Darren New wrote:
> I'm not sure it's all as clear-cut as the media might imply:
> http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates/

	The value of that article is that there is another side to this that
isn't reported and that people pretend don't exist. That they're
committing piracy is not really in dispute.

	If they were to commandeer ships involved in fishing in areas that are
supposed to be Somali waters, or ships dumping industrial wastes there,
I can see the point.

	I guess they're trying to claim that they're using the ransom money for
compensation (although I'd really like to see which fishermen who lost
their job are getting how much of that money), and perhaps they're
desperate, so I won't really judge too harshly as I may not have all the
info. However, it's just plain "wrong" in that they're punishing the
wrong folks.

	If my neighbor does something wrong, I shouldn't have to pay
compensation for his misdeeds simply because the law can't get hold of
him. I have friends and relatives living in countries where this happens
(illegally, of course). Some guy has a beef with the cable TV company
(perhaps what he considers an overpriced bill or whatever). He cancels
his account and then proceeds to steal the cable from his neighbor,
without asking him and disrupting his service. When confronted, he
simply says "I'm only taking what's rightfully mine - the cable company
owes me!". Examples like this abound - the law is pathetic at handling
this, and you usually give up or get some big guys to talk to the neighbor.

	To me, what the Somali pirates are doing sounds just like this.

-- 
"Now we all know map companies hire guys who specialize in making map
folding a physical impossibility" - Adult Kevin Arnold in "Wonder Years"


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