I'm penning this piece because in the last few months I've personally traveled on Amtrak, its Northeast Regional service to be exact, several times now and I just cannot get over how much I enjoy traveling by train. I really, really like it alot. Thus far all my experiences regarding train travel have been very pleasent and for me personally, it's very comfortable and relaxing. Now I realize that just as with any other mode of transportation, train travel probaly does have its downfalls too but for myself, so far so good, no complaints here.
Granted, I think it'd be alotta fun to travel on that high-speed train, the Acela but quite frankly, those tickets are almost twice the price of a regular train fare, regardless if one is going one-way or round-trip. They say that mainly business people and commuters mainly travel on the Acela and all I can say is good for them; but, for folks like myself who have a bitta extra time when it comes to business trips and leisure trips, saving the extra bucks and taking the slower trains works just fine for me. I'm perfectly content with that.
I never thought that I would ever fall in love with train travel as much as I have but there is good reasoning for that. I've never mentioned this before but I'm the type of person who is plagued with travel sickness, not so much the motion angle of it, but I'm literally what you call a nervous traveler, especially when it comes to flying. Things like Dramamine dont even begin to phase my system. It's funny in a way, one would think that after all the years of flying I've done and the fact that I've never once been in an airline mishap that I shouldnt be so nervous about flying, but I am - or at least I use to be. The only times I fly nowadays is when I go back to the midwest to visit my Gram and other relatives for the holidays; but, when I use to fly more regularly, it was very rough on my entire system.
What would happen is that I'd develop a terribly nervous stomach every time I flew, to the point where I literally had to take tranquilizers just in order to fly. I dont know if it's because of my fear of heights or not, but there's something about flying on a plane that makes me an extremely hypersensitive wreck. After several years, I did force myself off those flight-time tranquilizers by doing something that I would never suggest anyone do just in order to fly, especially if one has any major health issues such as I have - I would fast for a few hours before boarding my flight, and then straight through until I landed at my destination, whether the time frame was 4 to 12 hours, that's what I had to do if I wanted to fly comfortably without even entertaining the thought of tossing my cookies all over my fellow passengers.
I remember it use to grind me sometimes, watching how so many people could eat meals at the airport and even on board the plane without even flinching once. Sure, you get pretty gawddamn hungry when you fast like that but dealing with those gnawing pangs sure beat the hell outta of feeling like you were about to hurl in every direction possible.
I suppose if I drank, like some folks do before boarding a plane or while on board, maybe it does indeed take the edge off those pre-flight jitters but I'll never know.
Now that I think about it more intently, I do think it's an issue of the height versus being-on-the-ground-as-you-travel concept. For some reason I feel a lot less nervy when I do non-air travel and I think that's because there's no place to fall to. I mean, sure, God forbid, you could end up in a horrible car crash or bus crash and go flying 150 feet into the air, but with the exception of those less common accident scenarioes, there's something about being on good ole' terra firma that sooths the living hell outta me (note: I'm the same exact way with sea travel - no nervousness, calm as can be).
Naturally, the other modes of transportation havent sent me into a nervous tizzy as much as flying has. Traveling by personal car has never bothered me, nor has bus travel, though I will admit that one of the many reasons I am now, at the age of 46, finally fallen in love with train travel, is because the seats are just so damn much more comfortable than the airlines and the bus lines. Hell, on Amtrak you have a nice large comfortable seat you can move around in and there always seems to be alotta leg space all around you, so that right there alone has also sold me on train travel.
Again, I'm sure there are down-sides to train travel and alotta folks out there who have had beyond terrible experiences on Amtrak themselves, but again, I havent had any such problems and perhaps that does make me extremely lucky. In fact, I think the only anxiety I have about train travel is the issue of finding enough overhead space for ones carry-on luggage and then finding a seat close-by. Alotta folks who travel on Amtrak arent the most neighborly, you see TONS of passengers sitting in one seat and putting their purses, briefcases and/or computers on the seat next time, sort of their way of saying "Look, I dont want anyone sitting next to me." Hey, I guess that is a person's choice but on those oversold trains the conductors do request they move those items so everyone else can have a place to sit down. But with that one single exception, I'm as calm as a leaf when I travel by train - and I have never been calm when traveling, not ever in my entire life, until now.
