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Capt. Phillips freed

kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
edited April 2009 in Strut Central
This is my coworker's cousin... I really can't describe how relieved I feel, knowing some of this man's family. As my dude put it last week, "I'm supposed to be at his house for a BBQ next month... I hope if I have to go there sooner, he's there too."http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/africa/13pirates.html?hp
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  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I don't say this with any "America, F*ck yeah!" bravado, but when I first heard about the hijacking, all I could think was that this was not going to end well for the pirates.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    yeah for real...what are they gonna do, exchange their hostage for a teleportation device? pretty cheeky line of work if you ask me....cruising for a bruising.

    i'm real glad the cap is safe. i'm expecting that he'll get the royal treatment for a good long period of time...pina coladas on a sunny beach plus.

    dude actually jumped into the ocean and tried to escape!!
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    im glad the Navy Seals didn't muck this up and the captain is safe. There was a similar rescue attempt for a hijacked french boat which ended badly with a bunch of hostages being killed. This is definitely going to be a made-for-TV movie.

    The bigger issue is these Somalian pirates who seem to be getting bolder and attacking more targets. I can't believe that these dudes are just poor, local fishermen who resort to pirating out of necessity.
  • lepoohpoohlepoohpooh 296 Posts
    pretty cheeky line of work if you ask me....cruising for a bruising.

    http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates/
  • kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
    Honestly, I feel like the actual-pirate-line-of-work is another debate.

    I'm just happy the man is coming home.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I can't believe that these dudes are just poor, local fishermen who resort to pirating out of necessity.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7650415.stm
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    I can't believe that these dudes are just poor, local fishermen who resort to pirating out of necessity.

    "They don't call themselves pirates. They call themselves coastguards," said
    Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed.


  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    NUKE 'EM!
  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    I'm just happy the man is coming home.

    Glad dude's okay.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    NUKE 'EM!

    rey, another illegal trawler would just take its place.

    poopooh and o, thanks for the articles. i wasnt aware of the environmental justice issues involved. would be nice if the cooperative "coastguards" flexed their growing economic muscle to better police the coast instead of living the high life.

    intentionally polluting waterways has got to be one of the most criminal acts on the planet. off the subject, but our friends at Monsanto have knowingly poisoned the worlds water with PCBs, all humans register PCB in their blood levels (polar bears do too). Id put all Monsanto CEOs from the 1930s-present up against a wall for a date with a firing squad.
  • analog_tapeanalog_tape 604 Posts
    those Somali pirates didn't know who they were f*cking with, the seals caught them sleeping.

    On the other hand if it was One Eye Willie, there would have been a stronger plan of attack.

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    pretty cheeky line of work if you ask me....cruising for a bruising.

    Alan, on April 12th, 2009 at 6:31 am Said:

    While I have no doubt that there is dumping and illegal fishing taking place around Somalia, I have a hard time believing that the great majority of the pirates are out to make a political statement or defend their country. Otherwise, why not capture international fishing vessels? Or vessels out dumping waste?

    The fact of the matter is, there have been numerous news stories about these pirates, two of them widely broadcast - when they captured a ship full of tanks and war supplies, and this week when they captured a US-flagged ship - and the pirates have had an ample platform to state their cause. This week they???ve had the chance to voice their concerns, almost directly, to Barack Obama himself. And what do they ask for? Money. Always money. No mention of any cause or conviction other than pure, selfish greed and thuggery.[/b]

    I'm not saying there isn't some truth to the article, but let's call it for what it really is. People are broke and want to get rich. Plain and simple.
  • john_doejohn_doe 237 Posts
    off the subject, but our friends at Monsanto have knowingly poisoned the worlds water with PCBs, all humans register PCB in their blood levels (polar bears do too). Id put all Monsanto CEOs from the 1930s-present up against a wall for a date with a firing squad.



    (my apologies)

    I test hazardous materials for PCBs and it's scary how many samples I've analyzed that come back with levels WAAAAY above the regulatory limit. I'd hate to think what the PCB levels in my blood are. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) don't go anywhere.


    The cost of disposing of waste containing PCBs can be around 8 times more than non-PCB waste.

    Thanks for reading.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    pretty cheeky line of work if you ask me....cruising for a bruising.

    Alan, on April 12th, 2009 at 6:31 am Said:

    While I have no doubt that there is dumping and illegal fishing taking place around Somalia, I have a hard time believing that the great majority of the pirates are out to make a political statement or defend their country. Otherwise, why not capture international fishing vessels? Or vessels out dumping waste?

