Shipping to save Cyprus, President says

Cyprus Mail reports:

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades yesterday invited the shipping sector to play a leading role in the recovery of the economy.
Anastasiades was speaking at the 24th Annual General Meeting of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber in Limassol where he said the industry had not been affected overall by the banking crisis.

“The shipping sector now constitutes a crucial part of the ‘spinal column’ on which the Cyprus economy will depend in its road to recovery,” he said. Shipping contributes around 5.0 per cent to GDP.

“Foresight, proper planning and hard work are therefore virtues which are now indispensable in our mission to preserve Cyprus’ leading edge. For this precise reason the government is determined to introduce those mechanisms necessary to protect this important sector, as well as reinforce it further,” said Anastasiades.

Here is my translation to human-speak:  we, the government, helped to demolish tourism, banking, and real estate industries.  Shipping – you are next!

Was Titanic for real?

While reading Kottke’s blog about some old Titanic pictures, I came across something really surprising.  Apparently, there are a lot of people who didn’t know or didn’t believe that the Titanic was real.  I guess most of them thought it was just a fictional ship from the movie.

 

Titanic II

Slashdot reports:

Just in time to miss the 100-year anniversary of the fatal voyage of the Titanic, Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer announced he has plans to recreate the Titanic, calling it Titanic II. ‘It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic but of course it will have state-of-the-art 21st Century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,’ says Palmer. He stated it was to be as close to the original as possible, with some modern adjustments. Its maiden voyage is set for 2016.

Some people never learn …