Grumpy Editor

NORTH KOREA DISMANTLES NUCLEAR TEST SITE, BUT IS THERE ANOTHER HIDDEN IN MOUNTAINS?

Grabbing major television and print coverage by worldwide media was North Korea’s demolition of what it claimed “its only nuclear test site” in Punggye-ri.

But Grumpy Editor --- with a raised eyebrow --- asked, with tricky North Korea, how do we know that no other test site exists in a country spanning 46,541 square miles topped with remote mountains and uplands that cover about 80 percent of the country's land area.   

Much fanfare along with transporting foreign journalists to the scene of last week’s demolition set the stage for heavy coverage.

Caution was hinted by Britain’s Independent with:  “The North did not invite international inspectors to the ceremony, which limits its value as a serious concession.” 

Explosions deep in the northeast mountains were focused on three tunnels and a number of observation towers in the surrounding area.

Many foreign journalists, including eight from South Korea, took a long, rugged trip to get to the site where they spent nine hours.

Getting to the scene involved a dozen hours on a train, followed by several hours on a bus over bumpy dirt roads and then an hour hike to the site.

Meanwhile, a White House team over the weekend headed to Singapore for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un who said he’s still ready to sit down with Trump regarding “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

 

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SCENTED STAMPS COMING.  The U.S. Postal Service, starting June 20, will issue scratch-and-sniff stamps, saying they “would add the sweet scent of summer” to letters.

OBAMAS TURN TV PRODUCERS.  Former White House occupants Barrack Obama and Michelle Obama have been signed by Netflix to a multiyear deal to produce television shows and documentaries.  That development put Netflix under fire over its content deal with the Obamas.  Some Netflix customers say they will cancel subscriptions over what they see as a political move by the streaming service, reports Fortune. 

WOMAN LEADS NYSE.  For the first time in its 226-year history, the New York Stock Exchange is led by a woman.  Stacey Cunningham, who started as a NYSE trading floor clerk, on Friday became the 67th president of the Big Board.

AIR FORCE HOPES TO LURE UP TO 1,000 PILOTS. With a pilot shortage, the Air Force is seeking the return of up to 1,000 pilots, combat system officers and air battle managers for up to 48 months active duty.

NETFLIX EDGES COMCAST.  Netflix Inc., the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, beats Comcast Corp. in market value, highlighting the rise of video streaming over traditional television.

TESLA’S MUSK TAKES ON CRITICAL JOURNALISTS.  Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk says journalists are critical of the electric car maker because oil and traditional auto companies are some of the biggest print and TV advertisers, reports Bloomberg Businessweek. Meanwhile, Musk doesn't like how media reports on his cars' accidents.  So he plans to create a Yelp-style site where people can rate the credibility of news organizations and their journalists

CONSUMER REPORTS READIES INITIAL AD CAMPAIGN.  Consumer Reports magazine is launching its first advertising campaign, using the tag line “Keep it Honest,” reveals Chris Roush, Talking Biz News.

MANY HOUSEHOLDS STILL FACE TOUGH TIMES.  A Federal Reserve survey finds many U.S. households remain in a precarious financial position despite unemployment falling to the lowest level in years.

MOSQUITOES: A BITING SURVEY IS SURE TO ATTRACT READERS' EYES

With summer around the corner, one way for newspapers to attract readers’ eyes --- while performing a public service --- is via a tally of top mosquito cities and how to cope with the stinging insects, observes Grumpy Editor.

Orkin, the pest control company, puts Atlanta in the top spot based on the number of mosquito treatments in the past year.

Filling out the top 10 are Dallas-Fort Worth, New York, Washington, Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City and Charlotte, N.C.

Chelle Hartzer, Orkin entomologist, says "mosquitoes can transmit several diseases to humans including Zika virus, West Nile virus and several kinds of encephalitis. Each of these mosquito-borne diseases may have serious side effects."

Hartzer points out mosquitoes are able to breed in an inch of standing water, so it is best to remove any object that has the potential to hold water. That includes cleaning gutters to avoid  buildup of rainwater.  Water in containers such as pet water bowls, vases and bird baths, should be replaced every few days.

