Just got done watching the new “Pirates of the Carribean” movie. Gotta give it two cutlasses up.
I think it managed to get the point across that at that time, Piracy was Freedom. Now, some of the nasty and brutish aspects were there also. But the only people in the whole movie who did what they felt was right instead of what was expected were the “good” pirates.
Studying the topic historically, I’ve not found a definitive difference on whether or not most pirates chose the profession because of fate, freedom, or booty. I’m sure its always a mix of the three. Even many of the ones that chose it for freedom’s sake only did it because there was no other choice. That says a lot about the “enlightened times.”

Pirates of today, however, are solely there for booty and murder. It seems to just be ugly. But also stupid. Here’s a list of the current week’s piracy activities from the Weekly Piracy Report.

• 14.07.2003 at 1400 LT at Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh.
  Eleven pirates in a boat came alongside a bulk carrier. Three pirates armed with long knives attempted to board via anchor chain. Duty watchman raised alarm and informed port control and coast guard. Pirates aborted attempt.
• 11.07.2003, during early morning at Guanta port, Venezuela.
  Eight pirates armed with long knives boarded a general cargo ship at berth and broke padlocks on storerooms. Alert crew raised alarm and pirates escaped. On 12.07.2003 a thorough search found a stowaway hiding onboard. This may be unconnected with piracy incident.
• 11.07.2003 at 0245 LT, 5 miles NW of Ko Khram Island, Kosichang, Thailand.
  A pirate boarded a bulk carrier underway using grapnel hook. Duty officer raised alarm; crew mustered and switched on deck lights. On seeing crew alertness pirate jumped overboard and escaped in a boat waiting with three accomplices. Master tried to call port control but received no response.
• 09.07.2003 at 0030 LT at Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh.
  Seven pirates armed with knives boarded a container ship at berth from forecastle. They took hostage duty crew and escaped with ship’s stores

Knives? c’mon, this is the 21st century. And using 2-3 people to attach a ship? Thats just pathetic. If you asked anyone today what would a current pirate would do, I’m sure the answer would be 10-15 people in fast speedboats loaded with machine guns and AK-47s. Not long knives. Sheesh. And no mention of parrots or eyepatches either. No class…

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