[Rhodes22-list] Breaking News : Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup

[brad haslett]

Robert,

Ah yes, Jefferson got tired of that crap and the Marines put a stop to it.  There's only one small problem with your theory, there are few US flagged vessels plying the seas these days. Hmmmmm, maybe if we imposed a "surcharge" for the US Navy to keep the sea lanes open and allowed foreign ships to fly our flag as an honor, we could retire our debt and lower our taxes.

Nah, not "touchy-feely".

Brad


--- On Sat, 11/29/08, Robert Skinner <Robert at squirrelhaven.com> wrote:

> From: Robert Skinner <Robert at squirrelhaven.com>
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Breaking News : Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup
> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Date: Saturday, November 29, 2008, 9:09 AM
> Have the Somalis touched a USA-flagged vessel yet?
> 
> "... to the shores of Tripoli..."
> 
> Just ask for volunteers.  Problem removed.
> 
> /Robert
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Brad Haslett wrote:
> > Bill,
> > 
> > Let's give the pirates a shot, they couldn't
> do any worse.  What's
> > that German word for "things will improve once we
> elect 'The One"?  Oh
> > yeah, 'hopenchangen'.  Attached is what the
> Germans have in mind.
> > 
> > Brad
> > 
> > -------------
> > 
> > 
> > 11/25/2008 04:56 PM
> > A NEW WAR ON PIRACY?
> > Germany to Deploy Up to 1,400 to Fight Pirates
> > 
> > The uproar over pirates off the Gulf of Aden has led
> the German
> > government to contribute a naval frigate to an EU
> mission along the
> > Somali coast. More soldiers may be on the way. In the
> meantime German
> > helicopters have defended a pair of merchant ships
> from pirate
> > speedboats.
> > 
> > As European enthusiasm for the American-led "War
> on Terror" continues
> > to wane, Europe is assembling a substantial military
> force to send to
> > the Gulf of Aden. Call it the "War on
> Piracy" -- and Germany, this
> > time, has not been shy.
> > 
> > Although the German Defense Ministry refuses to
> confirm the number, a
> > report on Tuesday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine
> Zeitung says that the
> > government is considering deploying up to 1400 troops
> to combat Somali
> > piracy. By way of comparison, Berlin currently
> contributes about 3,500
> > troops to the war in Afghanistan.
> > 
> > The government has already announced its intention to
> send a frigate
> > to region as part of the EU mission "Operation
> Atalanta," which is set
> > to deploy sometime in mid-December. First, however,
> Germany's
> > parliament may have to expand the country's legal
> mandate for the use
> > of force, which some believe does not currently allow
> for an
> > aggressive anti-pirate mission.
> > 
> > In addition to the 500 sailors who would staff the
> frigate, the
> > government may also send troops to serve as security
> forces on German
> > trade vessels.
> > 
> > According to the East African Seafarers'
> Assistance Program, Somali
> > pirates hijacked yet another ship over the weekend,
> this time a Yemeni
> > freighter called the Amani.
> > 
> > And on Sunday afternoon, the German navy received
> emergency calls from
> > a pair of German merchant ships indicating they were
> being attacked by
> > pirates in speedboats. In response, the German frigate
> > Mecklenberg-Vorpommern sent naval helicopters to
> scene, after which
> > the pirates reportedly fled.
> > 
> > Somali pirates are thought to be in possession of a
> dozen ships and
> > over two hundred captured sailors. Among the captured
> vessels is a
> > Saudi Arabian tanker called the Sirius Star, which the
> pirates are
> > trying to ransom to the tune of $15 million (€11.6
> million). This
> > represents a discount from their original demand of
> $25 million.
> > 
> > cpg -- with wire reports
> > 
> > URL:
> > 
> >     *
> http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,592647,00.html
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 7:40 AM, Bill Effros
> <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> >> Breaking News : Somali Pirates in Discussions to
> Acquire Citigroup
> >> By Andreas Hippin
> >>
> >>   November 28 (Bloomberg) -- Somali Pirates,
> renegade Somalis known for
> >> hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden,
> are negotiating the
> >> purchase of Citigroup.
> >>
> >>  The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and
> their existing cash
> >> stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking
> numerous ships,
> >> including a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker.
> The Somali pirates
> >> are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup,
> pirate spokesman
> >> Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations
> have entered the final
> >> stage, Ali said.  ``You may not like our price,
> but we are not in the
> >> business of paying for things. Be happy we are in
> the mood to offer the
> >> shareholders anything."
> >>
> >>   The pirates will finance part of the purchase by
> selling new Pirate
> >> Ransom Backed Securities.  The PRBS's are
> backed by the cash flows from
> >> future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf
> of Aden.  Moody's and
> >> S&P have already issued their top investment
> grade ratings for the PRBS's.
> >>
> >>    Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu , said "we
> need a bank so that we have
> >> a place to keep our ransom money.  Thankfully, the
> dislocations in the
> >> capital markets has allowed us to purchase
> Citigroup at an attractive
> >> valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital to
> grow the business at
> >> an even faster rate."
> >>
> >> Shandu added, "We don't call ourselves
> pirates. We are coastguards and
> >> this will just allow us to guard our coasts
> better."
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