MOMMY, I'M HUNGRY

Venezuela. Once one of the richest countries. Its oil reserves the third largest in the world. 

By the mid 2000s, everyone was eating. Average consumption 2,790 calories a day. Thanks to Hugo Chavez. Venezuela's President from 1999 to 2013.

Chavez was a SOCIALIST among socialists. He wanted everything for the people. With the people making minimal contribution to paying for things. The government would pay.

Oil was big. Chavez smarter than the oil companies. He nationalized the oil companies and other foreign industries. with the stroke of a pen. All profits then went to the Venezuelan people.

Chavez's goal was to expand access to food, housing, health care, and education. He initially succeeded in all areas.

Eventually however, Chavez's extreme socialism began to falter. A society cannot be the end all to all. Especially when few contribute in any significant degree to their own support. 

Oil revenues fell. The high oil profits of 2003-2007 became a thing of the past. It was oil profits that sustained Chavez's socialistic society.

Food a perfect example. Chavez fed everyone. Till the ceiling caved in.

Chavez had the price of all food stuffs set with a ceiling. The people paid no more. The government picked up the tab for the rest. The rest equating to significantly more than the people could directly pay.

Literally, everyone got fat.

Most of the food was not grown in Venezuela by Venezuelan farmers. It was imported. The oil profits were more than sufficient to pay the cost.

When things started getting bad, Chavez got sick. The two not related. The last four years of his life Chavez was fighting to save his life and Venezuela's at the same time.

He failed.

Chavez died in 2013 from a massive heart attack and advanced colon cancer. Venezuela had become corrupt. He had opposition. There are those who believe Chavez was murdered.

Nicolas Maduro became President. Inept and incompetent from day one. A puppet of the military. The generals wanted to rule Venezuela. From 2013-2016, they succeeded. Today, the generals run everything. They hold all cabinet posts. They hold Maduro in their hands. He dances to their tune.

The government is corrupt. The generals are eating, economically and food wise. They want for nothing. As does the puppet Maduro. And a handful of high level civilians.

At the same time, the people starve.

The first inkling of a problem came in 2013. Maduro had been President less than a year. Venezuela ran out of toilet paper. Once a person is without, the realization hits home that toilet paper is a necessity of life.

There is still a shortage of toilet paper.

Store shelves had less and less food. Eventually no food. People waiting in lines for hours. When finally in the store, nothing remained for sale.

In 2014, food shortages hit 28 percent. In 2015, 75 percent. Forget the percentages in this year of 2016. Famine has moved in. Maduro has declared a national food crisis.

Food has become precious.

The New York Times described the situation as follows: "Venezuela is convulsing from hunger."

2016 also became the year that water became in poor supply. 

Inflation is expected to exceed 700 percent by November.

There is no work. Factories cannot operate. There is no electricity. Maduro provides electricity 1-2 days a week. Maintenance has been neglected thereby causing the inability to produce electricity.

Families need food. People have been forced to extreme measures. 

Last year, garbage was a source of sustenance. However, garbage pails only hold so much food products that last only so long when many are searching. Then a point is reached where there is no garbage. People have nothing or little to eat.

Stealing a neighbor's food came next. Only so much to steal, however. 

This year evidences just how bad things have become.

Home pets, generally dogs and cats, were killed and eaten by families. If a family could not kill such a loved one or could not afford to feed the pet, the pet was dropped off on a highway. There others not fond of the pet would pick it up and take the pet home for dinner. 

Pets are no longer in supply.

Next were the zoos. In the last thirty days. First chickens, rabbits and the like were stolen and eaten. Then larger zoo animals.

Very recently, a Caracas zoo was broken into in the middle of the night. A black stallion was one of the zoo's featured animals. When zoo staff arrived in the morning, all that was left of the horse were its head and ribs.

What next? Hunger goes on at the same time the food supply dwindles even further. Cadavers? I don't know.

To appreciate Mommy, I'm hungry, consider the following.

Families only eat every second day. Some every third. Only one meal. Children included.

Children are malnourished. They faint in class. Some die. Their bodies nothing but skin and bones. The outline of ribs visible. Hands swollen. Skin stuck to bones. Bellies swollen.

Mothers try to make babies sleep till noon to avoid a breakfast of non-existent milk/food.

