#West Africa Squadron

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

The Hidden Truth Behind The End Of Slavery - Thomas Sowell

Slavery was destroyed within the United States at staggering costs in blood and treasure, but the struggle was over within a few ghastly years of warfare. Nevertheless, the Civil War was the bloodiest war ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, and more Americans were killed in that war than in any other war in the country’s history. But this was a highly atypical—indeed, unique—way to end slavery. In most of the rest of the world, unremitting efforts to destroy the institution of slavery went on for more than a century, on a thousand shifting fronts, and in the face of determined and ingenious efforts to continue the trade in human beings.

Within the British Empire, the abolition of slavery was accompanied by the payment of compensation to slave owners for what was legally the confiscation of their property. This cost the British government £20 million—a huge sum in the nineteenth century, about 5 percent of the nation’s annual output.38 A similar plan to have the federal government of the United States buy up the slaves and then set them free was proposed in Congress, but was never implemented. The costs of emancipating the millions of slaves in the United States would have been more than half the annual national output—but still less than the economic costs of the Civil War,39 quite aside from the cost in blood and lives, and a legacy of lasting bitterness in the South, growing out of its defeat and the widespread destruction it suffered during that conflict.

While the British could simply abolish slavery in their Western Hemisphere colonies, they faced a more daunting and longer-lasting task of patrolling the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, in order to prevent slave ships of various nationalities from continuing to supply slaves illegally. Even during the Napoleonic wars, Britain continued to keep some of its warships on patrol off West Africa. Moreover, such patrols likewise tried to interdict the shipments of slaves from East Africa through the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Brazil capitulated to British demands that it end its slave trade, after being publicly humiliated by British warships that seized and destroyed slave ships within Brazil’s own waters. In 1873, two British cruisers appeared off the coast of Zanzibar and threatened to blockade the island unless the slave market there shut down. It was shut down.

It would be hard to think of any other crusade pursued so relentlessly for so long by any nation, at such mounting costs, without any economic or other tangible benefit to itself. These costs included bribes paid to Spain and Portugal to get their cooperation with the effort to stop the international slave trade and the costs of maintaining naval patrols and of resettling freed slaves, not to mention dangerous frictions with France and the United States, among other countries.40 Captains of British warships who detained vessels suspected of carrying slaves were legally liable if those vessels turned out to have no slaves on board. The human costs were also large.

[..]

None of this means that the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade should be ignored, downplayed, or excused. Nor have they been. A vast literature has detailed the vile conditions under which slaves from Africa lived—and died—during their voyages to the Western Hemisphere. But the much less publicized slave trade to the Islamic countries had even higher mortality rates en route, as well as involving larger numbers of people over the centuries, even though the Atlantic slave trade had higher peaks while it lasted. By a variety of accounts, most of the slaves who were marched across the Sahara toward the Mediterranean died on the way.53 While these were mostly women and girls, the males faced a special danger—castration to produce the eunuchs in demand as harem attendants in the Islamic world.

[..]

On the issue of slavery, it was essentially Western civilization against the world. At the time, Western civilization had the power to prevail against all other civilizations. That is how and why slavery was destroyed as an institution in almost the whole world. But it did not happen all at once or even within a few decades. When the British finally stamped out slavery in Tanganyika in 1922 it was more than half a century after the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, and vestiges of slavery still survived in parts of Africa into the twenty-first century.

==

This video pairs visual elements with Sowell's audiobook reading of his own book, "Black Rednecks and White Liberals."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_Africa

The Blockade of Africa began in 1808 after the United Kingdom outlawed the Atlantic slave trade, making it illegal for British ships to transport slaves. The Royal Navy immediately established a presence off Africa to enforce the ban, called the West Africa Squadron. Although the ban initially applied only to British ships, Britain negotiated treaties with other countries to give the Royal Navy the right to intercept and search their ships for slaves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa_Squadron

The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act 1807 and based out of Portsmouth, England, it remained an independent command until 1856 and then again from 1866 to 1867.

[whencyclopedia]

The Portuguese Conquest of India

Throughout the 15th century, the Portuguese Crown yearned for a piece of the Far Eastern spice trade. For centuries this trade had been dominated by the Venetians who obtained pepper, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon from their Middle Eastern trading partners, the Mamluks and Ottomans.

In 1497, King Manuel I of Portugal (r. 1495-1521) selected the nobleman Vasco da Gama (c. 1469-1524) to find the way to the spices. Da Gama was to follow the route to the Indian Ocean pioneered by Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450-1500), who had learned to use the strong east winds of the mid-Atlantic to hurl him and his crew around the Cape of Good Hope.

Da Gama's Voyage

Da Gama set off on 8 July 1497 with a squadron of four well-armed ships, three years of supplies and a store of cheap goods to trade with what was assumed would be unsophisticated natives. Unfortunately, instead of boomeranging directly around the Cape, da Gama got caught in the doldrums of the central Atlantic and did not make it around the Cape. After sailing for 95 days, he landed 125 miles north of it at St Helena Bay.

