The pirate solution

[_Angus McAwesome]

The personal attack policy is an experiment that is being applied until the end of the year. The details are in the Terrestrial Forum. I will locate the exact thread and post the link here, if you would like.

So on top of the lame crap with the retarded foes list, now we're going to turn the place into a giant nanny site. Here's an idea, why don't you just merge the board with MAD and just start censoring anyone that posts something that remotely offends you or you happen to disagree with.

As far as being even-handed. We try our best.

Your best isn't even remotely good enough thus far.

I work full-time, as do the other Mods, so we monitor the best we can to be consistent.

Which means either hire more mods so you can retain consistent coverage or get rid of this silly experiment in nannyism since you can't apply it evenly across the board at all times.

Thanks for your understanding. At the end of the calendar year (December 31), please feel free to vote "No" when Shades puts the experiment to a vote to see if posters want to implement it permanently.

I don't understand it, I think it's a waste of time and will only serve to make this board even more boring then it already is by stifling speech, and we already know if it's put to a vote by the general population of this board (who are with few exceptions whinies with baby soft skin that probably get offended if someone say gosh darnit to much) then it'll pass.

So no, I think I'm just going to become a massive pain in the ass until you mods regain a little sanity with running the place or one of you cowboys up and bans me. This is utter BS and you know it, Liz.

[_Angus McAwesome]

Remember that Saudi oil tanker that got hijacked by Somali pirates? All I can say is Holy schadenfreude, Batman!

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Five of the Somali pirates who released a hijacked oil-laden Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of a reported $3 million ransom after their small boat capsized, a pirate and port town resident said Saturday.

Pirate Daud Nure says the boat with eight people on board overturned in a storm after dozens of pirates left the Sirius Star following a two-month standoff in the Gulf of Aden that ended Friday.

He said five people died and three people reached shore after swimming for several hours. Daud Nure was not part of the pirate operation but knew those involved.

Jamal Abdulle, a resident of the Somali coastal town of Haradhere, close to where the ship was anchored also confirmed that the boat sank and that the eight's portion of the ransom money that had been shared between dozens of pirates was lost.

U.S. Navy photos showed a parachute, carrying what they described as "an apparent payment," floating toward the tanker. The Sirius Star and its 25-member crew had been held since Nov. 15. Its cargo of crude oil was valued at US$100 million at the time.

The capture was seen as a dramatic demonstration of the pirates' ability to strike high value targets hundreds of miles offshore.

On the same day the Saudi ship was freed, pirates released a captured Iranian-chartered cargo ship, Iran's state television reported Saturday. It said the ship Daylight was carrying 36 tons of wheat when it was attacked in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 18 and seized by pirates. All 25 crew are in good health and the vessel is sailing toward Iran, the TV report said.

The U.S. Navy announced this week it will head a new anti-piracy taskforce after more than 100 ships were attacked last year.

NATO and the European Union already have warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden and have intervened to prevent several ships from being captured.

More than a dozen ships with about 300 crew members are still being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia, including the weapons-laden Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, which was seized in September.

The multimillion dollar ransoms are one of the few ways to earn a living in the impoverished, war-ravaged country. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and nearly half of its population depends on aid.

Got to love irony...