Grumpy Editor

U.S. relies on Russian-made rocket engines for military

The Pentagon, sidetracked with the new task of focusing on climate change as an “immediate threat” (see Grumpy Editor, Oct. 20), somehow is coping with rocket engines used by U.S. military --- that are made in Russia, observes Grumpy Editor.

This has escaped the attention of major U.S. media that, before staff cutting, used to employ military (or defense) editors/columnists who kept their eyes open to expose such developments.  (The Pentagon also has been involved in reducing U.S. military ranks and the number of active ships and aircraft, while Russia and China are boosting military forces and equipment.)

“Reliance on these Russian engines is offensive and a threat to our national security,” emphasized David A. Deptula in an op-ed piece Friday in The Wall Street Journal.

Deptula, a retired Air Force three-star general and former Air Force chief of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, declared, “The Pentagon is still injecting millions of dollars into the Russian military industrial complex.”

He pointed out that the U.S. Air Force paid $50 million for two new RD-180 rocket engines produced by NPO Energomash, a Russian company with about 5,500 workers.

Deptula mentioned, “For years the U.S. military’s use of Russian rocket engines has enriched a corrupt Russian government at the expense of U.S. taxpayers and helped finance Russia’s advances in missile technology.”  He added, “The U.S. military’s dependence on Russia for launches has long been an uncomfortable reality.” 

The former Air Force general cited a recent report for the Pentagon that indicated Russian-made engines are slated to be used in 56 percent of U.S. national-security launches in the next six years.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Now, about improving security at that easy-to-jump-over White House fence. A higher fence would be the simple way to correct the problem. However, (like all government operations) it can’t happen without a study, then a review of the study, then recommendations and finally, actually getting it done, reminded White House spokesman Josh Earnest…Headline over a story released by The Associated Press read:  AP-GfK Poll: Most expect GOP victory in November.  A daily in the West, however, adjusted the headline to read:  Like it or not, most expect Republicans to win Senate…Quick action:  North Korea decided to close its borders to tourists due to concerns over the Ebola virus…Creative agency thinkPARALLAX, Encinitas, Calif., is offering employees $1,500 to travel to exotic destinations and blog about it...Bloomberg Businessweek will debut a Czech-language edition late next month…Long-distance printing: The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, will close its 46-year-old printing plant and shift that operation 130 miles away to a facility in Mobile, Ala., late next year or early 2016.  About 100 production jobs will be terminated in New Orleans…Yellow indeed means caution.  Chicago suspended a shorter-than-normal yellow traffic light, part of a red light camera program, after the Chicago Tribune questioned the practice that yielded 77,000 tickets (at $100 each), bringing in almost $8 million to the city in six months.

 

Does she read newspaper business sections? Hillary Clinton told a Boston rally:  “Don’t let anybody tell you it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.” 

With 'muted' inflation, seniors 2015 COLA: 1.7 percent

While growing inflation was indicated just four months ago, that "dragon" has vaporized with today's announcement that the 2015 cost of living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients and others will be 1.7 percent, the fifth time in six years that the COLA was under 2 percent, notes Grumpy Editor.

Some seniors faced with higher costs in vital areas such as health care, utilities, car insurance, groceries and airline travel are raising eyebrows over the Bureau of Labor Statistics tally.

The 2015 COLA compares with increases of 1.5 percent for 2014, 1.7 percent for 2013 and 3.6 percent in 2012 following two years with no raises.

The BLS averages consumer price indexes from July, August and September to determine next year’s COLA for about 60 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients.

As recently as May there were indications of higher inflation.  That's when the BLS announced year-over-year gain in the consumer price index for the 12 months ended in April jumped to 2 percent.

A June 13 headline in The Wall Street Journal read:  Inflation "Dragon" Shows Signs of Stirring.  Two days later, Associated Press reported “evidence that inflation is ticking up from low levels.”

