Time for a little push back...

AUSTRALIANS onboard a luxury cruise ship were ordered to stay in their cabins and lock all doors as pirates attacked the tourist vessel.

The captain of the six-star ship Nautical made the announcement as the pirates came within a few hundred metres and fired shots at the giant liner.

Ocean Cruises' ship, carrying 684 passengers – including up to 50 Australians – and 400 crew, was passing fishing boats when the pirate vessels tried to intercept it in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen.

I think it's time to do a few set-ups in the Gulf of Aden. Toss a few lame duck prizes out there within reach of the Somali and Yememi coast and trail them with a Los Angeles Class attack submarine. Blow apart and sink whomever is dumb enough to fall for the bait...and never report the incident.

The next thing you know, the Somali and Yememi 'pirates' will be on the cover of National Geographic giving first hand accounts from cousins twice removed of the huge sea creatures that infest that part of the world.

Julius Caesar knew how to deal with pirates...

"In 75 BC, Caesar left Rome to study in Rhodes under the great teacher Apollonius Molon. While en route, however, he was waylaid by Cilician pirates and taken hostage. A Roman patrician was a good prize to catch and the pirates demanded for 20 talents (nearly 5,000 gold coins) for his release. Caesar, showing his arrogance, mocked the pirates by insisting that a rising patrician such as himself was worth no less than 50 talents (12,000 gold coins). In all he was held for 38 days and used the time to write speeches and practice his rhetoric on his captors. Though apparently treated quite well, Caesar vowed, and told them often, that when he was released he would come back to capture and crucify the lot of them. After his release, he did just that, mustering his own small fleet to accomplish the task. Good to his word, the pirates were hunted down and crucified. Though as a sign of his apparent aversion to cruelty, it's been suggested that the men were killed quickly to prevent the horrible death of crucifixion."

I'm a Cynic...

1. OPEC head: oil production cuts unlikely this month (Associated Press)

2. Hijacked Supertanker Anchors Off Somalia (New York Times)

3. World crude prices up as pirates hijack oil supertanker (National Post)

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A supertanker (Sirius Star) commissioned in March of this year falls into the hands of the Somali pirates fully loaded with $100 Million worth of crude...and the US immediately issues a statement indicating that the US Navy would not take steps to recover the goods. Meanwhile, the price of oil spikes on the news. Keep in mind that most oil carrying sea going vessels practice "unarmed assistance." That, basically, means that they have more people on watch and more hoses to water down the sides and make boarding more difficult.

Additionally, the seizure took place 100 nautical miles further out to sea than ever before by the Somalis...not to mention that they have NEVER done anything on this scale before.

But, alas. Oil stablized and remained at the current low. Well, on to plan B...look for OPEC production cuts over the holidays.

COLLUSION: Function: noun
--Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin collusion-, collusio, from colludere
--Date: 14th century
: secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose