Somalian pirate funding coming from communal exchange

mean_liar · Post by **mean_liar** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:09 pm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/ ... Z920091201

The dark part of me wonders if there's a local investor using BitCoins shuttled to him through Silk Road, exchanged to cash through an online brokerage and then invested in the local exchange fueling these operations.

3:1 is a pretty good ROI, and you can probably get a larger slice with a larger input.

Whatever · Post by **Whatever** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:27 pm

Piracy investor Sahra Ibrahim, a 22-year-old divorcee, was lined up with others waiting for her cut of a ransom pay-out after one of the gangs freed a Spanish tuna fishing vessel.

"I am waiting for my share after I contributed a rocket-propelled grenade for the operation," she said, adding that she got the weapon from her ex-husband in alimony.

Wat.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:49 am

"Piracy-related business has become the main profitable economic activity in our area and as locals we depend on their output," said Mohamed Adam, the town's deputy security officer.

"The district gets a percentage of every ransom from ships that have been released, and that goes on public infrastructure, including our hospital and our public schools."

Suddenly the story of Robin Hood seems a lot shadier and less heroic than I originally imagined.

Psychic Robot · Post by **Psychic Robot** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:03 am

it's almost as if taking money from people and then handing the payouts to government bureaucrats is theft

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:18 am

Now now, one way uses violence to extract wealth, keeps a portion, and gives a small amount to the public. The other way, er, um, nevermind.

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:31 am

Psychic Robot wrote:it's almost as if taking money from people and then handing the payouts to government bureaucrats is theft

If the government wasn't doing it, some other asshole would be standing there on payday with their hands out demanding money from the common man. A common man who is getting all his own income would last about 3 seconds before someone else jammed their hands in their pockets.

Psychic Robot · Post by **Psychic Robot** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 8:27 am

If the government wasn't doing it, some other asshole would be standing there on payday with their hands out demanding money from the common man. A common man who is getting all his own income would last about 3 seconds before someone else jammed their hands in their pockets.

that's what the second amendment is for

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:01 pm

A gun represents (at the very cheapest) 2 weeks to a month's income for me. I can't afford one at this point.

Psychic Robot · Post by **Psychic Robot** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:08 pm

guns aren't a necessity anyway, just saying that it's a good way of protecting individual liberty. (not much that's more liberating than shooting communists and hippies)

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:17 pm

Hey, some of my best friends are communists. Fuck hippies though, they had the chance to change the world and they wasted their energy on drugs. Fuck'em.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:55 pm

I don't get why the rest of the world doesn't simply storm Somalia, sinks all boats there, blows up anything that even looks like it was bought with loot and ransom money, and repeats that every years until they stop pirating.

Tribute (which ransom is) doesn't work, we have seen that with the Barabry coast problem for centuries.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:46 pm

Because even the cheapest (effective implied) military action on Somalian pirates would actually be more expensive than paying ransoms. Difficult to win this one.

Psychic Robot · Post by **Psychic Robot** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:14 pm

that's implying that killing somalis isn't worth the expense

Whatever · Post by **Whatever** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:21 pm

Psychic Robot wrote:that's implying that killing somalis isn't worth the expense

won't they starve to death on their own anyway

Psychic Robot · Post by **Psychic Robot** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:23 pm

or die of AIDS good point

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:14 am

Whatever wrote: won't they starve to death on their own anyway

Do you know what their national dish is?

Empty

Psychic Robot · Post by **Psychic Robot** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 4:23 am

this thread is gold

MfA · Post by **MfA** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:22 pm

Psychic Robot wrote:it's almost as if taking money from people and then handing the payouts to government bureaucrats is theft

No more or less than taking land and claiming it your property.

cthulhu · Post by **cthulhu** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:20 am

Fuchs wrote:I don't get why the rest of the world doesn't simply storm Somalia, sinks all boats there, blows up anything that even looks like it was bought with loot and ransom money, and repeats that every years until they stop pirating.

Tribute (which ransom is) doesn't work, we have seen that with the Barabry coast problem for centuries.

The funny thing is the west created the problem to begin with by rampant overfishing in somalian waters. People need to eat!

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:47 am

Yeah, "we" kind of brought that one on ourselves.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:50 am

Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for the rest of his life. Steal all a man's fish and give him an RPG, what the fuck is wrong with you, why did you do that?

Blasted · Post by **Blasted** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:12 pm

Koumei wrote:Yeah, "we" kind of brought that one on ourselves.

Given the number of people in the thread about food that don't eat seafood, I'm going to blame someone else. Stop eating fish and save the pirates!