Grumpy Editor

Grumpy Editor gets into holiday spirit, returns Jan. 4

Trump team adds two from Fox News to security posts

Fox News is losing two of its top female commentators to key security posts on Donald Trump’s team, observed Grumpy Editor.

Monica Crowley will become senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council. She will work under retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, selected to be national security adviser.

Crowley will join former Fox News national security analyst, K.T. McFarland, selected earlier to serve as deputy national security adviser.

Crowley also was a columnist and online opinion editor at The Washington Times and a syndicated radio host.

McFarland’s national security experience dates back to the Nixon administration.

She was an aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, a speechwriter for Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs.

 

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Red faces in the Navy:  A shadowing Chinese Navy ship snatched a U.S. Navy underwater drone as crew members from the USNS Bowditch prepared to retrieve it in international waters in the South China Sea. Over the weekend, however, the Pentagon said China will return that drone…Southern California weather just like old times:  Rain started moving in late in the week as the Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains plus foothill communities in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys…In the aftermath of its questionable sales practices in September, Wells Fargo’s new customer banking activity continued to fall last month. November checking account openings, for example, fell 41 percent from a year prior...President-elect Donald Trump was expected to select Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer to serve as White House press secretary in his administration…Fox News' Bill O'Reilly told Deadline.com , “I thought the coverage of the election was disgraceful and it was dishonest. It was ideologically driven and I think that the news agencies that did that will never return to a level of credibility ever”…Get those saws ready: With about 102 million dead trees in California forests, the state said it wants them removed soonest to reduce the risk of wildfires…Cigars, once banned, fire up troops morale in Afghanistan, reported Stars and Stripes. Military, civilian and contractor personnel in Kabul said cigar smoking is more than a nicotine fix. They pointed out it’s a bond of friendship, an escape from the drudgery of deployed life and a taste of home.

            Like a war zone...

In San Francisco, gunfire erupted across the street from where San Francisco’s KPIX 5 reporter Susie Steimle was working another story, leading to some shaken nerves. The shooters are being sought.

Post-election stock market rally leaves some red faces

A number of stock market watchers warned about a major drop in the stock market if Donald Trump wins the election, reminds Grumpy Editor.

So what happened?

The Dow Jones industrial average jumps 1424 points in the month since elections on Nov. 8.

The Dow starts today at 19756.85, with only about 243 points more to reach the 20000 level.

Investors placing their funds into companies that will benefit from stronger economic growth and fiscal stimulus fed the month-long rally.

Traders see this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve, last of the year, to end with an interest rate increase, something that is expected to be received well by financial stocks.

Talk that Trump plans to lower income tax rates, giving consumers more disposable income, coupled with a hike in fiscal spending could continue to give the stock market a boost.

Lower corporate tax rates will lead to higher earnings, lifting stock prices.

 

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Although anything related to global warming gets heavy coverage these days, unusual cold late last week saw 80 percent of the nation experiencing below-freezing temperatures. Thermometers dropped 20 to 30 degrees below average in the region from Montana to deep in the heart of southern Texas. Also on the “warming” front, CBS News claims “a warming planet could make coffee harder to find.”

With 2017 just around the corner, which are the best cities to welcome the New Year? WalletHub analysts put Orlando in top spot, followed by San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver and Buffalo (Buffalo? Yep). Worst city: North Las Vegas --- and it’s only four miles from The Strip in Las Vegas (ranked No.10 among the top locations)…Tucker Carlson, now with an hour program on Fox News, left his editor-in-chief position at The Daily Caller but will maintain his ownership stake in the publication…Time magazine names president-elect Donald Trump its Person of the Year…Along with footage of orange flames of fires, TV news directors love to report earthquakes --- even though in last week’s 6.5-magnitude shaker, nothing happened. The rocker occurs 97 miles out in the ocean west of Ferndale in Northern California. No reports of damage or injuries. End of story (and forgotten the next day).

