Grumpy Editor

Do ‘fake polls’ also join the list for close scrutiny?

Should one believe in accuracy of polls, most of them giving President Donald Trump a bad time? asks Grumpy Editor.

With a handle on that is the New York Post’s John Crudele who points out: “These are the same polls that said Hillary Clinton would be in the White House right now. Not only that, but they said Clinton would easily win the presidency.”

Crudele adds, “Pollsters must love these between-election polls because they can report anything and not be proved wrong. It’s when there is an election coming up that they really stick their necks out.”

And what about the media’s role in carrying out the findings?

Concludes Crudele: “The media, of course, are complicit in the pollsters’ scam. Without the press, the polls would go unnoticed.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE..

Now that’s pinpointing the action. A Fox News item, with a video of swinging fists, Saturday night mentions pro and anti Donald Trump forces fighting in California with no mention of exactly where in the third most extensive state --- with 163,696 square miles. (It was in Huntington Beach, in Orange County)…Despite a busy news day, Associated Press, in a "this is big news" report from Hanoi, manages to alert U.S. media that Vietnam’s aviation authority suspended three air traffic controllers, including one who fell asleep while on duty…Where is the beef? A New York Times report finds Americans ate 19 percent less beef from 2005 to 2014…The Hollywood Reporter agrees to pay $900,000 to freelancers as part of a settlement with a class action lawsuit…The Army will be welcoming thousands of new soldiers in coming months to fill gaps in tactical units’ combat readiness…Chris Roush, writing in Talking Biz News, reports a Women’s Media Center study shows female bylines at the Wall Street Journal dropped from 39.2 percent in 2015 to 34.3 percent in last year’s Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 period…Joining the cancellation crowd linked to next month’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner are Time and People magazines' annual pre-dinner celebrity-heavy social gathering…Kaiser Family Foundation reports in 24 of the nation’s 50 states at least half of the babies born in the latest year tally (2015) had births paid via Medicaid. Top three states: New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana...The Wall Street Journal reports median pay for CEOs of the 100 biggest U.S. companies rose nearly 7 percent last year to $11.5 million.

 

WalletHub, Washington, D.C. analysts compare all states and District of Columbia across 18 key metrics, with data ranging from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita to average Internet speed to come up with the most and least innovative.

	Most Innovative States			Least Innovative States
	1	District of Columbia		42	Maine
	2	Maryland		43	South Dakota
	3	Massachusetts		44	Iowa
	4	California		45	Tennessee
	5	Colorado		46	North Dakota
	6	Washington		47	Oklahoma
	7	Virginia		48	Kentucky
	8	Utah		49	Louisiana
	9	Connecticut		50	Mississippi
	10	New Hampshire		51	West Virginia

Are ‘fake temperatures’ next on the list for scrutiny?

Headlines over the weekend again proclaimed “sizzling” world heat --- but never deeply explaining exactly how that conclusion is reached, notes Grumpy Editor.

The latest report warns, “Earth in February sizzled to its second hottest temperature on record, behind only last year” with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calculating last month averaged 55.66 degrees or 1.76 degrees warmer than the 20^th century average.

The New York Times on Jan. 18 played up Earth “reached its highest temperature on record in 2016, trouncing a record set only a year earlier, which beat one set in 2014. It is the first time in the modern era of global warming data that temperatures have blown past the previous record three years in a row.”

In explaining how the readings are reached, The Times should be commended for explaining, "In addition to the surface measurements, satellites are used to measure the temperature of the atmosphere within a few miles of the surface.”

Amplifying that --- and seldom included in "global warming" stories --- Grumpy Editor points out main methods to measure air temperature today are via land-based thermometers, radiosondes (instruments on weather balloons) and satellites with microwave emissions. Other readings are compiled from ships and buoys.  On land, digital thermometers, periodically requiring recalibration, have replaced the long-used and accurate mercury bulb thermometers.

In tallying temperatures, however, in most cities readings can vary by several degrees.  In Las Vegas, for example, while the official reading may show 104 degrees, it can be 98 in other sections.

NOAA, in its global analysis this month regarding temperatures, explains it this way:

“In the atmosphere, 500-millibar height pressure anomalies correlate well with temperatures at the Earth's surface. The average position of the upper-level ridges of high pressure and troughs of low pressure --- depicted by positive and negative 500-millibar height anomalies on the February 2017 and December-February 2017 maps --- is generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively.”

Got that?

Earth’s radius, the distance from the planet’s center to its surface, is about 3,959 miles.  Circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles.  Earth has mountains, jungles, oceans, deserts, wastelands, lakes, rivers and concrete-laced cities.

That’s a vast area to compile accurate temperature readings.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

Happy first day of spring!...Whew!  After weeks of media discussions and predictions on when it is going to happen, the Federal Reserve finally raised its benchmark lending rate a quarter point and projected two more increases later this year as inflation approaches its target.  Look for more predictions on when the second increase is expected…Colorful “live” chatter:  CNN’s Fareed Zakaria resorted to saying bullsh---ing four times on Don Lemon’s CNN Tonight program Friday evening in referring to President Donald Trump,..Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Fox News suggested Trump should form a “nonsense patrol” to cope with nonsensical charges…Veteran broadcast journalist Willow Bay has been named dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, effective July 1…In illustrating a story on current environment, the Las Vegas Sun ran an almost half-page photo of smog-cloaked Los Angeles using a vintage July 15, 1978 Associated Press photo...American Media, publisher of National Enquirer and Star, has agreed to buy Us Weekly, founded in 1977, from Wenner Media which has Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal in its stable.

