Grumpy Editor

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATORS EYE TAX ON DRINKING WATER

California, with taxes on sodas and alcoholic drinks, now seeks to put a tax on (ready for this?) drinking water, notices Grumpy Editor.

Purpose is to fix hundreds of public water systems with unsafe tap water, writes Katy Murphy in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

“Senate Bill 623, backed by a strange-bedfellows coalition of the agricultural lobby and environmental groups but opposed by water districts, would generate $2 billion over the next 15 years to clean up contaminated groundwater and improve faulty water systems and wells, she adds.

The measure, she mentions, has been moving through the legislature for months, but was amended last Monday “to include the tax on water for both homes and businesses. It also imposes taxes on farms and dairies, roughly $30 million annually, to address some of the contamination caused by fertilizers and other chemicals. Because it includes new taxes, the proposal will need a two-thirds vote in each house to pass, which supporters concede will be a battle.”

The proposal would generate about $110 million per year through a 95-cent monthly fee on home water bills and taxes on businesses of up to $10 per month. Another $30 million would come from agricultural and dairy operations.

While 95 cents a month seems like a pittance now, with dollar-hungry Golden State legislators, imagine the fee five years after passage.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

MOVIE GOERS STAY HOME. While this month is historically the sleepiest time of the year for the movie business, it's been especially so this year with August activity down 35 percent from last year, according to comScore. Next week is expected to be just as bad: No new wide releases are scheduled for Labor Day weekend.

STOCK MARKET RALLY FIZZLING? The rally looks like it’s about to peter out, say analysts at banks like HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley, notes Bloomberg, adding, “they’re looking at the relationships between stocks, bonds, and commodities--- and they’re worried people may be ignoring fundamentals.”

U.S. NAVY IS SHRINKING. Four serious incidents in the western Pacific this year put a spotlight on an overstretched Navy. After the recent collision involving the USS John S. McCain, some experts are speaking out about the increased burden carried by the Navy which had 271 ships in service in 2015, 20 percent fewer than in 1998, yet still kept 100 vessels at sea, according to Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment.

VETERANS AIDED ON CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS. Under a bill President Trump signed Wednesday, veterans will have more options to appeal denied claims for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits, a process that currently leaves veterans waiting an average of five years.

WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITOR SCOLDS STAFFERS. Gerard Baker, editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, criticizes his staff over their coverage of President Trump’s Tuesday rally in Phoenix, describing their reporting as overly opinionated. “Sorry. This is commentary dressed up as news reporting," he writes. Then in a follow-up, he declares, "Could we please just stick to reporting what he said rather than packaging it in exegesis and selective criticism?” A spokeswoman later adds, "The Wall Street Journal has a clear separation between news and opinion. As always, the key priority is to focus reporting on facts and avoid opinion seeping into news coverage.”

TOP BUSINESS NEWS PROGRAM. Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” marked one straight year as the most-watched television program in business news. The program averaged 285,000 total viewers during the week, making it the highest-rated program over other business networks including rival CNBC.

MADISON AVE. REVENUE AFFECTED. Consumer goods companies, with a shift to digital advertising, are cutting spending on ads, thus cutting Madison Ave. revenue.

LOS ANGELES TIMES CONTINUES TO SHAKE UP READERS. Headlines on the web one day last week:
Earthquake: 4.1 quake shakes near Ashford Mill
Earthquake: Magnitude 3.0 quake strikes off shore near San Francisco
Earthquake: Magnitude 3.2 quake strikes near Palm Springs

Rasmussen Reports finds 47 percent of voters feel the media is actively trying to block President Trump from passing his agenda.

OVERLOOKED: NATIONAL GUARD UNITS TO QUELL DISTURBANCES

With rally violence in Charlottesville, Va. and many other cities in recent days, apparently no media member has asked about governors sending state National Guard units to quell disturbances in affected areas, notes Grumpy Editor.