One more thing I like about train travel is that you really get to people-watch, which I've always thought is alotta fun; after all, what gay man doesnt enjoy some half-way decent eye candy from time to time, ya know? But one thing I will say about all of that is this - the route that I travel on by Amtrak, moreso for my medical trips and mini-holiday trips back-n-forth between here and the burbs, is that I still have yet to see anyone I know from Facebook on any of those trains. I know, that makes me wanna laugh too but it's true. You see, alotta my fellow Hiv/AIDS activists, you know, the really big-wig famous ones who are constantly blabbering that they travel here-n-there? I have never ever seen even one of them on the Northeast Regional route, which really doesnt make any sense because it's the main train route all the way from Boston, down to further-away places such as NYC, Washington D.C., Baltimore and even Newport News, Virginia. Dont get me wrong, I realize there are indeed perfectly logical explanations as to why this is the case, such as they dont travel by train, they go by plane, personal car, etc., etc.; but alotta those people are like the rest of us, they arent Rockefellers either, so I still think it's kinda unusual I havent seen any of them on Amtrak thus far. Justa observation.
What I should tell people is that the next time they are traveling on Amtrak's Northeast Regional route, right after boarding the train, they need to give a shout out and say "Hey! Are ya here, Spice??" Wouldnt that be a hoot? I gotta admit, it'd be a great way to meet some of the folks I know online and if nothing else at least it'd be an excellent way to start a conversation. Whatta icebreaker, heh?
In closing, I guess the only thing left I can say about train travel, whether it be on Amtrak or any other train lines, is that if you're curious about it, give it a try sometime. Personally, I've always wanted to travel by train, especially after watching "Murder on the Orient Express"(1974) umpteen times during my childhood, as well as reading about all the fancy boat trains that would transport passengers from all points outwards to waiting ocean liners, such as the QUEEN MARY, ILE-DE-FRANCE and EMPRESS-of-BRITAIN. Granted, Amtrak's Northeast Regional route is nothing as fancy or glamorous as those trains of yesteryear, but it is enjoyable nonetheless and I'm glad of that - and so is my stomach. Thank you for reading.
I've been wanting to write about this subject for quite sometime now but every time I attempted to write about it, I failed miserably because I just couldnt deal with the deep-seated anger that I had regarding the issue of David Dean Smith, 51, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who purposely and intentionally attempted to infect thousands of women and men with the Hiv virus. Some estimates state he had unprotected sex with at least 3,000 women and men, not just in Michigan but in other states too, that he at least infected 150+ for certain but that since sexual penetration with Hiv is considered only a felony in Michigan, 2 cases are all he's getting charged for. Really? Well, I have never heard of such purely unadulterated bullshit in my entire life and in my opinion, Smith should be charged with a whole helluva lot more than just that because it totally confounds me that anyone would even think of intentionally infecting another human being with the Hiv virus. 
I simply could not live with myself if I even accidentally infected another human being with this virus and for Smith knowingly and intentionally setting out to infect as many people as he possibly could, well, it simply goes to show you that there are folks who are Hiv+ who are not immune to extremely severe mental illness. Yet the anger and rage I experienced when I first heard of the evilness that Smith committed in the last week of December, 2011, as well as for weeks after, was simply too intense for me to write about it - at least until now because I truly need to cleanse myself of how I really feel about all of this.
When a person with the Hiv virus, or any other communicable, chronic, life-threatening, life-altering disease, intentionally sets out to infect thousands of people, they are identical to some fanatical serial killer going on a state-to-state murder spree where they are no hostages. When a person uses the Hiv virus in this manner they just arent being careless with others and themselves, they are a murderer. For every single attempt that Smith carried out towards infecting others, every single one was its own individual murder attempt. True, for all those women and men whom he had sex with, they are equally to blame for not insisting on the use of condoms; HOWEVER, every single one of those people did NOT attempt to deal out a death sentence to Smith the way he attempted towards them. There is a GIANT difference in that angle folks, so for those of you still on your high horses saying it wasnt totally Smith's fault, you're wrong because Smith was out to commit murder, his partners werent. Yes, people, it really is that simple, that crystal-clear.
