20060831 KDDC USS Reagan Passing The Arizona Memorial

USS REAGAN PASSING THE ARIZONA MEMORIAL

Posted: August 31. 2006

Hat Tip: Grammy

Seeing it next to the Arizona Memorial really puts its size into perspective.

Notice the respect that they give the Arizona Memorial when passing it.

Here's what it takes to run a ship this size:

When the Bridge pipes "Man the Rail" there is a lot of rail to man on this monster. Shoulder to shoulder around 4= acres. Her displacement is about 100,000 tons with full complements.

Capability

Top speed exceeds 30 knots

Powered by two nuclear reactors that can operate for more than 20 years without refueling

Expected to operate in the fleet for about 50 years

Carries over 80 combat aircraft

Three arresting cables can stop a 28-ton aircraft going 150 miles per hour in less than 400 feet

Size

Towers 20 stories above the waterline

1092 feet long; nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall

Flight deck covers 4.5 acres

4 bronze propellers, each 21 feet across, weighing 66,200 pounds

2 rudders, each 29 by 22 feet and weighing 50 tons

4 high speed aircraft elevators, each over 4,000 square feet

Dates

Dec. 8, 1994 Contract awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding

Feb 12, 1998 Keel laid

Oct 1, 2000 Pre-commissioning Unit established

March 4, 2001 Christened by Mrs. Nancy Reagan

May 5, 2003 First underway

July 12, 2003 Commissioned

July 23, 2004 Arrived at homeport in San Diego, CA

Capacity

Home to about 6,000 Navy personnel

Carries enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days

18,150 meals served daily

Distillation plants provide 400,000 gallons of fresh water from sea water daily, enough for 2000 homes

Nearly 30,000 light fixtures and 1,325 miles of cable and wiring 1,400 telephones, 14,000 pillowcases and 28,000 sheets

Costs the Navy approximately $250,000 per day for pier side operation

Costs the Navy approximately $2.5 million per day for underway operations (Sailor's salaries included).

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20060831 KDDC Why go negative?

Why go negative?

The Carroll County primary election is less than two weeks away and it could not come too soon for many of us.

Reading the letters to the editor has especially become painful for us who follow government and politics closely – and know better. To read letters in which misinformation, misleading information, personal attacks, puffed-up naiveté and a total lack of understanding for how government works for the particular office in which this or that challenger seeks, has been disillusioning.

And the specter of good people with good ideas and thoughtful approaches – going negative is just bewildering. It is as if they have lost their minds for the duration of the campaign?

My column in The Tentacle for this week is called, “Why go negative?” It just scratches at the surface of how this primary election has been so painful.

I, for one, have heard very little in the way of a substantive discussion of the issues or new ideas. I have heard much about how much certain folks are clueless and don’t like this or that candidate.

And perhaps competing for the worse affront is how folks demonize opponents personally simply because they disagree with them on certain issues.

Most of the time, the folks who are demonizing are the very ones who plead for respect for their ideas and approaches.

What amazes me are the folks slinging the mud, who after the elections will still have to work with their opponent in some way, shape or form. No matter how professional – or religious someone is, folks have memories.

I know my motto has always been: “To forgive is divine; to forget is not my policy.”

Memo to the many folks running for office this fall: There is only one species on the planet that has a better memory than an elephant and that is a politician.

Meanwhile some of the choices we need to make in the voting booth September 12th, 2006 are difficult. I, for one, may make it easier by simply choosing only the folks who have not gone negative.

The last thing I need is an angry outraged community leader with the warmth and humanity of a water moccasin - to take challenges to in the future.

Anyway the cleaned-up version of my Tentacle column that went to press yesterday, Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 is “Why go negative?”

August 30, 2006

Why go negative?

Kevin E. Dayhoff

The election season is upon us and - like a horde of ravaging locusts - the negative campaigners are out in full force this cycle. Why?

As the public clamors to hear a discussion on the issues - growth management, infrastructure and school improvement, public safety, taxes and the scope and structure of government - some candidates and their rabid supporters instead sport t-shirts that scream "I've got issues."

Selective quotations and trivialities trumping substance in an obvious attempt to distort the facts seem to be the rule of the day.

And it is always a source of amazement to observe folks who, in the same utterance, plead for understanding and tolerance for their views and then demonize anyone who doesn't agree with them.

A rule among classier community leaders prohibits promoting oneself by personally sniping at someone who holds a different point of view. It is not only bad form but smacks of bullying and could wind up hurting your own cause, as you only look like someone with the warmth and humanity of a water moccasin.

Read the rest of it here.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at:kdayhoff@carr.org

www.thetentacle.com

Westminster Eagle Opinion and

Winchester Report

www.thewestminstereagle.com

www.kevindayhoff.com

20060831 KDDC Clueless Idiot steals purse quickly arrested

Clueless Idiot steals purse quickly arrested

On Wednesday, August 30^th, 2006, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department arrested a clueless idiot “less than twelve (12) hours after he stole a purse from a private residence in the 400 BLK of Sycamore Avenue Westminster.”

Apparently the Sheriff’s Department acted quickly and used good police work before the clueless idiot was able to further unnecessarily disrupt the life of Michelle Jefferson, a candidate for the Maryland Senate in District 5, Baltimore and Carroll Counties.

What was going through this guy’s head that he thought that he could get away with this sort of crime?

Although Carroll County has relatively low crime rate, anecdotally, these “quality of life” crimes seem to be on the upswing and they are a real drag.

I often keep a fire and police monitor on in my office while I work and listen to the radio as police officers run from one end of the county to the other, just chasing down random acts of stupidity.

All the agencies: the Westminster Police Department, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and the Maryland State Police are conscientious, diligent, thoughtful, professional – and very very busy. We should all be proud. But I sure wish they had less to do.

Now, just weeks before the primary, Ms. Jefferson has to go through all this hassle because of a down-and-out creep.

No word as to whether or not the individual will also be charged with being a clueless idiot while committing a crime.

Pasted below is the news release from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department:

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Sergeant Phil Kasten, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, 100 North Court Street, Westminster, MD 21157 410-386-2759

“Burglar uses victim’s credit card; deputies follow purchases to arrest”

Westminster, Carroll County, Maryland, August 30, 2006 ---- At approximately 7:30 pm, Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested James Louis Agans aged 26 of the 1300 BLK Redfield Drive in Sykesville after revisiting a local convenience store where he had used a stolen credit card earlier in the day.

Agans arrest came less than twelve (12) hours after he stole a purse from a private residence in the 400 BLK of Sycamore Avenue Westminster. Before his arrest, Agans used the victim’s credit cards to make nearly $1000 worth of purchases for gas, cigarettes and power tools.

The purse, which belonged to Michelle Jefferson, a Westminster resident and local political candidate for the Maryland State Senate District Five, noticed that the purse was missing from her home around noon.

Jefferson immediately notified her bank, where she learned that her personal and campaign credit cards had already been used locally several times. She then notified Police, and Corporal Carlos Bustos of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office began to work with local businesses to identify Agans, and predict his next move.

With their help, Corporal Bustos apprehended Agans as he attempted to leave a local business where he was recognized.

Consequently, Agans was transported to Carroll County Central Booking where he was charged with Burglary, Theft, Fraudulent use of a Credit Card and Possession of look-alike Crack Cocaine and associated drug paraphernalia.

Following a bail review before the District Court Commissioner, Agans was held at the Carroll County Detention Center on $50,000 Bail.

Sheriff’s Deputies recovered the victim’s purse and personal belongs.

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