TBD on Ning
The News
OK…so some folks went on a cruise…there was a fire…and some essential services were disrupted, creating less than desirable circumstances for some 4200 people. I’m being kind here.
From all accounts that I’ve seen, the cruise ship company did the best they could, groveled appropriately and provided an excellent response in the form of refunds, cash, hotels, free flights, free future cruises, etc.
There are also stories of admirable performance by the crew – and let’s not forget that they were living in the same conditions as the passengers.
Our crack news media focused heavily on this event – to their usual fault – and so much of their emphasis was on the presence of fecal material due to system failures – that I was reminded of one of the times that Michael Jackson was arrested and confronted feces in a jail rest room.
Never mind, Michael, that you were being charged with horrendous crimes against children – let’s smokescreen and make this all about poop. (Felonious poop, I might add.)
But I digress.
As the incident finally (!) came to a close – and after the pictures of disembarked passengers kneeling and kissing the ground were published, more accounts surfaced by other passengers who agreed that while the whole experience was unfortunate and challenging - they contradicted the extreme stories of earlier reports.
In other words, it maybe wasn’t all THAT bad.
Except maybe to a few dozen “Michael Jacksons” on board.
Forced to eat onion sandwiches? Really?
Other stories reported that helicopters were routinely airlifting food and supplies to the stricken vessel.
I also read there was free beer on board.
True Fact: Did you know beer is classified as food and taxed accordingly?
I would have survived just fine on…er…beer sandwiches. (With or without the bread)
There were also accounts of folks having to relieve themselves in plastic bags.
Any port in a storm, but I am a bit puzzled as to why the ship’s engineering staff didn’t (or couldn’t) fabricate some form of “Porta Potties” that hung over the side of the ship. That’s what the sea is for, isn’t it? (Not kidding here – we’ve been treating it as a giant toilet for centuries – but that’s why God made shrimp, I guess.)
Fortunately, I wasn’t on that cruise, but if I was, I think I would have taken a more “It is what it is approach” instead of whining and complaining to feed the news media.
…and would have tossed at least one cruise line employee overboard every hour until we made land.
Cheers!
Your Pal,
Bmichael
Views: 303
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Carol T on
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When I was a new mom, I welcomed the Jehovah's Witnesses as adult companionship in the long lonely days while my daughter slept and my husband was at work. After a while, though, I couldn't bear being polite to them when all I wanted to do was yell, "You're lunatics! Get off my porch!"
It is a puzzlement, as the King of Siam would say.
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Permalink Reply by Bmichael on
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Obama girls get dating advice from their watchful dad
WASHINGTON
Malia (L) and Sasha (R), daughters of U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hand out Thanksgiving food at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, November 27, 2013.
CREDIT: REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama says he's not worried about his daughters starting to date. After all, he's got some help keeping an eye on them.
Malia, age 15, and Sasha, age 12, are "very sensible," Obama told comedian and talk show host Steve Harvey in a television interview that aired on Friday.
"And the second thing is, I've got men with guns following them around all the time," Obama quipped, referring to the Secret Service detail that is a constant presence around his family.
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Thanks to the following folks for a lesson in clear thinking…
I really struggle to see how UPS and FedEx missing Christmas Day shipments is worthy of ongoing national news coverage.
If there's no news, make some.
Bmichael
(expletive deleted)
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From NPR
Association Warns Of A Possible Clown Shortage
February 18, 2014 6:00 AM
The head of a clown organization told the New York Daily Newsthat clowns "just aren't cool anymore." Rubber noses and rainbow wigs just can't compete for young talent with tech startups and Wall Street.
umm...on second thought...this is much too easy...never mind.
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Permalink Reply by Westerly_2 on
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Were you going to say "Tell that to Congress"? You're right - way too easy.
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Warning!
Use caution when commenting on NPR:
glenglish Miss Snarkypants • an hour ago
Most of us know it ain't news that gays play sports or are in the military, but it is news that people can say they is.
