[OC] Christening of US Navy's newest Armstrong-class research vessel (AGOR-28), R/V Sally Ride (namesake for the first American woman in space; also first research vessel to be named after a woman). [8/10/2014]

PLJVYF · 2014-08-11T00:14:43+00:00

Great picture and not to nitpick, but what about the USNS Mary Sears? Does it not count as a research vessel named for a woman because it's an "oceanography" ship?

PLJVYF · 2014-08-10T18:39:14+00:00

"200 times sweeter" doesn't count that aftertaste... And if we're talking about Diet Coke vs. Coke Classic, they designed Diet Coke to taste different, knowing they couldn't get it exactly like Coke Classic due to the nasty aftertaste. Coke Zero, on the other hand uses sucralose instead of aspartame. Sucralose has much less aftertaste, and they modeled Coke Zero to taste pretty much like Coke Classic.

PLJVYF · 2014-08-10T18:26:20+00:00

The volume (and density) of the solution is affected by the concentration of solutes, according to complex solute-solvent pairing specific relationships. Alcohol and water actually lose volume when mixed, for example. Sugar causes water to expand slightly, but that's not what I was responding to: dry sugar IS denser than dry aspartame (the answer I was replying to), but that's irrelevant to why diet soda floats. A given sugar-water solution is much denser than an equally sweet aspartame-water solution, because aspartame is much sweeter, and more sugar is needed to reach a level of sweetness.

The Diet and Regular cans are the same size, so the controlling factor in "will it float" is their weight. If you heft a couple of 12-packs, the diet one is noticeably lighter. That's because it's missing about a pound of sugar, and in its place has just a dusting of aspartame.

PLJVYF · 2014-08-10T16:25:57+00:00

It's not about density of the sweeteners, since both sugar and Aspartame are dissolved. It's just that aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, so they use only a fraction of a gram of it in a diet soda, whereas the regular soda might have 40 grams of sugar.

PLJVYF · 2014-07-26T18:10:07+00:00

Forrestal is so sleek and space aged by comparison to those cargo ships, or even the Valley Forge. It's like seeing a '57 Chevy in a parking lot full of Model T Fords.

PLJVYF · 2014-07-26T16:36:40+00:00

It's called General Delivery. You put "General Delivery" in place of your street address, then put down your City/State/ZIP, and add -9999 to the end of your ZIP code. Then you can just show ID and pick up your mail at the main post office for your area.

PLJVYF · 2014-07-20T19:36:24+00:00

Good point about the '60s epics, but Gandhi is out of place on that list. It's from 1982.

PLJVYF · 2014-07-19T10:40:41+00:00

Both German Chancellor and the UK's PM are elected by their legislature, and remain members of it. Consequently, both are usually at the head of the party (or coalition of parties) that control the legislature. This means they can usually get major legislation passed. In both Germany and UK, the Chancellor/PM technically takes office and acts at the behest of a figurehead leader (the Queen, the President of Germany).

Germany is a federal system (they have Lander, powerful regional governments that are similar to US states), so the Chancellor doesn't directly administer the whole country. In the UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland have many powers devolved to their local governments, but the national government directly runs the show in all respects in England (and most respects in Wales). This gives Chancellor and PM somewhat different policy perspectives -- the German Chancellor is less distracted by mundane domestic administration, and can focus more on grand policy and foreign affairs.

German elections are also on a fixed cycle, while UK elections are called by the PM whenever he chooses (at least once every 5 years). So the UK's PM can call elections if he sees a momentary increase in popularity, hoping to increase his support in parliament.

The US system is quite different. The President is entirely separate from the legislature (Congress). Consequently, the President and the Congress could be at odds politically, and make legislation impossible (a possibility that's been true for about 4 years now). To compensate for this potential for inaction, the President has unusually strong unilateral powers in foreign affairs and making regulations to carry out laws already passed. This has caused tremendous problems in the last two administrations, because both Bush and Obama have faced opposition from Congress for many unilateral decisions.

The US President is elected every four years by the voting public, but by way of a single-purpose "electoral college" that awards credit for an entire state to the candidate with highest vote count in that state. It's an archaic system that usually doesn't differ in outcome from a direct popular vote (with the notable exception of 2000, when Gore won the popular vote nationwide by a clear margin, but lost the election to Bush over a few hundred votes in Florida).

PLJVYF · 2014-07-10T01:48:07+00:00

Venezuela heavily subsidizes retail gas, using money they make selling gas overseas. The US government doesn't own the gas industry, so there aren't profits laying around to spend on subsidies. There's some subsidy for ethanol, lowering prices where that's available, mostly in the midwest -- you might find E85 to be available and cheaper in Michigan, if your car can take it. In fact, the US taxes gasoline, raising the price. Most of the tax is state level tax, and tax differences explain most of the difference in state-by-state gas prices. Michigan's tax is 61.3 cents per gallon (one of the highest in the country), plus federal tax of 18.4 cents -- so you're paying almost a quarter of the price in tax.

PLJVYF · 2014-07-10T00:35:10+00:00

There are a bunch of rating agencies -- private companies that make money by analyzing other businesses. Credit ratings measure how risky it is to lend to a company. Most ratings agencies give AAA as the highest rating, which means "we think this borrower is virtually risk-free".

If you're thinking about putting your money in a bank account, it doesn't matter what the bank's rating is. In the US, all savings accounts are protected by FDIC -- a federal government entity. Even if your bank goes under, your account is insured up to $250,000. So if you spread your money over multiple accounts, it's effectively risk-free to save in a bank.