By the time they reached land, most of da Gama's crew were in desperate shape with scurvy – their hands and feet grotesquely swollen, and their bloody gums distended over their teeth. Scurvy was to become the scourge of all the future European voyages to India and led to countless deaths. No one escaped the symptoms after a couple of months at sea without fresh fruit and vitamin C. Fortunately, the healthiest of da Gama's crew were still able to mend sails, collect water, and hunt for fresh meat allowing them to continue their journey. During one of the missions to collect water, the crew had a nasty encounter with the local Khoikhoi, and da Gama received a minor spear wound. The Portuguese resolved to never again approach land without being heavily armed and ready to "fight at the slightest provocation" (Crowley, 2015).

Da Gama then headed down the rest of the west coast, travelled through the stormy seas around the Cape and passed the Great Fish River (Eastern Cape, South Africa) where Dias had previously anchored, before sailing into waters previously unknown to Europeans. With Christmas on the way, da Gama gave the coast they were passing the name Natal.

Vasco da Gama's first landing on the eastern coast of Africa was on Mozambique, in early March of 1498. At first, he had pleasant interactions with the local natives who were interested in trading for his cheap trinkets, but this atmosphere changed dramatically when he arrived at his first settlement of Muslim traders in Mozambique City. The local sultan was insulted by the poor quality of the brass pots, trinkets, and clothing that he was offered, and after a series of altercations, da Gama fled the city and continued north.

As da Gama moved up the coast, he was astonished to find a series of rich, sophisticated city-states. What he had stumbled upon was the south-western periphery of the prosperous trade network that stretched all the way from Africa to India, down to Malaysia, and through the islands of Indonesia to China. He was moving into a largely Muslim world that was much more deeply layered and complex than the Portuguese had anticipated in their wildest dreams.

Da Gama also made the startling discovery that Muslim trading vessels were unarmed, a situation totally alien to Mediterranean traders. Genoa and Venice had long been waging commercial wars at sea along with the Catalans, Spaniards, and Franks. Da Gama realized it would be easy to prey on any Muslim trading vessels he came upon, taking gold, silver, foodstuffs, and hostages from the unarmed ships.

Continue reading...

[stephensmithuk]

The Blanched Soldier

Originally published in 1926; the Americans actually got this one first by a month.

I have covered the Boer War extensively in a previous post, but will add some notes on items directly relevant to this story.

The Imperial Yeomanry were a volunteer i.e. not career military force of mounted infantry formed in 1900 as reinforcements in the Boer War. They were disbanded in 1908 and merged into the Territorial Force, a precursor of what is now called the Army Reserve.

Mounted infantry were infantry that travelled on horseback and fount dismounted. They continued in use into the Cold War, with some units also being "mounted" on bicycles on both sides of the Second World War, before being replaced with mechanised infantry.

Middlesex was the traditional county that covered much of the North and West of what is now Greater London; losing a large chunk of its territory and population to the London County Council in 1889. It was abolished in 1965, but remains very much a thing for sporting and cultural purposes, with its own county cricket team being just one example.

A martinet is a strict disciplinarian, the name coming for a type of short whip. Arnold RImmer from Red Dwarf is sometimes described as such, although the character is clearly meant to be quite pathetic.

The Victoria Cross is the highest British award for gallantry, equivalent to the Medal of Honor and like that medal, frequently awarded posthumously. It also usually requires multiple witnesses to the gallantry in question. It trumps absolutely everything bar the George Cross in the honours system, and it is traditional for a private with a VC to be saluted by a general officer.

The most recent VC was awarded to Joshua Leakey in 2015 for his involvement in a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2013, where he took control of a machine gun left on a hill and kept firing even as bullets ricocheted off the weapon.

An elephant gun is a large calibre rifle intended for use against elephants and large animals. They saw some military use in the World Wars by the British against armoured German snipers in the trenches of the First and by the Italians against British armoured cars in North Africa during the Second. Since ivory hunting became taboo, they are much less common.

Bedford is a market town in England and county town of Bedfordshire. It has two stations, the main one being located on the Midland Main Line running into St Pancras. Served by Thameslink, East Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services, the last on the Marston Vale line to Bletchley, it is on the outer edge of the London commuter belt.

The other station at Bedford St. John's is served by LNWR services on the Marston Vale line to Bletchley, which is part of the former Varsity Line from Oxford to Cambridge. The station was resited in 1984.

The Sultan of Turkey - and the whole Ottoman Empire - in 1903 was Abdul Hamid II, a modernising absolute ruler who faced many assassination attempts and was ousted in a coup in 1909, replaced by his half-brother Mehmed V.

The Spectator is a British political magazine that has run since 1828. Being distinctly conservative in its world view, its former editors include one Boris Johnson.

