R.M.S. TITANIC

This Sunday, April 15th will mark the one hundredth anniversary of the sinking of this majestic liner with the loss of life of over 1500 souls. This week you will hear and read much about this tragedy which occurred on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York. She was built in Belfast, North Ireland and there is a museum there commemorating the occasion. If you cannot get to Belfast try to see the exposition at South Street Seaport in New York.
Having worked for thirty-seven years with United States Lines I was always fascinated with the comparison to our own S.S. UNITED STATES which sailed on her trans-atlantic maiden voyage in 1952 - forty years after the TITANIC embarked. One of our old hands in the London office felt there was a similarity between the two vessels - except in their fates. Both vessels sought to break the trans-atlantic speed record. Both had their naval architects on board. Both had owner's family members on board. But the TITANIC, the pride of the White Star Line -  struck an iceberg and never made it to New York. We might consider another co-incidence - at the time of the S.S. UNITED STATES crossing in 1952 our company president was Gen. John M. Franklin. When the TITANIC embarked on her fateful voyage in 1912 the General's father P.A.S. Franklin was an executive in the White Star Line's New York office. I often wondered how he handled the hordes of people who descended upon lower Manhattan that week in April 1912 and thereafter. The predecessor of U.S. Lines shared office space with the White Star Line in the London City office and our "old hand" assisted handling claims into the 1930s. He later said that many claims in that era were from various types seeking salvage rights.
tjs
Next -A Matter of Taste II

Rolling Heads

The General Services Administration (G.S.A.) was a little known government agency responsible for purchasing big ticket items i.e. buying and leasing cars and buildings. In October 2010 they held a conference at a Las Vegas Spa and Casino for 300 attendees to the tune of $822,000 of taxpayers funds. Besides a lavish menu there were commemorative coin sets, a clown and a mind reader. The clown was an entertainer not the person who arranged the party. As the NYT writer asked "If they had a clairvoyant how come nobody saw the backlash coming?" Old Vegas hands wished that what happened there would have stayed there. Meanwhile, mind readers were finding themselves in hot demand. With several congressional committees planning investigations, two top deputies bit the dust and the top official resigned. (Per NYTimes National 4/4/12)
tjs
Next -TBA

Good Friday

In deference to Holy Week we will dispense with Friday Funnies and meditate instead on Christ's Passion and Death and then wish all a Happy Easter. We will be out of pocket over Easter - resuming blog next week - mid week.
tjs
Next - TBA

Pop Goes......

As if we haven't had enough TV shows about mobsters (i.e. Sopranos, Goodfellas, etc) we now see that women are getting a piece of the action. (NYT 3/29/12 Styles) "Mob Wives" now in its second season. There was a time when the families kept their women out of the limelight. Reading this it brought back a time fifty plus years ago when a female member of my extended family had a brush with a real life mobster. She was eighteen and had just graduated high school when a classmate invited her to a week-end in Miami Beach chaperoned by the classmates parents. At a dinner party at a swank Miami hotel the young ladies were introduced to one Jimmy Frattiano (now deceased). In his line of work he was known as "Jimmy the Weasel" having boxed in the ring as Kid Weasel. The girls later said "he offered them funny looking cigarettes." He was not an imposing figure and having just spent 6-1/2 years in jail presume his prison pallor was in need of some Florida sunshine. But his resume in Wikipedia is as long as your arm and  will curl your hair. He was the real deal - and eventually cooperated with the Feds and went into the witness protection program, then came out, and wrote several books and died in his own time while some of his victims did not have that luxury. Oh, and the girls swear that they discarded the cigarettes.
tjs
Next - Good Friday

Uneasy lies the crown

Jon S. Corzine is in the public eye again in connection with the bankruptcy of his MF Global hedge fund. In his earlier career he was CEO at Goldman Sachs, and Senator from and Governor of the State of New Jersey. The last time he was in the headlines he was speeding up the Garden State Parkway without a safety belt - he the top executive of the state. His appearances before congressional committees have treated him deferentially as a past member of their august body. But he may have more appearances in his future trying to explain the missing customer funds. The only reason I mention him today is that I came across a quotation from him when he was running for the Senate from New Jersey - (the New York Times treated it as the quotation of the day) Quote "I shouldn't have said what I am reported to have said. And if I did, I apologized."unquote. With that kind of perfect syntax and grammar I'm sure he will dazzle the next committee interrogators.
tjs
Next - Pop Goes.....

Cornucopia

It may be time for a Rooney Ramble. What is this obsession with vegetables? Last week Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia posited that "if the Federal Government could force you to obtain health insurance then they could also force you to eat broccoli." I happen to like broccoli, but not every day. George H.W. Bush hates broccoli so I dare the Feds. force-feeding old number 41 against his will. All this recalls memories of mother urging Johnny to eat his spinach - or else.  Or perhaps making a strong argument for carrots improving your eyesight. I have several friends who are vegans but they do it by choice. Sometimes persuasion works best as the vision of a cow suggesting we eat more "chikin".
While all eyes and ears were on the Supreme Court you may have missed the following datelined Brussels - "The European Union has fined certain freight forwarders for price fixing in international trade." The clever cartels were using "gardening" terms as code words for their activity i.e. the names of vegetables with heavy emphasis on asparagus. (see NYT 3/29/12) Now I also like asparagus even though it gives the urine a sweet aroma. So pass the peas and mashed potatoes but hold back the rutabagas -and please no brussels sprouts - they give me too much gas.
tjs
PS - I seem to recall that Dan Quayle had his own problem with vegetables - he couldn't spell them.
Next - Uneasy lies the crown.

Big Game Hunter

I first met Henry S. in the late 1950s when I was in the steamship business in Philadelphia. "Hank's" business was supplying shackles and wire rope to the ships. But his avocation was as a big game hunter. He and his wife would make periodic trips to east Africa - what is now Kenya and Tanzania. This was a time when the Mau Mau was active in that area and one had to be careful traveling on safari. Eventually he hung up the guns on the rack and concentrated on filming these animals. His home movies were riveting. In one scene a bull elephant charged the camera - Hank's wife was doing the filming - she held the frame for a two second count  - then blackout - as they all scrambled into the Range Rover. He became an advocate of the wildlife and supporter of the local Zoological Garden. Much later when I had transferred to New York I received an invitation to a cocktail party and reception to be hosted by Hank at the local Philadelphia Zoo. I remember taking the train down to Philadelphia and directing the taxi driver to "take me to the Zoo." The reception was a flowing one away from the screeching monkey house and as free of odors as one might find - and all for charity - and a support of the local Zoo. In an earlier life my friend played football at the University of Virginia and prided himself as having done the blocking for the great Bullet Bill Dudley of NFL fame.
tjs
Next - Cornucopia