Grumpy Editor

MOST PEOPLE AVOID NEWS BECAUSE IT AFFECTS MOOD: SURVEY

 

Some 58 percent of people avoid the news because it has a negative effect on their mood or because they feel powerless to change events, noted Grumpy Editor.

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University two years ago found 29 percent of those surveyed worldwide said they “often or sometimes avoid the news,” including 38 percent in the United States and 24 percent in Britain.

 

This year those numbers increased to 32 percent worldwide, 41 percent in the U.S. and 35 percent in the U.K.

 

Why do people avoid news?

 

Leading causes for Americans were, “It can have a negative effect on my mood” (57 percent) and “I can’t rely on news to be true” (35 percent).

 

Among comments:

 

     There is never anything positive in the news. It’s always negative, and I’m not a negative person.

 

     I hate hearing or reading a paper that constantly has nothing but bad reports in it.

 

     News organizations have become dependent on sensationalism and shocking news. While I agree that we need to shed light on what is terrible and the atrocities in the world, balance those with what is right in this world.

 

     I haven’t read a newspaper in years. It was all too depressing, and I have enough to read.

 

     I stopped reading newspapers or watching the news when I realized that facts don’t matter anymore.  Pressing a political or commercial interest is all they’re good for, and that isn’t healthy.

 

    Grumpy Editor, meanwhile, observed that broadcast news has become too repetitious with the same headlines carried through the day (without a "fresh" hourly top, as in former days) and sometimes into the next day or two.

 

 

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WORKHORSE DRONE.   Iran’s attack on a U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz marked the first known instance of an adversary shooting down the workhorse drone in its nearly 18-year operational history. 

 

WOMAN TO HEAD U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE. Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a helicopter pilot who heads a military command in Guam, will be the first female leader of the U.S. Naval War College.  She will replace Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley, who is being investigated for excessive spending and abusing his hiring authority.

 

FATHERS TEND TO BE BETTER EDUCATED.  A U.S. Census Bureau report finds fathers tend to be better educated than those without children and relatively few men over age 40 have children.  The report also discovered more than 60 percent of the 121 million adult men in the U.S. are fathers and just under a fourth between 40 and 50 are childless.

 

ONLY ONE NEWS CHANNEL CARRIES S.C. DEMOCRATS' GATHERING.  Other news networks were upset Saturday that that the South Carolina Democratic Party decided only one TV outlet — MSNBC — provide live coverage to the South Carolina Democratic Convention where presidential candidates spoke.  Among banned networks:  C-Span which has never been denied live coverage of a state convention in its 40 years.

165-YEAR-OLD BRITISH WEEKLY CLOSES.  An era came to an end on the Scottish island of Bute with closure of one of the United Kingdom's oldest weekly newspapers. The Buteman has recorded the ebb and flow of the island community of just over 6,000 residents 90 minutes from Glasgow for 165 years. With circulation dropping below 1,000, its owners decided to call time. 

ANGELINA JOLIE JOINS TIME MAGAZINE.  TIME announced Angelina Jolie will join the magazine as a contributing editor.  She will write on a variety of topics, focusing primarily on displacement, conflict and human rights.  Jolie’s writing for TIME will draw on her 18 years working with the U.N. Refugee Agency.

GOING AWAY PARTY FOR SARAH HUCKABEE.  A going-away party for departing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is slated today at an upscale Washington bar and restaurant.  She plans to depart her post at the end of this week.

BEAR GETS INTO HOUSE, LOCKS DOOR, NAPS.  A black bear in Missoula, Mont. decided he didn't want to be disturbed while taking a nap inside an empty home he entered.  So, somehow, he locked the deadbolt inside, making it difficult for authorities to reach him.  They finally did, and he was relocated. 

LAURA YEAGER BECOMES FIRST WOMAN TO COMMAND ARMY INFANTRY DIVISION

 

After 33 years in the military, Brig. Gen. Laura Yeager will be the first woman to command an Army infantry division, observed Grumpy Editor.  She takes command of California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division at the end of next week.

“I’m hoping the novelty of the situation will fall away and we can focus on doing the work,” she told Rose L. Thayer, Stars and Stripes writer, mentioning she was also the first woman to hold her previous assignment as commander of Joint Task Force North, U.S. Northern Command at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The daughter of a Vietnam War veteran, Yeager began her active-duty military service in May, 1986, receiving her commission from the California State University, Long Beach, ROTC program. She completed military helicopter training in 1989, and served as UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aeromedical evacuation pilot.

Yeager deployed to Iraq in 2011 as the deputy commander of the California Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, in which she later became the commander.

