DISQUS

Lynx · 11 months ago

Silly little question that's been nagging at me Dr. E. Why do you put quotation marks around the word "pirates"? At first I thought it was some sort of strange sign of sympathy (what with the fish being gone and the failed state and blah blah blah), but it seems clear that you have little sympathy for them. Why aren't they full fledged non-quoted pirates to you? I apologize if you have already explained this and I missed it.

Quite frankly, though I'm quite happy the captain is OK and am all for getting rid of piracy, it seems like a rather puny thing to concentrate on. The whole of Africa is such a stunning array of tragedies and injustices that the plight of whether superpowerful first world countries should resolve their occasional hostage situations by payment or by blowing the criminals into oblivion seems a small issue indeed by comparison.

archangel · 11 months ago

hi there Lynx, it is so nice to see you. I have missed you, and I know you are busy. I did take up the word pirate, just to distinguish between 'pirate' in the minds of people Disney-fied here where we live, and to attempt to place perspective about the ways and means of firearms that the Somalian hijackers carry. I'd agree with you there's been some overly lush gushing by newsmedia, esp on television, about ooooh pirates and lyons and tygers and bears. Just my two cents worth, but having sisters and brothers in many parts of Africa, you and I and 5000 others writing 5000 stories a day about what goes on in post-colonial dictatorships with long long histories of ongoing atrocities and weather calamities, would make a dent

in all dear Claudia (I like that name so much) you make me think about writing 'away' from the msm news re certain parts of Africa; I've run several articles on Mugabwe's Zimbabwe, plus a guest voice from a family who lives there. I have limited internet access this week, but let me think on this some more. Most of us, as you know writing for blogs, have tons of articles started and not yet done with the research. Let us see. You write too. Let me know, and I will come read.

dr.e