Whatever is available to eat is fried. With flour. Empty calories. Unhealthy. Nevertheless, adults and children develop bellies. The battle of the bulge. Not a healthy fat, if there is one.

People eat what they can find. What they find is not healthy.

There is a black market. Except for the generals and a handful of people, the others are poor. They cannot afford black market prices. 

Meat. What meat? Most have not eaten meat since last December.

On the rare occasions food is available, the cost for a family of five for bare necessities for a month is $226. The problem is few are working. There is no work. 

$226 is a lot of money. Especially in a society where the average monthly salary of one working is $15 a month

Medicines/hospitals are the same. Not enough of anything.

Diseases such as malaria and mange have returned. These diseases were eradicated years ago. Neither inoculations nor medicines exists. People are once again vulnerable.

Dengue fever a problem. The disease was controlled with medication. No medication means dengue is likely to be a death sentence.

There are no medicines to treat HIV/Aids. Many HIV inflicted are moving into the Aids category because necessary medicines are lacking. 

Hospitals have neither equipment nor medicines. They are filthy. Cleaning products not available. Nor gloves, saline, antibiotics, painkillers, morphine, and anesthesia.

Operations cannot be performed. Not only because of a lack of what is listed in the preceding paragraph. There is no electric power. Therefore, no air conditioning. The risk of bacterial infection becomes too high to operate.

Cockroaches on every floor and every wall.

There is a sick humor to all this. People are dying. There are no coffins. Cannot be manufactured nor imported. No power, no money.

Chavez hated America. He thought Bush 2 was the devil. Recall his sulfur comment before the United Nations.

Chavez was close friends with Fidel Castro and Raul Castro. As is Maduro.

As Castro blamed the United States for everything for fifty years, Chavez and Maduro blame the United States also. Especially Maduro.

Maduro claims the United States caused Chavez's cancer colon by secretly infecting him with cancer. He further claims the people are poor and without food because of Americans. Finally, he keeps his people in line by telling them the United States is preparing to invade. Just as Fidel Castro did.

I am not sure why I wrote about Venezuela this week. Is there a message? A lesson to be learned?

It hits home that here has to be a balance between socialism and liberalism. Both are needed in a society. However, Venezuela went to far to the left. Totally.

Beware of crazy leaders? Maduro is on the crazy side. A nut. Weigh your vote heavily in the November election.

What else, I don't know. I think I wrote this column because it is a tale of sickness and sadness. Everyone should be aware. It could happen anywhere anytime. No nation is immune. Even the United States.

GERMAN PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS

ews were not the only ones persecuted by Hitler. Several other groups also. One being homosexuals.

Note that no Hitler inspired destruction of any group equaled in number those of the Jewish religion. Six million a hard number to equal.

Homosexual numbers were significantly less. German record keeping was not as precise as those for Jews. For that reason the specific number of homosexuals killed or otherwise maimed is unknown.

German dislike of homosexuals was first officially recorded in 1871. Kaiser Wilhelm I, under the guiding hand of Chancellor Bismarck, established the German Empire. Paragraph 175 of the new criminal code outlawed acts of unnatural indecency between men.

From a legal perspective, unnatural indecency was vague enough to be unenforceable. Six years later, the German Supreme court defined the crime as an intercourse like act. 

The language was still vague and indefinite. Arrests and convictions of homosexuals were infrequent.

Now comes Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1900 per his direction, the German Regular Police began compiling lists of suspected homosexual men. The lists became known as pink lists. The pink lists were religiously kept. However, no one paid attention to them till 1932. The eve of Hitler's assumption of power.

Ernst Rohm was one of Hitler's closest supporters and a friend from the early 1920s. 

Rohm was a bully. A tough guy. His followers likewise. He and his followers were also homosexuals. Openly so. Their sexual preference having drawn world wide attention.

Rohm headed up the SA under Hitler. Brownshirters. They carried out Hitler's directions. However with greater frequency began acting as free agents.

The SA grew to three million members. Rohm the leader.

Rohm and his followwers became a threat to Hitler. Directly and indirectly. For political reasons, Hitler needed the support of the Army High Command. Older military types. Generals. They feared Rohm was going to run the military.