Miss Snarkypants glenglish • 35 minutes ago
they = nominative plural
is = 3rd person singular present tensePlease don't do that ever again.
glenglish Miss Snarkypants• 7 minutes ago
Don't you knows snarkasm when you sees it? I does it all the time.
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From CBS:
New Jersey Lawmaker Launches Plan To Ban ‘Upskirt’ Photos
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A plan has been launched to make what is called “upskirting” illegal in New Jersey.
State Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) said he plans to introduce a bill to ban anyone from taking secret photos from another person’s private areas.
Kean said he is still working on it, but one option is to consider upskirting an invasion of privacy.
Earlier Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill to prohibit such pho... He signed the measure two days after the state’s highest court ruled that a man who took cellphone photos up the skirts of female subway passengers in Boston wasn’t violating state law as written.
The Massachusetts State Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday dismissed charges against Michael Robertson of Andover, Mass., who was arrested in August 2010 by local Transit Police, CBS Boston reported.
Officers had set up a sting on the Boston Green Line trolley system after getting reports that Robertson was using his cellphone to take photos and video up female rider’s skirts and dresses, CBS Boston reported.
But Robertson defended what he said as a First Amendment right to take upskirt pictures of women in public.
His attorney, a woman, told the judge this past November that if a clothed person reveals a body part — whether it was intentional or unintentional — he or she cannot expect privacy, and that “Peeping Tom” laws cover bathrooms and dressing rooms but not public areas.
The Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday ruled that thanks to a legal loophole in the Massachusetts Peeping Tom law, Robertson indeed did not break the law.
The Massachusetts decision said a woman on a trolley “wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing,” CBS Boston reported.
The Massachusetts House and Senate responded by quickly passing legislation to crack down on people who take photographs of the “sexual or other intimate parts” of women or children in public.
The new law, which takes effect immediately in Massachusetts, would punish “upskirting” with a maximum penalty of two-and-a-half years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
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Rubbish! Rubbish, I say!
What in the world is going on in New Jersey?
First, the state says I can’t order eggs “sunny side up” in a restaurant because of potential salmonella fears.
Then it says ground meat must be cooked to “well done” because…well, I have no idea…
It also says:
It is against the law to “frown” at a police officer.
If you have been convicted of driving while intoxicated, you may never again apply for personalized license plates. (I’m quite sure that will alter a lot of behavior)
The third Thursday of October is designated as “New Jersey Credit Union Day” and citizens of the state should observe the day with “appropriate activities and programs”. (Mark this date on your calendar (October 16) – it’s gonna be a big day at the Ranch…sort of a preamble to the holiday season)
Handcuffs may not be sold to minors. (Why???)
It is illegal to wear a bullet-proof vest while committing a murder. (This one makes sense, sort of.)
And now this upskirt thing.
WHO do they think they are? I thought we lived in a democracy…where people are free…free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness – except in New Jersey, apparently.
Well, I’ve had it! We’re not gonna take it anymore!
I’m going to my birth state (Marilyn, sweetie, I’ll be needing a place to stay for awhile – not to worry, though, I’ve got beer! Thanks…love ya!) to fight this thing.
And fight, we will! Bottom line? New Jersey CANNOT deprive me of my constitutional right to look up skirts. Didn’t know it was in the constitution, did ya? Look it up.
Anyway, if you don’t like it, let me serve notice that it’s YOUR responsibility to take appropriate security measures (though we really, really wish you wouldn’t), not ours.
Besides, I personally know lots of women who have no problem with this issue – and some actually like it!
I’m serious – goin’ to the mattresses on this one! And I’m not giving up until we achieve complete, total victory…or… they pry my cell phone from my cold…dead…hands!
And then it’s on to Massachusetts! (Do we know anybody that lives there?)
Booyah!
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Massachusetts? What horrible things are going on in MA? I've got a friend there, but she really likes it. She belongs to a gardening club and paints watercolors in that park where they have the Swan Boats; what's it's name? Boston Commons?
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Boston Public Gardens, also the site of the ducklings made famous in Make Way for Ducklings.
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