Grumpy Editor

MOST NEWSPAPERS BACK JOE BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT

Joe Biden gets the nod from newspaper editorial boards around the country, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Hill finds they favor the former vice president over President Donald Trump by a huge margin this year with their endorsements, with some of the most conservative papers in the country breaking precedent to back the Democrat.

 

At least 119 daily and weekly newspaper editorial boards have written formal endorsements of Biden so far, tallies The Hill.   Among them are conservative outlets Chicago Tribune and New Hampshire Union Leader, which has not endorsed a Democrat candidate in a century.

 

“America faces many challenges and needs a president to build this country up. This appears to be outside of Mr. Trump’s skill set,” the Union Leader proclaims.  “Building this country up sits squarely within the skill set of Joseph Biden. We have found Mr. Biden to be a caring, compassionate and professional public servant.”

Trump wins endorsements from only six daily or weekly periodicals, including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.  Adelson and his wife have spent millions promoting Trump’s reelection bid.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

C-130 flies adoptable cats, dogs

ADOPTABLE CATS AND DOGS AIRLIFTED TO MAINLAND.  More than 600 adoptable cats and dogs are airlifted from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland in the largest animal rescue flight in history.  Dubbed "Paws Across the Pacific," a chartered Hercules C-130 aircraft flies across the Hawaiian Islands  picking up dogs and cats from overcrowded shelters on Kauai, Oahu and Maui. 

ON-AIR PERSONALITIES EXPOSED TO VIRUS.  Several Fox News Channel on-air personalities are exposed to someone with the virus on a private plane flight from Nashville to New York.  That person later tests positive for COVID-19, leading the network to take extra precautions.

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE GOING WEEKLY.  The Salt Lake Tribune will stop printing a daily newspaper at the end of December after nearly 150 years and move to weekly print editions that will be delivered by mail.  Reporters and editors will continue to file breaking news online.

 

FOX NEWS MOST WATCHED ON CABLE.   Fox News was the most-watched cable network in October in both total day and primetime total viewers. Tucker Carlson's show sets the record for the highest-rated monthly viewership of any program in the history of cable news with more than 5.3 million viewers.

ARMY UNIFORMS GOING GREEN.  Two hundred Army privates, nearing the end of basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., receive the Army’s new, throwback style dress green uniforms, becoming the first recruits to be issued the World War II-inspired threads.

RARE CHAMELEON SPOTTED.  Scientists find an elusive chameleon species that was last spotted in Madagascar 100 years ago.  Researchers from Madagascar and Germany discover several living specimens of Voeltzkow's chameleon during an expedition to the African island nation.

FEWER ISSUES FOR GLOSSY FASHION/LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE.  The Wall Street Journal is cutting its glossy fashion and lifestyle print magazine to eight issues a year from 12.  It’s an insert in the Journal’s weekend edition. 

 

 

NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED BY 'ANONYMOUS' GRABS HEFTY COVERAGE

Being sought on many fronts --- especially in Washington, D.C. --- is identification of the writer of an anonymous, much-talked-about New York Times op-ed piece critical of President Donald Trump, notes Grumpy Editor.

The non-byline op-ed focuses on a secret resistance movement at work in the Trump administration that aims to curtail the president's "worst inclinations."

The author, according to The Times is "a senior administration official" as media over the weekend cite about two dozen White House officials that match that title, including cabinet secretaries and their top deputies.

However, Grumpy Editor puts the number of true senior administration officials at about 100.

On Friday, mentioning "national security," Trump declares the Justice Department should investigate and unmask the author and pushes Attorney General Jeff Sessions to move on it.  The president also says he is exploring legal action against The Times in publishing the piece.

 A Wall Street Journal editorial Friday declares, "Surely the writer knew that such insider criticism in the anti-Trump New York Times would be like waving  a red cape in front of a raging bull."  The Journal adds,"The U.S. looks foolish before the world, which makes us wonder if the writer's real purpose is to assist the looming campaign for impeachment.  This is certainly the New York Times agenda."

Others note the coincidence of the op-ed appearing at a time when Bob Woodward's book, "Fear," also critical of the president, debuts.

Ari Fleischer, who was President George W. Bush's press secretary, says writing an op-ed against the president without resigning is a cowardly tactic.  "Support the president or don't work there," he says.

The unsigned essay already is attracting language detectives who use a combination of language usage, statistics and computer science in efforts to identify mystery document writers.  

About the only person who knows the ID of "anonymous"  is James Dao, The Times' op-ed editor. 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

STOLEN RUBY SLIPPERS ALSO GRABS ATTENTION.  Getting almost as much media coverage as the anonymous writer of the New York Times op-ed piece critical of the president, is the recovery in Minnesota of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz."  Insured for $1 million, the slippers were stolen in 2005.

SHHH!  2,000 U.S. TROOPS IN SYRIA.  Not heavily covered by media is that the U.S. maintains about 2,000 troops in war-torn Syria with Washington pledging they will remain until the "enduring defeat" of the Islamic State group.

SECURITY GUARDS ON DUTY IN FAMED MUSEUM. One aspect media miss in covering the massive fire that engulfed Brazil's largest history and science museum --- home to a collection of 20 million items --- is that four security guards were on duty in the building when the fire started.

NAVAL ACADEMY ALLOWS LONGER FEMALE HAIR.  The U.S. Naval Academy is allowing women to wear ponytails and other longer hair styles as the incoming class of 2022 is more than one-quarter female.

DICTIONARY ADDS 840 WORDS.  Merriam-Webster adds more than 840 words to its online dictionary and more than a dozen of them are food-related.  Examples: “avo” for avocado, “guac” for guacamole and “marg” for margarita. Also debuting: “hangry,” the state of being simultaneously hungry and angry, “zoodle” the term for spiralized zucchini, and “hophead,” beer enthusiast.

COMPUTER SAVVY ANT THRIVES IN APPLE DEVICE.   A United Kingdom D.J. in Leeds tangles with an ant trapped inside his laptop’s screen.  Seems it was living a great life for five months criss-crossing inside the $6,400 Apple device before it finally went to ant heaven.

PITTSBURGH DAILY GOES TO 5 DAYS.  Pittsburgh holds the distinction of being the largest U.S. city without a daily print newspaper after the Post-Gazette, launched 232 years ago, cuts its production schedule to five days a week from seven.

BURGLAR'S GETAWAY THWARTED BY MANURE PILE.  A bungling burglar in Hawick, Minn. is nabbed after his pickup got stuck in a large pile of foul-smelling manure in a getaway attempt.  Deputies find him standing on the side of the road, covered in manure from waist to feet and smoking a cigarette.