President's state of emergency speech

Professional Mariner Forum
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I think many would rather see Main Street bailed out, not Wall Street. Now I understand that Wall Street must be protected otherwise a large number of jobs would be lost. That doesn’t make it any less palatable.

Most are disgusted by the pattern we’ve seen of the public bailing out the private sector after they blow their earnings on CEO payments and stock buybacks. This will be the third time. It’s disgusting. It’s necessary. Such a bitter pill to swallow again.

We can do without these cruise ships. Let their flag states bail them out. Let Liberia give them billions.

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Agree 100%. I’m a capitalist who loves the free markets as much as the next guy but for some corporations in the private sector to only want government mingling in their affairs only when they need a taxpayer handout is ridiculous. We should make corporations that want the security net of a possible future government bailout pay something like an insurance premium & meet some types of financial & social obligations when business is good. Having such policies would only help the companies & show investors that management is being good stewards of their money. Showing good financial & social responsibility would be especially helpful with the “eat-the-rich” mentality of the generation coming down the pipeline. These irresponsible corporate raiders is one of the reasons so many demonize all capitalists IMO.

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Nearly all cruise ships use the Bahamas flag:

This is whether owned by US companies or not.

Liberian flag is not seen much on cruise ship, but popular with US and Greek owners of merchant ships.

PS> The Liberian register is US owned and operated by Americans out of offices in the US.

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That is not exactly news to anyone with the slightest connection to the marine industry but it does reinforce the multitude of reasons why FoC operators and the cruise industry in particular should not receive a singe dime of American taxpayer money.

Take note of which politicians promote or even fail to fight against bailing out the cruise industry and vote them out in the next election. Let everyone know which representative is willing to bail out the cruise industry parasites.

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Bailouts to companies like Boeing should come with conditions: No CEO bonuses and no stock buybacks until they’ve reimbursed the taxpayers.

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And no dividends paid. Let the investors share the pain, maybe when they feel the hurt they will think twice about the company management.

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Donald the Orange just restated his “plan” to bail out the cruise industry with our dollars.

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48

A bit disappointed in that.

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For comparison, here is transcript of another national leader’s address on the emergency, on the occasion of their national day:-

And the full official vid here :-
https://youtu.be/hNmm5OLBx8c

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He added also to bail out the hotel industry as well. Nice coincidence for his hotels and resorts…

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I can live with that if we protect those who need protection.

Fortunately his properties are a nanoscopic part of the industry. We have to hold our noses to the stink while we protect legitimate American businesses and taxpaying employees. Hotel workers here are among the huge group of low income wage earners who need help the most.

If the lizard was a real man he would publicly announce that none of his hotel employees would be laid off or lose a dime of income. Unless he has been lying (highly likely) about his worth, he can afford it.

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One in Nassau.

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Indeed. I guess the London area code for the main tel number through me off.

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Here it is:
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x892f7d652081db41:0x436796fe52585ec8!3m1!7e115!4shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipODqT0xxn99B-7_brEhSAhdzsvB4v3EFXsXPWSU%3Dw284-h160-k-no!5sShirlaw+House+226+Shirley+Street+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipODqT0xxn99B-7_brEhSAhdzsvB4v3EFXsXPWSU&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWqNqkqqfoAhVawsQBHZNQC1gQoiowHXoECB8QBg
The actual head office of Bahamas register is in London

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Agreed no bailouts for ships in tax havens. BTW, this link shows 3000 US flagged ships in 1960 now down to just 182 in 2019. That’s 17% down to just 0.4%. Does this mean that most USA commercial shipping, have now joined the off-shore club?

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‘Now’? More like forever

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The smell is getting worse.

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59

A few items which may offer some insights into this continuous mess we’re in and make for some interesting reading while quarantined.

Why was a CDC MD censored just before an interview with Yahoo?

.Mike Pence’s office abruptly cancel CDC official’s interview with Yahoo Finance

A line spoken by Tony Curtis (as Lt. Holden) in the movie, “Operation Petticoat”: "In Confusion There Is Profit"

The autocratic political culture that has propped up the Trump administration has left the nation entirely unprepared for an economic and public-health calamity.

