I have to admit: I'm riveted by this Carnival cruise ship story There are so many interesting angles.
I haven't seen this many passengers being mistreated since I watched Roots back in the 1970s.
As the ship nears land, security at Cathy Lee Gifford's house has been quadrupled. And hubby Frank has been spotted on the roof with an assault rifle.
Carnival spokesmodels are saying trying to get people on life boats, would be " dangerous." The ship, has many, many lifeboats. There at the ready if needed. This is a ship that is listing. There was a fire on board. Raw sewage is flowing like draft beer in a pub. People are laying down on the deck, spelling H-E-L-P out with their bodies. The port to which the ship is heading, Mobile, Alabama, has never had a ship this size try to make its way in.
Trying to get these people into life boats would be " dangerous? " I hear James Cameron is already planning to make a movie based on this PR disaster. And Gene Hackman has signed to play the lead in " Poseidon Adventure II. "
The more than 3,000 passengers on board the ship should be targeted by Recreational Vehicle dealerships. Direct mail. Email. Get the word out to these people:
Screw The Cruise. It's Time To Go Camping!
CNN has been all over this story today. MSNBC? The Lean Forward news crew? They're not going anywhere near it. MSNBC is " The Place For Politics." The only way they'd pay attention to this cruise ship story is if it was a ship chartered by people who are running for office. Or if that Senator from Arizona was on board.
The McCain Mutiny!
My friends Skip Vogt and Bill Dubiel are trying to make sense of this story on my Face Book page. Both know a lot more about cruises than I do. I've never been on one. Going on a trip with more than 3,000 other people? Me? Who gets nervous in crowds? I'd be nervous on a boat with 3 people on it. And you have to wonder. Most people on board seem to be handling this crises like troupers. But there has to be a fraction, a faction, that's litigeous. Will litigation be as much of a factor in this story as navigation? We'll see.
7 comments:
Should read: I haven't see this many ship passengers... " More detail. And it helps the way the sentence sounds, when read aloud. I started this blog when I was teaching a creative writing workshop in Rhode Island. It was, and still is, a workbook...
Hell of a news week. State of the union. Spring training starts. The Olympic hero from SA. The L.A. Story. The ship. And Lady GaGa has something in common with the Pope. Lame duck.
I have to work on my spelling.
Why is this such a big news story? Global warming. The war in Assholeistan. The do nothing congress. Why are we spending so much time watching a ship? It's a metaphor. For all of the above. We learn much from analogy
All this said. This is one ship. One crisis. Will it have an impact on the cruise industry? No. People are smart. They look at the odds. This is a huge story because it's the exception to the rule. A jet liner crashes. Does this cause millions of people to not fly anymore? Nope. This is a big story because it's a good story. One ship. E pluribus unum. Pardon my Latin.
This is a big story because, to our incurious and personality driven mainstream press corps, it is low hanging fruit.
Politics, science, technology? Too complicated, man. Tell me about people wallowing in their own ordure.
Li'l em swell
I was torn between posting on this Poseidon Adventure or Fermat's Enigma. Or explaining how quantum theory says one thing can be in two places at once. Or the nuances of Keynsian economics and their relation to the writings of Malthuse. I opted for the Love Boat.
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