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Archives for June 2011

100 Years Ago: Congressman, Stories, and Savings

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Postal Savings Depository window

Postal Savings Depository window

The following was adapted from the Improvement Era magazine of June 1911.

Another Congressman

On the morning of April 27 the House of Representatives passed a bill providing for the enlargement of the National House of Representatives from 391 to 433 members. The apportionment to the several states will be made on the basis of the population shown by the recent federal census. This bill is known as the Houston bill, and leaves the legislatures of the different states to re-arrange the congressional districts in their respective states on the basis of the new population, one member for each 211,877 inhabitants. Utah will gain one member.

[The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the size of the House at 435 where it remains today, though Congress has the authority to change that number. Utah increased its Representatives to two in 1913 and then to three in 1983. As a result of the 2010 census, in 2013 a fourth Utah Representative will be seated in Washington.]

Mother Stories

Mother Stories From the Book of Mormon is the title of a nicely printed story book by William A. Morton, author of The Gospel Primer, Primary Helper, and the Children’s Life of Our Savior, etc. The volume consists of twenty Book of Mormon stories, suitably adapted and attractively told, and dealing with interesting incidents in the life of Nephi, Lehi, Zeniff, Sons of Mosiah, the Three Nephites, Samuel the Lamanite, two memorable battles, and Christ’s visit to the Nephites. Every mother in the land should find the contents of this book of great interest to her children as bed-time stories.

[President Hinckley said of this book: “As I thumbed through the pages, there came into my mind pictures of cold winter nights when we sat about the stove in our home, our mother reading to us about the great characters of the Nephite record. This was my first introduction to the Book of Mormon.” The book can be read at Google Books or Open Library.]

Postal Savings Banks

Postal savings banks in Utah are found in Provo and Bingham Canyon, and a new order makes Logan the third city in the state designated for a bank of this kind. The post office department at Washington has decided to have a bank in each second class city of the country, the postal bank idea having passed beyond the experimental stage, and been pronounced a success wherever tried.

[The United States Postal Savings System was established in 1911 and was discontinued in 1966. It offered account holders the post office’s convenient location and hours and the security of depositing funds in a federal institution.]

Adapted from: “Passing Events”, Improvement Era, Vol. XIV. June, 1911. No. 8.
Photo credit: Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

Postal Savings Certificate of Deposit 1941

Postal Savings Certificate of Deposit 1941


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2010 Defense Spending by Country

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2010 Defense Spending by Country

The eighteen countries with the largest military budgets. See table below for actual dollar amounts.

Military Expenditures

The eighteen nations with the largest military budgets in 2010 are shown in the chart above (click to enlarge). The United States, with a budget of $698 billion, spends more on defense than the next seventeen nations combined. The United States military spending is almost six times that of the next biggest spender, China ($119 billion) and more than eleven times that of Russia ($59 billion).

The Department of Defense budget in fiscal year 2010 accounted for 19% of the United States federal budget and 28% of estimated tax revenues. The U.S. accounts for 40% of the world’s yearly defense outlays.

Defense Spending by GDP – Top Ten Countries

Patrol near Combat Outpost Castle, Helmand province, Afghanistan

U.S. Marine patrol, Combat Outpost Castle, Afghanistan

  1. Eritrea 20.9%
  2. Saudi Arabia 11.2%
  3. Oman 9.7%
  4. United Arab Emirates 7.3%
  5. Timor Leste 6.8%
  6. Israel 6.3%
  7. Chad 6.2%
  8. Jordan 6.1%
  9. Georgia 5.6%
  10. Iraq 5.4 %

When spending is considered by percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the United States is not even in the top ten. At 4.7% of GDP the U.S. falls to eleventh place.

Six of the ten countries listed are in the Middle East where there are sharp regional tensions. The fear of conventional military attack is very real which helps justify high defense spending.

Internal instability is a growing factor and is a threat to the existing power structure within states, as demonstrated by recent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and other Middle East countries.

GDP percentages are for 2009, except for Eritrea (2003). The list contains seven countries that do not appear in the table below because their total military spending is lower than the top thirty nations.

Table Of Defense Spending – Top 30 Countries in 2010

Click ONCE on column headers to sort.

Country $billion1 $ Rank %GDP2 %GDP Rank3 $ Per Capita
United States4 & 8 698.3 1 4.7 11 2,260
China9 119.4 2 2.2 55 88
United Kingdom 59.6 3 2.7 45 963
France 59.3 4 2.5 47 915
Russia 58.7 5 4.3 14 419
Japan7 54.5 6 1.0 129 429
Saudi Arabia5 45.2 7 11.2 2 1,727
Germany 45.2 8 1.4 99 550
India 41.3 9 2.8 42 34
Italy11 37.0 10 1.8 77 615
Brazil 33.5 11 1.6 88 172
South Korea10 27.6 12 2.9 39 569
Australia 24.0 13 1.9 70 1,115
Canada 22.8 14 1.5 91 672
Turkey 17.5 15 2.7 44 231
United Arab Emirates12 16.1 16 7.3 4 3,410
Spain 15.4 17 1.1 122 339
Israel6 14.0 18 6.3 6 1,929
Netherlands 11.2 19 1.5 93 671
Colombia 10.7 20 3.7 25 232
Greece 9.4 21 3.2 34 835
Taiwan 9.1 22 2.4 49 395
Poland 8.9 23 1.8 78 234
Singapore 8.4 24 4.3 13 1,736
Indonesia 7.2 25 0.9 136 31
Chile5 6.9 26 3.5 28 404
Norway 6.7 27 1.6 87 1,385
Algeria 5.7 28 3.8 21 160
Pakistan 5.6 29 2.8 43 31
Sweden 5.6 30 1.2 118 607

