Welcome to Hell, Norovirus Circle
‘Anything can happen.’ Inside the ‘real life reality show’ of the nine-month cruise
Nine months. Seven continents. Hundreds of passengers in close quarters at sea. Millions more watching along online.
Welcome aboard Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise, which set sail a month ago and has unexpectedly captured the internet’s imagination.
No, the cruise isn’t the first of its kind – months-long sea voyages have been a stalwart of the cruising world for over 100 years (although this one is longer than average).
And no, the Royal Caribbean ship that’s handling the journey, Serenade of the Seas, isn’t new (in fact, it’s over 20 years old).
Nor is this ship the largest leisure vessel to navigate the world’s waters (that’s the soon-to-launch Royal Caribbean ship Icon of Seas, which measures 1,198 feet, or 365 meters prow to stern against Serenade of the Seas’ comparatively-small 964 feet).
But the Ultimate World Cruise is one of the first months-long world voyages to set sail in a while – such journeys have largely been off the table since Covid upended the industry back in 2020.
In fact, Serenade of the Seas’ 2023-2024 voyage was originally pitched by Royal Caribbean International president Michael Bayley as a way for travel-starved cruisers to “make up for lost time” in the wake of the pandemic.
I don’t really see the appeal of going on cruise, but I’m OK if someone else does. But this one seems especially brutal. 9 months? The time it takes to gestate a human being? 9 months of buffets and perky cruise directors and untz untz untz music?
And the worst thing? You’re trapped on a ship with people who thought going on a 9 month cruise would be a good idea.
“Area is now disinfected.”
Heh.
And here I was saying “Be cleansed by fire”, I’ll have to update this for the future.
“All systems nominal”
Sensors online, Reactor online…
That’s OK, I thought it was Tuesday.
I still have an open seat on Icon of the Seas for next year. Looks freaky.
No way I’d do a nine month cruise. You’d have the disease of the month club. Not healthy.
The time it takes to gestate a human being?
Cheat on your spouse on day 1, have a live Maury paternity show before you get off the boat.
Numerous theories have been put forward to account for the unexplained deaths, including animal attacks, hypothermia, an avalanche, katabatic winds, infrasound-induced panic, military involvement, or some combination of these factors.
Aliens, duh.
I didn’t do it.
Like you’re the only alien around here. Wait, Mr. Lizard has been gone a long time… WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE LIZARD?
He passed out during a 72 hour blackjack match with complimentary drinks at Caesar’s Palace. I never saw him after he was loaded on the stretcher.
Out of respect I finished his Pina Colada.
Did you get caught in the rain too?
I saw some movie based on that episode.
“Area is now disinfected.”
“Don’t put that there.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get paid.”
“Is it in yet?”
“It looks like a penis only smaller.”
I don’t really see the appeal of going on cruise,
More of an Al Pacino in leather kind of guy?
I love that too. I drive through multiple states a year. I prefer that to boats.
Aren’t the four words you should say during sex “untz untz untz untz”?
Make me a sandwich?
That’s after.
Prior to sex, you should ask for a picture of a sandwich she has made, to ensure you will get a quality port-coitus product.
A Reuben would really turn me on right now.
“On Instagram, the love guru told her 393,000 followers: “In my opinion, one of the hottest things ever is when a partner asks, ‘do you like this?’”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/love-sex/sexpert-shares-four-simple-words-24369652
Followed by the equally hot “not really”.
Eww, gross?
“Get off my hair.”
“I’m about to…”
“Get off on my hair” is 5 words.
“Is it in yet?”
“Is it in yet?”
Damn it!
Sloppy seconds!
“Baby baby, I like your fingers in there but your ring is hurting me!”
“THAT AIN’T MY RING THAT’S MY WATCH!”
What… is your name?
“Are you a cop?”
“Is that fungus treatable?”
Stop! I dropped Cracky!
If you’re Hunter, it’s “I love my niece.”
“Deadly new human-infecting bat virus found in remote cave, claims Covid-linked expert
An official from EcoHealth Alliance, which was heavily linked to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, has claimed that a new deadly bat virus has been found in a remote cave”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/deadly-new-human-infecting-bat-31891392
No.
