I think one of the truly remarkable things about Ross Kemp is that in the course of filming his mucho-macho documentaries, he’s actually doing a lot of good.

One example came last night when, while discussing the much loathed pirates he was aboard HMS Northumberland to hunt out, he talked to one of the crewmen about the pirates reasons for being pirates; namely, the fact that the economic infrastructure of Somalia is practically non-existent and these men have to feed their families somehow.

To do so, many had turned to piracy as a form of international barter trade and in response to Ross’s pointing this out, the crewman said words to the effect of, “Yes, I understand they have families to feed, and so do I, but I don’t go round pointing guns at people” He paused and then, amid an array of formidable weapons conceded, “Actually, I do…”

The point? Everyone does what they have to do to survive – it just depends which side of the law you’re on and whether you’re holding a gun to stop illegal activity or to carry it out.

Read more & comment »