Sympathy For The Pirates

To quote a friend, responding to my declaration that Pirates walk the Plank, ..... "...or get splashed by SEALS...poor folks just trying to get by..."
According to a Somalian official interviewed on CNN, these pirates are thugs. Armed robbers and kidnappers. However the idea that the Somali people are " just poor folks trying to get by..." , victims of nucler waste dumped in their waters, and foreigners overfishing their coastline, stealing their livelihood which has led to these desperate times, is a contention that I only recently became aware. (I don't study this stuff)
In all of the news coverage about Somalia, or rather Somali Pirates, not once was the topic broached that Profit, foreign profit, was responsible for this desperate state. Not once. Only this Somali official brought it up, and he was quickly cut off.
Thugs are thugs, Pirates are thugs, Pirates walk the plank. But what of the rest of the country? The American experience in Somalia, at least as portrayed in "Blackhawk Down" was not a pleasant one. But Knowing how the American public is fed and led by the media , in effort to be fair, I have to ask if these pirates are fighting for survival, poor folks just trying to get by, and it is necessity that makes them so bold.
And they are Bold. That is the story that captures the imagination. In the small world we live in, it is astounding the success these Pirates have enjoyed. Until recently, when a few had their heads blown off their shoulders, they have acted with impunity and great profit. Almost a romantic adventure , their defiance of the Empire. Even after the three shots , the pirates boldly declared French and American hostages would be killed when captured. A high seas declaration of war. Bold.
Wouldn't this be a great story if there was something more involved than greed and thievery? A little Captain Jack Sparrow , or Robin Hood , or maybe saving a nation?
A little pirate background from an article by Johann Hari:

If you became a merchant or navy sailor then – plucked from the docks of London's East End, young and hungry – you ended up in a floating wooden Hell. You worked all hours on a cramped, half-starved ship, and if you slacked off, the all-powerful captain would whip you with the Cat O' Nine Tails. If you slacked often, you could be thrown overboard. And at the end of months or years of this, you were often cheated of your wages.

Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. They mutinied – and created a different way of working on the seas. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively, without torture. They shared their bounty out in what Rediker calls "one of the most egalitarian plans for the disposition of resources to be found anywhere in the eighteenth century".

They even took in escaped African slaves and lived with them as equals. The pirates showed "quite clearly – and subversively – that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal Navy." This is why they were romantic heroes, despite being unproductive thieves.

The words of one pirate from that lost age, a young British man called William Scott, should echo into this new age of piracy. Just before he was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, he said: "What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirateing to live."

Is this these pirate's story?

Abdmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."

This is the context in which the "pirates" have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a "tax" on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia – and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence". -j.hari@independent.co.uk Johann Hari

So, Both sides have now had a say , huh mate ? But let's not forget the CODE................Pirates walk the Plank!

PBS Moyer's Journal w/ William Black

Artman sent me this today. I watched it. I'll watch it again. It is hand and glove with the Obama administration and the bankers, according to this interview. Interesting. Our boy McCain is mentioned too. If you are interviewing for a job and were asked to watch Zeitgeist Addendum, this interview might help too. I must admit I still haven't watched the addendum.
In Zeitgeist , it was religion's astrological roots, and the treachery of 9\11 that interested me most. Money , Avarice, and the deceit inherent in those that are addicted to the dollar, from my perspective, is no different than any other addiction. Individually, we all have different appetites for wealth, but at some reasonable point we should be satiated. Money is the drug to some, and they will do much worse harm for dollars, than an addict does for their fix. Take the time to watch the interview. We can believe it's the same old bullshit , same old Rock and Roll.