Adult mosquitoes like to rest in dark areas with high humidity, adds Hartzer.  Trimming shrubbery and collecting leaves can prevent lingering mosquitoes.

 

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SAILORS LEARN TO ‘FLY’ HOVERCRAFT.  The jargon is like flight training.  Sailors train for months to learn how to “fly” hovercraft.  Behind the controls is the “pilot,” called “craftmaster.”  Others in the crew of five:  engineer, navigator, loadmaster and deck engineer.  The Navy requires them to get quarterly and annual certifications and maintain a set number of "flight hours."

KELLOGG SHUTS OPERATIONS IN VENEZUELA . Kellogg Co., citing the deterioration of a country in the midst of an economic meltdown, says it is closing operations that employ 400 workers who produced the majority of the breakfast cereal consumed by Venezuelans.

LOOK FOR ADDED WALL STREET JOURNAL SECTION. The Wall Street Journal launches Exchange on June 2.  Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker says the “section will offer a lively and robust report on the week’s business news, featuring the behind-the-scenes narratives, colorful characters and incisive commentary.”

LUXURY REAL ESTATE HOT SPOT.  The hottest market in the world for luxury real estate is Victoria, British Columbia, reports Bloomberg, citing “thanks to Chinese and U.S. buyers, the provincial capital of 85,000 off Canada’s Pacific Coast shot to the top of the ‘luxury thermometer’ in the latest annual report from Christie’s International Real Estate.”

DATA SCIENTISTS GAIN ATTENTION.  Job postings for data scientists rises 75 percent from January 2015 to January 2018 at Indeed.com, while job searches for data scientist roles increase 65 percent. A growing specialty is “sentiment analysis,” or finding a way to quantify how many tweets are trashing a company or praising it.

TRUMP DONATES FIRST QUARTER SALARY TO V.A.  President Donald Trump is donating his 2018 first quarter salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs in support of caregiver programs, reveals White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

 

 

 

 

 

RELIGION WRITERS MISSING FROM MOST NEWSPAPERS

While most major newspapers have a political writer or editor on staff, disappeared from nearly every newsroom is a religion writer or editor, observed Grumpy Editor.

As Julia Duin pointed out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece:  “It’s always been a struggle to persuade news executives that Americans are more interested in religion than, say, sports.”

“Never-ending layoffs, firings and closings left religion among the most decimated of the specialty beats," Duin wrote, adding “whole regions of the western U.S. and Canada have no staff reporter covering religion.  Imagine if no one covered sports in Oregon, Wyoming and Arizona.”

She cited the Wall Street Journal employs a religion reporter based in Los Angeles along with a Vatican City correspondent in Rome.

“It’s a shame so few outlets seem to take religion seriously anymore,” she said.

Grumpy Editor also observed other formerly busy beats missing from newsrooms include:  science editor, youth editor, aviation editor and labor editor.

 

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SOLAR PANELS TO BOOST CALIFORNIA HOME PRICES.  Super-high price tags on homes in California will see $10,000 to $15,000 added when it becomes the first state to require solar panels on new homes, part of energy-efficiency standards adopted by the California Energy Commission.

RADIO SPECIAL RATES SUMMER MOVIES.  Fox News Radio is preparing a one-hour special focusing on the summer movie scene.  It will air during Memorial Day weekend, pointing out the good and the bad flicks ahead.

NEWSPAPER PLANS JOURNALISM CLASS FOR STUDENTS.  The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa., plans a three-week journalism class for Lehigh Valley students, ages 17 to 19.  What’s interesting is that participants will be paid an hourly wage for their work, five hours a day, Mondays through Thursdays, starting July 9 in the newspaper's offices.

PLANT FIRE TRIGGERS PAUSE ON F-150 OUTPUT.  A fire at a U.S. parts factory that produces magnesium support structure used in trucks, leads Ford to suspend production of its best-selling F-150 pickup.  It also affects Ford workers with temporary layoffs of almost 3,600 at its Kansas City plant and 4,000 others at its Dearborn facility.

WORLD CRUISE TO TOUCH 113 PORTS IN 245 DAYS.  Viking Cruises plans a 59-country, 245-day journey touching 113 ports in a world cruise that reaches every continent except Antarctica. The trip departs London on Aug. 31, 2019 and ends there on May 2, 2020. Cost $93,000.  

