Piracy around the Horn of Africa

[Cknolls]

So the crew of latest high-jacked ship apparently has regainesd control of the vessel. 1 of the 4 high jackers is in custody. I think the crew just found a new anchor.

[Kyyle23]

So the crew of latest high-jacked ship apparently has regainesd control of the vessel. 1 of the 4 high jackers is in custody. I think the crew just found a new anchor.

 

There have been like 6 major hijackings in the last week, and there was a ship full of Brits and a ship full of US nationals mixed in there.

 

The Pirates are going to force the hand of a cranky US Ship passing back and forth through that area, and they arent going to be happy with the results

[lostfan]

Looks like the pirates got fed a stack of pwncakes for Easter. 3 pirates killed, one that was on the boat negotiating was captured and is in U.S. custody.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy

[mr_genius]

Looks like the pirates got fed a stack of pwncakes for Easter. 3 pirates killed, one that was on the boat negotiating was captured and is in U.S. custody.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy

 

sounds like a violation of the pirates civil rights. should we form a protest group?

[kapkomet]

sounds like a violation of the pirates civil rights. should we form a protest group?

We gotta be sure to read them their rights before any action like this is taken again. I'm pissed. WTF is our government thinking?

 

[Balta1701]

sounds like a violation of the pirates civil rights. should we form a protest group?

Can we get some more intelligent Obama haters around here please?

 

"Three of the pirates are dead and their hostage was freed unharmed"

 

"Great! This is terrible news for the Democrats!"

 

"Um, where did you get that from? They say Obama may well have authorized the military response."

 

"Woo-woo, go W, I'm going teabagging, cut my taxes more!"

[mr_genius]

Can we get some more intelligent Obama haters around here please?

 

"Three of the pirates are dead and their hostage was freed unharmed"

 

"Great! This is terrible news for the Democrats!"

 

"Um, where did you get that from? They say Obama may well have authorized the military response."

 

"Woo-woo, go W, I'm going teabagging, cut my taxes more!"

 

this response doesn't even make any sense. probably belongs in the 'i am drunk' thread

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

Looks like the pirates got fed a stack of pwncakes for Easter. 3 pirates killed, one that was on the boat negotiating was captured and is in U.S. custody.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy

sucks to be the living pirate. Imagine that conversation:

"Well, what are your demands?"

"I want..."

"oh hold on, all your partners are now dead and your hostage is free. You're under arrest."

LMAO.

[whitesoxfan101]

Can we get some more intelligent Obama haters around here please?

 

"Three of the pirates are dead and their hostage was freed unharmed"

 

"Great! This is terrible news for the Democrats!"

 

"Um, where did you get that from? They say Obama may well have authorized the military response."

 

"Woo-woo, go W, I'm going teabagging, cut my taxes more!"

 

Eh? I can see why some people might think there would be fringe liberals who would be very upset at the thought of just shooting and killing 3 pirates like that. I am not among those people, but I can see why they exist.

Edited April 13, 2009 by whitesoxfan101

[lostfan]

Eh? I can see why some people might think there would be fringe liberals who would be very upset at the thought of just shooting and killing 3 pirates like that. I am not among those people, but I can see why they exist.

I think he's saying he's tired of seeing people bash Obama and/or mock the liberal base just for the sake of doing it.

[BearSox]

I think he's saying he's tired of seeing people bash Obama and/or mock the liberal base just for the sake of doing it.

I thought it was pretty witty... I was trying to come up with one involving them being Muslim, but I couldn't. I'm just not that creative.

[mr_genius]

I think he's saying he's tired of seeing people bash Obama and/or mock the liberal base just for the sake of doing it.

 

you guys are getting too sensitive

 

derision is a proud filibuster tradition

 

[lostfan]

you guys are getting too sensitive

 

derision is a proud filibuster tradition

Balta, not me. I myself don't care.

[DrunkBomber]

Its all been down hill for them since losing Jason Bay.

[whitesoxfan101]

I think he's saying he's tired of seeing people bash Obama and/or mock the liberal base just for the sake of doing it.

 

The liberals have been doing it to the GOP for years now. If they don't like it, they shouldn't do it themselves.

 

Its all been down hill for them since losing Barry Bonds.

 

Fixed, although at your original post/concept of it.

Edited April 13, 2009 by whitesoxfan101

[southsider2k5]

I think he's saying he's tired of seeing people bash Obama and/or mock the liberal base just for the sake of doing it.

 

See also Jan 2001-2009.

