Grumpy Editor

NOW THERE’S A SHORTAGE OF BOMB-DETECTING DOGS

 

The pandemic has complicated a shortage of dogs needed in bomb detection work, notes Grumpy Editor. 

 

The U.S. draws about 90 percent of its detection canines from overseas, particularly from European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. Dogs receive advanced training in a number of subspecialties, including bomb and drug detection, and search and rescue.

 

“The canine nose is the best technology we have for locating explosives, so we need to have a very consistent and high-quality source of dogs,” says Sheila Goffe, vice president of government relations at the American Kennel Club.

 

In 2016 testimony, Cindy Otto, executive director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania, warned the Senate Homeland Security Committee about these risks. “By outsourcing our national security requirements, we give up control of the type of dogs, the health of the dogs, and the early training of the dogs,” she said.  “We also are at risk for supply interruption due to politics, disaster or disease.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

OVERBOARD SHIP PASSENGER RESCUED.  A 28-year-old man spends hours in Gulf of Mexico waters after falling overboard from Mexico-bound Carnival Valor about 10p.m. Wednesday.  Coast Guard rescue crews pulled the man to safety six hours after receiving word of the overboard passenger.  Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves says the man did not have a flotation device and survival at sea without one is unlikely.  "It makes it more miraculous that we were able to find him conscious and treading water," he points out. 

 

WORLD'S OLDEST LIVING CAT.  Flossie, at nearly 27 years old, is named the world's oldest living cat by Guinness World Records. The female feline lives in London and is in good health but has poor eyesight and is deaf.

 

TOKYO TOPS LARGEST CITIES LIST.  Largest city in the world in population is Tokyo:  37,435,181 at last count, estimates the United Nations. In second place is New Delhi, India, followed by Shanghai, San Paulo, Mexico City, Cairo and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

MARILYN MONROE ITEMS TO BE AUCTIONED.  More than 175 of actress Marilyn Monroe's personal belongings will  be auctioned Dec. 17 and 18 in Hollywood.  Among the items is a note from her father, Stanley Gifford.

 

BRITISH FISHERMAN LANDS MASSIVE CARP.  U.K. fisherman Andy Hacket, after a 25-minute battle, pulls in a massive carp that weighs 67.4 pounds from a lake in the Champagne region of France. The massive carp looks like an irregular-size goldfish.

 

AIRPORT AGENT SPOTS LIVE CAT IN BAG.  A JFK New York TSA agent spots a live cat trapped inside checked luggage and rescues the orange tabby from the bag headed for a flight to Atlanta.  A TSA spokesperson says the cat did not belong to the person with the suitcase.

 

AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES DOMINATE "BEST" LIST.  U.S. universities dominate the just-published “2022 Ranking of the Best Universities in the World” with 234 institutions listed.  It notes Harvard University hosts the highest number of leading scientists in the world --- with 2113 scholars.

GLOBAL POPULATION HITS 8 BILLION, SAYS THE U.N.

The United Nations reveals global population hits eight billion and India is expected to surpass China as the most populous country in the next year, notes Grumpy Editor.

Global population has more than tripled since 1950 as mortality dropped and life expectancy increased, due in  large part to better sanitation, access to clean drinking water and the development of vaccines and antibiotics, along with improved nutrition, adds the U.N.

It points out between 1990 and 2019, human life expectancy at birth increased by almost nine years to age 72 but people in the poorest nations died about seven years earlier than the global average due to high levels of child and maternal mortality, war and the HIV epidemic.

Although humanity is larger than it has ever been, the world population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950 as families have fewer children while the population is expected to peak at 10.4 billion in the 2080s and remain at that level into the 2100s, according to U.N. projections.

Life expectancy fell by a year to 71 in 2021, due in large part of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic --- still, people born in 2050 are expected to live until age 77 on average, the U.N. adds.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

NORTH KOREA INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE ABLE TO STRIKE U.S. MAINLAND.  North Korea fires one of the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles it has ever launched with the potential trajectory to strike the U.S.  mainland.  The Communist nation has fired at least 88 ballistic and other missiles this year.

GANNETT CONTINUES TO SLASH COSTS.  Gannett’s news division, in the third move to slash costs in the last six months, on Dec. 1 and 2 is set to inform those affected by another round of layoffs.  

FIVE MOST POPULAR NAMES FOR DOGS AND CATS.  Rover finds we gravitated to similar pet names this year. Top five most popular names for canines are Max, Charlie, Cooper, Milo and Buddy.  For cats, it’s Luna, Bella, Daisy, Lucy, and Lily. 

 

U.S. PARTS FOUND IN DOWNED DRONES.  Intelligence collected from downed Iranian drones in Ukraine shows most of the parts are manufactured in the U.S., Europe and other allied nations, reveals The Wall Street Journal.

JUDY WOODRUFF TO DEPART NIGHTLY PBS NEWSHOUR.  PBS NewsHour lead anchor Judy Woodruff is leaving Dec. 30 and will embark on a two-year reporting project focusing on the nation’s divisions.  She has held her nightly job since 2013.

OWL STUCK IN PICKUP GRILLE IS RESCUED.   Wildlife rescuers in Colorado’s Colorado Springs area remove a great horned owl embedded in the front grille of a pickup truck.  The owl is recovering.

SALMON ROUTE GETS A BOOST.  A U.S. agency seeking to restore habitat for endangered fish gave final approval to decommission four dams straddling the California-Oregon border.  The removal is expected to improve the health of the Klamath River, the route Chinook salmon and endangered coho salmon take from the Pacific Ocean to their upstream spawning grounds.