The governor of the state where they serve can activate National Guard members for service upon declaration of an emergency.

With a shortage of regular Army personnel, many state National Guard units often are sent to far-off Afghanistan. It’s not unusual for members to see multiple tours there.

The majority of those in the National Guard hold civilian jobs.

The National Guard is part of the reserve components of the U.S. armed forces.

One person who did ask about using the National Guard in recent disturbances is Mark Levin, who hosts a national radio show.

Whole National Guard divisions have gone into battle, as occurred during the Korean War when Oklahoma and California National Guard divisions were sent overseas.

Meanwhile, media have not been inquisitive in the downing of two Virginia state troopers who were in a helicopter monitoring the
Charlottesville demonstrations. There was no distress call before the copter suddenly descended into trees and burst into flames, killing the two on board: pilots Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates.

However, heavily covered by media in the Charlottesville rally, was the death of Heather D. Heyer.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

ANOTHER U.S. DESTROYER INCIDENT. A U.S. destroyer --- the second in two months --- collided yesterday with a merchant ship in the Far East, resulting in 10 sailors missing and five injured. It involved the USS John McCain and the Alnic MC, described as a 600-foot oil and chemical tanker with a gross tonnage of 30,000. On June 17 the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a freighter off Japan's coast.

WHAT’S NEXT AFTER TODAY’S SOLAR ECLIPSE? Most media have been so excited over today’s outer space event that they have overlooked what’s coming late next week. That’s when a 2.7-mile-wide asteroid has a "relatively close encounter" with Earth on Sept. 1, say NASA officials. The asteroid, named Florence, will be the largest to pass relatively close to Earth since NASA began keeping track of near-Earth objects. Its trajectory will place it 4.4 million miles from the planet, roughly 18 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

SUNKEN WORLD WAR II U.S. CRUISER FOUND. Locating the sunken USS Indianapolis wreckage on Saturday did not get much attention from media over the weekend. The World War II cruiser was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine 72 years ago. The ship was located about three and a half miles below the surface of the Philippine Sea.

BRIUGHT AUTUMN SEEN FOR NEW ENGLAND. Whether you believe in climate change or not, New England’s fall foliage forecast indicates a glorious autumn, following a mild summer and fading drought. Yankee Magazine predicts a “strong and vibrant” display.

FAR OUT. Following anti-Confederate action in other cities around the country, New York City transit officials decided to modify subway station tiles that show a cross-like design similar to the Confederate flag.

TOP 10 LIVABLE CITIES. Melbourne, Australia comes out as the world’s most livable city, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The Economist Group. The city received a score of 97.5 out of 100 on the annual list that assesses stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure in 140 different cities. No U.S. city made the top 10 list:

1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. (tie) Calgary, Canada
5. (tie) Adelaide, Australia
7. Perth, Australia
8. Auckland, New Zealand
9. Helsinki, Finland
10. Hamburg, Germany

Give your canine a special treat on NATIONAL DOG DAY, Aug. 26.

LOOK FOR SOLAR ECLIPSE TO ECLIPSE OTHER NEWS

Next Monday’s solar eclipse, crossing the U.S. as a total eclipse on a strip through 14 states from Oregon to South Carolina, is grabbing more space and broadcast time than world developments, notes Grumpy Editor.

It will mark the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse since 1918.

Areas along the 60 to 70-mile swath, known as “the path of totality” will see periods of total darkness for up to two minutes and 40 seconds (at Hokinsville, Kentucky).

The eclipse will zoom across the U.S. in 90 minutes.

Look for every U.S. newspaper front page on Aug. 22 to show at least one photo of how the eclipse looked in its circulation area.

Some communities are holding eclipse watches, expected to attract thousands of lookers.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

SO WHERE IS NORTH KOREA? Apparently some Americans missed their geography classes. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel asks people on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles to pinpoint North Korea on a map. No one gets it right, pointing to areas such as Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Eastern Russia, South America and Canada.

