Rule Somalis, Somalis Rule the Waves..

Thomas Arne eat your heart out, for, That Was The Week That Was. Time Was when talking like a pirate - http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ - was a bit of a laugh. All you needed to say was "Ooh Aaagh, Jim Lad" and you were in. But not anymore. Charles Crawford has some enlightened commentary on the modern day version. My ancestors, Spencer Weasel and John Weasel, fought at the battle of Trafalgar. In those days, you gave it to them and made sure they had it. So what has changed? Why can't we just send a gun boat or a couple of "cargo ship" decoys with marines on them, and as soon as the pirates attack, blow them out of the water? Apparently it is not as easy as that because the legal position is unclear. What is unclear? This is what a "spokesman" for the Pirates said to a Somali press source:

The spokesman of a group of Somali pirates who are now keeping a Yemeni owned vessel threatened that they would kill the entire of the crew on board and burn the vessel to ashes.

The spokesman who has shortened his name as Mohammed speaking to one of the independent local radio stations said that the entire of crew on board are infidels.

Mr. was also asked if at all there is relationship between the group of pirates which he is the spokesman and the other Somali pirates in the other regions in Somalia, and Mohammed proudly answered that there is great relationship between his group and the other Somali pirates, and added that their common interest is to fight against the foreign vessels which are scooping the resources in the Somali waters.

Who do they have for their Director of Communications, Charlie Whelan?

Tom Harris continues to defend the indefensible. I wish he would start being part of the solution and not part of the problem.

This has been the week of the Ingenu and the Dilletante.

We seem to be in a world where the boundaries are changing and where the traditional arbiters of what the hoi-polloi consume are being sidelined.

Six months ago, I felt I was just a ranter in the Wilderness. Now Simon Heffer, Matthew Parris and many others are now sounding like I was sounding then. Glad to know the penny has finally dropped with them.

Last night I had the somewhat infrequent experience of being "The Driver" - the one who sits there nursing a shandy all evening while all around are losing their heads. Fuck me, it's like being in a parallel universe. This morning, I still felt like shit, so in retrospect, I might conquer the stinge factor and get a taxi.

Have a nice weekend readers.