In my opinion, David Dean Smith is no better than Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the entire host of serial killers we all have been acquainted with through national newspaper headlines and television news reports. He is a murderer and not only do I feel that he should be tried for first-degree-murder/manslaughter, I also think he deserves capital punishment. And dont any of you out there say "Jesus Christ, Spice, how can you fucken say that?? Capital punishment is wrong, it doesnt accomplish a thing, and plus the guy is a fellow Hiv'er!" Yes, Smith is a fellow Hiv'er; BUT, with the exception of his disease, that is the ONLY thing he has in common with the rest of us Hiv'ers because the rest of us would not intentionally give our fellow human beings death sentences on a first-cum-first-serve basis.
For the most part I've never been a big fan of capital punishment either, but regardless of whether Smith used his Hiv virus or a loaded gun, or any other weapon for that matter, to put at risk the thousands of people he did, I'd still feel the same exact way about him. I know that when all is said-n-done, capital punishment serves no positive purpose whatsoever. Some people claim that it gives justice to those whom have been wronged or whom have lost their loved ones due to various crimes, as well as satisfies the thirst for revenge for those whom have been wronged; but, in the long run, none of those things really matters anyways because killing another does not undo the crime, nor does it bring those who were slain back to life. In essence, capital punishment simply doesnt change anything.
However, in this one particular case regarding what David Dean Smith did to all of his victims, I do feel that capital punishment would actually be the right thing to do - yes, the right thing to do. Why? Because by intentionally infecting all those people, Smith demonstrated very clearly that he not only had no respect for his sexual partners and himself, but even moreso, he has no respect whatsoever for the concept of human life. He's not someone who thinks life is precious. He's not someone who would even flinch once or twice if he ever found out that he did indeed infect thousands of people with the Hiv virus. And most of all, he's not someone who deserves to be allowed to live for as long as possibly can because guess what? He not only doesnt care about himself nor his actions, but he doesnt care about anything at all. When a human being reaches that point in their existence where they truly feel that way about themselves and others, then they should be required to turn in their membership card to the human race, because their worthiness as a member of the human race ceases to exist.
Look, I dont believe in being judgemental towards others either, but what David Dean Smith was not only wrong, it's unacceptable, barbaric, uncivilized human behavior and to think that anyone out there, even a fellow Hiv'er for that matter, would defend him and say "Well, he has Hiv, so it's okay." No, it most certainly is not okay because normal Hiv+ people do NOT go around infecting others with this disease just for the sheer helluva it. 
Silence equals death alright, but not just when it comes to the battle against Hiv/AIDS but also when it comes to the truth. It perplexes me that out of the 150+ fellow Hiv/AIDS activists on my friends list at Facebook, I am the only one who has chosen to stand up and say something about this. Trust me, everyone elses silence on this issue speaks many mounds of mountains. I already know how some of the others feel "Well, we dont wanna sound like we're criminalizing the Hiv virus/disease!" yet that's the whole point, none of us are - it's people like Smith who are doing that well enough all on their own. As a matter of fact, he's a prime living proof example of that. If people wanna excuse Smith from being a first-class murderer simply because he's Hiv+ like the rest of us, then they are just as guilty of his crimes as he is. Yeah, really. And for those of you who continue to remain silent on the horrible crimes that Smith has committed, all I can say is this - shame on you! Shame on you for not having the backbone to stand up for what is right!
I truly dont know what will ever come of David Dean Smith, for the crimes he has committed against others but Lord knows if I was in charge of his court trials and proceedings, the outlook for him would not be good. I actually had nightmares the first few nights after I read about his case, one in which he was standing on a scaffolding surrounded by me and about 200 other Hiv+ people, all of us standing there with loaded syringes of our own infected blood and right before the nightmare ends I yell out "So you think it's perfectly okay to give others this virus? In that case, Mr.Smith, allow the rest of us to share our strains with you, you nasty motherfucker!!" But even in a nightmare, that's what sets someone like Smith and someone like me totally apart from each other - he's the type of person who would actually try doing something bizarre like that in real life, whereas I am not, because you see, regardless of how distraught, even angry, my fellow human beings may make me feel at times, I still have faith in the human race, I still can see where everyone is worth saving, Everyone, except for those who have zero respect for their fellow human beings. Thank you for reading.
