I DONT WANT TO SEEM PEDANTIC, BUT... - AT 10:17 A.M. ET:   There are some journalistic practices that drive me up a wall.  This is one of them.  You see it all the time.  From AP:

NEW YORK — The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

The USS New York is to be placed in active military service during a ceremony on a Manhattan pier Saturday morning. Naval officials say the steel from the trade center attacked on 9/11 symbolizes that the United States will always persevere.

COMMENT;  Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  The United States has not commissioned a new battleship since the USS Missouri was commissioned on June 11, 1944.  We don't build battleships anymore.  A battleship is a type of warship.  But a remarkable number of journalists refer to any warship as a battleship. There are directories. 

The USS New York is an LPD (Landing Platform Dock), an amphibious assault ship.

I await a news story informing us that the ship is owned by Carnival Lines.

November 7,  2009