Somali pirates take another oil tanker...
thibodeaux wrote:Dude, it's the media. They'll show a cop holding an AR-15 and call it an "AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapon." For all we know, that's a picture of a Swiss Coast Guard rescue cutter.
It said "AK-47-type." Which, granted, is about as helpful as saying "assault rifle-type."
Edited By Malcolm on 1255046056
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
If you have no idea what it is, how difficult is it to simply ask?thibodeaux wrote:just in case you thought that was hyperbole
Remember when the media actually investigated things and did fact checking?
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
I'm starting to wonder if they ever did. Perhaps they never really did and since they were the only major delivery channel for information people calling them on it never got heard.Leisher wrote:Remember when the media actually investigated things and did fact checking?
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Complete story here.GORDON wrote:I am not familiar with the minutia of world history; I generally just know the broad strokes. Please, expand.Malcolm wrote:Probably my ass. The Gracchus brothers.
The dime tour ...
The Senate was screwing over Roman legionaries. Tiberius opposed them & got quite a popular following. The other Senators made accusations of him wanting to be king. He went to chat w\ them in the Senate & was beaten to death w\ their chairs.
Recorded political propaganda, if you want to read all the shit the Senators said about him & vice-versa.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Makes "You lie!" sound fairly tame.Malcolm wrote:Complete story here.GORDON wrote:I am not familiar with the minutia of world history; I generally just know the broad strokes. Please, expand.Malcolm wrote:Probably my ass. The Gracchus brothers.
The dime tour ...
The Senate was screwing over Roman legionaries. Tiberius opposed them & got quite a popular following. The other Senators made accusations of him wanting to be king. He went to chat w\ them in the Senate & was beaten to death w\ their chairs.
Recorded political propaganda, if you want to read all the shit the Senators said about him & vice-versa.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
GORDON wrote:Makes "You lie!" sound fairly tame.
The Senate used to be the place where people could die if they did something sufficiently stupid. Guess they wised up & figured it'd be easier to fuck over everyone else who wasn't in the room.
Edited By Malcolm on 1255116237
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I'm still dumbfounded at either ...TPRJones wrote:Hey, look! Progress!Private security guards shot a Somali pirate dead last week, which was the first recorded instance of its kind.
(i) the lack of escort ships, either from private agencies or governments
(ii) if (i) is being prevented by some type of bullshit, hippie maritime law, why hasn't that law been set aside for a bit?
How many more fucking ships do they get to cherry pick?
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
My guess is that it's currently cheaper to pay some pirates from time to time than to pay a bunch of mercenary escorts. For the big corporations at least.
That will probably change soon, if present trends continue.
That will probably change soon, if present trends continue.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
The thing the pirates should keep in mind is that at some point, when the scales tip, it'll still be cheaper to higher some mercs to go into Somali and take care of the problem at the source than to higher bunches of escorts.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
The problem in Somalia is that the national infrastructure can't support the populous. The economy is damn near nonexistent & the citizens appear to think their time is better spent holding rich folks' ships for ransom than propping up their laughable government. Expensive either way.TPRJones wrote:The thing the pirates should keep in mind is that at some point, when the scales tip, it'll still be cheaper to higher some mercs to go into Somali and take care of the problem at the source than to higher bunches of escorts.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Why ships don't have more security.
In short, the cost is high & the probability of your shipped getting jacked is still low. But possibly the worst logic imaginable creeps in at the end of the article.
They might fire first anyway, dickweed.
In short, the cost is high & the probability of your shipped getting jacked is still low. But possibly the worst logic imaginable creeps in at the end of the article.
On March 23, private security guards protecting a commercial ship shot dead a Somali pirate, the first recorded incident of its kind.
As the Monitor reported, the incident could be a glimpse of dicey times ahead.
“This could be the beginning of a violent period,” says E.J. Hogendoorn, head of the Horn of Africa program at the International Crisis Group’s office in Nairobi. “If [the pirates] see guys with shiny barrels pointing at them, they might fire first.”
They might fire first anyway, dickweed.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."