The Treaty of Versailles limited the German Army to 100,000 troops. Rohm's SA was not considered part of the German Army. Rohm had three million troops under his command.

Rohm had to go. One of Hitler's closet friends and first supporters. The relationship was of no concern to Hitler.

June 30, 1934 to July 2, 1934, is known as The Night of the Long Knives. Hitler had Rohm and his high level officers assassinated. Shot or hung. Without trial. Rohm was one of the first to go.

Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goering became the new power persons supporting Hitler. The SS and Gestapo the significant parts of the power group.

In 1936, Himmler created a special department of the Gestapo to deal with homosexuals.

Paragraph 175 was revised to give its words meat. Minimal involvement between men constituted homosexual behavior. Simple looking and simple touching. Homosexuals became so frightened that they stopped acknowledging fellow homosexuals if they saw them on the street.

During the next several years, nearly 100,000 men were arrested under the revised Paragraph 175. The pink lists started in 1900 were taken out of dusty boxes and back rooms to assist in identifying homosexuals.

Understand that Hitler used homosexuality as an excuse to get rid of Rohm and his followers. Rohm's death was not the end of his negativity re homosexuality. It was a popular cause. With the military, the people, everyone. Hitler rode its crest.

In a speech given by Hitler on August 4, 1937, Hitler said ".....homosexuality is actually as infectious and as dangerous as the plague."

Once arrested, conviction was a certainty. The law provided a choice to the guilty party. Castration. Or a long jail sentence. It was felt castration would automatically cure sexual deviance. It guaranteed the victim a shorter sentence.

Some homosexuals never saw a court room. They were immediately hauled off to a concentration camp.

The SS ran the concentration camps. The law empowered the court and camp officials to order castration without the victim's consent.

Homosexual concentration camp inmates were also subjected to involuntary experimentation, mutilation and death by camp doctors experimenting to find a way to cure homosexuality.

Three reasons were given as to why homosexuality had to be dealt with. In reality, merely excuses for poor treatment of homosexuals. The truth lie deeply in German souls. The eternal fear of homosexuals.

The first reason involved society's sexual balance. Germany had lost 2 million men in World War I. Two million more were thought to be homosexuals in the 1930s. Four million men not helping to produce babies.

Result: Fewer babies would be born. Resulting further in the death of a nation. So it was thought. Himmler said: "A people of a good race which has too few children has a one way ticket to the grave....."

The second reason was that homosexuals as a group would be a state within a state. A self serving group. The fear was a come the revolution thing.

Finally, homosexuality was a degeneracy. It threatened the masculinity of Germany. Homosexuals were effeminate and would not be able to fight for the Fatherland.

Homosexuals were poorly treated by guards and other inmates while in concentration camps. It is estimated 60 percent died from brutal treatment.

In 1940, Himmler directed that when homosexuals were released from jail, they were to go directly to a concentration camp. No passing Go.

World War II ended on May 8, 1945. You would assume the Allies would free the homosexuals as they did the Jews and other concentration camp prisoners. No. It was not to be. The Allies transferred the homosexuals to German prisons to serve the balance of their sentences under Paragraph 175.

In June 1956, Germany passed a Reparation Law for Victims of National Socialism. Those who had been in concentration camps were given a certain amount of money. The law clearly disqualified homosexuals from such compensation.

Paragraph 175 remained in force and effect till 1994 when it was abolished following the reunification of East and West Germany.

It was not until 2002 that Germany did something to fully recognize the injustice done to homosexuals. The German Parliament pardoned all homosexuals convicted by the Nazis under Paragraph 175.

The shame of it all is that it took from 1871 to 2002 to correct things. To recognize the wrong done homosexuals. Especially under Hitler. One hundred thirty one years.

I cannot understand how the Allies in 1945 sent homosexuals to prison rather than home. To finish their Paragraph 175 sentences. The good guys at the time, the Americans, English, French and Russians, were blind to the wrong being done.

I suspect intentionally blind.  Homosexuality was abhorred by "normal" people. They didn't care.

Look how far most societies have come. Same sex marriage. Same sex partners permitted to adopt. Even into transgenderism.

It took a long time.

Germany is not a stable society. Probably never has been. Enjoys ruling with an iron fist. Authoritarian. Think of its leaders. Even today's. Merkel is a hard ass.

