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At Large
That Sinking Feeling
It’s unfortunate that Gene Hackman was not the captain of the Costa Concordia.
When I saw the film, The Poseidon Adventure, within weeks of its release in 1972, I was just fourteen years old, and it made a powerful impression. The plot featured a cruise ship beginning to sink, with most of the passengers choosing to heed the crew’s instructions to stay in the main common areas until they can be rescued. Gene Hackman played a fiery pastor who convinces a small band of followers to climb upward through the listing ship to its highest point, braving a series of harrowing obstacles which deplete their ranks by a few.
In the end only they are saved. Those who abided by the official policy were all lost — echoing the famous poem “The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck” — when the ship sank moments after Hackman’s team was rescued.
Inspired by the poignancy of the movie, I went to the library and took out the book it was based on, authored by the great Paul Gallico, famed sports editor of the New York Daily News. When I reached the climax of the novel, I was shocked that the result was the opposite of the movie ending. The passengers who had stayed put were all saved without a single casualty. The only people to die after the initial impact were those who had failed to survive the obstacle course preferred by the wacky cleric.
The astonishing saga of the sinking Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, continued to unfold after the weekend with the discovery of two live passengers and one crew member with a broken leg, along with five more corpses to bring the total to eleven known victims of the event. Two dozen more are still unaccounted for, as divers ply their gritty chore of searching the severely listing vessel.
The captain of the ship, nominally its commander tasked with the safety of his passengers, escaped at the earliest opportunity, along with the First Mate. The Italian Coast Guard released a tape in which the captain cringes, waffles, mumbles, fumbles, truckles… anything but returning to fulfill his duty.
Most of the 4,200 people on board were saved anyway, but it took some doing on the part of some more responsible crew members and other heroes, including many of the dancers and musical performers. But the rank cowardice of the ostensible leadership was an extra stink bomb lobbed into the wreckage. It takes a sensitive human tragedy and tinges it with crude farce.
The episode this calls to mind is one it eerily mirrors, the grounding of the Oceanos in 1991 off the Wild Coast of South Africa. In that case, the Greek Captain evacuated first with all of the top crew members, leaving an anarchic vacuum which was filled mostly by the entertainment staff. The woman in charge of fun and games on board in happier times alertly sensed the void and stepped in to assume the leadership role. Amazingly, every single person was rescued by either lifeboat or helicopter. It is well worth the time to see the entire Dateline report chronicling the fiasco turned virtuoso.
The word “coward” is structured ingeniously, including the entirety of “war” but hiding it by smothering from both sides. When the captains all turn out to be cowards, opting for years in a dry jail over hours facing the music in a seaborne dance with the Angel of Death, while the musicians and the dancers rise to the occasion, there is some great lesson to be learned here in assaying the human condition.
The Talmud famously teaches that in a bustling marketplace one day, Elijah the Prophet could point out only two individuals who were heading to Heaven. They were two comedians who made a specialty of cheering up the unfortunate, helping people through crises in their lives.
The story of these cruise ships supports the central insight of that vignette. The captain, who strutted around thinking that it was all about him, could only think of himself when the Heavens tested his mettle. The singers and the dancers, training themselves to please and satisfy the needs of others, were well positioned to put the welfare of the group above saving their own skins.
The next time I am aboard a cruise ship and I get that little gilt-edged envelope with the invitation to join the captain at his table, remind me to seek out the entertainment staff as companions instead. Some of these captains are not fit for the high seas; their place is in the dock.
About the Author
Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human Events. Here he speaks at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Miami on June 8, 2012.
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Pecos Pete| 1.18.12 @ 6:42AM
The captain of the good ship USA will soon abandon ship and leave the rest of us stranded and strapped with an anchor of $16+ Trillion dollars of debt.
