So while much of the country is just tryin’ [I can be folksy too even although I'm not running for anything or from anyone!] to stay alive . . . the folks who are trying to convince us that they understand the pain of the average American . . . well, take a look . . .

No Harry Truman here!

OK, but they and their “PACS” or Political Action Committees, which really aren’t theirs and which they all “know nothing about” being law-abiding candidates for the Presidency of the US, are spending billions to convince the US electorate to pull the tr . . . lever, or punch the . . . no, not the candidate [Shame on you!] but the chad out of the ballot . . . in their favor. So, I guess they really can’t be ordinary folk like us.

The percentage of charitable contributions is interesting. Both Obama (a Christian) and Romney (a Mormon, which regardless of the promo ads is something different from being a Christian . . . I mean Muslims also believe in Jesus, albeit in a different way than Christians), but as both men of faith from groups that advocate charitable giving (of course the Muslims advocate that as well, as do the Jews, and a lot of others) . . . Romney and Obama at 14%. Newt looks a little stingy at only 3%, and the $10 million ballet contribution probably helped there.

Republicans are big on “family values.” Carl Rove got conservatives all riled up that gays were taking over and true Americans needed to defend the “institution of marriage”, which helped get out the vote to get Bush (the kid) elected. And the so-call “Evangelical” right (as embarrassing to many Christians as the radical Islamists who blow themselves and others up are to many Muslims), the “Evangelical right” (who just may be wrong) are lining up behind Gingrich and Romney who are the champions of family values. Obama, who models parenthood and this beautiful family, of course has allowed gays to serve in the military, so therefore must be anti-family. Ignoring the fact of Gingrich’s multiple marriages, divorces, affairs, and reported advocacy of “open marriage” (his ex-wife’s assertion), Gingrich is of course the right’s poster child for family values. Never mind that although reigned-in by the government, polygamy was for many years a touchstone of Mormonism, but, ignoring that inconvenient aspect, Romney is a central casting candidate with a lovely family and a nice hairdo that even Donald Trump can’t trump.

And less any of you get your undershorts all twisted up, I’m all for the church, whatever church, defining what marriage is for the members of that church. You don’t want gay marriage, you probably don’t want to belong to a “gay” church or an “open fellowship” of Christians. Fine. Some Mormons want multiple women to cook and sew and bear children, fine by me. Newt wants an “open marriage”, more power to him as long as Mrs. Newt goes along. Let any religious group define it anyway they want. That’s marriage. Defined by the church. Divorce yes . . . divorce no . . . divorce only if you jump through enough hoops. Fine. Let the church decide. Your church decides for you. Not for me, not for the rest of the nation.

The legal contract between two persons, that defines various rights and legal responsibilities, that is something for the state to decide. You get one (at least that’s the way it seems to work best) legally defined “partner”. You want that, you go to the city or town hall, make your pledges, and get your papers. Just like in Europe. You don’t do want to do that, just want to live together, OK, but seven years later don’t come crying demanding the same legal rights as those who made the contract. You want a contract, make it. You don’t, so be it.

Now, you want to be married in the eyes of God, go to church. And let your church define that process and the requirements and expectations.

It’s been working all these years in Europe . . . and in countries that don’t even preach separation of church and state.

Remember the separation of church and state?  That’s why Sharia law won’t work in the US and neither will definitions and rules and regulations defined by the religious “right” or “left” work. We have wisely chosen to keep church and state separate.

Gee . . . I’m beginning to sound like a . . . Libertarian. Oooo! And there’s this other guy . . . Ron Paul . . . but he doesn’t have a chance. After all he’s a Republican, mixed in with the rest, and I voted for “Change!” Of course Gitmo is still there . . . and we’re still bringing home dead soldiers from Afghanistan . . . but the given the abysmal state of the economy and country when Obama took office . . . you can’t deny we’ve come a long way even although the guy turned out not to walk on water.

How the hell did I get off on this?

“Why do you keep running around the world?”

Since I already live in “paradise”, people sometimes ask why I keep running around the world?  And the answer is easy, there is so much to see and experience!  I’m already working on 30, count ‘em 30, new lectures for Europe this summer.  I’ll be 3 months on GRAND PRINCESS and 3 months on RUBY PRINCESS.  Much of it is covering the same territory, but there are a lot of new places thrown in, which is why I do this.  One of the best answers is this video by my friend Stephen Kadlec, a really fantastic videographer with whom I sailed on PACIFIC PRINCESS.  It’s really a great short video and I even get to make an appearance.

Surprises en route!

