It's on! Or is it?

Most Americans have paid only passing attention to the sea piracy occurring on a nearly daily basis off the coast of Somalia and nearby waters. But now that a US-flagged vessel with an all American crew of 21 has been taken by the scurvy swine, this major problem will be harder to ignore.

Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 21 crew members aboard, a diplomat and a U.S. Navy spokesman said.

The Kenya-based diplomat identified the vessel as the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama and said all the crew members are American. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The U.S. Navy confirmed that a U.S. flagged ship with 21 members of crew was hijacked early Wednesday off the eastern coast of Somalia.

Unfortunately, the current occupant of the White House isn't likely to want to do anything more than negotiate, accede to ransom demands then study the root causes of why so many ships - owned by evil corporate leviathans and greedy rich bastards, of course - are being pirated in that region.

Update: This doesn't appear to have worked out too well for the pirates. Both CNN and FOX News are now reporting that the crew has re-taken control of the ship with one pirate "in custody and several in the water". Heh.