Grumpy Editor

USS PUEBLO VETERANS WOULD LIKE U.S. TO GET SHIP BACK

A gathering last week in Pueblo, Colo. reminded some people --- but most media missed it --- of the capture by North Korea of the USS Pueblo a half century ago, noted Grumpy Editor.

North Korean MiG fighter jets and patrol boats opened fire on the American spy ship, leading to the first capture of a U.S. Navy ship since the War of 1812.

 

In the Jan. 23, 1968 incident, one crew member was killed and 82 others were taken captive and held for 11 months in North Korean prisons where they were tortured.

“The crew of the USS Pueblo would like to get our ship returned,” Ron Berens, lead helmsman onboard at the time of capture, told Fox News at last week’s reunion that attracted 40 surviving crew members.

Berens revealed, “There’s nothing in the current history books about the Pueblo.”

Tim Harris, a supply officer onboard the ship, recalled North Korean patrol boats quickly surrounded the American spy ship and opened fire with machine guns and 40mm cannon.

“We never surrendered.  We stopped the ship.  There was never an order to surrender,” Harris said. “We had taken so much fire.”

Today, the Pueblo remains a commissioned U.S. Navy ship on display in the Potong River inside North Korea’s capital Pyongyang.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL.  Unemployment benefit applications fell to 201,000, a 49-year low in the week ended Sept. 15, reported the Labor Department.

LAWMAKERS EYE GROWING RESERVATION FEES.  Washington lawmakers are considering a provision in a bill that would limit growing fees airline passengers pay to change flight reservations. The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. airlines received $2.9 billion in such fees last year.

READY FOR A 19-HOUR FLIGHT?  Singapore Airlines, with delivery of an ultra long-range Airbus, will start non-stop service --- with about 19 hours in the air --- between Newark and Singapore on Oct. 11.  The journey will mark the world's longest in the air.

ARMY MISSES RECRUITING GOAL.  The U.S. Army missed its recruiting goal this fiscal year (ending Sept. 30), falling short by about 6,500 soldiers, despite pumping an extra $200 million into bonuses and other inducements, reported Associated Press.  However, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps met their goals.

FLORENCE SMACKS PIGS AND POULTRY.  Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina's poultry and hog industries.  State officials said 5,000 pigs and hogs were killed by the hurricane while 3.4 million chickens and turkeys were destroyed.

VERSATILE CATCHER PITCHES, HITS HOME RUN.  Unusual in a major league baseball game is seeing a catcher pitch the last two innings and homer in the ninth inning.  That's what Los Angeles Angels' Francisco Arcia did last Thursday in a game with the Oakland Athletics.  That triple action in the same game last happened in 1900.  

BANK PLANS MORE JOB CUTS.  Wells Fargo & Co. plans to shed up to 26,500 jobs over the next three years as it adjusts business operations and works to recover from a series of scandals over the past two years.

 

IS HURRICANE STAND-UP ROUTINE NECESSARY IN TV NEWS REPORTING?

One of the weirdest routines in television news over the years is sending into hurricanes stand-up reporters with microphones in hands, braving heavy winds and downpours, and sometimes pounding surf.

Grumpy Editor asks:  Why?

The same, or better video, can be seen with a reporter in a dry, safe studio or in a nearby TV van utilizing a securely-mounted remote on-scene camera to capture the same, or better, footage.

Over the past few days with Hurricane Florence, TV viewers saw familiar faces --- including anchors --- bending with the wind and getting splashed with water as swaying trees and wild breakers are seen in the background.

Does this enhance coverage?

Sometimes the shots are exaggerated.

A prime example, Weather Channel 's Mike Seidel, reporting live from Wilmington, N.C., is seen struggling against a heavy wind in the rain. “This is about as nasty as it’s been,” voices Seidel, leaning with the wind ---- as the camera also captures two young men in shorts walking normally without wind problems behind him. 

The Weather Channel, in defending Seidel, says its reporter was "trying to maintain his footing on wet grass” while the two people in the background were walking on concrete.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

HOUSEHOLD INCOME UP.  Median household income grows to $61,372 last year, up 1.8 percent when adjusted for inflation, while people working full time year round increase by 2.4 million, according to latest census figures .

SIGNING BONUSES FOR SAILORS.  In efforts to retain sailors with desired leadership skills, the U.S. Navy is offering senior submarine officers. for example, as much as $180,000 in signing bonuses.