I have been using the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel for almost seven years and hating everything about it – dumpy rooms, poor food, peeling ceilings, smelly halls, and rude staff.  You name it!  But I loved the location!  And for years we used to leave a car at the hotel when we went off on trips.  So it was convenient.  About a year ago I stayed there and swore, “Never, never again!”  The room stank of mold.  The bed was horrible.  The bathroom light never works.  You always had to chase down a maid for towels and the reception desk was just plain rude.

Well I was off on the high seas and my wife arranged the hotel before our Christmas trip to Seattle.  She reverted to old habits, and because it was so convenient booked the Riande Aeropuerto, appologizing to me but saying it was just so convenient.  So I sucked it up and figured when I was a student I spent a night in the Railroad Mission [and it was just what you'd expect for a rescue mission], so I could endure one more night at the Riande.

What a stunnuing surprise!  When we walked in the lobby it was like walking into a sheek, chic hotel that we’d never seen!  I’m sure the staff at the desk thought we had escaped from the “home” because we were walking around with our mouths hanging open!  A Shushi Bar!  A trendy Asian restaurant!  “Stunning!” was the only description available.  Now the doorman/bellman who has been there since we came to Panama, greeted us as always like old friends.  A friendly bi-lingual staff checked us in without the usual hassle.  We were wisked off to our rooms shaking our heads.  Now through the years I’ve watched the Riande make various half-assed, el cheapo “improvements” to the rooms which amounted to nothing . . . we walked into this modern, trendy, yet beautiful room, with THE most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept on (sorry Holland America and Crystal!).  At least 900 count sheets, pillow choices, and what Riande has tried for years to make work . . . a bathroom that was actually new, beautiful, and worked!  The rain shower actually worked the way rain showers should and honestly it was the BEST shower I have had on any ship or in any hotel anywhere: lots of pressure, lots of hot water.    So still in shock we went into the new restaurant.  Asian.  Trendy, but limited and expensive menu.  All we really wanted, and the one food item Riande had managed to do “right” through the years was Hamburguesa Americana.  Sushi’s not my thing, and headed off for Christmas with the kids and then a Crystal Cruise, all we wanted was a good hamburger.  We commented to the waitress that we missed some of the old items, and she asked what they were.  So she said, “Let me talk to the Chef.”  Came back and said, “What do you want: he’ll make it.”  And so we had two very improved Hamburguesas Americanas!  Most of the staff has been changed, except for a few folks who have been steller through the years, like the doorman/bellman.

Yeah, prices have gone up but are not out of line with other good hotels in Panama City and this is the only game in town next to the airport.  What happened?  Well according to the staff the old man who owned the hotel died, and his sons who have been waiting to redo the hotel, took over.

My other surprize was Virgin Airlines!  I’ve spent time in the Virgin Islands both after and before marriage – few virgins.  I’m a fan of Richard Branson, but I’ve never flown Virgin.  I didn’t get my air from Crystal until the last minute and had to book a flight from LA to SEA just before Christmas.  Surprisingly, Virgin had space, ad a reasonable rate, considering it was just before Christmas.  So I booked.  As it turned out my luggage cost almost as much as my seat on the plane, mainly since because of a glitch with Virgin’s reservation system Copa couldn’t pull up my LA/SEA record and tag my luggage through to Seattle.  Checking in for my Copa flight in Panama City can best be described as a Panamanian mob cluster you-know-what.  Such disorganization!  An hour standing in line just to check in, with a line crawling over heaps of luggage stacked randomly, absolutely incredible!  I got on the plane hoping that the folks in the cockpit knew what they were doing.

I keep forgetting that the Copa flight to LA parks way out at LAX, almost near to the Ventura County line and then you have to bus into immigration at Terminal 4.  So I retrieve the luggage that Copa couldn’t check through the my destination and schlep over to Terminal 3 expecting another mass line and a potential hour waiting to check in for my Virgin flight.  Wow!  A check in area that looked nothing like any check in area I’ve ever seen, one person ahead of me, rapid efficient relieving me of $50 for luggage, boarding pass in hand and off to the dreaded TSA security check.  Now this is December 21st!  No lines for security, wisked through, and the TSA folks were not only civil but friendly (and I don’t mean the usual TSA gropping kind of friendly).  When I walked out the jetway and saw the interior bathed in dance-club purple, I thought “What?”  The seats were comfortable, the flight left on time and arrived early.  I’m hooked on Virgins!  [Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia]

Mail

Panama City Tours

We will be in Fuerte Amador and are interested in seeing the canal up close, the history of the canal, the old city of Panama and the old French city. Can you recommend a guide for a private tour for our group? Eaglewingsks

You might check out the Panama Canal board on CruiseCritic.com for some recommendations from folks who’ve used private guides.  I recommend Anne Barrigon and Embera Village Tours for folks who are interested in a private tour to Embera Puru, the best of the Embera villages in my opinion.  Briant Dominici is a botanist and natural history expert.  I’m not sure if he does other type tours in Panama City but you might check out Nature Tours.

