Re: [CH] Re: Piri Piri & Flying Peppers
John Benz Fentner, Jr. (johnfentner@attbi.com)
Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:32:37 -0400
Rob Solarion wrote:
> You know, it is sometimes difficult to believe that nobody outside of the
> Americas ever knew about any hot peppers before Columbus. Surely there
> were some "Thai" peppers or whatever in Asia before that. I can't believe
> that hot peppers spread to the rest of the world ONLY after Columbus. But
> ... maybe so.
We had a discussion about that a few years back when the Colonel was
still with us. Seems there were Portuguese navigators sailing between
South America and the Far East within 20 or 30 years of Columbus'
discovery. They were apparently the ones who introduced chile to Asia
which has had 500 years or so to develop the cultivation and cuisine.
> As for flying with or without peppers, I personally have decided never to
> fly anywhere again, until some "sanity" returns to airline flight. Just by
> the way I look, I know that I would be harassed and searched and searched
> and searched, whether I was carrying peppers or dope. :-( It amazes me
> that the American public is putting up with this bullshit. Really. Rob
Me too...but the old cliche still holds...people don't want to be free,
they want to be safe. As long as you can convince 'em that you'll
protect 'em from the BoogeyMan du Jour they'll let you get away with
anything. They're gonna be shocked...shocked...when Osama ben Doofus
pulls the next one and blows Newark into Ohio while Dubya's brownshirts
are busy stealing toenail clippers at the airport.
JB