The Really Creepy People Behind Billionaire Sea Castles

[Nordic]

The fact you take me seriously reflects to me laughably how seriously you take yourself.
Nothing personal, as you so adroitly point out, neither of us matter do we?

What made you think I took you seriously?

[winsomecowboy2]

Really?
The fact that you bothered replying at all quite simply. Coupled with the fact that your reply contained not a quark of humor as it has ever been defined anywhere.

Hopelessness as humor is a symptom rather than humor itself and the grandiosity of defining humor as a defense against your own self importance is a wee bit threadbare.

So either you define non seriousness as applied indifference or your sense of humor is so evolved only you understand it.

again...and try not to bite this time, not that it matters.

As to your original reply, yes you have a point. We're all doomed. Happy?

[Nordic]

Hopelessness as humor is a symptom rather than humor itself and the grandiosity of defining humor as a defense against your own self importance is a wee bit threadbare.

So either you define non seriousness as applied indifference or your sense of humor is so evolved only you understand it.

I might have to get stoned to understand those sentences.

Is that funny enough for you?

Seriously, this is mostly beer talk. I wasn't taking you seriously or unseriously. Just responding to what you had said and spouting my own bullshit about what I thought.

No offense intended.

[beeline]

Link

Wealthy treated themselves during the holidays

MAE ANDERSON and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

The Associated Press

NEW YORK - The rich treated themselves like royalty this holiday season. That spun the holidays into gold for Tiffany & Co. and other high-end retailers.

Wealthier shoppers traded up to more expensive gold and diamond jewelry from silver charms at Tiffany. At Saks and Neiman Marcus designer clothing and handbags were the hot holiday items.

The strong reports are a big improvement from six months ago, when wealthy Americans got spooked by a stock market slide and cut back spending. It shows affluent shoppers are trading back up to higher-status brands as the stock market bounces back. The rich in booming Asian economies, especially, are ramping up spending.

On Tuesday, Tiffany & Co. raised its outlook for the year because of better-than-expected holiday sales, and noted particular strength in more expensive fine jewelry and diamond rings.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 7 percent in the U.S. and was even stronger in the red-hot Asian economies, rising 15 percent. That's a key measure of a retailer's health because it excludes the effects of stores that open or close during the year.

The jeweler's report backs up strong December sales reports from pricey department stores Saks Inc., Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. All reported significantly higher revenue than a year ago.

Upper-income shoppers splurged, particularly during the last week before Christmas, a Gallup poll showed. Average daily spending reported by upper-income shoppers rose 45 percent to $183 during the week ending Dec. 26. For all shoppers, the figure rose only 18 percent to $85 that week. Luxury sales were helped by many well-heeled customers buying gifts for themselves, analysts said.

That was true for Ariane Sommer, 33, a model and author from Los Angeles, who bought a ring for herself at the pricey Italian jeweler Damiani in December.

"I am not only going to treat my friends and family, but I'm also going to treat myself," she said, adding she hadn't bought herself anything special in more than two years.

"This holiday season, it was a little bit of one for you; two for me," luxury consultant Robert Burke said.

That shift helped luxury spending, excluding jewelry, rise 8.5 percent Nov. 28-Jan. 1 compared with a year ago, adding to a 5.5 percent increase last year, according to MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, which tracks all transactions including from cash. Jewelry sales rose 10.4 percent.

The figures are based on spending from Nov. 28 through Jan. 1.

Both figures are still below their pre-recession peaks. Luxury sales are 6.9 percent below pre-recession levels, while jewelry is 8.9 percent below. But the momentum bodes well for 2011.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 19 percent since the beginning of July,,The return of bonuses on Wall Street and elsewhere also have helped the wealthy feel better about more conspicuous consumption, said John Lonski, chief economist of Moody's Capital Markets Research Group.

"Financially speaking, wealthy Americans much better withstood the latest downturn than have lower-income Americans," he said. "There was a drop-off there for a while, but it seems as though they've rebounded quite nicely."

That doesn't offer much solace to lower-income Americans, who are still facing a housing slump and high unemployment. But it is good news for the economy, because the richest 5 percent of Americans, those making at least $207,000 annually, account for about 14 percent of all spending. And spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.

"What you would like to see is consumer spending improvement distributed more broadly," Lonski said. "The lower- to middle-income segment of the population, after bearing brunt of the slump, is lagging behind rest of economy."

