Interesting Facts

According to a report conducted by the United Nations crime unit, Interpol and the World Bank. Somali pirates and their peers hijacking vessels in the region made about $400 million in ransom over the past eight years. (What did they spend their ill-gotten gains on?  Drugs (especially khat), alcohol, women, and believe it or not, real estate. I wonder if they phone Kirsty and Phil?)

19th September Speak like a pirate day. 

The British navy is using Britney Spears' music to scare off Somali pirates. (According to news reports, Britney's hits, including Oops! I Did It Again and  Baby One More Time , are being employed in an attempt to scare off pirates along the east coast of Africa. One naval officer is reported as having said:- "Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most. These guys can't stand western culture or music." But my favourite quote comes from Steven Jones, of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry: "Pirates will go to any lengths to avoid or try to overcome the music. I’d imagine using Justin Bieber would be against the Geneva Convention." Perhaps nothing else – not machine guns, not big, beefy security personnel – is quite as intimidating as the sound of Ms Spears singing "Ooh baby baby".  What would scare you away?) Sources: Daily Mail  | The Guardian

19th September Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Ooh arr!

According to file-sharing blog Torrent Freak, the action film Fast Five was the most pirated film of 2011, having been downloaded illegally 9.2 million times. (The Hangover II was second, followed by Thor, Source Code and I am Number Four. I can only say that it just shows people who pirate films don't seem to have very good taste.)

The skull of a legendary pirate called Klaus Störtebeker, has gone missing from Hamburg's History Museum. (It's quite distinctive, as it has a spike jutting out of the top of it. So if anyone down the pub whispers "Wanna buy a skull", there is a reward of up to several thousand euros for information leading to its recovery. Honestly, some people will steal anything.)

According to research organisation Demos, people who download music illegally also spend an average of £77 a year buying it legitimately. (Whilst those who claimed not to use peer-to-peer file sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay spent a yearly average of just £44. Maybe they don't file share because they don't want to pay for the bandwidth.)