"Squadron" was the traditional term for company or battalion sized cavalry or mounted infantry units. Outside of naval and air force use, it is now used for armoured units, which are frequently old cavalry units that just changed their level of horsepower.

Stoep is an Afrikaans word for "stoop".

Leprosy is transmittable by close contact, but you generally need a lot of it. It is still common in Brazil, much of Africa and India, but is now curable. Prejudice remains a big problem, with "leper colonies" still being common.

The general scholarly consensus is that it wasn't ichthoysis, of which there are many types. The NHS has more information here (with pictures): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ichthyosis/

[lboogie1906]

Tuskegee Airman Colonel George “Spanky” Roberts (September 24, 1918 - March 8, 1984).

Key Highlights About Colonel George “Spanky” Roberts:

First African American military pilot from West Virginia

Member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen during WWII

Flew over 100 missions in Africa, Europe & Middle East

Trained with the first class of Tuskegee Airmen

He was the first African American military pilot from West Virginia and a member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen during WWII.

He was born in London, WV. He graduated from Fairmont’s Dunbar High School and West Virginia State College with a BS in mechanical arts.

He entered aviation cadet training with the first class of Tuskegee Airmen.

Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant & pilot in 1942; he flew over 100 missions in Africa, Europe & Middle East, and commanded the 99th Fighter Squadron, and 332nd Fighter Group in WWII.

He became the senior Air Corps ROTC instructor at Tuskegee Institute. He served in Korea and Okinawa. He was assigned to Griffiss Air Force Base where he was responsible for all ground radar in the Air Force. Decorated for meritorious service in WWII, Korea, & a 25-year career. He retired with the rank of colonel at McClellan Air Force Base. His decorations included the Air Force Commendation Medal with four oak clusters and two presidential citations. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #omegapsiphi

[reasoningdaily]

African leaders in Sierra Leone played a key role in ending the transatlantic slave trade

Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone on the west African coast, was named for the freed slaves who were returned to Africa by British members of the movement to end slavery. Founded in 1787 by a group of 400 black Britons from London, the colony ultimately became a refuge for nearly 100,000 people resettled by the British Anti-Slavery Naval Squadron.

As a historian focusing on the impact of abolitionism, I have studied this history and the founding of modern Sierra Leone.

There is a misconception that Britain was the first to abolish the slave trade. It wasn’t the first, but its decision to abolish the trade was backed up by the power of its navy. Sierra Leone’s role in the story shows, however, to enforce that abolition, the British navy had to rely on the support of African states and polities that had already turned against the slave trade.

Africans played an overlooked role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. Sierra Leone’s rich history is testament to that.

The founding of Sierra Leone

The Atlantic Slave Trade began around the 1520s, but the area around Sierra Leone was not a major contributor to the trade before the middle of the 1700s. From 1763 onwards, the number of enslaved people shipped annually from the Sierra Leone coast by British, Portuguese and French traders rarely fell below 1,000 and was often closer to 4,000. Even then, the number of captives was roughly half the number being transported from the Gold Coast (Ghana), a quarter of the number being transported from the Bight of Benin, and a tenth of the number transported from the Angolan coast.

And yet from 1808, it was Sierra Leone – rather than one of the other sites of slave trading – that became the site of British anti-slavery operations. This was because by then, Sierra Leone was the site of an established and growing colony made up of members of the black British diaspora, many formerly enslaved. And the success of that colony was possible in part because of the interest and engagement of the Temne, the Susu, and other African people based in and around the Sierra Leone peninsula.

In 1787, the first group of black Britons arrived on the peninsula as part of a project in self-government and with the support of the London-based abolitionist leaders Granville Sharp and Olaudah Equiano. The first settlement faced hardships and lacked support among the Temne, whose land they were renting.

The settlement grows

In 1791, another group arrived in the colony and sought out a new treaty of settlement. This group chose to immigrate to Sierra Leone from inhospitable Nova Scotia (Canada), where they had been settled by the British government as “black loyalists” after fleeing from slavery during the American Revolution (1776-1783). A new organisation, the Sierra Leone Company, took over the management of the colony from London. Their records show that by the early 1790s, the Temne saw the arrival of these colonists as an opportunity.

King Naimbana, for instance, who negotiated the treaty between the Sierra Leone Company and the Temne, sent his son to London for education. And in their negotiations, company officials noted that the people they were engaging with were keen for opportunities to trade for imported goods without reverting to selling other people.

African role in ending slavery

As I found in my research, it was African demand that was shaping the success of the colony and its mission to shift the coast’s commerce away from the slave trade. Records held at the Huntington Library in California show that local buyers paid a higher price for the “SLC” mark – a price paid in goods and currency, rather than in enslaved captives. One British representative wrote a letter in 1793 to the Sierra Leone Company to complain that “it has become practice with slave traders to bring out guns for trade marked SLC for which they get a rapid sale and a double price in the Rio Nunez” to the north of the colony. He also worried that this was happening with “SLC” cloths.