After the BLS released figures on June 17 that showed the CPI rose 2.1 percent over the prior 12 months, media reported indications point to “a burst of higher inflation.”

That’s when John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics LLC, said, “we’ve got an inflation rate that’s been rising more than the Fed expected."

Those June reports came as an early indicator that Social Security recipients might get an improved COLA boost for 2015.  But, as with the weather, clouds suddenly began to appear on the horizon.

In July, the BLS said consumer prices rose 1.6 percent from a year earlier --- down from 2.1 percent it reported just a month earlier. 

Then in late August word was put out that most signs point to “benign inflation pressures.”

Going into September, media resurrected use of the long-used "tame" in referring to inflation.  At month's end, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said inflation was "stubbornly low."

Inflation took a back seat last week when the "risk of deflation" phrase made a reappearance with reports of slowing global economic growth.

Pentagon brass prepare for 'Battle of Climate Change'

One would think the Pentagon, with its 23,000 military and civilian staffers, would have enough on its hands with U.S. airstrikes against militants in Syria, actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, on alert for ISIS threats at home and abroad, possible strikes against Iran if nuclear discussions falter, the dispatch of 3,000 U.S. combat troops to west Africa in connection with the Ebola epidemic plus awaiting further action there following President Barack Obama’s executive order last Thursday allowing the Pentagon to call up reserve troops for that area, notes Grumpy Editor.

Also, with growing global instability, Russia and China are building up military forces while the U.S. is reducing military ranks and the number of active ships and aircraft.

So what poses the immediate threat of great concern to the Pentagon? Climate change.

The Pentagon last week released “2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap.” 

With release of the report, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned rising global temperatures, increasing sea levels and intensifying weather events will challenge global stability, that could lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease and disputes over refugees and resources.

Along with this, the Pentagon, gearing up for the impact of climate change, was conducting a survey to assess the vulnerability of more than 7,000 military bases and other facilities.

All this as if there never has been great changes in weather --- hot/cold periods along with wet/dry seasons over the years at home and abroad.  That’s the weather on Earth.  It’s natural.

Speaking out against the Pentagon report, Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said, “It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the president and his administration would focus on climate change when there are other, legitimate threats in the world.”

In connection with the Pentagon’s “climate war, ” A Wall Street Journal editorial said, “The principal threats being multiplied here are hype and hysteria.”

Meanwhile, there’s more Ebola work for the troops.

At the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Pentagon on Sunday announced it is forming a 30-person rapid-response team --- including five doctors and 20 critical-care nurses --- to provide quick medical support to U.S. healthcare workers in connection with the Ebola virus.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

With appointment of an Ebola czar accomplished, President Barack Obama was off to the golf course at Fort Belvoir, Va. Saturday, back on the campaign trail Sunday in Maryland and returned to fundraising today in Chicago…The Pentagon came up with a name (sending some folks to dictionaries) in connection with the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria: Operation Inherent Resolve…While print and broadcast outlets were closely following hurricanes aimed at Bermuda and Hawaii, most media missed a Sierra storm that hit the Lake Tahoe-Reno area with winds gusting to 85 miles per hour toppling trees, downing power lines, leaving 1,000 homes without power for several hours…Missing staff box.  Rather strange for a weekly magazine, nowhere in Sunday’s Parade was there an indication of editorial or advertising staffers and contacts.  Perhaps it had something to do with the recent sale of the 73-year-old publication that saw most of its 85 New York office staffers cut as the magazine was acquired by Athlon Media Group and moved to Nashville…Budget cuts at CNN Worldwide scrapped CNN’s Crossfire and HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell’s nightly show, part of 300 jobs axed by the cable operation, plus about 130 buyouts.

They are blushing at Indiana University's Media School in Bloomington, Ind.

A new bronze sculpture of Ernie Pyle, famed World War II correspondent who died in 1945 from a Japanese sniper’s bullet, has "correspondent" misspelled as "corespondent” on an arm patch.  The word was noticed just prior to Friday’s unveiling outside the media school’s building.