CHANGING WEATHER. First it was global warming, then climate change, and now “weather extremes?” The Guardian, London, reports “Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been told to avoid using the term climate change in their work, with the officials instructed to reference “weather extremes” instead.

PETS ADD TO GLOBAL WARMING. Your dog or cat may be contributing to global warming. In his paper published earlier this month, UCLA professor Gregory S. Okin finds that meat-eating dogs and cats create the equivalent of 64 million tons of carbon dioxide per year based on the energy consumption required to produce their food, or the same impact as driving 13.6 million cars. “Pets have many benefits but also a huge environmental impact,” says Okin.

WOMEN INTO COMBAT TRAINING. The U.S. Marine Corps is considering a plan to let women attend what has been male-only combat training. If approved, it could start as soon as next spring.

TRUMP’S JOB RATING UP. Latest Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll (Friday) shows 45 percent of likely U.S. voters approve of President Trump’s job performance, up from 39 percent a week prior.

VETERANS STORIES SOUGHT. The National Museum of the U. S. Army at Fort Belvoir, Va., seeks Army veterans to submit stories of their experience in the military for presentation at the new facility.
NEW LOOK AHEAD. Chuck E. Cheese, the iconic childhood birthday party destination, is getting an interior makeover at its outlets, going for more muted tones, sleeker furniture and brighter lighting in an attempt to improve the experience for --- adults.

N. Y. EDITORS GET EXCITED. How important is this story from Nevada for readers of the Daily News in far-off New York? (Apparently Daily News editors get excited when they see words “naked” and “suicidal” together.) Las Vegas police confirm identity of officer who shot naked suicidal man.

CHELSEA MAKES VOGUE. Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who served time in military prison for leaking classified documents, will be featured in Vogue magazine’s September issue. Convicted in 2013 for leaking reams of material to WikiLeaks, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison but was released in May after former president Obama commuted her sentence days before he left office.

More jobs fuel economy, powering Dow to new highs

Dow Jones Industrial Average starts today at 22092, while most mainstream media did not make much noise when the 121-year-old Dow passed the 22000 mark on Wednesday, notes Grumpy Editor.

That’s a whopping jump from last November’s election day, as President Donald Trump reminded with a tweet that mentioned, “Was 18000 only 6 months ago on Election Day. Mainstream media seldom mentions!”

During his campaign for the White House --- and beyond --- Trump has been pushing pro-growth policies.

The fast-paced ascension of the Dow reached 20000 on Jan. 25 this year, 21000 on March 1 on its way to 22000 last week.

The economy was fueled further last month with U.S. employers adding 209,000 jobs while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent.

What the mainstream media did focus on, however, was Trump’s presidential job approval rating: 38 percent as the weekly average.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

True China cooperation after decades siding with North Korea? News stories report a global pressure campaign on North Korea, propelled by new U.N. sanctions, results in Beijing calling on its neighbor to halt its missile and nuclear tests.

Pet alligators drinking beer and smoking cigarettes? No kidding, that’s what the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is investigating after viewing a video. The group is trying to determine who made the video and whether it can lead to prosecution for cruelty to animals.

Baseball pitcher Yu Darvish, traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers from the Texas Rangers last week, took out a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News to thank Rangers fans, despite not always being appreciated during his time in Texas, "Thank you very much for the past 5.5 years since 2012," the ad states. "Coming from Japan, I could not have adjusted to the new environment if it weren't for all the courteous fans, teammates, team staff and all affiliates who supported me."

President Donald Trump is not changing his Twitter habit, saying in a tweet: “Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out!”

Not everyone is banned on travel to North Korea. The State Department says U.S. journalists, Red Cross employees and other humanitarian workers can apply for exemptions on travel to that country.

The next Air Force One --- actually two 747 jumbo jets from Boeing Co. --- are being converted after being ordered by a Russian airline that collapsed two years ago.