Showing posts with label Christopher Columbus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christopher Columbus. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

COLUMBUS DAY CANCELLED

My blog was on hiatus this past summer (I was apparently way too busy gaining weight) Now that I that I am serious about eating less,  exercising more and losing weight - I have more time, and certainly more desire, to espouse my conservative right-wing positions. Today we examine Columbus Day.


Have you heard about this recent news from California?




Los Angeles cancels Columbus Day

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Columbus Day is no more in the nation’s second-largest city.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 on Wednesday to officially mark the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day on the city’s calendar — a day to commemorate “indigenous, aboriginal and native people.”
The day will remain a paid holiday for city employees, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The vote followed a contentious hearing, during which some Italian-Americans said the switch would eradicate a key portion of their history, while others argued that city lawmakers needed to “dismantle a state-sponsored celebration of genocide of indigenous peoples” and dismissed the idea of celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day on a different date altogether.
“To make us celebrate on any other day would be a further injustice,” said Chrissie Castro, vice chairwoman of the Los Angeles City-County Native American Indian Commission.
Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, a member of Oklahoma’s Wyandotte Nation tribe, had pushed for the change, saying Wednesday that the move would provide “restorative justice.” In a blog post prior to the vote earlier this week, O’Farrell said the “historical record is unambiguous in documenting the horrors” Christopher Columbus and his men imposed on the native people in present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Removing Columbus Day and replacing it with Indigenous Peoples Day is the appropriate action for this city to take,” O’Farrell wrote. “We must send a signal to Washington D.C. that there is no better day to honor our original inhabitants while highlighting the absurdity of celebrating a historical figure responsible for such profound suffering, still felt by generations of Indigenous People everywhere. This is more than symbolic. It is spiritually and morally necessary.”Councilman Joe Buscaino, a first-generation Italian-American, suggested replacing Columbus Day with a new name to celebrate “all of the diverse cultures in the city” before being the lone city lawmaker to oppose the switch, asking fellow councilors not to “cure one offense with another.”
With the change, Los Angeles joins a growing list of places that have already replaced Columbus Day — first recognized as a federal holiday in 1937 — with Indigenous Peoples Day, including Alaska, Vermont, Seattle, Albuquerque, San Francisco and Denver. Most recently, the Bangor City Council in Maine voted to rename the holiday, the Bangor Daily News reports.
Let's examine the lefty lunatic Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio (you know this guy, he spent his honeymoon with his new bride in that stronghold of freedom, Cuba. His Cuban honeymoon was a testament to his broken moral compass as well as his faith to the laws of the United States of America. Surely, though, I am digressing.) Mayor de Blasio has ordered a review of the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle in New York City. 

I have some questions for the Honorable Mayor of New York:
Should we not change the name of Columbus Circle as well? (Who might that be named after?)

Now I think that is good for local politicians to send these messages to our leaders in Washington.
You are familiar with Washington, it is the capitol  of our country. You might know it as Washington, DC.  Did you know what the 'DC" stands for? Here's the problem: District of Columbia. There is that pesky connection to Christopher Columbus, yet again.

from wikipedia:

"Columbia" (/kəˈlʌmbiə/kə-LUM-bee-ə) is a historical name used by both Europeans and Americans to describe the Americas, the New World, and often, more specifically, the United States of America. It is also a name given to the "Spirit of the Frontier" of which was used to illustrate Manifest Destiny among several other American political causes. It has given rise to the names of many persons, places, objects, institutions, and companies; e.g., Columbia University, the District of Columbia (the national capital), and the ship Columbia Rediviva, which would give its name to the Columbia River.
Columbia is a New Latin toponym, in use since the 1730s, for the Thirteen Colonies. It originated from the name of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and from the ending -ia, common in Latin names of countries (paralleling BritanniaGallia etc.)..

