artie_fufkin wrote:

This is pretty common in Venezuela, isn't it?
Carlos Zambrano got kidnapped once, but his abductors let him go because he was too much of an asshole.

That's brilliant, I read about the Nats catcher too. Scary shit. Hope he's okay, I always wonder about people that run back to that 3rd world and back to that type of atmosphere after success here. Urbina comes to mind as a reference here.

Wouldn't you want to get a nice house somewhere in Cali and stay put?

tkihshbt wrote:

Apparently he's still alive.

my limited understanding is that you don't kidnap a guy like that to kill him, you do it to get a ransom.  and in countries where this sort of thing is almost 'normal', its almost normal for the ransom to be paid and the kidnapped person to be released unharmed.

Max wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

Apparently he's still alive.

my limited understanding is that you don't kidnap a guy like that to kill him, you do it to get a ransom.  and in countries where this sort of thing is almost 'normal', its almost normal for the ransom to be paid and the kidnapped person to be released unharmed.

That assumes everything goes according to plan.  Unfortunately, these things don't always go according to plan.  Not everyone kidnapped by Somali pirates make it out alive.

I try to maintain my brokeness in effort to protect myself.

forsberg_us wrote:

Max wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

Apparently he's still alive.

my limited understanding is that you don't kidnap a guy like that to kill him, you do it to get a ransom.  and in countries where this sort of thing is almost 'normal', its almost normal for the ransom to be paid and the kidnapped person to be released unharmed.

That assumes everything goes according to plan.  Unfortunately, these things don't always go according to plan.  Not everyone kidnapped by Somali pirates make it out alive.

But that's a new-ish thing as i understand the back-story.  Illegal fishermen took advantage of governmental breakdowns in Somalia and fished out the local Somali fishermen's reefs.  So, to make ends meet they started kidnapping foreigners.  In countries like Venezuela, organized criminals have a longstanding business of kidnapping rich people within their own society.  So it's sort of like a mugging here: a guy pulls a gun on you and you give him your wallet and everyone goes home safely.  Of course things could go wrong, but we kind of know what our rolls are in that situation and we stay within them so that everyone stays safe.  To take Alz's argument, we should refuse to hand over our wallet when we get mugged, and force the guy to shoot us dead, 'cuz otherwise we are just enabling these thugs.  I disagree with that. I think the way you "stop" kidnappings is the way you "stop" muggings, which is that you acknowledge that you can't stop it, but you can limit it by taking sensible precautions; but once the criminals have caught you off your guard, you of course acknowledge that fact, play your roll, and come out of it safely.

Last edited by Max (11/10/2011 9:57 pm)

Does progress mean that they havent seen his head roll down main st yet?

APRTW wrote:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-venezuela-ramos-abducted


Looks like he is fine.  We are luck to live in America were out wealth is hiding in a pile of debt.

Here's the answer, AP: "Fans in both Venezuela and Washington had held candlelight vigils and prayed for his safe release."  Either the prayers worked or they paid the ransom.

windwalker wrote:

Max wrote:

I think the way you "stop" kidnappings is the way you "stop" muggings, which is that you acknowledge that you can't stop it, but you can limit it by taking sensible precautions; but once the criminals have caught you off your guard, you of course acknowledge that fact, play your roll, and come out of it safely.

So this is the wrong board for a 2008 election analogy, I suppose? LOL

I won't touch that, but I thought "play your roll" was a nice pun.

windwalker wrote:

Max wrote:

I think the way you "stop" kidnappings is the way you "stop" muggings, which is that you acknowledge that you can't stop it, but you can limit it by taking sensible precautions; but once the criminals have caught you off your guard, you of course acknowledge that fact, play your roll, and come out of it safely.

So this is the wrong board for a 2008 election analogy, I suppose? LOL

Not sure what that means, but I would treat any accounts of his release with a grain of salt.  Even now we hear how the first accounts of the hit on OBL were wildly speculative and inaccurate.  Imagine how off initial, and even final, reports could be once distilled through the Venezuelan cultural system?   Time will tell . . . or maybe it won't