Grumpy Editor: Iran

January 18, 2016

MGM Resorts readies parking fees at Vegas Strip hotels

In a Las Vegas Strip first, MGM Resorts International will become the first major casino company in Sin City to start charging visitors for self parking, finds Grumpy Editor.

Locals and frequent tourists consider the move a bad turn in PR since such parking has been a key “freebie” since the Strip was born 75 years ago.

Management sees it another way. The headline on a company news release crows: MGM Resorts International to enhance guest parking experience.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed Las Vegas casino company’s properties --- MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Delano, Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Vdara, Aria, Bellagio and The Mirage --- will charge $10 for overnight parking, less for shorter periods during the day starting sometime in the second quarter.

MGM hotels on the Las Vegas Strip already are nicking visitors on the high end (up to $33.60 per room, per night) for so-called “resort fees,” padding added to room rates that covers the Internet, local and 800 phone calls, newspaper (at news stand), basic services at hotel business center and access to exercise room at MGM Grand Spa.

Resort fees, in efforts to boost bottom lines, have caught on in other parts of the country over the past few years.

As with past added money-making developments in Las Vegas, other major hotel/casino properties are likely to follow instituting parking fees.

With 45 million visitors a year to Las Vegas, the move by MGM is seen bringing in additional millions of dollars in revenue annually --- without adding a single slot machine or a craps table.

Iran capture of 10 U.S. sailors raises questions

News reports on the Iranian capture of two small U.S. Navy boats with a combined crew of 10, including one woman --- later forced to wear a headscarf --- were blamed on assorted factors. Most prevelant: engine problems as the boats drifted toward shore near Farsi island in the Arabian Gulf. Then it became a navigational error with the onboard GPS. (One report had the Iranians confiscating that gear.)

While released the next day, the U.S. sailors nevertheless were subject to facing weapons while kneeling with hands clasped behind heads on their own craft as the Iranians were busy recording propaganda video on board and later on land for worldwide consumption.

Few in U.S. media mentioned the Geneva Conventions ban the practice of parading prisoners for propaganda purposes.

In a new development today --- and adding to strange goings-on --- the Pentagon revealed Iranian soldiers removed SIM cards from two handheld satellite phones in possession of the U.S. sailors.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Despite bright economic outlooks last week from the White House, U.S. industrial production fell for the third straight month in December…Performing elephants, a decades-long attraction with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, will only be seen in vintage movies after May. All 11 touring circus elephants will be retired…While U.S. military forces continue to dwindle, Russia will create three military divisions on its Western flank this year…Media, especially TV, were highly excited late last week over a possible out-of season hurricane in the far eastern Atlantic. Named Alex, it quickly fizzled and departed the Azores Islands Friday as a tropical storm…California politicians concerned with housing the swelling prison population at San Quentin should read a Reuters story out Friday that noted more than 700 death row inmates in the Golden State still await execution. Despite an $850,000 remodeling with taxpayers’ funds, San Quentin’s death chamber remains unused, as the state has not carried out an execution in a decade…Forget bank robberies, that’s old stuff. New York police are looking for a suspect who cleaned out an entire 190-bottle display of upscale nail polish at a Manhattan store. Caught on video and facing a grand larceny charge: a man, undoubtedly highly polished.

This five-word headline spotted on a financial site sums up stock market action last week: Global selloff on China worries.

And it’s not even our 51^st state.

Posted at 06:18 AM in Gambling, Iran, Las Vegas | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 16, 2015

Iran gets nuke assist from U.S., missiles from Russia

With the heavy focus on terrorists in Paris over the past few days, missing the attention of most U.S. media were the latest on Iran’s nuclear activity --- boosted by the U.S., no less --- and pending delivery of surface-to-air missiles to Iran from Russia, observed Grumpy Editor.

The U.S. is among global powers helping Iran update and reconstruct a nuclear reactor that has been suspected of helping the Islamic Republic produce enough material for a potential nuclear weapon, reported Adam Kredo, senior writer for the Washington Free Beacon.

Kredo pointed out that Iran maintains that the U.S. and partner nations will soon provide “advanced equipment” for the reactor in Arak.

A spokesman for the Iranian nuclear authority said that while Iran could complete the modernization on its own, “it has sought the world powers’ assistance to accelerate the job,” added Kredo.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal’s Nathan Hodge, citing Russian news sources, reported Russia is moving ahead in delivering S-300 advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran.

