Pirates of the Horn of Africa

You've heard of the Pirates of the Caribbean.  

Lovable characters, caricatured to the extreme with thick accents and a certain affinity for rum.

These kinds of pirates are not the kind currently wreaking havoc off the Horn of Africa.

For the past month or so, these former fisherman-turned-buccaneers have been hijacking ships.

Two weeks ago, pirates seized control of a Saudi frigate with a cargo of oil worth more than $100 million.

The most recent victim of this recent spike in piracy was a Yemeni freighter.  There has been no contact with the vessel since late last week.  No further information about the freighter has been released.

Read more about this latest seizing at CNN.com.

Also, read a first-hand account of pirates by their freed prisoners at CNN.com.

The Back of the Pack

After a humiliating loss in New Orleans Monday night, the Green Bay Packers now find themselves on the outside of the playoff chase looking in.

Going into the game, the Packers were 5-5 and tied with Chicago and Minnesota for the NFC North lead.  Now, Green Bay (5-6) trails the Bears and Vikings (both 6-5) by a full game.

The Packers were coming off a dominant victory over the Bears.  Winning the game 37-3, Green Bay was beginning to look like the defending NFC North Champions and the frontrunners to win  the division this season.  

However, the vaunted pass defense that ranks first in many defensive statistics, was torn to shreds by the Saints.

"It was the mirror opposite of what we did last week,” linebacker A.J. Hawk said. “Bad time to do it. No one saw it coming.”

Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press Gazette writes of how "embarrassed" the Green Bay defense is after Monday night's performance.

Read about the Packers' inconsistency in an article by Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal.