Grumpy Editor

Most editors miss solo paddle boarder crossing Atlantic

Grumpy Editor asks: If someone crossed 4,500 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean solo, unassisted and unsupported on a stand-up paddle board, should that make headlines?

Well, South African watersport pro Chris Bertish did just that --- and received limited U.S. media coverage of that amazing adventure that took 93 days on a custom-made, 1,360-pound, 20-foot-long paddle board fitted with a small cabin and solar panels.

CNN and the New York Times ran stories on the accomplishment. But most other major media were busy detailing and analyzing Washington happenings.

Bertish paddled off from Agadir, Morocco, on Dec. 6 and arrived at English Harbour, Antigua, on March 9.

Also, Bertish set the record for the farthest distance traveled solo, unsupported and unassisted over open ocean in a day, 72 miles.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Global warming? A major northeaster storm threatens to shut down travel today and tomorrow due to heavy snow and strong winds from Washington, D.C. to Boston and beyond. Government workers in Washington are hoping for another “snow day” off from work…A month after the death of North Korean Kim Jong Nam, victim of a nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, stories continue to appear daily in U.S. newspapers…Student editors at The Crusader newspaper at College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., are debating whether to change the paper’s name after being confused with a Ku Klux Klan publication with the same title…Palms Casino Resort, just off the Strip in Las Vegas, advertises rooms as low as $39 per night.  But fine print adds $31.99 as a daily resort fee, making the daily tab (before other taxes) a penny short of $71...A CareerCast, Carlsbad, Calif., jobs report puts broadcast and sound engineering technician among the 10 best freelance, part-time, and contractual jobs for 2017…Creating a howl: A Maine lawmaker’s bill requiring dogs to be harnessed or tethered in moving vehicles didn’t go over well. It would have eliminated happy dogs sniffing surroundings while hanging out car windows with their ears flapping in the breeze. A flap by constituents caused state Rep. Jim Handy (D) to withdraw his bill.

On last week’s “A Day Without a Woman” protest, WUHT, a Birmingham Cumulus Media radio outlet, followed through by taking women hosts off the air and playing only songs by men.

Sissy, a dog, takes amazing route to bedside of owner

 

In getting readers/viewers minds off glum news such as blizzards, terrorists and taxes, most media missed a heart-warming story of Sissy the miniature schnauzer which, amazingly, trotted 20 blocks of city streets at night from her Cedar Rapids, Iowa home in a successful effort to visit her hospitalized owner, notes Grumpy Editor.

How the dog did it, including walking through two automatic doors and along corridors at Mercy Medical Center, had the town talking. 

Security cameras caught it all.  Cedar Rapids TV station KCRG broke the story.

Nancy Franck, in the hospital after surgery, and her husband, Dale, were concerned when Sissy unexpectedly disappeared from home.

But later a surprised Mercy security officer “looked up and there was this dog that was just running across the lobby.”

The security guard used the dog’s tags to call Dale Franck at home.  This led to information that the dog's owner was in the medical center.

Happy dog and surprised patient were reunited.

For more details, likely route and video of Sissy trotting through medical center’s automatic doors and along corridors, go here.

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE…

Proposed White House regulation of the Internet “mimics ObamaCare” in process and substance, and would lead to “billions of dollars in new taxes,” warned Ajit Pai, a Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission…U.S. Marines, departing Yemen last week, boarded contracted aircraft, not U.S. military planes…Yale University students concerned about global warming postponed a planned protest slated for the weekend because of “unfavorable weather conditions.”  Translation:  frigid, snowy weather…With China now one of the world’s top two economies, a U.S. State Department program provided most of $12.3 million in foreign aid for China last year with $6.8 million more slated this year…A proposed tax-hike surprise in a state noted for low taxes:  In connection with the ignoring of a reelection campaign pledge by Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval to keep hands off more taxes, three Republican state senators, including the majority leader, in a Wall Street Journal letter to the editor on Feb. 12,  defended Sandoval’s proposal to hike taxes to increase funding for education…Also involving Nevada:  Under a $20.2 million contract, the Silver State went to far-off Ohio to select a firm to market Nevada to tourists…In another visit to the dentist, Boris, a 29-year-old polar bear at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash. underwent three-hours of surgery Friday to extract an abscessed tooth.  Boris, one of the oldest polar bears in North America, in the past underwent multiple root canals…A Rasmussen Reports survey found that while 60 percent of Americans  termed news reported by media as at least somewhat trustworthy (including seven percent who think it is very trustworthy) 38 percent did not trust the news media…Southern California Edison Co. expected to lay off hundreds of employees and hire less-costly foreign workers.  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said the Edison layoffs are part of a growing trend of companies that use H-1B visas to bring in foreign workers for jobs that could be filled by Americans…In another case of a San Francisco TV news crew being attacked, a KTVU female reporter and a cameraman were assaulted by two masked men.  Gear was taken just after a live report in Hayward.  The news crew was shaken up but uninjured.

