KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN (ALPHABET) LOOP

Alphabet Loop is a complex layout of highways in downtown Kansas City, Missouri involving 23 exits, four Interstate Highways, four U.S. Highways and numerous city streets. Each exit in the highway loop is numbered 2 and suffixed with every letter of the alphabet except I, O, and Z (I and O look similar to 1 and 0 on the exit tabs; Z is not needed). The entire circumference of the loop is just over 4 miles.

AVIATION NAVIGATION FIXES

Navigation fixes are intersections or points along airways (highways in the sky) and airport arrival/departure procedures. Fixes are given five letter names (like NOISE and WEEDY) to make them easy for pilots and air traffic controllers to reference.

When airways or procedures are being designed or modified, local FAA facility employees often recommend fix names. The FAA’s Office of Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) checks the names to make sure they are unique, pronounceable, and not obscene or controversial.

Here are some examples:

Sports fanatics: Near Boston, you have CELTS and BOSOX.  Only in Texas you find:  GOALL, PPUNT, DRPPD, FTBAL,TEXNN, COACH, QTRBK, TAKKL, RECVR, FMBLE and TCHDN. By Soldier Field; KUBBS and BEARS. In DC GIBBZ, SKINS, and MONKK.

Foodies: Near Kansas City, you get the regional SPICY, BARBQ, TERKY, SMOKE and RIBBS. And in Vermont and New Hampshire,  HAMMM BURGR FRYYS.

One of the more unusual set of fixes is a tribute to Warner Brothers Cartoon characters Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird on the approach to runway 16 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire International Airport. The fixes read: ITAWT ITAWA PUDYE TTATT IDEED.

INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AS OF JULY 1, 2018
TOTAL POPULATION	26,629
OFFENDERS BY CLASSIFICATION LEVEL
Minimum	14.4%
Medium	51.4%
Close	16.7%
Maximum	17.5%
SEX
Male	90.3%
Female	9.7%
RACE/ETHNICITY
White	62.3%
Black	33.1%
Hispanic	3.9%
Undetermined	0.2%
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.2%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3%
AVERAGE AGE AT INTAKE	33.3
AVERAGE CURRENT AGE	38.5

CITY OF CHICAGO 311 SERVICE CALLS FOR RATS

MEGHAN MARKLE HEADLINES FOR DECEMBER 2018

This is the one and only time you will ever see a post about Meghan Markle on John Smith’s Blog. These headlines are in my news feed every day. Can you imagine anyone actually being interested enough to read one of the stories that go along with these headlines? (JKS)

12/9	Harry and Meghan’s Sweetest Moments of 2018
12/11	Meghan and Harry Do This Sweet Thing When They Miss Each Other
12/12	Pregnant Markle Bashed For Something All Things Moms Do
12/13	Duchess Megan Will Never Speak to Father Thomas Markle Again
12/13	Meghan Markle Is Being Called Difficult
12/14	New Photo From Wedding on Harry and Meghan’s Card
12/15	A Cute Theory About Why Meghan Markle Was  Cradling Her Baby
12/15	Samantha Markle is Offended by Meghan and Harry’s Christmas Photo
12/16	Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Christmas Card is Truly Breathtaking
12/17	Meghan Markle’s Dad Pleads for Reconciliation
12/18	Meghan Wears-Floral Midi Dress With Bare Legs
12/18	Meghan Responds to a Woman Who Chose Career Over Having Kids
12/19	Markle’s New Gold Ring Has a Protective Meaning
12/20	Markle Arrives in Diamonds to Queen’s Pre-Christmas Lunch
12/21	Meghan, Kate Feud Explained by Two Royal Experts
12/21	The Best Thing Meghan Markle Wore All Year
12/22	Why Prince Harry Drives Meghan Markle to Parties
12/24	See Meghan Markle’s  Style Evolution from Actress to Duchess
12/25	Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Lose Second Assistant
12/26	The Sweet Sign of Affection Between Meghan and Kate That We All Missed
12/27	Meghan Markle Cozied Up in One of Her Chicest Coats Yet For a Christmas Church Visit
12/28	Meghan Markle Joined the Family’s Shooting Lunch
12/30	Prince Harry and Meghan’s Body Language Exposed
12/31	Markle’s Fated New Year’s Resolution
1/1	Every Time Meghan Markle Has Broken Royal Fashion Protocol

U.S. POPULATION

Population of the United States at the end of 2018:

328,226,532

• One birth every 8 seconds
• One death every 11 seconds
• One international migrant (net) every 34 seconds
• Net gain of one person every 19 seconds

CJTF - OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE AND OPERATION ROUNDUP

B-1 STRIKE ON ISIS CAVE IN ATSHANAN MOUNTAINS, IRAQ ON 15-DEC-2018

Last "Strike" release was for week of Dec. 9 - Dec. 15. Now that President Trump has ordered withdrawal from Syria, are air operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve coming to an end? (JKS)

STRIKE:

A strike, as defined in the coalition release, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in that location.  For example, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined.

ENGAGEMENT:

An engagement is a separate item that has been destroyed.