Originally I was going to pen this piece in the Notes section of my Facebook account but after all that I've been through with Facebook and the internet itself since this past Thursday evening, January 18th, 2012, I'm very hesitant on allowing Facebook anymore ownership on anything that I write from here on out, hence why I have chosen to write this all from the safety (more like alleged safety as you will discover while reading this entry) of my Posterous account. The title says it all - from last Thursday until about 3 nights ago, I practically had zero control over my Facebook account, including all the comments and posts both I and others were making on my Facebook wall. Damn, whatta unsettling, helpless feeling this all has been and its something I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy. Okay, maybe my worst internet enemy(ies) but that goes without saying.
Before I immediately jump into sharing my experiences with my readers out there, I'd like to add that currently on Facebook this crazy fucked-up business of people making comments and posts and then watching them instantly disappear before their very eyes, as well as the comments and posts made by their friends, is STILL taking place on Facebook. It's happening to everyone, not just me and its apparently one of those things where we're all gonna have to wait it out until it clears up, sorta like an extremely bad case of the flu, internet-style. So please, when you experience these things, dont automatically assume that your Facebook account has been hacked, even though in my case it was indeed hacked within 48 hours of Facebook "investigating" my account. Be that as it may.....
In the late evening hours of Thursday, January 18th, I was notified, via a series of pop-ups on my computer screen that Facebook would be "investigating" my account for a 48 hour period due to the fact that they had received complaints from other Facebook users that I was posting "lewd and questionable materials" via my Facebook account. Naturally, I contacted FB via email inquiring about it and discovered that several people found one of my more recent blog entries titled "Penis" to be borderline "pornographic" in its content. The instant I read that I started laughing my ass off, literally, because the first thought that came into my mind was "Well Holy Shit, I've written a ton more profane and adult-themed pieces which were 20 times more intense than this piece, what the fuck??" And it's true. Personally, looking back on "Penis" I thought it was a fairly well-written piece with several doses of good humor and even irony thrown in; but, "pornographic in intent?" "Lewd intentions?" I dont think so.
I gotta admit, over the past coupla years various folks have told me to be careful here-n-there but to be reported because various individuals found one of my writings morally offensive and/or because those individuals and Facebook feel they can dictate and implement their own personal brand of what constitutes freedom of speech? Why, that's just plain absurd. So, you know me, I wrote FB a letter of complaint, not that it will do me any good, but damn, you gotta stand up for yourself at all times and in every situation imaginable if you wanna survive in this day-n-age, regardless if its on Facebook or in our real lives.
Am I angry about this? Oh hell yes I am majorly-majorly pissed off about everything to do with what happened to me because as I've stated in previous entries within this blog, when people get reported by others, there is no justice, there is no way in combatting against any intended lies, accusations, and/or misterpretations; and, most of all, there are no rights whatsoever for the victims in these situaitons. It's downright wrong and inexcusable behavior if you ask me. Granted, we all have the right to interpret any pieces of writing the way we personally choose to do so - but to launch a McCarthy-era-like internet witch-hunt on someone just because you found something they wrote or said as offensive? Sorry folks, but that's just plain whacked out.
So for anyone out there, including both the person(s) who reported me and anyone who may choose to report me in the future, all I have to say is this - if you dont like what I have to say, then dont fucken read my blog! I mean it. It's that fucken simple - dont fucken read it, ya palpitating motherfuckers. Go onto the next blog you wanna check out, go check out that latest website or two you've been wanting to surf, but dont you dare set your eyes anywhere near my Luctor Et Emergo and then turn around and tell me "Well you cant say this!" or "You cant say that!" For pete's sake, if anyone out there is gonna play those prepubescent, romper-room-like games with me, then they had better think twice because I dont care who or how many times I get reported from here on out, no one on this friggin planet is gonna tell me what I can or cannot write about, let alone judge my writings based on some backwards 1950's antiquated rhetoric. And if you dont like anything I just said now, then please, by all means, go get bent.