“a new deadly bat virus has been found in a remote cave that we have started to experiment with.”
He forgot to add.
How about stop digging around in remote caves.
The virus wasn’t particularly deadly and couldn’t infect humans, so we gave it a little help.
Wow
Now, in a pair of cases to be argued today, the court will rule on whether to radically change course and put unelected judges in the driver’s seat for decisions that should be made by politically accountable officials.
——-
At stake is how effective our government can be in protecting clean air and water, safe food and medicine, workplace conditions, the integrity of our financial markets and much more.
——-
And, when there’s more than one reasonable way to interpret a law, a judge should respect the choice the agency makes. Unelected judges shouldn’t impose their own policy views on agencies that serve the president and respond to Congress.
We must have absolute faith in the detached Solomonic wisdom of our bureaucratic betters. Unelected bureaucrats expanding and interpreting their own powers are by definition better at balancing competing interests than judges.
“serve the president and respond to Congress”
LOL
Yeah, fuck those guys and the govt imposition on them – upsetting our glorious Administrative State.
Enumerated powers. Also, Congress cannot pass off its responsibility to bureaucrats. I love how the “unelected judges” are the problem, not the unelected bureaucrats many of whom don’t even have to sit for an appointment hearing before Congress, unlike (Article III) federal judges.
At stake is how effective our government can be in protecting clean air and water, safe food and medicine, workplace conditions, the integrity of our financial markets and much more.
The gov’t doesn’t do any of that.
And, when there’s more than one reasonable way to interpret a law, a judge should respect
No.
40 years that fucker has been grifting for the NRDC.
Robert Kennedy Jr.?
how effective…
Not at all. Not ever. Not in even the slightest little way.
Unless it involves killing people. Then our government is pretty fucking effective.
The court is being asked to do away with or weaken the Chevron deference doctrine that has guided four decades of law. That could allow hundreds of unelected lower court judges to make decisions based on personal preferences, disregarding the expertise of the federal agencies that are accountable to the public through the elected branches.
As has been demonstrated since the beginning of human civilization, government employees never, ever act based on personal preference. To believe otherwise is preposterous nonsense.
hundreds of unelected lower court judges to make decisions based on personal preferences
0_o
No. Freaking. Way.
the expertise of the federal agencies
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Unelected judges shouldn’t impose their own policy views on unelected agencies that nominally serve the president and don’t respond to Congress.
FIFY
Judges can be impeached. Bureaucrats are untouchable.
“that are accountable to the public”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *deep breath* hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha
*passes out from hyperventilation*
In USSA…
A federal judge has denied former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro’s request for a new trial after he was convicted of ignoring a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee.
Navarro argued that the jury that found him guilty of contempt of Congress may have been influenced by protesters outside the courthouse when the jurors exited the building for a break before returning a verdict.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said that while there were demonstrators outside the courthouse, they did not have direct contact with the jurors.
“The evidence establishes that the jurors only interacted with each other and [Court Security Officer] Torres in John Marshall Park,” Mehta wrote in his ruling. “No one directed any words or displayed any signs at them.”
“Defendant not only fails to demonstrate prejudice, he has not shown that any juror was actually exposed to any improper external influence,” Mehta ruled.
Sure.
Bad timing – we need to use this as a campaign cudgel, not do anything right by the American people.
Votes and campaign contributions first, then we can take our time to not do anything.
Reform: Stop the “asylum seeker” charade, enforce existing laws and start a 20-year-long Operation Wetback.
The current Supreme Court has already handed down rulings in two recent cases — West Virginia v EPA and Sackett v. EPA — that bow to industry interests and significantly weaken the EPA’s ability to protect clean air and water. Once again, industry is asking the court to limit the government’s ability to faithfully administer our laws and protect the public from needless risk.
Millions will die. Millions, I tell you!
Gotta love how he isn’t even a bureaucrat making that argument. If we can’t sue we’re doomed, we know we can’t win in Congress.
“I’ll stop in time.”
“I don’t pull out.”
“I love you, Baby”
“Kamala did it better.”
