Want to watch Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End online, but the downloading option is not for you? No problem. There is an amazing alternative available to you. Read on and discover the new way to watch all your favorite movies and much more online!

It is not a secret that “Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End” is now on satellite and cable channels worldwide. The famous movie is aired regularly, so if you had a chance to watch those channels, you would be able to catch on the movie. But how to do that?

You might not have a slightest idea, but it is actually possible to watch satellite TV channels from all over the world online. Any time, as long as you are connected to the Internet, you can browse through hundreds of channels and bookmark the ones you find interesting. This way, you are bound to find and watch Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End online, as among hundreds and even thousands of channels there will certainly be a few airing the movie at the given period of time.

Now, coming to the question how to do that. What allows you to get access to all those channels? It is easy, actually. Advanced and easy to use software called Satellite TV on PC, once installed on your computer, can search free-to-air satellite channels for you to watch on your PC anywhere in the world. Indeed, it is one of the coolest things on the Internet nowadays, and more and more people enjoy watching their favorite movies and programs being at work or traveling.

Not only can you watch Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End online, but thousands of other movies, controversial international channels, live sports games, music videos, news from all parts of the globe and much more! With the satellite TV on PC software nothing prevents you from canceling your regular satellite or cable TV subscription services – you can get much more at a far lower cost!

And since the cost was mentioned, you should know that the software is currently available at a very low price. Probably, this is because it is still struggling to make a name. But given its fast-growing popularity, it may become a few times more expensive soon.

Do not waste your time – check out my blog for the info on where you can get the wonderful software from. I bet you will watch Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End online today itself!

Earlier this month, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney unveiled Discover Canada (PDF here), a new guidebook for immigrants preparing to take the citizenship test. While the release of a government brochure rarely becomes headline news, this particular publication generated a surprising amount of excitement. Adam Chapnick, writing in the Ottawa Citizen, could hardly contain himself:

For the first time in our history, individuals seeking to become Canadian citizens will be provided by their future government with a reasonable, balanced assessment of the national past. Having studied the comprehensive document, I believe they will be better prepared for the realities of Canada today than the millions of immigrants who have come before them.

This seems a bit over the top, considering that new immigrants merely need to absorb enough of Discover Canada to scrape through a test and are then free to begin forgetting its contents. Nevertheless, the way Canada chooses to present itself to newcomers is important, if only because of what it says about how we perceive our country and ourselves. Accordingly, I went through the slightly masochistic exercise of comparing Discover Canada to the older guide that it replaced, A Look At Canada (PDF here, for now). To my surprise, Chapnick has a point: the new guide really is better in a lot of respects, and worse in only a few. Uncle Jason seems to have got this one broadly right.

Perhaps the most discussed passage in the new guide is this ringing statement of “the equality of women and men:”:

In Canada, men and women are equal under the law. Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, “honour killings,” female genital mutilation, or other gender-based violence. Those guilty of these crimes are severely punished under Canada’s criminal laws.

This was greeted with jubilation in some quarters, and I suppose it’s not so bad. It can’t hurt to warn new immigrants that they’ll face penalties if they pummel their spouses or circumcise their daughters on Canadian soil. Still, the word “barbaric” does seem unnecessarily subjective and judgemental, especially considering that cosmetic procedures not so different from the milder forms of “female genital mutilation” are becoming increasingly popular in the West. I appreciate that there’s a substantial difference between operating on a young girl with no say in the matter, and operating on a paying customer – but is the difference really so vast that we can solemnly describe the one thing as barbarism, while the other is just cosmetic surgery? Perhaps the guide should merely have noted that honour killings and female genital mutilation are illegal in Canada, and left it at that.

In any case, that one blurb about barbaric cultural practices is something of a distraction from the more substantive new element in Discover Canada, which is a sense of historical depth. The section on “Canada’s History and Symbols” in the older guide was only two pages long, and started with Confederation on July 1, 1867. While bits of historical information were sprinkled in elsewhere, they didn’t really add up to much.

Discover Canada, on the other hand, has ten sumptuously illustrated pages of Canadian history, running from pre-Columbian times to the end of the Second World War. Like the rest of the guide, the section reads like something out of a junior high school textbook, but it’s still nice to see. I even learned a few things by reading through it, for example that there was a proposal in the 1920s to incorporate some British possessions in the Caribbean into Canada. Who would have guessed? Similarly, Discover Canada has some welcome discussion of Canadian symbols, from the beaver to the maple leaf, and is admirably emphatic about the role of the Queen as our head of state (one hopes that Michaëlle Jean will take note).

