pirates

[Ozzy]

Here we go again, 24 hr coverage on something that has been a norm for years and years. All of a sudden.......it involves  the super power.........USA, please keep your nose out, previous history of interfering in overseas matters has not worked out for you guys. Pirates are Pirates let them get the money, just like your bail out banks. Super hero on his return "CPT" can't wait for the B!"£$ S£^&% to follow, maybe a purple heart on the table for him. God help the world if you carry on like this, never has a ships take over received so much coverage. What can we say, you guys leave a lot to the imagination, IDIOTS or PLAIN STUPID. Fox NEWS headline........."FIRE POWER" what are you up against, in fact its a rubber dingy ain't it.......................................... Bring in the Seals, not your excuse of our SAS but the water resistant ones.......................

Fed up


O Z Z Y

[stayouttadabunker]

Where is this taking place, Oz?  I haven't seen any news and I'm up in New York!

[jdkmunch]

A U.S. ship was taken over by pirates off the coast of Somalia.  The crew beat the pirates off the ship but they still have the captain hostage.   I'm surprised with Obama belittling the United States overseas he hasn't apologized to the pirates for using their water and offered them a few billion for their trouble.

It is so sad to see the country you love destroyed right under your nose.

[PWRSTROKE]

Woha,  Here we go again.  Well with all that is going on I still fly the american flag here and another- .  Un-wanted folk here "beware".--    B.

[brichter]

What's wrong Ozzy? Are you angry beecause they didn't let the pirates take the ship?

[jdkmunch]

Not to put words in his mouth but I think  -  it the stupid news-
All they have been showing is that story for days.   It's outrageous.  AND it's nothing new so WTF???

Slow news week I guess

[tacman]

I think its news here because its the first ship under a US flag that was boarded and taken in that area. Kind of ironic that it was a "ship of mercy" bringing food and medical equipment to other needy African countries. I am sure that other pirated ships get the same type of coverage in their own respective country, if not shame on them!! Kind of strange that with the technology and equipment we have, we can't stop this from happening.

 Dan (tacman)

[brichter]

Appparently they did stop the takeover from happening, first by using firehoses to hold off the pirates, then locking themselves in one of the rooms when the pirates did manage to get on board.

The problem these pirates have is that they need the crew to sail the ship. If the crew isn't available, they can't do anything with the ship except sit there dead in the water. Kind of like a carjacker that doesn't know how to drive...

[jay]

Being a US ship the wheel is probably on the wrong end of the boat for them to feel comfortable.... 

[brichter]

Being a US ship the wheel is probably on the wrong end of the boat for them to feel comfortable.... 

 

[StatFreak]

My reaction to the incessant news coverage was similar to that of Ozzy and jdkmunch: I'm fed up with the skewed, biased coverage of U.S. news. This type of piracy has been going on for decades and has been getting worse for the last 10-20 years or so. This is just one more incident in a very long list that suddenly became worthy of major U.S. news coverage because it was a U.S. ship that was involved.

I have lived overseas and the news, at least what I have seen of it, in England, Western Europe, and Israel is orders of magnitude better than US news. They cover events from all over the world and will still go into detail even if the people involved have nothing to do with the country reporting the news. They don't waste valuable time with "happy talk", which has no place in the news unless they're covering a positive human interest story, and which should be used sparingly even then. It is not uncommon for Israeli news, for example, to lead with a story about France or Italy or some other country if the event is important enough, even if it has nothing to do with Jews or Israelis. When was the last time a major US television news agency broadcast led with a story about a foreign event that did not involve Americans in any way? Perhaps once every few years when a major earthquake or tsunami hits.

[brichter]

My reaction to the incessant news coverage was similar to that of Ozzy and jdkmunch: I'm fed up with the skewed, biased coverage of U.S. news.

Interesting point of view, David. I take it Ozzy is in America right now, and that's why he's complaining about the 24 hour coverage?

If you're relying on on major US TV networks for news, you're going to get news (and programming) targeted towards the advertisers' audience.

[StatFreak]

My reaction to the incessant news coverage was similar to that of Ozzy and jdkmunch: I'm fed up with the skewed, biased coverage of U.S. news.

