Here's one for our gun totin' Merkin friends Pirate Hunting Cruise Packages I found a Somali cruise package that departs from Sawakin (in the Sudan) and docks at Bagamoya (in Tanzania). What I found enticing is that the cruise company is encouraging people to bring their 'High powered weapons' along on the cruise. If you don't have weapons you can rent them right there on the boat. They claim to have a master gunsmith on board and will have reloading parties every afternoon. The cruise lasts from 4-8 days and nights and costs a maximum of $3200 per person double occupancy (4 days). The boat does is sails up and down the coast of Somalia waiting to get hijacked by pirates. Crew members can double as spotters for $30.00 per hour (spotting scope included). They even offer RPG's at $75 bucks and $200 dollars for 3 standard loads "Everyone gets use of free complimentary night vision equipment and coffee and snacks on the top deck from 7pm-6am." Most cruises offer a mini-bar... "MOUNTED MINIGUN AVAILABLE @ $450.00 per 30 seconds of sustained fire" FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY" "We guarantee that you will experience at least two hijacking attempts by pirates or we will refund back half your money including gun rental charges and any unused ammo (mini gun charges not included).. Cabin space is limited so respond quickly. Reserve your package before July 29 and get 100 rounds of free tracer ammo in the caliber of your choice." As if all that isn't enough to whet your appetite, here are a few testimonials "I got three confirmed kills on my last trip. I'LL never hunt big game in Africa again. I felt like the Komandant in Schindlers list!"---- Lars, Hamburg Germany "Six attacks in 4 days was more than I expected. I bagged three pirates and my 12 yr old son sank two rowboats with the minigun. PIRATES 0 -PASSENGERS-32! Well worth the trip. Just make sure your spotter speaks English" ----Ned, Salt Lake city, Utah USA "I haven't had this much fun since flying choppers in NAM. Don't worry about getting shot by pirates as they never even got close to the ship with those weapons they use and their sh*itty aim--reminds me of a drunken 'juicer' door gunner we picked up from the motor pool back in Nam" ----"chopper' Dan, Toledo USA. "Like ducks in a barrel. They turned the ship around and we saw them bleed and cry in the water like little girls. Saw one wounded pirate eaten by sharks--what a laugh riot!! This is a must do. -----"Stud Jerkins, Cut & Shoot, TX USA
Sounds fun. If I can get my hands on an M1 Soccom I will consider it. No 5.56s here. I wanna punch through the hull of pirate boats. On this topic though: I have a friend who works in the shipping industry and is very upset that the ships cannot have armed security when forced to sail through pirate infested waters. I actually should talk to him about it more and inform myself on that issue. Used to be in the old days that every ship was armed, maybe only lightly, but still armed. I think I will go ahead try to get myself informed. My gut reaction: I mean of course the United Nations wants to protect pirates and keep merchant ships from arming themselves, and they said that since they are "civillians" they are not trained with firearms. I find this to be an incredible joke of course. I am certain I can outshoot most standard "trained" law enforcement and I frequently do. Of course the UN has no concept of personal protection. The least they can do is arm up "merchant ships" and patrol the waters undercover. I mean a few Somali pirates in a wooden boat would be easily dispatched with a couple 7.62x51 mm rifles. You don't even have to kill them, but get a round or 2 in the hull and they will change their minds or have some difficulty making it back to shore.
It is of course a spoof as I am sure you recognised but on the topic of having armed gaurds on merchant ships I understood that the rules had been changed and this is now being allowed. There was an amusing incident recently where a crew were attacked by pirates and managed to lock themselves in the engine room after alerting a nearby navy ship. Having no radio access they wrote a note, put it in a bottle and chucked it overside where it was picked up by the navy sailors who then retook the boat. I think the only way to really sort the problem is to get to grips with the lawless situation within the country.A strong central government would be forced by international pressure to sort out the situation.
