[johnandrhonda]

"So, what's a "French warship" look like? Anyone got a picture? Yes, I know what I'm asking for."

It's the one with the propellers in the front...aids in rapid retreat.

[marktwain]

“There's NO ROMANCE here folks! Call it what it is — TERRORISM !!!”

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Piracy has always been a nasty, dirty business. A little known fact is that the United Nations defined most piracy out of existence, even though piracy has been increasing enormously.

To be a pirate, the crime has to occur with a privately owned craft in international waters for “private gain”.

So, since most piracy occurs in coastal waters, and a great deal occurs under the cover of law of renegade states, and since “terrorists” can claim that they were doing it for ideological reasons rather than “private gain”, most pirates simply are defined out of existence.