Brandon Hein

Richard, I just came across and watched Reckless Indifference, I too am outraged.   I am just wondering if there has been any further developments with the “defendants”, and if there is anything you think one can do to help?  Thank you in advance! Hope

6090 days and the lunacy of keeping Brandon locked up for a crime nobody says he committed continues.  Conservatively this has cost the near-broke State of California close to a $1 million [cost of maximum security prisoner plus lost tax revenue from an average taxpayer].  The BrandonHein.com Web site has a How To Help Page.  Additionally you might want to join the Free Brandon Hein! group on Facebook.

I explain to my wife that she really HAS to do better than that.  Today deserves, demands more explicit expletives.  Besides, when you start losing the ability to swear with a flourish and a complete range of theological and biological expletives it is an indication that you are growing old.  Living through old age (well, nobody actually lives through it) requires keeping your mind alert: stuff like crossword puzzles, new adventures, new projects, exploring the world, yada, yada, and continuing to use your full range of swearing vocabulary!  Old folks really aren’t crotchety as I had assumed when I was young, but they are just keeping their swearing vocabulary in shape.

Maybe it’s because we just left our soon-to-be-four-year-old grandson in Seattle.  More than once Nikki had to remind me to watch what I was saying since kids imitate and repeat.  Boy do we know that!  My second church was First Reformed Church in Milwaukee.  “First” tells you something: it was started when a group of Dutchmen (and women) settled in Wisconsin in the mid 1800s.  When I went there I was the new, young, minister with the soon-to-be-pregnant wife who was shaking up the powers that be and trying to breathe new life into the church.  And in fact it eventually became New Life Community Church.  Well, we had the kid, the mother of my four-year-old grandson.  As was expected and pretty much demanded, the minister’s wife sat in one of the front pews even although she had to try to keep a two-year-old toddler in control who was expected to sit demurely through her dad’s sermon.  Not so demurely, Noelle, and you’ve all heard of the “terrible twos”, was upset with something, stood up in the pew, walked down the empty pew (initially most of the pews were empty) and started shouting “F**K!  F**K! F**K! F**K!  as clear as day!    So of course the old bitties started rolling their eyes at one another since this young minister and his family who had come from the South Bronx obviously didn’t fit.  In my defense: I had spent six years on the streets of the South Bronx where the running joke was, “My kid said his first half of a word – ‘Mother’!”  Of course there was the time the church secretary walked in on me expressing my frustration with the Xerox machine in pure South Bronx street talk.

So what was the cause of our frustration?

First understand that although in many ways living in Panama is living in “paradise”, there are many times when it is damn frustrating.

Over a year ago now I was in Panama City in the McDonald’s parking lot at Balboa.  I saw this Asian woman strap her kid with his Happy Meal into the front seat, then get in, start backing up and simultaneously making a call on her cell phone.  A crunch followed as she backed into the side of my pick up truck.  She shifted to forward and proceeded to drive off with no intent of stopping.  I chased after her and said, “You just backed into my truck!”

“Oh, I didn’t know?”  I guess the kid was crying or something so she didn’t hear the crunch or feel the abrupt stop.  I’m sure had I not chased after her . . . So we exchanged information . . . and she said she was insured and not to worry about it that the insurance would take care of it.  Well it took months of emails, calling, etc. before she actually did report it, and then months more chasing the insurance company who finally gave us a list of repair shops scattered around David (40 minutes away) requiring us to secure not less than three quotes from there designated repair shops. After much running around on our part, certainly not the insurance company nor the gal who hit me in the first place, we got approval.  Only one problem: the rear/side light housing was unavailable in Panama, despite the fact that Mazda cars are widely sold here.  They would have to order the part from the States: figure at least three months.  So we were headed to the States to spend Christmas with my daughter in Seattle: we’ll get the damn part and hand carry it back.

So after repeated calls and trips to the Mazda dealer in Renton, and his needed to make calls to the head US Mazda supply center (which of course was closed for much of the holidays) to find the part for the Latin American version which, naturally, is different from the US version.  Eventually, the part was located and available if we were willing to pay the exorbitant overnight shipping costs, which we did, and hand carried it home.

