Grumpy Editor

LEVEL OF NEWS CONSUMPTION TAKES NOSEDIVE

Axios reports “the level of news consumption in 2021 took a nosedive following historic highs in 2020,” notes Grumpy Editor.

 

“Despite a slew of major stories, readers have retrenched further in 2022,” it adds.

 

"The war in Ukraine, a series of deadly mass shootings, the Jan. 6 hearings and the Supreme Court's revocation of abortion rights haven't been able to capture the same level of attention spurred by the onset of the pandemic and the 2020 election,” Axios adds.

 

It finds cable viewership on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC on average is down 19 percent in prime time for the first half of 2022, compared with the like period last year.

 

Axios also points out visits to the top five U.S. web sites dropped while engagement on social media with news articles cratered over the past six months.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS  MISSED THESE…

 

USPS AIMS FOR MORE ELECTRIC VEHICLES.  The U.S. Postal Service plans to "substantially increase" the number of electric-powered vehicles it is buying to replace its aging delivery trucks.  It plans 50 percent of its initial purchase of 50,00o next-generation vehicles to be electric.

 

WITH HEAT, MOVIE CHAIN OFFERS REDHEADS FREE TICKETS.  As an unusual heat wave sees temperatures in the United Kingdom topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, Showcase Cinemas movie theater chain offers redheads free tickets to a movie of their choice when temperatures hit 104 degrees. 

 

ARMY STRUGGLES TO FIND RECRUITS.  The Army will fail to meet its goal by up to 28,000 soldiers this fiscal year, falling to a force of between 445,000 and 452,000 troops by Sept. 30.  However, it  still aims to finish the fiscal year with 455,000 soldiers despite ongoing recruitment struggles.

 

 FOX NEWS CHANNEL SKIPS JAN. 6 COMMITTEE SESSION.  Missing from last Thursday’s TV coverage of the House’s Jan. 6 committee focusing on former President Donald Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S.Capitol action was the top-rated news network, Fox News Channel.  It stuck with its own lineup of commentators in regular programming.

 

MAN’S NECK WRAPPED BY SNAKE.  Police were called to a Fogelsville home in Pennsylvania for a man in cardiac arrest with a snake wrapped around his neck.  When officers arrived at the house, the 28-year-old was lying on the floor unresponsive, with the middle portion of a large snake wrapped around his neck.  They shot the snake, saving the man it was strangling.

 

MASSIVE SEA TURTLE GOES OFF COURSE.  In Melbourne Beach, Florida, a massive green sea turtle wandered onto a beachfront patio and needed help from rescuers to find its way back to sea.  After hours stuck on the patio the turtle made its way back to the ocean after being carried in a harness away from the home and over the dunes.

 

BLUE ANGELS WELCOMES FEMALE TO TEAM.  The Blue Angels, famed Navy flight demonstration squadron, welcomes Navy Lt. Amanda Lee, its first female to the team.  She is named alongside five other officers as newest members of the squadron.

 

MONARCH BUTTERFLY ON ENDANGERED LIST.  The Monarch butterfly is close to extinction.  Scientists put the orange and black insect on the endangered list.  It is one of the world’s most recognizable butterflies.

 

HEMINGWAY LOOK-ALIKE CONTEST ATTRACTS 135.  The annual Ernest Hemingway Look-Alike Contest in Key West, Florida marks the famed author’s 123rd anniversary.  This year’s competition attracted 135 portly, bearded men.

 

WITH EVIDENCE, A S.F. COUPLE ALLOWED TO PARK IN OWN DRIVEWAY

San Francisco’s planning department recently threatened to fine a couple $1,500 for parking in their own driveway, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

It's illegal to park in front of a house unless it's accompanied by a garage or cover, the planning department maintained.

 

Putting their car in the driveway for 36 years, the couple believe the space has been used for parking since the house was built in 1910 in the Noe Valley neighborhood.

 

The planning department told the couple the city would waive the fine if they could prove that the lot has historically been used for parking.

 

With evidence showing the space has been used for parking since the 1950s, the planning department reversed itself.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

INDIA SOON TO BECOME MOST POPULOUS.  World population is expected to reach 8 billion in four months with projections that India will replace China as the world's most populous nation next year.

U.S., JAPANESE PLANES SHOW FORCE.  More than 50 U.S. and Japanese warplanes flew over waters near Japan as they put on a show of force amid rising tensions in the region with China and Russia.  Aircraft included a dozen U.S. Air Force top-of-the-line F-22 stealth fighters, four F-35 stealth jets and 13 F-15 jets.  They were joined by 20 Japanese F-15 and F-2 fighters.

SOME CITIES LOSE FLIGHTS.  Some U.S. cities by September will lose some or all air service from United, Delta or American Airlines.  That stems from pilot shortages, a rise in fuel prices, new contract with the pilots and inflation.

JILL, LONG-TIME SHELTER DOG ADOPTED.  American pit bull mix Jill, a Henrietta, Texas dog, is adopted after spending 10 years — most of her life — at Clay County Animal Shelter.

AMERICAN FALLS INTO VESUVIUS CRATER.  A 23-year-old Maryland man is rescued after falling into the crater of Italy’s Mount Vesuvius while taking a selfie.  He was visiting with two family members.  All hiked up Vesuvius from the Ottaviano to the top of the volcano through a forbidden trail.