 

EARTH-SHAKING NEWS.  Among the top dozen What’s News items on the front page of  The Wall Street Journal on Feb. 11:  “Jon Stewart will retire as host of ‘The Daily Show,’ Comedy Central said.” 

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Another whodunit: Who gave okay for illegals release?

Imagine, more than 5,ooo jailed illegal aliens are being released --- after the Obama administration announced only “a few hundred” were being freed because of sequestration, notes Grumpy Editor.

What is interesting, and worthy of further investigation, is that both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano deny any involvment with the illegals being turned loose.

Those released are required to appear at later court hearings (if they can be found).

Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press writer, did some digging and finds Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from jails around the United States each week since at least Feb. 15” and 3,000 more are set for release this month.

 

Sequestration also grounds Thunderbirds

Not too much has been reported by national media about sequestration being blamed for clipping the wings of the Air Force's Thunderbirds, the aerial demostration team that flies six F-16s at air shows in the U.S. and around the world. 

 

The Thunderbirds' last performances before the team's grounding will be in Titusville, Fla., March 23 and 24.

Seems strange to cancel the Thunderbirds precision aerial exhibitions that thrill young and old folks plus all in between, boosts interest in flying and is simply patriotic.

 

Something for TV, film producers to consider 

With television and motion picture producers always seeking nifty stories, one they should consider (but without the now overused multi-car crashes or shootouts aimed at attracting 21-to-35 year olds), would include true World War II action and survival:

The story would follow a navigator on a B-25 aircraft, part of the Doolittle Raid to bomb Tokyo just a little over four months after the Dec. 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Bombers in the daring raid took off from an aircraft carrier, a very unusual "runway" for large aircraft at the time. 

After the effective April 18, 1942 bombing run (and U.S. morale booster), the navigator's B-25, as with others, lacked fuel to reach safe territory.  Some made forced landings, others crashed.

The navigator had to bail out, parachuted into a tree but managed to elude Japanese capture.

He returned to action in bombing runs on the other side of the world in North Africa but was shot down in 1943 which led to spending two years in a German prison camp.

The navigator, Major Thomas C. Griffin, who later lived in the Cincinnati area, died Tuesday at 96, leaving only four surviving Doolittle Raid members out of the original 80.

Services will be held Saturday --- with a planned B-25 flyover, hopefully with coverage by national TV and print media.

 

In case you missed these:

Wrong number:  Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), with 22 years in the House and ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, faced print and TV media to declare (a highly inflated) “over 170 million jobs” could be lost because of federal spending cuts…Chicago-based Tribune Co. is exploring the sale of its eight newspapers that include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel…The New York Times Co. plans to drop the name of its 125-year-old International Herald Tribune, distributed in more than 160 countries and territories, and rechristening it this autumn as the International New York Times…This just in:  The Washington Post reported an asteroid hit near Decorah, Iowa --- about 470 million years ago…Warren Buffet acquires his 28^th daily newspaper, the Tulsa World, second largest newspaper in Oklahoma…Variety will discontinue its daily entertainment print publication March 18 but has launched Variety.com providing free access to breaking news and analysis…Arnold Schwarzenegger, former California governor and noted for action roles in films, returns to being executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines.  

Grumpy Editor takes day off to mark Columbus Day

Grumpy Editor is away from his desk today, observing Columbus Day, a federal holiday since 1937.

While the day was originally celebrated on Oct. 12, the day marking Christopher Columbus's landing in the New World --- when he went ashore from his flagship Santa Maria to Watlings Island (also known as San Salvador Island) in the Bahamas in 1492 --- it is now observed on the second Monday in October.

For those who like updates: The island’s population now is about 1,000.

Columbus’s journey, sailing with other ships Niña and Pinta across the Atlantic, started from Palos, Spain on Aug. 3, 1492.

Wall Street Journal plans 16-page real estate section

Hey, maybe booming real estate activity is just around the corner, or maybe up the street, because The Wall Street Journal plans to introduce a 16-page residential real estate section in two months, notes Grumpy Editor.

The WSJ also plans to hire up to 10 staffers for the section that is slated to debut in Friday editions nationally and online in late September or early October. 

