Happy Columbus Day!!

Today is the "glorious" recognition of the "founder" of the new world. This blog could get really long and spiteful, but I'm going to make it as to the point as possible. This wonderful man had his math COMPLETELY wrong and thought he could make it to India in a matter of a couple of months. A month longer than the trip was expected to be, they got lucky and ran into the islands in the Caribbean. They would have died had they not stumbled upon the riches (of the land, not of metal) of the indigenous people. So the story continues to talk about his grand development and the civilazation of the savage people. And by civilazation, I do mean wiping out all the indigenous and replacing them with Europeans and black slaves. Some indigenous were crafty enough to blend in and completely forget their old ways (there have been recent biological tests to show that 25% of the genetic make-up of the population of the Dominican Republic is in fact Taino).

Then there's this monument. The monument is in his honor in the Dominican Republic (where he first settled). They kicked several neighborhoods worth of people out of their homes to build this thing. Then, they light it up and shine this huge cross into the night sky on special occasions (i.e., today). When they do, most of the city has to go without power, which is in rather short supply to begin with.

Oh the beautiful irony! Enjoy your holiday!