John Ivison, in the National Post, argued that all this discussion of history, symbolism and the monarchy meant that Discover Canada was nothing less than a brilliant move by the Conservatives to “rebrand” (how I’m beginning to loathe that word) Canada in their own image. It’s true that the guide has some suspicious twists of emphasis, dispensing with public health care in a single rather ambiguous sentence while waxing poetic about our economic links to the US and sometimes paying exaggerated attention to the role of religion. Nevertheless, it’s hard to see Discover Canada as Conservative propaganda. The guidebook is essentially what it should be – a reasonable crash course in Canadian history, geography and civics, conveying useful information about modern Canada without pretending that the country sprang from the brow of Zeus as a finished product in 1867.

Small Island was one of those books that I’m sure I heard being talked about somewhere on TV but I couldn’t tell you where! Anyway, I was really glad I picked it up as it really opened my eyes about a period and type of history I didn’t really know anything about. If I’m honest, some of it really shocked me – particularly the huge amount of racism. I’m not sure I should have been so shocked – racism is still hugely prevalent today but I was. Anyway, on to the book itself…

Set in 1948, Levy’s narrative switches between four protagonists and tells the story of the first wave of Caribbean immigrants to Britain following WW2. Small Island tells of the life of Airman Joseph Gilbert and his wife Hortense. Gilbert fights again the Nazi’s as a member of the RAF and once the war is over he returns to his ‘Mother Country’ with great aspirations of becoming a lawyer. However, all he finds in London is hatred, unfriendly faces and a menial job as a Royal Mail driver. He does find accommodation with Queenie Bligh, who in need of an income, rents her empty rooms to immigrants, much to the scorn and disgust of her neighbours.  All finally comes to a head when Queenie’s long missing husband Bernard returns home from India, two years after the war has ended.

Hortense is perhaps the least sympathetic character. She is the village snob, her upbringing leading her to believe she is superior, and arrives in England thinking it will be a land of opportunities. She begins by despising Gilbert (who admittedly at the start seems rather useless!) and the circumstances to which he has brought her. As well as this, she also looks down on working-class Queenie and rejects that idea that she has anything at all in common with other migrants. A rude awakening comes to her when she visits a school looking for work and finds that her qualifications have no meaning in the British education system, thus her status is the same as other immigrants. This almost destroys her but ultimately leads to self-discovery as she realises Queenie’s kindness, Gilbert’s strength and how alike they all are.

What makes this book a truly astonishing read is how historically faithful the accounts of the characters are. More than just facts, it gets under the skin of how the characters thought and behaved. Remarkably, it doesn’t read like a series of memoirs as Levy’s imagination and research adds an extra dimension which almost makes you think she was here at the time. The book can be a difficult to read as it records some of the most unpleasant racist aspects of this period.

Levy’s writing is rich, engaging, poignant and funny. Her characters are distinct and never come across as patronising or preaching. I would definitely recommend this book – it really moved me.

From SpecialHunter Blog…July 2009…

Creativity comes and it goes…and right now…its gone.

I wish I could display some witty remarks about the name of the blog, but I am just going to tell it like it is.

I am not some mystical, all-powerful Lord of the Rings type hunter. Nor am I some mentally or physically challenged animal hunter (although my wife probably thinks so from time to time).

I am actually just a random dude who happens to be genetically blessed (or cursed) with the desire to spend as little money as possible when doing anything.

Now, to some, I just slapped a huge “Cheapskate” banner up over my forehead. But, to those who know me, nothing is further from the truth. I actually enjoy experiencing all the most amazing spots and events in life, but I just like to do it at the lowest cost possible.

Is there really any problem with that? I mean. I don’t need to be no high rolla. I just want to have a good time. Right?

So, I am going to attempt to hunt for some of the best Specials I can find throughout the globe and post them to this blog. And, oh yeah, I just started up a new site called www.FindMeSpecials.com which should give a forum for everyone to add and vote on their favorite specials…but, that’s irrelevant for now.

