Obama Sworn in for Second Term Sunday

via Juan Cole

Washington State Cities Population Density

In an attempt to prove a point to my wife, who claimed that Bainbridge Island was one of the top densest cities in Washington (I said Seattle was the densest city in the state), I pulled the data for population density for Washington State cities.

The top five densest citities in Washington (for 2012):

1. Seattle (King County, Population 616,500, Land Area 84 sq. mi.)

2. Mattawa (Grant County, Population 4,495, Land Area .69 sq. mi.)

3. Mountlake Terrace (Snohomish County, Population 20,090, Land Area 3.98 sq. mi.)

4. Burien (King County, Population 47,730, Land Area 9.92 sq. mi.)

5. Des Moines (King County, Population 29,700, Land Area 6.22 sq. mi.)

Population density ranking for Kitsap County (for 2012):

1. Poulsbo (ranked 91 overall in the state, Population 9,360, Land Area 4.75 sq. mi.)

2. Port Orchard (ranked 115 overall in the state, Population 11,780, Land Area 7.46 sq. mi.)

3. Bremerton (ranked 145 overall in the state, Population 39,650, Land Area 30 sq. mi.)

4. Bainbridge Island (ranked 220 overall in the state, Population 23,090, Land Area 32 sq. mi.)

Source: Washington State OFM

Urban Outlaw: Magnus Walker

I really enjoyed this. I hope someday to own a classic 911.

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

This week’s Radiolab features Errol Morris discussing Roger Fenton’s recognized picture, “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Turns out, the photo is staged.

“Fenton made two exposures from the same tripod position: in the first version of the celebrated photo he was to call “The Valley of the Shadow of Death”, the cannonballs are thick on the ground to the left of the road, but before taking the second picture – the one that is always reproduced – he oversaw the scattering of the cannonballs on the road itself.”

The Radiolab interview just begins to scratch the surface of Morris’ deep dive to get at the truth behind the picture. Even more fascinating is his “Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?” series: part one, two, and three.

Bill Nye on Evolution

Bill Nye on Evolution

"I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we've observed in the universe that's fine. But don't make your kids do it. We need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems."

Dolph Lundgren Is a WSU Grad

Turns out, he’s a bona fide genius. In April, Time magazine named him one of the 10 smartest actors in Hollywood. He reportedly has an IQ of 160.

After leaving WSU, he earned degrees from Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology and the University of Sweden where he won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at MIT.

via thenewstribune.com

Where were all the aircraft carriers on December 7, 1941?

Among the many topics that were discussed on Episode 42 of Roderick on the Line, the one that intrigued me the most was where all the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers were during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

From Naval History and Heritage, 

On 7 December 1941, the three Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers were USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Lexington (CV-2), and USS Saratoga(CV-3).

Enterprise: On 28 November 1941, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel sent TF-8, consisting of Enterprise, the heavy cruisers Northampton(CA-26), Chester (CA-27), and Salt Lake City (CA-24) and nine destroyers under Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., to ferry 12 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats of Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 211 to Wake Island. Upon completion of the mission on 4 December, TF-8 set course to return to Pearl Harbor. Dawn on 7 December 1941 found TF-8 about 215 miles west of Oahu.

Lexington: On 5 December 1941, TF-12, formed around Lexington, under the command of Rear Admiral John H. Newton, sailed from Pearl to ferry 18 Vought SB2U-3 Vindicators of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 231 to Midway Island. Dawn on 7 December 1941 found Lexington, heavy cruisers Chicago (CA-29), Portland (CA-33), and Astoria (CA-34), and five destroyers about 500 miles southeast of Midway. The outbreak of hostilities resulted in cancellation of the mission and VMSB-231 was retained on board [they would ultimately fly to Midway from Hickam Field on 21 December].

Saratoga: The Saratoga, having recently completed an overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, reached NAS San Diego [North Island] late in the forenoon watch on 7 December. She was to embark her air group, as well as Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 221 and a cargo of miscellaneous airplanes to ferry to Pearl Harbor.

Yorktown (CV-5), Ranger (CV-4) and Wasp (CV-7), along with the aircraft escort vessel Long Island (AVG-1), were in the Atlantic Fleet; Hornet (CV-8), commissioned in late October 1941, had yet to carry out her shakedown. Yorktown would be the first Atlantic Fleet carrier to be transferred to the Pacific, sailing on 16 December 1941.

 

Another interesting take-away was that at the Battle of Midway, the U.S. Navy took out four of Japan's aircraft carriers severely hindering the threat of Japan by air.