Arrr, Mateys, Here Comes A Ship
Pirates! Swashbucklers! Errol Flynn swinging from the rigging! It's the Maersk Alabama, hijacked once and not about to be taken again.
Score this time: Alabammy 1, Pirates 0. Because this time, they hired some really smart, some really well-armed guards who don’t care who they shoot, how they shoot them or what rules of the high seas they may be breaking. The Maersk Alabama is carrying a valuable cargo and the last time was The Last Time.
My own opinion: When pirates decide to storm your ship, they have used up their due process, their Miranda rights, their right of appeal and their right to a fair trial. They do retain the right to instant justice as well as the right to learn quickly the basic fact of life: “What goes around comes around.” You mess with me, I mess with you.
I’m pretty much of a pacifist, except when someone wants to steal my ship, which merchants have entrusted their business to me. They trust me to deliver their cargo safely; my crew relies on me to keep them safe; my employers rely on me to keep the ship off the rocks and away from pirates. Then my attitude changes.
If it takes a security force armed up to, but not including, the A-bomb to accomplish this, then let’s go for it. These people aren’t doing it to feed their children and house the street urchins; they live very well on the ransoms. If we can avoid shooting them, that’s fine; let them swim ashore. Let’s see … how many miles out are they?
Score this time: Alabammy 1, Pirates 0. Because this time, they hired some really smart, some really well-armed guards who don’t care who they shoot, how they shoot them or what rules of the high seas they may be breaking. The Maersk Alabama is carrying a valuable cargo and the last time was The Last Time.
My own opinion: When pirates decide to storm your ship, they have used up their due process, their Miranda rights, their right of appeal and their right to a fair trial. They do retain the right to instant justice as well as the right to learn quickly the basic fact of life: “What goes around comes around.” You mess with me, I mess with you.
I’m pretty much of a pacifist, except when someone wants to steal my ship, which merchants have entrusted their business to me. They trust me to deliver their cargo safely; my crew relies on me to keep them safe; my employers rely on me to keep the ship off the rocks and away from pirates. Then my attitude changes.
If it takes a security force armed up to, but not including, the A-bomb to accomplish this, then let’s go for it. These people aren’t doing it to feed their children and house the street urchins; they live very well on the ransoms. If we can avoid shooting them, that’s fine; let them swim ashore. Let’s see … how many miles out are they?
posted by Tom Carten at 9:38 PM
1 Comments:
Amen, brother!
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