Well, if we can manage to fend off the pirates....
Posted By: TechSupport on 2009-04-15
In Reply to: Ron Paul has the right idea about fending - off pirates.............. sm
...in Washington, maybe we can get to the pirates in Somalia next.
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....fend for themselves.
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fend for themselves? Where do you get that?
If the mother does not decide to keep the child, and that mother is poor, there are programs out the kazoo to take care of both of them. And many single mothers start that way, but get themselves off assistance as soon sa they can. Believe it or not, many times a girl who thought she would not want the child, like most mothers, hold the first time and commit right then to make as good a life for her child as she can. And most of them go on to do just that. If you would get involved in a program, follow just one girl who made the choice for life, love their child and in spite of adversity make a good life for their child. It doesn't take a lot of money for a child to grow up healthy and loved. Your candidate, Obama, says right up front he came from a middle class family. Many times having the child is a turning point for a girl/woman. Yes, there are bad stories. But there are bad stories about EVERYthing. Why abort almost 2 million babies a year because of what MIGHT happen? I saw a post that said maybe some of those 1.2 million were going to be serial killers or rapists or something...well, what if just ONE of those 1.2 million was going to cure cancer? Cure diabetes? What about that?
Pirates
How do you think Obama is handling the pirate situation?
Pirates hijack four more ships.
MOMBASSA, Kenya — Undeterred by U.S. and French hostage rescues that killed five bandits, Somali pirates brazenly hijacked four more ships in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway at the center of the world's fight against piracy.
Pirates have vowed to retaliate for deaths of their colleagues_ and the top U.S. military officer said Tuesday he takes those comments seriously. But Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that "we're very well prepared to deal with anything like that."
Still, despite Mullen's confident statement and President Barack Obama's warning Monday, pirates captured two more nautical trophies Tuesday to match the two ships they seized a day or two earlier.
NATO spokeswoman Shona Lowe said the MV Sea Horse, a Lebanese-owned cargo ship, was attacked and captured Tuesday by pirates in three or four speedboats. She had no further information.
That hijacking came only hours after the Greek-managed MV Irene E.M. was seized in a rare overnight attack by pirates.
Click to view photos
In addition, Somali pirates also hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's northern coast, which maritime officials said had a total of 36 crew. It was not exactly clear if those ships were hijacked Monday or Sunday.
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's busiest and most vital shipping lanes, crossed by over 20,000 ships each year.
A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted many attacks on ships this year, but say the area is so vast they can't stop all hijackings.
Choong said pirate attacks this year had risen to 78, with 19 of those ships hijacked and 17 vessels with over 300 crew still in pirates' hands. Each boat carries the potential of a million-dollar ransom.
The Irene was sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. The ship is flagged in the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
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* U.S. Ship Arrives in Kenyan Port Without Captured Captain
* Tense Standoff Between U.S., Pirates Mirrors Lawless Trend Off Somali Coast
* Officials Say Pirate Fired Weapon in Captain's Failed Escape
* More Warships Head to Scene of Hostage American Sea Captain
* U.S. Warship, Hostage Negotiators Join Standoff as Pirates' Options Dwindle
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* Phillps' Family Responds to Rescue
* Freed!
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* Somali Pirates Seize 20 Americans
U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said the Irene carried 23 Filipino crew, while Choong reported it had 21. There was no immediate way to reconcile the figures.
A maritime security contractor, speaking on condition of anonymity because it is a sensitive security issue, said the Irene put out a distress signal "to say they had a suspicious vessel approaching. That rapidly turned into an attack and then a hijacking."
"They tried to call in support on the emergency channels, but they never got any response," the contractor said.
The latest seizures come after Navy SEAL snipers rescued American ship captain Richard Phillips on Sunday by killing three young pirates who held him captive in a drifting lifeboat for five days. A fourth pirate surrendered after seeking medical attention for a wound he received in trying to take over Phillips' vessel, the Maersk Alabama.
Phillips on Tuesday was aboard a Navy vessel at an undisclosed location, Christensen said. He was initially taken aboard the Norfolk, Va.-based USS Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for a medical exam.
In Washington, Obama appeared to move the piracy issue higher on his agenda, vowing the United States would work with nations around the world to fight the problem.
"I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region and to achieve that goal, we're going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks," Obama said at a news conference Monday.
The 19 crew members of the Alabama celebrated their skipper's freedom with beer and an evening barbecue Monday in the Kenyan port of Mombassa, said crewman Ken Quinn.
The vessel's chief mate was among those urging strong U.S. action against piracy.
"It's time for us to step in and put an end to this crisis," Shane Murphy said. "It's a crisis. Wake up."
The U.S. is considering new options to fight piracy, including adding Navy gunships along the Somali coastline and launching a campaign to disable pirate "mother ships," according to military officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no decisions have been made yet.
In Burlington, Vt., Phillips' wife, Andrea Phillips thanked Obama, who approved the dramatic sniper operation.
"With Richard saved, you all just gave me the best Easter ever," she said in a statement.
The four pirates that attacked the Alabama were between 17 and 19 years old, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
"Untrained teenagers with heavy weapons," Gates told students and faculty at the Marine Corps War College. "Everybody in the room knows the consequences of that."
U.S. officials were now considering whether to bring the fourth pirate, who surrendered shortly before the sniper shootings, to the United States or possibly turn him over to Kenya. Both piracy and hostage-taking carry life prison sentences under U.S. law.
The French navy late Monday handed over the bodies of two Somali pirates killed in a hostage rescue operation last week to authorities in Somali's semiautonomous northern region of Puntland and locals buried the bodies.
Gotta love the reasoning of these pirates
'Killing our boys was aggression.' I guess you're just supposed to pay them the money and let them keep pirating. Nobody was ever supposed to fight back.
And, as they have threatened to 'deal harshly' with any US or French sailors they capture in the future, is there any reason why now we should not simply hunt down and blast each and every one of them out of the water? None that I can think of. I think they just declared war on us.
Keeping information quiet because we worry about the pirates??????
That never stopped the MSM from giving out troop movements, information etc during the height of the Iraqi war did it? What about the "embedded" journalists over there. And I use the word journalist loosely.
You did manage to get 1 thing right....(sm)
You do know YOUR history of the region.
Can you manage to squeeze in one more topic? ....
.
No emergency to manage in Houston.
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There is no emergency to manage in Austin,
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Exactly...well, they did manage to write and get passed...
one piece of legislation...the "reform" bill that was supposed to straighten out Fannie/Freddie...instead was the straw that broke the camel's back...forced them to offer those floating rate mortgages to low and moderate income people and the creditworthiness of said people was not to be an issue. The floating rates went UP, and a bazillion people went into foreclosure, and if the Bush admin had not stepped in and taken over, the economy could very well have collapsed. The "reform" bill, plus the crooked Dems at the top of Fannie/Freddie, just about did us in this time. Other than that piece of legislation, they have not done a blessed thing in the year they have been in charge. That is why their approval rating is in the tank.
Very well said Sam. You always manage to back your posts with facts. sm
I have used some of the links that you have posted to help me put things in perspective. Keep up the good work.
AND DON'T LEAVE THE BOARD!
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