 

Fortune magazine’s 20th annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, puts Google in the No. 1 spot for the sixth year in a row.

In second place is Wegmans Food Markets, which Fortune says has managed to keep a family feel among its almost 47,000 employees.

 

Most editors miss solo paddle boarder crossing Atlantic

Grumpy Editor asks: If someone crossed 4,500 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean solo, unassisted and unsupported on a stand-up paddle board, should that make headlines?

Well, South African watersport pro Chris Bertish did just that --- and received limited U.S. media coverage of that amazing adventure that took 93 days on a custom-made, 1,360-pound, 20-foot-long paddle board fitted with a small cabin and solar panels.

CNN and the New York Times ran stories on the accomplishment. But most other major media were busy detailing and analyzing Washington happenings.

Bertish paddled off from Agadir, Morocco, on Dec. 6 and arrived at English Harbour, Antigua, on March 9.

Also, Bertish set the record for the farthest distance traveled solo, unsupported and unassisted over open ocean in a day, 72 miles.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Global warming? A major northeaster storm threatens to shut down travel today and tomorrow due to heavy snow and strong winds from Washington, D.C. to Boston and beyond. Government workers in Washington are hoping for another “snow day” off from work…A month after the death of North Korean Kim Jong Nam, victim of a nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, stories continue to appear daily in U.S. newspapers…Student editors at The Crusader newspaper at College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., are debating whether to change the paper’s name after being confused with a Ku Klux Klan publication with the same title…Palms Casino Resort, just off the Strip in Las Vegas, advertises rooms as low as $39 per night.  But fine print adds $31.99 as a daily resort fee, making the daily tab (before other taxes) a penny short of $71...A CareerCast, Carlsbad, Calif., jobs report puts broadcast and sound engineering technician among the 10 best freelance, part-time, and contractual jobs for 2017…Creating a howl: A Maine lawmaker’s bill requiring dogs to be harnessed or tethered in moving vehicles didn’t go over well. It would have eliminated happy dogs sniffing surroundings while hanging out car windows with their ears flapping in the breeze. A flap by constituents caused state Rep. Jim Handy (D) to withdraw his bill.

On last week’s “A Day Without a Woman” protest, WUHT, a Birmingham Cumulus Media radio outlet, followed through by taking women hosts off the air and playing only songs by men.

Pence angry over AP publishing wife’s email address

Imagine what would happen if Associated Press or other news outlet published the private email address of a Washington figure during the previous administration, wonders Grumpy Editor.

Well, that’s what AP did in the new administration with vice president Mike Pence’s wife, Karen.

What’s more, despite a request to take down the story with the private email address, the news service refused to follow through.

On Saturday Pence tweeted, “When we requested they take it down, they refused. The AP owes my wife an apology.” With that he sent a copy of a letter to AP’s top executive from Mark Paoletta, counsel to the vice president.

In the letter Paoletta said Mrs. Pence was subjected to "vitriolic and malicious emails and raised serious security concerns."

He added, "There was absolutely no reason to publish this private email address, and you should be ashamed of your reprehensible conduct.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Washington nonsense: While stirred up over Jeff Sessions as a Republican senator talking to the Russian ambassador two times last year, journalists are not too excited over trigger-happy North Korea firing four more missiles, with three landing in the ocean near Japan --- and the communist nation's ultimate goal of missiles reaching the West Coast of the U.S…The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences said the two PwC accountants behind the mix-up that saw La La Land incorrectly named best picture will not work the Oscars ceremony again. The Academy hasn’t determined if it would continue its relationship with PwC, which has tabulated the awards candidates for 83 years…Stars and Stripes reported maintenance needs limit the availability of the B-1 bomber fleet, adding the aircraft requires about 150 hours of maintenance after each flight. The Air Force's four-engine supersonic variable sweep wing four-engine supersonic aircraft made its first flight way back on Dec. 23, 1974...The Hollywood Reporter reported singer-actor Barbra Streisand claims President Donald Trump is making her gain weight. News involving the president affects her morning routine, she said, pointing out via a tweet that "I start the day with liquids, but after the morning news, I eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup”…Fox News host Sean Hannity said it is only a matter of time until Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) crosses the aisle and joins the Democrats…Home resales hit a 10-year high in January as buyers shrugged off higher prices and mortgage rates, signaling rising confidence in the economy, reported Reuters…Paul Kangas, co-anchor of PBS’s popular “Nightly Business Report” from 1979 to 2009, died last Tuesday at the age of 79.

 

Want to cover breaking TV news in New York?

WABC-TV reporter CeFaan Kim, wrapping up a live report Friday in New York City’s Lower East Side, ended up fighting off an assailant in a hockey mask in a bizarre clash caught on camera.

He's okay.  The assailant got away.