Appleby| 1.18.12 @ 6:48AM
There will be many stories that come out of this tragedy that will astonish both the families of those who took charge and the people themselves who did so. Likely most of the latter will claim, "I only did what anybody would have done." Many other stories will be told about those who saved others, and not by the saviours themselves. And perhaps the largest benefit that will come from this is the new way in which children will look at their parents and grandparents, and the respect they may not express but may keep and ponder in ttheir hearts. How many Occupiers will wonder silently whether their stint of marching and screaming and chanting and trashing a downtown park was really all that great after all, compared with Granny and Grampa in their life jackets, jumping off a companion ladder and swimming for the Italian shore?
Ken (Old Texican) | 1.18.12 @ 8:06AM
I imagine this will bankrupt the cruise line company...as it should.
...I then think of Captain "Sully" landing that jet on the river with his last gasp of courage and skill.
Stuart Koehl| 1.18.12 @ 9:05AM
Perhaps it is good that airline pilots don't have parachutes.
DTOM| 1.18.12 @ 12:23PM
That's why there will always be a pilot in the plane-no matter how much better the avionics can do a better job of piloting, navigating, landing, dealing with turbulence, responding to terrorists...
How could you hijack a plane if there were no pilots on board and the avionics were inaccessible to the cabin? Skip TSA, skip security, just let the Concealed Carriers keep order, if necessary...
Think about it!
Don't Tread On Me!
Frog in Fatigues| 1.19.12 @ 9:12AM
Stuart, even in Italy or France you don't become an airline pilot thanks to your union influence, but through hard work and after having been thoroughly tested by your peers and your employers. Airline pilots care more for the safety of their passengers than anything else. They have been known to never ever panic and always be in charge. Had Schettino (the italian coward) been the criterion for an airline pilot, 9-11 wouldn't have been possible ("so they're slaughtering passengers? I don't give a shit, I won't open that cockpit door!)
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 11:21AM
I would say it was more skill and good nerves than courage and good for him. I disagree with his decision to proclaim "women and children" first though. No precedent for such a law and if I was on board, I would have sued the airline for gender discrimination (probably not get anywhere but it's worth a try.)
It appears the men didn't honor the W&CF; order in this case. Good for them.
Mike| 1.18.12 @ 12:23PM
PolishKnight
You, sir, are a cad. There is good cause and ample precedent for women and children first. It is a sad statement on your moral bearing for you not to know this.
Mike Johnston
SFC USA (RET)
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 12:36PM
There was also good cause and ample precedent for denying women the vote and equal workplace rights. Heck, there still is (check out the crime rates in the inner cities and whose raising most of those kids and voting for Obama!)
I'll take the namecalling, thank you, and do the right thing rather than acting out of emotional chivalry. That was how we got into WWI after Titanic and look at how that turned out!
Will Stevens| 1.18.12 @ 1:53PM
Titanic?
Don't you mean Lusitania?
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 2:12PM
No, I meant the Titanic but quite frankly, I think I was engaging in a bit too much hyperbole. Allow me to elaborate:
At the turn of the last century when chivalrous manhood was raging and indulging and protecting women at all costs was the norm, society treated men as disposable so sending off millions of men to die in WWI was A-ok. Women with their new rights were shaming men into volunteering for war. After the Versailles treaty, WWII was inevitable and consider the socialist philosophy: women and children were "first", in a way, and men were to be slaves. If a society regards men as disposable, why not everyone the government doesn't need?
Now fast forward to the present: From what I read, the men in this disaster flooded the lifeboats because the chivalrous men were getting the women onto boats and not reassuring the men they'd be taken care of AND lifeboats were sent down half empty! So naturally they said to hell with this and flooded the boats. If they had a rational policy rather than women first, things would have gone better.
And finally, more CHILDREN died than women on the Titanic meaning that the women and children first policy really put women first. So the chivalrous policy really is about pandering to women.
Occam's Tool| 1.18.12 @ 3:01PM
The war was fought badly because the generals and politicians were idiots. Without women, there is no next generation. Children ARE the next generation. There is an abundance of men at birth because men are, to a large extent, drones.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 3:06PM
OT, the product of that thinking in the 21st century in Europe and the USA are unwed mothers on welfare. That's the "next generation" for the West and the product of hyper chivalry.