POLICE CHASE WANDERING KANGAROO.  Police in Hungary capture an unusual animal on the loose, a kangaroo, after a chase of more than three miles. The marsupial was transported to the Budapest Zoo while police investigate where the animal came from.

FISH ENDANGERED IN MAINE WATERS.  Scientists say the Gulf of Maine is warming rapidly and is getting saltier, more acidic and increasingly stratified -- raising concerns for fish.  The region has historically produced some of the world's richest fish stocks — from cod to lobsters — leading to the building of billion-dollar industries.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

 

DO YOU LIE OR ARE YOU A TRUTH TELLER?

A recent study finds the average American tells about a dozen lies a week, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

University of Notre Dame researchers also point out “lying less actually improves our mental and physical health.”

 

Truth tellers report fewer instances of poor mental health, they add. That includes feeling tense or melancholy, along with physical symptoms such as sore throat or headaches.

 

Truth tellers also report improvements in relationships with friends and family.

 

Meanwhile, psychologists find lying can trigger an increased heart rate, high blood pressure and elevated levels of stress hormones in blood.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

FUNDS DESTINED FOR 85 AIRPORTS.  The Biden administration is sending nearly $1 billion to 85 airports to expand and upgrade terminals and other facilities.  The funds, making flying safer and more efficient, were approved in last year's infrastructure bill.

HUTCHINSON'S TESTIMONY SCORES HIGH.  Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the Jan. 6 committee scored high with television viewers.  It garnered a larger live audience than any of the four earlier daytime hearings.

DRIVER IN CHINA OUTRUNS LANDSLIDE.  A driver ended up similar to a James Bond movie when a mountainside in China's southwestern Sichuan province gave way, causing rocks to spill onto the roadway but the imperiled car outran the landslide.

MORE U.S. MILITARY ITEMS GOING TO UKRAINE.  The U.S. is sending another $400 million in military equipment to Ukraine, including four more advanced rocket systems able to strike deeper behind Russian front lines.

NO VACCINATION, NO PAY, SAYS ARMY.  The Army says about 40,000 National Guardsmen and 22,000 Reservists who have refused to get vaccinated will lose their pay and benefits.

 

FIN WHALES RETURN TO ANTARCTICA AREA.  Nearly 9,000 fin whales return to their ancestral feeding areas near Antarctica for the first time since  their hunting was banned almost half a century ago.

 

CNN REPORTER TO HEAD WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION.  CNN’s chief White House reporter Kaitlan Collins is elected by her peers to serve as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2024.  It marks the election of a woman as president three years in a row for the first time.

 

TEENAGER SAVES PASSENGERS FROM CAR PLUNGE INTO RIVER.  A teenager is being hailed a hero after city officials in Moss Point, Mississippi say he saved three people and a police officer after a vehicle plunged into water.  Corion Evans, 16, came to the aid of three female victims after he saw a car drive off the Interstate 10 boat launch into the Pascagoula River.

 

NEWSPAPERS VANISHING AT TWO-A-WEEK RATE

On this Fourth of July, Grumpy Editor notes newspapers in the U.S. are vanishing at the rate of two a week, reveals a new report.

Areas without reliable sources of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, finds Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications.

The U.S. had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report tallies, adding 360 newspapers have shut down since the end of 2019, all but 24 of them weeklies serving small communities.

Northwestern says about 75,000 journalists worked on newspapers in 2006 vs. 31,000 now, while annual revenue slipped to $21 billion from $50 billion in the same period.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

WORLD WAR II DESTROYER FOUND.  World War II U.S. Navy destroyer USS Samuel B. Roberts is found by ocean explorers close to 23,000 feet down off the coast of Samar Island in the Phillippines.

MAJOR HURRICANE SEASON LOOMS.  The Atlantic hurricane season continues through Nov. 30 and experts warn this year’s storms could be more intense.  With 21 possible hurricanes forecast, 21 names are ready to be used for each storm.

CONDORS FLY AGAIN OVER CALIFORNIA.  Last spotted in the area in 1892, condors soar again over California coastal redwoods.  The California condor is the largest native North American bird with a wingspan of nearly 10 feet.

‘FLASHY MOTHS’ APPEAR.  Described as “very flashy,” moth species not seen since 1912 are found at Detroit airport, arriving in the luggage of a traveler arriving from the Philippines.

HUGE STINGRAY REELED IN.  A fisherman in Cambodia’s Mekong River reels in a 660-pound stingray, world's largest recorded freshwater fish.  Residents nickname the giant stingray "Boramy," or "full moon," because of its round shape.

 THOUSANDS OF BEES BUZZ OMAHA HOME.  About 6,000 bees, attracted by bee-friendly flowers outside a home in Omaha, are removed from inside the walls of an Omaha couple's 100-year-old home.  The bees likely infiltrated through a hole in the mortar of the home’s brick exterior.

VA PLAN EYED.  A Department of Veterans Affairs plan that contains nearly $2 trillion in facility closures, consolidations and upgrades in the nation could be in jeopardy after 12 senators announce they oppose the agency’s reassessment of its facilities, reports Stars & Stripes.