Grumpy Editor

Obama to West Point grads: Prep for global warming fight

In leading up to today’s unveiling of President Barack Obama’s signature climate change regulation that limits carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, the commander-in-chief (pushing aside mentions of military buildups and aggressive actions by North Korea and China, among others) on Wednesday told the West Point graduating class they will be forced to respond to the effects of --- global warming, notes Grumpy Editor.

Along with foreign policy remarks to the more than 1,000 graduating cadets, the president called for energizing the global effort to combat climate change which he termed “a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as we are called on to respond to refugee flows and natural disasters and conflicts over water and food, which is why next year I intend to make sure America is out front in putting together a global framework to preserve our planet.”

Obama, two days later at another event, warned storms like 2012’s Hurricane Sandy will become more frequent as climate change intensifies and urged the public to prepare now for this year's hurricane season.

The president said changes in climate mean that storms “could end up being more common and more devastating…and that’s why we’re also going to be doing more to deal with the dangers of carbon pollution that help to cause this climate change and global warming.”

Meanwhile, after one of the quietest hurricane seasons in decades last year, forecasters with The Weather Channel predict a below-average 2014 Atlantic hurricane season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

 

In case you missed these…

WORLD WAR II BIRD SET TO FLY AT NORMANDY.  Participating in next Sunday’s 70^th anniversary marking World War II’s D-Day landing will be a vintage C-47 twin-engine aircraft that dropped Allied paratroops behind enemy lines before dawn on June 6, 1944.  Known as Whiskey 7, assigned to the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron, the aircraft recently flew 3,600-miles crossing the Atlantic.  It marked its longest journey since shortly after World War II.

 

NEXT QUESTION, PLEASE.  During a lengthy interview of former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in an hour NBC program, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams asked: "Did you vote for President Obama?" Snowden refused to answer.

 

WASHINGTON REMAINS SILENT ON JAILED AMERICANS.  A U.S. Marine marking his 63^rd day in a Mexican prison (covered here May 26) after making a wrong turn on a road near Tijuana isn’t the only case of recent below-border jailings.  USA Today on Saturday revealed six Americans, crewmembers from a U.S. ship, since early May have been in a Honduras prison charged with attempting to smuggle five weapons into the country. Robert Mayne, the ship’s captain who is among those in jail, said the weapons on the ship were registered in the U.S. and he notified Honduran maritime authorities about them a month before arrival in Honduran waters.  (It is common for vessels sailing in international waters to possess weapons to protect against piracy.)

NOW ABOUT CARNEY’S REPLACEMENT.  With Jay Carney leaving his White House press secretary post, background of his replacement, Josh Earnest, doesn’t match that of Carney, former Washington bureau chief for Time magazine with 21 years in print journalism.  Earnest, with a political science degree, went from college directly into work for politicians.

 

ALMOST 3 MONTHS OF MISSING AIRCRAFT COVERAGE. CNN on Saturday continued its almost non-stop coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared from radar on March 8.  A live discussion around a table focused on “pings were not from Flight 370.” 

FCC shelves controversial plan to snoop on newsrooms

Most broadcast/print media --- finally hearing alarm bells last week --- were slow to recognize a long-in-the-works Federal Communications Commission proposal that would dispatch “researchers” to monitor newsrooms even though the snooping plan surfaced nine months ago but gained major attention after a Feb. 10 warning by Ajit Pai, Republican commissioner with the FCC, who penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, observes Grumpy Editor.

Pai, a lawyer, noted the plan posed great danger to the First Amendment and could be used in “pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.”  Following Pai’s revealing op-ed, many journalists and radio/TV talk show hosts termed the plan an attempt by the White House to rein in the media.  Also shedding light on the dangers of newsroom monitoring was the American Center for Law and Justice.

After a barrage of broadcast and print criticism, federal officials on Friday released a one-page statement that the “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN, has been suspended.  The study had been set to begin this year in Columbia, S.C.  (However, media in that city said the monitoring plan was news to them.) 

The CIN initiative included surveying media markets to determine how different demographics get news.  It also called for interviews with media owners and editorial staffers on how their newsrooms operate. 