Although he was unsure of their enthusiasm for the abolition of the slave trade, the British official commented that “their mouths were full of proposals to trade with us and plant cotton and coffee”. And a Susu leader’s deputy launched a verbal attack against the slave traders, telling them:

It is you slave traders who cause all our palavers. It is you who set the people in this country one against another. And what do you bring us for this? We have cloth of our own if you were gone tomorrow we should not be naked. If you were gone we should want but little guns and powder.

This support of the Susu and Temne around Sierra Leone for the colony, its trade, and its African diaspora population meant that the colony seemed like a natural fit for the British when they were looking for a way of enforcing their Slave Trade Act in 1807 to end the Atlantic slave trade. The British based an anti-slave trade naval patrol in the colony, as well as a court for processing captured slave ships.

The Sierra Leone Company was happy to hand over control to the British government, but it was the people on the ground whose successful trading relationships had built a growing city with markets, accommodation, infrastructure and, most importantly, a sense of security for the thousands of resettled enslaved people who would soon see its population soar.

Conclusion

There is a misconception that Britain was the first to abolish the slave trade and that it brought enlightened anti-slavery ideas to Africa. This misconception was used to justify the spread of colonial rule in the 19th century. But the history of Sierra Leone shows that, in order to enforce their abolition decrees, the British had to rely on African states and polities that had already turned against the slave trade.

[conniejoworld]

DeSantis said no one questioned slavery before Americans. See Van Jones ...

CHRONOLOGY-Who banned slavery when?

By Reuters Staff

3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Britain marks 200 years on March 25 since it enacted a law banning the trans-Atlantic slave trade, although full abolition of slavery did not follow for another generation.

Following are some key dates in the trans-atlantic trade in slaves from Africa and its abolition.

1444 - First public sale of African slaves in Lagos, Portugal

1482 - Portuguese start building first permanent slave trading post at Elmina, Gold Coast, now Ghana

1510 - First slaves arrive in the Spanish colonies of South America, having travelled via Spain

1518 - First direct shipment of slaves from Africa to the Americas

1777 - State of Vermont, an independent Republic after the American Revolution, becomes first sovereign state to abolish slavery

1780s - Trans-Atlantic slave trade reaches peak

1787 - The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade founded in Britain by Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson

1792 - Denmark bans import of slaves to its West Indies colonies, although the law only took effect from 1803.

1807 - Britain passes Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, outlawing British Atlantic slave trade.

- United States passes legislation banning the slave trade, effective from start of 1808.

1811 - Spain abolishes slavery, including in its colonies, though Cuba rejects ban and continues to deal in slaves.

1813 - Sweden bans slave trading

1814 - Netherlands bans slave trading

1817 - France bans slave trading, but ban not effective until 1826

1833 - Britain passes Abolition of Slavery Act, ordering gradual abolition of slavery in all British colonies. Plantation owners in the West Indies receive 20 million pounds in compensation

- Great Britain and Spain sign a treaty prohibiting the slave trade

1819 - Portugal abolishes slave trade north of the equator

- Britain places a naval squadron off the West African coast to enforce the ban on slave trading

1823 - Britain’s Anti-Slavery Society formed. Members include William Wilberforce

1846 - Danish governor proclaims emancipation of slaves in Danish West Indies, abolishing slavery

1848 - France abolishes slavery

1851 - Brazil abolishes slave trading

1858 - Portugal abolishes slavery in its colonies, although all slaves are subject to a 20-year apprenticeship

1861 - Netherlands abolishes slavery in Dutch Caribbean colonies

1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln proclaims emancipation of slaves with effect from January 1, 1863; 13th Amendment of U.S. Constitution follows in 1865 banning slavery

1886 - Slavery is abolished in Cuba

1888 - Brazil abolishes slavery

1926 - League of Nations adopts Slavery Convention abolishing slavery

1948 - United Nations General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including article stating “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

[karldonitz1945]

Pacific front:

Arthur Cage: (part 2)

Omen of Forthcoming Doom :

10 December 1941

These days have been quite, uneventful and boring. The recon missions from my Airfield are not bearing any fruit. The Japanese, Surprisingly attacked USA first. A quick and ruthless attack on Pearl Harbor at the crack of dawn, All American battleships were sunk and many of the fine sailors lost their lives. An attack of this scale was unimaginable and the stealth and the precision was mind blowing. Following the cowardly attack by the Japs on the 7th December, our superiors were rattled and we, especially me, was run ragged on recon missions. I have searched every nook and cranny, every atoll, every island. And there is still no news from the front, except for the fact that they had landed in the Philippines and made quick work of the skimpy defenses there. So, except for the occasional news of a Jap patrol plane 100 miles from here a week ago. Nothing interesting has occurred.

