Somali pirates II...new ship, new UH-OH...

[Eleven Mike]

If Paddy is still looking for a job, we could ask him to go find out the exact details of the situation.  How much should we pay him? 

[Manedwolf]

Well, there's another possibility here to consider:

 That is, maybe the South African newspaper came up with a good story to sell papers, and this started out of someone seeing a bunch of Somali pirates looking like a rabble of lepers.

The problem is that you're presuming the whole course of events as described to be fact, which isn't necessarily the case.

But yeah, it wouldn't be humorous if they called international authorities for help-then we might actually have some hard facts to go on.

Here's another possibility.

You jumped in to defend Iran. As usual.

If I hadn't mentioned it was an Iranian ship, I don't think you would have had a word to say.

Do you have any idea at all how desparately silly you seem when you do this? When you come up with absolutely ridiculous excuses and wild stories to "explain" damn near everything to do with extremists?

[De Selby]

Well, there's another possibility here to consider:

 That is, maybe the South African newspaper came up with a good story to sell papers, and this started out of someone seeing a bunch of Somali pirates looking like a rabble of lepers.

The problem is that you're presuming the whole course of events as described to be fact, which isn't necessarily the case.

But yeah, it wouldn't be humorous if they called international authorities for help-then we might actually have some hard facts to go on.

Here's another possibility.

You jumped in to defend Iran. As usual.

If I hadn't mentioned it was an Iranian ship, I don't think you would have had a word to say.

Do you have any idea at all how desparately silly you seem when you do this? When you come up with absolutely ridiculous excuses and wild stories to "explain" damn near everything to do with extremists?

I don't think Iran needs any defending, nor do I think it deserves any defending-but as a matter of examining the likely truth here, if you take a look at a map of the ocean and sea lanes, you can see why this story is extremely unlikely to be about Iran shipping nuclear materials.

What I did was make a comment to deflate what looks a whole lot like WND style hype-Somali pirates looking like lepers, you say? "Oh no, it must be nuclear!"....please.

[Gewehr98]

If Paddy is still looking for a job, we could ask him to go find out the exact details of the situation.

I suppose, if Paddy were still a member here.  He's not, btw.

As somebody long-versed in the nuclear business, SS, my first inclination was that our beloved Somali pirates were indeed suffering from radiation sickness.  That doesn't rule out other forms of contamination, but neither can it be summarily dismissed as a potential source of illness. 

The stuff doesn't have to be weapons-grade, either.  There were a bunch of very sick little Mexican children not too long ago who were playing with little silver pellets found in the back of a pickup truck.

It was the cobalt radiation source from surplus American medical equipment.  There were over 6,000 of those pellets from the opened source capsule, each pellet capable of emitting 25 RADS (!) per hour. The truck itself was emitting on average 50 Rads per hour at a distance of one meter.  The children never knew what hit them.

http://www.window.state.tx.us/border/ch09/cobalto.html

[Jamisjockey]

Well, I'm sure this paper has an embedded reporter with the Somali pirates, who carefully recorded the details of their skin and hair conditions before the assault on the ship....and that of course, all the details, being fit for a Ludlow novel, were right on the money.

The story looks a bit romanticized, and the pirates are just the sort you would imagine to be in the health state of a bunch of lepers anyway.

I don't see what's so unrealistic about believing that a gang of somali pirates might have severe health problems other than radiological/chemical exposure

That didn't take long.  You'd defend satan himself.  You're missing your calling as a defense attorney for serial child rapists.

[The Annoyed Man]

Hey folks, this is very important information here, especially in terms of our plans for the SS APS, our anti-pirate vessel.  Looks like we'll need some NBC protective gear on board.  And, to be safe, we're going to need aircraft to check these vessels before we board them.  Any pilots around here?  I'm thinking a helo as opposed to fixed wing...something we can land on deck without needing a full carrier.  I'm sure there are some surplus Cobras we could get a hold of, if we have pilots.

[Boomhauer]

Hey folks, this is very important information here, especially in terms of our plans for the SS APS, our anti-pirate vessel.  Looks like we'll need some NBC protective gear on board.  And, to be safe, we're going to need aircraft to check these vessels before we board them.  Any pilots around here?  I'm thinking a helo as opposed to fixed wing...something we can land on deck without needing a full carrier.  I'm sure there are some surplus Cobras we could get a hold of, if we have pilots.

Hell yes we've got pilots.

There's gotta be a helo pilot around here, though. Most of us are fixed wing, as far as I know.

That said, I'm willing to sacrifice my time in order to become the APS helo pilot if there is no one else, provided Jamis's Sugar Momma or someone else pays for the training. Helo training costs make fixed wing training costs look like nothing...

[AmbulanceDriver]

...That said, I'm willing to sacrifice my time in order to become the APS helo pilot if there is no one else, provided Jamis's Sugar Momma or someone else pays for the training. Helo training costs make fixed wing training costs look like nothing...

That's because in fixed wing, if something goes wrong, you've got a glider and can usually trade altitude for time while you try to sort it out.  Rotor, something goes wrong, you've got a crater...  Altitude then becomes a liability, as the more altitude, the deeper the crater.

[Manedwolf]

I've got a few minutes flight time in a JetRanger, but that's about it. Did okay, though, circled around an airport, and understand the cyclic and collective. Hadn't tried hovering, though.

I would expect you'd want a bit more than that.

