Somali pirates ruining the fun for play pirates?

[LadyBarbossa]

I would have completely missed this if it wasn't for the Journalist who contacted me about doing a response article to this.

Not sure if this was posted already.. if so, I'll post it again.

Generally it's about Pirate Enthusists of what they think about the recent Somali Pirate activity.

**** Link removed by request****

But, um... it's one of those that not only slaps you upside the head, but knocks on yo'r skull to get ye wonderin' and thinking... plus stirs yo'r blood either in a good way or a bad way.

~Lady B

[Kian McBrian]

We were supposed to do an event near us here in NY, and after talking with the coordinator they wanted us to go weaponless due to the recent news regarding the Somali pirates.....I dont think we will be doing that event at that museum anytime soon

[Cascabel]

Holy Crap !!!!! That is absolutely freakin' ridiculous !!! I hardly think that the general public equates the current situation with old-time swashbucklers like us....

>>>> Cascabel

[Cheeky Actress]

The article is done in poor light. A dreadful peice.

Edited May 7, 2009 by Cheeky Actress

[Kian McBrian]

well we approached the lady as nicely as possible....still havent heard back at all. I think its baloney that the organization is grouping us with the somali pirates, but what can ya do other than raid the event!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

[William Brand]

The article was so bad that it was removed...?

[LadyBarbossa]

Just some personal requests, Will.

So, I've copied and pasted the article. Cause, honestly, this really is an important issue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Real Pirates Have Taken the 'Ho Ho' Out of 'Yo Ho Ho' for Cap'n Slappy

It's No Fun Playing Dress Up, When Thugs Are at Large on High Seas

By STEPHANIE SIMON

Mark Summers has a beef with the pirates who are seizing cargo ships and taking hostages off the coast of Somalia: They're ruining his bad name.

For years, Mr. Summers has been donning frock coats and plumed hats and rakish red scarves and tucking blunderbusses into his belt to transform himself into Cap'n Slappy. That's Pirate Capt. Slappy to you, mate.

His alter ego symbolizes a spirit of freedom, he says: the romance of the open sea, self-reliance, defiance and loads of jolly good fun with a barrel (or two) of rum. At least, it did until real pirates had to come along and wreck it all.

"There ought to be a different word for pirates in their current incarnation," says Mr. Summers, who co-founded the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day. In an aggrieved posting on his MySpace page just after Navy Seals rescued an American captain held hostage by pirates, Mr. Summers suggested some alternative nomenclature: sea-thugs, boat-muggers, kelp-festooned kidnappers. "I got a huge response," he said, "from people saying 'amen.' Or 'aaaar-men.' "

These are confusing times for pirate enthusiasts, grown men and women who like nothing better than dressing up in swashbuckler regalia and staging mock mutinies, kidnappings, pistol duels and pillages for street fairs and birthday parties. They often present -- and glamorize -- such famed rogues as Capt. Kidd and Blackbeard.

Somali teenagers in speedboats, brandishing AK-47s, don't have the same mystique. "Most of us don't consider what's going on there true piracy. They sound more like terrorists. Or thugs," complained Christine Markel Lampe, who edits No Quarter Given, a pirate re-enactor newsletter.

Actually, the ragtag Somali crews are very clearly true pirates. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as violence committed for private gain against vessels on the high seas.

Pirates have been around for at least 8,000 years, going back to ancient Greece -- and practicing plenty of thuggery over the ages. The most reviled -- or revered -- plied their brutal craft in the Golden Age of Piracy, from roughly 1660 to 1730.

Golden Age

That Golden Age began with the flourishing of buccaneers, who were often authorized by rival European governments to attack Spanish vessels carting treasure to and from the New World. Around 1710, a new breed of cutthroats appeared who had no allegiances except to their own greed. Flying the skull-and-crossbones flag, they plundered thousands of ships, throwing trans-Atlantic trade into crisis. They also practiced torture. "They could come up with some pretty gruesome things to do with people they didn't like," says Marcus Rediker, a historian at the University of Pittsburgh.