My Ma is also well. After the blitz, Nothing of note has occurred in London. Sally has some good news though! She got a job in the Admiralty and is the secretary of an Admiral. Smart girl, we will officially celebrate once I am back home . Need Ranjit to tell me where they sell some pearls, she loves them. Damn, I really miss her...

" 4th Squadron! Scramble for your scheduled Recon sortie at 1100 hours!"

Boomed the loudspeaker at our base. Oh well, enough reminiscing about these uneventful days. Lets get this sortie over with and be back by lunch. They are serving Lamb stew.

1300 hours, Somewhere in the pacific :

This time, the mission was a bit special. Intelligence reports indicated that a small convoy of Japanese ships was in the area and I was dispatched to report its positions so that a British fleet led by a huge battleship can send them to the depths of the ocean. You'd think that we'd be given radar or something since I was a recon pilot, but no. We had to make use of our good old eyes. The best of equipment is reserved for my homeland and Africa. Are they really serious about defending Singapore like this?

ooh! Contact!

I can see the silhouette of a ship, an entire line of ships! Its the convoy!. Should get a bit closer. Yes they are the transport ships! With a few scanty, old destroyers. Those said destroyers fire some shells but its nothing compared to what I've faced before. I banked, dived and simply moved out of the way. On my radio:

"Command, I have good news. A convoy of 13 ships: 4 destroyers, 9 transport are heading north. Bearing 30 degrees. They are lightly armed and our battleships should make quick work of them"

"Copy that. Confirm for any other escorts."

"Negative. The fruits are ripe for taking. Happy hunting to our sailors"

" Your mission is complete. Come back to the base at once. Good Job"

"I will be heading back shortly."

I turned back, gained some altitude and headed to back. Out of the corner of my eye. To the west of the convoy, another dark silhouette of a ship arose. Should be another convoy, moreover they are moving away from Singapore. Ah, they must be the reinforcements from US. What was it? Ah, Yes! Convoy-0355

Little did I know that those line of ships weren't ours, nor were they Americans. They were Japanese. And they had just completed a hunt, Of convoy-0355. We hadn't known that we were walking right into a trap. And, the cost of our, no mine folly was paid in the blood of thousands of Royal Navy Sailors.

Arthur Cage:- Part-2

ENDS

[mudaship39]

Character Bio of the Afro Asian supporting character: Scarlet Soldier: Maysa Nabila Uzun

Name: Maysa Nabila Uzun

Ethnicity: 

Afro Asian 

Black African and West Asian 

Racial Identity: 

Black African Egyptian, Black African Algerian, Black African Sudanese, Black African Somalian

West Asian Egyptian, West Asian Yemeni, West Asian Jordanian, & West Asian Iranian

Cultural Identity:

Species: Bionic and Cyborg

Height:

5’11

Weight:

Body Type:

Appearance:

Extra:

Features:

Markings: 

She has henna markings on her hands and forearms to match the henna markings of her wife Afro Asian Amelia Himmat Mishra.

Makeup:

Hairstyle:

Braids, twists, or locs

Under a head covering of a shayla, hijab, or al-amira 

Hair color: 

Black

Hair texture:

Hair look

Hair state:

Eye color: Black

Eye Sight: Myopia

Eye Wear: Glasses 

Skin tone: Sepia 

Skin condition:

Birthmarks:

Age: 

Bionic and Cyborg

Appears to be early to mid twenties 

Birthday: 

Zodiac:

Frame:

Bone Structure:

Poise:

BWH measurements:

Dominant Hand:

Hand Size:

Hand Descriptions: 

Shoe Size: 8

Tattoos:

Has henna semi permanent tattoos as a Muslim 

Has traditional, modern, & futuristic West Asian and Black African tattoos on her body also

Since her monotheistic Muslim and Egyptian Kemetic polytheistic family in the near and far future is more liberal, progressive, and open minded 

Piercings: 

Facial piercings

Body piercings 

Jewelry:

West Asian and Black African jewelry of necklaces, rings, bracelets, & anklets

Sex:

Gender: Nonbinary 

Gender Identity: Agender

Sexual Orientation: Lesbian

Pronouns: 

Queer Subtype: Femme of color

Sexual Preference:

Bottom

Sub

Religion: Muslim

Spirituality: 

Languages:

Disabilities: 

Autistic

Neurodivergent:

ADD. OCD. ADHD

Chronic Illnesses:

Mental Illnesses:

Depression. Anxiety Disorder. Panic Attacks. PTSD

Bionics:

Cybernetics:

Most of her body has been augmented by bioware and cyberware and replaced by bionics and cybernetics 

Clothes:

Apparel:

Relatives:

Parents:

Father: Afro Asian moc Ammon Osiris Salah

Mother: Afro Asian woc Aliye Hassan Uzun 

Aunts:

Uncles:

Cousins:

Siblings:

Brothers: Devrim Kayan Uzun

Sisters: Esin Fatimah Uzun

Nephews:

Nieces:

Children:

Adoptive children:

Biological children:

Pets:

Marital Status: 

Married

Relationship Model: 

Polyamorous

Love Interests:

Amelia Himmat Mishra, Chun Hei Kim, Zhou Chen/Zhao Zhen

Character Traits:

Hobbies:

Personality:

Positive character traits:

Negative character traits:

Likes:

Dislikes: 

Voice

Virtues:

Vices:

Fears/Phobias:

Allergies:

Dietary restrictions:

Economic Class: 

Political Leaning: Progressive. Leftist

Citizenship: Iraq, Iran, Yemen, & Jordan of West Asia. 

Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, & Somalia of Africa. 

Place of Birth: Cairo, Egypt

Current Residence: Loft Apartment. Skyloft Penthouse. Studio Apartment. 

Education:

High school grad

Diploma

College grad 

Degree

Occupation:

Military as a Wing Commander and Squadron Leader

Strike Commander of a black ops and spec ops paramilitary organization 

Education as a teacher and professor 

Journalism as a journalist

Career:

Status: 

Retired

Backstory:

Background:

Training:

Alias:

Base of Operations:

Affiliations:

Superhero Costumes:

Superhero Role:

Status:

Alive

Retired

Artificial Intelligences:

Robotics:

Items:

Weapons:

Armor:

Combat Armor:

Power Armor:

Battle Walker

Mecha:

Transportation:

Motorcycles:

Cars:

Spaceships:

Powers:

Abilities: 

She is an ultimate level empath and absolute level telepath

Weaknesses:

[militaryleak]

US Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 Grid Set in Czechia for DEFENDER 24

The U.S. Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 staging grid is set at Libava, ready to issue an entire cavalry APS-2 equipment set to the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment from the West Virginia Army National Guard for DEFENDER 24. The 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Army Field Support Battalion-Africa has established an Equipment Configuration and Hand-off Area in Libava, and over the course of the next couple of days the battalion from Livorno, Italy, will be conducting technical inspections of all the tactical vehicles, basic issue items and support equipment with Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 150th Cav. Regt., the gaining tactical unit. The cavalry equipment set was transported from Coleman Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in Mannheim, Germany, using commercial line-haul transporters. The contracted workforce at Coleman, approximately 50 personnel, traveled from there to Libava to help set the staging grid for DEFENDER 24 and assist with the issue of equipment to the 1st Squadron, 150th Cav. Regt. at the ECHA site. Command and control of the ECHA site is the responsibility of AFSBn-Africa.

The U.S. Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 staging grid is set at Libava, ready to issue an entire cavalry APS-2 equipment set to the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment from the West Virginia Army National Guard for DEFENDER 24. The 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Army Field Support Battalion-Africa has established an Equipment Configuration and Hand-off Area in Libava, and over the course of the…

[innerdreamercollective]

🎧🎧Wide Release Blitz 🎧🎧

Regency Romance Fans, This one's for you!

Pride of Honor (Men of the Squadron, Book 1) by @authorandreakstein  

Narrated by @arthurrowanactor & Heather Tracy

Published & Produced by @PinkFlamingo_Productions

Featured on @The_Flock_on_Tour

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Blurb:

Two people determined to marry anyone but each other

She must marry to save her inheritance....

Sophie Brancelli, the orphaned illegitimate child of a duke’s daughter, must ensure her marriage to a suitable gentleman of the ton before her 21st birthday, or she’ll be destitute. Her grandmother, the duchess, provided her with a huge inheritance, but with strings attached.

He needs the right marriage to climb the ranks....

Captain Arnaud Bellingham intends to ascend the ranks of the Royal Navy with a loveless marriage of convenience. But those plans go awry when he rescues a madcap Italian poetess from kidnappers—a Miss Sophie Brancelli.

Will pride of honor lead to love?

Once Bellingham realizes someone means to harm Sophie to keep her from inheriting, he cannot abandon her to the perils of the mad whirl of a London Season. Although he comes to realize making her his own would protect her from harm, how could he then sail away from a loving, beautiful woman like Sophie to patrol the treacherous waters off West Africa?

Grab your copy today, and embark on a journey of romance, adventure, and mystery!

#NowLive #NewRelease #ReleaseBlitz   #PinkFlamingoProductions #TheFlockonTour #PrideofHonorAudioTour #AndreaKStein #HeatherTracy #ArthurtRowan #HistoricalRomance #RegencyRomance #ForcedMarriage

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

The British Crusade Against Slavery | Sargon of Akkad

What really bothers me is Frankie Boyle's attempt to make British people feel ashamed of Britain's involvement in the slave trade. That really gets my goat because Britain's involvement in the slave trade is one of the most proud accomplishments of British history. And i know what you're thinking: oh my, goodness slavery is bad. And that's correct. Which is why the British ended it. For everyone.