What’s going on? After reading that nearly 240,000 tons of blueberries a year are produced in the U.S., with 10 states (Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi and Indiana) accounting for more than 98 percent of the U.S. crop, Grumpy Editor buys two containers of blueberries. Half way through munching them, tiny print (requiring a magnifying glass to read the label) reveals the tiny berries come from --- Lima, Peru.

 

Name of Rebel Yell, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas student newspaper since 1955, next semester will appear as the mouthful The Scarlet & Gray Free Press.

What triggered the change?

Complaints that the 61-year-old masthead reflected a Confederate Army battle cry.

Others join Trump in getting tough on U.S. flag burners

President-elect Donald Trump wasn’t the only one to suggest getting tough on those who burn U.S. flags, observed Grumpy Editor.

First, Americans who served in the military during bloody wars, “fought for the flag,” something today’s protesters apparently did not learn in school. And who can forget Marines raising the U.S. flag on Feb. 23, 1945, atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

So Trump last week suggested loss of citizenship or jail for those who burn the American flag, saying such protests should carry “consequences” and “nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag.”

A few days earlier, Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., decided to stop flying all flags, including U.S. flags, after someone there burned a U.S. flag to protest Trump’s election victory over Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Hundreds of veterans and others protested the decision by the college to remove Old Glory.

Few recall that Clinton in 2006, while serving as U.S. senator, termed flag burning “deeply offensive.”

Strangely, flag burning was ruled to be constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment in a 1990 Supreme Court case.

Standing with Trump on the issue last week was American Legion National Commander Charles E. Schmidt. He praised Trump for his support of the American flag.

As the leader of the nation’s largest veterans service organization, Schmidt said, “Our brothers and sisters in arms have shed blood, even paid the ultimate sacrifice, in defense of our nation. The American flag represents their sacrifice and our nation’s way of freedom. No one should tolerate desecration of the American flag.”

The American Legion strongly advocates for a constitutional ban on flag burning, and calls on the new commander in chief to support such a ban with the following wording, “Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”

Schmidt said there is “strong support for such a law. Every U.S. state has passed memorializing resolutions to ratify a constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. Additionally, the House of Representatives has passed an amendment six times by supermajorities, only to see it fall short in the Senate --- by just one vote the last time it reached the floor.”

Schmidt added, “It’s time to protect Old Glory from being burned or otherwise desecrated by protesters. “We are not against civil protest or demonstrations. However, these protesters are not burning a piece of cloth. They are desecrating the sacrifice and honor of all past, present and future service members and their family members, who have given so much to this great nation.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

For global warming believers:  Powdery snow covered the desert sand in Saudi Arabia as temperatures dropped below freezing last week. Saudis reacted with a healthy dose of humor, and even a few snowmen. On the other side of the globe,  California is targeting greenhouse gases produced by dairy cows and other livestock, claiming the farm animals are major sources of methane that is released when they belch, pass gas and make manure.  Meanwhile, in Hawaii the National Weather Service issued a winter-storm warning through the weekend citing up to 30 inches of snow on the peaks of the Big Island.

More Chinese-owned companies are setting up manufacturing operations in the U.S., reported CNNMoney...The U.S. will forgive an estimated $108 billion in student debts over the next two decades, revealed the Government Accountability Office...Over the weekend another prisoner was released from the U.S.-operated Guantanamo Bay detention center, reducing the number of prisoners there to 59 --- with 20 of the remaining approved for release, said the Pentagon…Self magazine said its February issue will be its last print production.  Then the Condé Nast publication goes all digital.

Some major advertisers have left the site of news organization Breitbart.com following the election. Among those pulling ads, succumbing to activists: Kellogg with its Frosted Flakes. But not Nissan. The car maker said it “places ads in a variety of sites in order to reach as many consumers as possible. The placement of Nissan advertising is not intended to be a political commentary and there are no plans to change the advertising mix at this time."...Key to the room at Homestead Inn in New Milford, Conn., where actress Marilyn Monroe stayed 60 years ago when she was dating playwright Arthur Miller, sold for $131.