[LilyPatToo]

Just before Xmas, I was walking toward Union Square in San Francisco, looking for a particular clothing store that my niece likes to get her a modest gift card. To my dismay, the storefront was empty and since this is a huge chain that also has mall stores everywhere, I was really surprised. So I looked more closely at the stores around it and was amazed to see the fabulously expensive designer emporiums crowded with well-heeled shoppers. But the other retailers who cater to the middle and upper-middle class had near-empty stores

It was one of those moments when I felt my understanding of what's happening, economically speaking, here in the US shift in a visceral way. We really do appear to have been well and truly screwed. And now when I find myself in any upscale shopping district I can't help but note the "life as normal" free spending of my betters. It's like we're living in parallel worlds, isn't it?

LilyPat

[Pele'sDaughter]

Yes it is. Just like Carlin said it's their club and we ain't in it. I don't care though. I wouldn't trade places with them for any amount of money.

[Ouish!]

Jack Riddler: your story is "Shark Ship" by Cyril Kornbluth.

The goddess of the cult is a thinly-disguised Betty Page.

[Dradin Kastell]

The first such floating castle has been christened the "Utopia"--the South Korean firm Samsung has been contracted to build the $1.1 billion ship, due to be launched in 2013. Already orders are coming in to buy one of the Utopia's 200 or so mansions for sale--which range in price from about $4 million for the smallest condos to over $26 million for 6,600 square-foot "estates." The largest mansion is a whopping 40,000 square feet, and sells for $160 million.

It's the first of its kind to offer permanent housing units to buyers, and there'll be plenty on board the Utopia for the global elite inhabitants to keep themselves entertained: an outdoor movie theater, casino, miniature golf course, nightclubs, restaurants, shops, and a water park for the elites' heirs (featuring a "Lazy River," rock-climbing wall and water slides). At nearly 1,000 feet, the Utopia is almost as long as a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

The Utopia will be of the same size and costs almost exactly as much the Royal Caribbian's two luxury liners the STX Finland built here in Turku a few kilometers from where I live, the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas.

Because of my job, I visited the latter one at the shipyard before it was launched late last year. It was built mostly by guest workers from Eastern Europe and Asia; still the shipyard is a big employer for the local people and after the two ships were completed, the company laid off a lot of people because of no further orders. The ship was huge, and immensely tacky.

Here is a picture of the first one leaving for sea trials on the Baltic:



These ships are the biggest cruise liners the world has ever seen, at 361.8 meters (1187 feet) of length and 72 m (236 ft) of height (above the water line).

Here is the second one arriving at Port Everglades:



From Royal Caribbean's site:

http://www.allureoftheseas.com/viewRelease.php?id=73

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL TAKES DELIVERY OF ALLURE OF THE SEAS

Allure of the Seas Joins her Sister-Ship Oasis of the Seas as the World's Largest and Most Revolutionary Cruise Ship

MIAMI, October 28, 2010 - Royal Caribbean International takes delivery today of the newest addition to the cruise line's fleet, Allure of the Seas, from STX Europe in Turku, Finland. With Captain Hernan Zini at the helm, Allure of the Seas will be departing Turku on October 29, 2010, starting the 13-day countdown to her U.S. debut into her homeport of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Nov. 11. Allure of the Seas joins sister-ship Oasis of the Seas as the world's largest and most revolutionary cruise ship. Fans and enthusiasts are invited to follow her trans-Atlantic crossing through daily onboard webisodes on http://www.AllureoftheSeas.com , and also by following @OasisandAllure on Twitter. Updates also will be posted on Chairman and CEO Richard Fain's "Chairman's Blog" on http://www.AllureoftheSeas.com and the "President's Blog" by President and CEO Adam Goldstein on http://www.RoyalCaribbean.com.

Royal Caribbean's strategic alliance with DreamWorks Animation, featuring new onboard parades, ice shows, aqua shows and experiences with the film studio's beloved characters, along with the at-sea debut of the Broadway production Chicago: The Musical, andRoyal Caribbean Productions' new Blue Planet aerial production and Ice Games ice show, offer guests unparalleled entertainment options. Allure of the Seas also boasts 26 dining options, including the first ever Starbucks at sea; a new fine dining experience at 150 Central Park, created by The Culinary Institute of America alumna Molly Brandt; Samba Grill Brazilian steakhouse; Rita's Cantina, a casual Mexican restaurant offering the widest selection of margaritas at sea; and the Boardwalk Dog House, an outdoor hot-dog specialty counter. Also making its maritime debut aboard Allure of the Seas is the GUESS Accessory store from one of the world's most recognizable fashion apparel and accessories brands, as well as the first BRITTO Gallery at sea by pop culture artist Romero Britto. In addition, new technological innovations include complimentary guest service kiosks in the Royal Promenade - which guests can use to instantly view, print and email their SeaPass folio, as well as check-in for flights and print airline boarding passes - and 3-D movie screens in the ship's Amber Theater located in the Entertainment Place neighborhood.

