And a bit more of things we don't normally seem to hear much about, matey
In the US (and apparently in the UK also) we have some odd but seemingly fun-loving sorts who try to get folks to join them, on September 19th, in Talk Like a Pirate Day. (I'm not a participant but whatever floats yer boat.)
Off the coast of Somalia (and around the Indian Ocean it seems) pirates are for real (no idea if they talk like Hollywood or Disney pirates but it don't seem likely).
They've recently attacked a cruise ship and a Russian tanker, captured a food-aid relief ship, and used that ship while siezing yet another ship.
They've done this in roughly the time it takes a Frenchman to vacation at the Côte d'Azur.
I've really got to get out more. There is an International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and the IMB established Piracy Centre in Kuala Lumpur back in '92. They have meetings about how to fight pirates.
We live in the year 2005 and little boys can once again grow up dreaming of becoming pirates or the men who fight them. What a world.
3 comments:
My kids enjoy the talk-like-a-pirate stuff, but also know that their dad refuses to participate and that he talks with them about real pirates, including those of today. So, they have fun, but I've also heard them mention to their friends about real pirates. In a sense, pirates can be like a seagoing cross between organized crime and street gangs.
Well you know pirates may have been democratic in the way they shared the spoils and picked a captain..but they were and are criminals.
People like to romaniticize them the same way they do the outlaws of the Wild West. They were criminals too.
The Commercial Crime Report's ICC Weekly Piracy Report.
Most of the piracy is far from romantic... just climbing anchor chains to break into paint lockers and swipe anything that isn't nailed down.
Post a Comment