TAPE MACHINES MAKING A COMEBACK.  With sales of vinyl music highest in years, cassette tape is making a comeback as some millennials embrace analog music over digital downloads and streaming services. This has inspired a German company to produce a 2018 version of a reel-to-reel tape machine.

TESTS FIND MOST EIGHTH GRADERS RANK LOW IN READING, MATH

Looks like rough days ahead for newspapers and magazines in capturing future readers, notes Grumpy Editor.

Escaping most editors desks is a report that 65 percent of eighth graders in American public schools are not proficient in reading while 67 percent are not proficient in mathematics, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2017 test results released by the U.S. Department of Education, reports CNSNews.com.

Among 27 large urban districts NAEP test scores, Detroit public school eighth graders rank lowest with just 7 percent proficient or better in reading and 5 percent proficient or better in math.

Also scoring low in tests are public schools in Cleveland, Baltimore and Fresno (Calif.).

Among states, Louisiana public elementary schools rank lowest in teaching students math while New Mexico public elementary schools are at the bottom in teaching reading

 

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KIDS CAN’T READ ANALOG CLOCKS.  Schools in the United Kingdom are beginning to remove analog clocks from classrooms because students are complaining they can’t read them, reports The Telegraph, London. Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary at the Association of School and College Leaders in England, points out the current generation isn't "as good at reading the traditional clock face as older generations,” adding, "nearly everything they’ve got is digital so youngsters are just exposed to time being given digitally everywhere.”

BOY SCOUTS TO DROP "BOY" FROM NAME.  With girls soon being allowed to join Boy Scouts, the organization will operate under a new name effective in February:  Scouts BSA.  Parent organization remains Boy Scouts of America, which already is starting to admit girls into the Cub Scouts.

CHICAGO'S JEWISH STAR ENDS RUN.  The bi-weekly Chicago Jewish Star, the Windy City’s oldest independent Jewish voice, published its final edition on Friday, blaming the industry-wide decline in advertising as reason for the closure.

BLASTS FROM HEAVY WEAPONS CAUSE PROBLEMS.  Service members exposed to high levels of “blast overpressure” from heavy weapons, such as recoilless rifles, experience problems with memory loss and decision making, according to the Center for New American Security think tank.

STILL HIGHER GASOLINE PRICES SEEN.  Blaming rising crude oil prices, gasoline prices are likely to continue climbing through summer.  "This will be the most expensive driving season since 2014," says Tom Kloza, head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service.

FRONT PAGE GUN AD TRIGGERS CRITICISM.  Sun Sentinel newspaper of Broward County, Fla. gets much coverage — and criticism — in placing a gun ad on its front page.  Individuals at the paper "deeply regret" location of the ad, says publisher Nancy Meyer. “We are taking steps to ensure this does not happen again," she adds.

MOST FOREIGN AID NATIONS DON’T FOLLOW U.S. POSITIONS.  The 13 biggest beneficiaries of U.S. foreign assistance in the previous, current, and next fiscal years voted in line with U.S. positions at the United Nations an average of 26.5 percent of the time last year.  The lineup:  Israel (94 percent), Afghanistan (21 percent), Egypt (21 percent), Ethiopia (21 percent), Iraq (21 percent), Jordan (22 percent), Kenya (20 percent), Nigeria (22 percent), Pakistan (24 percent), South Africa (18 percent), Tanzania (21 percent), Uganda (21 percent) and Zambia (19 percent).

OLDER AMERICANS TARGETS OF SCAMMERS.  Five million older Americans are financially exploited each year by scammers, including family members, for as much as $37 billion.  And the rip-offs continue to move upward.

VENEZUELA’S INFLATION RATE SOARS.  Economists note Venezuela's inflation rate, already by far the world's highest, spiked from a whopping 4,966 percent to nearly 18,000 percent in March and April, a trend that, if it continues, could push the country's annual rate to more than 100,000 percent by year's end, reports the Miami Herald.

U.S.-CHINA TRADE TALKS AT STALEMATE.  Two days of trade talks between the U.S. and China ended inconclusively on Friday, as both sides presented tough demands neither would agree to, according to the Wall Street Journal.