For all their notoriety, pirates of that era were also folk heroes, Mr. Rediker says. They ran their ships as democracies. Captains were elected and all men got an equal share of the booty, with bonuses going to those with special skills. They didn't harm crews who surrendered quickly. They abided by strict codes of honor. A "Pirates Creed of Ethics" now on display at the Field Museum in Chicago includes this warning: "If one Brother steals from another, his nose or ears are to be cut off."

The piratical blend of honor and derring-do proved appealing to legions of browbeaten English sailors who subsisted on wormy biscuits and abuse from dictatorial captains. When a ship flying the Jolly Roger approached, many a navy crew would desert to join the pirates.

The pirate life, heavily sanitized, still proves irresistible to men such as Charles Waldron, a chiropractor from Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. Mr. Waldron owns eight frock coats, for which he paid from $250 to $600 apiece, six pairs of buccaneer boots and countless swords, daggers and replica pistols. He owns a small cannon that he says cost him $4,000.

Mr. Waldron heads up a pirate crew of two dozen people he recruited by posting fliers around town. They travel the Eastern seaboard in a 28-foot RV, staging mock mutinies at festivals. Mr. Waldron proudly keeps things light -- and doesn't appreciate real pirates dragging him down.

"We're trying to take something bad [from history] and make it halfway decent," he says. "They're not helping us at all."

Indeed, more than one pirate re-enactor broke out into a cold sweat earlier this month when Somali pirates stormed aboard a U.S.-flag freighter and seized Capt. Richard Phillips.

Reality Check

Rob Ossian, who designs email systems in Austin, Texas, when he's not marauding as the Pirate King, explained the fear: "People think of pirates the way they think of vampires" -- they're fun because they're fictional, he says.

"If there really were vampires around, I don't think people would be lining up to buy 'Twilight,' " the best-selling book about a young vampire, Mr. Ossian says. By that reasoning, he expected the hostage crisis to sour the public on piratical fun.

The alarm has so far proved unfounded, and not only because Capt. Phillips was rescued unharmed. From Errol Flynn to Capt. Hook to the rakish Jack Sparrow, pirates have a deep hold on popular culture. And they're not letting go, even as the International Maritime Bureau reports that actual piracy has soared to record levels, with 102 attacks in the first quarter of 2009.

Invading City Hall

In Corpus Christi, Texas, an annual pirate-theme festival, Buc Days, began Thursday with a garishly grinning scurvy soul dubbed Jolly Roger as the mascot. "We haven't backed off any, nor do we plan to," said Barry Box, who helps run the 11-day festival.

In Tampa, Fla., Jim Tarbet seethes at the real-world pirates. "Speaking as a 25-year Navy veteran," he said, "you know what I'd like to do with them." But he has no problem organizing the city's annual Gasparilla celebration, which features a mock pirate invasion of City Hall. "It's one of the signature events of our city," says Mr. Tarbet.

Some pirate enthusiasts go so far as to suggest that the recent thuggery on the high seas might be good for business. "I expected negative emails," said A.J. LoCascio, a film student in New York City who impersonates the fictional Capt. Jack Sparrow at corporate retreats and birthday parties. "But business seems to be picking up."

In some circles, it's even possible to detect a frisson of excitement that pirates are getting so much attention.

When the president of the U.S. starts making public references to pirates, "it makes you step back and think, 'wow!' " says Jim Trdinich, the director of media relations for Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates.

Mr. Trdinich said he's not worried that the team will get a cutthroat reputation because of recent headlines. "The cool, swashbuckling pirates are what we depict ourselves as," he said. "Aaaar, matey -- those guys."

Though he condemns the recent violence, Mr. Trdinich acknowledges that it's fun to be relevant, to hear the Pirates' name at every turn. He expresses regret for teams that will never experience the thrill. "Think," he said, "of the Minnesota Vikings."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone has a beef about the names being shown... lemme know. But remember, these names were published worldwide so the world has already seen them.

