Richard Day's picture

    COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA

    Christopher Columbus.PNG Columbus discovered America in 1492.

    (My second grade text book)

    Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.

    We as a people are facing climate change, inflation/deflation, women's rights, war, poverty, wage gaps, voting rights, air and water pollution, food stamps, education, gun rights....

    There is always present the concept of definition.

    Who or what or where is GOD?

    I cannot define GOD and so I am an agnostic.

    I do not believe that a human being can define GOD.

    Which makes me sure that those beings who think that they can define GOD are guilty of hubris.

    And hubris is supposedly the greatest sin a human can commit against THE GODS.

    Which is the reason that I will never doubt that there is a GOD.

    If I did so, I would be guilty of hubris.

    Hell, I cannot really define the difference between fiction and nonfiction.

    If I quote some idiot who has stated that the world is flat, is that fiction or nonfiction?

    If I quote some idiot who has stated that gay people comprise a particular group that GOD despises, is that fiction or nonfiction?

    If you read Animal Farm, are you really reading nonfiction? With all the truths posed in Animal Farm, is that piece of art really nonfiction?

    Okay, enough of that.

    Europe initiated contact with the NEW WORLD in 1492.

    To me that statement is nonfiction.

    Right or wrong, legal or illegal, unfair or fair, evil or not,,,that is what happened and Columbus was the first to enter a brand new world and a brand new tradition.

    I say this because following the year 1492, the entire world changed forever.

    I believe that the Norse discovered the New World around the first Millennium and actually established a short lived encampment in North America.

    I believe that Pacific Island groups had been trading with South America for centuries, per Thor Heyerdahl.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl

    I have no problems with those who are sure Irish Monks or other Vikings or whoever 'found' North America.

    But something happened following the adventures of Christopher Columbus.

    The world exploded on that date.

    To ignore that fact is to ignore that we are not the center of the universe or to ignore that the earth revolves around the sun or that women do like sex!

    All of a sudden, the Europeans end up on our shores and conquer the Americas.

    That is a fact, that is what happened unless I choose to discard all that I have learned over the last sixty years.

    There was this argument concerning Time Magazine and its decision to nominate Adolph Hitler as Man of the Year in the thirties.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year

    Well, the sombitch was man of the year at that time, whether or not you loved him or hated him.

    ADOLPH WAS THE MAN.

    An evil man for sure.

    Columbus discovered America.

    Good or bad, right or wrong, evil or good, this Italian brought Europe over to the New World.

    Like Gutenberg and his press, in 1439, the world changed forever. One can argue that the press was invented in China centuries before, but damn, books were not printed in Europe before Gutenberg.

    And all of a sudden, there appeared thousands and thousands and eventually billions of books over the last 500 years.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg

    This little squib had me laughing so hard I just could not ignore it.

    These celebrations are a fiesta of illusion. As Spain’s conquistadors discovered, and we too often forget, Florida is like Play-Doh. Take the goo; mold it to your dream. Then watch the dream ooze back into goo. Contrary to what our school books taught us, Ponce did not discover Florida. He never did much of anything here except get himself killed.


    Florida probably was first sighted by Portuguese navigators, or perhaps by the Cabots sailing from England. Either way, it started appearing on maps as early as 1500. By 1510, its distinctive peninsular shape had emerged clearly on maps in Europe. By 1513, when Ponce de Léon first arrived, so many Europeans had visited Florida that some Indians greeted him in Spanish.


    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/opinion/ponce-de-leon-exposed.html?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20130402&_r=0


    http://dagblog.com/arts/ponce-de-leon-george-w-bush-16454

    WHO IN THE HELL GIVES ONE GODDAMN ABOUT VASCO DA GAMA?

    But when nature calls, I am forced to ponder whatever fricking book is lying on the outhouse floor.

    Well, it turns out that this critique was probably the most illuminating piece of paper that I had the opportunity to ponder all week.

    Vasco it seems had some headstrong antithesis against the theories and the persona of one Christopher Columbus.

    Vasco thought, fuck this western approach to India; I am proceeding South....for a ways anyway.

    So Vasco takes his team around the Cape of Good Hope and proceeds north to find India.

    Now unlike Chris who had no idea what he was doing, no idea where he was really heading and no idea of where he found himself; Vasco found what both these great navigators were looking for.

    Da Gama found India.


    http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/vasco-da-gama-outhouse-11669


     

    How does one define a word like 'discover' or 'invent' or 'create' or a word like GOD?

    These thoughts have been on my mind.

    And as far as I am concerned, good or bad, Columbus discovered America.

     

    The end.

     

     

     

    Comments

    Well, given that Leif Erikson probably landed in Newfoundland (AKA Vinland), perhaps it is more appropriate to say that Columbus reinitiated European contact with the Americas, or established permanent contact or something like that.


