THE CARNIVAL TRIUMPH.... NOT THE LOVE BOAT

Broken down in The Gulf of Mexico....after suffering a fire onboard, the cruise ship Carnival Triumph was left powerless... drifting in ocean waters for days..... leaving over three thousand passengers onboard the ship scampering to deal with the rapidly declining conditions a'la Lord Of The Flies... scampering about for any preserved food amid the unsanitary conditions -- The Carnival Triumph was definitely not The Love Boat.

Carnival Cruise Lines refused to allow its passengers to be moved to another ship forcing its patrons to be held in unsanitary conditions for five days -- patrons who had paid thousands of dollars for the luxury cruise line experience had to remain onboard the disabled ship -- with limited food supplies, no fresh water, no working toilets or showers, forget the laundry -- on the luxury cruise line described by Carnival as "the ultimate in relaxation and adventure, Carnival Triumph cruise ship."

Really???

On its Facebook page, Carnival stated that it decided against sending another ship to pick up passengers because "towing the ship to port was the safest option." Carnival Cruise Line passengers....... floating on the disabled and foul smelling Triumph cruise ship for five days were finally towed to port in Mobile, Alabama. The Carnival Triump was definitely not The Love Boat.

On the ABC television series, The Love Boat passengers on board the fantasy luxury cruise ship "experienced love twists and turns in every episode" -- they definitely did not cruise without a shower for five days -- nor experience food shortages when rescue ships were available. The Love Boat was a very popular series during its ten years on air -- September 1977 until May 1986 -- selling the fantasy of love on board a fantasy cruise ship. The show's characters were an ensemble case of lovable crew members -- Gopher, Dr.Adam, Isaac, Julie and Captain Stubing -- who all tried their best help the passengers fall in love.

The cruise line industry experienced an awakening for Americans after The Love Boat, passengers purchasing the promise of an elite style vacation -- never having to interact with those on land in different countries. The vacation became the protected experience on the ship -- without experiencing the native foods, native language, nor native peoples.... bypassing historic landmarks, not viewing great works of art.... nor meeting other people by traveling the roads in other countries..... A Real Renaissance.

It is the promise of a completely protected environment that Carnival will have to resell in its marketing strategy..... and that is the question for Carnival.... can it recover its image? Can Carnival Cruise Lines Re-Emerge as The Love Boat?

SENECA FALLS, SELMA & STONEWALL = OBAMA TIME

President Obama's second inaugural address set the spotlight on civil rights -- “We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still, just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall," stated the president, signifying the goal for his second administration.... win the War on Civil Rights.

Paying homage to historical battlefields in American civil rights movement -- Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall -- watershed events for American Women, Black Americans and Gay Americans -- it was not by chance that President Obama explicitly used the term “gay” Americans in his speech, the first for an American President.

Always, the forward march of history reveals that civil rights is inclusive, not exclusive -- it is the ideological basis of democracy -- one person denied freedom means denial of freedom for all, thus all for one and one for all is at the root of democracy. Government in essence is presented as the solution, not the problem -- to hear freedom ring.

The War on Civil Rights has been playing out in American history for a long time... Seneca Falls, New York -- for American women; Selma, Alabama for Black Americans; and Stonewall in New York City, for Gay and Lesbian Americans.

Seneca Falls held the first Women's Rights Convention in America in 1848 -- the beginning of the Women's Rights Movement in this country. The pressure cooker of Seneca Falls began with the Rochester-Auburn railroad system in 1841 opening world markets for goods manufactured in Seneca Falls -- the railroad brought an influx of change, by connecting local markets to international markets in the 1840s -- pumps, fire engines, and metal goods became Seneca Falls products shipped to the world marketplace via railroad.

It brought change -- for the first time, women could work outside the home and get paid -- manufacturing work opened these doors for women -- and as women started to earn money, the extent of discrimination became apparent -- women were paid less than male co-workers, married women had to give up wages to their husbands, women were unable to execute contracts or buy property -- most offensive, women could not vote, leaving them unable to respond to economic injustices. These issues gave rise to the Seneca Falls Convention -- addressing the mistreatment of women by creating The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions -- demanding that women be granted all of the rights and privileges that men possessed, including the right to vote.

In 1965, Selma, Alabama was the site of protest marches demonstrating against the injustices facing Black Americans in the 1960s, including that 100 years after Black Americans were granted the right to vote, those rights was being taken away. Thousands of people marched from Selma to Montgomery, to get back the right to vote for Black Americans. The first march on March 7, 1965 became known as "Bloody Sunday" when over 600 civil rights activists marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The marchers were attacked by state and local law offices with billy clubs and tear gas -- seen in news photos round the world. Two days later, Reverend King led a "symbolic" march to the bridge. The Selma-to-Montgomery marches led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Stonewall Inn, was a bar in Greenich Village, New York that served gays and lesbians -- on June 27, 1969, a routine police raid on the Stonewall Inn prompted outrage from the customers who for the first time fought back. It was not unusual for the police to raid gay bars, they did so regularly to arrest transvestites and harass customers. The Stonewall Inn raid was unusual because gay and lesbian patrons fought back, tossing beer cans and bricks at police officers, who then began beating many of the protesters and arresting others.

