CARIBBEAN PIRATESThe real Caribbean pirates were a whole different breed than the Hollywood kind—though just as savage. They ruled the seas between the 17th and 18th centuries, especially around the Gulf of Mexico, the Antilles, and the northern coast of South America. These guys were rogue sailors, ex-soldiers, or just hustlers who saw piracy as a fast (and seriously dangerous) way to get rich.
They attacked ships loaded with gold, silver, rum, sugar, and anything valuable coming from the American colonies to Europe. Some worked solo, but many were privateers—basically pirates with government permission to rob enemy ships.
Bartholomew "Blackbeard" (Edward Teach) was one of the most feared. He tied smoking fuses into his beard to look even scarier. With smoke pouring from his face, he looked more like a demon from hell than a Disney pirate.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read disguised themselves as men to join pirate crews. They fought like anyone else and didn’t mess around. And Calico Jack became known for his iconic flag (the classic skull with crossed swords) and for sailing alongside Anne and Mary. Spoiler: he ended up hanging by the neck.
The pirate life was brutal. Scurvy, betrayals, brawls, rotten food, and no showers in sight. But there was also a kind of pirate democracy—they voted for their captain, split the loot fairly, and had their own rules, including punishing crew members who stole from each other.
Once they started hitting ships without caring about flags, the major European powers got fed up and hunted them down almost to extinction by the early 18th century.
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Training both body and mind.
FIGHTING A FASCISM THAT ONLY EXISTS IN THEIR HEADSSome people are obsessed with seeing fascism everywhere. They call it out in governments, laws, and pretty much any opinion they don’t like. “Fascist alert!” they cry. But real fascism, the textbook kind, is crystal clear: it’s all about force. About using the State as a weapon—extreme nationalism, a cult of personality, militarism, systematic suppression of freedoms, a single-party rule. And let’s be honest: that’s just not happening in Europe or the US today.
The irony? The only real violence I’m seeing comes from the very people claiming to fight fascism. They’re the ones yelling, pointing fingers, getting aggressive, and trying to shut you down if you don’t agree with them. And no matter how they dress it up, that reeks of authoritarianism too.
So when I see images like these from FEMEN, I can’t help but wonder: are they protesting something real, or just fighting a monster they made up in their heads?
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Slow-mo of the day.