The official naming ceremony for Allure of the Seas will take place on November 28 during a one-night celebration to benefit the United Way chapters of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, among other charities. A special four-night sailing on December 1 will call at the cruise line's private beach destination of Labadee, along the north coast of Haiti, and Allure of the Seas' inaugural seven-night Western Caribbean itinerary will depart on December 5.
Allure of the Seas shares the title of the world's largest and most revolutionary cruise ship with sister-ship Oasis of the Seas. With a cache of distinct onboard activities and amenities, Allure of the Seas offers one-of-a-kindentertainment performances, culinary concepts, retail venues and technology innovations. An architectural marvel at sea, Allure's neighborhoods are divided into seven distinct themed areas, which include Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone. She spans 16 decks, encompasses 225,282 gross registered tons, carries 5,400 guests at double occupancy, and features 2,700 staterooms. Allure of the Seas alternates a Western Caribbean with an Eastern Caribbean seven-night itinerary from her home port of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Additional information is available at http://www.AllureoftheSeas.com.

And the Utopia is of the same size, but built for only 200 permanent residents and 200-400 hotel guests.

This is simply absurd.

And I see a Finnish company, Elomatic Marine, is credited for the concept...

[JackRiddler]

Jack Riddler: your story is "Shark Ship" by Cyril Kornbluth.

The goddess of the cult is a thinly-disguised Betty Page.

That's it! Excellent! Thank you, Ouish!

It's online:

"Shark Ship" (1958) a.k.a. "Reap the Dark Tide" by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1923-1958)
http://cmkornbluth.bravehost.com/Kornbl ... 0Ship.html

It was the kind of dawn for which one lived—a full catch salted down, the water-butts filled, the evaporators trickling from their thousand tubes nine gallons each sunrise to sunset, wind enough for easy steerageway and a pretty spread of sail. These were the rewards. One hundred and forty-one years ago Grenville's Convoy had been launched at Newport News, Virginia, to claim them.

Oh, the high adventure of the launching! The men and women who had gone aboard thought themselves heroes, conquerors of nature, self-sacrificers for the glory of NEMET! But NEMET meant only Northeastern Metropolitan Area, one dense warren that stretched from Boston to Newport, built up and dug'down, sprawling westward, gulping Pittsburgh without a pause, beginning to peter out past Cincinnati.

The first generation asea clung and sighed for the culture of NEMET, consoled itself with its patriotic sacrifice; any relief was better than none at all, and Grenville's Convoy had drained one and a quarter million population from the huddle. They were immigrants into the sea; like all immigrants they longed for the Old Country. Then the second generation. Like all second generations they had no patience with the old people or their tales. This was real, this sea, this gale, this rope! Then the third generation. Like all third generations it felt a sudden desperate hollowness and lack of identity. What was real? Who are we? What is NEMET which we have lost? But by then grandfather and grandmother could only mumble vaguely; the cultural heritage was gone, squandered in three generations, spent forever. As always, the fourth generation did not care.

And those who sat in counsel on the fantail were members of the fifth and sixth generations. They knew all there was to know about life. Life was the hull and masts, the sail and rigging, the net and the evaporators. Nothing more. Nothing less. Without masts there was no life. Nor was there life without the net.

Must be almost 30 years since I read it, but I remembered it pretty much all right, including the death cult. Who could forget such a story? (Kornbluth more famously wrote "The Marching Morons," my memory of which may be uncharitable.)

His death at such a young age intrigued me, so off to the wikipedia we go:

Cyril M. Kornbluth (July 23, 1923 – March 21, 1958) was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including C. M. Kornbluth, Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, and Jordan Park. The "M" in Kornbluth's name may have been in tribute to his wife, Mary Byers;[1] Frederik Pohl confirmed the lack of any actual middle name in at least one interview.[2] ...

Kornbluth died at age thirty-four in Levittown, New York. Scheduled to meet with Bob Mills in New York City, Kornbluth had to shovel out his driveway, which left him running behind. Racing to make his train, he suffered a heart attack on the platform of the train station.

A number of short stories remained unfinished at Kornbluth's death; these were eventually completed and published by Pohl.

Levittown. Shovelling snow. (Something I just did this morning!) You could think of him as one of the first martyrs to suburban sprawl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_M._Kornbluth

PS - Of course when it's time to explore what's happening on land, what else would be written but this:

The new course would find them at last riding off a place the map described-as New York City.