Members of the 112-year-old 40th Infantry Division fought in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. More recently, division soldiers deployed to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations around the globe.

Grumpy Editor once served in the 40th Infantry Division as a public information specialist.

 

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NATURE VISITS BOOST GOOD HEALTH.   People who spend at least two hours in nature a week are significantly more likely to report good health and higher psychological well being than those who don't visit nature at all during an average week, according to research led by Britain's University of Exeter, published in Scientific Reports.

 

MARIJUANA REVENUE RISES IN COLORADO.  Colorado's department of revenue said the state surpassed $1 billion in marijuana revenue since it legalized cannabis sale in 2014. The revenue included marijuana tax, licenses and fees. Sales topped $6.56 billion.

 

MILITARY SUPPORT NIXED FOR HBO SERIES.  An upcoming HBO series called “We Are Who We Are,” focusing on American military teenagers in Italy --- and seeking U.S. military support and facilities --- won’t have the Defense Department’s support, said Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt, film and television liaison at the Los Angeles office of the chief of public affairs.

 

O.J.'s FAMOUS ROAD TRIP WAS QUARTER OF CENTURY AGO.   It was 25 years ago on this day that  95 million Americans watched as O.J. Simpson participated in the slow-speed car chase of the century on Los Angeles freeways. More people watched Simpson on the freeway system than that year’s Super Bowl.

 

MORE U.S. MILITARY CONSIDERED FOR POLAND.  President Donald Trump is considering moving up to 2,000 troops from Germany to Poland, after that country proposed building a “Fort Trump” in efforts to lure the United States to base a larger American military force there.

 

U. S. COMPANIES WARN ABOUT DAMAGE FROM TARIFFS.  More than 600 U.S. companies and industry trade associations warned President Donald Trump that tariffs on China will damage the U.S. economy, leading to job losses and harm to millions of consumers.

 

SOLDIER TOURS EXTENDED BY ONE YEAR.   Single-soldier tours in Europe and Japan will increase to three from two years in a move designed to save money and boost the combat readiness of overseas units, revealed the Army.  The policy change, affecting 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers a year, applies to all single soldiers who receive unaccompanied travel orders. 

WEATHER FORECAST WAS KEY ELEMENT IN PINPOINTING D-DAY

 

 

 

D-Day events in the past week reminded Grumpy Editor of the excellent, well documented writing by David Eisenhower, the grandson and namesake of Gen. Dwight Eisenhower with “Eisenhower at War 1943-1945,” originally published December, 1986.

 

Its 977 pages, a masterful work that reshapes thinking about World War II in Europe, was nominated for Pulitzer Prize for History. 

 

Along with media keeping mum --- something that would never happen these days --- on the planned landings on the beaches of France, the other major element was the weather, most important on an English Channel crossing, and how word from the Allies' meteorologists made the June 6 invasion a “go.”

 

The book pointed out that “on the strength of a weather forecast (Gen. Eisenhower) decided to launch the invasion on the sixth (of June) instead of postponing it until the nineteenth without having to clear that decision with higher authority,” adding “it was “one of the truly great decisions in military history.”

 

Adverse weather would have curtailed close support of gunships and aircraft.

 

The Germans, who expected bad weather conditions for an invasion, were victims of faulty intelligence.

 

The Luftwaffe was in charge of predicting weather patterns and did not detect the break in the weather charted by the Allies.  The Germans predicted unsettled weather would force at least a two-week delay on any Allied activity toward France.

 

Allies' daily weather analysis, as pointed out in the book, was prepared by a group headed by meteorologist Group Captain Dr. John Stagg, on loan to the Royal Air Force, along with American-British experts drawn from various U.S. and British military sections.

 

 

 

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BETTER THAN A HAMBURGER?  Justin Sun, 28-year-old founder of cryptocurrency platform Tron and CEO of BitTorrent, provided a record winning bid --- $4,567,888 --- for a three-hour lunch date at a New York steak house with Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway chairman.  Every year, Buffett auctions off the expensive lunch that benefits Glide, a San Francisco charity that fights homelessness and addiction.  Last year's lunch with Buffet went for about $3.3 million.  The winner can invite up to seven friends for the lunch.

MAGAZINES CHANGE ISSUES.  Entertainment Weekly will no longer be a weekly magazine starting in August, when it starts publishing monthly as part of a larger "reimagining" of the brand.  The July 5 issue will be the last weekly.  Meanwhile, Newsweek — which started 80 years ago — will see its last print edition with the Dec. 31 issue.  Then it goes all digital.

MONSTER EYES SPIRITS.  California-based Monster Beverage Corp., leader in energy drinks, is considering branching into selling spirits, malt beverages and hard seltzers.  Coca-Cola owns 18.5% of Monster and distributes the brand through its beverage network. 

