Grumpy Editor

CenturyLink sneaks up to $5 more in monthly charges

 

While a half dozen or more taxes, fees and surcharges on monthly telephone bills already irritate subscribers, other sneaky charges (without broad announcements) --- certainly spell BAD PR in capital letters --- irking people into looking at alternatives, observes Grumpy Editor.

New York Stock Exchange listed CenturyLink (CTL) provides the latest example of trickiness in squeezing $5 more monthly from many unknowing subscribers around the country.

First, starting tomorrow (March 1), the Monroe, La. communications and data services company hikes the monthly rate by $2 on all residential lines. Few subscribers are aware of this.

Then when it comes time to pay the monthly bill via the Web, CenturyLink this month quietly added a “convenience fee” of $3. (This compares with snail-mailing a payment, with higher costs to process, at 49 cents per envelope.)

Voilà: Up to $5 more a month per subscriber, just like that.

Perhaps the additional amount goes toward CenturyLink’s growing hefty printing/postage bills as it pitches customers up to three times a week with mailings touting its various services, including Prism TV. This is in addition to similar material e-mailed to customers.

Or maybe the added charges to customers are triggered by full-year 2015 operating revenues decreasing to $17.9 billion from $18 billion the prior year.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Other than in ads during the past week, George Washington’s birthday (Feb. 22), once widely recognized, escaped mention by most news outlets this year. The “father of our country” used to have his own birthdate widely celebrated but that was folded into President’s Day…Without too much eyebrow-raising by media, one of the strangest recent name-droppings is last week’s Obama Administration vetting of Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval to fill a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. While the development received much media attention, a Sandoval spokeswoman says neither the governor nor his staff was contacted by the White House. So --- surprise --- news reports the next day mention Sandoval removed himself from consideration for the Supreme Court seat…With the lengthening crude oil downturn, Halliburton says it will cut another 5,000 jobs, or 8 percent of the company's global workforce…Also affected by declining oil and gas activity, Schlumberger in the past year cut 25,000 jobs, or one fifth of its work force…In other layoff activity, HP, Inc. executives told analysts that nearly 3,000 workers would leave the company by the end of the year, an acceleration from an original plan that would have spread the job cuts across a three-year period…Will Burger King alter its name now that it serves hot dogs? The new fare marks the burger chain’s biggest menu addition since it started selling chicken in the 1970s…In the ho-hum department: A Reuters story Friday notes “Senior U.S. defense officials voiced concern about North Korea's nuclear ambitions”…

One of the most irritating things on TV:

Commercials with doorbells on the sound track that sound exactly like your own.

Shaky US. health care system shows widening cracks

 

Few people recall the days when newspaper staffs included medical editors who focused on doctors, hospitals, medicine and medical developments.  Among natural current topics for such a specialized journalist would be the difficulty one has in trying to contact a specialist to set a date soonest for an office visit or to reach a physician for input on a nagging medical condition.

Grumpy Editor knows of a woman with a severe back problem in late January whose earliest visit to a doctor’s group with 22 orthopedics was in far-off April.  Then there’s a senior bachelor who just returned home after spending three months in a hospital, terming the confinement “just terrible.”

What’s going on?

Dr. Diana Hoppe, an obstetrician and gynecologist, founder of Amazing Over 40 Inc., a health coaching certification program for women and an author/speaker who has been featured on a number of TV shows, including “Dr. Oz,” puts some light on the situation, listing what she calls “staggering, and depressing, statistics.”

• From 2011 to 2014, the rate of physician burnout increased to 54.5 percent from 45.5 percent, with the most common burnout symptom being emotional exhaustion.
• The rate of suicidal ideation among physicians jumped from 4 percent to 7.2 percent, an increase of 80 percent.
• Physician work-life balance is completely awry --- with 44.5 percent of physicians lacking adequate time for their personal and/or family life.

