A man who (even though discovered a world unknown to the Europeans) did nothing but cause turmoil, death, starvation, sickness and slavery to the native people of the Americas? A man who did nothing but search for weath and power when it wasn't his to begin with? A man who was merely a theif, a pirate if you will, on a very large scale?
If it was turned around and say Taino cheif got in his man made boat and sailed to...oh say a beach in Spain and said "I hearby decree that I, Chief Twofooted So-n-So, have discovered a new world and thus claim it as our own" all the while hoity toity unbaithed socialites walked by in caked faced and silk wondering who the tan dude was in the loin cloth and feathers... Something tells me that he wouldn't have been met with the same sort of greeting as Columbus. The Native Americans, on the majority, were atleast gracious to newcomers and that lesser majority was simply fighting for what was theirs...
Wouldn't you do the same if your house was broken into? Wouldn't you protect your family and property?
The Americas weren't undiscovered, lest we forget the Chinese people and those Swedish guys with horns on their helmets... How do they account for the trade market with the Aztecs? There have been many discoveries but 99.99% have been nullified due to Columbus.
Now I'm not knocking colonization. Not discounting modernizing the free world but no one ever stopped to think...did they want it? Ok, Columbus hit shore in the Bahamas. He and his subordinates played nicey nicey for how long before Infants were ripped from nursing mother's breasts and thrown against rocks, children abandoned when their mothers were slammed into chains and sold in open markets, men were worked to death in labor camps and within 150 years after Columbus arrived 85% of the known Native American peoples were gone.
(yes there is documented proof of what I just wrote so don't even start)
As we all know, History repeats itself...I can go so far as bring up our own issues like the Natives of North America who were slaughtered, tortured, mutilated, raped and ultimately decimated for the rights of the land below our feet when we had NO RIGHT to do so considering it didn't belong to the settlers in the first place.
(once again, documented many times, or shall we visit a reservation where the remainder of the Native American people have been rounded up like cattle and forced to live on the measily barren land we so graciously afforded them)
James Cook did the same to the Hawaiians.
Do I dare go on?
Who are the savages?
So I ask...Why are we celebrating Columbus Day?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Journey of Life
WANNA TAKE A DRIVE? I'VE BEEN WANTING TO BUT WITH THE COST OF GAS LATELY AND THE WEAR AND TEAR ON MY CAR FROM THE POT HOLES AND BUMPS IN THE ROAD, IT'S NOT EXACTLY BEEN THE BEST OF IDEAS. OH, I'VE FOUND MYSELF ON A FEW COUNTRY ROADS WHILE I TOOK MY SWEET TIME GETTING BACK TO AN EMPTY HOUSE BUT I'VE ALSO FOUND MYSELF MERELY SITTING IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT WHILE STILL PARKED IN THE GARAGE, TOO. NOT SURE WHAT DRIVES ME TO ACTUALLY START THE CAR ANYMORE. WHY BOTHER WHEN I JUST GET LOST…BUT THAT'S JUST LIFE; IT'S FULL OF IMPASSES, ROAD BLOCKS AND DEAD ENDS, DETOURS HERE AND ROADS CLOSED THERE…
I DON'T HAVE A ONE-OFF PROTOTYPE WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES, GPS NAVIGATION AND ON-STAR CAPABILITIES JUST INCASE I LOCK MYSELF INSIDE THE DAMN THING BUT I DO HAVE THE FAMILY SEDAN THAT'S PARKED CATTYWHOMPUS IN THE GARAGE AMIDST ALL THE DAILY CLUTTER THAT UNFORTUNATELY HAS BECOME DENTED AND DUSTY AND THE GAS HAS BEGUN TO EVAPORATE FROM SITTING TOO LONG. SOME DAYS I PUSH MYSELF IN TO THE DRIVER'S SEAT WANTING TO BLOW THE COBWEBS OUT AND I QUICKLY REALIZE THAT IT DOESN'T DRIVE AS SMOOTH AS IT USED TO, THE STEERING IS LOOSE AND THEN I FIND MYSELF ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD A LITTLE TOO FAR FROM HOME WITH A BLOW OUT...