This morning at 7:30 pm just before we left for David to drop off the truck for weeks so it could be fixed we discovered that it was the wrong part.

Welcome to Panama!  Some things just aren’t easy.

Each year in January Boquete holds its Fair of The Flowers and Coffee.  Believe it or not, people come from all over Panama to see this annual fair which features some beautifully displayed flowers and gardens, the typical “junk” found at fairs worldwide, booths from every government agency imaginable [where the booth workers sit beside huge floral displays and chat with each other, happy to escape to Boquete from the office), vendors of everything corporate (most of whom are also sitting chatting with coworkers), some food vendors, and giant portable discos that start at 10pm and go to 6 am.

Since Boquete grows some of the finest coffee in the world and has a tradition of coffee growing, and since the fair is supposedly somewhat about coffee, we looked for the coffee.  Searching diligently we found about a dozen actual coffee plants, and a few dishes of shrivelled coffee cherries, a government agricultural display about coffee diseases but with workers busy visiting with one another, and, of course, Sitton and Duran, two of the big coffee companies with essentially commercial booths offering free samples.  Of course giant speakers with music blasting which seems to be an essential ingredient of anything.

If Boquete isn't careful it will become another Orange, California.  Orange was once a quaint California small town in the midst of giant orange groves.  Today it is a nondescript city in the midst of the Southern California urban sprawl.  There are no orange groves anymore.  YOu have to look hard to find one park where a couple of orange trees have been preserved for school trips, so kids in the City of Orange in Orange County can know what orange trees look like!  How sad it would be for Boquete to lose its rich coffee-growing tradition, but, if one were to judge from the Fair of Flowers and Coffee, you would think the locals really don't care very much about the coffee heritage.

Well, yes, the Sitton Coffee commercial booth did have a pretty mural celebrating the heritage of coffee in Boquete.

After searching diligently, Nikki did find a few bags of shriveled coffee cherries.

We primarily went to the fair to visit with our Embera friends from Chagres who were selling arts and crafts. Unfortunately locals aren't very interested in Indigenous handicraft and the fair draws mostly Panamanians and not foreign tourists.

What locals seem REALLY interested in is our growing, covert army, in a country which abolished the army after Noriega. Unfortunately since Panama's neighbor, Colombia, can't control its clandestine drug production and processing and its FARC rebels, they spill across the border infiltrating the Darien jungle. So the US supports, and maybe encourages, development of this army-but-not-an-army border defense operation of the national police.

Eating out with our Embera friends at Sabrosa: 8 people $23

McCullough had some interesting and important observations about the Presidency. McCullough wrote the book on Harry Truman whom he believes is one of the greatest US Presidents in history. There is a lot we could learn from Harry Truman. Compare Truman with the current crop of folks clawing for the Republican nomination.

My cousin Ken Frye sent this to me and I think it is a wonderful comparison between our past and present . . .

Harry & Bess
(This seems unreal.)

Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.”

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.”

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!

I say dig him up and clone him! Quite a difference between Harry Truman and today’s politicians that we have now!

Interesting in the light of a MONEY article that came up with the following net worth of the current crop of political candidates for President:

Mitt Romney: $85 million to $264 million – lecture fee reportedly between $20,000 and $68,000. Reportedly, not risking the whole nut on the US dollar he owns another $250,000 to $500,000 in gold.

Jon Huntsman: $16 million to $72 million [If it were me, I think I'd have a closer "estimate"]

Newt Gingrich: $7 million to $31 million [I guess these folks aren't going to quibble about a few million]

Barack Obama: $2.8 million to $11.8 million [I didn't know "community organizer" paid so well. Obama earns a $400,000 salary as the nation's chief executive, but the a Panama Canal Senior Pilot earns more than $300,000, or so I'm told.] sales, mostly.

Ron Paul: $2.4 million to $5.4 million

Rick Santorum: $1 million to $3 million

Rick Perry: $1 million to $2.5 million

Maybe here’s the problem: no candidate can tell you his net worth as $7,498,382.11. All this $1 million to $29 million, more or less, is what gets the US into problems. I want a candidate who manages his own finances . . . if not to the penny, certainly to the dollar.

As this story unfolds it becomes more and more tragic and confusing.  The Italian Coast Guard has released a supposed transcript of an emergency radio conversation with the Costa Captain and the Coast Guard.
Below are several transcripts of recordings between authorities and the captain published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and translated by CNN’s Hada Messia. The first calls came in right after midnight.

Livorno Port Authorities: “Concordia, we ask you if all is OK there.”

Concordia: “All is well.”

———————–

Port authority: “Concordia, We ask you if all is well there.”