It comes at a time when parent company News Corp. is preparing to spin off the WSJ and other publishing assets. 

The section will focus on topics such as home financing, distinctive neighborhoods and properties around the world.

The section’s online version will include expanded video content and slideshows of high-end properties.

And, of course, advertisers are in mind, too.

The section hopes to boost WSJ ad revenue via financial, real estate, furniture and home design firms that cater to high net-worth consumers.

 

USS Nimitz spooking marijuana boats zips by editors

Most news media this week missed an interesting high seas story involving the 101,600-ton USS Nimitz, one of the largest warships in the world, scattering three 25-foot boats loaded with 100-pound bags of marijuana last Saturday off the Southern California coast, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Associated Press summed up the unusual encounters at sea --- which involved three U.S. ships and one Mexican vessel --- in a four-sentence mid-week story that lacked many details. 

Among media outlets that included the saga in news reports were ABC News, CBS News, New York Daily News, and Stars and Stripes. 

The supercarrier Nimitz, 1,092 feet long, was conducting flight qualification tests when sailors spotted two small boats about four miles away. 

When a Seahawk helicopter went in for a closer look, two marijuana-loaded boats sped toward the coast and began dumping bags which were later found to contain 100-pound bales of marijuana.

Another small “marijuana” boat, spotted three hours later, also dumped similar cargo after being spotted by air.

Also getting into the act was the nearby USS Princeton.  The cruiser sent sailors in inflatable boats to retrieve several dozen of the floating, dumped bales.

A Mexican navy ship arrived later and helped secure the remainder of the 186 bales of marijuana recovered that day.

Total retrieved:  18,600 pounds of marijuana.

The marijuana was subsequently transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Edisto (which fished 156 bales of marijuana tossed by a speedboat off the Baja California coast in December, 2008).

Despite all the action, Saturday's drug runners escaped.

 

London’s Sun staffers get inside look at North Korea

Cheers to two newsmen from The Sun, London, who used ingenuity in posing as businessmen to get a truer inside look at North Korea without being shadowed or escorted as journalists, notes Grumpy Editor.

The second part of the story --- by writer Alex Peake with photos by Simon Jones --- runs today in the British newspaper. 

The pair entered from China, crossing the border into what they called “the crumbling town of Sinuiju” where Peake noted “many of the people here are starving.”  Also, he added, “Nobody was smiling and most people were walking alone in a zombie-like state, staring at the floor.” 

From there, a 200-mile, six-hour journey on a chugging 1940s-era train took them to Pyongyang. 

In the capital city, their hotel room featured a TV set and “airtime on one channel filled with pro-regime propaganda including hours of footage of new leader Kim Jong-un watching military displays.” 

They toured the town, saw statues, rode on the Pyongyang Metro, sampled a Big Mac-lookalike which Peake declared, “God only knows what the meat is, there was no way it was beef.” 

Peake noted less than one percent of North Koreans own a car “so traffic jams are non-existent” and that most of Pyongyang “is plunged into darkness at 11 p.m.” 

The Sun writer also observed blue vans with megaphones patroled streets in cities and countryside blaring the message:  Work harder.

 

Dutch girl,16, nears end of around-the-world solo sailing

While most newspaper editors have been cramming their editorial space this month with election year candidates/events and milestones, such as Associated Press’s lengthy Guantanamo Bay prison's 10^th anniversary story yesterday, being overlooked is an adventure-courage story of a 16-year old Dutch girl nearing the finish of her solo sailing trip around the world, points out Grumpy Editor. 

Few print readers and television news viewers are aware that Laura Dekker is on the final leg sailing from Cape Town, South Africa, to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, where she set sail on Aug. 21, 2010. 

She’s due to dock on or around Jan. 24. 

There’s even appealing material, stemming from the voyage, that’s tailored for Nancy Grace on HLN:  Seems that Dutch truancy officers have issued Dekker’s father a summons after a newspaper quoted her as saying poor weather was keeping her from her studies. 

Indeed, the Dutch sailor --- who piloted her first boat when six years old --- this week ran into squalls. 

Sailing the high seas always is an adventure. 

Yesterday, via her Website, Dekker reports:  “The gusty and heavy squall that brought 40-knot winds and pouring rain finally dissolved.” 

New Zealand-born Dekker’s adventure is similar to that of Abby Sunderland, who, at 16 in June, 2010, had to abandon her planned around-the-world solo sailing when bad weather with 30-foot waves snapped her $120,000 yacht’s mast in the Indian Ocean, 2,000 miles west of Australia.