That's because in fixed wing, if something goes wrong, you've got a glider and can usually trade altitude for time while you try to sort it out.  Rotor, something goes wrong, you've got a crater...  Altitude then becomes a liability, as the more altitude, the deeper the crater.

Not necessarily, you can autorotate. You're still going down, but survivably. If you're over the ocean, you're going swimming, though. That's why Coast Guard sorts have those breathing air bottles in their vests, so they can get out safely.

[ilbob]

why do i care if one group of islamic terrorists is terrorizing another group of islamic terrorists?

[Manedwolf]

why do i care if one group of islamic terrorists is terrorizing another group of islamic terrorists?

It isn't that. It's that an Iranian state vessel might have radioactive material on board.

[MicroBalrog]

Maybe they hijacked a ship with some cargo that has alpha, beta, & gamma emissions.

Or maybe the whole thing is a lie, or is exaggerated by the media.

[don]

It has been mentioned that the pirates were /are armed with rocket propelled grenades. What is the maxium effective of rocket propelled grenades? Is it greater than the range of a .50 cal. machine gun?

[Manedwolf]

It has been mentioned that the pirates were /are armed with rocket propelled grenades. What is the maxium effective of rocket propelled grenades? Is it greater than the range of a .50 cal. machine gun?

AFAIK, hard to hit anything beyond 300 yards, and the grenade self-detonates at about 1000. Their stuff is in lousy condition, too. They hit the cruise ship with a dud that just punched into a cabin and did not detonate.

[The Annoyed Man]

I've got a few minutes flight time in a JetRanger, but that's about it. Did okay, though, circled around an airport, and understand the cyclic and collective. Hadn't tried hovering, though.

I would expect you'd want a bit more than that.

That's because in fixed wing, if something goes wrong, you've got a glider and can usually trade altitude for time while you try to sort it out.  Rotor, something goes wrong, you've got a crater...  Altitude then becomes a liability, as the more altitude, the deeper the crater.

Not necessarily, you can autorotate. You're still going down, but survivably. If you're over the ocean, you're going swimming, though. That's why Coast Guard sorts have those breathing air bottles in their vests, so they can get out safely.

We'll get a helicopter, and you can learn as we go. How about that?

[taurusowner]

Well, I'm sure this paper has an embedded reporter with the Somali pirates, who carefully recorded the details of their skin and hair conditions before the assault on the ship....and that of course, all the details, being fit for a Ludlow novel, were right on the money.

Is it wrong to hope it's Geraldo?

[Manedwolf]

I've got a few minutes flight time in a JetRanger, but that's about it. Did okay, though, circled around an airport, and understand the cyclic and collective. Hadn't tried hovering, though.

I would expect you'd want a bit more than that.

That's because in fixed wing, if something goes wrong, you've got a glider and can usually trade altitude for time while you try to sort it out.  Rotor, something goes wrong, you've got a crater...  Altitude then becomes a liability, as the more altitude, the deeper the crater.

Not necessarily, you can autorotate. You're still going down, but survivably. If you're over the ocean, you're going swimming, though. That's why Coast Guard sorts have those breathing air bottles in their vests, so they can get out safely.

We'll get a helicopter, and you can learn as we go. How about that?

Okay! Someone has a Bell 222 for sale up on eBay.

We could add internal, deployable hardpoints, paint it black, and get the theme music...

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, google for an image of a 222, and you'll get it.)

[41magsnub]

Maybe we could buy back the original from the air ambulance service in Germany?  It crashed in 1992 though so it might be in kinda rough shape.

[Manedwolf]

Maybe we could buy back the original from the air ambulance service in Germany that owns it now...

It crashed over 15 years ago in a thunderstorm and killed three people.

[JonnyB]

I happen to have a Seaplane rating on my certificate. Where do I send my application for employment as chief pirate pilot?

jb

[stevelyn]

No one seems to mention the health of the ship's crew. If there was a radiation leak they'd be getting it too.

As for myself, I really don't believe the story other than the pirates jacked another ship.

For all we know, the details could have been contrived by our "friends" in the Moose Odd to fuel speculation on what an Iranian flagged ship might be carrying. And it's not like we have competent enough intelligence assets to confirm it either way.

[Manedwolf]

No one seems to mention the health of the ship's crew. If there was a radiation leak they'd be getting it too.

As for myself, I really don't believe the story other than the pirates jacked another ship.

For all we know, the details could have been contrived by our "friends" in the Moose Odd to fuel speculation on what an Iranian flagged ship might be carrying. And it's not like we have competent enough intelligence assets to confirm it either way.

Not if they knew well enough to stay away from the stuff in the hold.

[Jamisjockey]

No one seems to mention the health of the ship's crew. If there was a radiation leak they'd be getting it too.

As for myself, I really don't believe the story other than the pirates jacked another ship.

For all we know, the details could have been contrived by our "friends" in the Moose Odd to fuel speculation on what an Iranian flagged ship might be carrying. And it's not like we have competent enough intelligence assets to confirm it either way.

For all we know the story was contrived by brain sucking space aliens hoping to instigate the second coming by making sure Palin becomes President and WWIII with Iran breaks out!  Oh noes, the consipracy!1!!111one1!!!

[Matthew Carberry]

Just get a Supercub on floats we can hoist on board.

Put a guy in the door with a Garand, it'll be like shooting wolves on the tundra.

 

[Manedwolf]

Apparently the pirates on the Ukrainian ship, now being circled by a US and Russian warship, have vowed to "fight to the death".

...Okay?