And no need to worry, there are 6+ billion people on Earth most of them ready to immigrate to Europe and join them. No need to worry about us running out of babies!
Occam's Tool| 1.18.12 @ 3:05PM
In any society that time-binds---any society that is viable---women and children are protected by men.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 3:18PM
Actually, OT, China has been doing pretty well despite drowning baby girls in the stream beds and they seem to still have plenty of people. I'm not saying that's moral but rather observe it disproves your claim that chivalry is necessary for a society to function. On the other hand, our chivalrous, female pandering society is going to hell in a handbasket.
Even taking your claim at face value, men cannot "protect" women and children if they are allowed to sink hence unwed and single mother households going to pot. Chivalry mistakes protecting women and children with protecting FAMILIES. Big difference.
PaulyD| 1.18.12 @ 3:12PM
You have no understanding of the term "chivalry."
The concept of chivalry evolved in the West, beginning in the Medieval ages when Christian monks began to civilize knights and strong men. These monks persuaded many Christian knights that it was manly to be absolutely fearless, brave and ruthless in battle, but that it was un-manly and un-Christian to butalize and intimidate the weak (namely women and children).
Over the years, the knight's concept of chivalry gradually became ingrained in various forms in Western culture, but especially in British culture so that chivalry was understood to mean that the strong protect the weak. It is only in recent times that we associate chivalry with treating women courteously, or good manners.
The fact is that men are physically stronger than women and children. If women and children are to have any chance of survival in such a situation as a ship sinking, the men have to control themselves and keep order. That means they have to help the weaker women and children go first. When they don't do that, when they panic and lose control, when it is every man for himself, as has happened unfortunately in past sinkings, NONE of the women and children survive.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 3:21PM
It's funny I can't look up chivalry on wikipedia today due to the blackout. :-)
It was my understanding that chivalry came about as a military code, perhaps from Islam, to make war more civilized for everyone including warriors and prisoners of war.
What this disaster certainly shows is that women's equality doesn't apply in an emergency and raises questions about having them as, say, military officers or captains of ships (if the captain of the ship had been a woman and ran away, nobody would have been surprised.) Women should therefore not be allowed to be captains since they require protection and in addition perhaps not even as stewardesses. It's all about protecting the helpless babymakers, right?
PaulyD| 1.18.12 @ 3:36PM
A very lame straw man argument. Easily punctured because you left out the children.
Bob Grant| 1.18.12 @ 5:11PM
An interesting question would be how many 21st century women and children buy into and/or appreciate the concept of chivalry?
I'm guessing many would despise the chivalrous act but gladly take it in a nut-cutting moment.
For the sake of holding on to Western Society, we do them anyway regardless of the response.
PolishKnight| 1.19.12 @ 12:06PM
The only problem with that claim, Bob, is that the opposite is true: Chivalry hasn't "held" onto western society but undermined it. The number one voters for anti-Western and pro-marxist policies are unwed mothers. Consider the logic: When white males regard themselves as inferior to their women and regard it as noble to self-destruct themselves to impress the ladies, should it surprise us when women don't value these men or their society? I saw women running into the arms of Islamicists on college campuses. Islam has a brighter picture than western chivalry!
Joe Gause| 1.18.12 @ 1:11PM
There are standard rules for emergency exit of a passenger aircraft: those nearest the exits open the exits, go out and assist the next persons nearest the exits to depart; male, female, child, or adult do not matter in the procedure.
Occam's Tool| 1.18.12 @ 2:59PM
A MAN protects his women and children first in this type of situation. "A coward has a thousand deaths, a hero dies but once."
In my job, I have been smashed against a wall, stabbed in the back, and threatened with pummeling. I do this job to take care of my wife and kids.