    I do not know why but 'reinitiated' is a great word, for politicians.

    haahahaha

    that is all I got. hahahahahah

    ​Great comment, but permanent contact ?

    hahahahahah


    Great. First I find out I don't like sex, then you stick a song about a cat named Dog in my head.

    Thanks, Dick.


    hahahahahah

    No, I meant to say that we deny that women like sex and now I am having problems parsing that sentence.

    hhahahahaha

    But I love Me & My Cat Named Dog.

    I always loved that song but I forgot

    the end (as they say) hahahah

     

     


    Okay, I think I fixed it.

    hahahahahha

    I had to really parse the damn thing.

    I'm sorry, I just can't stop laughing.

    I screwed up.


    Ah, yes, I feel much better now (except for that damned song I still can't get out of my head).

    Seriously, though ... it's quite nice to read a piece, like this one from you, that elicits such a wide range of commentary. I especially like the one from Lulu below. Thanks, as always, for starting the conversation!


    I had to add this thought, which no one will read of course. hahaha

    I love this song.

    It came back to my head, maybe three weeks ago?

    I wrote it down on my dayly pad.

    Sometimes I hear an old tune or melody on some ridiculous advertisement.

    But somehow this old remembrance came to me.

    And, you know, I cannot get it out of my head. hahahahah

    It is tortuous to some extent but there is an existential essence to this old lilt.

    I really do love this song. 

    the end


    Well, I guess anything with existential essence can't be all bad. Average essence? Yeah, sure, it can suck. But the existential stuff is freakin' awesome.

    Totally.

    ,


    I was thinking about this.

    You know, you are the single funniest 'blogger?' I ever read. haahhahaha

    That is a fact.

    I mean you stretch my imagination farther than I thought it could be stretched.

    You are so beyond my imagination sometimes and I never saw this before

    I do not know why, I missed it.

    I 'assume' too too much.

    No wonder Alan went nuts for you.

    hahhahahahaha

    Thank you for taking the time to read an idiot like me.

    You make my day!

    Thank you!

     

     

      


    a


    Columbusing is used to describe the mistaken belief that you discovered something when you really just ran into something by mistake.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/24/columbusing-white-people-colleg...


    I hereby render unto RMRD the Dayly line of the Day Award for this here Dagblog site, the comment of the Day.

    it seems the only time I have ever found the gift of life, was by mistake. hahahahah

    WELL SAID.

    THE END


    Thanks DD

    Given the ships of the time and the duration of voyages, I'm surprised anyone ventured out. I get the same sense about covered wagons crossing the Continental Divide went I go up into those mountains. Humans are amazing. 


    I just do not pay attention as it were.

    hahahahah

    Columbusing has got to be the greatest 'concept' or idea I have ever heard.

    hahahahahah

    And yeah, the pains that went into a transatlantic crossing in those days had to be incredible.

    And like you say, the peeps who ended up crossing this continent in wagons staggers the imagination.

    You know, one of my favorite films is still How the West Was Won.

    And I usually despise old Hollywood films. hahaha

    I still watch this film at least once a year.


    Good or bad, right or wrong, evil or good, this Italian brought Europe over to the New World.

    There is some dispute to that claim 

    "Throughout his life, Columbus also showed a keen interest in the Bible and in Biblical prophecies, and would often quote biblical texts in his letters and logs" 

     Christopher Columbus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

     Biblical snippets?

                                  Columbus was a smart man.

    Was Columbus secretly a Jew? - CNN.com


    I dunno.

    I have not been on the front 'news' for months.

    And you know I have been blessed with numbers I have never seen before, not these kind of numbers right in a row. hahahahah

    I do not know what 'Jew' means. At all.

    Are we speaking of genes or religion or what?

    I cannot define that term.

    But damn, I end up on the front page of my favorite blog and I am happy.

    Columbus changed the world.

    Gutenberg changed the world.

    I will never change the world.

    I never pretended that I would do so.

    I do not care if Columbus was a Jew or a Christian or Hindu.

    HE CHANGED THE WORLD.

    Was that change good or bad?

    All I got is that Columbus changed the world.

    That is all I got

     

     

     


    One of my favorite songs.

    As for the Jewish part, I should have pointed out, how if it is true; it was courageous on his part, to find a New World, so people could be free from the abhorrent religious persecution in that region .

    Especially; if the folks Columbus had in mind to save, were the remnants of the chosen ones, so that they would not be swallowed up by the persecution; spoken of in the article.

    From the article 

    On March 31, 1492,     King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella proclaimed that all Jews were to be expelled from Spain. The edict especially targeted the 800,000 Jews who had never converted, and gave them four months to pack up and get out……..

