http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1528
Here are some one liners...
The Spaniards Call Galveston, Texas "The Island of Doom" -- A doomed expedition washes up on the shores of Galveston. I talk about storm preparedness and helping one's neighbors.
Plague and another round of Sweating Sickness Hits England -- Disease and death is a part of life in the 1500s.
Henan, China is Starving to Death due to Bad Insurance -- The Chinese cut back on their emergency food reserves and now they are paying the price. I talk about insurance: when it makes sense and when it doesn't.
The Spaniards Call Galveston, Texas "The Island of Doom"
80 Spaniards wash up on the shores of Galveston Island on makeshift rafts. Their ships had sunk in an earlier storm and the commander of the expedition has gone to the bottom leaving his second in command, Álvar Núñez to carry on. Núñez names Galveston "The Island of Doom." Winter is coming and the Indians welcome them but after the Indians come down with a terrible bowel disease, the Spaniards are left out in the cold. By next spring, only 15 men from the expedition will be left alive. Núñez will take his men overland to find Mexico but they will wander, sometimes being captured and enslaved by the Indians. They won't see another Spaniard until 1536. By then only four men will be left: two low-level noblemen (called hidalgos), an African slave, and Núñez himself. Despite his struggles with the Indians, Núñez will oppose enslaving the Indians probably because he understood slavery, having been a slave himself. [1] [2] [3] [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Galveston and Pelican Islands take the brunt of many storms. In 1900, a category 4 hurricane struck Galveston. Without satellites and Doppler radar to warn the residents, 6,000 to 12,000 people were killed though they didn't die all at once. Disease claimed many who had insufficient shelter, food and water. With more warning, they could have evacuated sooner. In 2008, Hurricane Ike did extensive damage to Galveston, Houston and surrounding areas but the death toll was less than 90. Texas was prepared and Austin, was one of the designated evacuation centers. As part of the ROTC program, my son spent a lot of time organizing those refugees. He didn't understand why officials gave him an award for that work, but you have to accept those things as they come along. It encourages the others. [5] [6]
Galveston and Pelican Islands take the brunt of many storms. In 1900, a category 4 hurricane struck Galveston. Without satellites and Doppler radar to warn the residents, 6,000 to 12,000 people were killed though they didn't die all at once. Disease claimed many who had insufficient shelter, food and water. With more warning, they could have evacuated sooner. In 2008, Hurricane Ike did extensive damage to Galveston, Houston and surrounding areas but the death toll was less than 90. Texas was prepared and Austin, was one of the designated evacuation centers. As part of the ROTC program, my son spent a lot of time organizing those refugees. He didn't understand why officials gave him an award for that work, but you have to accept those things as they come along. It encourages the others. [5] [6]
Plague and another round of Sweating Sickness Hits England
The Plague hasn't gone away. Europe is in the midst of the Second Pandemic but no one is calling it that. Plague is simply in the background. Nuremberg, Germany will lose a thousand souls in an average year... mostly children. In England the 4th epidemic of the Sweating Sickness has begun. It spreads rapidly and makes the jump to Hamburg. More than a thousand people die within a few weeks. It moves from place to place, spending a couple of weeks at a time and then moves on. There is no cure but death.
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Medical historians suspect Sweating Sickness may have been a different form of the Hanta virus. It burns itself out by the mid-1500s. It must have mutated into something less virulent and destructive but there were plenty of other diseases they had to worry about in the 1500s. [7] [8] [9]
Medical historians suspect Sweating Sickness may have been a different form of the Hanta virus. It burns itself out by the mid-1500s. It must have mutated into something less virulent and destructive but there were plenty of other diseases they had to worry about in the 1500s. [7] [8] [9]
Henan, China is Starving to Death due to Bad Insurance
Last year the Chinese decided to cut back on their food reserves in order to save money. That decision is killing them now. The Provence of Henan is experiencing drought and will continue to do so. Starvation and cannibalism will follow. This is what the food reserves were meant for. People will die because their "food insurance" had no backing in real reserves. [10] [11]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Food and fuel reserves are there for a reason. It is like insurance. Sure it costs money. Sure you'd have more in your pocket if you didn't have to pay for something you aren't really using, but when you need insurance... you really need it. Some insurance seems useless, though. My friend took out damage insurance for his phone since he is mechanic. One day he closed the hood of a car and heard the crunch of his phone going bye-bye. His insurance has a large deductible and after calling around he found that it would have been cheaper to pay a guy directly to fix his phone. That's the problem with insurance. Insurance that is at a low enough price to feel comfortable is probably not good enough to help you when you really need it.
Food and fuel reserves are there for a reason. It is like insurance. Sure it costs money. Sure you'd have more in your pocket if you didn't have to pay for something you aren't really using, but when you need insurance... you really need it. Some insurance seems useless, though. My friend took out damage insurance for his phone since he is mechanic. One day he closed the hood of a car and heard the crunch of his phone going bye-bye. His insurance has a large deductible and after calling around he found that it would have been cheaper to pay a guy directly to fix his phone. That's the problem with insurance. Insurance that is at a low enough price to feel comfortable is probably not good enough to help you when you really need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment