Slavery and the Spawning of the Age of Piracy....

History has a lot of lessons, but a primary one is that every incident or eventuality creates unintended and often unexpected opportunities.

The advent of the European slave trade was just one example.

The Europeans were late comers to the slave trade, trailing the Arabs’ Zanzibar trade by a few Centuries.

Short shrift is often given to the fact that the initial European slave trade involved the Irish and was part of Cromwell’s attempted and nearly successful extermination of that race.

Throughout the 17^th Century, Ireland saw its population drop from 1.6 million to under 500,000 as England’s war against the Irish proceeded. Not disposed to pass up an opportunity, Cromwell’s forces saw the legions of homeless Irish, many of them women and children dispossessed in the wake of their husband’s and father’s death, were scooped up and shipped to the America’s as slaves NOT “indentured servants.”

Until the early 1700s there were far more Irish slaves in the America’s than there were Africans.

Debtors and others found in the workhouses were often plied with drink to get them to sign on to work on-board slave ships.

Large crews were necessary on the voyage to the Americas to reduce the possibility of any slave revolt, but few were needed on the return trip when the ships were laden with tobacco, sugar and other crops.

The slave-ship seamen’s lives were brutal and often short, as well.

While about 12% of the slaves died in passage from Africa to “The New World,” fully 21% of the crews did, as well. Many more of them were often left stranded penniless in the Americas when the ships returned to Europe. Many of those starved to death, since there was no work available in such slave-based economies.

The Captains of these ships were supreme rulers, in effect, “gods” to their men...their word was law.

Many delighted in inflicting brutal punishments on their crews, often keel-hauling (pulling a man’s body from stem to stern along the bottom of the ship by means of a rope and pulleys) or fastening iron bolts into the mouths of those who complained “too much.”

As luck would have it, this created a fertile opportunity for the new breed of pirates, who’d moved from the ranks of “official Privateers,” under the aegis of various governments, to independent “enemies of all mankind.”

These independent pirates constantly needed an infusion of manpower, given the violent and often short-lived nature of their work. Slave ships became a favorite target of pirates for exactly that reason – to “recruit” their crews.

Often the crews of such ships were more than happy to see their officers punished and often pirates would put such officers “on trial” before their crews.

Most crew members saw a much better chance of survival aboard a pirate ship than with the slave-ships they worked on, making them more than willing recruits.

That’s how Bart Roberts (the most successful pirate in history, pictured above) was recruited into piracy. He was a reluctant 3^rd Officer on a slave-ship attacked by the pirate Howell Davis’ crew.

They found themselves in need of a navigator and Roberts could read maps and navigate so his skill-set was valuable to the pirates.

When Captain Davis was killed in a battle a short while later, the crew appealed to the reluctant Roberts, a non-drinker and one who did not delight in the violence he’d been immersed in and he accepted.

Throughout the 18^th Century the slave trade fueled the growing pirate menace until the Caribbean became an untenable pirates cove, from which neither American nor European ships were safe.

In that regard, the rise of independent piracy is a testament to unintended consequences and expanding variability.

Tulsa Shooting Spree Linked to “Revenge” Motive....

Jake England, 19 (L), Alvin Watts, 32 (R)

Earlier this morning ((April 8^th, 2012) Tulsa police arrested two white men (Jake England and Alvin Watts) accused of killing three black residents and injuring two others in a shooting spree that authorities called "unprecedented."

The shootings occurred just one day after the murder of one of the shooter’s father by a black man (Pernell Demond Jefferson). At the time of the murder, Jefferson had a lengthy criminal history that included "feloniously pointing a firearm, domestic assault, assault with a dangerous weapon and several drug and weapons crimes."

Pernell Jefferson

On Jake England posted a message on the 2^nd Anniversary of his father’s death; “Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a fu*king ni**er it's hard not to go off between that and sheran I'm gone in the head.
RIP...”

Such misguided “revenge” is a relatively rare motive for such violence, as most violent crimes are triggered by a lust for power and control by those who feel the most powerless.

This is also the most frightening kind of violence, given that once the killer decides that he must extract revenge, ANY member of the group associated with the act he feels must be avenged will suffice.

In such circumstances, everyone in the targeted group is a potential target. Such killers rarely, if ever consider the very palpable irony that their misplaced “act of revenge” will only create more people who will feel robbed of those they love, creating the very real potential for even more such misguided revenge.

On the heels of the home invasion of the Bob and Nancy Strait, resulting in the murder of Nancy Strait, Oklahoma has seen more than its share of violence lately.

