Drones and Pirates

Here is a link to the use of drones to combat Somali pirates. It is a good article, but fails to mention that a limited number of drones have also been deployed that are capable of accurately shooting the powerful .338 Lapua cartridge. These are typically shot by snipers for especially long range sniping, but putting them aboard a drone provides a significant capability not previously available.

It is sometimes claimed by the pirates that they are forced to take revenge for foreign fishing in their waters. That claim, believed only by gullible westerners, is both false and specious. The pirates are not the people harmed, the ransom money goes to wealthy patrons. Further, the foreign victims of piracy are innocent and are almost never fisherman nor dumpers of pollution. The entire claim is just an excuse for greed by the wealthy patrons. The low level pirates are indeed unemployed otherwise, but so are many people who don't engage in crime.

The Beer Summit at the White House

According to the news, there will be a beer summit this Thursday at the White House. All three of the protagonists, Obama, Gates, Crowley have substantial Irish ancestry.

Now any time you get three Irish together drinking, a fight is bound to break out. OK, so Obama has a longer reach, Crowley has police training, Gates is a little guy. This suggests that Gates could be the big loser in event of fisticuffs. His best strategy would be to take sides with one of the other guys.

So, if you were Gates, who would you side with ? The cop would likely know a lot of judo, but Obama has a longer reach plus has literally an entire army as a backup. Take your pick, but in the short term I bet on the cop, then after the noise of the row becomes obvious to the Secret Service, Obama will obviously win in the longer term. So, if you were Gates, a good strategy would be to first side with the cop, then switch sides.