THEME: TODAY’S PIRATES
Perhaps they don’t wear an
eye patch, or carry a sword, or musket and sport a peg leg. Maybe they don’t have a feared flag or a shoulder
mounted parrot or shout “Ahar Matey” as they engage in ‘swashbuckling’
behaviors. But Pirates today are as
common a threat as they have been throughout history. (I am not speaking of the ones in
Pittsburgh).
Somali Pirates:
According to a recent BBC report, Somali
pirates seized a record 1,181 hostages in 2010, and were paid many millions of
dollars in ransom. In the Fall of 2011, more than 300 hundred people were being
held hostage by various pirate groups based in Somalia. The International
Maritime Bureau considers the Somali coast to be the most dangerous stretch of
water in the world. These modern day
hooligans carry RPGs, travel in groups of 12 and use speedboats to catch their
prey.
Apparently these pirates
find the proceeds from their exploits more attractive than fishing for a living
in a war torn country.
Modern Pirates of the Caribbean
These are predominantly drug
traffickers whose nautical skill and knowledge of the Caribbean enables these
‘pirates’ to prey on all strata of society. The drug dealing sociopath of the
new millennium has replaced the buccaneer sociopath of the 18th century. The
olden dreams of capturing the royal ship laden with gold has been replaced by
the trafficker’s dream of transporting a boat load of drugs to the USA without
detection.
Mediterranean Piracy
On 26th August 2008, a gang
of four masked men boarded yacht in the Mediterranean and robbed guests and
crew of more than £100,000. The modern-day pirates pulled alongside the 160ft
vessel in a speedboat, then stormed aboard wielding handguns and rifles.
Within ten minutes, the
gang was back in the speedboat, making their escape. They stole cash, gold
watches, jewelry and several pieces of art.
No one was hurt in the robbery.
Attacks on luxury yachts
are common off the coasts of Africa and in the Far East, but are still a rarity
in European waters.
I am left to wonder if the
captains and owners of these luxury yachts are complicit in these acts of
piracy and share in the fruits of the crime.
Piracy on the Web
Recently the F.B.I.
has seized the Web site Megaupload and charged seven people connected with it
with running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy. Megaupload, one of the most popular so-called
locker services on the Internet, allowed users to transfer large files like
movies and music anonymously. Megaupload is accused of causing $500 million in
damages to copyright owners and of making $175 million by selling ads and
premium subscriptions. Included in the arrests was the site’s founder, Kim
Dotcom (Kim Schmitz).
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| KIM DOTCOM |
In order to prevent piracy,
software developers license — rather than sell — software to customers with
terms and conditions attached. Services like Kindle Amazon E-books come with
fine print that does not allow the sharing or reselling of the books.
Air Line Piracy
Innocent lives have been
taken by pirates uninterested in the human condition and brain washed to their
cause.
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| WHAT ME WORRY........NOT ANYMORE |
Terrorists have pirated
travellers’ time and security. Long lines at Airport terminals frustrate the
impatient man who must remove his computer, belt and shoes; empty his pockets;
bag his pills; limit his liquids and bag them and strike the pose with his
hands on his head while he is x-rayed.
Piracy at Home
Some people think that the
activity of hi jacking copyrighted material is legitimate. They think nothing of using and sharing with
friends, -music, books, or TV subscriptions - without paying the required
amounts for such services.
Some cheat on their taxes,
their spouses or their welfare claims. Is this a form of piracy? If yes, where
does the list end?
Corporate Piracy
Knock offs, Trade secrets, Price
Gouging, Price Fixing, Currency manipulation, Government Complicity,
Sexually Perverted Pirates
Our society contains low
life pirates who ‘kidnap’ young girls to work as sex slaves for them. They live of the avails of prostitution and
have little or no compassion for the lives they have stolen.
In my opinion the lowest
scumbags are the pirates who steal the lives of children by subjecting them to
sexual abuse. Even if they do not commit murder; their innocent victims’ lives
can never be regained.
Nationalistic Piracy
I am forced to expand the
topic and consider some age-old arguments:
· Regarding displaced native peoples. Has civilization
pirated their lands and homes in the name of development or exploration and
expansion?
· Have dictators like Gaddafi and Mubarak, or Regimes in
Iran and North Korea pirated their people’s rights and freedoms?
· Have politicians pirated the wishes and aspirations of
their constituents in Western Societies?
· Have Governments pirated Truth?
· Are Intelligence Agencies pirates?
· Are immigrants, who come to Canada and insist on
Canadian laws being altered to reflect their original traditions, pirates?
QUESTION:
How much evil in the world exists because of Piracy? Will good eventually triumph?
QUOTE:
“When the power of love overcomes the
love of power the world will know peace.” –Jimi
Hendrix
LAURELS:
To Barack Obama for his ‘Power of Charisma’. Young idealists and disillusioned
Latinos and African Americans love him.
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