Grumpy Editor

AP cautious with strong wind, calling it ‘suspected’ tornado

Interesting that an Associated Press story in newspapers on Friday referred to a monster wind that battered west Jefferson County, Ala, as “a suspected tornado near Birmingham” that flattened businesses and injured one person, notes Grumpy Editor.

Suspected?

Do we also have “suspected” thunderstorms or “suspected” snowstorms?

Why such caution by AP when writer Kevin McGill mentions the Weather Service “issued tornado warnings earlier for the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa areas?”

The easy, non-technical description of a tornado: a violent destructive whirling wind accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud that progresses in a narrow path over the land.

And that’s what occurred.

The tornado was caused by remnants of tropical storm Cindy.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

With Russia (one of the favorite words in Washington in recent weeks), Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. reminds that “in 2009 President Obama made the first of his two trips to Russia with a gaggle of U.S. business leaders in tow. Of these many thousands, four were associated with the Trump campaign, and now became evidence of Trump collusion with Russia.”

In connection with the collision between the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and a large container ship off the coast of Japan, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Japanese naval and maritime authorities are all conducting investigations. An early assessment suggests the container ship might have been on some type of autopilot system at the time of the collision. But the big mystery is how and why the crew of the Fitzgerald did not see the other ship coming, or why they were unable to maneuver away from it. It will be months before official word is announced.

Eric Bolling, co-host of “The Fox News Specialists,” is considering a run for the U.S. Senate to challenge a southern Republican senator. New York-based Bolling doesn’t indicate when or which state he would consider launching a Senate run.

Look for a crescendo of news coverage in coming days regarding a total eclipse on Aug. 21. It will mark the first total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States since 1918, darkening skies from Oregon to South Carolina.

So how hot was in Phoenix last week? Nearly 50 flights out of the city were cancelled on extremely hot-day Tuesday as scorching temperatures hit the Southwest.

Bankrate.com survey finds young boomers --- ages 53 to 62 --- fared the worst of various groups saying they had zero dollars saved in an emergency fund. That compares with 24 percent of all others, ages 18 or older.

A New Zealand newspaper --- Mountain Scene in Queenstown --- seeks to shame drunks by putting their names, ages and alcohol readings on the front page.

While a television news crew for KOB in Albuquerque was gathering footage for a story about crime in the downtown area, a thief drove off in the station's SUV.

Missing 7 days, ‘dead’ sailor turns up alive

One of the strangest maritime stories was solved over the weekend when a U.S. Navy sailor, presumed dead after being missing for seven days, was found alive on his ship, notes Grumpy Editor.

A far-reaching search was conducted during the week in efforts to find Petty Officer Peter Mims, a gas turbine systems technician on the USS Shiloh, a guided missile cruiser.

The Shiloh, with a crew of more than 300, was conducting routine operations 180 miles east of Okinawa,

Rescue teams from the U.S. Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan's Coast Guard scoured 5,500 miles of the Philippine Sea over a span of 50 hours searching for Mims.

Also in the search were helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from USS Shiloh, USS McCampbell and USS Ronald Reagan, plus a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft.

Then Mims was found in engineering spaces in his 567-foot long ship.

Circumstances surrounding Mims' disappearance are under investigation.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

The Los Angeles Times runs the latest in its periodic “big one coming” earthquake series (to shake up its readers) with a focus on “what happens at the San Gorgonio Pass during a major rupture of the San Andreas fault could have wide-ranging implications for the region and beyond.” Writer Rong-Gong Lin II warns, experts “worry a huge quake could sever lifelines at the pass for weeks or months, cutting Southern California off from major highway and rail routes as well as sources of power, oil and gas.” (What was left out of the story: That also means very late deliveries of The Times)…Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll shows 50 percent of likely U.S. voters approve of President Trump’s job performance while a like amount disapprove. It is the first time Trump’s approval rating has hit the 50 percent mark since late April...Show biz publication The Hollywood Reporter adds a staffer to cover real estate in an area with many luxury properties…The Washington Post says page views in May exceeded one billion, marking a 33 percent gain from a year prior…Netflix claims it has more U.S. streaming subscribers (50.85 million) than the number of customers for the country's largest cable companies (48.61 million)…Nike Inc., the world’s largest maker of sports shoes and apparel, will cut about 1,400 jobs, or two percent of its worldwide workers…Also in a staff-cutting mode, Time Inc. reveals it will be laying off as many as 300 across the company to cut costs. The latest round of layoffs represents about four percent of the company’s total workforce…The weekly Las Vegas Business Press stops publishing a print version, but continues as an online publication. In print for 34 years, it is part of the Las Vegas Review-Journal family.
Bloomberg Businessweek’s current issue comes up with a new look that includes “cleaner and more consistent design,” boasts editor Megan Murphy. But it’s not “very bold,” notes Grumpy Editor, as many pages --- especially those with long stories --- lack bold face in text and subheads. Thus most pages are very gray and not attractive to readers’ eyes.

Great chaos seen if North Korea missile smacks U.S.

While mainstream media continues to focus on Russia even after confirmation that there was no collusion with that country, being ignored is the North Korea goal of turning the U.S. dark via hitting the electric power grid, notes Grumpy Editor.

Test firing of missiles from North Korea in recent weeks doesn’t seem to get U.S. media excited.

On Friday it was revealed that North Korea’s weapons program now includes a new type of cruise missile capable of striking U.S. and South Korean warships. The missiles are the fourth new system North Korea has tested this year.

At Friday’s White House press conference in the Rose Garden with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, President Donald Trump mentioned North Korea “is a big problem.”

But then the questions from media returned to Russia and former FBI director James Comey.