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Columbia University? This is a problem. Columbia University can trace its history all the way back to 1754. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in New York, and fifth oldest in the entire United States. It is widely considered to be one of the finest universities in the world.  This University surely would not tolerate any kind of so-called 'hate speech.'  For example, a bit more than a decade ago, the University invited the Honorable President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak. Aside from Ahmadinejad's fervent Holocaust Denial, he is a pretty good guy representing a country with clear cut moral values. Oops, I am digressing again. The real point is, that Columbia University is a home of political correctness.  Surely, this esteemed university will have to change its name. Can you imagine being a graduate of a university which was named after a person responsible for the genocide of the indigenous people of America? Let's talk about me. I don't know if I would feel comfortable sending my daughter to a university named after Osama Bin Laden. I wouldn't care how good the quality of the education was, it just would not seem right. But that's just me.

Hopefully this is obvious.  I do not think that Columbia University should change its name. I do think that it should change its slant away from politically correct, lefty, liberal thinking, but that is a different story for another blog post on another day.

I do not think that the statue of Christoper Columbus at Columbus Circle should be removed. And I don't think that one requires a formal review lefty intellectuals to come to this conclusion. 

I do not think that Washington, DC needs a new name either. 

And I certainly do not think that Columbus Day needs to be wiped off the calendar. 

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Another urban hike on Labor Day, this time, six miles

I augmented the steps from my six mile urban hike with some walking in place while watching TV

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
Egg - Poached Egg, 4 300 2 20 25 629 1
Biscuit Ham Slices, 4 slices 60 0 3 9 680 0
Quaker - Instant Oatmeal Packet 100 19 2 4 75 0

460 21 25 38 1,384 1
L U N C H
General Tso's Chinese Chicken 300 29 17 6 715 7
Vegetable Fried Rice 100 13 4 2 87 1
Vegetable Lo Mein 200 42 7 6 400 3
Brussel Sprouts Baked With Sauce 100 18 3 5 190 0

700 102 31 19 1,392 11
D I N N E R
Asian Chopped Salad 385 46 21 7 1,190 25

385 46 21 7 1,190 25
S N A C K S
Quaker - Chewy Granola 90 Calories, 2 bar 180 38 4 2 160 14
Add Food
180 38 4 2 160 14
Totals 1,725 207 81 66 4,126 51
Your Daily Goal 3,075 384 102 154 2,300 115
Remaining 1,350 177 21 88 -1,826 64
Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
*You've earned 1,145 extra calories from exercise today
If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 230.1 lbs in 5 weeks     

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Here's another trip in the 'wayback machine.'  This time I return to my own blog posting from September 17, 2016.  It is not too difficult to predict some of the lefty loon ideas - they tend to get loonier with the passage of time. This statue in Chicago is still there. How likely is it to be there in the future?





Saturday, September 17, 2016

GRANT PARK

Friday gave me enough time to take a long urban hike which included passing two famous iconic spots in Grant Park, the Christopher Columbus Statue and Buckingham Fountain.  In the days before 'lefties' in America started re-writing history and creating 'research' that proved that our Founding Fathers were nothing but a bunch of 'old white slaveholders' without any other merit, we used to celebrate accomplishment. Christopher Columbus has been a 'victim' of this re-write of history. Instead of celebrating his accomplishments of discovering a new world, whether or not he actually thought he was in India, he is more likely to be considered a criminal by leftist wackos teaching in American Universities these days. Long before lefty lunatics took control of our universities, achievement used to be celebrated. Today I passed by a beautiful statue of Christopher Columbus in Chicago's Grant Park. I predict there will be calls for this statue to be removed in the future. It is inevitable. That is, if we don't make America Great Again. And for that to happen will require more than the election of Mr. Donald Trump, it will require the defeat of leftist thought (an oxymoron if there ever was one)


The other site I passed during my urban hike was Buckingham Fountain. I believe that this is a completely apolitical tourist attraction.  Something that lefties and conservatives alike can enjoy. Who knows? I am sure there must be something about this gorgeous fountain that offends someone. There always is.





SATURDAY WEIGHT
This morning I weighed 220.7 lbs
I did gain one pound this week.
Considering how poorly I ate, way too much unhealthy chocolate... I was pleased.
220.7 lbs.
Still down 88.3 pounds from where I started nearly two years ago.