Our culture and society was much better when men put women first. The destruction, for example, of the Black Community and Family in this country is directly due to attitudes like yours.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 3:25PM
Er, OT, the destruction of the black community arose from protecting women and children and throwing black men to the wolves as jobs were given to white women. And indeed, men should protect THEIR wives and family but not other people's.
Speaking of cowardice: Taking care of my family AND MYSELF is more important than falling for shaming ploys and being a "real man" or not a "cad" and setting an example. Women wanted equality? Fine. Now live up to it or go back to Seneca Falls!
RouxBella| 1.19.12 @ 10:08AM
What hatched you? Certainly not a female human being.
PolishKnight| 1.19.12 @ 11:59AM
Actually, my attitude is not all that outrageous once one leaves the west or considers demographic trends in North America and Western Europe. In China, they drowned female babies to deal with overpopulation. In the middle east, women not only don't have equality but men unashamedly put themselves first during disasters. And listen to rap music to see how African Americans regard their women. During the past century, feminists and marxists have demonized western men in the states and now even Europe welcomes non-white immigrants as the future of mankind.
Therefore, it's not a question of whether chivalrous patronage of women will fall but WHEN. A half century at most based upon demographic trends alone.
In addition, it's rather hard for men to worship women as these ideal virgin Marys when so many of them are raised by unwed mothers who treat the father of their children like dirt. Fortunately I wasn't raised by one of them but I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own. Chivalry combined, and exacerbated by, feminism has made most American women into monsters. This isn't just my opinion but that of my wife as well. She sees these women being abusive towards their husbands, store clerks and other lower classed people, and even each other and nobody says anything because they're women.
Here's what Queen Victoria had to say:
"I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of 'Women's Rights', with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feelings and propriety. Feminists ought to get a good whipping. Were woman to 'unsex' themselves by claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, heathen and disgusting of beings and would surely perish without male protection."
Melvin| 1.18.12 @ 8:34AM
It is about, "Honor," where human beings reach down within themselves in times of extreme personal danger, and confront and control their fears.
"Well what the hell does honor have anything to do with be scared out of your wits?"
Whether it be that a person is a Captain of a cruise liner or a Captain in the military, these leaders are an extension of a time honored profession of those who went before them.
When men go into combat for the first time the overlying thought is, "I don't want to let my fellow Marines down when the crap hits the fan."
We not only have a responsibility to ourselves, but also a responsibility to those who entrust us with their very lives.
When the passengers and the crew on that cruise liner knew that the ship was in serious peril, who was the first person did they look to for guidance and instruction? The Captain of the vessel.
The crew usually calls gives the Captain of a vessel a moniker called the, "The Old Man." It is a title that every Captain strives to fulfill of honor and an unbreakable trust.
This Chicken of the sea, the master of the Costa Concordia will go to his grave with the burden of knowing he failed in what should have been his finest hour as a Captain of a doomed vessel.
I predict he'll commit suicide rather than face his failures as human being, a man, and Captain of a vessel that 4200 people had their lives entrusted to. The burden will be to great and he will lose his mind, and ultimately end it.
JimH| 1.18.12 @ 8:53AM
If he had any honor he would. More likely he writes a book and goes on Oprah, explaining that he acted as he did because he was abused as a child.
Binx Bolling| 1.18.12 @ 2:54PM
It wasn't even a case of "Lord Jim" and the Patna. "Six (life)boats, 800 people!" Perhaps the captain can redeem himself like Lord Jim by moving to Haiti, becoming it's dictator, and bringing up that country up to the standards of Detroit.
Occam's Tool| 1.18.12 @ 11:13AM
Indeed, Melvin.
Old Soldier| 1.18.12 @ 5:20PM
It sounds like he is already very comfortable with his failures.
albert constantine jr| 1.18.12 @ 9:02PM
Not only comfortable with his failures, but blaming these failures on others, and claiming he "saved" hundreds, no, thousands of lives from his place in the life boat. He kind of reminds me of the chief executive of a large Western nation in that regard.