 

Notes

  1. Figures are in US $billions at 2010 prices and exchange rates.
  2. Percent GDP is for 2009.
  3. Percent GDP ranking is included because high expenditure countries are not necessarily spending at high percent of GDP.
  4. $159.3 billion of the U.S. budget is for “Overseas Contingency Operations,” to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  5. Figures for Chile and Saudi Arabia are for the adopted budget, rather than actual expenditure.
  6. Figures for Israel do not include spending on paramilitary forces.
  7. Figures for Japan do not include military pensions.
  8. Figures for the USA are for financial year (1 October to 30 September of stated year).
  9. Figures for China are estimates, including estimates for items not in the official defense budget.
  10. Figures for South Korea do not include spending on relocations and welfare of $974 million dollars.
  11. Figures for Italy include spending on civil defence, which typically amounts to 4.5% of the total.
  12. Figures for United Arab Emirates are uncertain and lacking in transparency. The only available source of data is from the IMF.

Sources

  • SIPRI Military Expenditure Database 2011, http://milexdata.sipri.org.
  • Dollars per capita were calculated using 2010 populations via Wolfram Alpha.
  • U.S. military budget percentages from Wikipedia, accessed 4 June 2011.
  • DoD photo by Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Clinton W. Runyon, U.S. Marine Corps.

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Dinosaurs at Hogle Zoo

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Tyrannosaurus Rex

Yesterday’s visit to Hogle Zoo with Jill, Adelaide, and my grandchildren found us encountering dinosaurs. Their heads and necks moved and they made noises so as to appear more life-like. The Dilophosaurus even spit water out of its mouth which scared my granddaughter Aurora and quite surprised me just as I was about to take its photograph.

The dinosaurs are presented in alphabetical order. If you click on the photographs, they will either show a larger version of the same photograph or a different shot of the same dinosaur.

Allosaurus

Allosaurus (different lizard) is the state fossil of Utah. The powerful skull of Allosaurus was a perfect meat-eating machine. The jaws were large and massive, with serrated teeth for cutting meat. The skull was composed of separated pieces that could be disjointed allowing him to swallow enormous chunks of meat whole. Allosaurus constantly grew, shed and replaced it teeth, some of which averaged three or four inches in length.

Allosaurus

Allosaurus

Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus (double-crested lizard) had colorful crests that could have been used to attract mates. In the movie Jurassic Park, Dilophosaurus paralyzed its prey by spitting blinding venom in the eyes. There is no evidence of this but it does make for a good story.

Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus with baby. They spit blinding venom in our eyes that felt a little like water.

Kentrosaurus

Kentrosaurus (sharp-point lizard) had plates along the low back tail that most likely served a defensive function. The tail had two pairs of sharp, two-foot spikes that were probably used for lashing out against predators. The plates may have had blood flowing through them to help heat and cool the dinosaur’s body.

Kentrosaurus

Kentrosaurus

Megalosaurus

Megalosaurus (great lizard) had curved teeth with a serrated edge and strong claws on each toe and finger. The curved claws were designed for seizing and holding prey, while the jaws were the main killing tool. Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to be discovered, in England in 1676.

Megalosaurus

Megalosaurus

Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus (crested lizard) had a hollow head-crest that allowed it to make a sound like a trombone. The noise may have been used to “talk” to the rest of the herd, warning them about approaching predators.

Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus

Rhinosaurus

Rhinosaurus (horned nose) is characterized by its large size, an herbivorous diet, large horns, and a thick protective skin. The Rhinosaurus can exceed 7,700 pounds in weight and have a head and body length of 15 feet. They are extremely nearsighted; making the Rhinosaurus dangerous and unpredictable, and likely to charge unfamiliar sounds and smells.

Rhinosaurus

Rhinosaurus. This one looked the most life-like

Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus (spiked lizard) used its horns for defense and could charge like a rhino to protect itself. But because its frill was not solid bone and was easily punctured, some researchers theorize that it may have been able to flush the frill with blood creating eyespots to scare predators away.

Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus and baby

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex (tyrant lizard king) was one of the largest animal predators. With a 5-foot-long head, 8-inch long teeth and a bite three times stronger than a lion’s, it could eat 200 pounds of meat in one bite. The little arms were extremely strong for holding on to struggling prey. It had a keen sense of smell, bone-crushing bites, and super speed.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex

 

Notes and News

  • Not shown here but on display at Hogle Zoo: Coelophysis, Suchmimus, and Brachiosaurus.
  • Dinosaur details are from onsite information displays.
  • At 1 pm we were fortunate to experience first-hand feeding time at the zoo.
  • An extensive multi-animal habitat, called Rocky Shores, featuring polar bears, sea lions, seals and brown bears will open in the Spring of 2012.

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