Few are aware that two North Korean satellites are orbiting earth on trajectories that take them directly over the U.S.

As Henry F. Cooper points out in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, “North Korea’s desire to provoke a nuclear conflict with the U.S. should not be minimized or ignored.”

A nuclear bomb detonated in the atmosphere could inflict catastrophic damage to the electric power grid, mentions Cooper, former ambassador to the Defense and Space Talks during the Reagan administration and director of the Strategic Defense Initiative during the George H. W. Bush administration.

A missile doesn’t have to be fired from North Korea. It can be launched from a freighter, a submarine, a balloon or even via a North Korean satellite, he points out.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Boeing Co. is looking ahead to when jetliners fly without pilots, aiming to test some technology next year. Jetliners can already take off, cruise and land using onboard computers while the number of pilots on a standard passenger plane has dropped to two from three over the years…Ford offers buyouts to 15,000 salaried workers in North America and Asia…Shares of Nordstrom jumps more than 10 percent on Thursday after the luxury department store operator says it's pursuing a potential sale that would take the company private…Scandal-ridden Wells Fargo drops to dead-last ranking (to 100 from 60th) of the list of "Most Respected American Companies" by Barron's The bank’s reputation was battered after it acknowledged its employees opened up to 2 million customer accounts without permission in efforts to meet sales goals…Hearst acquires the New Haven Register and two other newspapers from Digital First Media, adding the acquisitions reach more than 470,000 households combined and 1.4 million online visitors…Pete Weitzner, a professor at Chapman University (Orange County, Calif.) and director of its broadcast journalism program, is named editor of the Orange County Business Journal. He will continue to teach a course at Chapman…A student in the San Francisco Bay area was not allowed to wear his Army uniform at graduation rather than the usual graduation robe. PFC Harland J. Fletcher, a student at Liberty Union High School in Brentwood, enlisted on his 17th birthday, went through basic combat training and is an Amy Reserve medic.

Britain’s Daily Mail on Saturday reports former FBI director James Comey is set for a $10 million book deal.

Media focus on ‘Russia’ as other events overlooked

Russia. Russia. Russia.

That seems to be the monotonous key word heard in most broadcast stories relating to President Donald Trump, especially with almost wall-to-wall coverage on MSNBC and CNN, notes Grumpy Editor.

Now, seven months after the election, Russia continues to grab air time and print space with mainstream media.

That includes consistent mentions of meeting with a Russian banker and a Russian ambassador --- before Trump entered the White House.

Imagine, meeting with a banker and an ambassador.

Now think about that.

As Kimberley A. Strassel points out in her Friday column in the Wall Street Journal: “The country is no better informed about exactly how Russia interfered in the election than it was in October, when intelligence agencies issued a statement expressing their belief that Moscow had helped hack emails. Not a single useful fact has since been added, nor a single investigation completed, not a single official report produced. Until those inquiries are completed, we will have no new real facts. Yet every day a new Russia story.”

With the heavy focus on Russia, newsworthy stories from around the U.S. and elsewhere are being sidetracked.

While Russia is on the minds of most media, what is being overlooked by most editors is the potential threat of North Korea and its loony leader Kim Jong-un with efforts of sending a missile toward the U.S.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday warns that North Korea is a “clear and present danger.”

Through the weekend, Russia chatter abated somewhat with a new (yet old) subject grabbing attention: climate change.

Meanwhile, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell says a MRC campaign will focus on informing the public and corporate advertisers about leftist shows and on-air personalities who use their programs to spread vicious lies and hate.

“We are putting the radical left on notice that we are on to them. We know the inside-outside game that radical organizations are playing with their leftist allies in the ‘news’ media,” adds Bozell.

“Every network and cable news channel is today on notice that the MRC will be closely monitoring their leftist opinion programs and informing their advertisers and the American public when these programs and hosts go beyond political commentary and engage in smear, hate and political extremism,” continues Bozell.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Despite mainstream media attempts to inject negative news, the U.S. economy last month added 138,000 jobs and on Friday U.S. equities rose to record levels as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all soared to new highs.

Interesting to observe contrasting headlines from the Washington Post and New York Times.

From the Post: U.S. jobs market stumbles in May, adding just 138,000 jobs.

From the Times: Unemployment at 16-year low as U.S. adds 138,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, newspaper circulation and advertising revenue ebb. Estimated total daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) at 34.6 million for weekday and 38 million for Sunday, represents an 8 percent drop from 2015. Weekday print circulation sinks 10 percent while Sunday decreases 9 percent. Estimated newspaper industry advertising revenue for 2016 was $18 billion, 10 percent below the 2015 level.

 

The New York Times offers buyouts aimed at cutting the number of editors in the newsroom. Along with that, The Times is eliminating the position of public editor, an accountability role the paper created in 2003…In a Donald Trump tweet, “covfefe” is labeled “a mysterious term” by media and gets much air time and print space over the past several days.   Example from one news agency: “The White House is keeping the U.S. and the world guessing about the meaning --- if there is any.”…City officials in Gardendale --- a town near Birmingham, Ala. --- say teenagers wishing to mow lawns for extra summer cash will have to show a city-issued license (cost: $110) before cutting grass…Berkeley, Calif. continues its war on plastic as officials introduce an ordinance that would ban straws that aren’t biodegradable…Hot cash. Would-be ATM thieves in Everett, Wash. thwarted their own burglary attempt by using a blowtorch in an attempt to access the cash box. The only problem --- they accidentally set the money on fire.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of 1944’s D-Day in World War II.  Usually, media emphasize important anniversaries.

So will that famous event (or Russia ) grab media attention?