Going on the Account: The Tabar’s Encounter

When we last looked at the INS Tabar, it was reported that they had taken out a pirate mothership.  Then reports came out that their target was in fact a Thai trawler that was sunk by mistake.  Now, the latest reported by India’s TIMES NOW is that the ship may have been a trawler that was in [...]

Going on the Account: Like Messages in a Bottle

I’m sometimes asked, “Why are you doing a novel online for free?”  Implicit in the question is the observation, “If your work was any good, someone would pay you for it.”
 
Of course, even if that were true, it’s not like it’s a seller’s market.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has stopped accepting manuscripts, which would probably affect [...]

Going on the Account: Different Tactics

Last we looked at the WALL STREET JOURNAL, they seemed to favor a solution to piracy that consisted solely of hanging every pirate on the yardarm.  (In fact, Bret Stephens called exactly for that today.)
 
Other approaches are being considered, however, and with predictable sadness these other opinions are not coming out of the West.  Essays [...]

Going on the Account: Part the Ninety First

Part the Ninety First is now up, and may be read here.

Going on the Account: Be This the Best Way to Engage?

There’s been a bounty of  articles in the WALL STREET JOURNAL over the last few days.  One, by David Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, discuss applying international law to pirates.  There was also an online presentation by Michael B. Oren drawing comparisons between how the US dealt with the Barbary pirates and what it can do [...]

Going on the Account: Party the Ninety Second

Part the Ninety Second is now up, and may be read here.

Going on the Account: Part the Ninetieth

Part the Ninetieth is now up, and may be read here.
 
As an aside:  Happy Birthday, Jamie!  Yes, you’re still a little young to read Daddy’s novel, but a few more of these and you can enjoy it then, too…

Going on the Account: Action Aboard the Tabar

Word this morning is that the Indian navy engaged a pirate “mother ship.”  The obvious news here is, of course, that action is heating up in the area, and that we’re probably going to have a few more such engagements to read about.
 
A less obvious story, however, is in the description of the vessel the [...]

Going on the Account: Thus It Is Written…

Interesting piece in the TIMES today about MIT’s Center for Future Storytelling.  Apparently there’s panic among the deep thinkers in Hollywood (he said with a straight face) about film’s ability to tell a story.
 
What struck me hard from the article, over and above all the other amazing indignities, was the claim that Peter Guber was blaming the audience “for [...]

Going on the Account: Sirius Star

The buzz from the Indian Ocean is about the seizure of the MV Sirius Star.  And if you think taking the tanks on the Faina was provocative, the Somali pirates have certainly drawn a lot of anxious attention now. 
 
Two million barrels of oil as part of the booty makes you very likely to get painted by [...]

Going on the Account: Part the Eighty Ninth

Part the Eighty Ninth is now up, and may be read here.

Going on the Account: Part the Eighty Eighth

Part the Eighty Eighth is now up, and may be read here.