This Pirate thing is almost laughable.
This Pirate thing is almost laughable.
Radiana
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/08
#1This Pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 3:41pm
Let me start by saying that I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about. I know only what I get from the media about this rash of Pirate attacks in the last couple of years. I know it's serious business and lives have been lost and large ransoms have been paid. What is almost laughable to me is hearing from some of the experts that it's a complicated matter.
I think most of us have seen the pictures now and again. This big huge ship and a little dingy beside it with a handfull of pirates. What happened to the crows nest and the ship mate with the telescope? I know these are commercial ships but shouldn't they be armed or is that not allowed?
It just doesn't seem too complicated to me, when you see these guys coming you just blow them out of the water.
#2this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 4:02pm
some ships are armed, but you can't really arm the crew due to regulations. what you have to do is hire security forces. the trouble there is that only certain countries will allow those forces on and off the chip and the same for re-supply of weapons and ammo. plus you have the cost of the security forces who you have to pay to sit there for the whole trip when they are in fact needed for maybe 2 days to transit the gulf of aden. it's even worse of you have ships that are traveling to and from ports that will not allow arms on and off or re-supply because then you have to have them aboard already and or add legs before and after delivery to drop them off.
mercs can cost $1500-$3000 per man per day plus supplies. generally you have a team of 8 on a ship. 12 hour shifts 4 on 4 off. plus you have to carry extra insurance cover for arming a ship. who is arming the ship? is it the owner? is it the charterer? where does responsibility for that lie? plus, if you sink their boat, how can you prove they were pirates? their families and the boat owners will turn around and sue the shipping company alleging that these were innocent fishermen targeted by the arrogant european (white) capitalists.
it's not a simple matter by any means.
the only way piracy was thwarted in the old days was when the nations of the world banded together and just started killing themk with wild abandon and empowered anyone who found them to kill them. unfortunately, we are much more civilized now.
an interesting take on how to solve it
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#2this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 4:13pm
Here's a post from Huffington yesterday claiming the pirates are not pirates.
I don't think I buy it. But I definitely think the media should stop using the word "pirates." Ultimately, it completely distorts the story of what's going on.
You Are Being Lied to About Pirates
#3this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 4:37pmi wondered when it would become "our" fault.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#4this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 4:47pm
Not OUR fault...
Probaly just the gays...
You know, 'Butt Pirates'.
#5this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 5:15pmArrrrrrrrrrrr!
#6this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 5:20pmyep, dem pirates sho do luv dat booty!
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#7this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 6:20pm
"Let me start by saying that I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about."
And that's when I go on to other things.
Radiana
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/08
#8this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/9/09 at 8:34pm
I guess I didn't know what I was talking about because Papa set me straight and explained to me the ins and outs of the pirate thing and international shipping and how expensive it is to arm yourself and how if you did blow up the little boat and all the bastards in it they would be reclassified as fisherman. So I learned something at least by bringing up the subject.
Anyway, by starting out with defending myself I think I save a few insults.
#9this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/10/09 at 12:21amThe NY Post is taking this story so seriously that they used a picture of Jack Sparrow in their front page headline.
Radiana
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/08
#10this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/10/09 at 6:28pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii_c3B5AasI
See, even Hilary thinks it's almost laughable. I think we should give these pirates their two million this time and next time they approach another ship blow them up.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#11this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/10/09 at 8:36pm
"Laughable" is not a good word to use regarding this serious situation, not even with the qualifier. And why in the hell Hillary is laughing about this is beyond my understanding. Using her laughter as your defense is ridiculous.
You still don't know what you're talking about. I think you should quit while you're ahead. You clearly haven't learned anything.
Radiana
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/08
#12this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/10/09 at 11:52pm
Yes it is a serious situation that's why I think they should just give the pirates the two million and get the captain to safety. The cost of sending these huge ships to the region is costing a lot more than two million.
The laughable part is the fact that after as many attacks as there have been the big ships can't or won't defend themselves. I did learn something when Papa explained it all to me, what he explained to me must be the truth because Papa knows his stuff but it doesn't mean that there isn't another way.
What's ridiculous is that these pirates have gotten away with this as long as they have.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#13this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 12:50am
Yes it is a serious situation that's why I think they should just give the pirates the two million and get the captain to safety...
What's ridiculous is that these pirates have gotten away with this as long as they have.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#14this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 2:12amPhyllis, did you get cut off in the middle of a
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#16this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 2:56amExactly. It didn't make sense to me that you were quoting Radiana's post without adding anything further. Did I miss something?
Q
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
#17this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 3:24am
ghost - it seems what you missed is PRS pointing out that Radiana wants to cave into the pirate demands, while also calling the fact that they keep getting away with it 'ridiculous'.
The contradiction is apparent using only her words - there was no need for PRS to say anything else.
#18this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 3:25amQuick everyone, Phyllis has been hijacked by pirates mid sentence............
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#19this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 3:46am
Ah. Thank you, Q. That of course makes perfect sense. Nothing Radiana's said has made any sense, and so I couldn't get why Phyl was quoting her. I'm too obtuse to get the obvious this evening. I claim temporary insanity.
I'm sure Phyllis will fare well with the pirates, though the outlook might not be so bright for them.
My thanks to you both.
LaurenB
Broadway Star Joined: 6/17/04
#20this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:38am
New York Post cover photo, April 9, 2009.
Radiana
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/08
#21this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 9:51am
Nothing Radiana's said has made any sense, and so I couldn't get why Phyl was quoting her. I'm too obtuse to get the obvious this evening. I claim temporary insanity.
What I have to say may not make any sense to anyone here on the board but it doesn't make much sense to me to spend far more than 2 million to have the extra ships come to the area to sit and observe. As far as caving in to the pirates, that's already happened. The fact that all these ships that have been taken over haven't defended themselves by blowing these pirates out of the water pretty much sounds like caving in.
My argument is that for the sake of saving the captain's life we should give the pirates the 2 million and take care of them the next time they come out to sea. If enough of their little boats get blown up maybe they'll give this pirate thing up.
#22this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 10:56am
Radiana--you obviously haven't read any of the news articles about the situation. You just post about "blowing them out of the water" as if you were the first one to think of that and as if the US Navy hadn't even thought of it first because they're puSsies or liberals or something.
US rules of engagement prohibit firing if there is any danger to civilians. In addition to the captain, other pirates now hold hostages from the Philippines, Russia and Germany.
And now, other pirates have just taken an American tugboat with 16 more hostages.
So what exactly is your best-case scenario if we "blow them out of the water"?
#23this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 11:05am
Start with this Washington Post analysis of the seemingly unrelated extremist activity withing the chaos of Somalia. It's a lot more complicated than "blowing them out of the water":
Obama Team Mulls Aims Of Somali Extremists
Radiana
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/08
#24this pirate thing is almost laughable.
Posted: 4/11/09 at 11:27amI never said blow them out of the water when they had hostages I said in the future when they are coming up on ship blow them out of the water. I have been reading about all this in the news and I have come to the conclusion that these ships need to be armed to defend themselves. The scenerio is that if these pirates are blown out of the water before they attack the ships it will be a deterrent.
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