Concordia: “All is well. It is only a technical failure.”

———————–

Port authority: “How many people are on board?”

Schettino: “Two-three hundred”

Port authority: “How come so few people? Are you on board?’

Schettino: “No, I’m not on board because the ship is keeling. We’ve abandoned it.”

Port authority: “What? You’ve abandoned the ship?”

Schettino: “No. What abandon? I’m here.”

———————–

Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco: “Captain. This is De Falco from Livorno.”

Schettino: “Commandant, I’ve also alerted the company… I’m being told that there are still passengers on board, apparently they are about one hundred… but I repeat…”

De Falco: “Captain. You are not able to tell me an exact figure? About a hundred people, it seems?

Schettino: “Commandant, I am not able to give you an exact figure because let me explain… while we were evacuating the last passengers… now we are all here with all the officers…”

De Falco: “Where are you? On the lifeboats? All the officers?”

Schettino: “Yes, we are with the second commander…”

De Falco: “Forgive me, but before you were only with a sailor. If the officers managed to get down, it means that they could still move.”

Schettino: “Yes…in fact…

De Falco: “Then why don’t they get back on board? To monitor the operation and then they can tell us. Thank you.”

Schettino: “No it is not possible…”

De Falco: “Send them on board. Send one person on board to coordinate…”

Schettino: “But I am doing the coordination.”

De Falco: “I’m giving you an order captain. You need to send someone on board.”

Schettino: “We are going on board to coordinate.”

De Falco: “Exactly. You need to get on board to coordinate the evacuation. Is that clear?!”

Schettino: “But we can’t get on board now…the ship is now…(hard to understand)…”

De Falco: “Why did you tell them to get down?”

Schettino: “What do you mean get down? We abandoned the ship…the ship turned …”

De Falco: “…and with one hundred people on board you abandon the ship? (expletive)”

Schettino: “I did not abandon any ship with 100 people…the ship (hard to understand)…we were catapulted into the water…”

De Falco: We’ll see later what happened. OK? Now tell me everything that takes place. Everything. Get under with the lifeboat (not very clear at this point). Don’t move. Clear?”

Schettino: “Commandant..we are here…we are here…”

———————–

Port authority: “You must return on board. Climb the ladder (rope ladder), return to the fore (stem) and coordinate the work.”

Schettino does not reply

Port authority: “You must tell us how many people are on board, how many women, how many children. You have to coordinate the rescue operation. Commander, this is an order. Now I’m in charge, you have abandoned ship and now you are going to go to the stem and coordinate the work. There are already dead bodies.”

Schettino: “How many?”

Port authority: “You should be the one telling me this…What do you want to do? Do you want to go home?…Now go back on the stem and tell me what to do..”

———————–

Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco: “Listen, this is De Falco from Livorno. Am I speaking with the captain?”

Schettino: “Yes.”

Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco: “Tell me your name.”

Schettino: “This is Captain Schettino, commandant.”

De Falco: “Listen Schettino, there are people trapped on board. Now, you have to go with your lifeboat and go under the boat stem on the straight side, there is a ladder there.”

De Falco: “Get on board on the ship and tell me, you tell me how many people there are.”

De Falco: “Clear? I’m recording this conversation, Captain Schettino.”

Schettino: “Well then commandant, I need to tell you something.”

De Falco: “Speak loudly.”

Schettino: “The ship now…I’m here in front of it…”

De Falco: “Captain, speak loudly.”

Schettino: “Commandant, at this moment the ship is tilted.”

De Falco: “I understand. Listen. There are people who are coming down the stem ladder. You must take that ladder in the opposite direction. Get on board the ship and you tell me how many people are on board, and what do they have. Clear? You tell me if there are children, women, people with special needs. And you tell me how many there are of each category…”

De Falco: “Is that clear?”

De Falco: “Look Schettino, you might have been saved from the sea, but I will make sure you go through a very rough time…I will make sure you go through a lot of trouble. Get on board, damn it.”

———————–

Schettino: “Commandant, please…”

Port authority: “No…please. No, you get on board. Assure me that you are getting on board.”

Schettino: (Hard to understand) “I’m here with the rescuers. I’m here. I’ve not gone anywhere. I’m here.”

Port authority: “What are you doing captain?”

Schettino: “I’m here coordinating the rescue.”

Port authority: (Speaks over captain): “What are you coordinating there? Go on board and coordinate from there the rescue operation. Are you refusing?”

Schettino: “No, no, I’m not refusing.”

Port authority: “You are refusing to go on board? And why are you not going on board?”

