I think a lot of ships are already registered in US/NATO protectorates for precisely that reason.

Here we definitely both agree! Maybe one way to fix this is to have the companies that own/operate the ships pay a security fee to the United Nations, then the United Nations adds that fee into the pool of money used to finance a coalition of Navies with interests in the region to provide transit security in that…

But it’s in our national interest to enable our world partners and allies unrestricted access to trade, especially in Southeast Asia, where we are competing for influence with China (The Straits Of Hormuz connects Southeast Asia to Europe).

So? The marshall plan was not guaranteed to directly help the US Taxpayer. Do you think we should have left Europe a burning husk? Thats the whole point of aid, economic or otherwise in the realm of international relations, to further US interests via less direct means.

Well... One way to think about it is that unrestricted trade aids our economy, that then aids you with cheaper products to buy. My counter argument also has inherent problems, but this is the main argument the US has been using to keep a large Navy sense the USSR collapsed.

VW in Europe has a good lineup, though the Mazda lineup should qualify for being the best when the ND Miata and an AWD Mazdaspeed3 get into showrooms. Also not bringing over their Skyactiv diesel to the US hurts their standing.

Yeah, I don’t really understand why Mitsubishi is letting their lineup die of old age. Come on! If Mazda can products one of the best lineups on the market on a shoestring budget you would think the huge conglomerate of Mitsubishi would be able produce a better car.

Yup, Anti-roll bars back and front and multi-link suspension in the back (when most other compacts go with torsion bar) really help to push it to the front of the pack.

That is true only for the 1st and 2nd generation Mazda 3s. After Ford and Mazda broke up during the 2008 recession Mazda developed the Mazda 6 platform and has since used chopped down versions of that platform for the 3, 2, CX-5, and CX-3.

So.... Back to truck grills on passenger cars for Ford?

Very interesting! In the news you only hear about subs being damaged and repaired when they hit the big things like undersea mounts, each other, and Japanese fishing boats. What were some of the everyday repairs that subs needed in the 70s?

Yes, I understand that any one of those corvettes would blow a cutter out of the water, but if you look at the real world effectiveness of any smaller ship class in a conflict zone you may start to get worried. I think that may be how the US Navy is looking at the situation, at least until better (laser) point-defense…

Yeah, I just found it odd because I thought that the subs would use the same replenishment ships as the rest of the navy. Though looking at the two graphics again I can think of two reasons why the subs would need special replenishment ships. 1) unlike most other blue water ships in the navy helicopters can’t land on…

So basically the auteur theory section of a philosophy of film class...

I think basically because Corvettes are used for coastal defence the armed USCG Cutters serve the same purpose.

I didn’t realise we still have submarine tenders... Without needing them to refuel diesel subs I wonder what they are used for. Are they basically a sub exclusive torpedo/harpoon/cruise missile ammunition ship?

Minor update here... There is a new Oceanographic Survey vessel that was christened last year, the R/V Sally Ride.

Yes, pretty much the only reason I use a Mac nowadays is the operating system. It’s safe to say if they spun OSX off as an independent product that could run on any x86 system, just like Linux I would immediately jump ship to someone elses hardware.

Exactly! I think my favorite Chris Harris video so far was the video about his crappy old 2CV...

You kinda have to sympathise with the 1950s and 1960s era US Navy though. At the time the DOD only wanted to pay for 2 types of systems, systems that are or can carry nuclear weapons and systems that can detect and or destroy Russian nuclear bombers. Unfortunately before the advent of miniaturized boosted…