Skip to main content

The Court Jester Whose Wit Saved His Life

How a court jester slapped the king's butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him Triboulet served as court jester under King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547 . Triboulet's quick humor rescued him from Francis I's deadly wrath, not once, but twice. Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station. Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind. That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earne...
Post a Comment

Miracle Village

Inside the community where hundreds of pedophiles live surrounded by gator-infested waters

Miracle Village
Miracle Village


HUNDREDS of sex offenders live in a 24-acre private, isolated community along a miles-long Florida road lined by gator-infested waters and surrounded by thousands of acres of sugar cane.

The community has been self-described as a safe haven for sex offenders who need a place to live because of the state's laws that requires anyone on the registry to live between 1,000 and 2,500 miles from anywhere children might be.

General view of Restoration Destination, formerly known as Miracle Village, near Pahokee, Florida.
General view of Restoration Destination, formerly known as Miracle Village, near Pahokee, Florida.

This is the entrance to the private community to help convicted sex offenders
This is the entrance to the private community to help convicted sex offenders


There are thousands of acres of sugar cane surrounding the community and a miles-long road that runs parralell with a gator-infested river
There are thousands of acres of sugar cane surrounding the community and a miles-long road that runs parralell with a gator-infested river


It started as a pastor's vision to help recently released inmates convicted of sex crimes in 2009 and evolved into a nonprofit organization seemingly accepted by the closest city of Pahokee.

Restoration Destination, formerly known as Miracle Village, is located along a miles-long stretch of Muck City Road and is about three miles east from the heart of Pahokee and Lake Okeechobee.

Hundreds of men and women required to be register as a sex offender have come in and out of the religion-based community that provides counseling, low-income housing and job placement.

The private community said Restoration Destination will have a booth at Pahokee's bicentennial celebration.

The program continues to build on Pastor Dick Witherow's work of helping sex offenders reintegrate into society and helping educate the public about people who live there.

Residents are screened, and violent sexual offenders or those with a prior criminal history are generally denied.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Court Jester Whose Wit Saved His Life

How a court jester slapped the king's butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him Triboulet served as court jester under King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547 . Triboulet's quick humor rescued him from Francis I's deadly wrath, not once, but twice. Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station. Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind. That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earne...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arne Cheyenne Johnson

Arne Cheyenne Johnson: The Devil Made Me Do It Arne Cheyenne Johnson claimed that possession by the Devil had led him to murder Born on February 26, 1952, Arne Cheyenne Johnson holds a somewhat strange claim to fame. He was the first person in the United States to claim demonic possession as a defense in a criminal trial. After being arrested for the murder of his landlord, Alan Bono, in 1981 Johnson claimed, “the Devil made him do it”. Unsurprisingly, his trial became a media sensation at the time and Johnson became a household name. Amazingly, two famous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, came to his defense, arguing at trial that Johnson truly was possessed. For decades this has left some wondering if Johnson was guilty or if the devil really made him do it. The Murder To an outsider, it would seem everything was going okay for Arne Johnson in early 1981. He was happily engaged to Debbie Glatzel, had just moved into a new home, and was working as a tree surgeon at...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sending kids in the mail

When People Used the Postal Service to ‘Mail’ Their Children A U.S. POSTMAN CARRYING A BABY BOY ALONG WITH HIS LETTERS In the early days of U.S. parcel service, there weren’t clear guidelines about what you could and couldn’t mail. In January 1913, one Ohio couple took advantage of the U.S. Postal Service’s new parcel service to make a very special delivery: their infant son. The Beagues paid 15 cents for his stamps and an unknown amount to insure him for $50, then handed him over to the mailman, who dropped the boy off at his grandmother’s house about a mile away. Regulations about what you could and couldn’t send through the mail were vague when post offices began accepting parcels over four pounds on January 1, 1913. People immediately started testing its limits by mailing eggs, bricks, snakes and other unusual “packages.” So were people allowed to mail their children? Technically, there was no postal regulation against it. “The first few years of parcel post service—it was a bi...
Post a Comment
Read more