Experienced People to Obama: Stay out of this, don’t make the situation worse by giving your inexperienced counsel.

Obama: Okay

Experienced People to Obama: Sir, the situation is now under control.

Obama: Okay

LJ: Let’s congratulate Obama for staying out of it.

PLEEEEEAAASEEE!!!!

Sunday April 12, 2009 06:30 am
What The International Media Aren’t Telling You About Somalia Pirates

By Susie Madrak

Johann Hari from The Independent:

In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to “dispose” of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: “Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention.”

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: “If nothing is done, there soon won’t be much fish left in our coastal waters.”

This is the context in which the “pirates” have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a “tax” on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia – and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence”.

No, this doesn’t make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters – especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But in a telephone interview, one of the pirate leaders, Sugule Ali: “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas.” William Scott would understand.

Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling in our toxic waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in London and Paris and Rome? We won’t act on those crimes – the only sane solution to this problem – but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply, we swiftly send in the gunboats.

You can read the United Nations report here.

I wonder which principled member of our corporate media will point out that, in the big picture, the Somali pirates are acting in self-defense?

Again, not directed at you Benj…

Anyway, while venting and commiserating is great, this site is also for learning. If we automatically categorize or disrespect another commenter, we may be missing something important and/or discouraging others from participating. I’ve seen other blogs do this and it ain’t pretty. They become very one dimensional.

It’s very disturbing, especially if one is a fair minded person. Do one thing right and then wash it down with utter stupidity….does not promote much confidence in his leadership abilities… Does it?

Still LMAO at when oowawa said about going to an Obama concentration camp…”I’ll be the geezer with the bunny slippers and a toothbrush.” You’re like Martin and Lewis together LOL.

http://www.ncthunder.bravepages.com/mia/borden.html

Well, thanks for sharing LOL. It’s another one from the Ben Franklin repertoire that I will be purloining. With due credit, of course

No problem, Paula. Purloin away-I do all this for the fun and camaraderie here.

When obama was living in Hawaii is it true that he never went to see Pearl Harbor…

I can’t answer definitively but his lack of interest in and knowledge about important historical events would lead me to surmise he hadn’t.

When obama was living in Hawaii is it true that he never went to see Pearl Harbor…

If this is indeed true then it further reinforces his contempt for the military and all that is American

http://www.ncthunder.bravepages.com/mia/borden.html

Good Lord, Ben, where DO you get this stuff? LMAO at you every day.