Similar to discussions in an editorial meeting, the FCC planned to quiz editors and reporters on how they determine stories to cover and how they should be presented, along with asking reporters about rejected stories deemed important and reasons for the rejections. 

Among suggested questions: "What is the news philosophy of the station?" and "How much does community input influence news coverage decisions?"

Veteran journalists regarded this as an initial interrogation step in an attempt to control and intimidate the media. 

Ten months ago, unknown to most media, a 78-page “Research Design for the Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs” was prepared for the FCC by Social Solutions International, Inc., Silver Spring, Md., which describes itself as “a research and evaluation firm dedicated to the creation of social and health solutions to improve the welfare of underserved populations worldwide.”

Richard Zaragosa, whose Washington law firm represents the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations, cautioned that the suspension does not mean the FCC will not proceed later with the snooping plan. 

“Our reading … suggests that they have postponed the survey until it can be reworked, not that they canceled it entirely and permanently,” he pointed out.

 

In case you missed these…

WHITE HOUSE PRESS CAMERAS SHELVED AGAIN.  White House photographers were grumbling again on Friday when locked out from President Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.  Only a handout photo was provided after the “closed press” event.  Some news outlets, including USA Today have nixed using handout photos. 

KERRY LOOKS SKYWARD.  Secretary of State John Kerry turned “climatologist” and raised eyebrows with a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, declaring climate change is perhaps the worlds’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. 

AVOID CRIME, STAY AWAY FROM HOT SUN.  Equally strange were amazing, crystal ball precise forecasts the Los Angeles Times gleaned from a study published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management that high temperatures are likely to produce more crime.  Between 2010 and 2099, it pinpointed “climate change can be expected to cause an additional 22,000 murders, 180,000 cases of rape, 1.2 million aggravated assaults, 2.3 million simple assaults, 260,000 robberies, 1.3 million burglaries, 2.2 million cases of larceny and 580,000 cases of vehicle theft.”  (Of course, not many of us will be around in 85 years to check on the study's accuracy at the end of the century.  Hopefully, The Times has put a note in its future file --- for 2099 --- for a follow-up.  Also, the crime/high temperature factor portends it being rather dangerous to visit or live in places such as Palm Springs, Phoenix and Las Vegas during simmering periods.)  

FILM AT 11?  CBS in Miami reported media organizations, including Associated Press and CNN, petitioned a Miami/Dade court for access to videos that reportedly show singer-songwriter-actor-musician Justin Bieber "during the time he was asked to provide a urine sample to Miami Beach Police as part of his DUI arrest” last month.

N.Y. Times story omits Mexico gulps Colorado River water

With “global warming” getting socked following an ice-stuck Russian ship with “warming” followers aboard during summertime in the Antarctic along with record cold over most of the U.S. last week plus Southern California getting another round of earthquake perils stories, media are turning to another periodic nature-triggered standby:  drought, with a lengthy New York Times feature as a prime example, notes Grumpy Editor.

The N.Y. Times story focuses on the 1,450-mile Colorado River “being sapped by 14 years of drought nearly unrivaled in 1,250 years.” 

(One wonders who was measuring the river flow going back to 728 years before Columbus discovered America.) 

N.Y. Times writer Michael Wines relates “many experts believe the current drought is only the harbinger of a new, drier era in which the Colorado’s flow will be substantially and permanently diminished.” 

(The Colorado River depends mainly on Rocky Mountains snow melt.  Precipitation varies from year to year, as any meteorologist will explain.  Thus, a period of low measurement could be followed by an above-average or a record-breaking tally.) 

Most interesting in the N.Y. Times piece is that while citing the Colorado River provides water to Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada and California ---  and that drought-linked possible rationing lies ahead --- a vital missing word in the article is Mexico.

Mexico siphons 1.5 million acre-feet out of the 16.5 million acre-feet per year from the Colorado River and Lake Mead, stemming from appropriations in a 1944 treaty.  That’s five times the allotment of a skimpy 300,000 acre-feet annually for the whole state of Nevada, not just Las Vegas as reported by some media.