Here's the REAL question though; WHY does the U.S. media ALWAYS focus national attention on the relatively rare white-on-black violence (like this) and even include some Hispanic-on-black violence (George Zimmerman is as Hispanic as Barack Obama is black) as "white-on-black" violence, while ignoring the comparative epidemic of black-on-white violence? They even assiduously avoid any focus on the most egregious examples, like the Strait home invasion/murder, the David James killing and the Christian-Newsom torture-murders in Knoxville?


It's NOT an accident, any more than the NBC "editor" mangling the Zimmerman 9-1-1 call was an "accident."

The Pushback on the Mainstream Media’s Racist “Anti-Racism” Campaign MUST Begin NOW....

Part I: “If I (Barack Obama) Had a Son, He’d Look Like Tyrone Woodfork.”

90 y/o Bob Strait, born and raised in poverty amidst the Great Depression, was a Para-Trooper in the 101^st Airborne Unit and participated in the D-Day Invasion, earning a Bronze Star.

He survived that ordeal, allegedly with America’s most ominous enemy, to return home and Marry Nancy (now 85 y/o), who’d grown up in a log cabin in Kenwood, Oklahoma, without running water. Together they raised a family that today includes their 6 children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren and they’d recently welcomed a great-great-great grandchild into the fold.

The Strait’s had just celebrated their 65^th Anniversary this past December.

On March 14^th, 2012 a “wolfpack” apparently led by Tyrone Woodfork kicked in the elderly couple’s back door. They stole their Dodge Neon, their TV and about $200. They then brutalized the elderly couple, shooting Mr. Strait in the face with a BB gun suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs and severe bleeding. He is in a serious condition in hospital. Nancy Strait wasn’t as lucky. She was severely beaten and sexually assaulted. She succumbed to her injuries a short time later.

This has NOT been widely reported in the U.S. media. A media that seems to stand alone in its apparent belief that black teens like Trayvon Martin are more likely to be victims of white racism, than the reverse.

This is the SAME media that ignored the Chanon Christian and Chris Newsom murders in Knoxville, TN a few years back, then ignored "the previous Trayvon Martin case," in which black homeowner Trevor Dooley’s bringing a gun across the street to police a neighborhood park and shooting and killing 41 y/o Iraqi Vet and Air Force member David James.

Not so funny story, incidents like the David James’ case happen far more frequently (about 16X more frequently) than the reverse!

Nor is any of the black-on-white violence our media refuses to report on driven by economic disparities (typically, Tyrone Woodfork lived just four doors down from the Straits) nor any lingering “racial resentments.

HINT: It’s based primarily, if not solely on blatant race-hatred and racial bigotry (a/k/a “racism”)!

Where are the marches for the Straits?

Where are the tear-jerking media accounts of their plight?

Where is NBC to maliciously edit any potential statements made by Tyrone Woodfork? (too bad they fired that "unnamed editor" who merely did his Company's bidding)

Bob Strait survived war with the Nazis, only to see his wife murdered in front of him, while he was grievously injured in his own home and WORSE, to see his nation’s own press side with today’s Nazis!

No Purple Heart, no Bronze Star for Bob Strait in this battle...

P.S. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, NOT ONE member of the media would have the guts to refute anything posted here. No brag...just fact.

Real Background Information is Getting Tough to Find on Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin sporting "Gold Fronts"

It seems like a lot of people are going through a LOT of trouble trying to posthumously clean up Trayvon Martin’s image.

Many of the SAME people who’ve erroneously claimed that it’s wrong to look at his background to assess his character, are the same ones looking to muddy the waters by changing or erasing Trayvon’s recent social media past.

Actually it’s entirely legitimate to review a person’s background to assess their character and it’s as wrong to cosmetically clean a person’s image as it is to claim they did things that they didn’t do.

Trayvon Martin had a Twitter account that now appears to have been recently deleted by his family or friends.

His screen name was “NO_LIMIT_NIGGA,” as you can see from the twitpic account screenshot below.

It also appears that friends believed that Martin had recently assaulted a bus driver, as another twitter post makes reference to Trayvon having “swung on a bus driver,” just a few days before he died.

SEE:

http://patdollard.com/2012/03/was-trayvon-martin-a-drug-dealing-gangbanger/

 

Fact is, it’s highly unlikely that George Zimmerman, a man of Hispanic descent, reportedly with many dark-skinned family members would’ve targeted Trayvon Martin based even primarily on race.

It’s equally unlikely that a man who made up flyers, at his own expense, to try to get justice for a black homeless man attacked by a white man, just weeks ago would’ve held any personal animus for someone like Trayvon martin.