• The U.S. faces a shortage of as many as 90,000 physicians by 2025, including a critical need for specialists to treat an aging population that will increasingly live with chronic disease.
• Health care costs in the U.S. are higher than any other country.
• Eighty-six percent of all health care spending in 2010 was for people with one or more chronic medical conditions.
• About 70 percent of chronic conditions could be treated with lifestyle changes.

Dr. Hoppe hastens to point out that the most common chronic and costly medical conditions in the U.S. today are preventable. Heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity and arthritis are conditions that could be treated with simple changes in patients’ behavior.

She cites four of the most common health risk behaviors that cause chronic disease are lack of exercise or physical activity, poor nutrition, smoking and drinking too much alcohol.

Her suggestion to doctors: “Rather than handing them a list of prescription medications, give your patients a weekly nutrition and exercise journal.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Grumpy Editor edges out Associated Press by 19 days in reporting an increase in cable and Internet charges to Cox Communications customers with the Feb. 1 posting on the fee battle between Cox and Las Vegas’ CBS-TV outlet KLAS…On top of a crime:  The Feb. 19 issue of a newspaper (largest daily in its state) reports a description of three men in connection with a bank robbery --- on Dec. 8.  Story includes what the bad guys were wearing (such as “a black hoodie and a white bandana mask”), like they might be in the same attire more than 10 weeks later…It’s layoffs for some Yahoo employees as it focuses its resources on four key verticals: news, sports, finance and lifestyle…What are consumers doing with the money saved on lower-price gas these days? One survey finds while many people say they put the extra cash toward savings, credit card data reveal the money is being spent at restaurants…Wine Market Council research finds millennials drank 42 percent of wine consumed in the U.S. last year, more than any other generation at an average of two cases per person…Bloomberg reports dozens of members of Congress plan to ask the Obama administration to review the planned acquisition of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a Chinese firm, to assess whether it poses a national security risk or a risk to the companies traded on the exchange…In Japan, as Shinzo Abe’s government seeks to silence criticism, Hiroko Kuniya, a leading TV anchor known for her tough questioning style, will be replaced in April after 23 years hosting a social affairs show on public broadcaster NHK...Hillary Clinton, in  a CBS interview Thursday says she doesn't believe she has ever told a lie and vowed to do her best to be honest going forward...Think of how many times South Carolina was mentioned on television in the past two weeks.

 

Paying monthly cable bill for this?

CNBC yesterday (Sunday) listed paid programming all day through 7 p.m. Eastern.

Grumpy Editor is taking time off with President's Day

 

Marking President’s Day, Grumpy Editor is taking time off.

Now Obama Administration fears ‘Big One,’ seeks plan

One of the Obama Administration’s major concerns last year was global warming/climate change. Now, barely into 2016, the White House’s major focus is on boosting earthquake-preparedness efforts, notes Grumpy Editor.

“While no one can predict earthquakes, the study of natural hazards and their causes and impacts has put us on the path to creating more effective tools to prevent these hazards from becoming disasters,” says Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

The White House is gearing up for an “Earthquake Resiliency Summit.”

California, where small, unfelt shakers occur daily, has a 99.7 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“We have the real opportunity to mitigate damage and save lives if we act now on an early warning system,” declares summit participant Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-Calif.), adding, “the federal government cannot, and will not, fund the system in its entirety.”

So you know what that means.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