 

In case you missed these…

FAST WORK BY MAJOR TV NETWORKS.  Media Research Center President Brent Bozell points out how the big three TV networks jumped on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the bridge traffic case by devoting “17 times more coverage to this story in one day, one day, than they devoted to the IRS scandal in six months."

A NO-NO IN NEWSPAPERS BUT OKAY ON THE BIG SCREEN.  Current showing of the Martin Scorsese-directed film, "The Wolf of Wall Street," contains more than 500 utterances of the f-word.  Now, that’s entertainment and explains why the repeated word contributes to the footage extending to three hours.

“MADE IN CHINA” FOOTAGE STANDS IN FOR L.A.  “Here,” a currently-playing film, snubs the real City of the Angels with scenes of a future Los Angeles --- shot in Pudong, a district of Shanghai.

BUT WHAT WAS ON THE MENU?  In a simple move to offset Washington media’s frustration on the administration’s policy of limiting photos to those taken by the official White House photographer, press photographers last Wednesday were allowed to photograph a weekly President Obama-Vice President Biden lunch meeting.

SUNDAY MORNING NEWS SHOWS REACH MILESTONES.  CBS’ Face the Nation, is now in its 60^th year on the network.  The program expanded to one hour in many markets in 2012 and became the most watched Sunday public affairs program for the 2012-2013 season.  Bob Schieffer has been at the helm for the past 23 years.  NBC’s “Meet the Press,” longest running similar Sunday offering, marks 67 years later in 2014.

TV NEWS VIEWERS FADE.  Pew Research analysis of Nielsen Media Research figures show TV network news viewers fell to 24.5 million last year from an average 48 million in 1985.   The findings note the 18 to 29 age group is the least likely to watch network news regularly --- just 11 percent did so in 2012 --- and 49 percent in that category say they never watch TV news.

MAGAZINE COVER STORIES FOCUS ON CLUTTER.  “Get Cash for Your Clutter” is in Woman’s Day, with a two-pager in the February issue, while Better Homes and Gardens features “Clutter Nightmares Solved” spread over five pages in the January issue.

Related articles

Upper and Lower #ColoradoRiver water supply forecasts issued by the NRCS

Colorado River Drought Forces a Painful Reckoning for States

Greenhouse gas ‘highest in 800,000 years’ stirs CBS News

Media continue to intensify global warming reports while overlooking unseasonal cold, finds Grumpy Editor.  Latest example was the excitement at CBS News. 

Matthew Balan at NewsBusters points out, “Scott Pelley hyped the latest global warming report on Wednesday's CBS Evening News, proclaiming that "climate scientists have never seen greenhouse gas readings like what they announced today...scientists with the United Nations said that greenhouse gases, which influence climate change, have hit their highest level in 800,000 years,” pinning the blame on industry ramping up in the developing world. 

Were any eyebrows raised at CBS on the 800,000 years reference?  At around 797,987 B.C., Grumpy Editor wonders what kind of weather instruments and tree rings were used to calculate "warming." 

Nothing is mentioned about meteorological specialists in United Nations’ purposes and principles that include maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and “to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character.” 

Meanwhile, most media are quiet about unusual cold smacking parts of the U.S.  The Climate Depot website reveals Spokane International Airport received 1.9 inches of snow Tuesday, snapping a 66-year-old daily record.  It edged the 1.8 inches recorded on Nov. 5, 1947.  Also on Nov. 5, a record snowfall of 5.7 inches was measured in Sioux Falls, S.D., breaking the old record of 1.5 inches set in 1959. 

Into the mix, NewsBusters last Thursday reports:  “Far from disappearing, Antarctic ice levels reached a record high on Sept. 22.”

 

In case you missed these…

Is the Teleprompter responsible?  With President Barack Obama last week altering what he said (at least 36 times) about OmabaCare with:  “What we said was you could keep (that plan) if it hasn’t changed since the law was passed.”  This differs from earlier statements that repeated, “If you like your health plan, you can keep it.” 

