Rao bulletin 15 January 2015 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles



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USS Ranger (CV/CVA 61)
Top Gun Super Carrier of Long Beach, Inc., a new, well-funded group charged with exploring a viable second life for the ship, is seeking an emergency donation hold to allow sufficient time to present options for preservation. The USS Ranger was built in the 1950s and served in every American war since, before being decommissioned in 1993 following the Persian Gulf War. “Right now, we just want a stay of execution,” said recently appointed project manager, Michael B. Shanahan, AIA. “As a brand new team charged with repurposing the USS Ranger, we want to work with Navy, NAVSEA and City of Long Beach for the best possible outcome. We know that saving the USS Ranger would have significantly more far-reaching economic, historic and social benefits than scrapping it. This is our last chance to stop the loss of an irreplaceable cultural and historic asset.”
As time runs out for the USS Ranger, Top Gun Super Carrier of Long Beach, Inc. is orchestrating a “Hail Mary” attempt to save the ship via public support. An online petition is being circulated for names that will be submitted to the Navy/NAVSEA officials and Congress (https://www.change.org/p/the-united-states-navy-please-save-the-uss-ranger-from-being-demolished?just_created=true). A social campaign has also been implemented via Twitter and Facebook and the hashtag #SaveTheRanger. The public is asked to bring additional awareness to the effort with the hashtag and petition link. Top Gun Super Carrier of Long Beach, Inc. is currently exploring a permanent berth for the USS Ranger in Long Beach Harbor, California where it will serve as cultural heritage site, experiential destination, and self-sustaining commercial attraction. Returning and former vets are anticipated to comprise 55 to 60 percent of the hundreds employed.
The new team – established only three months ago – has received endorsements and significant funding commitments to transition the USS Ranger into enterprise modeled after the USS Midway in San Diego, which generated $150 million in revenue during its first three years of operation, more than 250 percent of what was originally anticipated for the ship. “The Navy perceives this as an eight year project. However, this current team of experts has only been on the job for eight weeks, and already we have secured $14 million in committed funds for the project,” stated chief financial officer, Chris Nelson. “This is a no brainer endeavor from a business and community perspective – and the USS Ranger’s last chance to serve the U.S. in a new capacity: as an economic engine and patriotic emblem that would redefine the City of Long Beach as a maritime destination. We’ve got the right people at the helm to deliver.”
A different (now dissolved) USS Ranger Foundation attempted to repurpose the USS Ranger as museum ship and multipurpose facility on the Columbia River in Fairview, Oregon. The Navy rejected the plan in 2012 due to its failure to meet Phase 2 requirements to donate a carrier. “We understand NAVSEA’s fiduciary responsibility to salvage the ship and minimize ongoing storage costs,” added Shanahan. “However, sparing the ship now presents NO financial risk to the federal government.” Top Gun Super Carrier of Long Beach, Inc. would be responsible for securing all the costs and expenses of reinstating the donation hold, mothballing, relocating, and establishing a permanent berth. In the unlikely chance that the endeavor fails, Top Gun Super Carrier of Long Beach, Inc. is required to post a bond – up front – to cover the cost of towing the ship to the designated scrapping location. No tax dollars would be used in preserving the USS Ranger.
The USS Ranger was built in 1957 in Newport News, VA, and was the seventh Ranger to serve America. The current Ranger served in the Pacific, fighting in Vietnam (earning 13 battle stars) and was retrofitted into a modern war ship just prior to its essential service in the Persian Gulf, where it flew more combat missions than any other carrier. Approximately 141 sailors and Marines died on Ranger during her 36 years of service to America, through 1993. In 1983 Ranger rescued Vietnamese refugees adrift in a boat for ten days in monsoon storms in the South China Sea. Bob Hope entertained Ranger’s crew at sea at Christmastime. The USS Ranger served as an important filming location for “Top Gun” and “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.” [Source: PR Newswire | Matt Kovacs/ Erinn Lynch | Jan. 07, 2015 ++]
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Ants ► Voracious Garbage Eaters
Urban ants might be more helpful thank you'd think. According to a study published 2 DEC in Global Change Biology, tiny arthropods in New York City do massive amounts of garbage clean-up -- and by chowing down on your trash, they may help keep rats and other (bigger) pests at bay. Ants are abundant in the streets of Manhattan: A recent study found 42 different species of the critters in the city. And that isn't just a testament to Central Park's lushness. Median strips -- the tiny patches of grass between pulsing city streets -- held 18 species of their own. And as it turns out, those median-dwellers are the city's most voracious garbage eaters. The ants that live on the medians down the Broadway corridor are capable of eating the equivalent of 60,000 hot dogs a year.

The research team tested ants' garbage consumption by placing weighed samples of commonly dropped foods -- hot dogs, cookies and chips -- into wire mesh cages that only ant-sized creatures could crawl into. Next to these set-ups, they placed similar samples out in the open. After 24 hours, they took the remaining food back to the lab to measure what had been taken -- by ants alone, and by the city's entire population of refuse-eaters. "We thought, oh, the parks, with their more diverse species -- that's where we're going to see the ants doing a more thorough job. So we were surprised when the opposite was true," said lead author Elsa Youngsteadt, a research associate at North Carolina State University.
Ants on tiny medians ate two to three times more than their cousins out in the park. Youngsteadt and her colleagues believe that pavement ants (so named for their habitat of choice) are probably the voracious eaters causing the imbalance. "It really underscored for us how important it is to have different kinds and sizes of green spaces around the city," Youngsteadt said. Parks get a lot of praise, but tiny strips of green may be where ants compete with even less popular residents. "Outside the cages, of course, more got eaten. That tells us that other animals are competing with ants for this food. When one group gets it, the other doesn't," she said. And New Yorkers probably take their arthropods for granted. When Youngsteadt was setting up her cages for the experiment, she said, a passerby asked her about her work. "When he found out I studied ants, he said, 'I sure hope you're figuring out how to kill them.' They're definitely not popular," Youngsteadt said. "But this study highlights that they have a purpose in the city ecosystem that we don't even notice. They may be taking away food from rats, who it's safe to say we like even less."
And it seems that not even a hurricane can sweep ants away from their junk-eating posts. When Hurricane Sandy flooded many of the research sites with salty water, the team expected to see a drop-off in activity there -- but local ant populations proved to be just as hungry when the waters receded. "You'd think that several feet of salt water would deter some ants," Youngsteadt said. She's not sure why they didn't drown -- it's possible they just weren't submerged for long enough. "But it's good news for urban ecosystems. They're going to stick around and keep doing their thing no matter what -- even when a disaster happens." [Source: AARP | Steve Mencher | Dec 03, 2014 ++]
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Obsolescence ► Things Kids Born in 2015 May Never Know
1. The post office. Instead of email, someone used to come all the way to your house just to drop a bunch of ads into a box on the front porch. This service was a big money loser.
2. Parking meters. There was a time when you had to pay for parking by putting coins into a little steel box on a pole.
3. Bank tellers. People used to visit a bank branch to make deposits and withdrawals. What a lot of effort expended on something that can be done digitally in mere seconds with no travel involved.
4. Paper statements. Trees used to give their lives so that those who refused to go digital could get bills and other statements in the mail. (See No. 1.)
5. Paper checks. While it was illegal to make your own paper money, it was OK to write an amount of money on a piece of ordinary paper. Once you signed it, it somehow magically became the same as money.
6. Cable TV. Before universal Wi-Fi, there used to be a wire running from downtown to bring entertainment into the house. Judging by the price, you’d have thought it contained a cure for cancer.
7. Toll booths. Before they started charging tolls by taking a picture of your license plate, you had to stop at a booth and either throw money in a basket or hand it to someone. They were kind of like phone booths on the turnpike.
8. Phone booths. Before everyone had wireless phones, there used to be little glass rooms on street corners where you’d go in and use coins to make a call. For some people, they also doubled as bathrooms.
9. Newspapers. In days before everyone had computers in their pockets, printing presses made paper versions of websites. People would then drive around and throw them on your lawn.
10. Car keys. Cars had keys you’d insert into a keyhole in the doors and dashboard to unlock and start the car. Sometimes you’d lock them in, then try to retrieve them with a coat hanger. Other people would stop and try to help.
11. Bookstores. A retail store where you’d go to buy books.
12. Books. There used to be a physical version of e-books made out of paper.
13. DVDs. Before movies were delivered online, they came on discs you’d stick into your computer or a player attached to your TV.
14. Incandescent lighting. This kind of light bulb didn’t last as long or cost as much as LED lighting, but it had a nice glow to it.
