Posted on

Meet the US Navy’s new $13 billion aircraft carrier

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is the first in the US Navy’s next generation of warships.

USS Gerald R. Ford was officially commissioned on July 22.  Rooted in naval tradition, a commissioning is an elaborate ceremony that puts a ship in active service.

The Gerald R. Ford was launched from dry dock into Virginia’s James River in November 2013 to begin its trials.

Despite being officially commissioned, the Ford will require another four years of trials before deployment in 2021.

The finished carrier measures 1,106 feet long and 250 feet high.

Posted on

Mother Goose Comes a Knockin’

Officer James Givens has served with the Cincinnati Police Department for over 26 years, but has never quite experienced anything like this before.

He was sitting in his patrol car in a parking lot when he got an unexpected visitor.

A goose came up to his car and started pecking on the side of it. He threw food out for her, thinking that’s what she wanted, but she didn’t take it.

She continued to peck and quack, then walked away, stopped, and looked back at Officer Givens. Then she came back to his car and pecked at it again.

   She made it very obvious that she wanted Officer Givens to follow her, so he finally got out of his car and did just that.   

The goose led him 100 yard away to a grassy area near a creek. 

Sitting there was one of her babies, tangled up in a balloon string.The baby was kicking its feet, desperate for help.

 Being wary of helping the baby on his own, and worried that the goose might attack him, Givens called for help from the SPCA, but no wildlife rescuers were available at the moment.

Luckily, Given’s colleague, Officer Cecilia Charron, came to help.  She began to untangle the baby, and the mother goose just stood there and watched, quacking.

She didn’t become aggressive, and just let Officer Charron do what she had to do to set the baby free.

It was like the mother goose knew they were helping.  Once Charron untangled the baby, she put it down and it ran right to her mom, and they went right to swimming in the creek.

 Charron teared up and said it was the highlight of her 24 years on the force.

“It seems like something made up.  It was just incredible,” Givens said.

“I honestly don’t know why I decided to follow her, but I did.  It makes me wonder – do they know to turn to humans when they need help?”

 We may never know the answer to this question, but what we do know is that Officer Givens was in the right place at the right time to help these geese!

Life is precious. A great story with a good ending.