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Straight Talk ***************************************************** 3 Shots Is All It Took Isn't it amazing how quickly, how decisively, and how effectively our armed forces can act, when they're given the right orders and are allowed to do their job? Congratulations to everyone involved in the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, who had been held hostage by a ragtag band of brigands off the coast of Somalia. After days of fruitless negotiations failed to win his release, a team of Navy SEALs were dropped near the USS Bainbridge. They took up position on the rear of the ship and used night-vision goggles to watch developments on the pirate boat. Their commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama, had authorized them to use deadly force if it appeared that Phillips' life was in danger. When one of the pirates pointed an AK-47 at the captain's head, the sharpshooters didn't hesitate. Three shots rang out and three pirates fell to the deck, dead. Within moments, the fourth pirate was in custody and Phillips was safely on the deck of the Bainbridge. You could feel the jubilation as the media reported the good news. The rescue was one of the proudest moments we've had in quite a while. But the burning question is, what happens next? The pirates, who have been allowed to operate with impunity from the anarchistic disaster known as Somalia, immediately vowed that they would retaliate. One of the pirates boasted to the Associated Press, "In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying. We will retaliate for the killings of our men." In the next 48 hours, pirates attacked five ships and took four of them hostage. They currently hold more than a dozen ships; some 200 crewmen remain captive, as they wait for the multi-million-dollar ransoms to be paid. What will it take to end this madness? Increased military patrols will help. But there is no way enough ships can be stationed in the Horn of Africa to protect every ship that passes through. We are talking about an area of 1.1 million square miles — four times the size of Texas. Some 30,000 ships transit those waters every year. There is no way the 60 military vessels on station there now can guarantee their safety. Six times as many wouldn't be enough. Nor does it make sense to arm the crews, in the hopes that they can defend themselves. As the rescue of Captain Phillips proved, such actions should be left to the experts. What then should be done? Until now, piracy in these waters has been a very low-risk, high-reward operation. Let's turn that around. Ship owners should be urged not to pay any more ransoms. If they won't comply, let's close U.S. ports to them. But far more important, the war against the pirates must be taken to their home ports. Their sanctuaries must be invaded; their hostages rescued; their leaders arrested; and their boats and weapons seized or destroyed. I applaud President Obama for authorizing the actions that led to the rescue of Captain Phillips. Now the question is will the United States and its allies use the same determination to end the threat of piracy along the coast? Or will a band of brigands be allowed to continue their criminal ways? It's time for the civilized world to say, "no more!" * A Braille Silver Dollar. The first-ever coin to feature readable Braille is now on sales from the U.S. Mint. The silver dollar features a portrait of Louis Braille, the inventor of the system used by blind people worldwide, on one side, with an image of a young boy reading a book in Braille on the obverse. Above the boy are the Braille characters for "Braille." Check it out at www.usmint.gov. * Your tax dollars at work. Remember last October, when the Bush Administration proudly announced the creation of the HOPE for Homeowners program? The Department of Housing and Urban Development was given $3.9 billion to help people avoid foreclosures. Over the next four months, the program helped refinance ... are you ready for this? ... all of 24 mortgages. * This would even the odds a bit. Once Congress reconvenes after its Easter holiday, there will be a lot of pressure to pass the badly misnamed "Employee Free Choice Act." So I'm happy to share the following recommendation from a Straight Talk reader: "Passage is probably inevitable, given the heavy political debts involved. So instead of fighting it, let's make it reciprocal." Here's how it could work: "What if card check could be used to certify or decertify a union? If proponents of the bill oppose that, they reveal the bill for the sham it is. While if they allow it, I'm betting they'll lose far more elections than they win." * I just became a quadrillionaire. Last month I wrote about the hyperinflation that is devastating Zimbabwe and mentioned that friends of mine at Asset Strategies International had a few of the now-worthless $100 billion bills from that poor, beleaguered country. You could get them for $6.50 each (checks only, please) from ASI at 1700 Rockville Pike, Suite 400, Rockville, MD 20852. One Alert Reader wrote me that there's an even bigger bill available. The $100 trillion banknote (that's a "1" followed by 14 zeroes) is available from www.collectorscurrency.com. Get 10 of them and become a quadrillionaire. Arghhh! It just happened again. No, I'm not referring to the billions of dollars hard-working taxpayers had to send to Uncle Sam by this April 15th. I've become almost numb to the pain of that annual reckoning. But what still gets my goat is when someone — especially a near and dear family member — celebrates receiving a tax refund. They act as though it's manna from heaven. They rejoice in their totally unexpected bounty from a beneficent government. When I try to explain that the IRS really isn't doing them a favor — that, in fact, the opposite is true; that by overpaying their taxes during the past year, they have in effect been giving a profligate and wasteful government an interest-free loan — they look at me as though I've suddenly sprouted two heads. They are utterly perplexed by the suggestion that they not only should not celebrate their tax refund; they should do everything they can to keep as much of their money for as long as they can — meanwhile working to put Big Government on a starvation diet. The most common reaction I get to this diatribe is, "Huh?" And then a speedy change of subject. So okay. No lengthy lectures from me this year about how a progressive income tax was an essential part of the Communist Manifesto. No rant about the conspiratorial origins of the Federal Reserve. No diatribe on the diabolical cunning of a withholding tax, so the shark-like bite of Uncle Sam is rendered less painful than a nibble from a mosquito. No, all I'll do is repeat my opening sentiment: Arghh! And then proffer this anonymous reminder of why we can be glad that April 15 is once again behind us. Tax his land, tax his bed, Tax his cow, tax his goat, Tax his tobacco, tax his drink. Tax his car, tax his gas, When he screams and hollers, Put these words upon his tomb, Until next time, keep some powder dry. ************************************************* Straight Talk is a weekly commentary written by Chip Wood. For many years Chip was the host of an award-winning radio talk show in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder of Soundview Publications and serves as an MC at several investment conferences. His weekly rants and raves are free for the asking at www.straighttalkletter.com. Copyright 2009 Soundview Communications, Inc. To ask a question or to comment on something you've read in Straight Talk, please write to Chip@StraightTalkLetter.com We have a strict anti-spam policy. We know how important your privacy is to you. That's
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