Schettino: “I am going because now there is the other motorboat (Lancia) that has stopped now.”

Port authority: “You go on board. It is an order. You cannot make any other evaluations. You have declared abandoning ship. Now I’m in charge. You get on board. Is it clear?”

Schettino: “Commandant…”

Port authority over captain: “Are you not listening to me..”

Schettino speaks over Port authority: “I’m going…”

Schettino: “Call me immediately when you get on board. Our rescue officer is there.”

Schettino: “Where is your rescue officer?”

Port authority: “My rescue officer is at the stem…Go …(can hear captain saying OK)…There are already bodies, Schettino.”

Schettino: “How many dead bodies are there?”

Port authority: “I don’t know. I know of one. I’ve heard of one. You are the one to tell me how many there are. Christ!”

Schettino: “Are you aware that it is dark here and we cannot see anything?”

Port authority: “So? Do you want to go home Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Climb the ladder and get on the stem.”

Port authority: “…and tell me what can be done, how many people are there, what do they need. Now.”

Schettino: “Commandant, we are with the second in command…”

Port authority: “Then both of you climb up. What is his name?”

Schettino: “Dimitris Christidis.”

Port authority: “You are your guard. Go on board, now!”

Schettino: “Commandant… I want to go on board, it is just that the other lifeboat here…there are other rescue operators… it has stopped and it is stuck there… now I’ve called other rescue operators…”

Port authority: “It is one hour that you are telling me this. You go on board. On b.o.a.r.d (says the word slowly almost spelling it out). And you immediately tell me how many people there are”

Schettino: “OK.”

For anyone interested in a crew members point of view of the Costa Concordia sinking.

Here is an account of the events that followed the Costa Concordia striking a reef and sinking off the coast of Italy on Friday evening…written by the Guest Service Manager of the Concordia, who joined the ship on the 13th of January, presumably in Civitavecchia . . .

“Unfortunately I don’t have my name tag to photograph, because I lost at sea, along with my camera! My name is Katia Keyvanian, I am The GSM (Guest Service Manager) embarked on the 13th of January to substitute my colleague on the Concordia. I can write only a few lines, as I have a train to catch to go home! I would love to be invited by Giletti, Mentana, Vinci and all the other journalists, who without knowledge of the facts and who without verifying their sources, only write nonsense! I wish I could respond to the flood of nonsense and lies that have been said! But for now, until I can say more I can only say this; ‘We evacuated 4000 people in the dark, with the ship inclined on its side, in less than two hours! Those who are “incompetent” are not able to do this.

It is not true that the captain was first to leave the ship. I was on the last boat and he remained attached to the railing of deck 3, while the ship was sinking. Shame on you incompetent journalists who wrote that he was the first to leave! I was on the lifeboat, that was sailing away and about to be crushed by the hoist of the sinking ship, which was about to break through our roof. We pulled a lot of guests into the lifeboat who had ended up in the sea, and as we undressed a girl in wet clothes to cover her with a blanket, a guest filmed us with his phone! Shame on you!
We executed a rescue operation at sea, and as we pulled another gentleman out of the water, me with a rope tied around my wrist for more strength to pull him up, another man was taking pictures! Shame on you! we had to manage a flock of sheep in jeopardy and then are told that we were incompetent?! Shame on you! While I was inclined to release people who were pushing and screaming, one by one into the boat, a large man who was obviously a passenger smoked a cigarette. When I asked “What the fuck are you doing smoking a cigarette in this state, in the dark, with fuel that could come out of the boat?!” and his response was “I need it for stress.

I have one thing more to add, before I miss my train ……… We worked for the guests, to save them, to take them to safety, if they are saved, it is only thanks to us alone, all the crew, who did everything. We do not want to be thanked, NO, we have only done our duty, but we do not want to hear all the nonsense, lies, and more lies, just to give you the “scoop” of these so-called broadcasts.

4000 PEOPLE IN TWO HOURS, IN THE DARK … with the ship tilted, we took them.  WE, THE STAFF of CONCORDIA TO SHORE. They did not go themselves in buckets and shovel themselves to the shore! We brought them!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the residents of Isola del Giglio, the mayor, who came on board, to verify the situation, (not knowing who he was because he did not have a life jacket!) Thank you with all my heart all, al…l the islanders who worked for all of us, with maximum availability, giving us their colorful blankets, some even knitted of crochet, looking for cell phone chargers, and so much more. Thanks to all of them. Now I’m off to catch a train and go home. See you soon. Oh, I forgot …. one more thing I would like to say “Shame on you!!

But how well does it work when all hell breaks loose and the emergency doesn’t happen as planned?