AIRPOWER MISSES MARK.  All branches of the military are falling far short when it comes to keeping an array of war planes and attack helicopter fleets "mission capable," according to a government watchdog report.

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE CONTINUES TO RISE

Global average temperature continues to rise, along with the sea level and record-breaking glacier melting in Europe, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

From 2013 to 2022, the global average temperature was an estimated 1.15 degrees Celsius (34.05 degrees Farenheit) above 1850-1900 levels, according to the U.N. agency's provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report.

 

"We just had the eight warmest years on record," the U.N. agency revealed, and “the global average temperature in 2022 is about 1.15 °C above the pre-industrial level.”

 

In the last eight years, melting glaciers and warming water have combined to push sea levels o.4 of an inch higher, tallies the World Meteorological Organization.

 

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NEW YORK’S ROCKEFELLER PLAZA TREE ARRIVES.  You know Christmas is getting closer when a crane hoists an 82-foot Norway spruce into place Saturday at Rockefeller Plaza, New York, where the 14-ton tree will be festooned with thousands of lights and topped with a star encrusted with millions of crystals --- and lit on Nov. 30.

 

POSTAL SERVICE READY FOR CHRISTMAS RUSH.  The Postal Service has stabilized its work force and is ready for the next challenge of delivering holiday cards and parcels, says Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

 

$1.5 BILLION IN ARTWORKS SOLD.  Sixty artworks formerly owned by Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, are sold at auction for more than $1.5 billion at Christie’s on Wednesday.

 

PINK DIAMOND GOES FOR $28.8 MILLION.  In another auction, a pear-shaped 18-carat pink diamond — largest of its kind — sells at a Geneva auction for $28.8 million, including fees and taxes.  But that is lower than the expected range.

 

PUBLISHING COMPANY MEMBERS GO ON STRIKE.  About 250 New York members of HarperCollins Publishers went on an open-ended strike Thursday in an effort to secure higher wages and improved benefits.

 

U.S. SOLDIER MISSING IN KOREAN WAR IDENTIFIED.  Remains of Tommie T. Hanks, 27, a U.S. soldier reported missing in action in 1950 during the Korean War, have been identified — 72 years later.

 

SENIOR DOGS FLY TO OREGON.  A rescue flight helps 23 senior dogs find homes.  Pet Rescue Pilots, with help from The Grey Muzzle Organization, fly the  dogs from California to Oregon, to help the older pets get adopted.

 

DOG DELIVERS RINGS AT WEDDING. In another dog story, bride and groom Paul and Annette Anthony in Pennsylvania celebrated their wedding in the company of the couple's nine dogs.  One of the canines trotted down the aisle in a custom dress to delive rings for the big moment.

 

BABE RUTH’S GLOVE SELLS FOR $1.5 MILLION.  A baseball glove worn by baseball great Babe Ruth during his time with the New York Yankees in the 1920s sold for a record-setting price of $1.5 million at auction on Saturday.

 

 

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MILLIONS OF DRIVERS HAVE HEAVY EYES ON THE ROAD

About 37 million American drivers at least once a year get behind wheels when they are so tired they can barely keep their eyes open, reads Grumpy Editor.

That’s six in 10 people, finds a survey by the National Sleep Foundation.

"Drowsy driving is impaired driving," says Joseph Dzierzewski, the foundation's vice president of research and scientific affairs. "We see that while most Americans believe drowsy driving is risky, they still drive when not fully alert. The good news is -- drowsy driving is preventable."

In a survey conducted this fall, nearly 20 percent of respondents were overly confident in their ability to drive after sleeping only two hours or less the previous night.

Respondents claiming they get the recommended amount of sleep --- about seven to nine hours per night for adults and eight to 10 for teens --- were less likely to drive drowsy, says the foundation.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

DROUGHT HITS EAST AFRICA WILDLIFE.  During East Africa's worst drought in decades, the Kenya Wildlife Service and other groups count deaths of 205 elephants, 512 wildebeests, 381 common zebras, 51 buffalos, 49 Grevy's zebras and 12 giraffes in the past nine months.

GANNETT JOURNALISTS GO ON STRIKE.  More than 200 Gannett journalists around the country walked off their jobs on Friday. It was part of a one-day strike demanding better pay and benefits.

BANK ROBBERS ACTIVE IN NEW YORK.  New York City bank robberies jump 42 percent this year.  There have been 135 bank heists through Oct. 23 compared to 95 during the same period in 2021.  One mid-town bank has seen four robberies this year with the latest this month.

LENA HORNE THEATER OPENS.  Brooklyn-born singer and actress Lena Horne, who died in 2010, becomes the first Black woman in U.S. history to have a Broadway theater named in her honor.  The original Mansfield theatre, built in 1926, becomes the Lena Horne Theatre where the musical “Six” is now playing.

SHEPARD SMITH TO DEPART CNBC.  CNBC cancels “The News With Shepard Smith” which averaged about 222,000 viewers.  His final newscast airs later this month.  A newscast focusing on business will replace Smith’s show sometime next year.

SCAM ARTISTS BUSY WITH SENIORS.   Scam artists last year, focusing on consumers 60 years and older, result in 467,340 fraud reports filed on investment, business and government impersonation.  These result in losses of more than $1 billion, notes a report to Congress from the Federal Trade Commission.

COUPLE NOTED FOR RESCUING 13,000 DOGS.  Ron Danta and Danny Robertshaw, who run the non-profit Danny and Ron's Rescue out of their Camden, South Carolina home, have rescued 13,000 dogs and now care for dozens of dogs looking for a second chance.