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The two chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could get paid as much as $6 million each for 2009, despite the companies’ dismal performance this year which cost taxpayers more than $100 billion. Fannie’s CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Charles “Ed” Haldeman Jr. each will receive $900,000 in salary, $3.1 million in deferred payments next year and another $2 million if they meet certain performance goals, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The pay packages were approved by the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie

Occasionally, I like to write editorials and opinion pieces to keep my writing skills up and take my frustrations with government policy at the same time.I doubt this will ever run in a newspaper, but I've decided to share it anyhow. Piracy: The Threats and Possible Solutions Part I: The Threat We all remember the times when we were kids. We remember raising the jolly roger, wearing an eye patch, and having a parrot on our shoulder. Normally we would have our parents play the role of victim as we plundered fake gold coins as we, and our friends, would...

Note: The following text is a quote: INTERPOL media release 16 December 2009 Europol and INTERPOL agree to enhance co-operation for the benefit of their member states THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – The Secretary General of INTERPOL, Ronald K. Noble, visited Europol today to discuss the enhanced co-operation between the two organizations. The meeting focused on the development of new ideas for future joint actions which will make use of the complementary strengths of both organizations. Both organizations are ideally placed to join forces for a global police response to serious crime and terrorism. Mr. Noble and Rob Wainwright, the...

One civilian was killed in an exchange of fire between Somali pirates arguing over their shares of a large ransom paid last week for the release of a Greek vessel. Mohamed Adan Nur, an elder in the pirate lair of Hobyo, some 300 miles (480 kilometres) north of the capital Mogadishu, said tension had been simmering for days and a gunfight erupted. "A passerby died in the incident which is not the first of its kind, they always argue over the illegal money they take from the ships they hijack," he told AFP by phone. The pirates were arguing over...

Law: American heroes are arraigned for allegedly punching a terrorist in wartime. What happens to Tiger Woods isn't vital to our country's future. What happens to Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe is. People are more likely to recognize the names of Tiger's alleged bimbo eruptions than the names of these three Navy SEALs we sent into battle. They are not household names in a nation consumed with Climate Gate, the public option and the antics of billionaire athletes. An administration consumed with apologies has said the architect of 9/11's massacre, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, must be given all the...

The drillship VLCC Maran Centaurus that was hijacked on November 30 on its way to the US loaded with Kuwaiti crude oil has now arrived off the coast of Somalia. Tankers Management, the ship’s operator and manager, said in a statement December 2, “The vessel has reported to the company’s management office in Piraeus, Greece, that all those on board are well. The families of the seafarers on board the tanker are being kept fully informed of the situation,” the company said. The Greek-owned 300,000 dwt Maran Centaurus was attacked some 762 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. It...

The Maersk Alabama, a U.S. flagged cargo vessel, is now a veteran of not one, but two attacks by Somali pirates. The first, back in April, although ending well (except from the perspective of the pirates), was a horrid ordeal. The crew, using kitchen knives [Correction: I have just been informed that it was pocket knives, rather than kitchen knives, that the crew used--my apologies for the mistake] as their weapons, staged a fighting retreat to a secure compartment. There, they endured terrible (and potentially fatal) conditions: for 13 hours, in 130° heat, without drinking water or ventilation, they waited...

Richard Phillips, the ship captain toasted as a hero after he was taken captive by Somali pirates, ignored repeated warnings last spring to keep his freighter at least 600 miles off the African coast because of the heightened risk of attack, some members of his crew now allege. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that maritime safety groups issued at least seven such warnings in the days before outlaws boarded the Maersk Alabama about 380 miles off the shore of Somalia. A piracy expert and the captain's second-in-command say Phillips had the prerogative to heed the warnings or not....

A parcel of land here that sold for $12,000 two years ago now costs more than $20,000. The price of a nice pair of men's shoes has gone up from $20 to $50. The reason: pirates. The influx of millions of dollars in ransoms has changed life in this coastal Muslim community, driving prices up and creating a schism between the pirate haves and have-nots. As piracy ramps up again with the end of the monsoon season, the lifestyle of the pirates _ big houses, fast cars and easy drugs _ is decried by both religious leaders and ordinary villagers....