A bill introduced in the House requires eligible women in to sign up for the military draft. If passed, women 18 to 26 years old, for the first time, would have to join men in registering with the Selective Service program --- and face fighting in future wars…Despite glowing economic reports on U.S. employment (non-farm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs --- questioned by some --- last month) out of the White House, investors are rethinking expectations for interest-rate increases this year, as more feel the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise rates next month --- and possibly not this year…The Daily Caller reports a YouGov poll of 18,000 people in 17 countries finds only 9.2 percent of Americans rank global warming as their biggest concern…Would this happen in World War II? The Pentagon releases 198 photos in connection with allegations of abuse or mistreatment of detainees held by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2009, reports ABC News…Eight-year-old Fox Business Network posts its highest overall ratings and highest ratings in the key 25-to 54-year-old demographic in January, tallies Nielsen Media Research…Low oil prices sparks new tax talk. President Barack Obama is seen proposing a $10-a-barrel oil tax to fund a transportation spending plan. That would translate into 25 cents a gallon more for consumers…In the ho-hum department: Congress (as for decades, with the open-ended, never-settled Korean War in the 1950s) is moving to approve new sanctions on North Korea…The Chicago Stock Exchange says Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group agreed to acquire it, giving the Chinese investor group entry into the U.S. equity market…Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. Henry Cuella (D-Texas) pressed the Department of Homeland Security to explain why the agency plans to reduce aerial surveillance on the Texas-Mexico border…CNSNews reports the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy says if the U.S. seeks to humiliate Iran, the IRGC would release footage of the 10 U.S. sailors detained last month that is much more embarrassing than images released earlier…Risky business: A KGTV, San Diego reporter-photographer team is injured when a tree toppled on them in Mira Mesa.

Oops!

A Wall Street Journal story reports Linkedin Corp. fourth quarter revenue incorrectly as $861.9 billion rather than million.

With Super Bowl looming, Cox pulls plug on KLAS in Vegas

Looks like a booming business from Southern Nevada this week in signups for DIRECTV or DISH, stemming from a fee battle between Cox Communications’ cable service and Nexstar Broadcasting Group, owner of KLAS, Channel 8 in Las Vegas, which is scheduled to telecast the Super Bowl next Sunday in one of the biggest betting days of the year in the gambling mecca, notes Grumpy Editor.

Cox already has blanked out KLAS cable transmissions in a steamy corporate battle.

That leads to unexpected new business for satellite service providers DIRECTV and DISH.

At issue is the monthly fee per household that Cox pays Nexstar for Channel 8's content.

In pulling the signal from subscribers to the cable service, Cox accuses KLAS, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas, of  "demanding a significant fee increase." 

KLAS management has advised Cox customers to cut the cable cord and sign up for satellite service, or use a high-definition TV antenna to get the station's signal over the air.

The station’s owners point out “Cox has had disputes with five other broadcast companies in the last two years” and “from the outset of negotiations five months ago, Nexstar offered rates to Cox that are comparable to those Nexstar receives from other cable companies.”

Meanwhile, Cox is running ads on other cable stations blaming KLAS for the impasse.

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Overlooked in the Cox-Nexstar battle, Grumpy Editor finds Cox --- in a rate increase mode --- is springing higher charges on its Las Vegas area customers for its cable TV service (along with its high-speed Internet) starting Wednesday.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Anyone notice that while Washington, Congress and other federal workers were snarled --- and off work --- by a snowstorm last week, the capital’s print and broadcast folks made it to work on time?...Also with that D.C. storm, two photos by Reuters photographer Joshua Roberts of people shoveling snow in front of the Supreme Court building made it into two sections of Tuesday's The Wall Street Journal… A jump in military helicopter crash deaths last year is raising questions on whether budget cuts are endangering troops by less maintenance and training, reports Stars and Stripes, pointing out 12 helicopter crashes in 2015 killed 30 service members, triple the deaths a year prior. Twelve more died when two U.S. Marine CH-53 Super Stallions collided off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii during a night training flight Jan. 14…Sprint, fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier with a workforce of 33,000, is cutting about 2,500 jobs at six customer care centers plus its Kansas headquarters, part of a plan to slice $2.5 billion in costs…Blushing Sin City news folks? A detailed story on the resignation of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air’s chief operating officer likely resulted from safety issues, runs in the Las Vegas Sun --- but is picked up from the far-off Tampa Bay Times…In a PR move, in the mail last week: envelopes stating they are from the “Office of the governor of Alaska.” In a message, Bill Walker declares, “Alaska is different from every other destination in the world” and invites recipients to use a postage-paid card “and your FREE Alaska travel guide is on its way!”

After not carrying bylines in its 80-year-history, Consumer Reports adds writer’s names, starting with the May issue.