[..] The Portuguese did take a few Africans back to Europe, but they didn't need to set up operations, because they discovered that there were already thriving slave trades in Africa. And so they bought slaves from African rulers and traders. The vast majority of slaves taken out of Africa were sold by African rulers, traders and military aristocracy who grew wealthy from the business. Most slaves were acquired through wars or by kidnapping. And before you start thinking that this is excessively barbaric, this was the standard for almost every civilized society all across the world.

[..] The point is that slavery was ubiquitous. No matter where on Earth you traveled, you found slaves. In Europe, in China, in the Middle East, in the New World, in India, in Scandinavia, in Africa. Slavery was as common an institution as animal husbandry.

[..] The West Africa Squadron was a detachment of the Royal Navy that was given the task of blockading Africa, the continent, to make sure that slave traders were not taking slaves to the Americas. Needless to say, in 1807 there was only a token force performing this operation, comprising of two ships. This number was increased to five ships until the war of 1812 with the United States, but after 1815 with Britain victorious in Europe and supreme at sea, the Royal Navy turned its attention back to the challenge. The institution of slavery was formally abolished in the British Empire in 1833 and by the 1850s, around 25 vessels and 2 000 officers and men were on the station, supported by nearly a thousand "kroomen," experienced fishermen recruited as sailors from what is now the coast of modern Liberia.

[..] All of this was done against the vested financial interests of hundreds of thousands of people. Entire nations were against the idea of abolishing slavery and the slave trade. The very notion was alien to the human existence until Britain made it happen. In the 19th century if you saw a ship bearing down on you flying this flag and you were a slave trader, you knew that this flag stood for liberty. This was the flag of a nation that defied human convention for a point of principle, and spent its blood sweat, tears and treasure to enforce it on the world. This is the flag of the nation that accepted the absolute moral truth that slavery is wrong. No matter what riches can be amassed, no matter what power can be gained, no matter the cost, slavery had to be abolished. That was the British crusade. When Britain held the reigns of world power, that is what she did with it.

Reaction:

[xtruss]

LAND AND SEA : This Persian Marvel Was Lost For Millennia! Only one ancient account mentions the existence of Xerxes Canal, long thought to be a tall tale. But archaeology is confirming that Persia's engineering triumph was real. This view from Mount Athos overlooks the site of what was once the Xerxes Canal. It was constructed across the narrowest part of the Mount Athos Peninsula, connected to the mainland some 28 miles north. Natalino Russo/Fototeca 9X12

Nepal 🇳🇵! Night falls over Mount Everest base camp. Photograph: Reuters

Johannesburg, South Africa 🇿🇦! Autumn colours are reflected in the waters of the Emmarentia Dam reservoir as the southern hemisphere moves into autumn. Photograph: Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Boorowa, Australia 🇦🇺! Businessman Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest waves an Australian flag as he stands on top of a wind turbine during the opening of Squadron Energy’s Bango wind farm. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Austin, USA 🇺🇸! Lightning flashes behind the Texas State Capitol. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

New York, New York, USA 🇺🇸! The opening of sculptor Carole Feuerman solo outdoor public art show, Sea Idylls, on Park Avenue in NYC. The hyperrealistic sculptures in conjunction with Les Galeries Bartoux and Patrons of Park Avenue line the median. Photograph: Milo Hess/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Moscow, Russia 🇷🇺! People watch a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher on Tverskaya Street in Moscow during a rehearsal of a military parade which will take place at Red Square on 9 May to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA

South Africa 🇿🇦! Wild white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) in the north-west province of South Africa. South Africa is home to nearly 80% of the world’s rhinos, making it a hotspot for poaching. The government said 448 of the endangered animals were killed across the country last year, only three fewer than in 2021, despite increased protection efforts at national parks such as Kruger. Photograph: Luca Sola/AFP/Getty Images

[lboogie1906]

Admiral Michelle Janine Howard (born April 30, 1960) is the first African American woman to command a Navy ship and the first woman of any race to attain the rank of admiral. Born in Riverside, California, she was one of four children of Air Force Master Sergeant Nick Howard and Philippa Howard. She entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where she graduated with a BS in Mathematics and was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy.

Her first sea duty was aboard the submarine tender USS Hunley for three years. She served on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington as a main engines officer. She earned the Secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins Award. She began service on the ammunition ship, the USS Mount Hood, as the chief engineer which resulted in her participation in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She reported for duty as first lieutenant on the USS Flint. She became an executive officer on the docking ship USS Tortuga. She sailed to West Africa for a multi-nation training cruise.

She made history when she captained the dock landing ship USS Rushmore with a crew of more than 400 sailors, thus becoming the first African American woman to command a Navy ship. She led Amphibious Squadron Seven, deployed with Expeditionary Strike Group 5. She was promoted to Rear Admiral. She led Expeditionary Strike Group 2, deploying to CENTCOM theater where she commanded Task Force 151. She led Task Force 51, Expeditionary Forces. The event inspired the movie, Captain Phillips. She was the Maritime Task Force leader for BALTOPS.