For now, I am going to post a link to one of my favorite places on earth, Jade Mountain Resort, which is having a special if you book before the end of July (and this should silence any of the “cheapskate” haters).
——————————————————————————————-
http://www.jademountain.com/specialoffers.html
ENJOY YOUR 4th AND 7th NIGHT FREE AT JADE MOUNTAIN
when booking a Sky suite or a Star or Moon pool sanctuary.
The offer is available for travel July 5 – Sept 30, 09 on basis of our daily rates : The daily rates per couple in the Sky, Star, Moon categories respectively are US 850/1150/1350.
——————————————————————————————-

While it is quite expensive, it is an unbelievable resort with infinity pools in your room and views of the Pitons. If you are considering a trip to St. Lucia, this is worth a look.

Special Hunter or Captain Special. I can’t decide…

Caribbean islands tend to have similar geological features, but Barbados is so well-known for its pristine white sand beaches and tranquil waters on its south coast, that each year visitors are being attracted from not only the neighbouring islands but those from colder climates, like myself.

However Barbados is so much more than its white sand beaches and one of the best ways to experience the natural beauty of the island is to see first-hand the picturesque seascape of underwater reefs with the abundance of marine life swimming in and around.

From personal experience the best way to sample the delights of the shimmering blue waters of Barbados is by taking a relaxing sailing cruise from one of the many catamarans that harbour in Bridgetown.  

The catamarans are all designed with comfort, safety and enjoyment in mind to cater for all generations and tourist types. But with an open bar filled with an endless supply of Banks, rum and wine they definitely provide unrivalled holiday entertainment, and find the perfect equilibrium between relaxation and ‘merry’.    

Catamaran Cruise Recommendations:

Cool Runnings is a unique charter company specialising in personalised cruises, ensuring the utmost in comfort, service and enjoyment. These elegant, custom-built catamarans sail with a limited number of passengers, to guarantee a superb day of sailing in an uncrowded atmosphere.

The captain and crew are a good-humoured group of well-trained, experienced sailors who know how to look after and entertain their guests. Sail, swim with turtles, snorkel over a shallow shipwreck, swim in a secluded bay and enjoy a delicious lunch and open bar. Sunset cruises are also very popular and private cruises are offered for a more flexible itinerary.

My Thoughts - Cool Runnings was the most enjoyable four hours on my recent visit to Barbados. On past catamaran cruises I have been largely disappointed by the lack of close encounter turtle swimming on offer, but Cool Runnings ensured we were all in the thick of the action.

Before booking this trip I read a lot of articles mentioning the excellent service onboard Cool Runnings. I have to agree that the crew were absolutely amazing and extremely interested in making sure that everyone had a great time – which included the females of my group who pretended they could not swim to gain extra attention.

Rubáiyát is a classic Peter Spronk original with a unique schooner rig. At 50 ft long, she is sleek, comfortable and fully equipped for day chartering. Rubáiyát is skippered by owner and well-known Barbadian Eddie Cheeseman, who has over 20 years professional sailing experience as captain and has been sailing his own boat since 1998.

My Thoughts – I knew this would be a great day for my first Catamaran cruise as I was joined by a host of Virgin Atlantic air-cabin crew taking advantage of their day off, courtesy of Richard Branson. This automatically gave me a high perception of the catamaran knowing that it was the first choice booking for such a prestigious airline.

My perception was not altered throughout the day with great reggae music being played and the staff providing endless entertainment. In particular the shipwreck in the shallows was a sight to see on this trip with schools of multicoloured fish darting through the vessels. 

Both of these fantastic catamaran cruises offer breathless views of the Baijan coastine as you sail under the gentle breeze of the trade winds, and if you could only take one trip while in Barbados then I stongly advise a Barbados Catamaran Cruise

Scott Hurley
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More On Barbados

Select Resorts have revamped their Barbados Villas webpage and have some great offers for the Crane Resort in Barbados.

The Museum desperately needs your help! Legend has it that a Spanish ship loaded with a fortune of gold went missing somewhere in the Caribbean and was never found. This lost treasure is referred to by locals as the Caribbean Secret. Explore amazing Caribbean locations finding cleverly hidden objects and playing unique minigames to recover the riches in Amazing Adventures – The Caribbean Secret!

Caribbean atmosphere

Gorgeous scenes

Find the treasure!

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista

CPU: 600 Mhz

RAM: 256 MB

DirectX: 7.0

Hard Drive: 54 MB

It Takes Just A second To Say Thanks,

It Takes Longer To The Work On This.

