Grumpy Editor

'POT' SMOKING GAINING ACCEPTANCE AROUND U.S.

 

 

“Smoking pot” is gaining acceptance around the country, notes Grumpy Editor, who recalls when actor Robert Mitchum --- caught smoking a marijuana cigarette in 1948 --- landed in jail with a 60-day sentence.

 

“Yes, boys, I was smoking the marijuana cigarette when you came in,” he told police.

 

Now, Nevada is the latest state to allow cannabis consumption lounges as the drug gains mainstream acceptance.

 

As regulators grapple with how to oversee the businesses, dispensaries are already making plans to open the first state-sanctioned lounges by mid-2022.

 

A planned Planet 13’s cannabis superstore on the Las Vegas Strip will span 30,000 square feet of retail space alongside a cafe, a bar and a marijuana processing center.

 

 

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WALL STREET GOES INTO PANIC.   Wall Street investors sometimes get carried away.  A good example:  with announcement Friday of a new coronavirus variant detected in far-off South Africa, the Dow-Jones average made its biggest drop of the year --- 905 points.  An editorial in The Wall Street Journal notes “The panic may be driven more by the fear of new government lockdowns and social distancing than by the variant itself.”

 

EARLY U.S. COIN SELLS AT AUCTION.  One of the first coins minted in colonial New England --- a one shilling silver coin, made in Boston in 1652, sells at auction for more than $350,000.

 

SPEEDY BIRD HITCHES RIDE.  A roadrunner accidentally travels four days from Las Vegas to Westbrook, Maine, inside a moving van.  When found, a bird rehabilitation facility gets it back in shape and arranges for the bird (in a cage) to return to Las Vegas.

 

 

DOG GRABS 'BEST' TWO YEARS IN ROW.  At the annual National Dog Show in Philadelphia, history is made when a Scottish Deerhound named Claire, whIch won last year, is named “best in show.”

 

U.S. DESTROYERS GET CHAPLAINS.   The Navy is assigning chaplains to every destroyer in a bid to build and sustain resiliency among sailors.  The U.S. 6^th Fleet says placing a chaplain with a ship fosters deeper connections with the crew and command. 

DEER JOINS CLASSROOM SESSION.  Wildlife officials in Springfield, Tennessee, respond to an elementary school where a deer forces its way into a classroom through an emergency exit.  It was led to a door and trotted back into the wild.

WEST VIRGINIA CITY HAS MOST SMOKERS.  The U.S. city with the most smokers is Beckley, West Virginia, based on data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program.

THANKSGIVING THIS YEAR COMES WITH HIGHEST PRICE TAG IN YEARS

Inflation and supply chain problems are making an expensive Thanksgiving this year, notes Grumpy Editor.

Thanksgiving dinner's average cost for 10 people is $53, estimates the American Farm Bureau.

It cites a 16-pound turkey costs about $24 --- almost $5 more than the average cost a year ago.

Also contributing to a higher outlay for Thanksgiving, adds the Farm Bureau, is high global demand for food, particularly meat. 

It's the priciest meal in the survey's 36 years and up 14 percent from about $47 last year.

 

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COVID-19 DEATHS SWELL. Total reported deaths linked to COVID-19 tops 770,800 on Saturday, Johns Hopkins data show. This puts the pandemic total at more than twice the 385,343 COVID-19 deaths last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

COMPANIES STRUGGLED TO FILL JOBS.  Although employers added 531,000 jobs last month, companies are still struggling to fill positions after about 4.4 million people quit their jobs in September.  Companies are dangling higher pay and flexible work schedules in efforts to hire and keep people.

UNIVERSITY LECTURERS STRIKE AVERTED.  A massive two-day strike by University of California lecturers that threatened widespread class cancellations is averted after the union and university reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.

POLICE LASSO STRAY PIG IN NEIGHBORHOOD.  Cincinnati, Ohio police use a pet leash to "lasso" a pig found running loose through the Bond Hill neighborhood.

 

10-POINT BUCK GOES TO CHURCH.  In other animal news, a 10-point buck seeks sanctuary inside a Sturgis, Michigan church auditorium on opening day of the state’s firearm deer hunting season. The animal later leaps through a window and back into the wild.