Old Soldier| 1.18.12 @ 10:04AM
The funny part - My wife asked me if it was an American ship. I had to explain that there are virtually no civilian American ships. We have taxed American flagged shipping out of existence.
Occam's Tool| 1.18.12 @ 11:12AM
Yup. Carnival's ships are all Italian. On my only cruise, the ship was Italian made and Captained.
After Lepanto, the quality of Italian navies went a bit downhill---but it was never great. Rome, for example, had minimal Naval skill.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 11:19AM
My wife took a Carnival cruise out of Baltimore to Puerto Rico. She told me never again. She got an inside cabin for $200 (plus tax and tips) for a week. Unfortunately, all the underclass of society also took up the offer and it was like riding a 50 year old greyhound bus. But this concordia looks a bit more high end.
Seek| 1.18.12 @ 11:33AM
$200? That's a steal, despite all the low-class blacks aboard. National Review cruises practically start at $2,000.
Occam's Tool| 1.18.12 @ 3:02PM
On NR cruises you have noted speakers on board. Plus, it raises money for the magazine. Of course, Seek, they usually have Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams on board. Best not to attend.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 3:33PM
OT, curious, what do you have against them?
Ed| 1.18.12 @ 11:51AM
I took a NCL cruise between Baltimore and Bermuda, and the ship's officers were Scandinavian and very professional. I also know a small-boat captain on Maui who takes passengers out on snorkeling and whale watching trips. He is also a true professional.
I can't imagine that any of them would behave like" The Chicken of the Sea".
Bill| 1.18.12 @ 12:21PM
...it will be interesting to see how he handles this on his resume...maybe he needs advice from pelosi for the update...
Nina| 1.18.12 @ 2:10PM
While tragic, this won't make a dent in the cruise industry. This particular cruise company tho has had many problems including fires on board their ships. Seems to me perhaps their training programs are running a bit towards minmal to nonexistent at this point. I'm not condemning all cruise lines, many are well maintained and manned. I've been on my share of cruises and enjoy them a lot. Planes crash, we still fly. Cars crash, we still drive.
Pat| 1.18.12 @ 5:31PM
Nina, you drew the intelligent bead on things. In our highly advanced technical society, when technology occasionally fails, folks die – regrettable, but it’s no longer those pioneer days when your Conestoga prairie schooner would throw a wheel and then everyone casually jumps to safety. Cruise ships of the big dollar investment class are highly automated and probably a series of errors, both human and technical, contributed to the navigation snafu. Most cruise lines employ a second captain who actually performs the technical duties involved in ship operations, the Captain is chief executive officer but his or her duties are primarily passenger public relations and representing management’s profit interests – we’re light years beyond the Titanic era.
And you’re right about their training programs but for a different reason. With these enormous investments in plant and equipment, personnel do undergo extensive training. But it’s impossible to train employees not to panic in a real emergency. I was on a plane which went down to an emergency landing – we all survived thanks to very good pilots. But a stewardess initially panicked, followed by running down the aisle to the imagined safety of her seat belt while screaming hysterically at us passengers the entire time. More and more, it’s every man (or woman) for himself because the immediacy of the crisis provides no opportunity for traditional chivalry.
Capt G| 1.19.12 @ 11:27AM
You're obviously not familiar with Carnival and their operations. The master grounded the vessel while engaged in a company-sanctioned course of navigation no responsible master would follow. And, well trained masters do not abandon their ship until it is either sunk or salvage efforts have been negotiated. They certainly do not do so before an accounting of all crew and passengers have been made.
You're also incorrect on training and panic. It is only training that prevents the outbreak of panic. Some may crack, but most will fall back on their training. The fact is, that most of these flag of convenience shipping companies do little effective training, with Carnival being a prime example.