“Kanye West has teeth REMOVED and replaced with TITANIUM dentures ‘more expensive than diamonds’ – as rapper compares himself to James Bond villain Jaws”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12975613/Kanye-West-teeth-REMOVED-replaced-TITANIUM-dentures-expensive-diamonds-rapper-compares-James-Bond-villain-Jaws.html
He needs to get on or get off drugs.
Not a good look. Is he going to try to eat ribs with that? They’ll look pretty gross smeared with sauce.
Slices right through chicken like a Ginzu™.
In Japan hand cuts like a knife, but that doesn’t work with chicken. For just three hundred low payments of $19.95 you can have your own set of Ginsu teeth.
He better hope he never bites his tongue.
Fake? Publicity stunt?
You must be right. What doctor would do that?
A doctor looking to pay their student loans off in one afternoon.
Hippocryptic oath.
God, go away. Preferably into a volcano.
If you people were as brave as me, this man would be President. A vote for Kanye is a vote for crazy! You’d have to be crazy NOT to vote for him.
Gotta love how he isn’t even a bureaucrat making that argument. If we can’t sue we’re doomed, we know we can’t win in Congress.
I just assume any suit brought by the NRDC and their co-conspirators is specifically intended to tee up a “clarification” of some rule.
And by clarification mean…
STEVE SMITH JUST CLARIFY ONE CAMPER AT A TIME, NRDC CLARIFY WHOLE COUNTRY
“A Chinese researcher isolated and mapped out COVID-19 — and uploaded it to a US-run database — at least two weeks before Beijing officially identified the virus which has claimed more than 3 million lives worldwide, according to bombshell new documents.
The documents, obtained from the US Department of Health and Human Services by House Republicans and first reported by the Wall Street Journal, show virologist Dr. Lili Ren uploaded nearly the entire sequence of COVID-19’s structure to a US government-run database on Dec. 28, 2019.”
https://nypost.com/2024/01/17/news/chinese-lab-had-covid-19-mapped-two-weeks-before-global-outbreak-documents/
She ate a bat two weeks earlier than we thought.
Which was then ignored.
Proper channels and all that.
I think you mean, which was then used to begin work on a vaccine that could be made mandatory. Then profit.
Really, they should have sent up a trial balloon.
You don’t need a weather balloon to know which way the wind blows
“Yes, I brought cash.”
The way to the heart of Winston’s Mom!
She also take Visa, Master-card, Discover, and Diner’s Club.
Charges show up as “Pipe Cleaning Service”.
Is Diner’s Club still a thing?
Bad Orange Man is just a big baby.
Judge Lewis Kaplan warned former President Donald Trump that he could be removed from the courtroom if he’s disruptive following another complaint from E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer that Trump could be heard making comments during testimony.
Carroll lawyer Shawn Crowley said Trump could be heard commenting, saying things like, “It is a witch hunt” and “It really is a con job.”
Kaplan responded, “Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which what has been reported to me consists of. And if he disregards court orders, Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial.”
Trump threw his hands up in response.
“I understand you’re probably eager for me to do that,” Kaplan said.
Reporters in the courtroom heard Trump say, “I would love it.”
“I know you would,” Kaplan said. “You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance apparently.”
See MAGA-tards? He’s completely unfit for office.
Didn’t the judge already say that Trump can’t deny the rape happened even though there were no criminal charges brought against him?
yes
And in fact the jury in the previous case found that Trump had not raped her. The inmates are on the bench.
“I’ll respect you tomorrow.”
The ‘Sleeping Giant’ Case that Could Upend Jack Smith’s Prosecution of Trump
The case is Joseph W. Fischer v. United States, which the court agreed to hear in December, and which doesn’t explicitly mention Trump. At issue is whether prosecutors and the Department of Justice have been improperly using a 2002 law originally aimed at curbing financial crimes to prosecute a Jan. 6 defendant named Joseph Fischer. Should the court side with Fischer, it would also call into question the use of the law against other Jan. 6 defendants — including Trump.
Smith’s indictment contains four counts in total. Two of those are for obstruction of an official proceeding and for conspiracy to do so. Those crimes are part of a relatively recent criminal statute governing financial disclosures known as the Sarbanes-Oxley (or “SOX”) Act, which was enacted following the Enron corporate accounting scandal, and which makes it a crime to obstruct an official proceeding of the U.S. government. The Justice Department has so far used it to charge over 300 people involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection; more than 150 have been convicted of the offense following jury trials or pleaded guilty to it.
