing to put his own life in jeapordy to prove them true. That’s something our kids should look up too.
That’s beautiful. You’re kids will look up to a pedophile if he invented the longer lasting light bulb. If my mother demanded me to respect a rapist because he was some brave scientific guru, I’d slap the sh*t out of her.
But because this guy was speaking out for someone’s rights (instead of actually fighting for them or getting elected and trying to get them legislation to protect them) he gets remembered? Sounds to me like this is a guy who had no real skills, so he swindled people into giving him money and power. In other words, a good scam artist, but not really someone I want my kids to revere as some hero.
. Not some frazzin upstart who incited riots and civil disobedience. (BTW, Paulo is not Caucasian, so don’t go off half cocked about some racist crap. I know that’s next, just disarming the fuse now.)
I don’t have to…. you did enough yourself.
Way to miss the point.
The lowliest private in the military has done more for this country then a civilian too cowardly to even run for office.
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Okay, let’s say for even the slightest moment, you’re correct and he should have run for office. This is to run for office in a nation which had a very serious civil rights problem. with black and white drinking fountains… hangings for looking at white women… threatened voting rights… having to give up a bus seat…
Yeah, sure… he’ll win. :roll:
Tell you what, Jen. Go and publicly speak your feelings at a local pub or a mall or write a column in a well read publication. See how many people share your feelings about MLK. Ask your congressman to make a statement saying, “We made a mistake giving MLK a day of rememberance.” Tell your black friends… (if you have any black friends :lol: :lol: :lol:)… what you told me. See first hand how he or she will react.
If you feel sooo strong about it… DO SOMETHING ABOUT. I would love to see it.
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