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umm... no, he didn't

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  • #1

    umm... no, he didn't

    Okay, so this pisses me off. The anniversary of Tom Bridger's "discovery" of the Great Salt Lake is coming up and there are a bunch of billboards around the city about how he discovered the Great Salt Lake...
    Umm, no he didn't... do you know why he didn't... BECAUSE THERE WERE ALREADY PEOPLE HERE!!!!!
    Just because they aren't Europeans doesn't mean that they weren't the people who discovered the lake first. I know this may come as a shock to the predominant culture in this state, but the natives are people too and claiming Tom Bridger was the first 'person' to discover the lake is really taking away the humanity of those who were here before him. I'm sorry if they are white and delightsome enough for our history books in this state, but he was a distant second when it came to discovering the lake.
    "I'm Gar and I'm proud" -slytovhand
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  • #2
    Non-Europeans don't count. No one is referring to the literal who got there first. They are referring to the first non-native.
    Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

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    • #3
      This reminds me about how I get pissed off every time Columbus Day rolls around.

      ^-.-^
      Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Andara Bledin View Post
        This reminds me about how I get pissed off every time Columbus Day rolls around.

        ^-.-^
        Gads, me, too. Such an obnoxious, useless 'holiday' if you ask me.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by ExRetailDrone View Post
          Gads, me, too. Such an obnoxious, useless 'holiday' if you ask me.
          Well, by all accounts, he wasn't a good person, and he wasn't much good at anything he did, either. The whole finding a new route to India thing was sort of a, "Go and explore and don't dare come back unless you find something!"

          ^-.-^
          Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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          • #6
            It's not like the Great Salt Lake is such a wonderful thing to find.... I mean, sure, it's unusual, and large... but is it good for anything? What I saw of it wasn't even much to look at.

            (And I apologize if this sounds like an insult. I realize it may have some use I hadn't thought of.)
            "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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            • #7
              The bit about Columbus that amuses me is that he was a total fuck off when it came to his whole 1492 voyage.

              Proving the Earth was round - Sorry! By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". Not to mention that the ONLY explanation as to why someone on the beach would see a ship later than someone in a tower, was the curvature of the Earth.

              And to add insult to injury, they even knew how big the Earth was. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km --less than 200 km out of what our best scientific measurement instruments now know it to be.

              All of this 500 years before Chris managed to get his grubby protuberances on a couple of boats.

              Finding a trade route to India - Bzzzt! Wrong answer! Thanks for playing. His plan was sound, but there was a big whomping continent in the way with a southern tip that was just as if not more dangerous than the one at the southern top of Africa.

              Discovering America - Native Americans and the Vikings beat him to it.

              So why in the name of Zeus's posing pouch are we celebrating this twat who in the grand scheme of things didn't do anything apart from wasting a lot of time and money to achieve something that he quite failed at.
              “There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do.” - Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Mongo Skruddgemire View Post

                So why in the name of Zeus's posing pouch are we celebrating this twat who in the grand scheme of things didn't do anything apart from wasting a lot of time and money to achieve something that he quite failed at.
                Excuses to have a holiday or drinking and eating fest... probably falls under why we in the US celebrate may 5th: Mexican independence day... beer and food....


                And I have noticed alot of local holidays do the 'first person to ___________' but they never take into account that some others might have done it / been there first just excuses I say.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Mongo Skruddgemire View Post
                  Discovering America - Native Americans and the Vikings beat him to it.
                  As I already said, since the majority of people of importance to our history are neither Vikings or Native Americans, no one gives a crap what they discovered. Sucks but it's true.

                  Originally posted by Mongo Skruddgemire View Post
                  So why in the name of Zeus's posing pouch are we celebrating this twat who in the grand scheme of things didn't do anything apart from wasting a lot of time and money to achieve something that he quite failed at.
                  Might want to study your history sometime. Columbus did something of historical impact greater than most people ever. He helped start the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
                  Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by HYHYBT View Post
                    It's not like the Great Salt Lake is such a wonderful thing to find.... I mean, sure, it's unusual, and large... but is it good for anything? What I saw of it wasn't even much to look at.

                    (And I apologize if this sounds like an insult. I realize it may have some use I hadn't thought of.)
                    actually the Salt Lake does have a huge use... every time the water line drops it creates areas perfect for salt mining... then when the water rises again all it is doing is replenishing a depleted spot.
                    Particularly, the salt mines are used in de icer salt that is sold in the United States, so if you enjoy not slipping and falling on your ass thank the Salt Lake.
                    "I'm Gar and I'm proud" -slytovhand

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Greenday View Post
                      Might want to study your history sometime. Columbus did something of historical impact greater than most people ever. He helped start the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
                      "Might want to study your history sometime" That's making a bit of an assumption there. I'm in the SCA and an avid study of history.

                      I knew about that. And yes. It is true that he was instrumental for starting the trans-Atlantic slave trade and all the grief that came as a result of it.

                      But let's not forget the actions that would earn him a photo shoot of "Fascist Dictator Monthly", if not a full centerfold spread.

                      At one point, Francisco de Bobadilla was sent to replace Columbus as Governor of Hispaniola. When he got there he was swamped with complaints regarding how our boy Chris and his brothers used terror tactics and torture to keep the population in check. When he was sent back to Spain for trial, there were over 20 sworn testimonies about his acts of barbarism towards his populace.

                      Granted he was eventually freed by the king and queen after extensive groveling and ass-kissing (not from any evidence that they weren't douchebags mind you), but still...

                      Is he really "all that"? Is he really worthy of all the fuss we give him? Do we as freedom loving Americans really want to give "mad props" to someone who was a little shit in his little corner of the world?

                      I wouldn't. This is why heis in my list of people that I wonder why we @#$%ing celebrate like they were Gods.
                      “There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do.” - Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.

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                      • #12
                        Reminds me of an Eddie Izzard sketch that I'm sure someone will link to youtube, cos I'm too lazy myself

                        "I claim this land in the name of the queen." plants flag
                        "You can't do that this land is our's"
                        "Where is your flag?"

                        but it was longer and worded funnier

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                        • #13
                          "Do you have a flag?" (NSFW)

                          And a transcript, for the YouTube impaired.

                          We stole countries with the cunning use of flags.

                          You sail round the world and stick a flag in them.

                          "I claim lndia for Britain!"

                          They're going, "You can't claim us, we live here. million of us."

                          "Do you have a flag?"

                          "We don't need a bloody flag. It's our country, you bastard."

                          "No flag, no country, you can't have one.
                          ^-.-^
                          Last edited by Andara Bledin; 02-07-2011, 07:29 PM.
                          Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Originally posted by smileyeagle1021 View Post
                            Particularly, the salt mines are used in de icer salt that is sold in the United States, so if you enjoy not slipping and falling on your ass thank the Salt Lake.
                            Not all of it comes from the Salt Lake though...there are salt mines in NY (Mt. Morris), MI (under Detroit), LA (Avery Island), to name a few

                            Seriously though, in the US, Columbus Day is another excuse to eat too much, get drunk...and hit the stores. All because one asshole got lost while trying to reach China Never mind that the Vikings (probably some of my ancestors) were here, at least in Newfoundland...about 500 years before him. Seems that nobody celebrates the achievements of a "bunch of barbarians"

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by protege View Post
                              Seems that nobody celebrates the achievements of a "bunch of barbarians"
                              I see the numerous Viking invasions of England as stag parties

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