Flutterby™! : Talk like a Pirate

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Talk like a Pirate

2008-10-03 21:51:01.323376+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Somali pirates tell their side, they just want money so that they can keep protecting the ocean they patrol:

He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” he said. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.”

Which, of course, reminds me of the allegations that the Mafia flourished in New York because it was protecting the Italians from the Irish cops, when asked to make a decision between competing corrupt police forces, the Italian neighborhoods chose their own. The lines distinguishing a government and its police force, a group of armed vigilantes, and a gang of thugs are suble.

[ related topics: Law Enforcement New York ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2008-10-03 23:16:48.358982+00 by: petronius

Their country has not had a functional government for 17 years, and armed gangs are hijacking deliveries of relief supplies. And they are patrolling fishing rights? The Mafia may have flattered themselves they were protecting the Italians, but they made sure they got their piece of the action first.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-10-03 23:35:21.408701+00 by: Dan Lyke

Yeah, well, comparisons to a functional intelligence service and financial services regulatory agency, with notes about who's profiting from the response to the lack of those in the United States, elided 'cause that'd make me look way too damned cynical.