Or as we use to say when I was growing up in the midwest - may a 350-pound Fourth Street whore with a 2-month-old yeast infection fall out of a 3rd floor hotel room and land right on yer face when you're looking upward and yawning! People out there wanna play immature bad-assed games with me? I got news for those folks, I'm not someone you wanna play hardball with on any level, you may rest assured on that.
The following day after this Facebook "investigation" bullshit took place, I noticed almost immediately that something was very VERY wrong with my Facebook account. At first I thought it was the powers that be of Facebook who were messing with me, but after doing some investigating of my own, as well as reporting what was going on with them, they relayed to me that it sounded like my account had been hacked. Now at first I was confused about that because I noticed the comment/post disappearing acts taking place on certain threads I would comment on was apparently taking place on only certain targeted posts. Naturally, after realizing this I surmised that apparently someone else did indeed have access to my account. Quite frankly, with having an anonymous identity such as I do, that not only angered me, but it made me very nervous, almost a bit panicked if you will. HivSpice is my creation so just like a parent with his/her child, I automatically went into protection mode.
I tried different things like checking out the Help section on Facebook, as well as simple things such as changing my password, restarting my computer and all other such criteria but nothing worked. Then a dear dear lady friend of mine on FB inboxed me and told me she had had the same exact experiences and it was because her account had been hacked. Hearing that made me feel much better, much less alone and isolated regarding what was happening. And, I felt even better when she walked me through the process of re-securing my account and lemme tell you folks, it made a majorly huge difference. Being able to finally access my account once again with the greatest of ease as well as seeing that things were more back to normal actually brought me a tear or two of much appreciated relief, as well as a few whoop-yells of gratitude.
And to that particular friend of mine who so patiently and dilligently assisted me with all of this, I just wanted to include a special Thank-You(!) in this entry because without intentionally sounding dramatic, my Dear, you actually helped save HivSpice in this regard and for that I will be eternally grateful to you because in doing so, you also made it possible for me to reconnect with the folks who come to me for help on a regular basis. That is something that truly means the world to me because making a difference in the lives of others is one of the main cornerstones of the existence of this name to begin with. Thank you so much!
So, the above reasons are why I could not even really do anything at all online in the past several days.The disappearing act of comments/posts is still taking place on Facebook, even as I write this piece, but I'm not the only one it's happening to, it's happening to alotta folks out there and like everyone else I will be so gawddamn happy when its done and over with. I'd like to throw out the possibillity that maybe whats taking place now is because of this Timeline switch-over thing that Facebook has been rigging up for the last month or so but I'm not sure cause at first I heard that the mandantory change would take place December 24th, but that date came and went. Nothing. Then I heard January 23rd, but that date too came and went without anything happening. I dont know what the answers are to any of this but as great as Facebook can be, at times it can be like everything else in our lives - a major contradictory pain-in-the-ass. All we can do is hope for the best and pray that all the messed-up crap currently taking place soon becomes a thing of the past.
Looking back in hindsight on everything that's happened to me this past week on Facebook, I hope to never ever have to go through any of it ever again and even when it comes to folks I dont get along with, I guess I wouldnt wish these things on them; but, I do choose to reserve the right to wish them on those who reported me as well as hacked my Facebook account. People do all kinds of malicious things out there for whatever reasons, but I dont care what their reasonings are, I'm here to let everyone out there know whether on Facebook or via my blog here at Posterous, I am not backing down to anyone on either of these communication mediums - not ever. I have just as much right to interact with others on Facebook and write my blog postings as anyone else does, so y'all better get accustomed to seeing me around because I dont plan on going anywhere soon. I'm here to stay. 
If that line of rationale and reasoning doesnt resonate with everyone out there, then I'll spell it out for you in another way, by quoting something from a character from one of my most favorite books/films by one of my most favoriter writers of all time, Fannie Flagg - "...if all else fails, there's always Towanda!" I know, that all sounds corny but hey, it's my right to write it just as much as its your right to either read it, or skip it altogether. Thank you for reading. Thank you so very much for reading.
