Posted on 11/20/2008 10:43:34 PM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
It's a given that every time we write about digital piracy, or laugh at silly pirate jokes, somebody will write in and admonish us. "Shame on you," they say. "Shame on you for laughing at pirates, when there is real piracy taking place in the world that ends up with people being hurt."
Well, those among you who are already preparing to tell us the same, take your fingers off the keyboard: this story really is about high-seas piracy.
According to Reuters, the recent growth in piracy off the coast of troubled Somalia means that lots of shipping companies are considering ditching the traditional route around the Cape of Good Hope.
"Despite all the publicity over piracy it will really hit home when consumers in the West find they haven't got their Nintendo gifts this Christmas," said Sam Dawson of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
"If there isn't a let up and active intervention by navies in the region, the impact on trade will come within weeks or months because we've gone from one attack every couple of weeks to four in a single day," he said.
"These attacks are no longer 50 to 100 miles off Somalia they are 200 miles plus off the coast... this is not just guys in little fishing boats anymore. We know there are three probably ex-Soviet trawlers acting as mother ships," Dawson said.
On a related note, there's also a story doing the rounds at the moment of how there's a shortage of shipping containers out there. I sat and watched a sequence of Chinese container ships coming in to the US
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Mario to the rescue!
You need a bailout. Apply to TARP.
I don’t want a Wii anyway. I’d rather a PS3 and Resistance 2.
I have a wii fit. we will never begin to understand each other
the recent growth in piracy off the coast of troubled Somalia means that lots of shipping companies are considering ditching the traditional route around the Cape of Good Hope.Maybe we'd be better off shipping exercise equipment this way, since we're obviously not using it for anything. ;')
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