 

$43 MILLION PAID FOR U.S. CONSTITUTION COPY.  A rare first edition copy of the U.S. Constitution sells to an anonymous buyer at auction for about $43 million --- more than double what was expected, says Sotheby’s.

"HEADING IN RIGHT DIRECTION" UP A FRACTION.  One third of voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey for the week ending November 11. The findings are up three points from a week earlier.  

NAVY SLOW IN PAYING SOME SAILORS.  Some Navy sailors are being forced to take out loans over months-long delays in pay to those who earned increases in their housing allowances this year stemming from marriages or moving somewhere with a higher cost of living. 

WITH WINTER, SURGE LOOMS IN COVID-19 CASES

 

A winter surge is looming in COVID-19 cases, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Triggering increased cases are the cold months when people are spending more time indoors (often with family gatherings), closing their windows and breathing stagnant air.

 

The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in some areas.

 

“We’re going to see a lot of outbreaks in unvaccinated people that will result in serious illness, and it will be tragic,” Dr. Donald Milton, University of Maryland School of Public Health, tells Associate Press.

 

Grumpy Editor observes many photos of people watching crowded events without masks --- not exactly the way to reduce the virus.

 

 

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AMERICANS SET RECORD IN QUITTING JOBS.   September breaks August's record for the most Americans quitting their jobs in a month.  About 8.7 million people--- about six percent of the work force --- bid farewell to their jobs in August and September.  The Labor Department says almost four and a half million workers left jobs in September, a record for a single month.

 

NAVY LAUNCHES ANOTHER USS NEW JERSEY.  The Navy on Saturday christened the USS New Jersey, a fast-attack submarine, at Newport News, Virginia.  It's the third naval vessel to carry the name of the Garden State.

 

ENGINEER SUES RAILWAY COMPANY IN JAPAN.  A train engineer in Japan is suing his employer, West Japan Railway Co., after it clipped his wages following a one-minute delay that he claims wasn't his fault.

 

KANGAROO MAKES IT TO ROOF OF HOME.  Australia's Queensland Fire and Emergency Services firefighters say a kangaroo that appeared to be trapped on the roof of a home ended up rescuing itself.  How it got onto the house remains a mystery.

CAT ROAMS 200 MILES.  New York's Montgomery County SPCA animal shelter says a cat brought in as a stray was scanned for a microchip and found to have been missing three months earlier from a Pennsylvania home 200 miles away.  A Fort Plain resident spotted the feline wandering through the neighborhood for multiple days.

VAN GOGH WATERCOLOR PAINTING BRINGS ALMOST $36 MILLION.  Seized by Nazis, a watercolor painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh sells at auction for $35.86 million, setting a new record, reports Christie's auction house. The painting, Meules de blé (Wheat Stacks), was completed in Arles, France, in 1888, two years before the famed post-impressionist painter's death.

GENERAL MILLS PONDERS SELLING NAME BRANDS.  Food giant General Mills Inc. is considering selling a portfolio of brands including Progresso soup and Helper, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company is aiming to raise around $3 billion from the sale, they say.

COLD AIR REPLACES MONTHS OF ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES

After months of widely-covered above-normal temperatures, parts of the U.S. get a heavy dose of below-normal cold air affecting 100 million people as we head deeper into November, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

In the past few days temperatures east of the Rockies plummet as low as 25 degrees below usual readings.

 

Parts of Texas are hit with lows not seen since last February.

 

Snow showers greet residents of Michigan and parts of the Northeast.

 

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YEAR-ROUND DST PUSHED.  With daylight saving time this year ending yesterday, discussions in the U.S. and elsewhere continue in efforts to keep things brighter later throughout the year.  Daylight saving has been used on and off in the U.S. since the 1920s. In the last four years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide for year-round daylight saving time.  About 70 countries practice DST.

 

NEW TV CHANNEL GOES TO THE DOGS.  Following three years of research, Great Britain today introduces Dog TV.  It’s designed to alleviate stress, anxiety and loneliness in dogs throughout the day with programs scientifically made to provide the right company for furry friends.

