It is Sunday, October 12 and there are only 74 days until Christmas.  Get those cookie trays and recipes ready, we’ll be baking before you know it.  Today we remember the birthdays of Elmer Sperry, Ralph Vaughn Williams and Luciano Pavarotti.  On this day in 1492 Columbus arrived in the Bahamas, in 1918 the iron lung was first used, at Boston’s Children Hospital and in 1977 psychic Romark attempted to drive blindfolded and smashed into a police van.  In Spain it is National Day, in Western Samoa it is White Sunday and in the US it is the official Columbus Day.

I know I have discussed this holiday in the past.  I have talked about how we honor a man who went off on a journey, did not end up where he was headed, did not bring back what he was supposed to, then went back to the wrong place and still did not come back with what he was looking for.  I have disparaged Columbus for not getting directions and for not achieving the goals he set out to do.  The bottom line is that he at least did something.  He went off on a trip that was dangerous – hey he could have sailed off the end of the earth!  Maybe he didn’t discover the Indies and bring back spices and other treasures, but he did find the Bahamas and North America.

So my question is why are we taking his holiday away?  Several cities have decided that they are changing the holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day.  The Portland, Oregon school board member who sponsored the bill there said that Portland Public Schools’ new Indigenous Peoples Day isn’t meant to replace Columbus Day, but to supplement it.  I guess that is why they changed the name and no longer recognize Columbus as part of the holiday.  If they really want to honor indigenous people, why not create a whole new holiday for them?  The other thing I find interesting is that nowhere does anyone actually say who the indigenous people are.  This seems to me to be a nebulous term used to include anybody who feels they are being ignored.  By the way, was any thought given to the insult to Italian people by dumping their holiday?

I understand wanting to create more awareness for people who have not been well-represented in the past.  I also understand the need to give them recognition.  What I do not understand is how taking someone else’s holiday will give them that recognition.  It seems like we are saying that we are simply changing the name of a holiday because we don’t want to go out of our way to create something meaningful.  I have a feeling that all it will really create is animosity.

Now that I have vented on that issue, let me mention a few other things that have come up recently.  I am not sure if I have talked about this before, so I will mention it, maybe again.  Recently we were out on the parkway and I saw a sign that said – “No Litter $200 Fine.”  If you wanted to be technical, this sign tells me that there is a fine if I do not litter.  Tell me “$200 fine for Littering” or simply “No Littering” but that first sign invites misinterpretation by people like me.

Recently, the lovely Elaine saw a sign that said “Huge Children Sale” posted on a road we were travelling.  The question then became were they selling obese kids or did they have a lot of kids to sell?  I really think that some thought should be given when signs like this are being created.  What happens when some poor couple who can’t start a family sees that sign?  “Hell, Ethel, I don’t care if the kid is fat.  We should at least go take a look.”  Or, “They must have a ton of kids there Jubal.  We should go take a look.  I’m sure we can find one we like.”  Again, signs like this are just asking to be misinterpreted.

Moving on, I was recently looking at airfares for a trip we are planning.  Just for fun, I looked at the first class cost and the economy cost.  The first class cost was $367 more than economy.  I have a hard time figuring out what they could possibly be offering in first class that is worth $367.  Maybe they get food, but based on what I have seen; airline food is not worth $3.67, let alone over $300.  Maybe the seats are a little wider, but when the person in front of you decides to recline their seat, it is just a wider seat back that is in your lap.  The other thing to consider is you will be paying $367 to be the first people to hit the ground if the plane crashes.  Makes you wonder if it’s worth it.  We have decided it is not.

This week our fact tells us that CBS’s “60 Minutes” is the only TV show without a theme song.  I thought about that and feel that they should have a theme song.  I have tried to come up with something.  The tune would be to the “Love Boat” theme since they are not using it.

News, exciting and new, in-depth and interesting too.                                                  

Stories that will create thought, about battles that are being fought.

60 Minutes.  We are on Sunday night.  You should watch so you get the news right.

They cover all sorts of stuff, ISIS, cyber crime, China and if that’s not enough –

They also talk about cancer drug cost and they ask if Obama is lost.

60 Minutes.  We are on Sunday night. You should watch so you get the news right.

60 Minutes, 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes!