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POPSBlackbeard (S9 Biography)
The Scourge of the Spanish Main and the last Great Pirate of the Age of Sail (Jean LaFitte was a smuggler) Blackbeard's life is shrouded in myth and legend and facts about him are verd hard to verify 300 years later. Edward Teach or possibly Thatch, was famous for several things that are documented and reek of the strange and as Kenneth Hite says, High Weirdness. He would drink a mixture of gunpowder and rum set aflame... Talk about a Belch you do not want to be around. He tied "slow matches" (used for lighting cannons) into his hair and beard so there would be a wreath of smoke around his head. He shot his best friend and first mate, Israel Hands in the knee, crippling him for life just a day before his death at Okecroake Island off NC. When Israel asked why, Teach said he was saving his life! (Knew about his own death? Planned it himself?) Weirdest Fact: Held Charleston, SC hostage for several weeks until his ransom was paid - a box of Native herbs and Tobacco... See what I
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POPSShipwreck Likely Captained By William Kidd
The Dominican government has licensed the U.S. university to study the wreckage and convert the sea floor where the cannons and anchors are marooned into an underwater preserve, where it will be accessible to divers and snorkelers "When I first looked down and saw it, I couldn't believe everybody missed it for 300 years," said Charles Beeker, a scuba-diving archaeologist who teaches at Indiana University. "I've been on thousands of wrecks and this is one of the first where it's been untouched by looters." The find will likely reveal key information about piracy in the Caribbean and about the elusive Captain Kidd, according to John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist, who will participate in the research. Captain William Kidd (c. 1645-1701) was one of the most notorious pirates in history. He sailed the coast of North America, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean, plundering ships. To this day, rumors persist that he left behind a great treasure.
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POPSCapt Kidd's Ship found off Dominican Island Arrrr I'm not sure that's how to spell arrrr, but I don't think pirates were worried about spelling. It could have depended on whether they were talking to another pirate, or being hung. Now there was a Real Pirate, (allegedly) and he sure knew where to hide his treasure. What is most important is that the ship the 'Quedagh Merchant' had not been found by anyone. Kidd abandoned the ship in 1699. He was not captured, but tried to clear his name when he travelled to New York. They didn't agree, and he was convicted and hanged from a gibbet in London as an example. It would almost have been described as a kangaroo court, but back in those days they didn't know about kangaroos.
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POPSWho is really helping Africa? (It ain't Bono!) Is there not a newer and softer form of colonialism, that of international aid? Not that aid to foreign countries is a bad thing, but it is when we treat entire nations as if they were children incapable of learning to take care of themselves. Our snide paternalism and unchecked egotism have ensured that almost all our efforts to help the developing world have instead only hurt them. It seems that every time somebody does something for Africa, or the rest of the developing world, they are really just doing it for themselves. Which is why at the end of the day, the movie stars and millionaires get what they were looking for and go home, while Africa suffers on.
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POPSSF Author: George Allan England Download DescriptionThe islands in the harbor, too, were thickly overgrown. On Ellis, no sign of the immigrant station remained. Castle William was quite gone. And with a gasp of dismay and pain, Beatrice pointed out the fact that no longer Liberty held her bronze torch aloft. Save for a black, misshapen mass protruding through the tree-tops, the huge gift of France was no more. Darkness and Dawn (The first book in the Darkness and Dawn series)
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