Cascabel... Yes, it's absurd.

What I find most interesting is how we as reenactors break a sweat about this and fuss about real piracy! How dare we fuss about history and realism! After all, I've found this as a great opportunity to tell the truth and give a history lesson.

~Lady B

[theM.A.dDogge]

Just some personal requests, Will.

So, I've copied and pasted the article. Cause, honestly, this really is an important issue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Real Pirates Have Taken the 'Ho Ho' Out of 'Yo Ho Ho' for Cap'n Slappy

It's No Fun Playing Dress Up, When Thugs Are at Large on High Seas

. "Most of us don't consider what's going on there true piracy. They sound more like terrorists. Or thugs," complained Christine Markel Lampe, who edits No Quarter Given, a pirate re-enactor newsletter.

~Lady B

ahh....i think she needs to look up the word ..."PYRACY" in the dictionary?!?!?

the reporter also asked our group for some quotes......we most have made to much sence...we wer'nt quoted!?!?!

for example....does anybody think it interesting that the exact same thing is happing....same tactics...same route...same big countries being hit by small nations....same ends...same means????....so...the world has learned NOTHING IN OVER 300 YEARS!?!?!

mark twain once said......history dont exactly repeat itself...but it sure do ryhme!!!

[LadyBrower]

I think the acts of piracy then and now are similar. Whether good or bad, it is important that history is learned, if it takes a little fiction, so be it. But there is no reason to banish pirate reenacting (and replica weapons) because something similar is actually taking place. In fact, I think it is more important that we are out there talking about the reasons for piracy, what sparked the golden age, and why piracy is making a come back. Interestingly, a gentleman in one of my classes did a presentation on modern piracy and we had a discussion about how the motivations for piracy are so similar between the ages. People don't like ugly history, but that's the way it is. We are always doing ugly things, it just so happens that looking back, we can empathize with the pirates. This is not bad, it's good. maybe someday people will learn... Though I am not counting on it.

It is crap that the museum seems to be afraid of appearing sympathetic to Somali pirates, but I haven't had a chance to speak directly with the coordinator. I'll keep you all posted on that. Hopefully its a misunderstanding.

[Bright]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41661

[Captain_MacNamara]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41661

VERY good article. And yet another vivid illustration of the misleading nature of "mainstream" news media. I've heard from alot of people about these pirates, but never once until this article the reasons... and valid ones at that, that made these men turn to piracy.

"There are Pirates and Emperors, but they're really the same thing."

Another thing that I often point out, as alot of the time "pirate personae" are ridiculed and frowned upon in the local SCA circles, is that one nation's hero is another nation's criminal... or Pirate.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Captain_MacNamara

[William Brand]

Ahhh, that article. Yes. Very poorly written and not very informative of pirates in general, let alone the hobby and history.

Still, it features one of my photos. I hope it does more good than harm.

[theM.A.dDogge]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41661

VERY good article. And yet another vivid illustration of the misleading nature of "mainstream" news media. I've heard from alot of people about these pirates, but never once until this article the reasons... and valid ones at that, that made these men turn to piracy.

"There are Pirates and Emperors, but they're really the same thing."

Another thing that I often point out, as alot of the time "pirate personae" are ridiculed and frowned upon in the local SCA circles, is that one nation's hero is another nation's criminal... or Pirate.

thats funny....many SCA circles are ridiculed and frowned upon in the Re-enactment venue!?!?!

[Edward O'Keeffe]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41661

I am curious about this "nuclear waste" washing up on Somali shores, there is no mention as to what levels are involved. Technically smoke detectors and banana peels are "low level radioactive waste".

[Captain_MacNamara]

True enough, but you don't put smoke detectors and banana peels in barrels... nor will they give you radiation poisoning...

(To clarify, that is under normal circumstances. Sure, if you are buried in just the radioactive parts of say, several thousand smoke detectors, then yes you might get sick.)