Earlier delivery of the missiles, under a 2007 contract, was banned amid pressure from the U.S. and Israel, Hodge wrote, but Moscow has lifted the ban and Iran mentioned delivery could come by year end.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

In an ABC interview aired Friday, just hours before the Paris attack, President Barack Obama proclaimed ISIS had been contained. “I don’t think they’re gaining strength,” he said. “From the start, our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them”… No sooner did the Dow Jones Industrial Average look like it was going to reach 18000 again, when --- poof! --- weak earnings and economic data sent it down to close the week at 17245.24, including a 202.83 drop on Friday. Another downward movement factor with almost daily reminders on financial pages: the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its Dec. 16 meeting…Following an investigation, the Navy said little could have been done to prevent crew members aboard the submarine USS Wyoming from secretly recording women showering on board, reported Stars and Stripes…Amid cries to improve veterans’ medical attention, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid more than $142 million in bonuses to executives and employees for performance in 2014. Meanwhile, the VA Medical Center in Cleveland plans to open the first VA clinic specifically dedicated to transgender veterans needs, including primary care, hormonal therapy, mental health care and social work services…In the sky-is-falling department: Among many climate-related risks to public health, mentioned in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report spotted by CNSNews --- a rise in cardiovascular disease in the Northwest, more allergies in Great Plains states, an increase in drownings in the Midwest, a disruption of community water supplies in Alaska, more cases of dengue fever in Hawaii and West Nile virus in the Northeast, higher incidents of heat stress in the Southwest and increased fish poisoning in the Southeast…Family Circle magazine is sending out renewal notices sure to spark subscription action “when you renew today." It touted a “special bonus: free delivery.”

There’s that word again: A headline over an Associated Press story on Friday:

U.S. producer prices drop in latest sign of tame inflation

Posted at 06:06 AM in Iran, Missiles, Nuclear, Terrorists | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 20, 2015

Major Garrett deserves a boost in "rank" to colonel

In pursuit of information, journalism students are urged to ask solid, often tough, questions in efforts to gain a full picture, reminds Grumpy Editor, who once taught a news writing course at a California university.

So when Major Garrett, CBS News’ chief White House correspondent asked President Barack Obama at a press conference last Wednesday why he was “content” with the Iran nuclear deal --- with nothing said about negotiations on releasing four Americans (including two journalists) being held in Iran --- an irritated president admonished Garrett by saying, “that’s nonsense, you should know better,” adding, “nobody’s content and our diplomats and our teams are working diligently to try to get them out.”

Garrett, a 1984 University of Missouri graduate with journalism and political science degrees, later said it was odd that the hostages were not part of the negotiations and he didn’t mean to imply that the president was “content” leaving Americans hostage, adding the administration has used the phrasing multiple times before with families of the hostages.

Surprisingly, some members of the White House press corps attacked Garrett as “disrespectful.”

“All I was trying to do was elicit from the commander-in-chief where these four Americans in Iran fell in his prioritization of obtaining a nuclear deal and whether he fought for their release,” said Garrett.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

President tackles two New York City fundraisers in four days. After a Friday night fundraiser that raised nearly $1 million, President Barack Obama and his two daughters strolled through Central Park late Saturday morning. But it wasn’t a quiet, hardly-observed walk. With them were about four dozen Secret Service agents plus New York police officers on scooters and an overhead helicopter. The president was due to fly in for another New York fundraiser on Tuesday…Not getting attention of news editors in the wake of shooting deaths of four Marines and a sailor at a military post in Chattanooga, Tenn., were quick decisions by governors of several states directing their state flags to be flown at half-staff to honor those victims --- yet President Obama has not directed the U.S. flag be lowered to half-staff at the White House and other public buildings…A bit off course. Covered heavily on television, a major brush fire Friday that ignited about two dozen vehicles and halted traffic on California's busy I-15, a key highway to and from Las Vegas, was pinpointed by a MSNBC host as “east of San Diego” when the precise location was 115 miles to the north, near Victorville…A Friday Wall Street Journal opinion piece on “immigrant bashers” mentioned “immigrant” or “immigrants” 16 times without reference to “illegal.” The material came close, however, with “immigrants in this country unlawfully, whether they overstayed a visa or crossed a border, should be required to face serious consequences to make amends”…Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's new book, “A Time for Truth,” finally made the New York Times best seller list (as No. 7 in the non-fiction category) a week after the newspaper rejected it as a best seller, claiming sales were inflated by "bulk purchases”…A tally by Rasmussen Reports found 55 percent of likely voters are opposed to the president’s immigration amnesty while 34 percent favor. In addition, 63 percent feel “gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States” --- highest level of support for more border control since December, 2011…Democrat California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that eliminates reference to husband and wife, replacing each with the generic term “spouse”…After publishing for 46 years, The National Journal will end publication of its print magazine at year end and shift resources to digital journalism.