The first commemorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service honored Christopher Columbus on the 400th anniversary of his first voyage. $5 bucks in 1892 equates to about $130 in 2017 U.S. dollars, and not many could afford that steep price to ship something trivial.
The signature of Cristoforo Colombo [Italian], aka Cristóbal Colón [Spanish], aka Christophorus Columbus [Latin], aka Christopher Columbus [Anglic]. For the life of me I can’t decipher it, except that the “X” is likely the sign of Christ.
This one dollar Bahamian bill issued in 1974 features an image of Christopher Columbus and equals about $5 U.S. in 2017.
Columbus was a tyrannical leader by most accounts, but the fact that he made four round-trip voyages to The Americas tells us that he had men who were willing and able to take those dangerous risks on both sides of the Atlantic. (Note that Spanish law limited merchants to one slave per ship [source].)
As governor of Hispaniola and the Indies (1492-1499) he was a cruel despot and was removed and jailed by Queen Isabella I of Castile.
[Side note: Queen Isabella I presided over the final years of La Reconquista that began about 711AD. She didn’t put up with no jihad jibbajabba.]
Should we remove Christopher Columbus from history and kowtow to a relative handful of racist SJWs?
NO. His historical accomplishments far outweigh his failures, and he should be honored for his astounding bravery and seamanship in the face of the unknown, not his subsequent decline into dementia and moral turpitude. Any person, group or organization that attempts to rewrite history has nefarious motives in mind.
“I think an act of heroism just took place on that plane.”
– Vice President Dick Cheney, upon learning of the crash of UA93
“Flight 93” is a must-see movie. Based upon transcriptions of interviews, live recordings and eyewitnesses, it kept to the facts as much as possible. The 90 minute film plays out the events of 911 in real time, and focuses on the heroes of that doomed flight.
“Ignore him. He’s just a tropical depression.”
“He’s now a tropical storm, and his name is (get this) ‘Harvey.’ Hahahaha!”
“Oooh, Harvey! You’re only a Category 1, Harvey. Piss off or grow a pair.”
“Harvey? Isn’t that the name of an imaginary rabbit? Heh.”
I heard all yer banter, so I ramped it up a notch for fun, then decided to settle down an’ drop another several billion gallons of that wet stuff on ye. Ye still wish to mock me moniker?
But I warned you! I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh no, you knew it all, didn’t you? Oh, it’s just a harmless little bunny, isn’t it? Well, it’s always the same. I always told them, but do they listen to me? Oooh, no…
Ye just mock me name an’ think it’s over. Now this lil’ bunny’s gonna drop another 20 inches on yer fuzzy heads, maybe another 20 after that if you don’t shape up.
—HurricaneTropical StormTropical DepressionStorm System Thunderhead Harvey
[Image found here, and in no way is my intent to make fun of the tragedy. God Bless the people of Texas. The reconstruction is going to take years, if not decades.]
“That was the time I was most frightened, waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a life jacket again.” –Shark hunter Quint [Robert Shaw] in the 1975 film “Jaws.”
Quint was referring to the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis, torpedoed in 1945:
Recently the USS Indianapolis, missing for 72 years, has been found in the Philippine Sea approximately three and a half miles below the surface. Story w/ pics here.
Woody James was 23 at the time of the attack and lived to tell about it. His story of horror is very understated:
“Sunday, the 29th of July was a quiet day. The sea was runnin five or six feet waves, just a beautiful day out. Didn’t do too much, read a book, did a little tinkerin as usual. Had the 8:00 to 12:00 watch and just got off at midnight. A guy relieved me about a quarter to twelve. I went down through the galley and had a cup of coffee. Then went to my compartment and got a blanket off my bed and went back up on deck. I slept under the overhang on the first turret. My battle station was inside it so in case general quarters sounded, I slept underneath it. Just got laid down good, using my shoes for a pillow as usual and the first torpedo hit. I was up and down between the deck and the overhang of the turret like Yankee Doodle Dandy. And, I wondered, ‘what in the hell is goin on?’
I got out of my blanket and started to roll out from underneath the turret and the other torpedo hit. Another Yankee Doodle deal, all over the place. I started to walk forward to see what I could see and what I seen was about sixty-foot of the bow chopped off, completely gone. Within a minute and a half, maybe two minutes at the most the bow is startin to do down. It filled up with water that fast. Everything was open below deck and the water just flooded in and we were still under way, just scoopin water. Complete chaos, total and complete chaos all over the whole ship. Screams like you couldn’t believe and nobody knew what was goin on. The word got passed down, “ABANDON SHIP”! It was maybe five minutes and we were really down in the water so we proceeded to abandon ship.”
“Look, I got this. Just gimme a coupla minutes.” –Cristobal Columbo circa 1492
The Great American Solar Eclipse is tomorrow. Plug in your location here to find out what time you need to start banging your pots and pans to drive the dragon away. If anyone tells you it’s safe to look at with the nekkid eye, he/she is a fool. Don’t do it.
An honorary statue in New Orleans, depicting a famous military figure on a horse, was defaced with the words “Tear It Down” recently. The honored warrior was captured, tortured and killed by fire decades before Europeans even knew about this continent, and centuries prior to the founding of the United States of America. TRUE.
Bert The Turtle showed children how to survive a nuclear attack – assuming they’re far enough away from Ground Zero to have time to react. The film was shown in schools from 1952 into the 1990s.
[Free audio download of Sousa’s recording here. Wanna see the Conductor’s Sheet Music? Click here.]
It’s been a century and a quarter yet it’s still one of the most recognizable marches in the world, especially around July 4th. An Act of Congress adopted it as the National March of the USA… in 1987. What I didn’t know is that Sousa penned lyrics for his timeless classic, and here is the last refrain:
“Hurrah for the flag of the free! May it wave as our standard forever; The gem of the land and the sea, The ban-ner of the right. Let despots remember the day, When our fathers with mighty endeavor, Proclaimed as they marched to the fray, That by their might and by their right It waves forever.”
Note that The Founding Fathers were all British citizens, right up until the Declaration of Independence. If you’ve never read it, read it; and if you’ve read it, read it again. Then read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Out loud.
Teach your kids and grandchilluns the meaning and importance of Independence Day, because nobody else will. Tell them how pissed off the colonists were, and why, and then tell them what they eventually did about it. Then grill a buncha hot dogs and hamburgers, take ’em to a local fireworks show and have a great Independence Day Celebration. See ya there!
Top image is a sculpture entitled Malinche by Jimmie Durham.
Born ca.1500AD, La Malinche (also known as Doña Marina) was a female Nahua from the Tobasco region of Mexico. Enslaved by the Chontal Maya, she was given to the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés in 1519. She was reported to be a hottie, was savvy enough to cozy up to Cortés, became his translator and mistress, and aided the Spaniards in defeating the Aztecs. She’s now reviled as a traitor… to those who enslaved HER.