Same sex marriage is still not legal in Germany. They are at the civil partnership stage. Called a Registered Life Partnership.

Interestingly, the German Supreme Court for several years has been suggesting the German Parliament amend the law to permit same sex marriage. Apparently German law does not permit their Supreme Court to rule directly on the issue. The issue has come up. The Parliament has consistently refused to approve same sex marriage.

At the same time, Germany has legalized prostitution. Berlin is the whore house of the world. 

I don't understand.

It is my opinion the German people remain intolerant and non accepting of homosexuals.

One cannot research and write an article of this nature without the issue of whether Hitler was a homosexual arising.

Most historians say no.

The issue of whether Hitler and Rohm engaged in homosexual play in the 1920s also comes into question. 

Historians suggest a strong perhaps.

Most historians, with few exceptions, believe Hitler was a ladies man. He had many girl friends before Eva Braun. He kept them under cover so as not to affect his political image. A typical politician.

It is claimed Hitler loved Eva Braun. His girl friend/companion for 13 years before their marriage.

Hitler never married till the last day of his life. Recall, he married Eva Braun and 24 hours later killed her and poisoned himself. 

Historians tell us Hitler never married prior to the Braun episode because he felt a wife and children would be too much baggage to carry. For a man who was seeking to conquer the world. He could not effectively lead if he had to be concerned with a family.

We have had a first Catholic President, a first black President, and soon perhaps a first woman President. The day will come when we will have our first homosexual President. 

Already many lower courts are presided over by homosexual and lesbian judges. I suspect it will be a first United States Supreme Court Justice before a President.

THE NEW PROSTITUTION

Bernie Sanders argued for a free college education in the recent primaries. College is expensive. Tuition a back breaker. Rent a killer. Borrowing resulting in long term debt.

There is a new phenomenon in the country. It has become increasingly popular in recent years. Considered trendy.

It is referred to as the girlfriend experience. Ladies selling their bodies for a fee. The ladies generally college girls or in their 20s. The men rich.

No pimps or street corners involved. The ladies use the internet to make contact.

The ladies sell their bodies in order to pay tuition, student loans, rent and some to afford designer labels.

The girlfriend experience is the new prostitution economy.

The experience is not a meet, quick bang and thank you m'am. More is involved. The men want the perfect short term girl friend. Well groomed, cultured, classy, able to converse about anything. A lady that never brings her personal problems to the relationship.

The time involved may be an evening, a day, a weekend, a trip.

The men are older. Decidedly so. Generally 40 to 60 years. Affluent. Money no object to them.

The wages of sin are pretty good. All over the place. The price generally set forth in the site ad. Anywhere from $400 an hour to $2,000-$5,000 an evening. Some higher.

One young lady in South Africa offers herself for $42,000 an evening. She will travel anywhere. I cannot conceive what she can do for that kind of money.

The lady friend of today is the sugar baby of yesterday. The men, the sugar daddies of yesterday. Interestingly, both labels still apply.

Most arrangements last 1-3 years. A weekly meeting. A set figure in advance. Many contract for $5,000 a month. That is $60,000 a year. One hundred eighty thousand dollars over three years.

The ladies generally have 2-3 sugar daddies they provide service for during the course of a week.

The money earned astronomical. Described as an allowance.

The men seek a cultured sexual relationship with a much younger lady. The ladies view the relationship as a job. They do it for the money. No emotional entanglement involved.

The men view the women as sex objects. Whores. Beneath them. Though the ladies are treated with respect at all times.

Most of the men involved are married. They receive from the younger ladies that which their wives fail to provide.

In addition to the agreed remuneration, there are perks/incidental gifts. Extra cash, shopping sprees, jewelry, travel. Benefits of a high end easy life.

The ladies kiss. A no no in the prostitution trade. Men do not kiss the ladies and the ladies not the men. The relationship of sugar daddy/sugar baby is closer and different. The relationship more than that found in other prostitution situations. Kissing is expected and welcomed.

The parties meet via the internet. The leading site is SeekingArrangement.com. More female subscribers than men by a 10-1 ratio. The ladies in their ads set forth their asking price. Men, their net worth.