Most of us here have a home we can go to when off the water. So understanding what happened back in 2008 and events since it is interesting to read an investigative summary of how genius at crooked this administration actually is. This may even give you a whole new view of Tom Selleck pitching Reverse Mortgages on TV and to think what this pandemic will do for the industry he represents…
(and how Trump & Company are taking care of the forgotten men who blindly support him)

Homewreckers: How a Gang of Wall Street Kingpins, Hedge Fund Magnates, Crooked Banks, and Vulture Capitalists Suckered Millions Out of Their Homes and Demolished the American Dream
Mortgages.

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60

Douchebag.
The flood of cheap goods imported from China to “make life easier” has left us weakened and hasn’t made people happier. The country is as divided and miserable as it’s ever been. In spite of the financial wealth accumulated by some, or maybe because of it, there’s a deep current of dissatisfaction that rivals the mood in the mid sixties and early seventies. Remember love it or leave it? Kent State?
9/11 was a black cloud but it had a silver lining, albeit short lived. It united Americans like nothing else had for a long time.
A black swan event might leave us with less of a global connection and a lower standard of living. It’s probably too optimistic to hope that the silver lining this time be more honest politicians, a more level playing field and a focus on things that really matter.

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61

As for the story of Trump shutting down the Obama era safeguards that
would have been in place early to have been able to catch and protect us now, I’m seeing this on other message board:

[quote]
lee (posted 3/19/20)

Polo - The Russian forgets Americas know Trump is the one at fault Trump Fired the Entire U.S. Pandemic Response Chain of Command in 2018

When Ebola broke out in West Africa in 2014, President Barack Obama recognized that responding to the outbreak overseas, while also protecting Americans at home, involved multiple U.S. government departments and agencies, none of which were speaking to one another. Basically, the U.S. pandemic infrastructure was an enormous orchestra full of talented, egotistical players, each jockeying for solos and fame, refusing to rehearse, and demanding higher salaries—all without a conductor. To bring order and harmony to the chaos, rein in the agency egos, and create a coherent multiagency response overseas and on the homefront, Obama anointed a former vice presidential staffer, Ronald Klain, as a sort of “epidemic czar” inside the White House, clearly stipulated the roles and budgets of various agencies, and placed incident commanders in charge in each Ebola-hit country and inside the United States. The orchestra may have still had its off-key instruments, but it played the same tune.

Trump killed the pandemic response system for the same petty, political reason he’s done so many other things that have wrecked the government — because it was established during the Obama administration:

In the spring of 2018, the White House pushed Congress to cut funding for Obama-era disease security programs, proposing to eliminate $252 million in previously committed resources for rebuilding health systems in Ebola-ravaged Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Under fire from both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump dropped the proposal to eliminate Ebola funds a month later. But other White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.

Given how quickly and easily the virus spreads — 30,000 infections have reported worldwide as of Feb. 7, 2020, up from just five cases a month ago — it is all but inevitable that the pandemic will hit the United States before spring.[/quote]

Recently Trump told Yamiche Alcindor, a White House Correspondent for PBS, that her asking him about this was just a
“Nasty Question”, and went on to say…“I don’t know anything about it”.

Source:
Everyone in MAGA Land Is Pitching Trump Their Genius Ideas on Coronavirus

Are the President’s Briefings about the Corona Virus to inform us of it’s status anything more than Political Rally’s at this time? Just using it as a campaign platform?

Top coronavirus doctor puts head in hands when Trump mentions ‘Deep State Department’ at briefing

Interesting how the text story seems to just disappear in some of these stories. (maybe it will come in for you) The gist of the story is that these…“ideas”…whether they help in solving the Corona Virus or not…it may help those suggesting them…financially.

Myself, I don’t know which is worse. Trump and all of his Cronies in Office, or the Corona Virus at large. But it will be far worse in America, as both will be an aggregate here.

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