Replying to a message of Bj”rn Felten to Dale Shipp:

 DS>>   Isn't the shortest path from much of the US to Belgium gotten by  
 DS>> heading north?

 BF>    Not for much of, only from Hawaii and north-western Alaska. Even
 BF> from Seattle the great circle runs over the southern tip of
 BF> Greenland, I just checked it the classic way: with a piece of string
 BF> on a globe... :)

If memory serves, on a Mercator projection map the Great Circle route is a
straight line.  You could've used a ruler ...

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