I'm browsing my news feed yesterday when I stumble across this little news article. The University of Maryland is installing " nap pods " in their library before exam time. This was the first I had heard of any such device. I immediately remarked with, let's see, we have fidget spinners, coloring books, safe spaces and now nap pods ! Sounds like a kindergarten to me. Those comments where met with a barrage of derision. I was called names, articles were shared showing how these things increased productivity and in general told that these nap pods are essential. Any suggestion on my part that perhaps this was a waste of money was shrugged off as an old white guy notion. I found the whole thing amusing. I believe I finished my comments with, wait till they wake up from their naps to discover they have to pay those student loans back ! Then they are " woke " to the fact that during their nap they failed to learn anything useful in the real world. They have to go to work, without naps, to pay those loans back. Well, you snooze, you loose. These millennials, you gotta love'em. I know it's a radical thought but I did suggest using the funds expended on nap pods to somehow lower the cost of going to the university. That idea was scoffed at. Nap pods and tide pods, it's becoming a fixation.
In other news the city of Baltimore is considering erecting a statue of Harriett Tubman in Wyman park. It was a few months back when two statues were removed from their base in that same park. It was done in the middle of the night, by city workers, under the direction of the mayor. Those statues were, you guessed it, General Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Yes, those confederates that began offending everyone around them. The base sits there, in that park, unoccupied. There is a bit of a rush because Harriett Tubmans' birthday is March the 10th and the city would like it done by then. There is a little legal issue with the whole thing. The land that southern generals occupied is under the protection of a perpetual historic trust ! The removal of the statues may have been a violation of that trust and the outcome of that legal battle is yet to be determined. For that reason the base can not be removed or the ground around it disturbed. The proposed plan would remove that base, landscape the surrounding area and in general do everything that the historic trust was supposed to prevent.
Setting aside all of that I read where they also want to rename that portion of the park. The article explained that the portion of the park where those statues stood for about 70 years or so has traditionally been called the southwestern plateau. The name is to be changed to Harriett Tubman Grove. I found that curious as I didn't realize that the words southwestern and/or plateau were offensive. What I mean is the statues were removed because they were offensive, if you buy into that argument, but the words southwestern or plateau ? If a statue of Harriett Tubman is erected there wouldn't it be identified as such ? And just what would be wrong with saying, the Harriett Tubman statue stands on the southwestern plateau of Wyman park ? I wonder what I missed in that.
Now I am not opposed to erecting a statue of Harriett Tubman. She was a historical figure of considerable note. There is a trail that runs through the state of Maryland and into Delaware that was part of the underground railroad. A portion of that trail goes through Greensboro no more than half mile from my back door. It has a marker with an electronic device linking you to a website explaining what you are looking at. Ms. Tubman is well known to us on the Eastern shore of Maryland, a local hero. Should that statue be erected where those confederate generals once stood ? It would seem fitting to some but you can't replace history, or rewrite it. When those statues were removed the mayor stated her reasons. Those statues were offensive to many and had to be removed, in the middle of the night, to prevent unrest in the city. Using that logic, that some will be upset, doesn't the mayor believe putting a statue of Harriett Tubman in that location may cause unrest ? I'm not saying any of this unrest is justified by either side of the issue just that both sides are quite capable of unrest. Maybe we should leave that spot empty ! Empty space can't be offensive can it ? Yeah, I guess it can.
In other news the city of Baltimore is considering erecting a statue of Harriett Tubman in Wyman park. It was a few months back when two statues were removed from their base in that same park. It was done in the middle of the night, by city workers, under the direction of the mayor. Those statues were, you guessed it, General Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Yes, those confederates that began offending everyone around them. The base sits there, in that park, unoccupied. There is a bit of a rush because Harriett Tubmans' birthday is March the 10th and the city would like it done by then. There is a little legal issue with the whole thing. The land that southern generals occupied is under the protection of a perpetual historic trust ! The removal of the statues may have been a violation of that trust and the outcome of that legal battle is yet to be determined. For that reason the base can not be removed or the ground around it disturbed. The proposed plan would remove that base, landscape the surrounding area and in general do everything that the historic trust was supposed to prevent.
Setting aside all of that I read where they also want to rename that portion of the park. The article explained that the portion of the park where those statues stood for about 70 years or so has traditionally been called the southwestern plateau. The name is to be changed to Harriett Tubman Grove. I found that curious as I didn't realize that the words southwestern and/or plateau were offensive. What I mean is the statues were removed because they were offensive, if you buy into that argument, but the words southwestern or plateau ? If a statue of Harriett Tubman is erected there wouldn't it be identified as such ? And just what would be wrong with saying, the Harriett Tubman statue stands on the southwestern plateau of Wyman park ? I wonder what I missed in that.
Now I am not opposed to erecting a statue of Harriett Tubman. She was a historical figure of considerable note. There is a trail that runs through the state of Maryland and into Delaware that was part of the underground railroad. A portion of that trail goes through Greensboro no more than half mile from my back door. It has a marker with an electronic device linking you to a website explaining what you are looking at. Ms. Tubman is well known to us on the Eastern shore of Maryland, a local hero. Should that statue be erected where those confederate generals once stood ? It would seem fitting to some but you can't replace history, or rewrite it. When those statues were removed the mayor stated her reasons. Those statues were offensive to many and had to be removed, in the middle of the night, to prevent unrest in the city. Using that logic, that some will be upset, doesn't the mayor believe putting a statue of Harriett Tubman in that location may cause unrest ? I'm not saying any of this unrest is justified by either side of the issue just that both sides are quite capable of unrest. Maybe we should leave that spot empty ! Empty space can't be offensive can it ? Yeah, I guess it can.
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