This was shared by someone on Facebook this morning, and all I wanted to do was to share it with someone who doesn't do Facebook. Let's see if this works.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Columbus Day Revisited
Tomorrow is a legal holiday for one of history's jokes. Christopher Columbus died disbelieving that he had stumbled upon a gigantic continent unknown to Europeans. Perhaps it is for that reason neither of the new continents is named for him. More likely they aren't named for him because his contemporaries knew him to be the lucky fool that he was. This loser gets a holiday because Franklin Roosevelt was courting the Italian vote in the East.
Indigenous Americans do not have a holiday dedicated to them. There is no national observance for the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who died from exposure to new diseases. There is no national holiday for the thousands of men, women and children who were seized and sold as slaves. There is no national holiday for any of the several massacres of men, women and children who stood in the way of America's sense of manifest destiny.
Don't get me wrong. I love holidays. Everyone should have one or two. I'm glad the Italians consider this one theirs, it's just not a day of joy for everyone. October 12 is a day with heavy kharmic implications to indigenous peoples of the Americas. On the other hand, October 10, thanks to the American proclivity to celebrate all holidays on the most convenient week-end, is just another day where a lot of folks don't have to work, and I'm all for that.
Indigenous Americans do not have a holiday dedicated to them. There is no national observance for the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who died from exposure to new diseases. There is no national holiday for the thousands of men, women and children who were seized and sold as slaves. There is no national holiday for any of the several massacres of men, women and children who stood in the way of America's sense of manifest destiny.
Don't get me wrong. I love holidays. Everyone should have one or two. I'm glad the Italians consider this one theirs, it's just not a day of joy for everyone. October 12 is a day with heavy kharmic implications to indigenous peoples of the Americas. On the other hand, October 10, thanks to the American proclivity to celebrate all holidays on the most convenient week-end, is just another day where a lot of folks don't have to work, and I'm all for that.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
I'm Back
Have you missed me? I've missed you. My fling with Facebook is coming to a end. I type too fast not to have some way of editing misplaced and/or misspelled words.
Also, I want to rant and rave about politics more. I have too many family and friends on Facebook to subject them to constant rants about politics.
There were some advantages to using Facebook, and that's why I'm not quitting it altogether. Also, when I do have something to say, I can link to it and those who really want to hear my opinion can come over on their own.
So, let's get this show on the road.
Also, I want to rant and rave about politics more. I have too many family and friends on Facebook to subject them to constant rants about politics.
There were some advantages to using Facebook, and that's why I'm not quitting it altogether. Also, when I do have something to say, I can link to it and those who really want to hear my opinion can come over on their own.
So, let's get this show on the road.