WHAT THEN? WELL, I CURSE THE WORLD AND ITS MAKER FOR LEAVING ME STRANDED, CALL A TOW TRUCK AND HAVE IT DELIVERED TO THE HOMETOWN MECHANIC WHO IS SURE THAT HE CAN FIX IT, NO PROBLEM. HE THEN TEMPORARILY PLACES THE SPARE ON WHILE EXPLAINING DRY ROT, FILLS IT UP WITH NEW GAS AND CHARGES ME AN EXORBANT PRICE AS I DRIVE THE VEHICLE SLOWLY BACK TO THE GARAGE IT'S SAT IN FOR YEARS TIL THE NEXT TIME I HAVE THAT FOOL NOTION TO DO IT AGAIN.
OBVIOUSLY, I'VE NEVER LEARN MY LESSON SINCE I CONTINUALLY TRY TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD THAN THE LAST TIME AND I'M SURE, I'LL HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT MY SELF WHEN THE TIRE GIVES OVER TO THE DRY ROT AND I SWURVE TO AVOID THAT HEAD ON COLLISION I COULD HAVE PREVENTED HAD I BEEN PAYING ATTENTION IN THE FIRST PLACE.
TODAY, INSTEAD, I THINK I'M GOING TO SIT IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT A LITTLE BIT LONGER, NOT GOING ANYWHERE, AND JUST PONDER WHAT AND WHERE I SHOULD GO INSTEAD OF GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF AND ULTIMATELY BECOMING A CASUALTY. TO BE HONEST, I'M LOST IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY…
I'M SURE THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE WITH ME ABOUT WHERE THE JOURNEY LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE ME AS I SIT HERE AND DESCRIBE MY LACK OF DIRECTION. BUT I CAN SURELY COME BACK AT THOSE WHO BOASTFULLY DECLARE THEIR MAPS ACCURATE BY ASKING THEM A SIMPLE QUESTION.
IF YOU LOOKED ON YOUR MAP, CAN YOU SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE AT THIS VERY MOMENT?
"WELL SURE" AS THEY CHEERFULLY POINT TO ONE LOCATION OR ANOTHER. "RIGHT…HERE"
AND WHERE IS "HERE"? CAN THEY TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE "HERE" IS? IS IT A PLACE OR A LANDMARK OR IS IT A METAPHORICALLY BASED IDEA OF WHERE LIFE HAS LED YOU TO BE? WHERE ARE YOU GOING FROM HERE, IF THAT IS THE PLACE THAT YOU INDEED ARE? IS THERE A POINT B TO YOUR POINT A? IS LIFE'S JOURNEY BETTER TAKEN FROM A SCENIC PERSPECTIVE OR THE SHORTEST DISTANCE?
HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION?
I GOT TO THINKING OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND BODY AS A WHOLE. YES, THE JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE NEEDS TO BE LED BUT WHAT "TAKES" A PERSON ON THAT JOURNEY? IS IT WISDOM TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH? NO. IS IT COURAGE TO PLACE THE FIRST STEP? NO. IS IT THE DETERMINATION OF WILL THAT ENCOURAGES A PERSON TO SEARCH FOR BETTER? ONCE AGAIN, NO.
WE ARE BORN OF FLESH AND BLOOD, WEAK AND IGNORANT AND IN TIME, OUR BODIES BECOME THE ULTIMATE ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE. IT'S CUSTOMIZABLE, IT'S UNIQUE…IT'S NOT GOING TO DO A DAMN THING SITTING IN THE GARAGE, IS IT? WHAT FUELS IT?
WELL, NONE OTHER THAN…THE SOUL. IT'S OUR AWARENESS, OUR CONSCIOUSNESS; IT'S THE BREATH OF LIFE. EVEN IN LITERAL TERMS, SOUL IS DESCRIBED AS "SELF, LIFE, MIND, DESIRE AND PASSION", IT'S WHAT DRIVES THE HUMAN SPIRIT DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE DEVOID OF SUCH A THING?
WE BECOME LOST. WE BEGIN TO CURSE THE WORLD AND ITS CREATOR FOR LEAVING US STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. WE SIT IN OBSCURITY, COLLECTING DUST, WE BEGIN TO ROT FROM WITH IN…OR WORSE YET TRAGICALLY BECOMING A FATALITY OF OUR OWN NEGLECT. SOUND FAMILIAR?
SO I ASKED THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE MY LACK OF DIRECTION, THE ONES WHO MERELY STATED "HERE", WHERE WAS "HERE"? MOST COULD NOT TELL ME FOR ONE SIMPLE REASON. THEY WERE JUST AS LOST AS I WAS. JUST BECAUSE THEY HAVE DIRECTION, DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY HAD THEIR PURPOSE OR A PASSIONATE DESIRE TO GO, AND IN DOING SO, MERELY COASTING DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE AND EVENTUALLY WILL COME TO A COMPLETE STOP EITHER WITH A SPIT AND SPUTTER OR A HEAD ON COLLISION WITH LIFE ITSELF AS I HAD.
SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE SOUL WAS MERELY A VESSEL OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND THAT VESSEL WAS THE VERY THING THAT TOOK THE HUMAN SPECIES DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE. I BELIEVE THEY WERE WRONG. I BELIEVE THAT THE SOUL IS THE FUEL THAT DELIVERS THE HUMAN SPIRIT TO A GREATER PURPOSE AT THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE. THING IS, BEING HUMAN THAT IS, WE ARE FRAGILE AND PRONE TO FAILURE AND MUST TAKE GREAT CARE OF THIS VESSEL...OTHERWISE WE'LL NEVER ARRIVE AT OUR DESTINATION,BECOME LOST, AND AIMLESSLY WANDER ABOUT CREATION IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF LIFE. WHATEVER THAT MAY BE, FOR IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL.
SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? IS THERE A GAS STATION IN THE VACINITY THAT HANDLES SUPER UNLEADED PHILOSOPHY OR MAPS TO "WITHIN", CONSIDERING THAT IS WHERE OUR JOURNEY SHOULD BEGIN? AND I'M NOT SURE, BUT I BELIEVE MY VEHICLE MIGHT RUN ALTERNATIVE FUELS LIKE FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY AS WELL. WORTH A SHOT IF IT MIGHT SET ME DOWN A MORE ENLIGHTED PATH THAN THE STAGNANT AND DUSTY ONE THAT I AM ON AS I SIT IN MY DRIVEWAY LOST.
I DON'T HAVE A ONE-OFF PROTOTYPE WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES, GPS NAVIGATION AND ON-STAR CAPABILITIES JUST INCASE I LOCK MYSELF INSIDE THE DAMN THING BUT I DO HAVE THE FAMILY SEDAN THAT'S PARKED CATTYWHOMPUS IN THE GARAGE AMIDST ALL THE DAILY CLUTTER THAT UNFORTUNATELY HAS BECOME DENTED AND DUSTY AND THE GAS HAS BEGUN TO EVAPORATE FROM SITTING TOO LONG. SOME DAYS I PUSH MYSELF IN TO THE DRIVER'S SEAT WANTING TO BLOW THE COBWEBS OUT AND I QUICKLY REALIZE THAT IT DOESN'T DRIVE AS SMOOTH AS IT USED TO, THE STEERING IS LOOSE AND THEN I FIND MYSELF ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD A LITTLE TOO FAR FROM HOME WITH A BLOW OUT...
WHAT THEN? WELL, I CURSE THE WORLD AND ITS MAKER FOR LEAVING ME STRANDED, CALL A TOW TRUCK AND HAVE IT DELIVERED TO THE HOMETOWN MECHANIC WHO IS SURE THAT HE CAN FIX IT, NO PROBLEM. HE THEN TEMPORARILY PLACES THE SPARE ON WHILE EXPLAINING DRY ROT, FILLS IT UP WITH NEW GAS AND CHARGES ME AN EXORBANT PRICE AS I DRIVE THE VEHICLE SLOWLY BACK TO THE GARAGE IT'S SAT IN FOR YEARS TIL THE NEXT TIME I HAVE THAT FOOL NOTION TO DO IT AGAIN.
OBVIOUSLY, I'VE NEVER LEARN MY LESSON SINCE I CONTINUALLY TRY TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD THAN THE LAST TIME AND I'M SURE, I'LL HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT MY SELF WHEN THE TIRE GIVES OVER TO THE DRY ROT AND I SWURVE TO AVOID THAT HEAD ON COLLISION I COULD HAVE PREVENTED HAD I BEEN PAYING ATTENTION IN THE FIRST PLACE.
TODAY, INSTEAD, I THINK I'M GOING TO SIT IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT A LITTLE BIT LONGER, NOT GOING ANYWHERE, AND JUST PONDER WHAT AND WHERE I SHOULD GO INSTEAD OF GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF AND ULTIMATELY BECOMING A CASUALTY. TO BE HONEST, I'M LOST IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY…
I'M SURE THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE WITH ME ABOUT WHERE THE JOURNEY LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE ME AS I SIT HERE AND DESCRIBE MY LACK OF DIRECTION. BUT I CAN SURELY COME BACK AT THOSE WHO BOASTFULLY DECLARE THEIR MAPS ACCURATE BY ASKING THEM A SIMPLE QUESTION.
