Grumpy Editor

BILLIONS OF ROBOCALLS REACH 'EPIDEMIC' STAGE IN U.S.

Robocalls affect any person who possesses a telephone.  Yet, most media somehow ignore the big and growing problem that irks millions of Americans, notes Grumpy Editor.

About 26.3 billion robocalls were directed at Americans last year, up 46 percent from 2017.

While people can register with the National Do Not Call Registry, illegal robocalls --- many from foreign locations --- grow like a fungus.  It's not unusual for some people to receive 10 or more robocalls a day, the largest source of consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.

The May issue of Consumer Reports terms robocalls "epidemic."

CR mentions "the telecom industry has promised to roll out new technology that, though not stopping robocalls on its own, would identify calls as potentially fraudulent so that consumers can decide whether to answer."

Grumpy Editor finds it interesting that when some nabbed robocallers go to court, they get off easy.

Examples CR cites:  One outfit that blasted millions of unlawful robocalls was ordered to pay $2.2 million.  But the Federal Trade Commission suspended that judgment upon payment of $65,000 --- based on inability to pay. Another operation that engineered billions of illegal robocalls was ordered to pay $2.7 million by the FTC, growing to $9.9 million when factoring in other people in the scheme.  But this was cut to $510,000 because of inability to pay.

There may be hope ahead.

Introduced in Congress in January is a bill called Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act.  It would make robocall fines bigger and easier for the Federal Communications Commission to obtain.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

GEORGIA SEEKS JOURNALISM ETHICS BOARD.  Republicans in the Georgia House file a bill that proposes a "Journalism Ethics Board" to oversee news coverage in the state.  The bill calls for the creation of an "independent" board --- housed at the University of Georgia's journalism and communications school --- to make "canons and ethics" and "rules and regulations" for journalism in the state.

UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS DECLINE.  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decline 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 202,000 for the week ended March 30, lowest level since early December 1969, reports the Labor Department. 

 

BIG SHAKER "OVERDUE" IN GOLDEN STATE.  California is in an earthquake drought, proclaims the Los Angeles Times in a periodic, lengthy, illustrated feature.  The latest, in a series of efforts to shake up readers, mentions it has been almost five years since the state experienced its last earthquake of magnitude 6 or stronger.

 

WIND TURBINES CAUSE CANCER?  The White House is refusing to explain why President Donald Trump claims, falsely, that the noise from wind turbines causes cancer, notes CNN.

 

BULLETPROOF VEST AT BORDER MOCKED.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) mocks Lawrence Jones for wearing a bulletproof vest while reporting for Fox News at the southern border.  Jones says border patrol agents advised him to wear the protective garment, because “we control this side of the border, but the cartel controls the other side of the border. There’s been gun fights.”

 

MEASLES CASES RISE.  More people are sickened by measles in the first three months of 2019 than for all of 2018.  It's the second-highest number reported since U.S. health officials declared the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease “eliminated” in 2000.

 

12-YEAR-OLD TO ADDRESS COLLEGE GRADUATES.   University commencement speaker is added to 12-year-old Hilde Kate Lysiak’s accomplishments that include crime reporter, publisher, author and subject of a television series.  She is scheduled to address graduates of West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media next month in Morgantown, W.Va. Hilde first came to national attention at age 9, when she covered a homicide in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pa., and for her self-published newspaper and website, Orange Street News.

13-YEAR-OLD BUYS CAR FOR MOM.  A 13-year-old boy surprises Krystal Preston, his single mother in Nevada, by presenting her with a white 1999 Chevrolet Metro, earned by mowing yards and clearing yards.

TRUMP AGAIN NIXES CORRESPONDENTS DINNER.  President Donald Trump says he's got better things to do than attend the "boring" and "negative" White House Correspondents' Association dinner April 27.  He will be holding a rally at that time, skipping the dinner for the third year in a row.

 

 

Pew Research finds cell phone users are a snappy bunch

Forget the phone calls, taking pictures leads the modus operandi by cell phone users, according to a survey by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, notes Grumpy Editor.

A lofty 82 percent of folks with cell phones utilize the units to snap photos, finds Pew, which also tallies 85 percent of American adults own the wireless devices.

"Cell phones have become a portal for an ever-growing list of activities," researchers point out.

 

Cell phone use to access the Internet has more than doubled since 2009, they add.

Aside from phone calls, here are activities of cell phone users, as compiled in the Pew survey:

Percent       Used for

82         Picture taking

80         Sending or receiving text messages

56         Accessing the Internet

50         Sending or receiving email

44         Recording video

43         Downloading apps

31          Searching for health or medical information online

29         Checking bank account activity/online banking

Surcharge on phone bill boosts ‘ObamaPhones’ usage

Grabbing attention over the past few days, especially on talk radio: coverage of the so-called ObamaPhone, including audio from a video of a happy user, notes Grumpy Editor.

While the regular phone user-funded program --- intended as a landline phone service for low-income Americans --- was created under the George W. Bush administration, it zooms ahead with cell phones in recent months under the Obama administration.

Yet, little is seen in print media about the bargain cell phones being widely dispensed.

Bloomberg News reports the current 12.5 million nationwide accounts via the program compares with 7.1 million four years ago. 

In Ohio, for example, one of the biggest battleground states in this year’s election, the subsidized phone service nearly doubles this year to more than a million people. 

See the video here of a happy Cleveland area cell phone (aka ObamaPhone) user. 

“Keep Obama as president,” the woman proclaims on the video.  “He gave us a phone.” 

The video is drawing attention to the subsidized phone program as a national debate unfolds on entitlements and the growing percentage of Americans who pay no income taxes and get federal benefits. 

And who pays for the service? 

Take a look at your monthly phone bill.  Among the higher “fees, surcharges and taxes” --- the Universal Service Fund surcharge goes toward footing the bill on "ObamaPhones." 

The number of people eligible for the Lifeline service is estimated at between 20 million and 30 million, according to Universal Service Administrative Co., that administers the program.