 

BEETLE TO GET SWATTED.  Volkswagen plans to halt production of its iconic Beetle next July.  The Beetle was developed in Nazi Germany in 1938 and became available in the U.S. 11 years later. 

 

BEWARE OF 2020.  The next financial crisis? J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. strategists, in creating a model, figure it will be in 2020 --- but less painful that former episodes.

iPHONE MORE COSTLY IF U.S. MADE.  If produced in the U.S., as President Donald Trump is urging, an iPhone would cost 20 percent more, tallies an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

CALIFORNIA TO GO CARBON-FREE ROUTE.  California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signs into law for the Golden State to use only carbon-free electricity sources by 2045.  Thus, it joins Hawaii, the first state to go that route.

BURGLARY SHAKES UP ISLAND.  Gigha, a small island off the west coast of Scotland, sees its peace and tranquility broken by a $2,600 hotel storeroom burglary --- the first serious crime in two decades.

HIGHER PRICES SEEN CURBING SPENDING.  A Kiplinger Letter forecast notes business and consumer spending “could slow because of higher prices and heftier borrowing costs.”

BIG BOOK-BUYING DAY.  Veteran newsman-author Bob Woodward’s latest book, “Fear,” sells 750,000 copies the day after the book arrived in stores, reports Simon & Schuster.  The book deals with a dysfunctional White House.

FICTION READING SAGS.  The percentage of adults reading fiction drops to 41.8 percent last year from 45.2 percent in 2012, while poetry reading jumps to 11.7 percent  from 6.7 percent, reports the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

 

 

NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED BY 'ANONYMOUS' GRABS HEFTY COVERAGE

Being sought on many fronts --- especially in Washington, D.C. --- is identification of the writer of an anonymous, much-talked-about New York Times op-ed piece critical of President Donald Trump, notes Grumpy Editor.

The non-byline op-ed focuses on a secret resistance movement at work in the Trump administration that aims to curtail the president's "worst inclinations."

The author, according to The Times is "a senior administration official" as media over the weekend cite about two dozen White House officials that match that title, including cabinet secretaries and their top deputies.

However, Grumpy Editor puts the number of true senior administration officials at about 100.

On Friday, mentioning "national security," Trump declares the Justice Department should investigate and unmask the author and pushes Attorney General Jeff Sessions to move on it.  The president also says he is exploring legal action against The Times in publishing the piece.

 A Wall Street Journal editorial Friday declares, "Surely the writer knew that such insider criticism in the anti-Trump New York Times would be like waving  a red cape in front of a raging bull."  The Journal adds,"The U.S. looks foolish before the world, which makes us wonder if the writer's real purpose is to assist the looming campaign for impeachment.  This is certainly the New York Times agenda."

Others note the coincidence of the op-ed appearing at a time when Bob Woodward's book, "Fear," also critical of the president, debuts.

Ari Fleischer, who was President George W. Bush's press secretary, says writing an op-ed against the president without resigning is a cowardly tactic.  "Support the president or don't work there," he says.

The unsigned essay already is attracting language detectives who use a combination of language usage, statistics and computer science in efforts to identify mystery document writers.  

About the only person who knows the ID of "anonymous"  is James Dao, The Times' op-ed editor. 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

STOLEN RUBY SLIPPERS ALSO GRABS ATTENTION.  Getting almost as much media coverage as the anonymous writer of the New York Times op-ed piece critical of the president, is the recovery in Minnesota of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz."  Insured for $1 million, the slippers were stolen in 2005.

SHHH!  2,000 U.S. TROOPS IN SYRIA.  Not heavily covered by media is that the U.S. maintains about 2,000 troops in war-torn Syria with Washington pledging they will remain until the "enduring defeat" of the Islamic State group.

SECURITY GUARDS ON DUTY IN FAMED MUSEUM. One aspect media miss in covering the massive fire that engulfed Brazil's largest history and science museum --- home to a collection of 20 million items --- is that four security guards were on duty in the building when the fire started.

NAVAL ACADEMY ALLOWS LONGER FEMALE HAIR.  The U.S. Naval Academy is allowing women to wear ponytails and other longer hair styles as the incoming class of 2022 is more than one-quarter female.