I'm sorry. Did you just use the phrase "strong central government" in regards to Somalia? Not gonna happen. The place is one of the poorest places on Earth. The nation will always be controlled by Islam, Warlords, and the black market. You are correct in the sense that a strong government would stop the violence, but the fact is that a strong government isn't possible. People wouldn't be in such desparation if this were the case. Of course this is also a poverty stricken Africa we are talking about too. A strong government is maintained at the barrel of an AK47, and not through the people. If the United Nations was at all concerned they would call for some naval vessels to patrol these waters. It is nice to see some agreement on the arming of Merchant vessels for protection. The open ocean is far different than a house in the burbs. Plus a lot more is at stake(monetarily speaking) so of course the UN is ok with armed protection.
On Privacy "Spoof is proof" The fact is that action occurs and the Axeman wants Wendy and you are between him and her. Another barber shop quartet paradoxical situation to sing along too. " Who shaves the barber who cannot shave himself?" "The set of all members who are not a member of the set called themselves" "Mathematics trembles" said the logical positivists from Frege and on wards and up wards dear super heroes, no one has ever solved the problem. Still it is a mystery story. What has the "AXEMAN" to do with "WENDY" as characters on this page at this stage? POWER and its abuse creates much excitation, causes much adrenaline to flow that forces blood pressure up, that leaves one wide open to a heart attack or a stroke. Close to the edge down by the river that no one has ever stepped into twice listening to the tree fall that no one else can hear because they think it made no sound. Why is the state of affairs open to private speculations? Private Pirates with 24 hours or so depending on the state of your stomach, to accept or reject last meals contents when travelling the high seas. Sea sick uh huh uh huh! Unhand her you cad said Dudley to the landlord demanding the rent from Gwendoline, yep Wendy has had a name change. Is her situation any different to Wendie's? NA! Up to 36 hours in the digestive tract after eating the contents of the stomach exit and that which is not required exits the body, no matter if you are a good guy or a bad guy. After 12 hours its runny after 36 your constipated. Everyone one has fear in common, that is to not dirty their pants when attacked. All stories fall into this three part synopsis that are resolved linearly by the introduction of a forth component quadratically speaking. The railroad company put the tracks down so the train is the real threat not the landlord nor Dudley. Why does the landlord want the rent paid so urgently? To pay for the freight that is arriving on the train perhaps? Ah ha so the situation is a double blind or bind experiment is melodrama? Catch me if you can said the gingerbread man to the fox. And in the "REAL WORLD" Gingerbread men can run? Fox's eat gingerbread? In the imagination the idea can be drawn and a collage formed in the two dimensional world at a frame rate that shows seamless movement that can be freeze framed. Try doing that in the real world. The dictionary is simply put a catalogue of words in use and for gingerbread men to run in the real world is cracker barrel of a laugh, so supernatural. Mums and Dads love terrorising their children and tormenting them now do they? That H.R. puffinstuff Mencken said words to the effect that conscience is the fear that somebody saw you do the crime and will dob you in and you will be punished. All little Johnny wanted was a cookie and the jar was full so why did Mum put an embargo on eating cookie monsters? Because she wanted that next meal to provide the nourishment necessary for Johnnies body to grow into mature adulthood. So little Johnie pulls an AK47 out of his quiver and shoots her as a spoiled two year old would, as if a spoiled two year old knows a thing or two about hills tribesman and their rules. Knows something about warlords and knows something about the will of their elderly mothers held in trust at the lawyers office to be read out seven days after her funeral to find he is the sole beneficiary and all that contestation in the law courts later, over which sibling rival or which institution gets the lot, the legal eagles in the courtyard called the lawyers little more than arbitrators the go-betweens between little Johnnies prosecution by the state of affairs the exist today via contestations between political powers to see who has and who has not that ride on the jet plane in first class or business class. PEaCe
I don't disagree... as long as we get out of the cruise director's way and let them get on with it too. And lets get out of the merchant ships way too. In a "free market" of the seas, I have little doubt that the pirates would loose big... and quickly be so discouraged that few would ever try their luck again, at least for another 100 years or so.
I would have to agree. Places like Blackwater would easily be able to recruit people for maritime security. Hell if the money is right I will get out there in my John boat with the 15 HP Go Devil motor I have and take some shots at em. lol.
