Posts tagged as pirates
"The police arrived at Dotcom Mansion in Auckland on Friday morning in two helicopters."
Kim Dotcom, just 37, and the "founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer" of the now-seized MegaUpload (and "Megavideo.com, Megaporn.com, and Megapay.com"), has lived a lot more than the rest of us. Arrested yesterday, again, he did it the hard way: "Mr. Dotcom, a 37-year-old with dual Finnish and German citizenship, retreated into a safe room, and the police had to cut their way in. He was eventually arrested with a firearm close by that the police said appeared to be a shortened shotgun." READ MORE
Hostage Overstock Means Amazing Savings For Piracy Victims
"Somali pirates may have reached their limit, at least for now. Security agencies have suggested that Somali pirates are willing to negotiate lower ransoms to release ships they have seized — because they are running out of room."
Giant Laser Will Make Pirates Blink
Finally, a breakthrough in the battle against piracy: "Marauding pirates could soon find themselves up against a new long-range laser weapon, designed to leave them blinded, bewildered and all at sea." Also: "While the effects are not permanent, the light should leave pirates at least wishing they had worn an eyepatch or two: from as far away as 1500 metres the effect of looking at the beam is like accidentally looking at the sun, says Hore." (Yes, groan.)
Pirates 4 Haiti 4 Ever
The Somali pirates are, apparently, going to send large donations to Haiti. For reference, their estimated income for last year was $60 million.
Stolen: The Skull Of 14th Century German Pirate Klaus Störtebeker
The 600-year-old skull of the famed German pirate Klaus Störtebeker, has disappeared from Hamburg's history museum. It's a valuable item. The guy was a total rockstar. READ MORE
Somali Pirates Not All Bad
"This year the amount of fish we have caught has been very good. We get about 150 kilograms to 200 and even 300 kilograms, depending on how much we fish. There were fish that had disappeared and have come back like the barracuda, oranda, red snapper and other types. We are very happy now that there are so many fish." READ MORE
Pirate lucky we didn't ship his ass to Guantanamo
You know, I'm well aware that the Post-and Andrea Peyser in particular-is the designated Ed Anger of our city's media scene, and I'm further aware that there's a long newspaper tradition of angry populism from people who know better, particularly when it comes to the criminal justice system, but reading today's piece from the Peys was something of an eye-opener. READ MORE
New York Post lamely zings Dutch
The best part about the Post's angry populist rant against the Dutch commandos who released a group of captured pirates in accordance with Netherlands maritime laws is the way the paper strains to find ways to insult the Dutch. Were "clog-loving" and "lowlanders" really the best that they could do? I'm kind of amazed that they left an easy "dikes" joke just sitting there on the table. Very, very disappointing.
This is what qualifies as an Awl thinkpiece.
Pirates are the new sharks: discuss.