With the continous news updates regarding the Costa Lines cruise-ship COSTA CONCORDIA disaster, as well as with each new piece of information that surfaces regarding the tragedy, I dont think anyone out there needs me to recount all the particulars and statistics regarding what happened to that her; however, as a ship buff and a martime historian, I feel there are a couple of points that need to be clarified regarding the ship and her tragic demise.
First, the latest news reports, via CNN and other mega-media news services have recently stated that a ship like the COSTA CONCORDIA was designed to easily survive any amount of heavy damage that she could've possibly encountered at sea and still remain in an upright position. That is not only a bogus lie, it's an extremely large piece of purely unadulterated bullshit because there is one thing, one type of damage, that no vessel afloat very VERY rarily survives - damage impact to her keel, which is the very backbone of the ship itself, the main thing that holds her altogether in one piece, regardless if she is made of riveted steel, welded steel or individual compartments.
That gash on the COSTA CONCORDIA, the very same gash which played the most pivotal role in her demise, was simply too close to her keel, her backbone, for her to not become a total loss. In addition, no ship on this planet could remain in an upright position without even the slightest list after experiencing such damage. It's virtually impossible and the proof lays in every single one of those photos we see flash on our television and computer screens in which we see her laying helplessly on her side, in her current half-way sunken state.
All of this is quite easy to understand - you know how when we humans break our necks it automatically kills us? It's the same exact thing with ships - when their keels are broken, or in the COSTA CONCORDIA's case, extremely compromised, they too die in a way, if not becoming a total operational loss. 
Now even though I do know a lot about ships, quite frankly, I dont know what's gonna end up happening to the COSTA CONCORDIA. As a ship-lover, I'm hoping and praying that they still might be able to save her, then rebuild her and make her stronger than ever before and yes, perhaps even put her back into service; but, that scenario simply doesnt look realistic at this point in time. At best, I now hope that they can prevent her from becoming a danger to the local sea environment and remove her wreck in a safe, efficient and timely manner. Ships have been re-salvaged and put back into service many times over the centuries, but with a 114,000 ton mega cruise-ship like the COSTA CONCORDIA I simply dont think that's a realistic expectation at this current point in time.
Second, just because this incident happened does not mean that every cruise-ship out there now in service is unreliable and thus dangerous to travel on. Quite the contrary. Because of the COSTA CONCORDIA disaster, every naval architect and maritime engineer is going to be reviewing every single element that went into the contruction of that vessel and find out where they went wrong (if that does indeed prove to be the case) and do their damnest to correct it. On that I can guarantee. Granted, knowing this may not make the general public feel more safe-n-secure about their current and future cruise plans, but it is the truth. Following every maritime disaster that has ever taken place on this planet, that's exactly what the men and women who design and construct ships such as these mega-sized cruise-ships do - they come up with new and improved ways to make these ships safer, stronger and super-efficient.
Yet in specific regards to the COSTA CONCORDIA herself, even if the powers that be could find a way to raise her upright, salvage her and put her back into business, I really dont think there'd be tons of cruise-goers standing in line to travel on a vessel that now has such a horrible, tragic history. I'll admit, I sure as hell wouldnt want to travel on a ship where previous passengers lost their lives on but even so, death is a part of life and no matter what happens life must go on. I wont comment any further on this though because right now the media showlight on the ridiculous, inexcusable ways in which the evacuation of the COSTA CONCORDIA was handled is still so fresh on most of our minds.
Right now I think the main focus should be to continue to search for those missing 29 passengers in the hopes that they are still alive and can be reuinted with their loved ones. Besides, that should ALWAYS be the main focus of any type of disaster such as this - to save as many human lives as is possible. I know it doesnt look good for those still missing but I refuse to give up hope just yet. And I hope the rest of the world wont either. Thank you for reading.
For the past few years now, and even moreso in this new year of 2012, the majority of us have become quite aware of the doomsday predictions set for December 21, 2012, which is the exact date that the Mayan calender ends and thus begins the end of the world as we know it. Personally, I dont think any of us really really knows when the world is gonna end but if we go by the doomsday film "2012" (2009) starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet and a host of Hollywood notables, it's not going to be a very pretty day in the history of the planet Earth's existence. I'm not here to tell anyone to discount the depictions created in the film "2012" but after watching it numerous times, I noticed a coupla inaccuracies which have bothered me greatly about the film and it is these particular inaccuracies that I'd like to discuss in this blog entry.