The Stonewall rebellion in the gay rights movement was an uprising for gay men and lesbians who attacked as a group, awakened to the idea that they needed to organize as a group. Advocacy groups mushroomed after Stonewall, including anti-discrimination campaigns and political action committees for housing and health-related initiatives.

"Today, we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time," stated President Obama. "For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth."

END OF THE WORLD = COME & GONE....

The influence of the Mayan calendar declaring the end of the world in 2012 was based solely on human fear of mortality and thus became apocalyptic in nature -- the entire calendar was based on an astrological system that the Mayan culture followed that placed the Sun at the center of the universe, therefore, its solar influence was centrical to the planetary alignment and the calendar driven by its relationship to the entire solar system.

2012 was the time for the Sun to move over as the headliner to make room for the Moon.

The next phase of the world that the Mayans discussed was lunar-driven based on the relationship of the Moon to the entire planetary system -- the Moon now front and center in the skies. The end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 was laden with religious visions of the eternal everafter rewarding yet, it meant the end of the world in the Sun-Centric calendar. The Mayans knew it meant the end of the Sun as the center of influence as a planet -- moreover, the Mayans also knew there would be the next phase, the next calendar, in terms of influence was based on the Moon's greater influence on our planetary system -- thus the perilous weather changes.

The grasp of the moon's influence on the waters of the Earth can be seen in the climatic changes that are occuring around our planet.... directly related to the gravitational changes of the moon, the lunar influence on the vast oceans the cover most of our planet... not just to our human negligence. Moreover, there have been visionary glimpses of the change in that we had beautiful, 3D sphere visions of lunar eclipses..... not seen for centuries --- informing the humans that change was coming.

It is the new world order, one in which the moon plays a starring role --- and the mystical, creative and spiritual forces will have greater impact..... upon our sciences, our visions, and our hearts and souls.

We are a species in turmoil.... with all our brilliant technology, we do not take care of each other nor our planet..... we believe apolytical dreams, because we do not face the reality that we are mortal and that our time here is not eternal, but a gift.

As a JewBu..... here is the poem on reflecting on the value of life by recognizing the inevitable death that will help drive the path for those seeking fulfillment in this lifetime by sharing our time with those we love, and reaching out with compassion for all.

Best for 2013....

It is important to reflect calmly, again and again, that death is real and comes without warning. Don't be like the pigeon in the Tibetan proverb: He spends all night fussing about, making his bed, and dawn comes up before he has even had time to go to sleep. - Sogyal Rinpoche

ANQUISH IN AMERICA = TRAGEDY UNFOLDS, TIME TO BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS

There is anquish in America as the small town of Newtown, Connecticut begins the endless procession of funerals to bury the 26 victims of one deranged young man blasting into an elementary school with an assault weapon with the intent to kill. The deadly combination of an untreated mental illness bolstered with the high-powered assault weapon led to the death of 20 kindergarten children and 6 teachers, all women --- at Sandy Hook Elementary School this past Sunday. It becomes very real that this country needs to cry out...... enough is enough.... .. as this tragedy unfolds, it has become clear.... it is time to ban assault weapons.

ELECTION 2012 = REPUBLICANS DEMOLISHED = GET OUT OF OUR BEDROOMS!!!

The Republican Party took a kick-ass of major proportions this past election... because the party insists on supporting endless faith-based social tirades on Americans' sexual activities in the bedroom that reflect an antiquated debate about the very real, violent crime of rape. Misogynistic accusations flew across the media, crazed right-wing political commentary ran amok regarding the very real crime of rape -- always misjudging the anger of women. And women voters turned out... separation of Church and State was not honored by the Republican Party on Election 2012 and the party of the religious right was punished.

"Legitimate Rape" toted by Lunatic Missouri Republican Todd Akin was the most extreme example of the rape madness gone wild imploding the Republican Party. Rape victims have “ways to try to shut that whole thing down” and "not get pregnant" stated Nutcase Akin sometime in August. The result? In Missouri, Akin lost the race against Democrat, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.

In Indiana, a Democrat won the Senate seat for the first time in over a decade, after U.S. Sen. Richard Mourdock said rape victims becoming pregnant was something “God intended.”

Really? Are these men pre-historic Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon?

The response is that women came out in large numbers to vote against the political sins of the Republican Party. Women make up more than half of the voters in this country... and women made sure to punish the stupidity of a party that would tolerate offensive comments that defy science in 2012. Elections results show the gender gap was in double digits in the presidential race as well as the Brown-Warren Senate race in the Bluest of the Blue States.

Moderate Senator Scott Brown, an independent pro-choice popular Republican, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Neandethal Republicans in Red States who made stupid statements dismissive of the real crime of rape. In the governor's race in New Hampshire, another Blue State, pro-choice Democrat Maggie Hassan destroyed Ovide Lamontagne who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

Ultimately, Romney's choice of Paul Ryan to be his running mate destroyed Romney's chance to win and reach out to women voters as Ryan walks lock-step with the No Abortion, No Exceptions crowd. Women, more than half the voting population, face the lifelong implications of being refused abortion access in cases of rape and incest, women went to the polls to vote against Republicans.

In pre-historic times, Neanderthals faced extinction due to their inability to compete against the evolutionary competition, Cro-Magnon humans — the first anatomically modern human species population. Anatomically correct dictates the need for birth control, planning for pregnancies and the right to control your own body should it be violated by a criminal.... time to move over Republicans and get out of our bedrooms.... get back to the budget.