The Dutch navy has arrested 13 Somali pirates who attempted to hijack a cargo ship south of Oman. The EU anti-piracy task force Navfor says the cargo ship - called MV BBC Togo - had barbed wire defences and held off an attack by two fast skiffs. The Dutch warship Evertsen later found a dhow with two skiffs fitting the description in the area. A boarding team arrested the pirates, seizing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, ladders and grappling hooks. The pirates may be handed over to Kenya or the Seychelles for prosecution, says the Dutch defence ministry. The attack on...

reginaldo writes to clue us that pirates in Somalia have opened up a cooperative in Haradheere, where investors can pay money or guns to help their favorite pirate crew for a share of the piracy profits. "'Four months ago, during the monsoon rains, we decided to set up this stock exchange. We started with 15 "maritime companies" and now we are hosting 72. Ten of them have so far been successful at hijacking,' Mohammed [a wealthy former pirate who took a Reuters reporter to the facility] said. ... Piracy investor Sahra Ibrahim, a 22-year-old divorcee, was lined up with others...

Just two days after a U.S. bound tanker carrying $20 million of crude oil was siezed by swashbucklers, a Greek oil tanker succesfully fended off a group of Somali pirates by using flares and high-pressure hoses against their automatic weapons. Boston.com: The coast guard said the 16 Filipino and eight Greek seamen on board were unhurt. The Sikinos had set off from Sudan with a shipment of oil. The Maran Centaurus, which pirates boarded on Sunday, is headed toward Somalia's coast. The attacks highlight the difficulty of keeping ships safe in the region -- particularly oil tankers. Read the whole...

<p>NAIROBI, Kenya — The EU's anti-piracy force says Somali pirates have seized a super tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States.</p>

The Royal Navy is regularly allowing Somalian pirates to go free because of the risk they would claim asylum if prosecuted in Europe. Pirates terrorising ships in the Indian Ocean, looting and taking hostages, are often given medical checks and fed after being caught, before being sent of their way. This is also sometimes because although they are carrying guns and other weapons, they have not been caught in the act of piracy and therefore have not technically committed a crime. More than 340 suspected Somalian pirates have been captured by international naval forces in the last year and subsequently...

Merchant ships need guns to fight pirates. Seven months ago, Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama and held its captain hostage. Pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama again this week but were repulsed because the Maersk Shipping Line put armed guards on its ships. Pirates successfully attacked another unarmed ship on Monday, leaving 28 members of its crew dead. On Tuesday, 36 crew members of a Spanish ship were released only after pirates were paid a $3.3 million ransom. But when the pirates got within 300 yards of the Maersk Alabama, the ship tried evasive maneuvers and its security team successfully...

Yesterday, Somali pirates attacked the commercial cargo ship Maersk Alabama. This time, however, an armed security team successfully thwarted the attackers. Last April, Somali pirates successfully attacked the Alabama, kidnapping ship’s Captain Phillips and holding him hostage until Navy SEAL snipers killed the captors. In 2008, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the U.S. Navy’s fleet in that area, specifically warned that the Navy “can’t be everywhere” and that “shipping companies have to take responsibility for their own ships.” It appears that after the last near-tragedy, Maersk took the warning seriously. But the story also highlights media bias against self-defense....

It’s just unbelievable! How foolishly stuck on stupid mankind can be when it comes down to maintaining law and order. But I shouldn’t be so amazed, after all, we are just a whisker away from full scale anarchy in America. It’s amazing how the damn fools in our society are debating whether or not to arm ships as a defense against these pirates. How anybody could be so stupid as to oppose the idea is baffling. No doubt the opposition is coming from the same damn fools who oppose wiretapping suspected terrorists, the same damn fools who demand Miranda warnings...