Edited May 8, 2009 by Captain_MacNamara

[Edward O'Keeffe]

True enough, but you don't put smoke detectors and banana peels in barrels... nor will they give you radiation poisoning...

(To clarify, that is under normal circumstances. Sure, if you are buried in just the radioactive parts of say, several thousand smoke detectors, then yes you might get sick.)

Lets go through some of the claims from this article:

" dump our nuclear waste in their seas."

first of all, US Nuclear plants store all spent fuel on site, so not one pellet had ever shipped overseas for disposal, and it is all accounted for.

"European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean."

Secondly, European nations re-process spent nuclear material into usable fuel, they do not discard it. Thereby reducing the amount of spent material they must maintain on site. Why dump something in the ocean when when you can use it to generate energy.

"hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore."

If this were the case why were these alleged "leaking barrels " washing up on shores just on the coast of Somalia, not all over the region.

And finally, if the side banners on that page any indication, and one can only assume they are. That "news" site is nothing more that a hard core propaganda page. I mean come on, they are looking for donations. That is not what I would consider a reliable source.

[LadyBarbossa]

Dogge, :::nods::: I'm with ye there. Just absolutely baffles me. And worse, I find it hilarious that when the Mersk Alabama sailed along the coast, they sailed into if not dangerously close to a region they were TOLD NOT to go through or to! They WERE fore warned! I recall hearing that. Also... THEY FOUGHT! We all know what happens when someone fights back against pirates! Blood WILL be spilt and problems WILL happen! Hello?!?!??!

Yes, History has shown us much about Piracy (among other things) and yet people remain ignorant fools to just not pay attention to what history has shown us so it WON'T happen again.

LadyBrower... likewise there. And that is a very good article, too.

Somalia is STILL an area of turmoil with mean WarLords around. We just don't hear about them. All the way up to Sudan all the way down to Kenya and over to the Congo, etc... UN envoys both on land and sea are taken by the armies. Only way people can survive is to take up arms that they stole. And in most ways they resort to piracy but mostly to survive, to live. The Mersk Alabama had UN supplies, did it not? I think the Pirates wanted to get to that before the WarLords did.

Somalia... do you all remember several years ago the problems that created an incident which spawned of an international outrage after a cry for help to get rid of the warlords had gone awry only to become a movie? "Black Hawk Down" Like these WarLords are all taken care of. Not really.

No.. I don't see these pirates - Somalia or elsewhere in the world - as Terrorists. They don't plant themselves on the side of a ship or a Market area and blow themselves up along with nigh 2 dozen or more people. That's NOT their way. They plunder, pilfer, etc... but not kill themselves fruitlessly. They are not doing this in the name of Jihad and God.

Granted there is individualism, but for Christ's sake... the media needs to get their freakin' facts straight!

Yes, that article did in fact infuriate me. Sugar coating Piracy? Saying the Somali Pirates are hurting our fun play time? OMG, PLEASE! Don't make me PUKE! It's no more than what most schools and where ever else be doing with Rev War, Civ War, WW2, etc.... sugar coating that, too. Which is feeding people the WRONG info!

Tell the truth and be honest. Sugar coating it only creates lies and lies is what gets everyone in trouble! Especially when history is involved... cause we are bound to repeat ourselves when we ignore the truth!

:::Steps down off the soapbox, infuriated and grumbling:::

~Lady B

[LadyBrower]

No.. I don't see these pirates - Somalia or elsewhere in the world - as Terrorists. They don't plant themselves on the side of a ship or a Market area and blow themselves up along with nigh 2 dozen or more people. That's NOT their way. They plunder, pilfer, etc... but not kill themselves fruitlessly. They are not doing this in the name of Jihad and God.

Granted there is individualism, but for Christ's sake... the media needs to get their freakin' facts straight!

Terrorism, I think mostly because of recent events has a different connotation than it once did. Indeed, terrorism as defined by Webster's unabridged dictionary is:

1. The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially* for political purposes. 2. The state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization. 3. A terroristic method of governing or of resisting government.

