ahoy, matey

the u.s. naval captain has been rescued, thanks to sharpshooters and darkness. authorized by the president to use "deadly force" the sniper could see a pirate's head and shoulderblades and blammed him. three of the four pirates on board the floating lifeboat were killed, one has been captured.

not having followed the story too closely ( the mouth-breathing by the media was frankly grossing me out), i was unaware that naval boats had been back and forth with the pirates since wednesday, providing water and food. couldn't they have shot just them to hell on one of those friendly outings? i also discovered that women are flocking to the cities where most of the pirates live when not sailing, kidnapping and blackmailing. the men have big houses, fancy cars, copious amounts of drugs and alcohol and several wives, so in a country as thoroughly broken as somalia, it's about as good a plan for a girl's future as the *no* other options she has.

most frequently we don't hear about these ships being seized. companies quietly pay the ransoms, nobody gets hurt and the pirates live to see another profitable day. while they were initially funded by dubious dudes in dubai, they now have plenty of their own cash to upgrade weapons, boats, gps and satellite phones. these are not just out of work fishermen. they are becoming increasingly sophisticated, while extending further outward to sea.

i did a bit of trolling because the barbary pirates kept popping up all over the place. they were state-sponsored, and just like merchants now, the white guys back then decided it was simpler and more cost-effective to pay tribute. president john adams followed this course, while the extorted money soon ballooned to 20% of the federal budget.

although jefferson had counseled against a big navy, his new presidency received a shake-down demand from tripoli of $225,000, plus $25,000 a year. he refused, war was declared and he sent some ships over to kick ass. afterwards offering congress an "oh, by the way..."

historically, back to the kidnapping of julius caesar by the cilicians, it had been found far more effective to squash these pests before they got out to sea. attack them in their home ports, not a little bit, but annihilate them. the ocean is a big place. how big are these anthills where these guys are shacking up? yeah, yeah, black hawk down. guys in flip flops brought down some very pricey birds, and we got trapped in a bad firefight. i'm finding it very hard to believe we can send smart bombs down chimneys, but we can't track pirates once they get out of their rubber boats. clearly we're not tracking them in their boats either.

convoys. safety in numbers -- hello!! even i get that.

weapons. these ships and their crews are unarmed. international waters, blah, blah. these pirates don't just appear out of thin air. with technology, they can be seen long before they get anywhere near their target. plenty of time to get secured weapons out from under lock and pointed starboard until intentions are proven safe.

stop paying. if the incentive goes away, so do the now broke-ass pirates.

stop pretending. somalia is a wreck. nearly 20 years of civil war. there is no infra-structure and no government to rebuild it. millions struggle with hunger and children are too poor to attend school. the millions and millions payed in ransoms each year could be far better spent on a humanitarian military coalition presence.

easy. yeah, that's it.

let's hope capt. phillips will get a few days at home to eat some marshmallow peeps and see his family. let's hope he doesn't feel like he has to go on oprah or *write* a book.