Moreover, the enhanced images of George Zimmerman, being brought into the Sanford, Police station DO appear to show wounds to the back of Zimmerman’s head.

SEE: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/03/enhanced-video-zimmerman-in-police-station-appears-to-show-injuries/

Now, IF, as Zimmerman contends, Trayvon Martin initiated a confrontation because he felt Zimmerman was following him and did assault Zimmerman, and upon finding Zimmerman had a gun, fought to get control of that gun, then that would certainly constitute self defense on Zimmerman’s part.

If Martin felt he was being improperly followed, he should’ve avoided ANY contact with Zimmerman and called the police himself.

Apparently, he didn’t do that, instead, he apparently remained on the phone with a girlfriend and went on to confront Zimmerman.

IF he did confront Zimmerman that day and a struggle for Zimmerman’s gun ensued, then once Martin made the decision to confront Zimmerman, he was no longer a “victim,” but instead “the aggressor.”

That is at least part of what the ongoing investigations must sort out.

Those looking to sanitize Trayvon Martin’s image are guilty of obstructing justice, at the very least.

More Developments From Sanford, Florida...That You’d Have Missed had You Been Watching MSNBC

Norman Wolfinger - State Attorney (FL)

It turns out that it wasn’t the Sanford Police who failed to hold George Zimmerman on charges after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, but instead it was State Attorney for Florida, Norman Wolfinger, who left his residence on a Sunday night to hear George Zimmerman questioned by police, who made that call.

Detective Chris Serino, of the Sanford Police Department, expressed doubt in George Zimmerman’s account of how the shooting occurred, according to ABC News and reportedly Det. Serino wanted Zimmerman, charged with manslaughter, but the state Attorney’s Office said there was not enough evidence to make an arrest.

In an affidavit taken the night of the February 26th killing, Det. Serino said he was unconvinced by Zimmerman’s version of events in which he claimed self-defense, the network reported.

Did someone notify Wolfinger that night? It certainly wouldn't have appeared to have been the Sanford Police, as they noted this was highly unusual. Did Norman Wolfinger know that the killer was the son of a retired judge? And does Norman Wolfinger know Robert Zimmerman’s (George Zimmerman’s father) personally?

When Wolfinger announced that he was stepping down from the case last Thursday, he claimed “conflict of interest.” What, exactly, was the potential conflict of interest that had him step down?

The fact that Sanford Detectives didn’t find George Zimmerman’s story believable is powerful enough, but having a State Attorney overrule Detectives in such a scenario does seem very unusual, perhaps even suspicious.

Why did a State Attorney involve himself in such a case on a Sunday night, unless he had ties to Robert Zimmerman, George Zimmerman’s Dad?

The media, especially MSNBC has never asked such questions, too busy promoting the false narrative that these kinds of incidents "happen all the time" (to black youths) when in fact, they are extremely rare, so rare, in fact that Florida’s last similar case occurred almost two years ago, in September of 2012 when black homeowner (Trevor Dooley) brought a gun to a park across the street from his house and shot and killed a white, Air Force Iraqi Vet (David James) who’d merely defended a young skateboarder that Mr Dooley sought to chase from the park.

I AM David James.mp4

Why ODS is as Destructive as BDS

I’ll be blunt, I believe that most of the hysteria surrounding Barack Obama is as deranged as the “BDS” that surrounded George W Bush.

After all, BOTH men are relatively attractive, very affable Keynesians, nothing more, or less.

In FACT, Barack Obama’s biggest sin and his greatest achievement (depending upon one’s vantage) is that he’s flawlessly delivered G W Bush’s third term....and, astoundingly enough, Liberals have loved him for it, as much as many Conservatives have reviled him for continuing most of the SAME policies G W Bush enacted.

After Obama’s first term, Rendition (sending prisoners to foreign portals for coerced interrogations) went up, drone attacks skyrocketed, the occupation of Iraq was continued, at least until that country’s government forced us out by refusing to indemnify our troops from criminal sanctions for responding to acts of war. Afghanistan has been ratcheted up and the fighting their amplified even AFTER OBL’s death! (AND Obama’s had liberals cheering that decision) He engaged the U.S. in a military operation against Libya without either Congressional or UN approval. Moreover, Gitmo’s still open, the Obama administration has fought for both the Patriot Act AND the NSA Surveillance Programs in open court AND he’s deported far more illegal immigrants than the Bush administration ever did!

You’d think liberals would be howling over all that, as they would have, had a Republican done it...but they’re not!

You’d think Conservatives would be cheering over all that...but they’re not!