The ladies are listed free. The men pay $44.95 per month. For an additional $1,200 paid by the man, Seeking Arrangement offers a Diamond Club. The Diamond Club verifies incomes and net worth for the ladies.

Other oft mentioned internet sites are SeekingMillionaire.com and SeekingBillionaire.com.

The feminist movement has mixed feelings. To some, it is empowering. The ladies are entering the work force. The sex industry. Others consider it slutty.

Some maintain the ladies involved are oppressed. Many of the sugar babies have a contrary opinion. They believe those working for $7 an hour are the oppressed ones.

The business world has found a new way of not paying new or entry level employees. They call them interns and make them work for nothing. A sugar baby does not have to tolerate such an experience.

2014 found a large spike as regards the ladies. Especially in southern states. The University of Austin had the greatest growth. Two hundred twenty seven percent.

The top four universities in every area reported were Georgia State University, Kent State University, Arizona State University, and New York University. Number one was New York University.

A top ten listing of cities with the highest density of daddies

showed  Atlanta #1 and Austin #10.

The ladies are sometimes referred to as hidden hos. Websites such as Seeking Arrangement as convenience stores for adulterers. More dignified, a virtual brothel.

I wish to venture a personal opinion.

Prostitution is illegal in the United States, except for Nevada. Whether sexual activity constitutes a crime is dependent on the services provided. If something more than sex is provided, the acts are not viewed as prostitution. The something more such things as house cleaning or companionship. All difficult of proof.

More than 15 nations world wide have legalized prostitution. Included are New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Columbia, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Sometime in the early 2000s, Germany legalized prostitution. The reason/excuse was to give dignity to the women. Also provide a means by which the ladies had rights, pension plans, and hospitalization coverage.

The real reason was Germany wanted to tax prostitution. They taxed it at every level of government and form of participation. Germany has made a ton of money and continues to do so.

The ladies have not benefited as anticipated. The reason being the influx of immigrants from Europe's eastern block and North Africa. Too many new prostitutes. Prices for services rendered dropped dramatically. The old story of supply and demand.

The United States has moved swiftly in the past ten years in certain areas. Same sex marriage, transgendered  accepted in the military, marijuana legalized.

Marijuana is not yet legal in every state nor via federal law. It will be in the next 5-10 years.

I see prostitution on the same path as same sex marriage and marijuana approval. Legalization. The government will approve legalization because of the large tax dollars prostitution brings.

Legalization is coming. You can bet on it. In 10 years or less.

WHO PAYS FOR THE BOOZE AND BALLOONS?

In several days, the Republican National convention to nominate its candidate for President will begin. Soon thereafter, the Democratic Convention will be held.

The two events costly. Multi millions of dollars. All those balloons that come down upon the Presidential nominee and delegates cost money.

The national conventions have been referred to as summertime parties. And parties they are. Think back at the happy faces you have seen on television over the years.

The Nixon era focused on corruption in government. Political corruption. The evil of monies from major corporations and the wealthy.

At that time, the conventions cost reach party roughly $2 million. Congress came up with a scheme whereby taxpayer monies could be used to pay the cost of the conventions.

Taxpayers themselves would decide if they wanted their tax dollars used. The annual taxpayer form was amended to add a box. If a taxpayer wanted $3 of his tax dollars to go to pay for national political conventions, the box had to be checked.

The first year for those tax dollars to be used for the conventions was 1976. Each party received a little more than $2 million. Since that time the fund has grown.

Through the 2012 nominating conventions, the number contributing $3 grew to 33 million. The amount to each political party rose similarly.

The 1976 $2 million became $18,248,300 to each political party. A total of $36.5 million.

On top of which (there is always more), each party received directly from the federal government $50 million for security. Generally, for the streets outside the convention halls.

This brings the total the parties received in 2012 for convention purposes to $136 million.

The desire for a corruption free process to nominate Presidential candidates eroded over the years. In 1976 and the early years thereafter, convention costs were able to be paid out of taxpayer monies.

Then came a politically free spending Congress and a Supreme Court that held corporations are people. As such, they could contribute as much as they wanted. Even in the billions. Called free speech. Likewise, the very rich. Through PACs and corporations set up for that purpose.