It’s happened before and it has happened again.

The new super big ships are built with the assumption that the vessel itself is the lifeboat.  Rather than risk passengers and crew actually disembarking in life boats in an emergency, the idea is to collect them all in one or two safe interior spots within the ship to await directions from the crew who is in charge.  Nice, neat and orderly as in the drill.  But what if the ship is rapidly sinking and rolling over?

Lifeboats on modern ships are designed on davits that will allow the life boats to be lowered even if the ship is listing to one side . . . unless it is listing too much to one side, or one side is going under water so that half of the lifeboats aren’t accessible.

Italian officers are some of the highest paid in the world.  It’s frankly a rather cushy job, albeit one with a lot of responsibility and a powerful union.  One has every right to expect the officers to be in charge and maintain command and frankly to go down with the ship if that’s how it plays out, but not to abandon their post and head for coffee ashore, not that anyone knows exactly what happened in this situation . . . yet.

Most of the crew on most cruise ships are recruited from whatever country in the world is so impoverished that it’s people will work long, long hours, 8-12 months a year, on a pay scale which while it may be good for their native country, is far, far below the pay scale for similar work in the cruise lines home country, which of course is most likely not the “flag of [tax] convenience” being flown by the ship.  While one has every right to expect high paid senior staff to remain at their post no matter what, if the ship is sinking and rolling, and the chain of command is ineffective or totally broken down, can you really expect some lowly, underpaid, quite possibly under trained, crew member to risk going down with the ship while he thinks of his wife and six kids back in Indonesia, the Philipines or some Eastern European country with high unemployment?

While the general idea of the Emergency Muster Drill is universal, the way in which it is conducted varies widely from ship to ship and even within cruise lines who may be owned by one giant parent company.   One company sends everyone in their life jackets to their life boat station.  An other company says that isn’t a good idea because you are exposing passengers to the elements and resolving an emergency may take hours before it may possibly be necessary to evacuate the ship.  Better to have people safe and sound in the “cocoon” of the ship with their life jacket in hand.  From the assembly station they can be directed to lifeboats if necessary [realizing that, as in the case of COSTA CONCORDIA, some lifeboats may be inaccessible or inoperable].  And it is easier to control people in several small areas rather than stretched out along a giant promenade deck.  Some cruise lines are very strict: no talking, no joking, no drinking, yada, yada, yada, and others are frankly a little loose.  On a recent cruise the jovial ”Chef de Cuisine” in command of our lifeboat and his two mousey beauty saloon assistants, seemed to be totally unbothered by the two women who responded that hubby was back in the cabin napping rather than attending the lifeboat drill.  IMHO it is at this point that “command control” is established . . . or not established.

“Just follow the lighted pathway now required by International law”: what if, for whatever reason, the lights aren’t working?  ”Follow instructions of the crew”: what if the crew has abandoned the ship, are more scared than the passengers, give conflicting instructions, or have no contact with the bridge?  “Listen to instructions from the bridge”: what if for whatever reason all of the electrical systems, back-up systems and emergency systems are NOT working?  Maybe the poor elderly couple found sitting in their life jackets in the dining room, dead, were just waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

It used to be that the Cruise Director was considered as senior officer and was the primary point of contact between the Bridge and passengers in an emergency.  If you read John Heald’s Blog [John is the very funny, sometimes crude, but very experienced and competent Senior Cruise Director of Carnival Cruise Lines] about the sequence of events when the CARNIVAL SPLENDOR had a fire which destroyed the electrical system to the propulsion and left the ship stranded at sea, you will see a Cruise Director doing his job perfectly.  Unfortunately a lot of the cruise lines seem to be moving to cruise directors who are . . . how do I put this without offending some good friends? . . . hired mostly for their eye-candy appeal and ability to dance [I suspect some are former go-go boys] and “formal” wardrobe that looks suited for an night of club-hopping on some night club strip.  Maturity, leadership, management is out because it’s all about entertainment.  How does this new breed function in an emergency?  OK, maybe they have military command experience, management skills, and just also happen to be good entertainers and have eye candy appeal.  Some, yes (OK, that’s all of you CDs I’ve worked with or will work with!), but sometimes you’ve got to wonder.

If there was a massive power failure on COSTA CONCORDIA where suddenly the ship was dead in the water, not far from sure, drifting . . . obviously very bad things could happen, and happen quickly.  Maybe the backup emergency communication system from the Bridge was inoperable . . .  which kind of means nobody was in charge.  Unfortunately shit happens which of course is why we prepare for emergencies.  Maybe everyone really did the best they could under the circumstances.