Strange selection.  The Wall Street Journal’s sole front-page photo last Monday was an above-the-fold, one-liner caption-only showing four women in Jordan watching a “hybrid” eclipse.  Captions on other photos that day brought confusion.  An Associated Press-supplied photo linked to a story on India’s plan to launch a spacecraft was incorrectly attributed to Agence France-Presse/Getty Images in some editions.  Also, in connection with an article on voting in Kosovo, some editions credited a Reuters photo to Zuma Press.

Had enough of the Toronto mayor coverage?  A whole week of focusing on a mayor based in another country filled U.S. broadcast and print news.  That included coverage of a press conference, live on Fox News and CNN, in which Rob Ford, Toronto mayor, admitted smoking crack cocaine plus additional extensive airtime and print space --- all the way through the weekend --- devoted to Ford’s rambling rage captured in a video.

Another mayor story few know about.  Ed Engler, editor and president of the Laconia Daily Sun is the new mayor of the New Hampshire city.  He will be sworn in tomorrow and begins his term in January. So who will cover City Hall for the Sun?

Good comparison.  A print ad by State Street Global Advisors for SPDR, an exchange traded fund, grabbed readers’ eyes with:  TRADED MORE OFTEN THAN A VETERAN BASEBALL PLAYER.

More print jobs lost.  The move to print the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at the Dallas Morning News next year means 275 people, including 75 full timers, will be dropped from the payroll.

 

Zombies in Washington?  The latest Rasmussen Reports finds 37 percent of adults surveyed feel zombies would do a better job running the U.S. today.  On the other hand, the survey notes just as many (37 percent) believe the federal government would do a better job than zombies in running the country while 26 percent can’t decide between the two.

Obama executive order: gear for global warming impact

While Washington media were focusing on President Barack Obama meeting in the White House for two hours Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to discuss ways to work together in efforts to stop the al-Qaida threat, the president issued an executive order --- missed by many editors --- directing a government-wide effort to boost regional preparation for global warming’s impact, noted Grumpy Editor. 

The action came just before an unusual meteorological weekend in the U.S. that brought a mix of snow and rain across the Great Lakes to northern New England along with a series of winter storms moving through the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies accompanied by strong winds and heavy snow at higher elevations. 

With this, and snubbed by (usually weather-conscious) media, was that daily high temperatures late last week in places like Chicago and Detroit were running up to a cool 15 degrees below average. 

Obama’s action, as reported by Dave Boyer in The Washington Times, orders federal agencies to work with states to build “resilience” against major storms and other weather extremes. 

Boyer said the order declared:  “The impacts of climate change --- including an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification and sea-level rise --- are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies and public health across the nation. The federal government must build on recent progress and pursue new strategies to improve the nation’s preparedness and resilience.” 

Meanwhile, some newspapers yesterday carried an Associated Press story previewing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report next March that will indicate “how global warming already is affecting the way people live and what will happen in the future, including a worldwide drop in income.” 

While the spotlight was on “warming,” the word cold was absent in the story. 

 

In case you missed these… 

Social Security benefits for nearly 58 million people will rise in 2014 by 1.5 percent, one of the smallest increases since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

Official reason for the skimpy raise: Consumer prices haven’t gone up much in the past year.

As media have been reporting for months --- inflation is “tame.”

That leaves many budget-squeezed seniors, facing higher costs on multiple fronts, shaking their heads.

 

USA Today claimed top spot in U.S. newspaper circulation, sending The Wall Street Journal to No. 2.  The Gannett Co. publication accomplished the position with 2.9 million daily average circulation for the six months ended Sept. 30 by including print and various digital editions. 

The San Francisco Chronicle was the latest publication to ban use of “Redskins” in  referring to Washington, D.C.’s professional football team --- which has been using the name since 1933.

Readers’choice:  November issue of Sunset magazine, in the Time Inc. family, included two different subscription cards.  A two-for-one deal put the one-year term at $24.  Another card promised 12 months for $29.

Will Washington watch?  Sen. Ted Cruz, (R-Texas) guests on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Friday.

U-T, the San Diego daily, in a deal expected to close today, purchased from Mainstreet Communications eight San Diego County community newspapers including the Del Mar Times, La Jolla Light, Rancho Santa Fe Review and Poway News Chieftain.