15. Fax machines. These devices transmitted a piece of paper to another fax machine anywhere in the world. It worked over phone lines.
16. Phone lines. Before wireless, calls were carried on wires. Like power wires, they were strung everywhere and stopped working during snow and ice storms.
17. Non-digital picture frames. There was a time when a picture frame could only display one picture at a time, so you needed a frame for every picture. Some were better looking than the picture they contained.
18. Cursive handwriting. You’d pick up a pen or pencil and actually write things by hand. Not only that, but the letters of each word were all connected in such a way that it was often impossible to decipher.
19. Camcorders. Before HD video cameras became standard in phones, you had to buy a separate device if you wanted video selfies.
20. Blind dates. In the days before dating websites, people were forced to meet one another any way they could, including being introduced to friends of friends. It was awkward, because there was no way to IM, text, exchange pics or otherwise communicate before actually meeting. The people you met this way usually weren’t as good looking as you.
21. Talking to one person at a time. Before pocket computers, you weren’t required to stay in constant communication via text. Nor was it customary to let everyone you’d ever met know where you were and what you were doing via Facebook. As a result, you’d often find yourself forced to communicate solely with the people in front of you.
22. Driving a car. Before self-driving cars, you had to do it all: gas, brakes, mirrors, turn signals, talk on the phone, text, put on makeup and eat, all at the same time.
23. Setting a thermostat. Before “The Internet of Things,” you had to manually set the temperature in your house.
24. Forgetting someone’s name. Before Google Glass came along, we had to recognize faces all by ourselves and remember their personal information.
25. Buying music. Before Pandora, Spotify and Songza, we bought our music one song or album at a time and built collections.
[Source: MoneyTalksNews | Stacy Johnson | Dec. 29, 2014 ++]
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Ship Photos ► Where to Locate and/or Purchase
1. United States Naval Institute. Easiest of the sources. Access the website www.usni.org and click the Photo tab. Find a specific photograph with a keyword search (ship’s name) to look across all of the Naval Institute's photo galleries for the closest match. Most photos indicate date taken. Once selected you have a framing option on which you can view the selected photo in the frame. 8x10’s run $20 to $25.00. Framing is extra. Order on line with a credit card.
United States Naval Institute.
Photo Sales Service
291 Wood Rd.
Annapolis Maryland, 21402-5034
Phone (410) 295-1022
E-Mail Contact photoservice@usni.org
2. Atlantic Fleet Sales. From 1954 to 2001 the Atlantic Fleet Sales company photographed U.S. Navy warships as they steamed in and out of Hampton Roads, Virginia just outside of the Norfolk Naval Base. Their web site showcases a samples of the original photos from this collection, which is among the world's most extensive. The extensive catalog is formatted by ship type and hull number. You can view and order online. The company is no longer in business with the Navy, but they do offer photographic prints of ships to Navy veterans and collectors.

Atlantic Fleet Sales Company


P.O. Box 6202
Norfolk, Virginia 23508
Phone: (757) 489-4840
http://www.atlanticfleetsales.com/
3. National Archives, Still Picture Branch. Cannot view or purchase online. You make a request in writing to the Still Picture Branch. They will send you Xerox copies of images available and the image unique image number as well as a list of authorized contractors. If you decide to purchase an image you contact a contractor from the list and prepay for the service. They will then go to the archives and pull the negative and make your copy and send it to you by 1st class mail. The whole process takes about 4 weeks. Prints cost an average of $20.00 each.
National Archives, Still Picture Branch.
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park Maryland, 20740-6001
http://www.archives.gov/index.html

4. NavSource Naval History (Photographic History of the U.S. Navy). NAVSOURCE does not offer photo purchase. However, their website http://navsource.org is a good source to view and obtain information on the ship you are interested in. Here you can find:



  • Multiple images with Image descriptions.

  • Earned Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons.

  • Ship specifications.

  • Building and Operational Data.

  • Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign.

  • Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign.

[Source: http://www.navsource.org/faq/faq.htm Dec 2014 ++]
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Photos That Say it All ► Mommies Home

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