But what about the aftermath?  Hasn’t anyone planned for what happens if suddenly a ship is evacuated and dumps thousands of people on some island?  Don’t cruise lines, and their parent companies, have rapid response teams who can RESPOND RAPIDLY?  And as a stockholder, don’t these folks as part of their response have PR and communications teams on immediate 24-hour call?

And part of me keeps going back to the idea that ships are just too damn big.  A bigger ship has economies of scale that make it more profitable, but how big is too big.  As long as the cruising public demands and fills bigger and bigger ships, cruise lines will continue to build them bigger and bigger.

Frankly it is amazing that so few people were injured or died in this tragedy.

[And if some of my "deckie" friends want to comment anonymously I will respect you anonymity.]

It will take quite a while to sort everything out as to what happened, what didn’t happen, what went according to plan, and what was just plain chaos. On the one hand it is a miracle that so few people were lost, and it is a horrible nightmare for those whose pleasure cruise turned into this disaster.

Some initial observations.

I believe an emergency drill has to be conducted within 24 hours. The disaster happened the first night out and there was no emergency drill so people had no idea what to do in an emergency. It seems to me that the emergency drill should be required before sailing.

A lot of the initial press reports state that an accurate list of passengers was not available and that this was making accounting for all passengers difficult. That is really pretty unbelievable, but if true, is a major, major and unforgivable situation.

A lot of emergency preparedness training and planning operates under the assumption that ships don’t sink quickly or roll over quickly and that emergency response can be carried out in an orderly preplanned way. Not so.

Yes, as some have observed, the commanders of the lifeboats are not officers but chefs, bakers, musicians, and shop keepers. There are not enough officers on any cruise ship to command all the life boats, so all crew members are assigned and trained for various emergency duties. Each cruise line has programs for training and evaluation. Various countries, such as the US, require inspection of all of this IF the ship calls in that country. In the US it’s the Coast Guard. The parent company, in this case Carnival, has inspection checks. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. All emergency training and plans don’t really take into consideration human response in an immediate crisis when survival is perhaps a matter of moments not minutes or hours. The impression I always have is that most ships expect that they will have hours for evacuation, not minutes.

How did a modern cruise ship [Launched 2005] with all of the latest safety equipment and navigation equipment get into this dire situation . . . with the Captain presumably on the bridge at the time?

Correctly or incorrectly there are stories of the Captain leaving the ship before all passengers and crew were evacuated and of his subsequent arrest. Should this turn out to be true . . .

Passenger anxiety seems to have been exacerbated by the traditional “law of the sea” that “women and children go first” separating families. Maybe this tradition doesn’t really fit into our modern-day tradition. In a disaster like this who wants to be separated from their spouses and children.

Airplanes do crash with sometimes total loss of life. With all of the cruise ships out there a “crash” accident was probably inevitable at some point. But this will hopefully cause a lot of evaluation . . . and probably kill a number of cruise line stock prices as well as put a real damper on the annual spring “WAVE” of cruise bookings.

I have heard a number of conversations of folks on the navigation side of the cruise industry expressing concern about the increasing size of cruise ships and the numbers of passengers and crew and what kind of emergency assistance and response would be available, particularly in Europe but elsewhere as well, should an emergency of this nature occur.  Maybe there is a common sense limit to ship size.  COSTA CONCORDIA’S capacity is 4,800 (passengers and crew) whereas ALLURE OF THE SEAS and OASIS OF THE SEAS, Royal Caribbean’s giant mega ships boasting to be the largest at sea hold something like 8,465 passengers and crew.

From a passenger services response angle, to say nothing of a PR response, Costa and Carnival seem relatively unprepared . . . maybe because it is a holiday weekend in the US.

This tragedy impacts tons of folks and my thoughts go out to them all.

Benji Smith, a guy from the US on his honeymoon, told CNN, “I felt like the disaster itself was manageable . . . hitting the reef, the capsizing of the boat . . . was manageable, but I felt the crew was going to kill us.”

Simon Bolivar said, “If the world ever had a capital, it would be Panama.” And Panama City, “Miami on Steroids”, continues to grow upward and outward. Every time I’m in Panama City on my way to Tocumen International I’m stunned by all the new towers! It is hard to for me to believe sometimes that this is the same Panama we discovered seven years ago. The Colon Free Zone is the second largest free zone in the world and is growing by leaps and bounds. The Panama Canal has joined the world together for almost 100 years and as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2014 already over one million ships have passed through the Canal. The $5.25 billion expansion program is, according to Canal officials, on target to open at the end of 2014.