Media quiet as mystery disease affects 65 U.S. Marines

With print and broadcast media providing around-the-clock coverage of ebola, overlooked is a mystery disease that so far has affected 65 U.S. Marines, up from 31 last month, with more expected to become ill, finds Grumpy Editor.

The ailing 3^rd Division Marines recently trained at the Jungle Warfare Training Center at Camp Gonsalves in northern Okinawa.

In uncovering this, Matthew M. Burke, a reporter on the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, said, “Symptoms included fever and chills, head and muscle aches, nausea and vomiting, jaundice, abdominal pain, diarrhea and rashes. Some cases were mild; others required hospitalization.”

Burke mentioned Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joy Dierks, a III Marine Expeditionary Force preventative medicine officer, and her team from U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa were tasked with figuring out the cause and stopping it before more become ill.

One suspected source:  Leptospirosis, which the World Health Organization described as a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Early stages may include high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, chills, redness in the eyes, abdominal pain, jaundice, hemorrhages in skin and mucous membranes (including pulmonary bleeding), vomiting, diarrhea and a rash.

But pinpointing it will not come soon.  Burke said Dierks believes definitive answers are expected by the end of next month.

In the meantime, Marines continued training at the Jungle Warfare Training Center but water submersion in pools and pits was prohibited, added Burke.  Marines have also been instructed to wash down thoroughly after training and dry their uniforms.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

London’s Daily Mail reported China has toppled the U.S. to become the biggest economy in the world, citing figures from the International Monetary Fund that showed the Chinese economy was worth $17.61 trillion compared with $17.4 trillion for the U.S.  The newspaper added, “The White House seemed caught flat-footed by the news, crowing on Wednesday about America's relative economic strength in comparison with the rest of the world”…US Airways is facing a major PR problem from many of its passengers and others who noted hundreds of tweets following an onboard incident on a Portland, Ore. to Charlotte, N.C. aircraft Friday.  It centered on a flight attendant who refused coach-ticketed Army Ranger First Sgt. Albert Marle’s request to place his heavily-decorated jacket in a closet to avoid wrinkles.  Reason?  He wasn’t in first-class.  A first-class passenger observed, “I was really appalled at not only the way she looked at him but the way she spoke to him in an angry type of attitude.”  Read more via a New York Daily News account here…Another PR problem, now on a regular basis in the City of  Angels, stems from White House visitors, mainly for fundraising.  Grumbling Los Angeles area drivers met snarled traffic via street closures and detours last week in wide areas from eastside to westside. Motorcades with Vice President Joe Biden stirred things up Monday and Tuesday, President Barack Obama followed on Thursday and Friday with routes from Brentwood, near Beverly Hills, to San Dimas 28 miles east-northeast of downtown L.A....In a late decision, the press today will be allowed to cover Hillary Clinton’s speech to the University of Nevada Las Vegas Foundation. Clinton’s fee for the speech at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip:  $225,000…While most people around the country are observing Columbus Day today, Seattle and Minneapolis are marking Indigenous People's Day. Associated Press mentioned it “celebrates the contributions and culture of Native Americans and the indigenous community" as well as "the rich history of people who have inhabited the area"...Retired NBC talk show host and car collector Jay Leno is negotiating with CNBC for a show about cars, a subject dear to his heart...Where are the fact checkers?  President Barack Obama, in a video message, offered advice to West African countries on how to avoid ebola. He mentioned:  "You cannot get it through casual contact like sitting next to someone on a bus." Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was advising Americans who travel to ebola-stricken nations to "avoid public transportation”…Turner Broadcasting, with CNN, HLN, TNT and Cartoon cable networks in its family, said it would slash its work force by 1,475 positions.  Turner's parent is Time Warner Inc.