MOGADISHU, Somalia — As a Spanish warship looked on, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat Tuesday and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members. Spain's prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers — one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise. "The government did what it had to do," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid. "The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us. The first obligation of a country, of the government of a state, is to save the lives...

ABOARD USS CHOSIN AT SEA, Nov. 19, 2009 – USS Chosin, home-ported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, has assumed the role as flagship for the counter-piracy efforts of Combined Task Force 151 after arriving in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations as part of a regularly scheduled deployment. "We're extremely well equipped to support this mission," said Navy Capt. Timothy Smith, the ship’s commanding officer. "An Aegis-class cruiser has an awful lot of capabilities to search and identify, perform command and control operations, collect intelligence and maintain communications related to counter piracy." Early in the deployment, the Chosin crew sighted...

You'll relax like never before because you're free to bring your own arsenal onboard with you!

Only hours ago Somali pirates attacked the USS Marsk Alabama in International waters. But unlike last April, when the ship was taken captive, this time the US flagged ship "responded with small-arms fire . . . and evasive maneuvers to thwart the attack." Hard to port ye mateys! It be an American ship ahead!

MANAMA, Bahrain, Nov. 18, 2009 – The U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama’s security team repelled an attack from suspected pirates this morning 560 nautical miles off the northeastern coast of Somalia, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command officials reported. Four suspected pirates in a skiff came within 300 yards of the Maersk Alabama and used small-arms weapons in an attempt to board the ship. The ship’s security team responded with evasive maneuvers, long-range acoustic devices and small-arms fire, causing the suspected pirates to break off their attack. The acoustic devices emit a high-pitched sound that can be painful to human ears. "Due to...

About an hour ago, the Associated Press reported that the crew of the US-flagged merchant vessel Maersk Alabama repelled a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia.  This is the same ship that was boarded by pirates last April.  At that time, the captain of the ship was taken hostage and was held by pirates in a lifeboat for five days.  The incident ended when US Navy SEAL snipers simultaneously killed all three pirates aboard the lifeboat in a nighttime action.  This time, the pirates never got aboard the ship. What was the difference?  Guns.As the AP report makes abundantly clear,...

"Four suspected pirates in a skiff attacked the ship again on Tuesday around 6:30 a.m. local time, firing on the ship with automatic weapons from about 300 yards (meters) away, a statement from the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said."

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Pirates freed 36 crew members from a Spanish trawler Tuesday after holding them for more than six weeks off the coast of Somalia, while a self-proclaimed pirate said the hostage-takers were paid $3.3 million in ransom. In Spain, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the tuna boat Alakrana "is sailing toward safer waters. All of its crew members are safe and sound."

A chemical tanker with a crew of 28 North Koreans has been hijacked by pirates near Somalia, the European Union's naval force says. The MV Theresa VIII, a Singaporean-operated tanker, was taken on Monday in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles north west of the Seychelles. The vessel had been heading for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, but was diverted north, the naval force said. The EU naval force (Navfor) operates in the region to protect shipping. Somali pirates, using "mother ships" to launch their small-boat attacks on vessels, have extended their range to an area off the...

To The Point Cruise Lines is excited to offer the ultimate adventure cruise, along the pirate-infested coast of Somalia!

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Gunmen have killed a top Somali judge who had sentenced many pirates and human traffickers to long jail terms, the security minister for northern Somalia said Thursday. Mohamed Said Samatar said three men were arrested Thursday over the killing of High Court Judge Mohamed Abdi Aware. In addition to jailing suspected pirates, Aware also recently jailed four members of Somalia's Islamic insurgency. Eyewitness Mohamud Dahir said masked men with pistols shot the judge in the head and chest several times as he left a mosque Wednesday evening in the port city of Bossaso. "These gangs hate him...

The U.S. Navy says an American-flagged cargo vessel has escaped a brush with armed pirates off the coast of East Africa. A spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain says the MV Harriette came under small arms fire from suspected pirates Monday aboard two skiffs about 360 nautical miles off Mombasa, Kenya. Lt. Nate Christensen says pirates came within three feet (a meter) of the vessel, but were unable to board. He says no one on the U.S. ship was injured.