President Obama lifted the ban on women serving in combat and pushed the effort to place more female soldiers in high-level defense positions. She was promoted to Vice Admiral and held the post of Deputy Commander of US Fleet Forces. She became a full Admiral, the first Navy woman ever to reach a four-star rank. She became the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations. She retired in December 2017.

Her recognitions are the NAACP Image Award, Women of Color STEM Career Achievement Award, and the USO Military Woman of the Year. She is married to retired Marine Captain Wayne Cowles. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #deltasigmatheta

[clove-pinks]

Prince Alfred in his Royal Navy midshipman's uniform, c. 1860. He joined the navy at the age of 12 in 1856 (RCT).

After their initial training, Royal Navy cadets of the 1850s and 1860s transferred to the Fleet for at least four years before being able to sit for the exam for lieutenant. Although many would serve on large ships close to home (which were more likely to have a naval instructor aboard), imperialism and global ambitions of the metropole meant that midshipmen could see action:

The China and Far East station, even after the ending of the Second China War in 1860, was a major employer of manpower absorbing over 40 vessels and in excess of 6,000 men over the following decade. The Civil War diverted ships and men on the North American station and trade protection and anti slavery patrols kept at least 15 ships and about 2,000 men employed off the coast of West Africa. Most vessels here were relatively small, shallow draft gun boats under junior command and unlikely to carry cadets or midshipmen by scheme of complement, but they frequently employed them on loan from larger vessels. Thus in the late 1850s and 1860s many 15- and 16-year-old boys received a baptism of fire in small craft up rivers and inside reefs, with expeditionary brigades ashore in China, India, New Zealand or off the coast of Japan. Admiral Sir John Fisher, a future First Sea Lord, saw action as a youngster in 1859, witnessing the death of Midshipman Herbert and the wounding of Midshipman Powlett and Armytage in the failed attack on the Peilo [sic] forts. ... The small wars and policing duties of the era provided early active service for very young officers, many of whom demonstrated considerable devotion to the navy they had so recently joined.

— Harry W. Dickinson, Educating the Royal Navy: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Education for Officers

Attack and capture of the Forts at the Entrance of the River Pei-ho, China, on the 20th May 1858. By the Allied British and French Gun Boats and Boats of the Squadron in the Gulf of Pechili, print made 1858 (NMM collection).

[ltwilliammowett]

HMS Ascension - a stone sloop of war of the smaller classes

That the Royal Navy liked to give their ships somewhat unusual names is well known since HMS Pickle or HMS Cockchafer. And that a rock was sometimes declared a ship is also known since HMS Diamond Rock. However, there was also HMS Ascension - a stone sloop of war of the smaller classes. A so-called stone frigate was naval slang for a prison. Well, it wasn't a prison, but it wasn't a ship in the true sense of the word either. On the contrary, Ascension is actually called Ascension Island, and as the name suggests, it is an 88 km² volcanic island. It had already made history twice in the 18th century. In 1701, the explorer William Dampier ran aground off the island with his ship Roebuck and held out with his crew for six weeks before an East India sailor picked up the shipwrecked crew. Thus, the privateer and his crew are considered the first (involuntary) settlers on the island.

Ascension Island.  HMS Tortoise lying off, also merchant vessel. The building halfway up the high hill is Government House. 1 September 1853. By J.M. 1853 (x) 

On 5 May 1725, the Dutch sailor Leendert Hasenbosch, convicted of "sodomy", was abandoned on the island. Based on a diary found later on the island, he probably died after about six months due to lack of food. Both incidents do not explain why the Royal Navy declared this island a ship. However, this can be explained if one knows where this island is located, namely in the South Atlantic between Africa and South America and near St. Helena. Napoleon Bonaparte was banished to St. Helena in 1815, and Ascension Island was occupied by the Royal Navy to make any attempts at liberation by the French more difficult. The island was turned into a fortress. To ensure that Ascension was under the command of the navy and not a colony administration, a "trick" was used. The island was declared a "stone frigate" ("stone sloop of war of the smaller classes") and was given 65 soldiers to "crew" as HMS Ascension. After Napoleon died, it was used as a base for the West Africa Squadron to fight pirates and the slave trade. In reality, the island was used more as a hospital, as many epidemics were rampant in Africa during those years.

A View of the Town and Island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to the English East India Company, by A. Hogg c. 1790 (x)

However, its history did not end here. In 1836 Charles Darwin visited the island and in 1854 the island was replanted by botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker after the goats and rats of the fortress had eaten everything. In 1899, a telegraph cable was laid there and during the First and Second World Wars, the island became an important surveillance post. In 1982, it was used as a base for the Falkland Islands war. Today, almost 800 inhabitants live there and the island is an important nature reserve, especially for the so-called green turtles.