Grumpy Editor

FACTORS BEHIND BOOST IN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC DEATHS

Speeding has boosted this year's highway deaths, greatest in more than a decade, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Traffic data indicates an increase in the death toll is linked to higher average speeds in conjunction with roads seeing more drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol, along with a slight decline in seatbelt use.

 

But Grumpy Editor points to another factor behind the speeding:  TV commercials.

 

Viewers this year have seen TV spots from various American and foreign manufacturers showing speeding vehicles on winding mountain roads, sliding sideways on city streets, splashing through small streams, and kicking up dust and rocks while zooming off roads.

 

Think that doesn't give viewers ideas?

In California, for example, tickets issued by the Highway Patrol for speeding in excess of 100 m.p.h. from January to June were nearly double pre-pandemic levels.  The number of tickets for reckless driving citations also jumped.

 

Nationwide traffic deaths last year rose 7.2 percent to 38,680 even after a 13.2 percent reduction in the number of miles traveled.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

SOCIAL SECURITY BUMP COMING UP.  Social Security recipients are in line for the biggest percentage bump for inflation in 40 years.  Likely cost of living adjustment for 2022, to be announced in October, is predicted to be 6.2 percent.

READY TO HELP VETS.  The Department of Veterans Affairs urges Afghanistan War veterans  to seek mental health care if they need help coming to terms with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan…a country where hundreds of thousands of veterans served in the 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

FALSE ONLINE INFORMATION EYED.  Amid rising concerns over misinformation online, including that of COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines, Americans are a bit more open to the idea of the U.S. government taking steps to restrict false information online. A majority of the public continues to favor technology companies taking such action, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

 

THURSDAY SPOTLIGHTS CANINES.  International Dog Day, observed on Thursday, encourages dog ownership of all breeds.  It celebrates all dogs and encourages adoption.

UNRULY BEHAVIOR IN AIR DRAWS FINES.  Fines for unruly behavior during commercial air flights soar this year, with the Federal Aviation Administration reporting it has proposed more than $1 million in penalties in 2021.  The FAA receives almost 4,000 reports of aggressive behavior since January.

VETERANS TOUR D.C. MONUMENTS.   A flight organized by Honor Flight Chicago, sends more than 100 veterans from three wars to Washington, D.C. for a whirlwind tour of monuments around the nation's capital that were built in their honor.  In attendance:  Three veterans from World War II, 33 from the Korean War and 76 from Vietnam War.

 PELICAN ESCAPES AGAIN.  A great white pelican escaped for a second time from an Irish zoo and was spotted more than 100 miles away.  The pelican flew the coop and was spotted in Wexford --- the same place it visited after an earlier escape in 2018.

Questions remain in wake of U.C. Berkeley rioting

Grumpy Editor noted a couple of interesting things in connection with last Wednesday’s widely-covered rioting at U.C. Berkeley: With wall-to-wall protesters, some tossing explosives and others smashing windows and starting fires, only one (or three) arrests were made. And, strangely, apparently no media person sought quotes from U.C. President Janet Napolitano, the former secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama.

The violent protests that prompted the cancellation of Breitbart senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech resulted in $100,000 in damage.

Police estimated 1,500 protesters were involved.

Most stories cited just one arrest. But KGO, San Francisco, put the number nabbed at three.

Media were silent on some questions:

Why weren’t there more arrests?

Why weren’t there more police on the scene?

Were many protesters non-students?

Rioting extended to downtown Berkeley where windows of bank offices were boarded up Thursday after being smashed the previous night.

On Thursday's CNN Tonight, U.C. Berkeley professor and former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich promoted a conspiracy theory, maintaining it was a group of right-wingers --- perhaps linked to Breitbart News --- who were responsible for the rioting.

The uprising resulted in President Donald Trump questioning federal funds to the campus while mentioning, “U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view.”

U.C. Berkeley last year received $370 million in research money from the federal government, more than half its total research budget of $674 million.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Setting the media straight:  Vice President Mike Pence was busy on the Sunday news circuit, making the rounds at ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS' "Face the Nation" and "Fox News Sunday"... The Mercury News, San Jose, reported after a month of blizzards, the Sierra Nevada snowpack --- source of a third of California’s drinking water --- is 177 percent of the historic average, most since Feb. 1, 1995, adding, “California Gov. Jerry Brown isn’t likely to amend or rescind the state’s emergency drought declaration until April”…NewsBusters observed New York Times CEO Mark Thompson on CNBC’s Power Lunch argued that the newspaper doesn’t display a liberal bias because “we aim to be objective and to tell people straightforwardly what's happening”…The New Yorker and Vanity Fair have pulled out from White House Correspondents’ Dinner events slated for April 29… Now animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is concerned over ‘Punxsutawney Phil,“ the groundhog that gets national coverage on Groundhog Day.  On Thursday, “Phil” took the stage in Gobbler's Knob, Pa. and predicted six more weeks of winter. The time-honored tradition, however, could actually be harmful for Phil, PETA told Britain’s DailyMail.com…Meredith Corp., publisher of Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Shape, among others, laid off 40 staffers…The Wall Street Journal is closing its bureau in Budapest as part of its downsizing in Europe and Asia.