I didn’t realize they were using Sarbanes-Oxley to prosecute the J6 demonstrators. This is fucking nuts.
*heavy sigh*
Surprised this bit of Millennial angst hasn’t been mentioned.
https://www.wsj.com/business/the-tech-employee-who-went-viral-for-filming-her-firing-has-no-regrets-54b61ffe?st=ajakj9x3zbbk5cf&reflink=share_mobilewebshare
The shaming is deserved, but you’d be a fool to hire her. Nobody looks good here.
She looks ok. She can probably close some deals on Only Fans.
…is something that happens to thousands of people every fucking day you narcissistic bint.
This.
Besides, you’re in sales. You know damn well why you got let go.
In the video she said she had a lot of activity. What she didn’t say is that she closed a lot of deals. Sales is tough. There’s nowhere to hide. That said, her manager should have been the one to break the news.
Always Be Closing
The part he was born to play.
““Reputable companies have reached out to me and told me, ‘I want someone like you on my sales team,’ ” she said.”
Sure, honey. Go with them. And in another 6-8 months post the same video when they can you, too.
Nobody goes there anymore…
Davos itself is rapidly becoming plebeian in construct: lots of huckstering, yet scant geopolitical or geostrategic solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. It now appears more akin to a Turkish bazaar than a forum capable of providing insightful direction.
Scan the names of the 1,000 or so companies attending Davos and the forums in which they are participating, and you will see many of them attempting to position themselves to profit off the war in Ukraine: defense firms, cybersecurity specialists, and even investment banking groups seeking to capitalize, post-war.
——-
Instead, Davos now finds itself lost during a time of war. The once seemingly omnipotent gathering is veering into being less a think-tank and more a trade show, devoid of purpose and solutions to the greatest existential threats facing the West. Davos’s theme in 2024 is “Rebuilding Trust.” It should have been “Rebuilding Purpose and Western Resolve to Win.”
Just a mob of grubby shopkeepers and ribbon clerks. Where will the Great Minds assemble next?
They’ve turned the noble think-tank into a den of thieves.
A Turkish bazaar where everyone shows up via private jet.
Does that cost extra?
“Without a contract by February 29, there won’t be any beer come March,” the Teamsters warned on X.
Will anybody notice?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/17/us-beer-union-strike-bud-light-anheuser-busch
If it is the drivers for Anheuser – Busch, it could be a big deal. They have a lot of sub-brands. There is someone here who could explain it.
#I summon the Neph!
Good thing I can make my own.
Yeah, I just get mine from a local brewery.
That makes me wonder…I wonder what the smallest unionized brewery in the US is.
This may or may not be the answer, but the location surprised me not at all:
https://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-based-fair-state-becomes-country-s-first-unionized-microbrewery/572372232/
I have the choice of the oldest brewery in America, or several fine local microbreweries.
Not any worth mentioning.
Actually, there are some decent ones, but there isn’t anything that can’t be replaced.
After looking at article, 12 breweries in US, so things like Hoegaarden won’t be affected.
I doubt anything from those 12 will be missed.
Look at you, doing research. Awesome.
Strike in Bad Köstritz?
No.
Trade with Germany cut off?
No.
I will have beer.
As long as they dont get any ideas over at SAB/InBev/MillerCoors…
My Milwaukee’s Best Light is safe.
STEVE SMITH LOOK FOR HUMAN CALL JOE BIDEN. HIM NOT FIND BIDEN HUMAN. HIM KEEP LOOKING.
OMG, I’m listening to the “The Dyatlov Pass Incident.”
It’s always questionable to do an incident analysis long after the fact and based upon third-hand accounts.
But it sounds like an appearance of He Who Shall Not Be named.
Would explain why they fled the tents and braved the sub-artic temperatures.
Michelle Obama?
“BYE VOU ACK shelters…”
🤦♀️
“Area is now disinfected.”
That’s an odd kink.
“Sister Golden Hair” is a good song.