Your Food Diary For:



BREAKFAST Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
Roundys - Creamy Wheat - Enriched Farina 480 100 0 16 340 4
Quaker - Chewy Granola                      450 95 10 5 400 35
Honey 240 68 0 0 0 64

1,170 263 10 21 740 103
L U N C H
Homemade Stuffed Shells 410 57 11 20 545 12

410 57 11 20 545 12
D I N N E R
Homemade Stuffed Shells 820 114 22 40 1,090 24

820 114 22 40 1,090 24
S N A C K S
Oreos 480 75 21 3 420 42

480 75 21 3 420 42
Totals 2,880 509 64 84 2,795 181
Your Daily Goal 5,079 635 169 254 2,300 190
Remaining 2,199 126 105 170 -495 9
Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
*You've earned 3,149 extra calories from exercise today

       Your Exercise Diary for:


Cardiovascular Minutes Calories Burned
Walking 18 MILES
255 3,265

   
Daily Total / Goal 255 / 30 3,265 / 590  
Weekly Total / Goal 697 / 210 9,114 / 4,130             
.

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BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN
from wikipedia...





Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago landmark in the center of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, it is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles, it is meant to allegorically represent Lake Michigan. It operates from April to October, with regular water shows and evening color-light shows. During the winter, the fountain is decorated with festival lights.

The fountain is considered Chicago's front door, since it resides in Grant Park, the city's front yard near the intersection of Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, with four sets of sea horses (two per set) symbolizing the four states—Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana—that border the lake. The fountain was designed by beaux arts architect Edward H. Bennett. The statues were created by the French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. The design of the fountain was inspired by the Bassin de Latome and modeled after Latona Fountain at Versailles.

The fountain was donated to the city by Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham, and was constructed at a cost of $750,000.

Many tourists and Chicagoans visit the fountain each year. The fountain operates daily 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. from mid-April through mid-October. Water shows occur every hour on-the-hour and last 20 minutes. During shows, the center jet shoots up vertically to 150 feet (46 m), and after dusk shows are choreographed with lights and music. The last show begins at 10:00 p.m. nightly.[1]
The fountain is constructed of Georgia pink marble and contains 1,500,000 U.S. gallons (5,700,000 l) of water. During a display, more than 14,000 U.S. gallons per minute (0.88 m3/s) are pushed through its 193 jets. The bottom pool of the fountain is 280 ft (85 m) in diameter, the lower basin is 103 ft (31 m), the middle basin is 60 ft (18 m) and the upper basin is 24 ft (7.3 m). The lip of the upper basin is 25 ft (7.6 m) above the water in the lower basin.

The fountain's pumps are controlled by a Honeywell computer which was previously located in Atlanta, Georgia until the 1994 renovation when it was moved to the pump house of the fountain. The fountain's security system is monitored from Arlington Heights (a Chicago suburb).

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
from wikipedia...



Christopher Columbus is a bronze statue in Grant Park, in Chicago. It was created by the Milanese born sculptor Carlo Brioschi, and installed in 1933. It is set on an exedra and pedestal designed with the help of architect Clarence H. Johnson.

In 1933, Chicago celebrated its 100th anniversary with the Century of Progress World's Fair. In conjunction with the fair, Chicago's Italian-American community raised funds and donated the statue of the Genoese navigator and explorer Christopher Columbus. It was placed at the south end of Grant Park, near the site of the fair, and is located east of S. Columbus Drive and north of E. Roosevelt Road.


The bronze, beaux arts statue shows Columbus standing and gesturing into the distance with one hand. In his other hand, he holds a scrolled map at his side. On the sides of the statue's art deco pedestal are carved depictions of: one of Columbus' ships, the Santa Maria; astronomer and mathematician, Paolo Toscanelli, who plotted the course to the "New World;" the explorer, Amerigo Vespucci; and the seal of the City of Genoa. In the four corners of the pedestal are busts allegorically representing, Faith, Courage, Freedom, and Strength. Brioschhi's son made a point of saying that, despite appearances, the figure representing Strength was not a portrait of Benito Mussolini.