    The fact of the matter is, there have been numerous news stories about these pirates, two of them widely broadcast - when they captured a ship full of tanks and war supplies, and this week when they captured a US-flagged ship - and the pirates have had an ample platform to state their cause. This week they???ve had the chance to voice their concerns, almost directly, to Barack Obama himself. And what do they ask for? Money. Always money. No mention of any cause or conviction other than pure, selfish greed and thuggery.[/b]

    I'm not saying there isn't some truth to the article, but let's call it for what it really is. People are broke and want to get rich. Plain and simple.

    This is where Mos Def would chime in and say: "ya'll need to stop believing what you hear in the media!"

    btw, from that sfbayview site:

    "Cracker, please. All you racist, crackers, please. I don???t even kno why lol stopped clubbing his momma to grunt out a statement. David, you got a gun cabinet? You listen to Rush? "

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Another take on the piracy issue: http://www.alternet.org/story/126313/somalia:_u.s._policy_aided_rise_in_pi?page=entire
  • dayday 9,611 Posts

    September 30, 2008, 9:10 am
    Q. & A. With a Pirate: ???We Just Want the Money???[/b]
    By Jeffrey Gettleman


    Somali pirates in small boats hijacked the Faina, a Belize-flagged cargo ship owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, on Sept. 25.Sugule Ali, the spokesman for the Somali pirates holding hostage the Faina, a Ukrainian freighter loaded with weapons, spoke to me by satellite telephone today from the bridge of the seized ship. In the holds of the Faina, which the pirates seized on Thursday, are 33 Russian-built battle tanks and crates of grenade launchers, anti-aircraft guns, ammunition and other explosives. American officials fear that the weapons could fall into the hands of radical Islamist insurgents who are battling Somalia???s weak government. My questions were translated into Somali, and Mr. Ali???s responses into English, by a translator employed by The New York Times.
    Q. Tell us how you discovered the weapons on board.
    A. As soon as we get on a ship, we normally do what is called a control. We search everything. That???s how we found the weapons. Tanks, anti-aircraft, artillery. That???s all we will say right now.
    Q. Were you surprised?
    A. No, we weren???t surprised. We know everything goes through the sea. We see people who dump waste in our waters. We see people who illegally fish in our waters. We see people doing all sorts of things in our waters.
    Q. Are you going to sell the weapons to insurgents?
    A. No. We don???t want these weapons to go to anyone in Somalia. Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons. We don???t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money.
    Q. How much?
    A. $20 million, in cash. We don???t use any other system than cash.
    Q. Will you negotiate?
    A. That???s deal making. Common sense says human beings can make deals.
    Q. Right now, the American Navy has you surrounded. Are you scared?
    A. No, we???re not scared. We are prepared. We are not afraid because we know you only die once.
    Q. Will you kill the hostages if attacked?
    A. Killing is not in our plans. We don???t want to do anything more than the hijacking.
    Q. What will you do with the money?
    A. We will protect ourselves from hunger.
    Q. That???s a lot of money to protect yourselves from hunger.
    A. Yes, because we have a lot of men and it will be divided amongst all of us.
    Q. [There are 20 crew members, most of them Ukrainian, being held hostage.] How are you interacting with the hostages? Eating with them? Playing desert fegs?
    A. We interact with each other in an honorable manner. We are all human beings. We talk to one another, and because we are in the same place, we eat together.
    Q. What if you were told you could leave peacefully, without arrest, though without any ransom money. Would you do it?
    A. [With a laugh] We???re not afraid of arrest or death or any of these things. For us, hunger is our enemy.
    Q. Have the pirates been misunderstood?
    A. We don???t consider ourselves sea bandits [???sea bandit??? is one way Somalis translate the English word pirate]. We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.
    Q. Why did you want to become a pirate?
    A. We are patrolling our seas. This is a normal thing for people to do in their regions.
    Q. Isn???t what you are doing a crime? Holding people at gunpoint?
    A. If you hold hostage innocent people, that???s a crime. If you hold hostage people who are doing illegal activities, like waste dumping or fishing, that is not a crime.
    Q. What has this Ukrainian ship done that was a crime?
    A. To go through our waters carrying all these weapons without permission.
    Q. What is the name of your group? How many ships have you hijacked before?
    A. I won???t say how many ships we have hijacked. I won???t talk about that. Our name is the Central Region Coast Guard.
  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
    ^^^^^
    Looks like somebody cut and pasted from another board:

    playing desert fegs

    Ha!
  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    lol I missed that one. It's a good interview though. Def. backs up what other people have said. It seems like no one cares what goes on there so long as it doesn't mess with European or American $
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    I can see the next hipster t-shirt saying "Central Region Coast Guard."

    Someone print that up quick fast@
  • shawnald_reaganshawnald_reagan 318 Posts
    I read a good book on this a few months ago:
    Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas by John Burnett

    It gives a good overview into the modern piracy problem.
    I found it to be quite enjoyable. Reccommended.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    so based on reading it, shed some light on what weve been discussing in this thread
  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    I could see south park doing an episode on Somalians downloading music illegally and Obama as head of the RIAA
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I'm just happy the man is coming home.

