When killing hobos gets old, and even forcing your employees to help you bury dead strippers no longer gives you a thrill, what can you do? Fortunately some Russian entrepeneurs have a solution involving some more lively targets. It'll cost you a pretty penny, though. Don't you sometimes envy those who can still enjoy something as pedestrian as killing a few kittens?

Earlier this week I criticized NATO for first overthrowing Somali pirates and then letting them go out of fear of breaking national law. But if our transatlantic organizations are becoming gradually impotent in the face of bureaucracy, at least mother nature still has the virtue to do what’s right:

THOUSANDS of dolphins blocked the suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden.
China Radio International reported the Chinese merchant ships escorted by a China's fleet sailed on the Gulf of Aden when they met some suspected pirate ships. Thousands of dolphins suddenly leaped out of water between pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the China's.

The suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness befor the vast number of dolphins. The spectacular scene continued for a while.

What NATO couldn't do correctly, a gang of defiant dolphins did with ease. What does that tell us? Maybe that we need to recruit and train smart animals in our battle against terrorism and stupidity? It may sound unlikely, but we've seen animals demonstrating similar bravery before, for instance the anti-democratic elephants from Sri Lanka blocking the path to the voting booths during elections.

Oh, it's on, bitches! Three pirates were shot dead as the US Navy rescued the captain of the Maersk Alabama. Somali pirates might not be as nerdy as software pirates, but they don't seem much better at judging the likely actions of other people, as they are now promising escalation.

In Somalia itself, other pirates reacted angrily to the news that Captain Phillips had been rescued, and some said they would avenge the deaths of their colleagues by killing Americans in sea hijackings to come.

“Every country will be treated the way it treats us,” Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding a Greek ship anchored in the pirate den of Gaan, a central Somali town, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying in a telephone interview. “In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying.”

Yeah, right. Stick to smaller ships from countries that won't send several warships and snipers after you just because you're holding one guy hostage.