UP close and personal, the modern day pirate gang is a mob of scruffily dressed Somali males armed to the teeth with AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons. And the group encountered by those aboard the Anzac Frigate HMAS Toowoomba in the Indian Ocean last month were distinctly unhappy that their plan to hijack a Portuguese freighter had been thwarted. But they weren't about to admit they were pirates. Communicating through a Somali language interpreter, Lieutenant Jace (Jace) Hutchison, officer in charge of Toowoomba's nine-member boarding party, asked just what they had in mind in approaching the Portuguese vessel. They...

AFP - European Union warships have captured seven suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia after two fast boats attacked a French fishing vessel, the EU's naval force said Wednesday. Soldiers aboard the fishing vessel fired on the pirates after they attacked it some 350 nautical miles east of Mogadishu Tuesday, said a statement. A German warship was despatched to the scene, while a helicopter from a nearby Spanish naval vessel -- the ESPS Canarias -- was launched and located the two skiffs trying to flee the area. "The helicopter fired warning shots to stop both skiffs, after which the...

EUCLID, OH (WTOL) - The Ohio Coast Guard is looking for two pirates on Lake Erie. A man was in his boat on the lake near Cleveland Monday when he says two people pulled up in boat along side him. They robbed him of all his cash, cell phone, keys --and took his fish. The Coast Guard is still searching for the pirates.

European Union Naval Forces spotted a yacht towing two smaller boats behind it Tuesday after Somali pirates claimed to have seized a British couple and their boat in the Indian Ocean during their round-the-world voyage. The couple have been missing for four days. Commander John Harper told Sky News a yacht resembling the 38-foot craft had been spotted by a European Union Naval Force Somalia helicopter. He said that the boat they had found was about where they might have expected the hijacked yacht to be by this point. He added that although it was too dark to make out...

The Royal Navy have launched an urgent search to find a British couple thought to have been hijacked by pirates off the east coast of Africa. Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, went missing after sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania. Counter piracy rescue teams from the Royal Navy are scouring the area after a distress signal was received from their yacht, the Lynn Rival, on Friday. A news agency was contacted by a pirate this morning to say the couple were 'in our hands now'. The pirate, who gave his name as Hassan, said the captives were...

Chinese officials hint that violent action may be taken to rescue the 25 Chinese crew members aboard a cargo ship seized by Somali pirates on Monday.

MOGADISHU - Somali pirates were behind the hijacking of a Chinese bulk carrier with 25 Chinese crew seized in the Indian Ocean on Monday, a member of the gang said. "We have captured a Chinese ship carrying fuel," gang member Hassan told Reuters by phone from Haradheere, a pirate stronghold north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. "My friends will bring the ship to either Haradheere or Hobyo. We have not yet decided but it is heading towards this area." The European Union's counter-piracy force said earlier the vessel was seized 550 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 700 nautical...

French marines aboard trawlers in the Indian Ocean Saturday fired on pirates to repel a dawn attack, as two vessels used in the attack were subsequently captured by Seychelles coastguards, sources said. "Three small launches... (which were) nearly invisible and that we had on the radar at the last moment, chased us," a member of the crew of the Drennac, one of two fishing vessels approached by the pirates, told AFP by telephone. The French military said the marines had first fired flares then "warning shots in the air and across the bows of the pirates' boats", before finally, when...

Politicians with ties to land developers are trying to force the Navy to hand over one of the most valuable pieces of property in the country for free. The House version of the 2010 Defense authorization bill scheduled for conference today contains language that would speed the transfer of Naval Station Treasure Island to the city of San Francisco at no cost.

Admiral Prazuck told French TV station La Chaine Info the pirates seemed to be surprised that the navy ship fought back. "Once they realised they were facing a ship that was responding and was heading towards them, they stopped shooting and attempted to flee," he said.Read More Here I know what you are thinking, "The French have a navy?" and "They fought back instead of surrendering?" Yep, they do, and did, that's what makes this not only a funny story, but an amazing one as well.