On the economy, it’s been more of the same. More “non-stimulating stimulus programs,” more big bank and corporate bailouts and more spending, following the path that G W Bush began when he eagerly cooperated with and signed onto the Keynesian reversal engineered by the Pelosi-Reid Congress!

The Bush debt skyrocketed in his last two (Pelosi-Reid) years and Barack Obama’s merely continued along that same path by doubling down on Keynesianism to accelerate it up to hyper-Keynesianism.

Again, even here, liberals haven’t been happy, because they somehow expected “more,” while Conservatives, many of whom voiced no such outrage when the previous administration engaged on its stimulus and bailout binge, now act as though Obama’s hyper-Keynesianism is something altogether new, when it’s really just a doubling down on the economic policies of the previous administration!

Barack Obama is no more “the anti-Christ” than was G W Bush. BOTH have held largely to the Bush doctrine. The “War-on-Terror” is still going strong. The Patriot Act is still in place, so is that mammoth bureaucracy known as the Department of Homeland Security, so is the NSA’s Surveillance Program. In many ways and many regards those things have actually all been ratcheted up.

The economy is bad and has worsened in many ways, BUT just like the mortgage meltdown was a completely bi-partisan affair caused by government’s meddling in the mortgage markets via Jack Kemp’s “Ownership Society” embraced by most Rockefeller-wing Republicans and the Reno-Cisneros legal attacks on traditional lending criteria, coupled with Dodd-Frank’s pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to engage in ever more risky “creative financing,” so too has this worsening economy been a bi-partisan affair.

Liberals have almost always played mindless “team sports politics,” now many Conservatives are doing the same.

It’s just as foolish either way.

Moreover, social Conservatives have not comported themselves well this election cycle and they’ve done much to alienate Independents from the GOP. Rick Santorum stakes out the radical anti-contraception territory and LOSES most of the Catholic vote! It turns out that a whopping 67% of Catholic women (and the majority of Catholics overall) SUPPORT contraceptive services being available for women. Who knew?! But hardcore social Conservatives have been engaging in just that type of self immolation for years now. WHY?

Fact is, most Libertarians who’ve held much common ground with Conservatives do NOT much support those kinds of draconian social stances.

So, why bother? Why alienate the allies you so desperately NEED?

Why not stick to a script that, at least, CAN win? Why not at least TRY not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

The country’s ready for REAL change, but NOT an anti-Constitutional change, one that sees, in Santorum’s own words, “No distinction between religious life and political life.” Americans insist upon policies that are as fair and as welcoming to Hindus and Buddhists as they are to Christians and Jews. They want and support a strict separation between religion and the state. There just aren’t many Americans left who think of America as “a Christian nation.” But take heart, Thomas Jefferson himself never envisioned America as that, either!

A new economic agenda is the ONLY way to challenge the current administration. That’s why Mitt Romney is the best possible candidate for Conservatives at this time. He’s has great economic expertise and he’s completely non-threatening to both Independents and “Reagan Democrats.”

To challenge Obama on “values,” while supporting a ban on contraceptive services is a sure loser. Hell, if only 27% of Catholics support that anti-contraception position (as polled), then you can bet, that in a general election it’s doomed. A ham-handed “culture-war,” as well intentioned as it might be, is no way to sway the American people, as it opens its supporters up to the charge of “American Taliban.”

So, why go there?

Cultural changes occur glacially. There’s no way to rush them. Right now, social Conservatives are so far outside the levers of power that their only way to even get any closer is to sort of “sneak in the backdoor” via an economic, Centrist agenda designed to appeal to ALL.

So much time, energy and trust has already been wasted on inane campaigns like the “Birther Movement,” the “Obama is a Muslim” campaign and others that it’s distracted and detracted from the real, PRIMARY issue – moving the economy back to a more market-based and LESS political economy!

Sadly Newt Gingrich is far from the Gingrich of old, far less ideologically pure, far more mercantile and far less averse to government meddling.

Rick Santorum is simply unacceptable; He’s at best, a lovable loser, willing to go down in flames defending the most out-of-step ideals, like “religion having an integral place in politics.”

Ron Paul is so ideologically pure that he is also purely impractical.

That leaves only one choice, ironically enough, the one many social Conservatives seem unable to stomach.

IF social Conservatives rally ARE serious about changing course and ridding the country of Obama-Biden, then they’ll have to warm up to the one existing GOP candidate that CAN win, Mitt Romney.

And even there, it’s going to be a long, hard fight. Barack Obama is a masterful campaigner and a glib orator. The quicker ALL Conservative galvanize behind Romney the better the chances for a Conservative recovery.

The longer it takes to come around on that, the longer the odds on that Conservative reversal.