Amazing Adventures: The Carribean Secret

Every year, thousands of folks attend corporate events all across the world, whether they are conferences, conventions, or seminars. And every year, they spend a great deal of money on airfare to get to their event. What can these folks do to make the most of their visit to that location?

For example, if you’re flying from Japan into Seattle to attend a conference for 2-3 nights, what other activities could you do to take advantage of your time in this region? You could visit the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, and do normal touristy activities, but if you really want to experience the beautiful Pacific Northwest, you would go on a cruise to Alaska for 7 nights.

So you might be wondering, what is the real attractiveness of a pre or post cruise and why should one consider it?

When folks come into a city for an event, whether it is Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, or New York, they are there for more than just one reason, or at least they would like to be. They don’t want to simply come into town, attend the event, and then head back home. Many folks want to experience more of the region they are in. A perfect opportunity to do this is by going on a pre or post cruise. You and your fellow event attendees can take a leisure cruise vacation and not have to worry about coming back again in the future to experience it and spending all that money again on airfare.

A pre or post cruise can last anywhere from 3-7+ nights, all based on your location and desire to cruise. The bottom line? You enhance your overall experience during your visit to the region. You might be thinking, “Going on a pre or post cruise can become really expensive and I don’t want to spend extra money.” Actually, it’s quite the contrary.

Cruising offers you the best value in vacationing out there as everything is included in the price of your cruise, such as meals, accommodations, and entertainment. Compare that to a land resort and you’ll see what I mean. And if you wait to come later, you’re going to have to spend money on that airfare again. So why not take advantage of a cruise while you’re already there?

With that being said, if your event is in Seattle, have an open mind and consider going to Alaska for 7 nights. If you’re in the Southern California area, think about doing a 3-4 day Baja Mexico cruise, or if you’re a true vacationer, a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise. If you’re in the Florida area, consider a Bahamas or even a Caribbean cruise from anywhere between 3-7+ nights. It’s up to you!

You can even have special events onboard the ship just for you and your colleagues as a continuation of your event. Whether that is a cocktail reception party or an actual portion of the event, the possibilities are endless. You can even take advantage of the meeting facilities onboard as they are absolutely free!

Everyone always talks about money well spent, and to get the most bang for their buck – a pre and post cruise offers you just that, and much more.

Your Friend in Cruising,

John Trivedi, Owner
World Travelers United
(425) 205-9911

john@worldtravelersunited.com
www.worldtravelersunited.com
“We make your Perfect Group Cruise experience a dream come true!”

Shaw Clifton

The general of the US Salvation Army, Shaw Clifton is on a five day trip to Haiti to look into the problem of human trafficking in the Caribbean.  Especially around Haiti to the Dominican Republic but also Belize and Jamaica.  He said that there was forced prostitution going on.

I’ve written on this blog before about the problem of prostitution and the Haitian women in Jamaican go go clubs.    

Yardflex reported last year how an influx of Haitian women in the clubs was causing tension between them and the locals, but I think they’re missing the point about the choices available to these women and the decision to become prostitutes. 

Last year, there was a planned protest by Haitian prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, many of whom were later deported.   Their voice seems to hardly ever be heard.

The extent of the problem of human trafficking, like everywhere else, is not known.  There was some research into it, but it did not throw much light on the problem, but this woman – Sheila Nicholson who was a programme director of an organisation called People’s Action for Community Transformation (PACT), which worked with young Jamaicans at high risk of becoming victims of human trafficking, probably would be a good place to start to find out more.

If you’ve ever been into one of these go go clubs, sometimes they have hotels attached - I stayed one night at one of these hotels (I needed a cheap hotel!) , but Kingston and Jamaica have loads of them, it would not be hard to start uncovering some of the stories behind the darkened glass and flashing lights.

One of the best Caribbean wreck dives is the wreck of the C/S Charlie Brown on the island of Statia (St. Eustatius). Statia is only a quick 10 minute plane ride from Saba. I truly love vacationing on Saba. It is well away from the crowded reefs like Bloody Bay Wall on the Cayman islands or Palancar reef on Cozumel.

In its hay-day the C/S Charlie Brown spent almost 50 years lying fiber optic cable around the world. She was built in 1950 and is 327 feet long with a beam of about 41.4 feet.