In 2012, the Republican convention cost $74 million. The Democratic one $66 million. Note again only $18.2 million of taxpayer monies was available to each party. The almost 100 percent percent public funding of the conventions in 1976 became significantly lower in 2012. The 2012 tax dollars paid for 25 percent of the Republican convention and 28 percent of the Democratic convention.

The balance of monies needed came from big corporations and the very wealthy.

Prior to 2012, a simple rule was invoked as to how the taxpayer dollars were to be used. Generally, the dollars could be spent for anything inside the convention hall. Outside was the headache of others. The delegates, corporations and the wealthy.

Examples of the inside convention hall expenses included payroll for staff (in the millions), lodging (close to the million mark), catering, airfare, film production, banners, promotional items, photography services, floral arrangements, communication consultants, political consulting fees, music, production podium, gifts/trinkets, make up consultants, and entertainment.

The booze and balloons part of the above.

Now came 2014. Not a Presidential election year. Obama recognized that the conventions really did not need the taxpayer dollars any longer. Corporate and wealthy donors were more than sufficient to pay all convention costs.

Congress agreed with him. A bipartisan law resulted.

Obama signed a bill doing away with taxpayer monies coming out of the fund to pay the costs of national political conventions. The monies hence forth would be earmarked for pediatric research: Cancer, autism, fragile X syndrome, and other childhood diseases.

A noble effort on the surface.

Congressional Republicans said they wanted to ditch the political money and put children first. A joke. It would have been one of the first times in recent years if it were true. Think how many child programs were cut or eliminated by Republican majorities in recent years.

The monies were to go to the National Institutes of Health to distribute and oversee. The problem was Congress never authorized the money. Remember, the taxpayer dollars used for the conventions came from the $3 check off box. Pediatric research required direct Congressional appropriation.

Thus to this day, no monies, not one penny, have gone to pediatric research. Cause there ain’t no monies! None ever legislatively appropriated.

To answer the question raised in the title as to who would be paying for the booze and balloons this year, Corporate America and the very rich. Those that can afford it.

By so doing, the big corporations and very rich acquire additional influence over members of our government. Whether Republican or Democratic.

CAPTAIN BLIGH A GOOD GUY

Hollywood has a tendency to play with the truth.

Hollywood has made several Mutiny on the Bounty movies over the years. All depicting William Bligh as a despicable mean naval captain.

Typical of the industry, Bligh was misrepresented. He was not the Charles Laughton of the 1935 movie, nor the Trevor Howard of the 1962 movie, nor the Anthony Hopkins of the 1984 movie. Bligh was a competent caring ship captain.

Fletcher Christian as portrayed by Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, and Mel Gibson respectively not quite the nice guy reflected in the films. Though not bad per se. I think in the end his penis got in the way of his judgment.

Bligh's notoriety comes from his Bounty experiences. The Bounty was not his only court martial trial, however. Two more followed the Bounty episode.

The Bounty mutiny occurred in 1789. The second was the Spithead Mutiny in 1797. The third and last, the Rum Rebellion in 1808.

Bligh was exonerated/found not guilty in all three court martial trials. He was returned to duty in each instance.

He was a Lieutenant at the time of the Bounty mutiny. He thereafter captained eight major vessels rising in rank from Commodore to Admiral. Followed by appointment as Governor of New South Wales.

Not reflective of Hollywood's Charles Laughton, Trevor Howard or Anthony Hopkins.

The Bounty was a small ship. Not even referred to as a ship. It was a cutlass. Had on board only one officer. A lieutenant. Bligh was the lieutenant. No Marine contingency. Marines were placed on ships to maintain security.

Fletcher Christian was on board the Bounty. He and Bligh had met in the early 1800s and became close friends. Fletcher a younger man. Fletcher was eager to learn navigation. Bligh took him under his wing.

The Bounty was headed for Tahiti. The purpose of the voyage was to obtain breadfruit which grew on Tahiti. Then return the breadfruit to slave islands in the Caribbean. The British government was hopeful the cheap breadfruit would suffice in feeding the slaves.

Bligh's intent was to take the Bounty around South America's Cape Horn and then onto Tahiti. Bad weather confronted the Bounty. Bligh could not get it around Cape Horn. He was required to change direction to South Africa and around its tip.