[lostfan]

Excuse me while I yawn, guys

Edited April 13, 2009 by lostfan

[NorthSideSox72]

Seriously, what a joke. Somehow, the death of some pirates that no one is crying about gets turned into a reason to bash Obama or liberals? When Obama may have even authorized the action and has spoken about the heroism here?

 

This forum is getting nearly intolerable with this B.S. The level and absurdity of ire towards Obama and democrats generally is just amazing. We heard conservatives saying the Bush-bashing was over the top. So, now you not only become what you disliked, but go 3 or 4 steps beyond it, and all in the first three months of Obama's Presidency? WTF is that, are we 12 year olds in here?

 

Well OK, sometimes we are 12 year old, but how about we decrease the frequency of our 12-year-old moments?

 

[southsider2k5]

Seriously, what a joke. Somehow, the death of some pirates that no one is crying about gets turned into a reason to bash Obama or liberals? When Obama may have even authorized the action and has spoken about the heroism here?

 

This forum is getting nearly intolerable with this B.S. The level and absurdity of ire towards Obama and democrats generally is just amazing. We heard conservatives saying the Bush-bashing was over the top. So, now you not only become what you disliked, but go 3 or 4 steps beyond it, and all in the first three months of Obama's Presidency? WTF is that, are we 12 year olds in here?

 

Well OK, sometimes we are 12 year old, but how about we decrease the frequency of our 12-year-old moments?

 

Why is everyone so darned sensative about this? Its freakin high comedy when Colbert or Stewart does it, but let someone make a joke in the filibuster about the other side and everyone flips out. Its the height of hypocrisy.

 

Pull your panties out of your ass cracks people and deal with it. Everyone thought it was hilarious 3 months ago, now that has changed? You are right, it sounds exactly like a bunch of 12 year olds. Except it is about 12 year olds who are too damned insecure to laugh at themselves for fear of what everyone else will think.

[lostfan]

Why is everyone so darned sensative about this? Its freakin high comedy when Colbert or Stewart does it, but let someone make a joke in the filibuster about the other side and everyone flips out. Its the height of hypocrisy.

 

Pull your panties out of your ass cracks people and deal with it. Everyone thought it was hilarious 3 months ago, now that has changed? You are right, it sounds exactly like a bunch of 12 year olds. Except it is about 12 year olds who are too damned insecure to laugh at themselves for fear of what everyone else will think.

Meh, as I said before, I really don't care (I wasn't going to say anything until I gave my perception of what Balta said), but the hypocrisy is really a two-way street. But everyone acts like it's only hypocritical when the "other side" does it and then gets all pissy, then says "but you guys do/did it" which makes me roll my eyes. That's what my stepdaughter does.

[southsider2k5]

Apparently the pirates are just enviornmentalists who are just a bit misunderstood...

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-vazq...s_b_186015.html

 

 

Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Outside of sea bandits, and young girls fantasizing of Johnny Depp, would anyone with an honest regard for good human conduct really say that they are in support of Sea Robbery?

 

Well, in Somalia, the answer is: it's complicated.

 

The news media these days has been covering piracy in the Somali coast with such

lop-sided journalism, that it's lucky they're not on a ship themselves. It's true that the constant hijacking of vessels in the Gulf of Aden is a major threat to the vibrant trade route between Asia and Europe. It is also true that for most of the pirates operating in this vast shoreline, money is the primary objective.

 

But according to so many Somalis, the disruption of Europe's darling of a trade route, is just Karma biting a perpetrator in the butt. And if you don't believe in Karma, maybe you believe in recent history. Here is why we Somalis find ourselves slightly shy of condemning our pirates.

 

Somalia has been without any form of a functioning government since 1991. And although its failures, like many other toddler governments in Africa, sprung from the wells of post-colonial independence, bad governance and development loan sharks, the specific problem of piracy was put in motion in 1992.

 

After the overthrow of Siyad Barre, our charmless dictator of twenty-some-odd years, two major forces of the Hawiye Clan came to power. At the time, Ali Mahdi, and General Mohamed Farah Aidid, the two leaders of the Hawiye rebels, were largely considered liberators. But the unity of the two men and their respective sub-clans was very short-lived. It's as if they were dumbstruck at the advent of ousting the dictator, or that they just forgot to discuss who will be the leader of the country once they defeated their common foe.

 

A disagreement of who will upgrade from militia leader to Mr. President broke up their honeymoon. It's because of this disagreement that we've seen one of the most decomposing wars in Somalia's history, leading to millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead.

