'Pirates' and 'Pirate Attacks'

[Opie91]

Originally Posted by Tellie

They have got to be one of the worst ideas for peace of mind. Legal all over the world? You'd have to assume police agencies all over the world are stupid. Just my opinion.

Thus the I wont be carrying one. He was thinking about firing a shotgun shell from it to start...

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Opie91

Thus the I wont be carrying one. He was thinking about firing a shotgun shell from it to start...

LOL. Holy carpal tunnel Batman!

[Mule]

Last I heard even the presence of a spent 22 cal shell found anywhere on the boat in Mexico could lead to the boat being confiscated and jail time for the captain and perhaps the crew. This in a country where upon arrival they should issue you a firearm so as a foreigner you could be on a more equal footing.
Anyone know anything about La Pesca?? Looks good on Google E. What with the jetty, lots of harbor-river space and marina/dock room? Around 200 miles from Texas.

[USSailor]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Logically, absence of evidence is not evidence at all.
A proposition is NOT true because it has not yet been disproven, nor false merely because it has not yet been proven.

However, in probability theory, absence of evidence is always evidence of absence.

Under the vast majority of real-life circumstances, a cause may not reliably produce signs of itself, but the absence of the cause is even less likely to produce the signs. The absence of an observation may be strong evidence of absence, or very weak evidence of absence, depending on how likely the cause is to produce the observation.

The absence of an observation that is only weakly likely (even if the alternative hypothesis does not allow it at all), is very weak evidence of absence (though it is evidence nonetheless).

Hey man, tell it to the dead sailors. If you're not familiar with the cliche, I wasnt saying there was no evidence; I was saying was that the above (initial post) analysis didnt try hard enough to *include any*, assumed that *proved* there was no problem, and I went out of my way to link to some. Way to totally miss the point.

To be fair, what he said may have seemed valid in 2005... but since then, there has been substantial evidence that there ARE problems. Going back that far as well. It just may not have been as easily accessible.

Even the Venezuelans think there is a problem with piracy too: "ONSA - the non-governmental national organization for search and rescue and maritime safety in the aquatic spaces of Venezuela – publish a "Risk Zones" map"... see here:

ONSA - Avisos [securitè]

You dont need to speak Spanish to figure out what "Zona de Peligro" means, or "Alto Riesgo". I wish my spanish were better so I could figure out how they built up this map.

Hope this helps. Next time, reply to the content being discussed rather than bug out over dissecting cliches.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by USSailor

Hey man, tell it to the dead sailors. If you're not familiar with the cliche, I wasnt saying there was no evidence ...
... Next time, reply to the content being discussed rather than bug out over dissecting cliches.

Yes, I’m quite aware of that statement, and the context* in which Carl Sagan wrote it.

I suggest that, next time, you not include statements (clichés) in your posts, which you don’t wish to see critiqued.

* "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"
is an essay by Carl Sagan, in his seminal work against pseudoscience, "The Demon-Haunted World".

➥ http://www.inf.**-berlin.de/lehre/pm...an-Baloney.pdf

➥ The Fine Art of Baloney Detection

[Piotr Riabko]

We have two attacks of pirates in Caribean Sea, but we are alive. Somali pirates successfuly exist because they need for USA, like Iraq and Afganistan. Why before agression was not this problem? I am deep sea captain and know coast of Somali.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by USSailor

... To be fair ...

I’m sorry that I didn’t give you a more welcoming greeting USSailor; something we habitually do here at the CF.

Welcome aboard!

I do appreciate your post for it’s legitimate concern, and attention to factual detail (cited).

[rgscpat]

Yes, piracy is rampant here... one local marina raised their prices 15 to 20% this year in spite of the recession. Aaaarrr!

[goboatingnow]

THat modification to the signal flare gun always amuses me.. "its legal everywhere in the world" sure . But.. where do you get the ammunition,, that require a firearms licence. ( in fact in lots of countries a signal flare pistol is regarded as a firearm and requires licencing). I for one would not like to be discovered to be carrying unathurosed ammunition. especially without an obvious gun. ( visions of boat being dismantled to find non-existencing gun).

I too dont want a gun thread, but all these devices and guns too, seem to come from people who have never actually cruised in a small boat internationally. The sheer hassle of legally complying with local gun laws means its really not practicable.

We need to find other ways to combat piracy.

I also agree with the OP, news is very often hyped and in my opinion some mainstream US news providers seem to feel that they need to hype the allready paranoid american public about " thoses places overseas". Its constantly amuses me to find , as a group, and yes its a generalisation, That US citizens constantly worry about their personal security abroad, even in countries with low crime statistics, This compares quite starly . in my experience, with other nationalities, especially the french and british who seemed quite unconcerned ( maybe its just a calm exterior).

But having lived and worked for many years in the US, the news that is received by the vast majority of ordinary americans is very poor, over hyped, and tends to re-inforce predujices, rather then countering them.

Dave

[rgscpat]

Many years ago we lived in Houston, Texas, USA, during a time when violence in Northern Ireland was peaking and frequently and dramatically in the news. Yet the statistic was the greater Houston area had about the same area and population as northern Ireland -- but ten times more violent deaths.