 

In a New York Times op-ed piece, actress Angelina Jolie wrote that discriminating against refugees for their religion or country of origin "invites the very instability we seek to protect ourselves against."

Axelrod plans Institute of Politics for young people

Young people, including those interested in journalism, thinking of getting into the political field should keep an eye on political consultant David Axelrod who has some educational ideas on the subject, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The senior advisor to President Barack Obama, on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” on CBS, told host Bob Schieffer that “I’m going to spend part of my time starting an Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.” 

He added, “My feeling is if I can help inspire some young people to get into this arena as candidates, as strategists, as journalists, then that would be a great contribution to make.”

Not only senior advisor to Obama, Axelrod earlier was top political advisor to President Bill Clinton. 

Axelrod, who majored in political science at the University of Chicago, started writing on politics for the Hyde Park Herald, Chicago’s oldest weekly community newspaper.

He later picked up an internship at the Chicago Tribune.  That led to a regular staff job at the Tribune after graduation in 1977. 

At 27, he became the Tribune’s City Hall bureau chief and a political columnist. 

Axelrod jumped into political campaigns in 1984, starting as communications director for Sen. Paul Simon. 

Obama talks to VFW about jobs for veterans, but…

Rather than presenting a solid plan with a pathway to job creations for veterans, President Barack Obama told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno Monday that “we’re going to set up a kind of reverse boot camp,” notes Grumpy Editor. 

Although job-searching veterans already possess a specialty from military service, the president proposed still more training plus education and advice for starting a business. 

“Our American veterans have the skills America needs,” he proclaimed.  “So today, our economy is growing and creating jobs, but it’s still too hard for too many folks to find work, especially our younger veterans, our veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.” 

Indeed, with the jobless rate in June for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at 9.5 percent, the president’s rhetoric sounded uplifting.  Yet, not many eyebrows were raised by media. 

Obama also informed the VFW that he signed a veterans “skills to jobs” act that requires federal agencies to look at relevant military training when approving applicants for federal licenses and certificates. 

“We’ve got to put those folks back to work,” he declared. 

Not mentioned was a retraining program for veterans announced two months ago.  Called the Veteran Retraining Assistance Program, it allows qualifying veterans to receive up to a year of education assistance. 

But that won’t do much good for the many veterans in their twenties and early thirties. 

To qualify for VRAP, veterans must be between 35 and 60 years old and unemployed.

 

Newspaper reporter nears bottom of 200 jobs list

Journalism students hoping to don press hats and write exciting front-page stories should be aware that newspaper reporter ranks near the bottom of the worst jobs for 2012, warns Grumpy Editor. 

That’s something journalism professors won’t mention. 

A Jobs Rated Report by CareerCast.com puts newspaper reporter --- with mid-level income of $35,275 --- at number 196 on a list of 200 professions, between waiter/waitress (No. 195) and oil rig worker (No. 197). 

Newspaper reporter slips eight places from the last tally. 

Doing slight better is broadcaster (No. 191), with mid-level income of $27,324.  But the position drops 63 places on the list since the last time around. 

“Many jobs in the media are characterized by high stress, short deadlines, long hours and a poor hiring outlook,” mentions Tony Lee, publisher of the report. 

“Despite these poor working conditions,” he adds, “competition is steep for what jobs remain after massive consolidation and layoffs in the media industry.” 

Media positions ranking higher on the list are public relations executive (No. 70 with the media group’s best mid-level income of $92,156), advertising account executive (98), author (113), publication editor (119), photographer (147) and photojournalist (166). 

Topping the jobs list?

Software engineer.

 

N.Y. school officials revoke ‘sensitive’ words list

After getting much static, New York City school officials have shelved the idea (reported here on March 29) of banning “sensitive” words such as birthdays, dinosaurs, poverty, dancing, terrorism and Halloween, applauds Grumpy Editor. 

Also targeted to be scrubbed were references to “creatures from outer space,” divorces, diseases, celebrities, and homes with swimming pools and computers. 

The unmentionables, among 50 words and terms frowned on, were disclosed in a request for proposals to companies competing in providing various tests designed to measure student progress.

The N.Y. Education Department document pointed out the subjects were listed because they “could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.” 

The nutty action was revealed late last month by Yoav Gonen, New York Post education reporter, who called it “a bizarre case of political correctness.” 

At that time, an Education Department spokeswoman, insisting the routine is not censorship, declared, “This is standard language that has been used by test publishers for many years and allows our students to complete practice exams without distraction.” 

This week, Shael Polakow-Suransky, the New York City’s chief academic officer, said: 

“After reconsidering our message to test publishers and the reaction from parents, we will revise our guidance and eliminate the list of words to avoid on tests.

