 “Prepare to repel boarders” |
A British vacationer is being hailed a hero after he thwarted gun-toting pirates attacking a cruise ship — by throwing a deck chair at them.
Wyn Rowlands was celebrating his 62nd birthday with a dream cruise onboard the MSC Melody near the Seychelle Islands when he spotted armed pirates in a speedboat trying to clamber on to the vessel. Quick-thinking Wyn, a retired engineer from Bangor-on-Dee, picked up a deck-chair and flung it down at the gang before raising the alarm.
The ship’s captain, Ciro Pinto, was then able to out-manoeuvre the pirates to prevent them boarding the cruise ship.
The MSC Melody and its 1,000 passengers and 500 crew were 600 miles off the coast of Somalia — notorious for pirate attacks — when the incident happenedon Sunday evening. “Mr. Rowlands was on deck with his wife when he saw the pirates approaching and firing automatic weapons,” a spokeswoman for the MSC Melody told Sky News Online.
“He is understandably very proud that his rapid response helped save the day.”
Ha! Take that scoundrels!
If it was one of those wooden Adirondack chairs, he could have really fucked them up. They are just young knee grows.
#18 Fusion
OK. Then let these “deprived fishermen” capture and hold those treacherous “commanders” for ransom. Let them do what they want. I am the last one to shed a tear for that.
Why bother us, Americans? It’s their misfortune that some of their countrymen lack moral fiber and betrayed their own land and future generations.
Its their fault. They need to face the consequences if they decide to project their frustrations on us, the most powerful country that has ever existed.
#20 Neo-con logic at work. If you can exploit ‘loser’ countries and get away with it, alls fair.
In any case, I agree that if they want to engage in piracy, there will be repercussions. Besides, the whole thing is a distraction and fist shaking exercise.
#23 High Ripper
Neocon, Paleocon.. call it what you want.
But the basic premise has remained true for ages and will remain true for ages to come.
Might is right.
The weak and the meek will (and should) perish.
#24 I’m assuming you aren’t a Christian. Whatever happened to the meek inheriting the earth, I wonder.
So I’m assuming you see nothing wrong with the Nazi’s marching into Poland, because ‘might is right’. Exterminating the Jews was acceptable because ‘might is right’. Murdering thousands of people by flying an aircraft into a building is just a part of evolution, because ‘might is right’. Drug gangs taking over neighbourhoods is OK because ‘might is right’. Beating up your wife when she gives you some lip is cool, because ‘might is right’.
Sounds more like a testosterone fuelled nightmare world to me.
I gotta be missing something.
1) HOW did throwing the deck chair slow the pirates? Did it foul the engine? Did it frighten the nasty pirates?
2) The article states they were firing automatic weapons. Yet, our intrepid chair tosser had to raise the alarm. Was it the middle of the night and everyone had their hearing aids turned off?
3) What were the frisky lads shooting at? Flying deck chairs? If they’ve started shooting first and boarding later, then we may be entering a new era in buccaneering.
4) they were within deck chair throwing distance, so our intrepid engineer did indeed toss one. Then he ran to sound the alarm. Then the ship (with it’s ulta modern engines?) popped into ultra mode and outmaneuvered the decrepit pirates. Seems to me Sister Mary’s “knee grows” would have shinnied up their rope ladders faster than Mr Engineer could hit the alarms. And, since those cruise ships take a long time to do any kind of maneuvering, the “pirates” must have been taking a nap.
4b) If the pirates are, as they claim, environmental activists, maybe their failure to board the ship was due to them trying to recover the chair from the waters so as to not endanger any wildlife.
Oh, never mind. I’ll just wait for the TV movie.
#25 Hugh Ripper
I don’t know why you are injecting righteousness and morality into the discussion. Those are just local effects; no effect on long term trends in history. No matter how just or righteous one is – its military power that wins.
So, in your own example, if the West were not “mightier” than Nazi Germany in facing up to the atrocities, crushing Germany and liberating the concentration camps, then yes, more Jews would have been murdered.
The West won by sheer military might over an overwhelmed Germany, not by meditating over religion or stiff upper lip claims of “righteousness”.
Drug gangs don’t take over neighborhoods at their will because we have repercussions waiting for them in the form of police/ military action. Not because they believe in some religion or the power of righteousness.
Those beliefs end where the barrel of an AK-47 begins.
#27 I injected morality into the argument because IMHO the ‘might is right’ philosophy is absolutely immoral, and the idea that the weak should be culled doubly so.
The 3rd Reich was built upon a ‘might is right’ philosophy, so you see it lead to a cycle of violence and destruction where no-one really wins.
The idea that its useless to have morality because ‘might always wins’ seems to me to be an excuse to loot and kill with a free conscience. It might be OK in a computer game, but in the real world it is repugnant.
#26. Nimby- Yes, I wondered about all that myself. LoL! Except for 4b. In the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo…….Lucy, you got some “splainin’ to do”.
#29 McCullough said,”Yes, I wondered about all that myself.”
I knew you were an intelligent man!
#18 Senor Fusion,
Got any proof for that claim?
#27 Hugh Ripper
Everything is built on the “might is right” principle – whether you like it or not; good or bad. Good or bad does not decide military victories – bullets and bombs do.
You are bringing only negative examples such as Nazi Germany to support your viewpoint; but if you look into history lots of “good” forces were using their might to crush the “evil” ones (Hiroshima and Nagasaki?).
And as for “culling” the weak – we don’t have to cull the weak just because we can. But when these “weak” attack us; we don’t have to imagine up so called injustices to let them get away with it. A pirate is a pirate – no mitigating circumstances should prevent our bullets from piercing their foreheads…
#32 I’ve no problem with hunting down pirates.
What I have a problem with is blaming the victim of aggression, which is what your fascistic ‘might is right’ principle does, and the morality of statements such as “The weak and the meek will (and should) perish.”
I used the Nazi example because these are principles that the Third Reich was founded on.
Adam Curry was bemoaning the fact that these poor Somalia pirates are just victims that deserve out sympathy and help rather than out scorn. He yacked about the fact that they have no government and no way to defend their coastal waters.
Yea…. I’m sure all the money these pirates are raking in are going to fund schools, roads, health care, and defense.
Further, I’m certain that those pirate warlords would be the first the turn their guns on their own government should it attempt to tax them to help pay for things like schools, health care, etc.
They are nothing more than criminals taking advantage of their fellow countrymen’s misery and should be treated as such.