Binx Bolling| 1.18.12 @ 2:48PM
The worst, unconvincing acting Hackman ever did was weeping over that she-elephant Shelly Winters after her big swim. Deep down, Hackman was glad she died and spared Jack Albertson the agony of wasting the rest of his life with that odious blowhard.
cicero| 1.18.12 @ 3:43PM
"Women and children first." The Birkenshead Drill. A company of young British
soldiers on the way to South Africa were aboard a ship that hit a reef, and was sinking. Just like the Costa Concordia. They were stood to attention on the deck, and held their formation until all the women and children were evacuated. They then did their level best to swim, through the shark infested waters, to shore. Many of them made it, and many did not. That is what discipline is all about. That is what manhood - maybe the same thing - is all about.
Occam's Tool - the Romans had a pretty creditable navy. They cleared out the pirates on the Med undedr Ceasar, when he got pissed off when kidna;;ped by some of them. They eventually owned that inner sea.
Joseph Conrad's "lord Jim" does come to mind. However, Haiti would not be similar, as there is no civilization there to emmerse himself in. And Detroit has no leader who could be considered dictatorial. Hell, he can't control his own employees. The big difference between Haiti and Detroit is that we in Detroit have a winter, so the denizens have to go indoors for a portion of the year.
PolishKnight| 1.18.12 @ 4:28PM
So we have THEM (Birkenshead) to thank for the precedence of man hating feminism and female entitlement and the resulting welfare state and destruction of the family AND later on, the guaranteed unwed mother voting bloc for Obama.
Everyone would have been better off if they let the women and children drown.
cicero| 1.18.12 @ 5:48PM
By the way, the idea of Chivalry was invented in the court of Ealenore of Aquitaine, when all of the real men went off the the crusades. She needed something to amuse the randy young ladies of the court, but didn't want them all breeding with the chuckles that were left behind. So, she devised the rules for the game of courtly love. You could look, and play, but not touch. When the big boys got back, they enhanced the game, so they could play by enhanced rules.
It still comes down to the fact that the purpose of men in a civilized world is to provide food, clothing , shelter, and protection for the young, the old, and the women. That is our role. The others have their roles too, they are just different. If all play true to their trust, civilization is moved forward. If any of them do not, civilization declines. Just look what has happened in our cities, when men abandoned their role, and tend to prey on those who they are charged by nature to protect, etc. And look what has happened when the women do not live by their rules to nurture and nest, rather than squander their virtue promiscuously. Look what happens when the old fail to teach the young, and the young refuse to mature. Not a pretty picture.
Bob Grant| 1.18.12 @ 5:51PM
Personally,
I never shared others' excitement for going on cruises, especially out to sea and beyond the shoreline.
*Obnoxious drunks --- in groups!!
*Tight spaces
*Mediocre food
*Limited pleasant activities (No, ABBA tribute bands don't count!)
*Hordes of people you wouldn't want to be around in open spaces, much less tight ones
*Falling over railings
....and now...
* Drunk Captains who give shoreline 'flyover's' for relatives of employees on the ship.
I think I'll keep my 5 grand.
Paul Kotik| 1.18.12 @ 8:23PM
Well, it's now several days later and there's the ship, still resting comfortably.
The ship wasn't in the middle of the ocean. It didn't sink. It hit a rock a stone's throw from a very, very large stone.
Any passenger or crew who'd employed basic common sense, or who'd taken the advice of a handy 5-year-old, would still be sipping looted Dom Perignon high and dry on the port side of the ship.
Alternatively, if a pressing engagement elsewhere made it absolutely essential to debark, the nearest part of the rock is so close to the stern one's chief risk in wading ashore would be stubbing one's toe.
This is what we now find gaspworthy. We refer to the 99.98% of the passengers who didn't trouble themselves to die there "surivivors". We're all survivors now, eh?
I hope we all survive the imbecilic media coverage of this very moderately interesting event. In these times, this is not big news. This is rearranging Titanics on deck chairs.
Bob Grant| 1.18.12 @ 10:12PM
Interesting take.
So, basically your stance is to look on the bright side and continue your va cay on the re configured ship? To enjoy the extra space afforded to those who choose to stay?