Hang Mrs Madoff too

Back in early February I wrote an E about Victims gathering to protest in front of homes of bankers they felt were responsible for the predatory loans leaving them homeless. Paupers, shaking the gates of the castle at the servant's quarters, never realizing Lord Banker lived in the great hall further behind the gates where he was never aware of their presence.
I quote from that E
" Remember this desperate day, The victims are forecasting an attitude and frustration that is going to explode nationwide."
" Predatory Bankers better hide now. It would appear when the guillotines are dragged out their heads will be the first to roll."
Add AIG executives to the list next. At least that's what the current threats that AIG executives are receiving would indicate. The ones allowed on TV call for death to them....and their families.....for several generations. After reading a few of the air-able threats on TV, the newscasters will then give a short discourse on how the threats are over the line and reason must be restored. Three newscasters, three discourses.
The Irony is; As we're told that these death threats are unreasonable, We watch totally unreasonble acts that will help bankrupt us all, be rewarded with bonuses. Or, A guy steals 50 billion and awaits his court date in a multi-million dollar Penthouse. That's reasonable? His family, in the same business, and his wife, both, want to keep their fortune .That's reasonable? No wonder there is a Mob mentality brewing.
What a crock. If this was China these clowns would be swinging. Mrs. Madoff too. I might agree. I think that hanging is a much better deterrant to white collar crime than a bailout, or bonus, for that matter. How unfair that we can't waterboard Madoff until every hidden nickel is recovered, and then watch the floor pulled out from under his feet with a noose around his neck. Good thing he didn't have any of my money. Where is all this leading? The final result of the Endless Crisis will be the American people holding the paper on a country so far in debt it enslaves them. While the people who put us there have taken the money and left for more desirable diggs, where they await their bonuses.
Anyway , what really pisses me off are the newscasters. Newscasters are Employees told what to say. Then, once the talking head is loaded, We're told What to think. How to act. How to be reasonable. I think it's time for some unreasonableness to go with the unreasonable mess. I think it's time to decide not to be gentlemen. Not to be civilized. Not to go along as we're told.
If righteous indignation leads to a call for heads, so be it , but don't try and tell us how to act because people should be angry enough for a revolution. People should be outraged, and defiant about being reasonable! All those reasonable bastards in Washington , maybe that's the problem.
Remember, these are the same people that sold you Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Keep your Money in the market and ride it out (to nothingness), and now, they're telling us it's a great time to buy into the market for the long run. Didn't a whole bunch of long run people just lose everything?
Which brings me to the last scam of the day, 4000 additional "military advisers" to Afghanistan. Sounds more like Viet Nam everyday. The American people should feel totally betrayed the way Obama has fallen right in step with the bullshit in Afghanistan. We need to secure our own southern border, yet we pursue securing the Pakistani-Afghan border? Totally Unreasonable. Obama is chasing Osama Oil profits.
Bring all the troops home now.

AIG

Anderson Cooper was asking people how they felt about AIG executives getting bonuses. People didn't like it. Which leads me to think:
Somewhere there is an AIG employee whom doesn't give a rats ass about what people think, they want "Their" bonus.! understand where the money went on inflated mortgages; sellers pocketed the money and mortgage holders took the losses, but is the rest of the meltdown all collateral damage? and if not, then where did the rest of the money go?
Somewhere the question was posed today, "should Mrs. Madoff be allowed to keep Millions in homes and jewlery etc.?" Really.
I think the question posed should be, " Should Madoff be waterboarded by his victims until he gives up the location of the money?"
"Is prison enough for Madoff ?" I mean, he's already had years of luxury and wealth, he's got billions stashed somewhere, and when you consider what his "pay" will be per year for each year in prison; about five billion plus per year if he lives another ten years in prison, he deserves more. Like torture.
Oh, another thing, now that the drought is over in Northern California, three big storms are converging on the west coast to flood the place later this week. I'm not kidding, better buy in Southern Oregon quick.
Is Madoff the Biggest thief in history ?
I mean other than George W. ............ See, we're back where we started. People getting bonuses when they should be in jail.
One last thing , "Too BIG to Fail" , is bullshit because they failed. How stupid are we?

Loose Change and Zeitgeist