Good to see you are back ! (((((Merc)))))
About the topic. Yes, probably the cost of one of those war ships would be enough to fix poverty in that area, and, therefore piracy would lose its support among native people. In my humble opinion, I think that the area around Saudia is about power (read oil control). Maybe as Saudia is losing control of oil market in favour of other non-OPEC countries, in particular Russia (1), countries around Saudia could release themselves soon of "the powers" (as Chinese called the big countries one century ago). Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, etc. could relax and not to have so many wars and conflicts. More water and less oil in the area would help, I think. Peace and best wishes. Xi (1) OPEC Cuts Thwarted as Brazil, Russia Grab U.S. Market http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiSCDyK4CWmI&refer=home On Apr 13, 11:29 pm, Mercury <[email protected]> wrote: > What I did was to > > > keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirateing to live." In > > 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have > > been teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the > > Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the > > country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas. > > As ALWAYS spit on the small people and place the REAL bullies on a > pedestal. > When will people learn? > > On Apr 11, 11:16 am, "Sumerian.." <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > We are being lied to about pirates' off Somalia. > > > Posted by seafan in Latest Breaking News > > > Mon Mar 23rd 2009 > > >http://journals. democraticunderg round.com/ seafan/2959 > > > CNN reports today that > > > Pirates attacked a Japanese cargo ship off the coast of Somalia on Sunday, > > a Japanese Transportation Ministry official said. > > > A pair of small pirate vessels fired on a ship operated by Mitsui > > O.S.K. Lines about 4 p.m. Somali time (9 a.m. ET), damaging the front > > of the ship, but not seriously, according to Masami Suekado. > > > ..... > > > Then, CNN goes on to declare this: > > > The exact number and makeup of the crew were not immediately known, > > although none of the crew members is Japanese, Suekado said. > > > Pirating off Somalia has increase over the past four or five years as > > fishermen from Somalia realize that pirating is more lucrative. > > > ..... > > > One cannot let that deliberate manipulation of the truth stand. > > > === > > > Some are clearly just gangsters. But others are trying to stop illegal > > dumping and trawling > > > Johann Hari: You are being lied to about pirates > > > Monday, 5 January 2009 > > >http://www.independ > > ent.co.uk/ opinion/commenta tors/johann- hari/johann- hari-you- > > are-being- lied-to-about- pirates-1225817. html > > > Who imagined that in 2009, the world's governments would be declaring a > > new War on Pirates? As you read this, the British Royal Navy – backed > > by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China – is > > sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as > > parrot-on-the- shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting > > Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the > > most broken countries on earth. But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness > > of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments > > are labelling as "one of the great menaces of our times" have an > > extraordinary story to tell – and some justice on their side. > > > Pirates have never been quite who we think they are. In the "golden age > > of piracy" – from 1650 to 1730 – the idea of the pirate as the > > senseless, savage Bluebeard that lingers today was created by the > > British government in a great propaganda heave. Many ordinary people > > believed it was false: pirates were often saved from the gallows by > > supportive crowds. Why? What did they see that we can't? In his book > > Villains Of All Nations, the historian Marcus Rediker pores through the > > evidence. > > > 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." In > > 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have > > been teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the > > Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the > > country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas. > > > Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious > > European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast > > barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At > > first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, > > after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels > > washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and > > more than 300 died. > > > Ahmedou 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". > > > No, this doesn't make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are > > clearly just gangsters – especially those who have held up World Food > > Programme supplies. But in a telephone interview, one of the pirate > > leaders, Sugule Ali: "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We > > consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our > > seas." William Scott would understand. > > > Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, > > paddling in our toxic waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in > > restaurants in London and Paris and Rome? We won't act on those crimes > > – the only sane solution to this problem – but when some of the > > fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 per cent > > of the world's oil supply, we swiftly send in the gunboats. > > > The story of the 2009 war on piracy was best summarised by another > > pirate, who lived and died in the fourth century BC. He was captured > > and brought to Alexander the Great, who demanded to know "what he meant > > by keeping possession of the sea." The pirate smiled, and responded: > > "What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a > > petty ship, I am called a robber, while you, who do it with a great > > fleet, are called emperor." Once again, our great imperial fleets sail > > – but who is the robber? > > > j.h...@independent. co.uk > > > === > > > UN envoy decries illegal fishing, waste dumping off Somalia > > >http://afp.google. com/article/ ALeqM5gVV_ gQDsp1m8v7nPcumV c5McYV-Q > > > UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN special envoy for Somalia on Friday > > sounded the alarm about rampant illegal fishing and the dumping of > > toxic waste off the coast of the lawless African nation. > > > "Because there is no (effective) government, there is so much irregular > > fishing from European and Asian countries," Ahmedou Ould Abdallah told > > reporters. > > > He said he had asked several international non-governmental > > organizations, including Global Witness, which works to break the links > > between natural resource exploitation, conflict, corruption, and human > > rights abuses worldwide, "to trace this illegal fishing, illegal > > dumping of waste." > > > "It is a disaster off the Somali coast, a disaster (for) the Somali > > environment, the Somali population," he added. > > > Ould Abdallah said the phenomenon helps fuel the endless civil war in > > Somalia as the illegal fishermen are paying corrupt Somali ministers or > > warlords for protection or to secure fake licenses. > > > East African waters, particularly off Somalia, have huge numbers of > > commercial fish species, including the prized yellowfin tuna. > > > Foreign trawlers reportedly use prohibited fishing equipment, including > > nets with very small mesh sizes and sophisticated underwater lighting > > systems, to lure fish to their traps. > > > "I am convinced there is dumping of solid waste, chemicals and probably > > nuclear (waste).... There is no government (control) and there are few > > people with high moral ground," Ould Abdallah added. > > > Allegations of waste dumping off > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