The wreck of the Charlie Brown lies in 98 feet in water lying peacefully on its side. This wreck offers advanced divers, wreck divers, and underwater photographers the opportunity of a life time to watch everything from sea turtles to nudibranchs on the outside of the wreck.

For those of us who are more advanced, exploring the lone hallway that runs down the middle of the wreck is truly breathtaking. This hallway is wide open and runs about 120 feet through the wreck. Once inside you must visit the cable tanks and galley or move all the way forward to explore the reel room.

Unlike most wrecks the Charlie Brown was purposefully sank to form an artificial reef. But, she was not completely salvaged before the sinking. This now provides a look and feel of a real ship wreck.

Now, a little about how to get to Saba to start this dream vacation; Saba is what is called the Dutch Caribbean. The best way is to book your airfare to the island of St. Maarten. (SXM). Once you are on St. Maarten you will have two choices on getting to Saba:

Take the Winair flight to Saba
Take the 2 hour ferry to Saba.

Everything is really close. Saba is only 5 square miles while Statia is 8 square miles. You can get to most dive sites within 15 minutes. Saba is a volcanic island with spectacular lava tubes underwater. The best way to truly explore these Dutch islands is to start at Statia for a couple of days, then move on to Saba and end up at St. Maarten. St. Maartin has a great rain forest and this makes a great day to decompress after all of the diving.

On Saturday, November 21, 2009, UK’s special prosecutor Helen Garlick, now installed in the Turks and Caicos Islands‘ interim government, announced UK’s intention to, “have a permanent presence [in Turks and Caicos].” The UK had abolished Turks and Caicos’ right to self determination in August, citing local government corruption.

In August, the UK assured Turks and Caicos and the world that new elections would be held in June 2011, restoring governance back to the people at that time. However, based on Saturday’s announcement and UK’s actions since taking governance of the islands, it is evident that the UK has no intention to return the islands’ autonomous constitution back to the people at any given time.

The corruption allegations, causing the UK’s take over, emerged from a small group of Turks and Caicos Islanders and expatriate who have since been revealed as a political group backed by a developer who reportedly has a grudge against the former premier over denied building development contracts and Crown land favors. This political activist group (TCI Journal and backers) accuse many developers in the islands of being corrupt while being financed by a competing developer. Their well orchestrated letters and complaints to the mother land (UK) of last year was admittedly designed to bring down the islands’ government with a goal to create better “fairness” (to namely Hartshorn).

The UK was all too eager to jump on board and support the claims of corruption (many anonymous) in Turks and Caicos by calling for a very bizarre one-sided inquiry that failed to explore the whistle blower’s motives and which documented a skewed perspective of foreign resort developers who duly invested in Turks and Caicos. The inquiry was also conducted by a known activist judge from the UK, Sir Robin Auld, who made sole determinations in the investigation and resulting inquiry.

Even more bizarre, the people’s right to trials by jury was abolished as to the entire Turks and Caicos population.

In Helen Garlick’s announcement Saturday, she states that in addition to Sir Robin Auld’s report, new and more far reaching charges will be explored and prosecuted. Ms. Garlick then made a most alarmingly statement following her vow of continued corruption inquiries: “I continue to encourage members of the public to contact us, if they have information that they wish to give, or if they have any concerns that they want to take up with us.”

To understand why these announcements by UK are particularly dangerous, it is necessary to explore police state regimes and their resulting oppressive powers over their citizens.

The term “police state” is described as an overpowering government implementing oppressive and repressive controls “over the social, economic and political life of the population … and … there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.”

The source of the totalitarian action, “is often established by an internal whistleblower or an external critic or activist group.”

In 1933, Nazi Germany adopted the Malicious Practices Act which called for ordinary citizens to volunteer information on citizens’ “suspected infringements of the letter or spirit of the laws”. This had a crucial role in the Nazi’s terrorizing citizens under Hitler’s dictatorship and gave particular power to those who were willing to report their neighbors. This cooperation, by means of the Nazi’s incentive to oppress citizens, by using threats of reports by other citizens, is called Nazi Denunciations.

According to Nazi historian Robert Gellately, these lessons from the past, “impel us to rethink … willingness, consent, and support when these concepts are applied to modern dictatorships.”