I looks like it's about 90 degrees tilted so there's probably plenty of level space on the cruiser. albeit the rooms now oddly dimensioned.
albert constantine jr.| 1.18.12 @ 10:33PM
I'm unfamiliar with the laws of maritime salvage, but given the order to "abandon ship", is one who loots the items of value left behind on board a thief, or the functional equivalent of a wreck diver without the need for an underwater breathing apparatus?
Bob Grant| 1.18.12 @ 10:45PM
Al,
I don't have a law degree but I bet there's some Italian version of Johnnie Cochran over there who would be willing to explain away the acts of those miscreants who remained on the ship to keep the party going.
Perhaps this can all be explained away by the overwhelming stress led on by the Euro Crisis?
Larry| 1.19.12 @ 2:10AM
This Italian captain so reminds me of Barack the Usurper. Also, Italians have been known to give up when the going gets tough, e.g. World Wars I and II.
Frog in Fatigues| 1.19.12 @ 8:57AM
Larry, I beg to differ. I know our neighbors and their History. From the Roman Ages until now, they always had terrific soldiers and terrible high ranking officers. They fought well in WW I and II, always against incredible odds, with awesome losses. a little like our frog military: great soldiers and so-so officers past the rank of commanders (in radical ante-Christ France you gotta be a mason affiliated to the Grand Orient de France obedience to become a full colonel. You guessed right: it is an unwritten law) Essentially, Italy is doomed for the very same reasons France is: An overbearing nanny state responding only to the socialo-masonic union pandering mafia that rules a Godless republic. Have a look at Schettino on Google images. I thought the guy was the latest calabrese or neapolitan arrested for drug smuggling or links to the Camorra! You don't need to be an expert in leading men into battles or a psychologist with a degree in body language to realize the jerk looks like the typical italian or french problem: a high ranking blob, unfit for duty, that owes his position to connections or influence. I would bet 1 million euros that his commission was ordered by his union (read mafia) otherwise the company would face sudden strikes and sabotage attempts. In the latin part of Europe we're all used to see the real job being done by the mostly unknown, underpaid and overworked second in command while a fat and inept chief parades like a turkey before Thanksgiving. Come to think of it, maybe we would need our own thanksgiving. So many of my friends in the force are fed up with the domestic situation that we wish the outcome would be a violent one. Will you believe it, The Turner Diaries is very popular in our units! Most of us don't buy its loony racist and antisemitic crap but strongly enjoy the way crime meets punishment in that book.
BackToBasics| 1.19.12 @ 12:33PM
It is interesting to me to see that the rock hit the stern end of the ship and not the more forward part. Seems to indicate that the ship was being pushed a little sideways as it moved past the underwater reef. Either that or the ship was turning a little and just caught the edge of the reef.
Since the water there was supposed to be more than 100 meters, it was good that they grounded the ship. The Titanic's buckled plates were said to create the equivalent hole the size of a refrigerator. Compare that to the huge gash on the Concordia. If they had stayed in deeper water I doubt they would have gotten half of the passengers off.
The captain was found wanting but it would not surprise me if the cruise company is trying to scapegoat him to the max. They are desperate to salvage their company and the blame may partially also lie in faulty charts as the Concordia had made an even closer pass to the island last summer. The captain should face charges but the company and the surveyors are at fault as well.
BackToBasics| 1.19.12 @ 12:34PM
That is maybe the ship was pushed sideways a little by underwater currents.
POST American| 1.23.12 @ 11:52PM
------'90's Show' DIS--traction to one side.
MAKE NO MISTAKE
Capstone TREASON with its 'fave' instrument,
treasonous USURY --and the bottomless long
term agendas for incremental, pre-emptive
--------------------GENOCIDE---------------------
are the REAL unfolding catastrophe.
Is no one in this journal, sweeping toward
their own FINAL reckoning, interested in the
breaking ranks with rectum worship
and dealing with -----TRUTH?
Darrel H.| 2.11.12 @ 9:05PM
The Talmud? Take your hate book elsewhere. Crawl back into the oven from whence you came