the pirate log

Piracy Update

With somewhere around 40 warships operating within the Gulf of Aden and around Somalia, piracy is still flourishing. Albeit more carefully. There is still a tremendous amount of money to be made in the ransom business, and plenty of people who want a cut. 

Continuing to feed this cycle is of course the lure of what amounts to “easy” money from ransoms. Additionally the political situation is so unstable in Somalia, with Al Shabaab openly threatening action against the Government. Both Al Shabaab and the Government have threatened violence on the other in an attempt to assert control over Mogadishu, but so far it seems to be talk. Al Shabaab has resorted to signing bonuses as fighters are openly defecting to travel north and join the pirate trade as there is less risk of injury or death and more money to be made.

There’s also some strange fighting over Mogadishu radio stations, and whether they should play music or not, as well as whether its permissible to use church bells to summon students to class. Al Shabaab is dedicated to removing as much western influence as possible (bells) while keeping anything (weapons) that can assist them in destabilizing Mogadishu, the Government, and Somalia in general. 

2009: A Major Year for Pirates

The Kuala Lumpur based International Maritime Bureau released information on Thursday indicating that pirate attacks around the world surged 38.5% last year. Incidents involving Somali pirates and attacks off the Somali coast accounted for half off all worldwide pirate attacks.

Half.

Somali pirates were responsible for 217 acts of piracy last year and in what may be the most alarming news, they’re venturing further abroad, targeting more “bulk” carriers, and injuring more people during hijackings.

For more info check out the International Maritime Bureau’s website.

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Weird News

The milk story is definitely weird….but only slightly weirder than the pirate stock market.

brianharris004:

I’m not sure if I’m playing in the rules here, technically re-posting is fair-game, right?  If someone could let me know if you can see this, I’d really appreciate it.  For some reason I can’t see it unless I click on it but I can see other people’s blogs entirely.

In Somalia, which is without a central government to speak of and where very little functions beyond an Islamic resistance and individual warlords’ fiefdoms, a robust “stock market” has emerged in the city of Haradheere for “investors” in the seagoing pirate “industry,” to raise money and supplies for kidnappers in exchange for a share of the bounty once a ransom is paid. According to a December Reuters dispatch, 72 “companies” are listed on the exchange, enabling “venture capital” to fund greater piracy traffic and more sophisticated looting. There even seems to be a financial “bubble” at work, in that since the “exchange” opened, pirates’ ransoms have doubled to about $4 million per ship. [Reuters, 12-1-09]

Afghanistan’s national game, buzkashi, is attempting a marketing transformation inspired by pro football’s and basketball’s growths in the United States over the last several decades, according to a November USA Today dispatch. The main hindrance is that buzkashi is often little more than violent anarchy. A team of 12 men on horseback tries to carry a goat carcass the length of a field, around a goal and back, through an opposing team “defense” that includes almost any tactic short of murder. Spectators are often trampled by riders disregarding boundaries, and horses have dropped dead on the field from abuse or fatigue. The head of the Buzkashi Federation said he aims to present the game for consideration to the International Olympic Committee. [USA Today, 11-18-09]

Bandanna-clad Jason Zacchi, 27, was arrested in Dearborn Heights, Mich., in November after, according to police, pointing a shotgun at a Wendy’s employee at the drive-in window and demanding money. Moments later, the shift manager angrily approached the window and yelled at Zacchi, “What the hell are you doing?” (The manager had recognized Zacchi through his bandanna. Zacchi is her son.) [MSNBC, 12-1-09]

Ragnar Bengtsson, 26, the male Swedish student who vowed in September to pump milk from his nipples every three hours for 90 days, drop by drop, to show that it could be done, quit in November, concluding that it can’t. Said a TV producer following Bengtsson around, “All he got was sore breasts.” [The Local (Stockholm), 12-1-09]

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