Laws are for the little people.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/17/arnold-schwarzenegger-detained-munich-airport-over-luxury-watch
“Schwarzenegger was taken aside by officers who searched his luggage and found the watch, which the actor had allegedly not declared on his arrivals customs form.”
He should’ve just worn the watch.
There’s a Chuck Norris joke in there somewhere.
Speaking of Great Minds
That legacy media are no longer shrugging off concerns about the federal debt is encouraging, if long overdue.
After all, it doesn’t take a PhD in economics to realize that racking up $34 trillion in debt — an amount 20 percent higher than the nation’s GDP, with a debt-to-GDP ratio higher than during World War II — is a serious problem.
Yet one media crown jewel informed listeners they had little to fear. NPR’s Leila Fadel asked Stephanie Kelton, a professor of economics at Stony Brook University, if Americans should “be afraid” of this mountain of red ink.
“No. They shouldn’t,” Kelton responded. “It’s the word debt that makes people afraid. And so when I think about this, you know, I look at this number, and I think, well, it’s just keeping track of our savings.”
——-
The economics of this are not complex. Every economist knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Printing mass amounts of money cannot solve the problem of scarcity. This fundamental economic reality, that we have limited resources and limitless wants, seems lost on Kelton.
“The carpenter can’t run out of inches,” she tweeted in 2019. “The stadium can’t run out of points. The airline can’t run out of [frequent flier] miles. And the USA can’t run out of dollars.”
Kelton’s tweet reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of scarcity.
A carpenter might not be able to run out of inches, but he can run out of lumber and nails. Airlines might not be able to run out of frequent flier miles, but they can run out of seats and fuel, something better economists than Kelton have pointed out.
Just make the inches shorter.
I thought I recognized the name…she is a MMT economist.
aka, an idiot. Even Krugman has mocked MMT.
Yeah but thats just a retard yelling at a cripple.
“Just make the inches shorter.”
That’s what centimeters are.
Whenever they need to pull an expert from a college that you don’t recognize of the top of your head, like Stoney Brook, you know they don’t have a leg to stand on.
Howard ?
“might not be able to run out of inches, ”
I’d like a little more information about this.
“Just make the inches shorter”
That’s what she said?
It was cold!
+1 frightened turtle
I forget….recently someone here described a movement within the econ community to divorce the study of economics from reality. It seems to be bearing fruit.
Strange fruit?
I am afraid it will come to that
“This brings me back to NPR. It’s unclear why the media network chose to interview an economist with such discredited views to explain away the country’s mountain of debt.”
No, its really not unclear to me at all.
I thought I recognized the name…she is a MMT economist.
I was wondering recently where she disappeared to. She seems like a great front person for Bidenomics.
“What are you crying about? We still have checks.”
Trump has syphilis! We got him…..walls….closing in!
Dr. Carville weighs in.
🙄
Altered Einstein: The difference between sanity and insanity is that sanity has limits.
If the last 8 years has shown us anything it is that.
Solved a little plot problem. I am pleased. *Mr. Burns fingers*
‘Smithers? Release the hounds!”
Plotting is my weak point. I salute you.
Today can just bugger off.
You said it, sister. This whole week is donkey balls.
Today was literally the opposite of my IFLA horrorscope
Didn’t the horoscope say something about broken appliances this week? Because that is what happened. Dishwasher and then a sink overflow. I know you had heater problems.
Also at work, I have to tell my team our raises are shit this year, even though they did great.
Mine said people would be less recalcitrant than usual. Both people and things have been most recalcitrant today.
However, the day did end with my furnace getting fixed by my former neighbor, who happened to be visiting another neighbor. The payment that the universe is extracting from me is I had to cancel my appointment with the RV repair guy.
(BTW, “recalcitrant” is one of those SAT/romance novel crossover words I’m always talking about)
Sad.
Mine was spot on
“ There is a danger of losing something valuable.”
Yes. Appliances and some AC vents where water leaked.
Boooooooo on water leakage
I’m here for you….
Can I have a hug? Maybe some hot coco?
Milwaukee’s Best Light and a pat on the ass is the best you can hope for.
Disney’s, The Producers. If you can’t raise money legally..
Starts slow, but worth it.