What is in it for the denouncers, besides power over the other citizens? Nazi’s took advantage of denouncers as these complainants usually had “selfish purposes” that could be politically exploited by the Nazis. The denouncers received a leveling or settling of a conflict or removal of the conflicting party to the complainant. “In all of these systems, citizens lost many of the traditional means for resolving conflicts, and soon adapted and relied on unmediated access to the means of coercion” and ultimately a fundamental loss of justice.

In addition, according to Gellately:
“In the last two decades, corruption has become a key concern throughout the world. Most of what we know about corruption comes from those instances in which misdeeds become public, usually generating a scandal. Why do some acts of corruption become corruption scandals and others do not? In addressing this question, this argues that scandals are not triggered by corruption per se, but that the emergence of corruption scandals is caused by political competition dynamics within the party or coalition in government. Government insiders leak information on misdeeds in order to gain power within the coalition or party in power.”

There is also sometimes a racial component to the totalitarian and supreme right over another culture. As in a more extreme example, in the case of Nazi Germany, governance was considered absolute and it reserved the highest power over, “Jewish and/or eastern workers” as Hitler was particularly racist of that group. But it is not uncommon for a totalitarian regime to exhibit prejudice over the group in which it feels supremecy over and thus forcibly takes governance. In the case of Turks and Caicos, the UK might have a special prejudice over an island culture that it could see as less sophisticated or worse.

This could explain the British’s take over of the island’s government and its “firing” of Belongers (Islanders) elected officials who might have influence over other Belongers.

In the United States, the government-sanctioned program called “Wetip” called for citizens to report child abuse; it has had similar problems. Wetip has been deeply criticized as it rewards citizens for helping a government by reporting crimes against each other. This was called denunciation because crime reports skipped usual reporting channels, and on the other hand motives and incentives were not called into question or investigated by the government.

In the Turks and Caicos, an oppressive UK regime has been proven. This is evidenced by UK’s initial use of denunciation and encouragement of denunciation of citizens going forward. This is particularly true because the complainants are rewarded with the removal of their offending party without an investigation into the complainants’ motives. The right to jury trials for the citizens have been taken, taking typical justice away from the citizens. Local government officials have been all but replaced entirely. Residents of Turks and Caicos are readily terrorized by the threat of denunciation by a group who has been exploited and incentivized to report “crimes” to the interim government. The usual process of justice is now easily foregone with this practice of denunciation labeling this island now as a police state with the denouncers as the terrorists working for the supreme and ultimate leader, the UK.

Helen Garlick article: http://www.suntci.com/index.php?p=story&id=545http://hsr-trans.zhsf.uni-koeln.de/hsrretro/docs/artikel/hsr/hsr1997_439.pdf
Although the was an implementer of violence and intimidation within the Nazi state 1933r
Balan, Manuel. “Competition by Denunciation: The Political Dynamics of Corruption Scandals in Argentina and Chile” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association 67th Annual National Conference, The Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL, Apr 02, 2009 . 2009-11-10 
Historical Social Research, Vol. 22 – 1997 – No. 3/4, 228-239 
Denunciations and Nazi Germany: New Insights and 
Methodological Problems

Here’s a photo looking over the Caribbean from Eagle Beach, Aruba. Those sailboats are racing along while the tanker sits at anchor.

Mean time, that handsome couple takes their morning stroll. Just one of the things that makes Aruba a fine destination.

Bon dia.

One of the best Caribbean wreck dives is the wreck of the C/S Charlie Brown on the island of Statia (St. Eustatius). Statia is only a quick 10 minute plane ride from Saba. I truly love vacationing on Saba. It is well away from the crowded reefs like Bloody Bay Wall on the Cayman islands or Palancar reef on Cozumel.

In its hay-day the C/S Charlie Brown spent almost 50 years lying fiber optic cable around the world. She was built in 1950 and is 327 feet long with a beam of about 41.4 feet.

The wreck of the Charlie Brown lies in 98 feet in water lying peacefully on its side. This wreck offers advanced divers, wreck divers, and underwater photographers the opportunity of a life time to watch everything from sea turtles to nudibranchs on the outside of the wreck.

For those of us who are more advanced, exploring the lone hallway that runs down the middle of the wreck is truly breathtaking. This hallway is wide open and runs about 120 feet through the wreck. Once inside you must visit the cable tanks and galley or move all the way forward to explore the reel room.