CONSUMER REPORTS GETS $6 MILLION DONATION. Consumer Reports received $6 million from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, allowing it to keep a closer watch over digital products and platforms, reported Chris Roush, Talking Biz News.

 

PLENTY OF DOUGHNUTS IN L.A.  National Geographic noted almost 1,500 independent doughnut shops dot the Los Angeles area.

 

TROUBLED NURSING HOMES LIST DUE. The U.S. government soon will start posting a list of about 400 troubled nursing homes and it'll be updated on a regular basis.

 

MARKETING CHIEFS TIME ON JOBS EBBS.  Average time chief marketing officers spent at their jobs at the 100 largest advertisers dipped to 43 months last year from 44 months the year prior, according to research firm Spencer Stuart.

WOULD TODAY’S MEDIA KEEP D-DAY PLANS A SECRET?

 

 

D-Day landing, 1944

 

 

With the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing in France being observed on June 6, press action — or more precisely inaction at that time — on activity leading up to the event that led to liberation of Europe would never happen today, declares Grumpy Editor.

 

Those representing print and radio at that time were patriotically mum on the most heavily guarded secret on the planet:  Invasion of Normandy across the English Channel.  It was the major turning point in the war.

 

Nowadays most members of the media can't keep a secret, or even a rumor, without firing it off.

 

On that noteworthy day in 1944 surprise was crucial, especially with Germany’s 55 divisions in France.

 

Six parachute regiments, with more than 13,000 troops, flew from nine British airfields in more than 800 aircraft, part of a massive flight of more than 11,000 planes.

 

More than 300 aircraft dropped 13,000 bombs over coastal Normandy in advance of the invasion when more than 160,000 troops stormed the beaches.

 

The main Allied invasion force of almost 7,000 naval vessels carried troops, weapons and heavy equipment, including tanks.  The armada included 1,200 warships that transported the troops and nearly 30,000 vehicles.

 

Ships of various sizes dotted the 100 miles across the channel, stretching as far as the eye could see.

 

True journalists at that time kept the secret that resulted in a surprise landing in Normandy.

 

Most of today’s media, with many members holding political science rather than journalism degrees, simply wouldn’t abide by a top-secret label on a major event.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

NAVY UNIFORM PATCH UNDER REVIEW.  The federal government was reviewing Defense Department policy regulations on dress code after some service members wore a uniform patch with the words “Make Aircrew Great Again” along with a likeness of Donald Trump during the president’s visit to the USS Wasp in Japan.

WETTEST 12 MONTHS SETS RECORD.  The National Weather Service said there's never been a wetter 12 month period in the past 124 years. The continental U.S. averaged six inches of precipitation above average during the period.

 

PATRIOTIC PARADE GETS SLIM COVERAGE.  Outside of the nation’s capital, there wasn’t much coverage of the thousands of spectators who lined Constitution Avenue to pay tribute to the past and present U.S. military in the National Memorial Day Parade.  Parade participants wore uniforms dating back to the Revolutionary War.  Along with floats, vehicles carried the parade's grand marshals — World War II veterans — as well as Medal of Honor recipients and celebrities.

 

MAN SHOOTS PROWLERS, GETS ARRESTED.  A 64-year-old man was arrested for possession of an illegal handgun after he fatally shot a pair of prowlers burglarizing his home in Deerfield, N.Y.  He told the district attorney the weapon he used in self-defense was his late father’s.   He was charged with felony possession of an illegal handgun.

SINGLE PURCHASE BOOSTS STORE SALES.  Costco performed a price check after noting a nearly $400,000 purchase at one of its stores during its most recent quarter. The lofty price tag was linked to one item — a diamond ring.

 

CANINE RULES TOWN.  Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller II (Max for short), has been Idyllwild, Calif.’s mayor since 2014. The non-incorporated community in the San Jacinto mountains has has been electing canines for its highest office since 2012.  

 

BANK ROBBER NABBED IN CASINO.  A suspect in at least four armed bank robberies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island was captured as he gambled at the Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, Mass.

 

CHINESE COUNTERFEIT GOODS CITED.  Military Times reported military and government agencies plus others purchased more than $20 million worth of Chinese-made counterfeit goods designed to look like domestically produced gear from a company that defrauded the government and helped to orchestrate the counterfeiting process between January, 2013 and October, 2018. 

 

51ST STATE LOOMING?  A House committee will hold a hearing July 24 on a bill that proposes Washington , D.C. be recognized as the nation’s 51st state.  The bill calls for two senators and one representative for D.C.