Pirates are now the most important news in the world! Fox Business News is calling pirates "The New Face of Terrorism." The scary new face! But are they really new? The New York Times has written six dozen stories about Somalian pirates in the past ten years, and they're just picking up steam. We know the Somali pirate crew currently menacing African waters has a good PR man. Maybe he's to thank? We took a look back at a decade of pirate coverage and found that the raggedy scalawags have a long media history: [A mere sampling of the highlights]: New York Times: 2/3/99: "Murderous Pirate Attacks Are on the Rise" 9/12/01 (OMINOUS DATE!): "Pirate Militias From Somalia Spill Into the Gulf of Aden" 7/1/05: "Somalia: Pirates Seize Tsunami Aid Ship" 11/6/05: "Pirates Attack Liner Off Coast of Somalia" 12/4/05: "After Attack, Cruise Ships Rethink Security" 7/3/06: "Waters That Prompt Fear From the Toughest of Sailors" (The waters of Somalia, that is) 1/10/08: "Pirate Attacks Increased in 2007, Maritime Group Says" 9/27/08: "Somalia Pirates Capture Tanks And Unwanted Global Notice" That's the one that started this most recent wave of coverage. Everyone has been getting worried about these pirates for years! The Washington Post was late to the game, but they jumped on the story in 2005 when a cruise ship was attacked and have been covering it regularly ever since. Others saw it much earlier: USA TODAY: 2/2/01: "Pirates loot the fruits of 21st century trade 'There is no law' in certain waters of Southeast Asia" The Brits were on the case even earlier! The Guardian UK: 9/18/99: "Bizarre tale of Briton killed by pirates; Family's doubts about attack on yacht in lawless seas off Somalia" And later: 11/7/05: "Seamen call for UN piracy taskforce" HEH. So you see, it's not all fear and terror. Pirates inspire us! Many people would secretly love to be pirates. We only get serious about them if any other response seems inappropriate. The best evidence of that: New York Post: 11/6/05: "YO-HO-WHOA! PIRATES HIT CRUISE SHIP" (Funny) 4/12/08: "FRENCH NAB PIRATES & BOOTY" (Still funny) 10/1/08: "EXTERMINATE THAT PLAGUE OF PIRATES" (Now it's serious!)