The change in course screwed up the Bounty's time table. Involved was the breadfruit growing season. The Bounty arrived in Tahiti not at the end of a growing season. Relatively close to the beginning of the season. The Bounty was required to remain in Tahiti five months waiting for the breadfruit to reach harvesting time.

Fletcher was a Master's Mate. Bligh gave him the added responsibility of being in charge of one of the three watches. In effect making Christian a sort of number 2 in authority.

The crew had nothing to do during the five months of wait. Tahiti was beautiful. A care free attitude existed among the natives. Love making was a constant activity. Sexual license pervasive.

The crew became accustomed to the hedonistic pace.

When the time came to leave Tahiti, the men were reluctant. They had found heaven on earth.

During the trip to Tahiti, Bligh might be described as a kinder captain that most in the British Navy. He punished sparingly. Never hung. Whipped where other captains would hang. Maintained a good diet for the men and strict sanitation on the ship.

He could not be labeled as cruel.

His one negative was that he could be abrupt and insulting.

Bligh's nature and disposition had nothing to do with the mutiny. Most of the crew was reluctant to leave the idyllic life they were enjoying on Tahiti.

The Bounty did depart Tahiti. It did not get too far. In the middle of the night, Fletcher led the rebellion. Fletcher and some mutineers entered Bligh's cabin, woke him, tied him and brought him upon deck.

Bligh chastised his friend Fletcher. Fletcher's response was short.....I am in hell.

Bligh and most of the crew not supporting the mutiny were placed in a 23 foot launch. Too many bodies for such a small boat. They were given four cutlasses, food and water for a week, a quadrant, and a compass. No charts.

The Fletcher led mutineers returned to Tahiti. History tells us they lived the exotic life a while till Fletcher told them they had to leave to avoid discovery and arrest. Fletcher and the crew took their native loves and sailed off. History knows not where they went.

Bligh was a sailor of the first class. He was determined to get himself and his men home.

The nearest island with European settlers was Timor. 4,164 miles away. Bligh got the cutlass and men there. Only one died on the way. The trip took 47 days. Bligh and the crew survived on 1/12 pounds of bread per day. Bligh navigated the whole way. To this day considered a marvelous accomplishment.

The court martial honorably acquitted Bligh. Note was made that had there been more officers and a Marine detachment, the mutiny would never have occurred.

A small number of crewmen were found guilty. Only three hung. Found guilty not of mutiny, but barratry. Barratry was defined as the misappropriation by those entrusted with the care of a ship to the detriment of the owner (British Crown).

Bligh was returned to duty as a captain of a larger vessel.

Bligh was to stand court martial a second time in a mutiny situation in 1797. Bligh was captain of the HMS Director. Several other ships were involved in the mutiny. The mutiny referred to as the Spithead Mutiny.

The mutiny had nothing to do with Bligh personally. The crews mutinied for more pay and an end to brutality.

Bligh was found not guilty and returned to sea duty as captain of an even larger vessel.

Bligh's competency and leadership were recognized by the British government in 1805 when he was appointed as Governor of New South Wales. New south Wales was near or a part of Australia.

New South Wales had a high society consisting of colonists and senior officers of the New South Wales Corp.

They were stealing the island and British government blind.

Bligh was confrontational. Actually pissed off. He ordered them to cease and desist.

No one heard him. No one wanted to hear him. Those he was chastising were making huge profits from illegal private trading. The trading primarily in rum. The incident is referred to as the Rum Rebellion.

Four hundred soldiers revolted. Took over. Found Bligh hiding under his bed. Arrested him. Kept him prisoner for two years till a court martial trial was held.

Bligh again was acquitted. The rebel leader was found guilty and dismissed from the military service with loss of pension. Meant nothing to him. He returned to New South Wales and enjoyed the balance of his life living off his ill gotten gains from the rum trade.

Bligh was obviously a competent leader. Good to his crews in comparison to other naval captains of the time. A straight arrow, however.

He faced trial three times. Was exonerated three times. Continued in service after each acquittal.

Why do I write this piece re Bligh? Simple. I think Hollywood has given him a bad deal. Hollywood has portrayed him as a villain in the Bounty movies. I wanted to set the record straight. Showing also that Bligh walked with a black cloud over his head. Three times subjected to court martial trial.

NAPOLEON 2 Xs

Nature and illness have a way of thwarting events.

