The international right of self-defense would also justify an inspection and quarantine regime off the coast of Somalia to seize and destroy all vessels that are found to be engaged in piracy. These inspections could reduce the likelihood that any government will find itself engaged in a hostage situation such as the one that played out in recent days. Furthermore, the U.N. Security Council should prohibit all ransom payments. If the crew of an attacked ship were held hostage, the Security Council could authorize a military blockade of Somalia until the hostages were released.

Cowardice will not defeat terrorism, nor will it stop the Somali pirates. If anything, continuing to meet the pirates' demands only acts as an incentive for more piracy.

U.S. Military Considers Attacks on Somali Pirates

 April 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military is considering attacks on pirate bases on land and aid for the Somali people to help stem ship hijackings off Africa's east coast, defense officials said.

To effectively communicate with your dog, you have to make the effort to understand the dog's language - it's more body language than anything else.  This is an excellent book.

A couple things to remember about dogs:

1.  Dogs live in the present moment.  Right NOW.  If they do something and you wait even a second to reprimand them, they'll think you're reprimanding them not for the thing that was wrong, but for whatever it was they were doing at the instant the discipline came down.  Better to ignore bad behavior than to discipline late.

2.  A lot of aggressive behavior or inappropriate behavior results from the dog being all wound up and not tired.  Take long walks and tire the dog out.

3.  Dogs, when socializing among other dogs, will develop a heirarchy and behave accordingly.  Any number of times in the dog park, it has happened that someone else's dog will start getting pushy or aggressive toward her.  I tell the other owner I'm not worried, that my dog will draw a line and enforce it for herself.  And she does.

People have to recognize that same principle - and that means a consistent "no" with appropriate punishment in the event the dog jumps up or humps a person.

4.  IMHO, the most appropriate and effective punishment the dog can get is to be separated from the situation and ignored.  Dogs are social, pack animals, and to be excluded from the pack is very hard on them, but also fair.  The owner's doing the excluding reminds the dog just who is boss, too.  Again, as stated above, the disciplining has to be immediate, consistent, and fair.

5.  Dogs are even better at playing people off against each other than kids are at working their parents.  

6.  Positive reinforcement, even as simple as a skritch behind the ears, for good behavior is a much more effective modality than punishment.  Once you have established yourself in the dominant, respected position vis-a-vis the dog, looking the dog in the eye while giving positive reinforcement is very effective.  Just be aware that looking the dog in the eye is something which should only be done once the heirarchy is pretty-well established;  it's a very dominant move.

7.  You want to reward good behavior - that way you get more good behavior.  But be judicious with the treats - you can get better results with lavishing a little praise and physical affection than with treats because the dog will respond appropriately to affection.  If the only positive reinforcement you use is treats, the dog (a) will only respond to treats and (b) may get rammy and insistent about getting treats.

I do agree with the war on terra crap, but really, can't they come up with something better? Or at least something that works better in the average sentence, lol!~