Broadcast media became excited last week when what was initially termed a large explosion followed by gunfire was heard near the U.S. embassy in Sana’a, Yemen's capital, with a population of 1.7 million.

It turned out to be fireworks from a wedding…which media decided not to cover.

Climate change triggering 'violence' stirs news editors

Team climate change with a likely increase in future violence and news editors at major print/broadcast media go bananas, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Grabbing chunks of newspaper space and radio/TV airtime Friday and into the weekend were mentions that shifts in climate --- even relatively minor departures from normal temperatures --- could significantly increase human conflicts around the world by 2050, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University. 

Solomon Hsiang, the study’s lead author, is described as a postdoctoral fellow in science, technology and environmental policy at Princeton during the research project and now is an assistant professor of public policy at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. 

Most print/broadcast news outlets did not identify Hsiang other than “lead author,” although Associated Press labeled him as an economist. 

What media overlooked was that Hsiang, also as lead author in a study publicized two years ago, covered much of the same ground with “often war is associated with global climate change.”  See him in an Aug. 29, 2011 podcast here.   

If future extreme heat is likely to trigger violence, then violent crime should be rampant now in places such as Palm Springs, Phoenix and Las Vegas, where temperatures last month soared to (what is considered normal for the period) 112-118 degrees --- and 100-plus readings continue this week. 

And Death Valley, where the thermometer reached a world record ---  a scorching 134 degrees --- a century ago (July 10, 1913, to be exact), should be the shootout capital of the world.  However, readings at the California tourist site “cooled down” in recent days from 128 degrees on July 3 and 129 degrees on June 30.  The temperature reached only 112 degrees there on Friday.  No recent crime sprees were reported. 

Most July job growth comes via part-time work 

While most media trumpeted the July government employment report released Friday as adding 162,000 positions (and not mentioning the number was below economist expectations of 184,000), Kevin G. Hall, at McClatchy’s Washington bureau, went a step further to point out: 

A closer look at the Labor Department figures “suggests that part-time work accounted for almost all the job growth that’s been reported over the past six months.”

He also worked in quotes from Keith Hall, a senior researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center and former head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics:  “Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work.  That is really remarkable.”

The researcher added, “That is a really high number for a six-month period. I’m not sure that has ever happened over six months before.” 

Plain Dealer dumps 50 newsroom staffers

In what one news person said was a “graceless” layoff method, Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial staffers were told to stand by their telephones on Wednesday, between 8 and 10 a.m., to learn if they got the ax.  Fifty did.

Others got the green light to go back to the office.

Those getting pink slips were then asked to collect severance materials the following day --- at the paper’s production center about 10 miles away from the editorial room.

Ohio’s largest newspaper, owned b y Advance Publications, in April announced a scale-back in home deliveries to three days a week.

Meanwhile, getting pink slips in other cities were 29 workers at Gannett Co.’s Arizona Republic, Phoenix, and Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial writer Drew Johnson who wrote a headline:  'Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough.”  It appeared over an editorial on Tuesday, the day President Barack Obama visited the city.

In case you missed these:

With cries for more U.S. jobs, the Pentagon plans to buy additional Russian-made helicopters for Afghanistan.  The Pentagon has spent $1.1 billion on the Mi-17 choppers since 2010 and will pay $350 million for 15 more of the aircraft, reported the Wall Street Journal…Speaking of where U.S. taxpayers’ money goes, Bloomberg News reported President Barack Obama proposes giving about $323 million in aid next year --- to Columbia, to combat drug trafficking and violence in that South American nation.

Amelia Rose Earhart, weather and traffic co-anchor at TV station KUSA, Denver, an NBC affiliate owned by Gannett Co., is finalizing plans to re-create her namesake and distant relative Amelia Earhart’s legendary flight which ended on July 2, 1937, when her airplane vanished on approach to Howland Island in the western Pacific.  With co-pilot Patrick Carter, a Fayetteville, Ark., businessman, KUSA’s Earhart, 30, plans the flight for next summer…Less on-base magazine purchasing for Army and Air Force personnel as Army and Air Force exchanges worldwide dropped 891 periodicals ranging from Playboy to Saturday Evening Post --- yes, even SpongeBob Comics…ESPN will hire bloggers to cover NFL teams this season. 