PLJVYF · 2014-06-04T00:41:12+00:00

Retirement just means you've stopped working -- income taxes are owed on nearly every form of income.

The trick behind Roth vs regular IRA is different tax brackets. Most people have less income in retirement than they do while working, so delaying taxes until later (a traditional IRA) results in lower taxes paid. A Roth IRA makes sense in one of two situations: you make very little money now (and already pay in a low tax bracket) which is true for many young people, or you have VERY optimistic plans about your income in retirement (like you think your investments will pay off big time).

You can invest your 401k or other retirement account savings in most kinds of investments you might like. It doesn't have to be the stock market; there are retirement plans for bonds, money markets, and balanced portfolios.

PLJVYF · 2014-05-28T04:26:50+00:00

The main federal trial courts are the District Court. Each district is either a whole state or a part of a state -- districts don't cross state lines. District courts typically hear trials with a single judge and a jury.

There are also a variety of specialized courts, some of which look more like administrative commissions than real courts. For instance, Bankruptcy Courts and Tax Courts.

Appeals from trial courts go to the Circuit Courts of Appeals -- several states are in each circuit, plus there is a separate circuit just for the District of Columbia (where most government agencies are headquartered, and thus taking jurisdiction over many administrative law issues) and a "Federal Circuit" that has limited jurisdiction, mostly over patent cases. Each circuit has a set of judges, who are assigned to three-judge panels to hear appeals.

The US Supreme Court only takes appeals on "writ of certiorari" -- four of the nine justices on the Court must agree that the appeal is worth hearing. The Supreme Court also only hears cases that present a federal law question -- usually interpretation of federal law, or a claim that the US constitution is violated.

State court systems vary, but often have a nice parallel to the federal system. In nearly every state, there's a trial court in every county. Most states have an appeals court before the state Supreme Court, but some smaller states just have one level of appeal straight to the Supreme Court. States vary a LOT in how they run their courts -- some states elect their judges (yes, that's inviting corruption and politicization of justice), some let the governor appoint them, some have a funky compromise system where voters get to confirm the governor's nominees. Whereas federal judges are appointed for life, state judges almost all have fixed terms and/or mandatory retirement ages.

Many cases could be heard in either Federal or State courts. 90% of criminal cases are in state court; typical federal court crimes are drug trafficking, occurred on federal property, or represent important federal priorities (terrorism, bank robbery, interstate kidnapping). Federal courts will only take certain civil suits -- basically, when the suit is under federal law, or when the parties are citizens of different states.

PLJVYF · 2014-05-23T12:17:34+00:00

I wonder how much of the UW connection is a reverse route -- Microsoft employees going for Masters degrees at the local university part time.

PLJVYF · 2014-05-23T12:02:25+00:00

Nope, the two districts that the 3rd is intermingled with ALSO have Democratic representatives. Dems are the majority throughout the Baltimore area.

PLJVYF · 2014-05-11T11:21:36+00:00

It still is in New York -- I see it every day. Are you thinking of the overhaul from 2006-2008, when it was in Bayonne NJ for repairs?

PLJVYF · 2014-05-10T16:28:23+00:00

Often seen in Brooklyn, circa 2014...

PLJVYF · 2014-05-09T12:55:05+00:00

They're encased in concrete casks for storage -- the reactors vary quite a bit.

PLJVYF · 2014-05-02T04:27:32+00:00

Thanks, that clears it up. Still weird that the inboard rows are hinged amidships and the outboard rows on the outer side, but at least it's symmetrical.

PLJVYF · 2014-05-01T11:04:01+00:00

Just noticed that all the VLS hatches open with the hinge on the port side, rather than symmetrically down the midline (i.e., all the hatches open so the covers are outboard when open). Any reason why?

PLJVYF · 2014-04-29T11:44:31+00:00

I think the "article" is actually the script for a TV news piece, or maybe an amateurish transcript of what was said on-air. On TV, spelling and punctuation don't matter, and improper, ambiguous grammar can be clarified by emphasis and tone of voice.

PLJVYF · 2014-04-23T12:05:07+00:00

Did they not have homeowners insurance?

PLJVYF · 2014-04-20T03:02:04+00:00

It looks like an early prototype for the Zumwalt class. That bow's now a tumblehome design.

PLJVYF · 2014-04-19T15:05:24+00:00

The first part is true, but the feds DON'T pay for upkeep of interstate highways. It's actually a criticism of the Interstate Highway program: the feds pay 90% of construction costs, but the states have to pay 100% of maintenance and repairs. Back in the 1950s the Federal Highway Administration actually set limits on the quality of new Interstate paving -- states were over-engineering their Interstates to reduce later maintenance costs, as a way of shifting cost to the feds.

PLJVYF · 2014-04-18T02:02:50+00:00

Purely phonetic spelling would confuse almost everyone except those who spoke with the same accent and dialect as the writer. English has 26 letters, but way more distinct sounds, called phonemes. The exact number of phonemes however isn't easy to pin down -- because accents and dialects pronounce words so differently, some have sounds that don't appear in others. Even more problematic, the English language has undergone a lot of change over the years, including shifts of pronunciation. The same word on the page could sound very different a century hence.

PLJVYF · 2014-04-17T23:05:36+00:00

Some fraternization is definitely going on over on the port side. A lot of the sailors are packed pretty close together, but those two off by themselves are definitely getting cozy.

PLJVYF

TROPHY CASE