# It's like the Somalian pirates left out a trail of M&Ms . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882 "2012-01-27T17:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/1 "2012-01-27T17:34:16Z")
From today’s _L.A. Times_: > [@](#): > > Pirates in Somalia have kidnapped a well-known travel and surfing journalist from Manhattan Beach. Michael Scott Moore was taken hostage on Saturday, just days before two aid workers, including one American, were rescued from their Somali captors in a U.S. military raid. **He became interested in writing a book about Somali pirates and went to central Somalia to do some research** , KTLA News reported. - \*sigh \*\* Obviously, I hope the poor mope gets rescued, but I can see the Navy Seals thinking, “really, Michael? _Really?_” ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/2 "2012-01-27T17:47:50Z")
Are you kidding me? I hope he doens’t get rescued. He is using our tax dollars to write the dramatic end of his book! He went there and got exactly what he wanted. Let him figure out how to get out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/3 "2012-01-27T19:25:38Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Are you kidding me? I hope he doens’t get rescued. He is using our tax dollars to write the dramatic end of his book! > > He went there and got exactly what he wanted. Let him figure out how to get out. I kind of feel this way. I’m tired of people who get themselves into trouble and then we have to go rescue them. In this case, the guy isn’t even claiming he got lost, or was mistaken for a spy. He just walked in with a ‘kidnap me’ sign stuck to his back. So if we do rescue him, he needs to be charged with a crime, and fined an amount sufficient to cover the cost of his rescue. And if any of our guys die in the rescue effort, he should be executed to set an example. Anyway, that’s how I feel, not necessarily what I think is good policy. I’m not thrilled about idiots who get stuck on the sides of mountains either. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/4 "2012-01-27T20:03:00Z")
Maybe they’ll just eat him instead. This is hella ballsy, even for Michael Moore. I wonder if the hostages are pricing their ransom by the pound. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/5 "2012-01-27T20:11:24Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Maybe they’ll just eat him instead. > > This is hella ballsy, even for Michael Moore. I wonder if the hostages are pricing their ransom by the pound. [Qi’s alarm bell] [Stephen Fry] Wrong Moore! [/SF] ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/6 "2012-01-27T20:23:47Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > [Qi’s alarm bell] > > [Stephen Fry] > Wrong Moore! > [/SF] Yeah, I was kind of disappointed about that too. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/7 "2012-01-27T20:26:28Z")
Aw, man. Sorry for the mistaken identity. It sounds like exactly the kind of thing he’d do. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/8 "2012-01-27T20:32:29Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Aw, man. Sorry for the mistaken identity. It sounds like exactly the kind of thing he’d do. No, \*he \*was kidnapped by a _sommelier_. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/9 "2012-01-27T21:11:00Z")
I’m so glad you’re back, Eve. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/10 "2012-01-27T21:42:37Z")
Well now Mr. Moore will have the inside track on the pirates for his book, should anyone care to pony up a few bucks for his ransom. Me? I’m all tapped out. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/11 "2012-01-27T21:44:28Z")
The pirates have to send me a couple fingers first. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/12 "2012-01-27T22:25:08Z")
Yeah, not a really well thought out project. :dubious: Even NPR’s most intrepid reporter (from anything I’ve ever heard), [Kelly McEvers](http://howsound.org/2012/01/the-pirate/), did not interview a Somali pirate when she profiled a pirate. (Her pirate piece is included at the end of the interview; the whole interview is worth listening to, though. She interviewed an Indonesian pirate, instead.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/13 "2012-01-27T22:49:39Z")
Ok, so a “\*travel and surfing \*journalist” becomes interested in writing about Somali piracy. What, there’s some gnarly wave action around the Horn of Africa that we’re missing on due to the conflict? Y’know, that means we’re gonna have to crank up the Wagner and send in Colonel Kilgore… _(“Ahmed don’t surf!”)_ ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/14 "2012-01-27T22:55:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Pirates in Somalia have kidnapped a well-known travel and surfing journalist from Manhattan Beach._ They kidnapped him from Manhattan Beach?! Wow, they sure are getting ballsy now! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/15 "2012-01-27T23:31:43Z")
I worked in Manhattan Beach about20 years ago. Man, I escaped that one by the skin of my teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/16 "2012-01-27T23:52:13Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > They kidnapped him from Manhattan Beach?! Wow, they sure are getting ballsy now! > 😉 Oh, crap. I just filled up my tub and now I’m afraid to go back into the bathroom–what if there are Somalian pirates in there waiting to kidnap me? Hiding behind the rubber ducky and bottle of Patene? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/17 "2012-01-28T00:25:31Z")
Wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/18 "2012-01-28T01:25:43Z")
What are conditions like in Somalia? Is the situation that you’re pretty much guaranteed to be a victim of something like this? Or is it something that’s just risky? If Moore had taken a job with the New York Times and been killed in NYC, would there be people saying “What was he thinking going to New York City? Didn’t he know people get killed there all the time?” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/19 "2012-01-28T01:28:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The pirates have to send me a couple fingers first. Yes, I’d imagine even that would seem more representative of a civil populace than the pile of single ones you’ve received as of late. I hope Mr. Moore, given the stupidity of his misadventure can be overcome, chooses to take a page next time from Jon Krakauer and Sebastian Junger. There really are vastly preferable ways of going deeper and bringing back even more. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882/20 "2012-01-28T01:38:34Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > No, \*he \*was kidnapped by a _sommelier_. Dude, Where’s My _Entree_? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-like-the-somalian-pirates-left-out-a-trail-of-m-ms/610882.md?page=2)