New Blog in Blog Roll

Adding GoldmanSachs666.com to blog roll.

That blog is run by investment advisor Mike Morgan. See Barry Ritholtz here for more information.
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Still More Pirates to Kill

Our Navy did a fabluous job today. The right men with the right training and the right gear can do miraculous things, and the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, along with the execution orf the swine holding him, are all good things.

But the bigger question is: Why are the crews of these boats trying to fight off pirates, who have AK-47s, using waterhoses?

Because some dipshit CEO listens to logic such as this:

Calls for an armed presence on ships, however, may be misguided. The IUMI [International Union of Marine Insurance] said that placing "private security squads on board merchant ships, whether they are armed or unarmed, might be regarded as an effective deterrent by some ship owners, but on the other hand it might only aggravate the situation.

"Such action could also create considerable problems for marine underwriters and P&I clubs and lead to a legal minefield," the IUMI added.

News reports confirm that, fearing "escalation", shippers prefer to allow the piracy to take place and write off the ransoms paid as part of the cost of business.

This is classic CEO reasoning: the bottomline is more important than the safety and lives of human beings. In the 70s they would not spend $11 per car to stop the Pinto from inccinerating it's passengers; today they force their workers to sail unarmed in the pirate-ridden waters off Somalia, or plunder the Treasuries of the world with their toxic securities and bought-and-paid-for government cronies. We must be rid of those who think that their bottom lines are more important than our lives.