    Tens of thousands of Marranos were tortured by the Spanish Inquisition. They were pressured to offer names of friends and family members, who were ultimately paraded in front of crowds, tied to stakes and burned alive. Their land and personal possessions were then divvied up by the church and crown.

    1492  1942 

    For additional reading 

    Columbus' Confusion About the New World - Smithsonian


    Oh I gotta tell ya Resistance, I re-upped with Smithsonian for ten bucks or whatever a week or so ago.I love that publication and I forget about it sometimes.

    I think it was Louis CK who did a riff on Columbus and how that madman would never even admit that he was never in India. hahahaha

     


    Vasco D'Gama did not play for the Indians. He was a switch hitting shortstop for the White Sox back in the 50's or 60's. From Cuba I think. He was better as a lefty than a righty.


    That story ranks up there with the meme about Fidel Castro would have a star MLB pitcher if he hadn't turned down a tryout with the Yankees.

    http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/castro.asp


    If there was a favorite blog of mine, or at least one of my top ten, it had to do with Vasco.

    http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/vasco-da-gama-outhouse-11669

    Ducky showed up and Mr. Smith showed up and Barth showed up and Oxy showed up and....

    Numbers are important to me.

    But damn....

    This new fellow showed up recently, Hal Ginsberg and he brought me back to 1965.

    Vasco was someone I would read about and not understand at all.

    Vasco becomes more and more interesting to me in my old age, actually.

    I cannot even tell you why.

    So I leave you with this:

     

     

     

     

     


    There is many good people here.  


    There are good people here, including you momo. hahahah

    I have fun and it is only because of people like you.

    I like being here.

    And so do you, as far as I can tell.

    the end


    I missed this.

    This is the single funniest line I have read at this dagblog site all damn year.

    With exception of some quip from Mike M.

    hahahahahahah

    I remind you that I am Twins fan and our 'farm team' for decades was domiciled in Cuba.

    hahahahah


    Wasn't that Chico Escuela?


    Another interesting blog, DD. I think that Thor Heyerdahl's book "Kon-Tiki", about his historic voyage that took place the year I was born, might have been the most influential book for my life.  I read it as a kid and I dreamed from then on of "Adventures in Paradise".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_in_Paradise_%28TV_series%29

    Gardner McKay Susan Oliver Guy Stockwell Adventures in Paradise 1961.JPG


    Years later, many years, my travels brought me to a tiny connection with Vasco de Gama. I traveled for a month in India and stayed for 4 days in the "Vasco House" where Vasco is believed to have stayed while in what is now called Kochi. It is a nice place and only five-hundred plus years old. It was the only place suitable at the time and so it is assumed he stayed there.

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

    Later he was buried in a church that is a stones throw away.

    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

     

    Vasco is thought of by many in India like Columbus is thought of in America by many native Americans. He opened up trade relations with his canons.
     I believe I saw the Vasco House in 'Life of Pi'. I intended to rewind and look closer but forgot. I did see the beautiful tea plantations near the small town of Munar where I also stayed for two days and which were pictured in the movie. One morning leaving the Vasco House by the outside stairway I saw one street was blocked by cops and a crowd had gathered. I asked a young guy what was going on and he replied, "Shooting, shooting, come, I'll show you". I declined instantly but soon saw that what he meant was that there was a scene from a Bollywood film being shot there. All I saw was two ladies walking up the street. They repeated this four or five times as I watched from across the street. I did get a wink from one of the women. A wink from a star. Better than seeing a shooting.
     Your writing is always good to read and this time it prompted me to prop up my feet and reminisce a bit. Thanks. 


    For those who love the story of the Kon-Tiki, I encourage you to check out the lovely named An-Tiki (get it? Antique? An-Tiki?).


    I just went to your link!

    Amazing.

    Give me some inner tubes and I can travel the Caribbean and find the good ole USA from Cuba.

    But damn.

    To say that one can find America from across the Atlantic?

    Amazing.

    I had never come across this crazy guy before. 


    Just like Missy stated above, this is just a delightful travelogue and comment.

    As I pointed out elsewhere, Vasco is so exciting to me in  my doterage and I wish I had been more fascinated by this man fifty years ago.

    Well done.


    It is one thing to find a place, it is another to get wealthy people to finance your expedition to check it out.

    Columbus wasn't the first investment banker but he certainly expanded their domain.


    Yes Moat.

    And the concept of insurance for heaven's sake astounds me.

    The old explorers had to somehow 'insure' their wanderings.

    If I had another ten years, I would just research the term insurance over the last two or three thousand years.

    Yeah, Columbus became a paying proposition.

    That is for sure.

    Thank you for dropping by, Moat.

    Good to see you again!


    You have those years. Or it won't hurt anybody to act like you own them.

    Yes, the whole idea of what someone gets to have if the adventure fails.