As Napoleon well learned.

Two times.

First in what led Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory so cheaply to the United States. The other the cause of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.

Napoleon was a busy man in 1802 and 1803. He was waging battles all over Europe. A war was contemplated against the United Kingdom. A slave revolution was taking place on the French island of Haiti in the Caribbean. Thirty thousand French troops were headed for New Orleans. Napoleon intended to land in New Orleans and move out to establish a French presence in the Mississippi Valley.

Napoleon's plate was full.

He sent his brother-in-law General Victor Emanuel LeClerc to New Orleans to do the necessary to make North Americans aware that France was a player on the continent. LeClerc led a force of 30,000 crack French troops.

A slave mutiny was underway on Haiti. Napoleon told LeClerc to stop at Haiti first and put down the insurrection. Napoleon viewed the uprising as a fly on his arm. It could quickly be put down. He thought it would take 2-3 months. Then on to New Orleans.

At the time, there was a small garrison of French troops on the island guarding French planters and colonists.

Napoleon and LeClerc failed to take into account another Haitian enemy. A small one. The mosquito. Whose bite caused yellow fever.

Note that the Haitian slaves in rebellion had come from Africa. They had a built in immunity to yellow fever. Those white colonists born on Haiti developed an immunity after suffering a mild yellow fever attack in their youth.

Within a year, most of LeClerc's troops were dead or dying. LeClerc himself died.

Napoleon sent General Rochambeau to Haiti with 20,000 additional troops. In less than a year, those troops were laid low by yellow fever. Rochambeau returned to France late in 1803 with only 3,000 survivors of the 50,000 troops sent.

Interestingly, twice as many French troops were felled by yellow fever on Haiti than were killed in the Battle of Waterloo years later.

Medical science did not know how to deal with yellow fever at the time. The best remedial/preventive activity engaged in was the burning of Haitian cities and villages to the ground.

Napoleon was infuriated. His response in effect was screw the Americas! He was not going to waste one more French life in Haiti, New Orleans or the Mississippi Valley.

Thomas Jefferson was President at the time. He had envoys in Paris negotiating with the French to purchase New Orleans. All of a sudden, France was offering to sell all the Louisiana Territory to the United States. Cheap. Dirt cheap.

Four cents an acre. Total price $15 million. A give away.

Jefferson jumped on the opportunity. Bought it all. Eight hundred twenty seven square miles of land. The purchase doubled the size of the United States. Opened the country to westward expansion.

Jefferson had to work hard to get Congress to agree to the Louisiana purchase. A major effort. History gives Jefferson credit for the purchase.

Few historians mention Napoleon, Haiti, or the mosquitoes. Few tell the story set forth herein.

Twelve years later, the Battle of Waterloo. June 18, 1815. Napoleon's final fall from grace.

Historians again tell only a part of the story. Fail also to give credit to the actual cause of Napoleon's defeat. His hemorrhoids.

The night before, Napoleon's hemorrhoids were killing him. On top of which he had a bladder infection.

In order to relieve the pain and help him to sleep, Napoleon took a dose of opium. It worked. Worked so well that he failed to wake in the morning . Slept till just before one in the afternoon.

Napoleon's delay in getting to the battlefield gave opposing armies time to change their positions. To more favorable ones. Such would never have occurred had Napoleon been on the job early that morning. The opposition moves assisted them greatly in countering Napoleon's actions.

Napoleon had another problem. He had difficulty mounting and riding his horse. The hemorrhoids again.

Napoleon's habit was to ride around the battlefield while the fighting was ongoing. Based on his personal observations, he would make tactical determinations to redeploy his forces.

Such reconnaissances were not possible that day.

Napoleon continued taking opium during the day. It is thought the opium affected his judgment.

In spite of these negatives confronting Napoleon, victory did not come to either side till late in the day.

Credit for the victory is generally given to the Duke of Wellington, leader of the allied forces. Prussians were part of that force. However the Prussians did not arrive on the battlefield till late in the day. Some historians give the Prussians credit because victory was achieved only after they arrived.

No one gives Napoleon's hemorrhoids credit, expect for a handful of historians.

Historians look for flesh and blood heroes. Human ones. Rather than mosquitoes and hemorrhoids.

People want heroes, people need heroes.