Essay: Are Pirates Really The New Real Threat?

Listening to the news lately you would be forgiven for believing that you were listening to a novel by Frederick Marryat or even watching Disney’s latest installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. No my friends, this is reality. The plethora of Somali pirate attacks in the past two weeks seem to have escalated rapidly. Just yesterday Hilary Clinton unveiled America’s counteract to the threat, a four pronged plan in what could be seen as a new war on piracy? Can a seventeenth century problem remaining dormant for so long really be the threat everyone believes it to be? Battalions of troops are being sent from all over the world to tackle Somali pirates in one of the most broken countries in the world! These heathens have to be stopped! But wait, are we getting both sides of the story here? A little history lesson is required. In no way am I justifying the Somali actions yet someone has to give their side of the story!

Firstly, pirates are not all we have been led to believe in the first place. The stereotypical view of senseless savages looting and killing at will was a successful propaganda effort from the British government. Life for any poor wretch that ended up in the British navy was a living hell; cramped, starved, worked till you dropped and if you were lucky enough not to be thrown overboard all you had to look forward to being cheated of your wages.

Pirates were the first to rebel against this abhorrent treatment. They mutinied and created a new way of life based upon collective decisions, sharing, probably the most egalitarian places to be in the whole of the eighteenth century. They even worked shoulder to shoulder with escaped slaves! However, they were still thieves when all is said and done.

In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since. Never one’s to miss out on a great opportunity the western world saw this as a great chance to steal their food and offload some unwanted waste, namely nuclear. Mysterious Europena ships began dumping waste of the coast of Somalia making the people sick and offspring deformed. The true scale was only unearthed after the tragic 2005 tsunami which dumped countless leaking barrels onto shore only exacerbating the situation. Many have died as a result and nothing was done to relieve the situation.

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. After over exploiting their own resources they decided to move on others –vast amounts are being trawled illegally. The local fishermen have suddenly lost their livelihoods, and they are starving.

Therefore, this is the context in which the men we are calling "pirates" have emerged. As I said before, I am not trying to justify taking hostages. Some of them clearly are jumping on the bandwagon and are true gangsters. But Somalians are largely in approval of the pirates protecting their coasts, just as America was in favor of using pirates to protect their coasts during the revolutionary wars! The imperial oil guzzling giants are sailing in to save the day once again. Who is the real robber here? Pause for thought I think.

Sir Clement Freud

Broadcaster and former Liberal MP Sir Clement Freud has died aged 84. A statement from his family said Sir Clement had died on Wednesday evening at his London home. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, the actress Jill Freud, five children and 17 grandchildren. His funeral will be held next week. A grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, Sir Clement had a varied career as a cookery expert, press columnist and radio game show contestant. Renowned for his lugubrious expression and mournful voice, he was a regular panellist on the BBC's Just a Minute for more than 30 years.

Comedian Tony Hawks, another regular on the long-running Radio 4 show, remembered him being a "formidable" character. "I had listened to the show as a boy, so meeting him was like meeting a hero," he told BBC Breakfast. "You always knew he would be a challenging performer. Through his great intellect he'd always bring out the best in you." Writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry has also paid tribute, remembering Sir Clement as an "immensely generous, benevolent and charming man". "My favourite memory is of him in full flow on Just a Minute, still able to trip up people a quarter of his age," he told Radio 4's Today programme.

Born in 1924, the young Clement Freud began his career in the hotel business before turning to journalism. He started writing on cookery for newspapers and magazines in the 1950s, later expanding into a variety of subjects, including sport. His idiosyncratic pet food commercials with Henry the dog, first broadcast in the 1960s, launched him on a long career as a television and radio personality.

His political career began in 1973, when - against the odds - he won the Isle of Ely constituency for the Liberal Party. Ten years later he transferred to North East Cambridgeshire, a seat he held until 1987. He was knighted the same year. Sir Clement worked for a string of titles, including the Observer, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express. Last year he wrote about his death in The Times, claiming his relatives would want to inherit his wine.

Bat For Lashes 'Two Suns'

Atmospheric, dramatic, baroque arrangements, quasi-medieval textures, middle eastern tinges, electronic pop, synthesizers, disco, gothic epilogues, jagging pounding tribal percussion, gospel choirs, and to top it off a prudent inclusion of judicious handclapping. It’s all here on this tour de force by Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes’ second release ‘Two Suns’. Notable influences here are Kate Bush, Bjork and Fleetwood Mac. Her intention was apparently to explore dualities on a number of levels through modern day fables, a rather ambitious attempt to say the least. With such high ambition obviously the results are a rather hit and miss affair; thankfully it’s more of the former and less of the latter. The opener ‘Glass’ is stunning and could come from any Bjork album superimposed with tribal beats. Highlights of the album come from her alto ego Pearl with the truly outstanding electronic pop songs of Daniel and Pearl’s Dream. Some of the ballads here are rich in layers and beautiful to listen to; however, a few of the piano led ballads fail to leave much of a lasting impression and when she appears to venture into banshee wailing it really is quite a trial. The epilogue, a duet with the reclusive star Scott Walker, is just plain bizarre but somehow appears to work! Natasha Khan is undoubtedly a great and exciting talent who has just raised the bar for those who dare to follow.

Top 5 Songs Of The Moment

1. I’m Not Scared ‘Pet Shop Boys’
2. Bleed to Love Her ‘Fleetwood Mac’
3. All Over The World ‘Pet Shop Boys’
4. If Anyone Falls ‘Stevie Nicks’
5. Dance Magic ‘David Bowie’