Interesting point of view, David. I take it Ozzy is in America right now, and that's why he's complaining about the 24 hour coverage?

If you're relying on on major US TV networks for news, you're going to get news (and programming) targeted towards the advertisers' audience.

Perhaps, but other countries seem to do better at presenting a less egocentric selection of news. The news we see might be targeted towards the tastes of an American audience, but the audience's taste is largely dictated by what it's been fed since childhood. At least people raised on American news can get a different POV today, thanks to the internet, but I still see too much of (ancient) Rome in US (double entendre intended). I've met too many people who think that the world begins and ends with the United States, and that is an attitude that needs to change, IMO.

[tacman]

Agreed, the news in the US is based on getting a larger market share and slanted to display a certain point of view. Unfortunately we have no newsmen anymore , they are all editorialists skewing the report with personal or company bias.  Oh I forgot, I'm just supposed to drink the kool-aid and not think for myself!! 

 Dan tacman)

[brichter]

Yeah, but you can choose to drink whichever flavor of Koolaid you like, and don't forget about NPR or PBS.

Imagine if you lived in China, or several other countries I can think of. 




So, what was Ozzy's complaint, anyway? Is he in the US and can't find any news sources not covering this issue? Or has this issue been on the news worldwide ?

[jay]

I remember the coverage of the winter olympics when I was living in the US. The US bob sled team came in third, the news caster went on about how this was the best showing ever yada yada, do you think they ever bothered to say who came in first and second....  I certainly don't have a problem with the US focusing on their atheletes but more and more the quality of journilism is quickly slipping. This was a news show not a editorial or a focus on a team of athletes.  I find that I get the most complete coverage from BBC world.

I pin most of the sloppy jounilism on groups like newswire and the united press which are public for profit companies. They focus on quantity output not quality.  Individual TV stations, broadcasters and even news papers in an effort to meet the profit demands of wall street can no longer afford to run their own international reporters in the same way as was done in the 50s through 70s so they buy content rather than pay for quality journilism. If Oz complains of hearing the same story over and over on 20 channels its likely because it is the same story purchased from the same news agency and then told by the local broadcaster. At some point it all just becomes noise.

[tacman]

Well, looks like a total loss for the pirates on this one 3 dead, 1 in custody and the captain rescued unharmed. Good job to our boys in uniform! 

 Dan (tacman)

[Op-Bell]

A very satisfactory outcome, yes, except that apparently now there's some inexplicable indecision about where to prosecute the surviving pirate and what to charge him with.

Don't US warships have a yard-arm?

[brichter]

Not too much indecision, he's coming back here either way they go.

[Op-Bell]

Not too much indecision, he's coming back here either way they go.

That's what I find inexplicable.

The USS Somers had a yard arm.

[Joeylc]

Security firms hired to take on pirates - 08 April 09
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/MQ8A9FGiwpM&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/MQ8A9FGiwpM&rel=0</a>

[brichter]

Not too much indecision, he's coming back here either way they go.

That's what I find inexplicable.

The USS Somers had a yard arm.

We gotta be all politically correct now, no more summary justice. Them pirates has got rights, ya know? No more "more like guidelines".

[Joeylc]

US Navy seal sniper

politically correct     NOPE TO BAD !!! the a-hole pirates got what was coming to them. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/5WYyJVVm0MI&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/5WYyJVVm0MI&rel=0</a>

[Op-Bell]

Piracy law is complicated, because under the convention of freedom of the high seas, nothing done in international waters can be prosecuted under any national jurisdiction. They got round this centuries ago by declaring pirates to be hostis humani generis, enemies of mankind, and giving sea captains the authority to deal with them at sea without bringing them back home. I understand the President issued an order on Friday to terminate this lot. The US Constitution specifically grants Congress the power "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations"  (article 1 section 8). Perhaps Congress could hurry up and pass a law allowing the Navy to hang the survivor at sea and film the execution for Al Jazeera.

[brichter]

Actually I read on one of the news sites that the law has changed to read that the crimes are prosecuted under the country of the flag the ship is flying, that's why the US warships didn't want the pirates to move into Somali territorial waters.