Yeah, John, An additional degree, in computer science of course, would put a twinkle in my step, but they don't increase social security for additional degrees. According to your definition, the term "presentism" has been badly misused in the past few days. I don't know of any "political" agenda that is served by debunking the myths about the "Columbus Discovery". Saying that Columbus was a "worthy man" is about like saying that Hitler was a "worthy man". Columbus' calculations on the time it would take to sail to the far east were based on his miscalculation of the circumference of the Earth which was originally calculated very accurately by the Greeks. But, Columbus wanted his voyage funded, so he made up a story that his calculations were more accurate than those "old" ones. And he was WRONG! He couldn't bring back enough gold and "riches" to repay the money advanced for his voyage, and he committed torture and genocide against the peoples he found in his travels. The one exception were the Carribs, who fought back with a weapon that scared the Europeans away - cannabalism! Anne Anne Pemberton [log in to unmask] http://www.erols.com/apembert http://www.educationalsynthesis.org ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html