Lack of investigative reporters?  While a wide outbreak of cyclospora, a lengthy intestinal illness, sickened more than 400 salad eaters in the U.S., media failed to dig in and seek the source of the tainted pre-packaged veggies, as health officials stayed unusually mum on the source and label involved.

 

Some duplication seen in latest EPA auto emissions plan; Melting Arctic ice gets blame for cold Easter in Europe

Media on Friday heralded the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed plan, known as Tier 3 standards, to reduce smog-forming emissions from vehicles, which Grumpy Editor finds duplicates some of the results from installation of “three way” catalytic converters used in vehicle emission control systems since 1981, an improvement from earlier devices that debuted in the 1975 model year.

The EPA says the proposed Tier 3 standards, due to take effect in 2017 and boosting the price of gasoline and vehicle price tags, would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and cut nitrogen oxides by 80 percent.

With the latter, no mention is made --- or injected by auto or environmental writers --- that three-way catalytic converters and other technological advances have led to motor vehicle nitrous oxide emissions falling to 8.2 percent by 2008, from a high of 17.77 percent in 1998.

Regarding sulfur, a program phased in by the EPA from 2004 to 2007 --- and still in effect --- reduces the sulfur content in gasoline by up to 90 percent from “uncontrolled levels.”

The Obama administration’s latest anti-pollution proposal, notes The Associated Press, puts in place “the first standards to reduce the pollution from cars and trucks blamed for global warming.”

 

“Ocean heat” triggers cold Europe

Speaking of global warming, Easter was accompanied by unusual freezing weather for Europe with Great Britain recording the coldest March in 51 years and Berliners viewing another snowfall.

What’s behind the unusual meteorological conditions?

An AP story Friday points to melting Arctic sea ice as the culprit, explaining:

“The theory is the loss of sea ice means more heat is released from the open ocean, warming the layer of polar air over the water. That reduces the temperature and air pressure differentials with more southern latitudes, increasing the likelihood of a negative state in the atmospheric circulation.

“Experts stress that winter weather is affected by many other factors, but several studies have shown the Arctic melt loads the dice in favor of colder and snowier winters in Europe.”

Got that?

 

In case you missed these…

CBS Corp. pays about $100 million to acquire 50 percent of TVGN (formerly TV Guide Network), which includes TV Guide and TVGuide.com that had been owned by One Equity Partners, a unit of JPMorgan Chase…Fox Soccer Channel, the only U.S. TV network dedicated to soccer, makes way for a youth entertainment network in September…Talk show host Heidi Harris concluded one year with Salem Communications’ KRLA and KTIE in the Los Angeles area and announced “I have some news that is GREAT news for me,” but did not reveal it.  Earlier, she was popular with morning shows at KXNT and KDWN in her hometown of Las Vegas…Michael Happ, who graduates next month from Omaha’s Creighton University, purchased the Beacon Observer in Elm Creek, Neb. and already rolled up his sleeves to edit and write…In honor of their 15 years together, Tammy Duffy took out a full-page ad (tab: $900) in the Trentonian, Trenton, N.J. for an obituary on her “amazing dog,” Ginger.

Cold/hot air spreads; 141 journalist fatalities; ‘fat’ banks

Two contrasting hot/cold atmospheric reports over the weekend grab the attention of Grumpy Editor as climate change stories continue to gobble space/airtime going into the new year. 

Both meteorological stories made news yesterday (Jan. 6) but few print editors placed them on the same page. 

A study published Jan. 6 in Nature Climate Change notes “a scientific poll of experts” feels melting glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland may lead to global sea levels rising more than three feet by year 2100. 

Jonathan Bamber, a professor in physical geography at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and a co-author of the study, predicts “horrible consequences.”

Meanwhile, China so far this winter is struggling with the lowest temperature in almost three decades, triggering problems ranging from closed highways to power outages.