Unlike most wrecks the Charlie Brown was purposefully sank to form an artificial reef. But, she was not completely salvaged before the sinking. This now provides a look and feel of a real ship wreck.

Now, a little about how to get to Saba to start this dream vacation; Saba is what is called the Dutch Caribbean. The best way is to book your airfare to the island of St. Maarten. (SXM). Once you are on St. Maarten you will have two choices on getting to Saba:

Take the Winair flight to Saba
Take the 2 hour ferry to Saba.

Everything is really close. Saba is only 5 square miles while Statia is 8 square miles. You can get to most dive sites within 15 minutes. Saba is a volcanic island with spectacular lava tubes underwater. The best way to truly explore these Dutch islands is to start at Statia for a couple of days, then move on to Saba and end up at St. Maarten. St. Maartin has a great rain forest and this makes a great day to decompress after all of the diving.

In the UK, a report says that policing playgrounds would cut all crime.

Climate change is already having an impact in the Caribbean.

In Afghanistan, America is arming anti-Taliban militias.

In China, the middle class is getting into environmental protest.

Psycho taught America to love murder.

It´s time for some caribbean lifestyle! This boy is standing at the door to the cigar factory in Dominican Republic. It´s amazing how much happier peopple are in caribbean than in Europe for example. Well at least that´s what it looks like.  I really recommend that you go there and enjoy it, great peopple and beautiful scenery!

Call for poetry submissions:

What for: The premiere of a soon-to-be-launched online portal for the reading and discovery of the work of West Indian/West Indian heritage writers of poems.

What we are looking for: Unpublished works that explore images of so-called Caribbean-ness and do something with them — invert them, twist them, crack them open. Baptise them or make them anew. Works that tread unfamiliar territory — or familiar ones. Works that spill out from that dark place in your mind and relieve the pressure of compression inside of your heart.

Avant-garde, experimental and radical verse are all welcome. Dabblers of journal verse are welcome. Bring yourself — with words.

Of particular interest are poems pertaining to themes of identity, gender, gender roles and sexuality.

Please indicate upon submission, if you would prefer to use a nom de plume. Please include a brief biographical sketch or simply, nationality information. Authors retain all original rights to their work.

For further inquiry, to hear more about this venture or to submit work, please e-mail creativecommess@gmail.com

Situated along with a handful of other striking and picturesque islands in the Eastern Caribbean, lies the unique island of St. Lucia. With charming small towns, “drive through” volcano, stunning bays and beaches and rich plantations of bananas, you really can’t get enough of St. Lucia and its beauty.

Check out the ‘can’t-miss’ list of attractions and activities you can explore at the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Pigeon Island

Pigeon Island is a beautiful and mysterious tourist attraction of this Caribbean island, with all sorts of relaxation and holiday features. Tourists and visitors on trip to St. Lucia often take a break by unwinding in the peaceful and not so crowded beaches of this island. The secluded Pigeon Island is a perfect way to enjoy your holiday in St. Lucia with no crowd around. The island is also home to the old, yet well preserved forts and barracks, used in the 1700s by the British. Many tourists and visitors prefer this island for its romantic and mysterious environment.

The Pitons

Pitons or the Peaks, Gros Piton and Petit Piton are among UNESCO’s world heritage sites. The twin peaks are another amazing tourist attraction worth visiting when on a trip to St. Lucia. You can always have adventure by climbing or trekking through one of these peaks. The climbing here may be a little exhausting but offers a view that makes it well worth it. Do not forget to take a water bottle and camera with you.

Marigot Bay

Marigot bay is known as the heaven of this Caribbean island, especially for those tourist and visitors who love to sail. This tourist attraction also pleases those looking for coconut palms, sandy beaches and some of the best eating joints. For those on a trip to St. Lucia with the family, this Bay acts as a perfect picnic destination. You can take fun rides on the yachts parked on the harbour.

Sulphur Springs

This tourist attraction offers hot and steaming springs, often visited by tourist and visitors looking to capture something unusual in their trip to St. Lucia. The springs are also near the Diamond botanical gardens and Toraille waterfalls. For those looking for more than a hot baths, jungle biking at Anse Chastanet brings an adventure filled journey through orchids and French colonial ruins.

Best time to holiday in St. Lucia

This Caribbean island is an amazing holiday destination and the best time for a vacation at St. Lucia is from mid December to mid of April.