.

[norton ash]

Jack Riddler:

(He also wrote "The Marching Morons," my memory of which may be uncharitable.)

Had to mention that it's a darkly funny pulp story, and significant as the main source for Idiocracy.

[nathan28]

I didn't find this posted, but it looks like the superrich have finally realized their dream of the Libertania. No word on how long before they turn into a hive-minded libertarian superorganism. Maybe I'll scan in some images from The Filth, the only comic book I own.

Oh, yeah, and, it's, like, totally green, so it's part of the solution.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/18/ocean-empire-lsv-is-the-self-sufficient-superyacht-for-the-super/

links at original

Ocean Empire LSV is the self-sufficient superyacht for the super-rich
By Joseph L. Flatley posted Jan 18th 2011 6:36PM

It looks like your luxury extra-national seafaring utopia just got one step closer to reality. The Ocean Empire Life Support Vessel is a 144-foot Catamaran Superyacht manufactured by Sauter Carbon Offset Design, and it features not only "all of the hotel amenities of a luxury global voyager" but two hydroponic farms and fishing facilities and three sustainable power sources: a 400 square meter 70kw solar array, an auxiliary 80 square meter (200kw) automated SkySail that drives the ship to 18+ knots and charges her battery systems, and a Motion Damping Regeneration (MDR) system developed with Maurer Sohnes Gmbh that can produce up to 50kw of electricity as it steadies the ship on rolling seas. How much will it cost you to take yourself, nine of your closest friends, and a crew of eight to the sea -- and remain there indefinitely? About $17 million. Hit the source link to order a couple for yourself. The vessel is built to order and you can have it ready to go in about eighteen months. At least it's cheaper than Saddam's yacht!

[AhabsOtherLeg]

.
You don't have to buy a Sea Castle. If you're the right kind of people, you can rent cheap.

It's very expensive, to those who can't afford it. Free, to those who can. Like most things.

SpyCruise ship MS Eurodam (right) docks in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

A Caribbean cruise with former CIA chiefs

There's no such thing as an ex-spy. There are only spies who pretend they have retired. Or so they tell you. But I have yet to meet a retired spy who walked the dog and pruned the roses all day.

Take Bart Bechtel for instance - an ex-CIA operations officer, a specialist in domestic and international terrorism matters and a US Navy veteran with 31 years of espionage and counter-intelligence experience - a spy to his fingertips.

It was Bart Bechtel who decided to organise a seminar for spooks - past, present and future - and their wives, girlfriends and interested parties.

But instead of hiring a dreary university lecture hall in a Washington suburb, he invited students to come on a seven-day Caribbean cruise (for which they would pay) and spend most days on lectures, briefings and rubbing shoulders with the principal speakers.



And the big draws? Top of the bill were no less than Porter Goss, former head of the CIA from 2004-2006 and his successor Gen Mike Hayden who ran the super-secret National Security Agency (US equivalent of GCHQ - the UK's secret intelligence agency) for six years before taking over the CIA from 2006-2009. He is the highest ranking and most senior former spy still alive in the US.

This pair were guest lecturers but they were also, in a sense, trapped onboard ship, therefore journalistically accessible in a way that had me scurrying to join the cruise and spend private time with these significant masters of the secret world.

Can you imagine their British equivalents joining a huge 2,000-strong cruise ship, mixing with ordinary passengers, spending hours of face-time with reporters, and speaking frankly about such walking-on-broken-glass subjects as targeted assassinations, water-boarding, the torture of enemy combatants, and extraordinary rendition? I wouldn't hold my breath.

"This is not a pleasure trip for me," Porter Goss told me. "This is a trip to spread the message about how important the intelligence function is."


Porter Goss and President Bush. Former US President George W Bush nominated Porter Goss to be the head of the CIA from September 2004

And what about their personal security on board Holland America's giant cruise ship, Eurodam?

"The agency knows when I travel, they're alerted to that," Gen Hayden explained. "I suspect they do what it is they think appropriate, but I don't have to know about that."

In other words, there were bodyguards but no-one knew who or where they were. But they were there unseen, minding at sea and on land for tourist excursions.

The spook seminars with about 120 students took place in three dedicated lecture rooms on the promenade deck, spaces squeezed between the huge ship's shopping mall and an even larger casino area where the one-arm-bandits sang out day and night.

For Bart Bechtel, this was a golden opportunity to proselytise. "The intelligence community is under attack, badly understood, the civil libertarians are trying for scalps. There are all kinds of indignities."

There was an uneasiness about President Barack Obama and liberal Democrats in general.