The China Meteorological Administration says the national average since late November is 25 degrees Fahrenheit, coldest in 28 years.

English-language China Daily reports about 1,000 ships are stuck in Laizhou Bay ice in eastern China's Bohai Sea.

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Reporting overseas becomes dangerous 

Being a journalist is becoming a dangerous profession. 

Last year, 141 journalists were killed in 29 countries, with Syria being the most dangerous for reporters, reports Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign. 

The number is up 31 percent from 2011. 

In Syria alone, at least 37 journalists, 13 of them working for foreign media, were killed.

In addition, two freelance American reporters are missing in Syria:  James Foley, who has reported for Global Post and Agence France-Presse, among others, was abducted from his car on Nov. 22 in the northwestern part of Syria, and Austin Tice, from Houston, was abducted last August.

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Banks claim 2012 brought best profits since '06 

Not too much was said last week when U.S. banks ended the year trumpeting their best profits since 2006.

Those being nixed in seeking business or personal loans will find it interesting that the financial industry claims more people and businesses are taking out, and repaying, loans since 2009.

Meanwhile, interest paid on savings accounts and certificates of deposit is near zero. 

On one-year CDs, for example, Bank of America pays an ultra-slim 0.03 percent and Wells Fargo pays a scant 0.05 percent. 

Most major banks now focus on fees to boost bottom lines.

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In case you missed these... 

Top overused 2012 phrases, tallies Lake Superior (Mich.) State University, are fiscal cliff and kick the can down the road…Former vice president Al Gore pockets an estimated $100 million as cable channel Current TV, which he founded with business partners seven years ago, is sold to Al Jazeera for $500 million…Maybe more school money management classes are needed:  A Rasmussen Reports survey finds 55 percent of likely U.S. voters think capital gains should be taxed at about the same rate as other income…An Associated Press photo (with a credit line for the photographer) “showing” Hillary Clinton in a car being transported from New York Presbyterian Hospital clearly displays the driver and a male front-seat passenger, but the Secretary of State is not visible somewhere behind the car’s visor, rear-view mirror and dark interior…How to bust into TV:  Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat who served prison time on a corruption conviction, stars in an A&E series starting Feb. 27.

Most media, climate change folks keep Antarctic 'on ice'

Representatives from 200 countries at a climate change conference in Doha, Qatar heard more about dwindling Arctic sea ice this week --- but nothing about growing ice at the other pole, notes Grumpy Editor.

Antarctic sea ice has been rising since satellites started measuring it 33 years ago.

But the focus at the meeting (which continues into next week) has been on what's happening in the Arctic.

 A U.N. report this week warned that the Arctic ice cap, following one of the warmest years ever, melted to its lowest level on record.

To illustrate the scope of the vanishing Arctic ice, the report said it is an area equal to nearly the size of India.

Few media outlets have compared the Arctic vs. Antarctic ice.

However, USA Today last month ran an Associated Press story that mentioned:

"While the North Pole has been losing sea ice over the years, the water nearest the South Pole has been gaining it.  Antarctic sea ice hit a record 7.51 million square miles in September."

 

 

'Everyone' still talking about weather (climate change)

It was more than a century ago that Mark Twain, in a lecture, used the line, “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it,” and today representatives from 200 countries start a two-week meeting in Doha, Qatar --- still talking about the weather (updated to climate change), notes Grumpy Editor.

Look for a number of stories from the conference over the next two weeks.

Seems many still remain fuzzy about meteorological conditions as well as the true source of that weather quote (originally in a Hartford Courant editorial written by Charles Dudley Warner, a friend of Twain).

Heat-trapping gases, fossil fuels such as coal and oil, plus other emissions are slated to be discussed.

Many feel the world is warming and see the change resulting in flooding of coastal communities and flat islands, disruptions in agriculture, spread of diseases and extinction of species.

But others maintain weather is always changing:  drought months followed by downpours, cold days followed by warm periods.

A recent World Bank projection cites temperatures are on track to increase by up to four degrees this century, compared with pre-industrial times.  Other observers feel that number is overblown.