In various sequences of the film, we see what happens when the numerous furies of Mother Nature are set loose on the Earth, in all their action-filled, intense wraths of death and destruction, but one aspect of this that I profoundly disagree with is what happens to the various ships in this film. The examples you will come across when viewing the film are the following: a giant nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is seen laying on it's side and capsizing with its planes falling off its decks as it rolls over and is washed in the direction of the White House front lawn as a giant rogue wave pushes it further and further inland; and, a giant cruise-ship is depicted as capsizing slowly as a giant rogue wave from outta nowhere slams into it. It's frightening to even imagine such horrific events taking place and even though "2012" is definitely a disaster film in which such events appear to be realistically portrayed, in my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.
Oh sure, I loved the latter portion of the film where thousands of people, the last vestiges of humankind on this planet if you will, are saved via gigantic, invincible arks that were created and hidden into the mountain-tops of China. As a matter of fact, when all those people are saved it makes me wanna jump up and scream "Yes!! Humankind WILL survive! We will live on!" Of course, the fact that something as personally revered by me as a ship is the ultimate life-saving instrument for humankind, well, that just tickles my fancy to no end. Even though the entire film has got some extremely fantastical segments to it, realistically speaking, one can almost see where such a scenario would not only be possible, but would be worth investing in if one truly wants to save the human race.
Be that as it may, I find fault with the way the other ship sequences in this film are portrayed. Yes, I for one will admit that IF the end of the world were to take shape in the way it does in the film "2012", with all the earthquakes, disruptions in the every ocean floor plate system, and the shift in the numerous continental shelves, of course there's gonna be TONS of tsunamis, rogue waves and the like, and even though I'm a huge ocean liner afficiando, to depict an aircraft carrier laying defenseless in rough seas as well as a giant cruise ship getting slammed by a rogue wave and automatically capsizing simply are not realistic portrayals of what could happen. In real life, in our present-day existence as well as in something catastrophic as the end of the world, I think those ships scenarioes would be quite different than in the ways they were depicted in the film.
I guess the main point I'm trying to make here before I disect and discuss the two aforementioned scenarioes with you the reader, is this - just because the end of the world would be unimagianbly horrible and megacatastrophic for the planet Earth, that does not automatically mean that every type of ship and vessel afloat out there would be obliterated with total destruction. I'm not stating all of this because I'm a ship geek, I saying it because I know it's the truth. Sure, there will be catastrophes of every kind on every ocean and every body of water should any and all vessels be sailing on them when Doomsday truly does arrive; but, again, that's not to say that every single vessel float will meet its end - because it wont. Scientists, filmmakers and psychics can make all the predictions they like, not one of them can guarantee, let alone prove, that every vessel out there will meet its end on that day, whenever it may come.
In reference to aircraft carrier segment in the film "2012", like almost every type of ship afloat on the Seven Seas today, aircraft carriers (and any other naval vessels for that matter) are designed and built with the most modern forms of radar and sonar out there imaginable. Unless it's that one-in-a-million scenario where a giant aircraft carrier of 1,000+ feet or more in length is repeatedly struck by a series of rogue waves or small tsunamis, there is no reason whatsoever to believe that the captains and crews of such ships are not gonna know ahead of time what lays in their path ahead of them, let alone what could breach their safety and stability from every possible direction imaginable. Now I'm not saying that the series of huge, massive waves is not possible, all I'm saying is that most ships at sea do have very sophisticated warning systems which will in most cases buy them time to avoid such destructive impacts altogether.
Another facet of the above scenario that is implied in the aircraft carrier segment is the imbecillic assumption that when the end of the world hits, every aircraft carrier and naval vessel afloat will automatically lose all it's power and be at the mercy of Mother Nature herself. Sorry, but it doesnt work that way, even in the most disruptive forms of atmospheric conditions. If you were to take the modern generation system of any United States aircraft carrier (or any aircraft carrier from any nation for that matter) and hook them up to a series of conductors, there would be enough electrical power to run the cities of Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, non-stop for at least one full year or more. Now if those generating systems on board those ships are damaged to any degree, yes, it could cause problems - but to render a ship totally powerless? I'd have to venture that in any scenario that is highly unlikely, even at the end of the world.