PARIS — Somali pirates attempted to storm the flagship commanding French military forces in a night attack in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the military said here on Wednesday. French sailors saw off the attack and captured five pirates in the incident while no-one was injured, military spokesman Admiral Christophe Prazuck said. "The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," he said. The pirates had tried to storm the 160-metre (525-foot) 18,000-tonne La Somme, a fuel supply ship...

There's an email whipping around the internet, supposedly written by a Navy SEAL who complains that President Obama delayed decisions to deploy the Navy SEALs because he wanted to resolve the hostage standoff with Captain Richard Phillips "peacefully." There's enough background detail in the email to suggest it was in fact written by a SEAL, but several senior military officials who were involved in the direct planning and execution of the mission -- including in consultations with the White House and President Obama -- tell NBC News the claims are bogus.

An Australian naval ship has thwarted an attack on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, by suspected Somali pirates armed with a rocket propelled grenade launcher. The HMAS Toowoomba answered an emergency call from merchant vessel BBC Portugal after it sighted an armed boat approaching on Sept. 20, Australia's Department of Defence said today in a faxed statement. Along with the grenade launcher, staff from the Toowoomba found six AK47 assault rifles, a G3 assault rifle and a large quantity of ammunition. Somali pirates venturing out to sea as monsoon winds abate are...

Somali pirates attempted to hijack a ship Thursday night in the Mogadishu port but were eventually scared away by a rescue effort. The Syrian captain on the Panama-flagged ship was killed in the incident. The African Union forces and Somali police responded after receiving a distress call from the ship. But Barigye Ba-hoku, the spokesman for African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, says that by the time his forces got there, the pirates had already climbed aboard the vessel. "We reacted very quickly and tried to prevent these characters from boarding on to the ship, but unfortunately...

September 19th (every year) is International Talk Like A Pirate Day

The prosecution of a Somali teenager accused of leading a pirate attack on an American cargo ship off the coast of Africa was taken off the fast track Thursday after a lawyer said more time will be needed to translate some Somali recordings into English. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where he was brought after his arrest aboard the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama in April. Authorities say Muse was the only surviving pirate of a group that he led in an attack off the coast of Africa on the cargo ship, which was carrying humanitarian...

The Somali pirates preying on shipping in the Gulf of Aden and more recently the Indian Ocean are zeroed in on their targets by well-placed informers in London, a world center for shipbroking and insurance, using satellite phones, according to a European military intelligence report. The document, which was obtained by Cadena SER, a Spanish radio station, says the "consultants" in London help the pirates select their targets, providing data on the ships' cargoes and courses... The U.N. International Maritime Bureau reported this month that there had been a dramatic surge in piracy in the waters of the Horn of...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2009 – Pirates often are in the news for their criminal activities at sea, but their antics are far from new. Pirates have been around since man first took to the high seas, and a type of sea raider known as a privateer made a mark between the 15th and 19th centuries. Michael Crawford, a senior Navy historian, traced the rise of privateering and touched on strategies to combat modern pirates during an Aug. 24 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable. “A privateer is a private man of war who has a license from his sovereign government to attack the...

A U.S. Navy helicopter conducting surveillance off the coast of Somalia was fired upon Wednesday by pirates aboard a Taiwanese-flagged vessel, where some 30 crewmembers are being held hostage, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. The Somali pirates fired what appeared to be a large-caliber weapon at the U.S. Navy SH-60B but didn’t strike it, according to the Navy. No one was injured in the incident and the crew did not return fire, the Navy said. The Taiwanese ship Win Far was seized April 6. Since then, it has been used as a "mother ship" for the launching of...

Here is video of Somali Pirates firing a "Large Caliber Weapon" at a U.S. Navy Helicopter from the deck of a Taiwanese ship they have been holding hostage since April. More than 30 hostages are being held on board the ship. Fox News' John Scott talks with a Navy Spokesman for the 5th Fleet about the incident. . . . . (Watch Video)