 

TINY HALF-CENTURY-OLD HOME SELLS.  A 250-square-foot home, built in 1970 in Newton ,Mass, just outside Boston, sells for $315,000, after about a month on the market, although for far less than the original asking price of almost $450,000.

BEAR BREAKS INTO CAR, MESSES THINGS.  Aspen, Colorado police file an unusual report:  a bear breaks into an unlocked car, shreds seats, tears doors apart from the inside, then leaves "an extra special surprise in the back seat."

CHINA BOOSTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORK.  The Pentagon reports “China has accelerated the pace of its nuclear weapons development and could have up to 1,000 deliverable warheads by 2030, far exceeding projections from just one year ago.”

LOTS OF FRENCH-FRIES WITH THIS POTATO.  A potato found on a farm in Hamilton, New Zealand, weighs 17.4 pounds, possibility the largest spud on record.  Current Guinness World Records entry for the heaviest potato is a 2011 monster from Britain that weighed in at just under 11 pounds. 

 

NBC UNIVERSAL EXPANDING.  With movie and television production surging, NBCUniversal plans to build eight stages as part of a major development to boost production at its famed Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles.  Growing production stems from higher activity from Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, among others.

DOG CHASES MOUNTAIN LION FROM HOME.  A pit bull, named Rocky, is being called a hero by his family after chasing a mountain lion away from the back yard of a home in La Verne, California, near Angeles National Forest, and up the hill behind the property.

MEDIA/COMMUNICATIONS JOBS GRAB MOST ATTENTION

Jobs in media/communications and information technology are grabbing the most attention these days, notes Grumpy Editor.

  

Postings in those areas are getting more clicks on the web now than in February, 2020, finds a survey by Indeed, an employment website. 

 

There is less interest in lower-wage, in-person sectors like loading/stocking and personal care than before the pandemic. Thus, that triggers labor shortages in those sectors.

 

Interest in loading/stocking jobs at warehouses drops 40 percent.  Interest in food service jobs is down 18 percent while the focus on personal care jobs, home health/child care is down 33 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

 

Meanwhile, only about 37 percent of jobs can be done from home, finds an analysis by University of Chicago economists.

 

 

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CHINESE MISSILE LAUNCH "VERY CONCERNING."  A Chinese missile launch “was a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system. And it is very concerning," Gen Mark Milley tells Bloomberg.  "I don't know if it's quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it's very close to that.  It has all of our attention."

 

STREET DOG TRAVELS WIDELY.  Boji, an Istanbul street dog, is grabbing attention in Turkey by exploring the area by subway trains, buses, ferries and trams.  He has become an internet sensation by traveling solo. Most days he passes through at least 29 metro stations and takes at least two ferry rides, and gets off trains and ferries by himself.

 

MORE POLICE SPENDING VOICED.  The share of adults who say spending on policing in their area should be increased now stands at 47 percent, up from 31 percent in June last year.   Of those, 21 percent say funding for local police should be increased a lot, up from 11 percent last summer.

 

PETA SEEKS "ARM BARN" IN BASEBALL PARKS.  People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says Major League Baseball should rename “bullpen,” where pitchers warm up, to more friendly “arm barn.”

 

TWO PERCENT CALL THEMSELVES WEALTHY.  A Rasmussen Reports national survey finds 60 percent of adults consider themselves middle class, little changed from earlier surveys.  While 20 percent consider themselves upper middle class, only two percent think they are wealthy, while 20 percent say they’re poor, up from 13 percent three years ago.

 

FEWER STUDENTS GOING TO COLLEGE.  Recent college enrollment plummets during the pandemic. This fall, it’s worse. The pandemic sees far fewer students going to college, according to preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

 

WARM ATMOSPHERIC GASES GROW.  The build-up of warming gases in the atmosphere increases to record levels last year, according to the World Meteorological Organization.  It says amounts of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide jump by more than the annual average in the past 10 years. 

 

THREE STATES GRAB MOST DEFENSE DOLLARS.  California, Virginia and Texas grab the most defense dollars in the U.S.  In fiscal year 2020, Texas is awarded $83 billion in defense spending, Virginia grabs $64.3 billion while California receives $61 billion.