Today’s poll is about displaying vehicle license plates — the rear-only vs. front & rear debate.
The poll will be open until 8pm, answers are presented in a random order.
— Steve Patterson
An event celebrating Christopher Columbus was held in The Hill neighborhood on Sunday. On Monday it was pretty much business as usual, although Missouri state offices were closed and mail wasn’t delivered. People went to work, kids went to school. In St. Louis County government “only the Circuit Clerk’s Office, Court En Banc and Probate Court” were closed, see holiday calendar.
Generally, the closer you are to a large Italian-American population, the more likely people will be out celebrating. Italians will be proudly marching in San Francisco, for instance. But Berkeley is giving its employees the day off, and has called this holiday Indigenous Peoples’ Day for 20 years. They’re holding a powwow. Hawaii calls the day “Discoverers’ Day” for its Polynesian community, but state offices there are open.
Don’t think this Columbus Day defiance is some crunchy liberal thing, either. South Dakota calls October 14 “Native Americans Day” and state offices will be closed. Oklahoma state offices will be open, but the day is celebrated by each tribe. Most of the northeast corner of the state will celebrate Monday as Cherokee Day. But there are eight other tribes nearby, and each will attach their name to the celebration. (The Street)
But he discovered America, right? Wrong!
His four trips from Spain across the Atlantic — in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502 — did, however, change human history forever, ushering in what is known as the Columbian Exchange — the historic exchange of plants, animals, disease, culture, technology and people between the Old and New Worlds. The Old World, for example, got chocolate (and many other things) and the New World got wheat, along with bubonic plague, chicken pox, cholera, malaria, measles, typhoid, etc., which decimated the populations of indigenous peoples Columbus found living on the islands he “discovered.”
As for Columbus himself, he mapped the coasts of Central and South America but never set foot on North America, and died thinking he had discovered Asia. He ruled the Caribbean islands as viceroy and governor so brutally that, according to US-History.com: “Even his most ardent admirers acknowledge that Columbus was self-centered, ruthless, avaricious, and a racist.” (Washington Post)
Never set foot in North America? Yet it is a national holiday?
In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, largely as a result of intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic fraternal benefits organization. Originally observed every October 12, it was fixed to the second Monday in October in 1971. (History.com)
Here’s some good advice for parents…and everyone else.
If your child comes home in the leadup to Columbus Day, like mine did, full of praise for the explorer’s bravery and vision, that’s a fine place to start, even if he didn’t really “discover” the Americas or figure out that the Earth was round. He was, indeed, brave.
But then explain that brave people can do bad things, and worse things can happen without any planning. That’s one of the lessons of history. (CNN: What to tell your kid about Christopher Columbus)
The Oatmeal does a good job explaining Columbus’ legacy.
In the Sunday Poll most agreed the 2nd Monday in October should remain a federal holiday, but readers were split on the question of the name. With one “other” answer suggesting a name change that means those who say keep the name tied with those who want to change it.
Q: Columbus Day should be…
I personally think we should change the name to Indigenous Person’s Day, or something along those lines. The indigenous people of the Americas suffered greatly from various new arrivals — Columbus and those who followed him. It’s past time for us to accept our own tragic history.
As for everyone getting a day off — that doesn’t apply to service workers. Are we willing to close all stores, gas stations, hotels, hospitals, transit agencies, etc. for a day?
— Steve Patterson
Tomorrow is a controversial federal holiday, so it is a good subject for a poll.
Please vote above, the poll will close at 8pm. Answers are presented in a random order, you can also make up your own answer.
No new post tomorrow, see you again on Tuesday.
— Steve Patterson
The Missouri Department of Revenue needs more money, voters rejected a sales tax. The Missouri legislature continues to ignore the most obvious solutions. Readers in the Sunday Poll put the options in the right order:
Q: Of the following, what should Missouri do to solve MoDOT’s funding shortfall: (check all that apply)
Our fuel taxes are among the lowest in the country and our neighboring states — this is obvious. Another is changing Missouri’s open container law — I mean actually having one:
Although a driver is prohibited from consuming alcohol while driving, Missouri has no general open container law for vehicles, a characteristic which Missouri shares only with the states of Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, Virginia, and West Virginia. Any non-driving vehicle passenger thus is permitted to possess an open container and consume alcohol in Missouri while the vehicle is in motion, although 31 smaller municipalities, the largest being Independence and St. Charles, have local open container laws. The metropolises of St. Louis and Kansas City have no local open container laws, and thus the state law (or lack thereof) governs. This makes it possible for a passenger to drink legally through the entire 250-mile (400 km) trip across Missouri on Interstate 70between Downtown Kansas City and Downtown St. Louis, only closing his container while passing through the city limits of Independence, Bates City, Columbia, Foristell, and St. Charles.
As a result of having no state open container laws, under the federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century of 1999, a percentage of Missouri’s federal highway funds is transferred instead to alcohol education programs each year. Since 1999, the Missouri General Assembly has considered several bills which would have created open container regimens satisfying the federal law, but each one “failed due to weak legislative support.” Anheuser-Busch leads opposition to enacting a passenger open container law. (Wikipedia)
What?
The federal law encourages states to outlaw open containers by changing the earmarks for transportation funding. Under TEA-21, federal standards require a complete ban on open containers in vehicles, and states not conforming must divert funds from road maintenance into alcohol education, enforcement and crash prevention. The Fed can’t tell states what to do, but they’re not against making this money-backed suggestion.
The rub is about $12 million less each year for road maintenance in Missouri, according to MoDOT spokeswoman Kristi Jamison. The trade-off is somewhat political; Missouri asserts its sovereignty by refusing to overstep the boundaries of private property, and the diverted money helps ameliorate drunk driving problems in the state. “One of the positive benefits is that it also goes to law enforcement to help with DUI enforcements, whether through overtime or equipment to help out,” Jamison says, and adds that the funds also contribute to 500 miles of guard cable on highway dividers. (Vox Magazine)
So millions every year aren’t being used to maintain our roads & bridges because an influential brewer wants to make sure passengers can consume their products?
— Steve Patterson
Today’s Sunday Poll question is about funding MoDOT:
The poll is open until 8pm, I’ll share my thoughts on Wednesday.
— Steve Patterson