The fortress of The Rock...

The Alcatraz which is better known as The Rock is now a tourist spot. A rocky island of western California in San Francisco Bay that served as a military prison from 1859 to 1933 and a federal prison until 1963. Home for famous inmates like Machine Gun Kelly, Al Capone or better known as Scarface... and the highly intelligent Robert Franklin Stroud with an IQ of 134 according to his psychiatrist, he was called the Birdman of Alcatraz...

The Alcatraz in 1854
In 1909
picture taken in 2007
And now Alcatraz today is considered as ecological preserve...and tourist spot.


Source: Wikipedia






Some trivias...do you know that alcatraz means pelican in Spanish? It was originally known as Islas de los Alcatraces, after the birds that were its only inhabitants.

**and do you know why they had hot showers every day for the prisoners there at Alcatraz?
"So that they wouldn't get used to the cold bay water when they were trying to escape."

Source: Sidney Sheldon's Nothing Lasts Forever p.234

PS/Escaping from Alcatraz was nothing like shooting fish in a barrel...and I just wonder why it has to be closed...just a thought, what if we have one here to house hardened criminals and the likes...especially those corrupt leaders who will be proven beyond reasonable doubts pocketing millions of pesos from government funds and reserves...sometimes blindedly or unknowingly we elected the most unscrupulous leaders...who take advantage of the power vested upon him only to serve his selfish intention. A true black-belt robber...who robs millions and can run away unscathed...and unshackled...and unfettered. Unlucky are those who are serving their sentences.

"Well...just as my friend usually tells me...life is really a mess, so let's try to look at it at the brighter side of darkness." but in reply I told him that, despite of life's difficulties...life is still a blessing!