Speaking of Somali pirates--while yes, some of them are just gangsters and yes, none of them should be justified to take hostages, there was a great article in the independent awhile back that really puts some of this stuff into perspective. Definitely worth reading through the whole thing, and it's not very long:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates-1225817.html