DICTIONARY ADDS 840 WORDS.  Merriam-Webster adds more than 840 words to its online dictionary and more than a dozen of them are food-related.  Examples: “avo” for avocado, “guac” for guacamole and “marg” for margarita. Also debuting: “hangry,” the state of being simultaneously hungry and angry, “zoodle” the term for spiralized zucchini, and “hophead,” beer enthusiast.

COMPUTER SAVVY ANT THRIVES IN APPLE DEVICE.   A United Kingdom D.J. in Leeds tangles with an ant trapped inside his laptop’s screen.  Seems it was living a great life for five months criss-crossing inside the $6,400 Apple device before it finally went to ant heaven.

PITTSBURGH DAILY GOES TO 5 DAYS.  Pittsburgh holds the distinction of being the largest U.S. city without a daily print newspaper after the Post-Gazette, launched 232 years ago, cuts its production schedule to five days a week from seven.

BURGLAR'S GETAWAY THWARTED BY MANURE PILE.  A bungling burglar in Hawick, Minn. is nabbed after his pickup got stuck in a large pile of foul-smelling manure in a getaway attempt.  Deputies find him standing on the side of the road, covered in manure from waist to feet and smoking a cigarette.

AIR POLLUTION CAUSES REDUCTION IN INTELLIGENCE: STUDY

Now we know why people in smoggy Los Angeles act somewhat differently than folks in other cities, notes Grumpy Editor.  It’s a metropolis long smothered in air pollution.

Britain’s The Guardian newspaper cites new research indicating air pollution causes a “huge” reduction in intelligence.

The research, conducted in China, is relevant across the world, with 95 percent of the global population breathing unsafe air, continues The Guardian, adding “high pollution levels led to significant drops in test scores in language and arithmetic, with the average impact equivalent to having lost a year of the person’s education.”

Xi Chen at Yale School of Public Health, a member of the research team, says polluted air “can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge” and the “effect  is worse for the elderly, especially those over 64, and for men, and for those with low education.”

Air pollution causes seven million premature deaths a year but the harm to people’s mental abilities is less well known, mentions the report.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed language and arithmetic tests conducted as part of the China Family Panel Studies on 20,000 people across the nation between 2010 and 2014.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE JUMPS.   U.S. consumer confidence index last month rises to 133.4, up from 127.9 in July, highest reading since October, 2000.  Meanwhile, U.S. consumer spending, fueled by strong job growth and tax cuts, gains a solid 0.4 percent in July, the sixth straight month of healthy increases.

IMPORTED NEWSPRINT TARIFFS NULLIFIED.  Good news for newspapers and printing companies, concerned about rising costs and job losses, is that the U.S. International Trade Commission nullified tariffs on imported newsprint.

RUSSIANS-CHINESE LONGTIME MILITARY PARTNERS.  Exciting the media last week with major coverage, a report from Russia mentions it is preparing to conduct its largest military exercise in almost four decades and it will include 3,200 Chinese soldiers.  Most in media forget Russian and Chinese military in joint operations is nothing new.  Their joint effort goes back to prolonging the Korean War, 1950-1953.

VILLAGE VOICE SILENCED.  Village Voice, the famed New York City alternate weekly that debuted in 1955, ceased publication because of financial problems.  It was founded by a group that included writer Norman Mailer.

YELLOW BALLOON POKES LONDON MAYOR.  London protesters, seeking to oust their mayor, launch a giant balloon depicting Sadiq Khan wearing a yellow bikini.

BRITISH PLAN NAVIGATION SYSTEM.  The British government is setting aside at least $118 million in planning for a satellite navigation system to rival the U.S.'s GPS and the EU's Galileo, reports the British Broadcasting Corp.

 

AMAZON PLANS FREE TV SERVICE.  Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a free TV service called Free Dive, to compete with services such as Roku that rely on revenue from video ads, according to Fortune. 

 

TIME TO EYE NEW JOB?  Here’s the annual list of the 10 highest-paying jobs in the U.S., compiled by GlassDoor, a job review website.

Physician – $195,800

Pharmacy manager – $146,400

Pharmacist – $127,100

Enterprise architect – $115,900

Corporate counsel – $115,600

Software development manager – $108,900

Physician assistant – $108,800

Software engineering manager – $107,500

Nurse practitioner – $107,000

Software architect – $105,300