 

But war is expensive and militias need food for their families, and Jaad (an amphetamine-based stimulant) to stay awake for the fighting. Therefore, a good clan -based Warlord must look out for his own fighters. Aidid's men turned to robbing aid trucks carrying food to the starving masses, and re-selling it to continue their war. But Ali Mahdi had his sights set on a larger and more unexploited resource, namely: the Indian Ocean.

 

Already by this time, local fishermen in the coastline of Somalia have been complaining of illegal vessels coming to Somali waters and stealing all the fish. And since there was no government to report it to, and since the severity of the violence clumsily overshadowed every other problem, the fishermen went completely unheard.

 

But it was around this same time that a more sinister, a more patronizing practice was being put in motion. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Achair Parterns, made a deal with Ali Mahdi, that they were to dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. These European companies were said to be paying Warlords about $3 a ton, whereas to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.

 

In 2004, after a tsunami washed ashore several leaking containers, thousand of locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms. Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environmental Program, says that the containers had many different kinds of waste, including "Uranium, radioactive waste, lead, Cadmium, Mercury and chemical waste." But this wasn't just a passing evil from one or two groups taking advantage of our unprotected waters. The UN envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, says that the practice still continues to this day. It was months after those initial reports that local fishermen mobilized themselves, along with street militias, to go into the waters and deter the Westerners from having a free pass at completely destroying Somalia's aquatic life. Now years later, the deterring has become less noble, and the ex-fishermen with their militias have begun to develop a taste for ransom at sea. This form of piracy is now a major contributor to the Somali economy, especially in the very region that private toxic waste companies first began to burry our nation's death trap.

 

Now Somalia has upped the world's pirate attacks by over 21 percent in one year, and while NATO and the EU are both sending forces to the Somali coast to try and slow down the attacks, Blackwater and all kinds of private security firms are intent on cashing in. But while Europeans are well in their right to protect their trade interest in the region, our pirates were the only deterrent we had from an externally imposed environmental disaster. No one can say for sure that some of the ships they are now holding for ransom were not involved in illegal activity in our waters. The truth is, if you ask any Somali, if getting rid of the pirates only means the continuous rape of our coast by unmonitored Western Vessels, and the producing of a new cancerous generation, we would all fly our pirate flags high.

 

It is time that the world gave the Somali people some assurance that these Western illegal activities will end, if our pirates are to seize their operations. We do not want the EU and NATO serving as a shield for these nuclear waste-dumping hoodlums. It seems to me that this new modern crisis is truly a question of justice, but also a question of whose justice.

 

As is apparent these days, one man's pirate is another man's coast guard.

[NorthSideSox72]

Why is everyone so darned sensative about this? Its freakin high comedy when Colbert or Stewart does it, but let someone make a joke in the filibuster about the other side and everyone flips out. Its the height of hypocrisy.

 

Pull your panties out of your ass cracks people and deal with it. Everyone thought it was hilarious 3 months ago, now that has changed? You are right, it sounds exactly like a bunch of 12 year olds. Except it is about 12 year olds who are too damned insecure to laugh at themselves for fear of what everyone else will think.

No, it would be hypocrisy if I had been one that would bash Bush for something he had zero to do with (like this situation), and then complained when others do the same. I am saying, its childish, why do it?

 

And I wouldn't call it flipping out - I've watched the nonsense for three months, seen it go well beyond what I saw almost anyone in here do to Bush, being done by the same people who called it bad then... that, is hypocrisy.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Apparently the pirates are just enviornmentalists who are just a bit misunderstood...

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-vazq...s_b_186015.html

Well, I guess it makes sense that some people in Somalia would find a way to defend these pirates. And he's certainly right about one thing - the lack of central government in Somalia is what allows this to go on.

 

But what a joke of an article. Another man's coast guard???

 

[kapkomet]

I think he's saying he's tired of seeing people bash Obama and/or mock the liberal base just for the sake of doing it.

Really? I see post after post after post after post after post by these same people who think foreign folks should have the same exact rights as our citizens. When the equation comes out in a different circumstance, well, then, we step over the line?

[Cknolls]

Congrats to the Prez for acting. But why only after being asked twice by the DOD? And then only if the life of the Captain was at risk? Wasn't the Captain's life at risk the minute he was forced onto the enclosed raft?

 

The important thing is the Prez acted and we were sucessful in rescuing this Captain. Maybe, just maybe we put some doubt into the heads of these knuckleheads........but,.....I doubt it...