Jan 4 — Sunken Ships; Buoyant Hopes

Today we mourn the loss of seventeen staffers from the French cruise liner L’Atlantique. The ship was on the way to Le Havre, luckily just for maintenance. I can’t imagine how much worse this story would have been were it not only a skeleton crew aboard; when fully staffed and full of passengers, L’Atlantique carries almost 2000 people. That is, in its own right, crazy to think about, isn’t it? Two thousand people sitting on the same floating mass. Regardless, back to the story, in true maritime fashion Captain Schoof was the last to leave the ship, bravely jumping into the ocean after all of his (surviving) crew had escaped. I’d also just like to take a moment to appreciate the name ‘Captain Schoof’.

In lighter news, the Electoral College met today and successfully fulfilled their pass-through role, voting Franklin Roosevelt into office by 472 to 59. I, like most of the nation, am quite looking forward to President Roosevelt. Hoover clearly couldn’t deliver, and now we’re in the straits of a Great Depression. It’s time for something different, and FDR’s promised New Deal seems like exactly what we need. A true populist in office would do wonders for this country right now.

P.S. L’Atlantique didn’t actually sink, it was just damaged, but I liked the title, so that’s what it is.