 

Getting it straight with a long-delayed fix:  The New Jersey Herald in Newton on Thursday issued a correction to a story --- published 162 years ago.  It related to a bear mauling a teenage boy to death.  The 1852 story didn't list a location of the bear attack, making it appear it happened in New Jersey. In the correction, with recent confirmation, the Herald said the incident actually happened in Arkansas. 

Sharp eyes read deeper into glowing U.S. jobs report

Uppermost in voters’ minds as midterm elections near are the economy and jobs, notes Grumpy Editor, who finds keen business-oriented observers --- looking beyond bright leads on stories relating to those subjects --- often raise eyebrows.

Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, indicated the jobless rate fell to 5.9 percent in September and companies added 248,000 positions to payrolls.  That was enough to send the Dow industrials up 208.64 points (again crossing the 17000 mark) to 17009.69.

"You couldn’t ask for a better-looking jobs report,” beamed a New York-based senior economist.

But sharp eyes that continued reading the BLS report noted the average hourly wage decreased a penny in September to $24.53.

As a Wall Street Journal editorial Friday pointed out: “Average earnings have risen only 2 percent in the last 12 months, which means most workers have barely received a raise after inflation.”

Also, and not trumpeted, was the dwindling size of the U.S. labor force which dropped by nearly 100,000, putting the participation rate --- 62.7 percent --- at the lowest level since 1978.

That low rate, a measure of what proportion of the population was employed or actively looking for jobs, compared with 66 percent or slightly higher most of the time between early 2004 and October, 2008.

Although the average work week in September edged up for the first time in six months to 34.6 hours from 34.5 in August, it was still below the long-time traditional U.S. 40-hours work week.

Thus, it’s a recovery that many Americans barely feel.

Look for the next BLS jobs report on Nov. 7 --- three days after Election Day.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

In-the-news Ebola emerged four decades ago.  The deadly virus that causes fever, severe gastrointestinal pain, unusual bleeding often resulting in death from fluid loss and organ shutdown, first appeared in small rural villages in central Africa in the mid-1970s…The White House continues to avoid any action to free Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi languishing behind bars in Mexico after making a wrong turn on a road into Mexico six months ago. He served in Afghanistan and later was diagnosed with PTSD. What’s the latest?  When asked at Wednesday’s press briefing, buck-passing White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “My colleagues at the State Department are very focused on this issue. I'd refer you to them for their efforts to work with the Mexican government." Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said, "Shame on President Obama for not making a 30-second telephone call to the president of Mexico and getting this thing settled a long time ago”…Still dodging pot holes on federal roads because of lack of funds?  Mentioned in a Wall Street Journal Oct. 3 story:  “Since the end of 2001, the U.S. has spent over $100 billion on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a Pentagon oversight body”…Acquisition leads to trimming contributors.  Forbes.com, after a majority stake in Forbes Media (which includes Forbes magazine) was acquired by Asian investors in July, axed a number of contributors...Following a police air and ground search for a 10-year-old boy, Cameron Polom, a TV reporter on assignment for ABC Action News in Tampa, found the youngster, missing for about 14 hours, peeking through a fence…Rare humor in a serious story: “If passengers on a delayed flight from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, got a bit crabby, no one could really say they were being too shellfish,” read the lead in an Associated Press story with a New York dateline. Delaying the Thursday evening flight from LaGuardia Airport:  live crabs that somehow got loose in the cargo hold…The New York Times plans to eliminate about 100 newsroom jobs along with a smaller number of positions from its editorial and business operations.  The action follows 100 newsroom jobs cut in 2008, 100 more in 2009 and an additional 30 early last year…Will thirsty voters be drinking to this?  Taxes on sugar-laden drinks, including sodas, are on next month’s ballots in San Francisco and Berkeley.  Measures call for a two cents an ounce tax in San Francisco and one cent an ounce in Berkeley.

Correcting a reporter who used the “illegal aliens” term, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, “Are you referring to undocumented people who are in the United States?”  The reporter replied, “Illegal aliens, yes ma’am.”  That brought Pelosi to repeat, “Undocumented people, okay.”