"Our commitment to war is a little uneven at this point. The fact of the matter is we are at war but it's not evenly understood."

Bart Bechtel and the other sponsors of the seminar - Henley-Puttnam, an online university that offers postal and internet degrees in several disciplines of espionage including counter-terrorism - were keen to drum home the message at every opportunity.


Tom Mangold and former spy Bart Bechtel

So we had talks and confidential briefings on Iran, Hamas, Israel, Pakistan, rogue states, failed states, al-Qaeda and a host of other threats to national and international security.

And all this happened as 1,900 fellow tourists ate, drank, gambled and danced around us. Bizarre.

My role, as a defence and intelligence reporter and writer, was to show a couple of my BBC TV Panoramas to the audience and take questions.

It was also to make a documentary for Radio 4 and, to this end, both Porter Goss and Mike Hayden came willingly to my cabin and spoke freely (where were those bodyguards? how come I never spotted them?) but with occasional and justifiable caution about the spy business and especially the CIA's hugely controversial role as a new paramilitary force since 9/11.

On shore excursions, both former spy chiefs merged imperceptibly with fellow tourists. I was part of a tourist group with Mike Hayden that wandered lazily around the old town of San Juan in Puerto Rico.

The general wore a large-brimmed baseball hat, pulled well down over his forehead, and became unrecognisable.

But back on board, both men spoke freely to those tourists who recognised them. Gen Mike Hayden explained why he felt a need to be open.

"We exist in a society that distrusts secrecy and power most of all. In order to be successful espionage services have to be only two things - secretive and powerful. So you've got that cultural tension and I feel a certain sense of responsibility to try to defuse that."

Other guest speakers and lecturers at the seminar included a clutch of old Cold War warriors.

Some had formed a private spy agency to report in Southern Lebanon on the military activities of Hezbollah and its Syrian allies.

Others have made it their business to publicise every possible threat the West faces.

Even Gen Hayden is deeply pessimistic about the situation with Iran and remains "pretty certain" that unless there are fundamental changes very soon, the West will have no choice but to use what he gently describes as "the kinetic option".

Among the paying passengers who formed their audience on the cruise were a novelist, a soccer coach who wanted to be a spy and a National Security Agency worker whose wife bought him the cruise as a present.

"We have to buckle down - many Americans - their heads are in the sand," one told me.

All had a special interest in the security of the US. "I'm just sorry that more members of my country don't get involved," another lamented. "They simply don't participate. They watch television."

Obama supporters were in short supply - I found only one in 120 people. The seminar was no place for beards, sandals, liberals or Wikileakers.

But I admire Mr Bechtel's initiative in sugaring the pill of a fairly politicised seminar with a general jolly around the sunny Caribbean on a luxurious liner.

Who says spies can't have some fun too?


........
Tom Mangold was Panorama's senior reporter until 2003. He is now a freelance journalist and author. His documentary Ship of Spies will be broadcast on Radio 4

Now that's what I call a Sea Org.

[Joe Hillshoist]

Where's a hurricane machine when you need one.

[AhabsOtherLeg]

.
There's a good chance that Bart Bechtel could sell you one.

It's funny how all these security experts have forgotten the attack on the USS Cole, though.

[JackRiddler]

.

Keep in mind there are other discussions about Thiel on board, thanks to his connections to Palantir/Themis, Breitbart/O'Keefe, and of course Paypal and Facebook.

Yesterday I watched "Kill the Irishman," which includes the line, "I'm a businessman. A businessman never invests his own money."

Thiel seems to be following that rule with his $1.25 million. In itself, it won't go very far toward building Friedman's Island.

But it's enough to feed a team of intellectual apes (planners), and also to reap publicity in the Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/paypal ... and,21205/

Infographic

August 25, 2011

PayPal Founder To Create Island

Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, is putting $1.25 million of his own money toward the creation of artificial libertarian island-nations. Here are some of the features the islands will include:

Large monument paying tribute to Bob Barr and his heroic 0.4 percent of the popular vote in the 2008 presidential election

Annual contest to see which island-dweller can best hijack a normal conversation with a tirade about the corrupt U.S. tax code

Huge pile of free guns right in the middle of each island

Canning operation free from restrictive boiling and acidity-regulation rules

Penn and Teller, every Thursday night

Large ceremonial nonfunctioning national debt clock that just reads "0"

A swimmin' hole

Emergency blue-light phones that connect directly to the Cato Institute

A bunch of Republicans anyway

Occasional arbitrary tax on the population just to give them something to get riled up about, which, for many libertarians, is their sole reason for existing