    Glad dude's okay.

    I have 2 main thoughts. No disrespect and no conspiracy theory.

    Will there be blow back from this?
    Some countries have argued against militarizing the area for fear that it will mean crews will be killed and ships will be blown up/sunk.
    The argument is that the ransoms can be added to the cost of business.

    I was surprised to hear that there was an American owned merchant ship that flys an American flag (is registered in the USA) and has a US crew.
    It is far more common for a merchant ship to fly the flag of one 3rd world country and have a crew from another. Greek ship, Liberian flag, Indonesian crew, or something like that.
    So that got me wondering, is the Alabama a CIA ship?
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I'm just happy the man is coming home.

    Glad dude's okay.

    I have 2 main thoughts. No disrespect and no conspiracy theory.

    Will there be blow back from this?
    Some countries have argued against militarizing the area for fear that it will mean crews will be killed and ships will be blown up/sunk.
    The argument is that the ransoms can be added to the cost of business.

    I was surprised to hear that there was an American owned merchant ship that flys an American flag (is registered in the USA) and has a US crew.
    It is far more common for a merchant ship to fly the flag of one 3rd world country and have a crew from another. Greek ship, Liberian flag, Indonesian crew, or something like that.
    So that got me wondering, is the Alabama a CIA ship?

    Uh, I'm not really prepared to follow you on the second set of points but on the first - I think this is a possible danger and it's a sticky issue. The problem is that it seems like the standard operating procedure around piracy is to pay the ransom and just swallow that cost as the price of shipping. That may help keep the number of casualties low but it also helps fuel piracy. I'm not surprised the US would take up a more aggressive approach, basically, you hijack our boats or our crews and we'll come at you and kill you, if necessary. That COULD escalate things but I'm thinking the more likely impact: no more hijackings of US boats. The cost is too high and the reward too low.
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    I'm just happy the man is coming home.

    Glad dude's okay.

    I have 2 main thoughts. No disrespect and no conspiracy theory.

    Will there be blow back from this?
    Some countries have argued against militarizing the area for fear that it will mean crews will be killed and ships will be blown up/sunk.
    The argument is that the ransoms can be added to the cost of business.

    I was surprised to hear that there was an American owned merchant ship that flys an American flag (is registered in the USA) and has a US crew.
    It is far more common for a merchant ship to fly the flag of one 3rd world country and have a crew from another. Greek ship, Liberian flag, Indonesian crew, or something like that.
    So that got me wondering, is the Alabama a CIA ship?

    Yes, there probably will be blow back. Don't be surprised if other countries grow resentful if their hostage situations become harder to resolve, or hostages get killed.

    CIA? Unlikely. The last thing the CIA would do would be to do something unusual to call attention to their vessel. At least, I would hope.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Question: is the US better equipped, militarily to deal with piracy relative to other countries whose ships have been hijacked? I'm wondering if that has something to do with the different approaches companies/nations have taken. I'm of the thinking that most would favor aggressive responses if that was a reasonable option but it's not everyday you can bust out war ships and SEAL snipers to help "negotiate."
  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    Interesting topic.
    I read that there are still more than a dozen ships with a total of over 200 crew in the hands of Somalian pirates at this point in time. It would be interesting to get a full list of all those ships along with the reasons of every single one to be there in the first place. I wonder why you can't find this sort of information anywhere.

    Personally, I'd really love to see the pirates sink an illegal fishing trawler or two. This would make their role as a coast guard more believable, scare off those bastards who are litterally stealing the food from the starving and speed up ransom payments for future operations.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Interesting topic.
    I read that there are still more than a dozen ships with a total of over 200 crew in the hands of Somalian pirates at this point in time. It would be interesting to get a full list of all those ships along with the reasons of every single one to e there in the first place. I wonder why you can't find this sort of information anywhere.

    I have heard about modern pirates, for many years, and Somali pirates for the last few years.
    But there was rarely more than a quick mention anywhere.
    Then the ship with the weapons (said to be for Kenya, but rumored that Sudan was the true finally destination) hijacked.
    A lot of press, then the press got bored as negotiations dragged on and no more about pirates until the oil tanker was hijacked.

    Not an oil tanker!
    How dare they!
    Food and products destined for Africa ok.
    Lay off our oil!

    Then nothing until the USA ship.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I've head that there are Indonesian pirates who will commander an oil tanker, set the crew adrift, and find a port that will buy the oil from them.

    GPS devices may have put an end, or at least a crimp, in those kinds of hijacks.

    Again, very little in the press about it.
  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    Does anyone else think it awesome that it's 2009 and we are having PIRATE problems??
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