IF YOU LOOKED ON YOUR MAP, CAN YOU SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE AT THIS VERY MOMENT?
"WELL SURE" AS THEY CHEERFULLY POINT TO ONE LOCATION OR ANOTHER. "RIGHT…HERE"
AND WHERE IS "HERE"? CAN THEY TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE "HERE" IS? IS IT A PLACE OR A LANDMARK OR IS IT A METAPHORICALLY BASED IDEA OF WHERE LIFE HAS LED YOU TO BE? WHERE ARE YOU GOING FROM HERE, IF THAT IS THE PLACE THAT YOU INDEED ARE? IS THERE A POINT B TO YOUR POINT A? IS LIFE'S JOURNEY BETTER TAKEN FROM A SCENIC PERSPECTIVE OR THE SHORTEST DISTANCE?
HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION?
I GOT TO THINKING OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND BODY AS A WHOLE. YES, THE JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE NEEDS TO BE LED BUT WHAT "TAKES" A PERSON ON THAT JOURNEY? IS IT WISDOM TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH? NO. IS IT COURAGE TO PLACE THE FIRST STEP? NO. IS IT THE DETERMINATION OF WILL THAT ENCOURAGES A PERSON TO SEARCH FOR BETTER? ONCE AGAIN, NO.
WE ARE BORN OF FLESH AND BLOOD, WEAK AND IGNORANT AND IN TIME, OUR BODIES BECOME THE ULTIMATE ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE. IT'S CUSTOMIZABLE, IT'S UNIQUE…IT'S NOT GOING TO DO A DAMN THING SITTING IN THE GARAGE, IS IT? WHAT FUELS IT?
WELL, NONE OTHER THAN…THE SOUL. IT'S OUR AWARENESS, OUR CONSCIOUSNESS; IT'S THE BREATH OF LIFE. EVEN IN LITERAL TERMS, SOUL IS DESCRIBED AS "SELF, LIFE, MIND, DESIRE AND PASSION", IT'S WHAT DRIVES THE HUMAN SPIRIT DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE DEVOID OF SUCH A THING?
WE BECOME LOST. WE BEGIN TO CURSE THE WORLD AND ITS CREATOR FOR LEAVING US STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. WE SIT IN OBSCURITY, COLLECTING DUST, WE BEGIN TO ROT FROM WITH IN…OR WORSE YET TRAGICALLY BECOMING A FATALITY OF OUR OWN NEGLECT. SOUND FAMILIAR?
SO I ASKED THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE MY LACK OF DIRECTION, THE ONES WHO MERELY STATED "HERE", WHERE WAS "HERE"? MOST COULD NOT TELL ME FOR ONE SIMPLE REASON. THEY WERE JUST AS LOST AS I WAS. JUST BECAUSE THEY HAVE DIRECTION, DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY HAD THEIR PURPOSE OR A PASSIONATE DESIRE TO GO, AND IN DOING SO, MERELY COASTING DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE AND EVENTUALLY WILL COME TO A COMPLETE STOP EITHER WITH A SPIT AND SPUTTER OR A HEAD ON COLLISION WITH LIFE ITSELF AS I HAD.
SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE SOUL WAS MERELY A VESSEL OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND THAT VESSEL WAS THE VERY THING THAT TOOK THE HUMAN SPECIES DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE. I BELIEVE THEY WERE WRONG. I BELIEVE THAT THE SOUL IS THE FUEL THAT DELIVERS THE HUMAN SPIRIT TO A GREATER PURPOSE AT THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE. THING IS, BEING HUMAN THAT IS, WE ARE FRAGILE AND PRONE TO FAILURE AND MUST TAKE GREAT CARE OF THIS VESSEL...OTHERWISE WE'LL NEVER ARRIVE AT OUR DESTINATION,BECOME LOST, AND AIMLESSLY WANDER ABOUT CREATION IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF LIFE. WHATEVER THAT MAY BE, FOR IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL.
SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? IS THERE A GAS STATION IN THE VACINITY THAT HANDLES SUPER UNLEADED PHILOSOPHY OR MAPS TO "WITHIN", CONSIDERING THAT IS WHERE OUR JOURNEY SHOULD BEGIN? AND I'M NOT SURE, BUT I BELIEVE MY VEHICLE MIGHT RUN ALTERNATIVE FUELS LIKE FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY AS WELL. WORTH A SHOT IF IT MIGHT SET ME DOWN A MORE ENLIGHTED PATH THAN THE STAGNANT AND DUSTY ONE THAT I AM ON AS I SIT IN MY DRIVEWAY LOST.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Paybacks are hell
Joe: MOOOOOOM! Jack just hawked a looegy on me!
MoM: Well if that isn't the grossest thing I've seen in a while. Jack go get Joe a wash rag or wipe, pronto
Jack: Can't he get it himself?
Joe: JACK! YOU F'n spit on me! YOU GET IT
MoM: *evil look*
Jack: Fine
Joe: *steams*
MoM: IF I ever seen anything as disgusting as that come out of your body, son, YOU will be in dire straits understand!?
Jack: Yes momma
Joe: Mom?
MoM: What honey?
Joe: What's this thing under my nose?
MoM: Well let me have a look…come here *wipes wet hands on shirt tale* Sit still
Joe: *wriggles…*
MoM: What am I looking at now?
Joe: Right here, under my snotril
MoM: Snotril?
Joe: Yeah that thing where snot comes from
MoM: That's a nostril honey
Joe: Well I say if its snot and a nostril, lets just call it a snotril. Easier that way OWE!
MoM: What what what?
Joe: You touched that thing. It hurts. It's like the size of Jack's butt on my face
MoM: Oooh THAT thing!
Joe: WHAT IS IT??
MoM: Well after some examination at quite close proximatey…yeah yeah I thought so…*stands back, crosses arms over chest, stares…*
Joe: WHAT??
MoM: You're finger…
Jack: *laughter*
Joe: Shut it Jack! No I mean right here, by my finger, it hurts!
MoM: Oh you mean THAT thing! No, hold on…lemme see again cus it's really difficult to find out what you're referring to with this gargantuan ZIT in the way
Jack: *laughter*
Joe: *steams*
Mom: Careful Jack, you don't want to upset your brother or disturb the natural flow of things because if you cause Joe any more stress, he might blow and Heaven help you if that zit goes….
Jack: *runs towards the back of the house screaming…* IT'S GONNA BLOW!!!
Joe: Ah crap I scratched the zit and it's grooooooss Now what?
Mom: Give your brother a 5 minute head start
Joe: *evil giggle*
Jack: MOOM! *runs the other way*
Mom: Paybacks are hell
MoM: Well if that isn't the grossest thing I've seen in a while. Jack go get Joe a wash rag or wipe, pronto
Jack: Can't he get it himself?
Joe: JACK! YOU F'n spit on me! YOU GET IT
MoM: *evil look*
Jack: Fine
Joe: *steams*
MoM: IF I ever seen anything as disgusting as that come out of your body, son, YOU will be in dire straits understand!?
Jack: Yes momma
Joe: Mom?
MoM: What honey?
Joe: What's this thing under my nose?
MoM: Well let me have a look…come here *wipes wet hands on shirt tale* Sit still
Joe: *wriggles…*
MoM: What am I looking at now?
Joe: Right here, under my snotril
MoM: Snotril?
Joe: Yeah that thing where snot comes from
MoM: That's a nostril honey
Joe: Well I say if its snot and a nostril, lets just call it a snotril. Easier that way OWE!
MoM: What what what?
Joe: You touched that thing. It hurts. It's like the size of Jack's butt on my face
MoM: Oooh THAT thing!
Joe: WHAT IS IT??
MoM: Well after some examination at quite close proximatey…yeah yeah I thought so…*stands back, crosses arms over chest, stares…*
Joe: WHAT??
MoM: You're finger…
Jack: *laughter*
Joe: Shut it Jack! No I mean right here, by my finger, it hurts!
MoM: Oh you mean THAT thing! No, hold on…lemme see again cus it's really difficult to find out what you're referring to with this gargantuan ZIT in the way
Jack: *laughter*
Joe: *steams*
Mom: Careful Jack, you don't want to upset your brother or disturb the natural flow of things because if you cause Joe any more stress, he might blow and Heaven help you if that zit goes….
Jack: *runs towards the back of the house screaming…* IT'S GONNA BLOW!!!
Joe: Ah crap I scratched the zit and it's grooooooss Now what?
Mom: Give your brother a 5 minute head start
Joe: *evil giggle*
Jack: MOOM! *runs the other way*
Mom: Paybacks are hell
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