“We will continue to advise companies to be sensitive to student backgrounds and avoid unnecessary distractions that could invalidate test scores and give an inaccurate assessment of how students are doing.”

 

Banned words in N.Y. City student tests include birthdays, dinosaurs, poverty, dancing, terrorism

Judging from words banned from New York tests by the city’s Department of Education, students should avoid reading newspapers or watching television news because those sources often contain “sensitive” words such as birthdays, dinosaurs, poverty, dancing, terrorism and (especially in October) Halloween, notes Grumpy Editor.

Also scrubbed are references to “creatures from outer space,” divorces, diseases, celebrities, and homes with swimming pools and computers. 

What’s next?  Weather, because it might rain? 

The nutty action was revealed this week by Yoav Gonen, New York Post education reporter, who called it “a bizarre case of political correctness.” 

Reason for a list of 50 forbidden mentions is because “educrats,” as Gonen labels them, fear such topics “could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.” 

The unmentionables were disclosed in a request for proposals to companies competing in providing various tests designed to measure student progress. 

Education Department officials say such exclusions are normal procedure, pointed out Gonen, adding that a spokeswoman, insisting the routine is not censorship, declared, “This is standard language that has been used by test publishers for many years and allows our students to complete practice exams without distraction.”

 

Fortune magazine two-page spread focuses on 4-H Club

It is refreshing to see the July 25 issue of Fortune magazine focusing on the much-overlooked 4-H Club, a long-time youth organization, taking up most of two up-front pages including a dominant photo of two members showcasing their 18-month old bulls at the San Diego County Fair on June 29, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The 4-H program, born in 1902, is a bit of Americana but gets surprisingly little coverage in print and broadcast media, especially in large cities. 

Few realize that the 4-H (which stands for head, heart, hands and health) Club is the nation’s largest youth development organization. 

The clubs can be found in every county in every state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands plus Army and Air Force installations worldwide. 

While members’ projects used to focus mainly on raising animals --- from rabbits to pigs --- the program in recent years has expanded to topics of members' choice. 

Modern 4-H members, usually nine to 19 years old, zero in on such categories as gardening, technology and Web design.  And animals remain popular projects. 

Fortune, a Time Inc. publication, points out there are 6 million young people enrolled in 4-H programs, up from 1.9 million in the 1950s. 

The clubs, linked to university cooperative extension systems, are in urban neighborhoods, suburban schools and rural farming communities. 

An Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University study finds 4-H members are: 

• Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school.
• Nearly two times more likely to head for college.
• 41 percent less likely to engage in risky behaviors.
• 25 percent more likely to contribute positively to their families and communities. 

With that uplifting profile, more news editors should seek features on wholesome 4-H members in their areas.

 

Smokey Bear unveils wildfires app; PSAs urge caution

With major wildfires in New Mexico, Arizona and elsewhere, new Smokey Bear radio and television public service announcements (PSAs) for the U.S. Forest Service are being aired, just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The cartoon character Smokey (so named with the debut back in 1944 when the Forest Service spelled smoky as smokey --- perhaps because proofreaders were hard to come by during World War II) attired in forest ranger uniform, doubles as the symbol of conservation/protection of U.S. forests and "spokesperson." 

The Forest Service, assisted by the Ad Council, figures people, especially campers, should be reminded to put out campfires and outdoor barbecues --- and use caution with fireworks. 

Something new this year is Smokey Bear’s first mobile application. 

The free smartphone app is designed to provide critical information about wildfire prevention, including a step-by-step guide to safely building and extinguishing campfires, as well as a map of current wildfires across America.

The real-time wildfire map (now showing locations of three dozen large incidents) and other information are available through Smokey’s Web site:  www.smokeybear.com. 

Many Americans believe lightning starts most wildfires, says the Forest Service. In fact, the agency points out, nine out of 10 wildfires nationwide, on average, are caused by people. 

Principal causes are campfires left unattended, trash burning on windy days, arson, careless discarding of smoking materials or barbecue coals and operating equipment without spark arrestors.

 

$500 million U.S. competition targets kids under 5

First paragraph of a news release from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services heralds a new program with “investments in early learning to reduce crime, strengthen national security and boost U.S. competitiveness,” notes Grumpy Editor.

Seems like a splendid idea. 

But the Obama administration’s $500 million state-level grant competition --- labeled Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge --- is targeted at youngsters under five years old. 

That zeroes in on infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. 

Puzzling and not amplified in Wednesday’s 10-paragraph news release is how the “competition,” involving tiny tykes, contributes to reducing crime, strengthening national security and boosting U.S. competitiveness. 

“To win the future, our children need a strong start,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is quoted in the news release. 

Vice President Joe Biden is included with, “For kids, high quality early learning programs mean they will enter school better prepared with a greater chance of finishing high school and college.” 

Hopefully, that will lead to strengthening national security, too.