Terrorist:

1. a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism. 2. a person who terrorizes or frightens others

Terrorize:

1. To fill or overcome with terror. 2. to dominate or coerce by intimidation. 3. to produce widespread fear by acts of violence, as bombings.

So.... Pirates were terrorists. They employed these methods in their acts of piracy. Yes, they absolutely did. Acting savagely, altering their appearance, even the Flag was meant to put fear into the hearts of men so that they would be more easily over come.

Terrorism is not restricted to religious acts, jihad or otherwise, or blowing ones self up in the process. It is a new strain of terrorism that has been plaguing our world today, this skews our vision of other acts that could be classified as such because we have seen worse. Though the word only originated in 1795, I think had it been documented earlier it would certainly been applied to pirates.

It's not one thing either way, it just is what it is. It's history. We can make pirates heroes for the common man if we want, just like we still see our boys in WWII as heroes. They had to do bad things as well. Hell, I'm sure many military tactics that have been used could qualify as terrorism. Dare I say Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Agent Orange? The entire cold war was carried out with terrorism, hell, even the Native Americans and their war paint was meant to be terrifying.

I know it sounds like I am taking this a little far, but I just wanted to point out that terrorism is not restricted to cooky Islamic fundamentalists looking for virgins. Nearly every country, culture, religious group etc.. in the world throughout history has used terrorism as a tool for persuasion. Sure we can say "that's bad" but is it? It's the way it is, and look what we got from it. We live in a democratic society, perhaps inspired by pirates, taken by force and kept by terror. Now, I don't know about you, but I like my life afforded to me by war and terror. And I am not afraid to know where it came from. It is my firm belief that people ought to and have the right to know about all the "bad" history. Hell, sometimes the bad guys are the heros, the rebels are the ones we love because they do ignight change and revolution.

So, back to the main point... Should modern piracy effect our reenacting? Yes and no. It should effect how we set out to educate the public, but it should not keep us from going out there or being allowed at certain events. It should encourage us to continue educating ourselves so we can have the best available information for the public, but we cannot, CANNOT make light of either era of piracy. No sugar coated, politically correct or appologetic bullshit.

=P

[Guest]

I'm sure many military tactics that have been used could qualify as terrorism. Dare I say Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

And may I remind you of December 7th 1941...... Pearl Harbor....

[Rumba Rue]

I knew the current modern day pirates in Somalia would probably cause problems for us who like to pretend.

So I'm not surprised by the reaction from the general public and businesses that provide to the public. Don't want to crinkle their PC correct directness or even want to be associated with anything other than Peter Pan.

This kind of thing happens over and over again and will continue to happen, that is the course of the lives we live.

To hell with them and go and have fun and enjoy the hard earned money you've spent on garb for the occasions and play to your heart's content. Amen!

[LadyBrower]

I'm sure many military tactics that have been used could qualify as terrorism. Dare I say Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

And may I remind you of December 7th 1941...... Pearl Harbor....

I needed no reminding, but thank you for bring that up. I brought up Hiroshima and Nagasaki specifically because we used our show of arms to frighten the enemies into submission, and show our status as a world power. It was very effective.

[Bright]

"Not all men seek rest and peace,

some are born with the spirit of the storm in their blood,

restless harbingers of violence and bloodshed,

knowing no other path."

[Joe Pyrat]

Bravo Ms. Hari, well written. A primer for those of us who will need to answer such questions in the future.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Joe Pyrat

[LadyBarbossa]

I was contacted by a Journalist in the Chicago area who wanted to do an article similiar to the one that was done in the Wall Street Journal featuring Captn Slappy, Jamaica Rose, and many others. I couldn't do this article but did some asking around... and the Brethren of the Great Lakes were able to.

Here's the link to the Video Article on this subject:

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicag....aspx?id=129615

~Lady B

[ThomasBlackthorne]