    It lessens the risk of particular enterprises and also starts an industry of banking on failure:

    Like two cucumbers growing up in the same field.


    " ... I have no problems with those who are sure Irish Monks or other Vikings or whoever 'found' North America ... "

     

    I remember having read something many years ago about English fishermen who kept sailing ever father west for cod and the farther west they sailed the more they caught. And they reported they had found an area where it was as if no one had ever dropped a net and you could almost walk to the shore on the backs of them kinda thingy.

     

    In other words, the Americas was the best kept secret for those looking to make a quick buck and not share what they had found.


    That legend of English fishermen rings a bell.

    And the Vikings of course learned to travel in the North Atlantic going from island to island, which is how they found North America.

    And maybe, just maybe you hit upon the best slogan for this New World:

    LOOKING TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK.

    hahhahaah



    Reading this blog and all the comments just keeps making me smile.  Thanks DD.  .

    I too read Kon-Tiki as a youth and thought the whole thing was way cool.

    But what about Americus Vespucci?  If Columbus was such a big deal how come he only got a circle in Manhattan and a small town in Ohio?   On the other hand, to paraphrase Stan Freberg, why isn't this country called Vespucci-land?

    I think Stan Freberg also speculated that what Columbus originally was after with Queen Isabella was a Fiat dealership ... but never mind that. 


    Americus is truly a puzzle for me.

    I even recall some stories that claim he never even made it here!

    I mean there is a country named Columbia and cities all over the place named after Chris.

    But this all underlines the comments here about how the New World involves accidents.


    Just as its said that history is written by the winning side, the names of 'newly found' continents are picked by the map-makers.  

    America; the accidental continent.   hahaha   


    a


    Oh I missed 1492 in 'hits''. hahahaha

    Here is the other side of things 

    http://www.salon.com/2014/10/10/stephen_colbert_digs_into_the_white_christian_establishment_and_its_defense_of_columbus_day/

    People really really get mad at Chris!


    Here is something you might like to read. I know you like anthropology. 

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/13/1336147/-IAN-The-Chachapoya-Monday-October-13-2014

    It is about the Chachapoya that were tall and very light skinned in South America. 

     


    This is a fascinating subject and I am going to look for other links concerning the Chachapoya.

    ​I seem to recall similar accounts of 'Whiter' Natives elsewhere on the continents who might have represented the assimilation of Vikings.

    The the pix in your link are very compelling.


    a


    One of my favorite comedy albums when I was a kid was "Stan Freberg presents the United States of America" ... Here's his take on Columbus.



    I forgot all about Stan.

    French Horns had me goin for awhile along with parking lots and banks closed on Columbus Day!

    Great album.


    This is the third 'reading' of this illustrious album.

    All the food was organic. hahhahahaah

    I do not know why this got to me.

    By 1900, Americans lived forty years, on average.

    hhahahaahah

    Everything was 'organic',

    And we all died. hahahahahahah

    that is all I got.

    And I had no place to put this thought.

    We had a billion folks on this planet and now we must meet  the needs of seven billion.

    What else is a mother to do?


    Ben Cohen of the Daily Banter has a pretty rough assessment of Columbus, labeling Columbus a mass murderer.

    http://thedailybanter.com/2014/10/christopher-columbus-mass-murderer-rea...


    Should be called scary banter!

    Europe was guilty of a number of sins!

    So Buchanan will point to the fact of mass sacrificial bloodletting in Mexico; as some sort of defense for the White Man's sins.

    But we just went to war against strangers for four hundred years; stole their land; gave them all sorts of diseases; destroyed their temples and sacred places; made treaties and then ignored the terms of those treaties and basically did not act that Christian.


    There is a great deal of blood-letting in each time period in Pre-Colombian Mexico at Chichen it's, human heads were used in a game that evolved into lacrosse 

     


    a.


    I have never received 11,300 hits in my life, anywhere. hahahah

    I happened upon this old blog by accident.

    I am enthralled by this.

    I still love Me And My Cat Named Dog. hahahahahah

    Why am I here?

    I do not know exactly. But I know few things exactly. hahahah

    There is no other place in the universe that I would receive so many 'hits'.

    the end


    Congratulations.  I know that this is important to you. I went back and took a second look at your numbers.  Many people follow threads from social media like face book.  I know I do.  When I read something I like I will go back and look at what else they have written that I would like to read. Over all a very large group of people have spent time reading you and looking at what else you have written. 


    Yeah, but I still love Time After Time.

    hahahahah

    What in the hell are you doing back in 2014?

    Oh you make me laugh.

    Who the hell else would show up here?

    Thank you Momoe. I really did not anticipate any further responses to this!

    I love this old blog and I kind of love Columbus.

    hahahahah


    Why am I here?  I guess I find it hard to follow the probes into the psychics of the human minds. You are easy to understand. 


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