As for the cruise-ship scenario in the film "2012" well, that particular segement is extremely controversial, even amongst ship buffs such as myself, because it's an educated fact that the ways in which a modern-day cruise-ship and a modern day ocean liner would handle rough seas brought on by rogue waves and tsunamis are two totally different scenarioes. If anyone were to ask how so, the answers can be found by merely looking at the outward appearances of each kind of vessel. Most modern-day cruise-ships, as massive and impressive-looking as they are with their 1,000+ foot lengths and deck after deck of verandah-style outside cabins, are more or less just humongous floating hotel boxes with a bow and a stern stuck on each end of the box, and modern radar and sonar towers placed above the bridges of such vessels. 
Whereas if you view a modern-day ocean liner, the kind that are designed for the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Oceanic routes of travel, you will see that their waterline to top-of-the-hull and then upper-deck areas are much more taller and more enclosed than the modern-day cruise ships. These modern-day ocean greyhounds are specifically and intentionally designed to encounter and survive every type of ocean wave upset imaginable - and keep right on going. Unlike the majority of their lazy, tropical weather sisters, the cruiseships, these are the ships that are designed to literally cut through 40+ foot waves like a warm knife through butter and keep right on course, versus being temporarily swamped and in more cases than not, somewhat damanged, like their cruise-ship counterparts would be. When it boils right down to it, any passenger liner of any kind is only gonna be as strong and invincible against oceanic disruptions of any kind as it was designed to be. The construction design of these vessels is the key factor. Yes, it really is that simple.
In other words, if you're onboard a cruiseship with deck after deck of open-air balconies and verandahs and it's hit by a giant rogue wave, you're definitely gonna be more affected by that than if you were on board an ocean-going liner such as the QUEEN MARY 2, which was designed and built to survive practically every form of inclement oceanwave conditions. It doesnt matter how big or much those newer cruise-ships such as the OASIS of the SEAS and the ALLURE of the SEAS weight, even with weighing in at 150,000+ tons, there'd be way too much water smashing those verandah doors and windows open for it to not affect the stability and the basic functioning of the vessel itself. 
Getting back to the cruise-ship segment in "2012," even though the ship portrayed in the film is not an trans-oceanic vessel by any means, the way in which that part of the film was created is totally 100% unrealistic. A giant rogue wave does not slam into a ship like that in slow-motion, it just does not happen that way. You're not on the phone talking to someone as the ship slowly capsizes. If a real-life rogue wave or tsunami were to hit a ship like that, it would be at an extremely super-fast speed and sucha ship would automatically tip-over on its side or in the best case scenario, list over only a few degrees before righting itself, such as what happened with the cruiseship NORWEGIAN DAWN a few years back off the coast of the Carolinas. It's one thing putting an author or screenwriter's perception of how such scenarioes would happen into a film-version of their theories; but, to do so without including all the realistic criteria that would be involved in such events not only shortchanges the film itself, but it also impairs and clouds our human perception of how such events would really play out in real life.
Look, I'm not saying that I of all people on this planet definitely knows what will happen when the end of the world arrives; but, one thing I do know is that the way the ship segments of the film "2012" are illustrated are unrealistic at best. Personally, I dont wanna even think of the end of the world because even though we've all been indoctrinated to believe that it will happen, I simply dont want it to happen. I mean, with all the not-so-good things that continue to take place in our world-of-today, who in their right mind would ever wanna take it one step further like that? Not me. Our world may not be perfect, but I believe in this Earth, I believe in the human race and I'd like to believe that no matter what happens on this planet, we would somehow find a way to survive it as we always have throughout our centuries of existence. This world may be downright shitty at times but its all we got and I figure that when we do stand on that last final precipice with fighting gumption, I'd like to hope that we would make it, that we would somehow find a way to survive. But what if we dont? Well then, at least we tried, at least we put forth the effort when that's all that we had left. Thank you for reading.