Grumpy Editor

Border agents 'babysit,' miss patroling Mexican boundary

U.S. Border Patrol agents changing diapers and heating baby formula are among the unusual situations being revealed (but not widely reported) with the mounting influx of thousands of “children” --- mainly from Central American countries --- illegally crossing into the U.S., observes Grumpy Editor.

Since last Monday’s report here on shelters being sought for "unaccompanied children” (the term coined by the Obama administration to describe the foreign minors who enter the U.S. illegally), some are in their teens, old enough to be in military service --- or older.

The Los Angeles Times reports “the Rio Grande Valley (in the southernmost tip of  Texas) has become ground zero for an unprecedented surge in families and unaccompanied children flooding across the Southwest border.”

The flow from Central America is arriving at a rate of more than 35,000 a month, adds the L.A. Times.

Others slipping into the country illegally are known Mexican gang members.

Meanwhile, many of the young people who cross the border into the U.S. have never seen a doctor before, reveals Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in a Washington Times report by Stephen Dinan.

The commissioner says Border Patrol agents are being asked to do things, such as diaper changing and warming up baby formula, which are far beyond their usual activities.

Shelters for the migrant minors are reaching capacity at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla., Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, and Naval Base Ventura County, Oxnard, Calif.

So another facility being eyed this week is a vacant Social Security building in Baltimore, far from the Texas border where the illegals enter the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security calls the assistance being given as “humanitarian aid to immigrant children.”

But not widely trumpeted is that such aid is costing U.S. taxpayers $252 a day for each minor.

 

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FORGET IRAQ, LOOK AT GLOBAL WARMING.  With militants advancing on Baghdad, President Barack Obama --- far from the White House --- reminds University of California, Irvine, graduates Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim about global warming.  Obama warns that rising temperatures and sea levels plus intensifying storms define “one of the most significant long-term challenges that our country and planet face.”  Then he was off to play golf Saturday and yesterday in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, under warm, clear skies. Although back in Washington today, the president tomorrow heads for New York City and two fundraisers.

 

WEATHER PERSONNEL BLASTED IN NORTH KOREA.  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un isn’t concerned about global warming but in touring meteorological centers around the Communist country he voices extreme displeasure to personnel about “too many incorrect” weather forecasts.  He is irked about the weather as it relates to potential impact on the economy, and, in part, blames outdated equipment contributing to faulty forecasts.

 

TRUE BREAKING NEWS ON CNN.  A car smashed through a lobby at CNN Center, the news network’s headquarters in Atlanta.  The vehicle came to rest in the middle of the lobby around 4 a.m. on Friday.  The driver was taken into custody.  On the bright side, CNN beat other news outlets in reporting the incident.

 

MSNBC RANKS LOWEST IN TRUST FOR TV NEWS.  A poll conducted by the Brookings and Public Religion Research Institute finds just 5 percent of respondents say cable network MSNBC is the “most trusted” for television news.  Fox News Channel, at the other end, grabs 25 percent of those surveyed.

 

BAD DAY FOR NEWSPAPER EDITORS IN LOUISVILLE.  Kentucky’s Courier-Journal in one swoop last week eliminates seven editor positions, calling the action “a realignment of newsroom resources.”  Among those laid off:  Jean Porter, managing editor, and Mike Trautmann, metro editor.

 

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN MAKES FORBES LIST.   Forbes magazine in its annual world’s 100 most powerful women tally of “extraordinary icons, game changers and ceiling crashers who are asserting themselves on the world stage” places the Fox News Channel’s anchor at the 100^th spot.  No. 1 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Fox’s Van Susteren focuses on U.S. Marine held in Mexico

One of the least covered current news stories of national interest involves Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a U.S. Marine with two tours in Afghanistan, strangely being held --- almost two months now --- in a prison near Tijuana after he missed an exit and inadvertently drove across the San Ysidro border with three legal and registered guns and was arrested by Mexican authorities, notes Grumpy Editor.

While few news outlets have run an Associated Press piece on the development, it took Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, a former criminal defense attorney and civil trial lawyer, to go on scene to bring the “wrong turn” incident to national attention over several days last week via her On the Record current affairs program.

She traveled from Washington to the San Diego-Tijuana border and to the prison on the Mexico side --- even duplicating the confusing road route taken by the 25-year-old Marine in the pickup truck he had driven from Florida to make a new start in San Diego.

Van Susteren’s two-days on-scene investigation included live coverage from the area.  She explained to viewers:  “Even prison officials said we could interview the sergeant in the prison. But after we waited outside the prison for two full days, other prison officials decided to keep us out, refusing to let us interview Tahmooressi.”

Jill Tahmooressi, the Marine’s mother, who was allowed to visit him in a gymnasium-like area at the prison, told Van Susteren that when she saw her son on April 14, six or seven guards surrounded him.

Even to this Memorial Day --- marking 56 days Tahmooressi has been imprisoned --- there has been no movement from the White House or secretary of state in efforts to release the Marine who reportedly has been chained to his bed in the Mexican prison.

 

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YES, WEATHER CONSTANTLY CHANGES.  Michael Ramirez at Investor’s Business Daily, had it right with his editorial cartoon showing a white-frocked science professor at a blackboard with lines draw through now passé terms of global cooling, global warming, climate change to underline the updated term --- climate disruption.  Off to the lower right in the cartoon, a little boy adds his thought on the blackboard:  It’s called weather.

 

AS COAL PLANTS FADE, POWER COSTS RISE.  Along with current high U.S. gasoline prices (above $3 a gallon for 1,249 days now) around the country, look for electricity rates to rise 4 percent on average this year, biggest hike in six years, predicted the Energy Department.  Key reason?  Coal-fired plants, dominant sources of cheap power generation over the years, are shutting down around the U.S., socked by environmental regulations and economic forces.

 

FORGET WATER FOR VEGGIES.  It took Congressman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) to reveal in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece on Friday that in the middle of a Golden State drought the “Bureau of Reclamation drained Folsom and other reservoirs on the American and Stanislaus rivers of more than 70,000 acre feet of water --- enough to meet the annual needs of a city of half a million people --- for the comfort and convenience of fish.”

 

‘HAVE IT YOUR WAY’ MOTTO SHELVED.  Burger King scrapped its "Have It Your Way" slogan, used for four decades, for "Be Your Way."  The company explained the new phrase is intended to remind people that "they can and should live how they want anytime. It's OK to not be perfect...self-expression is most important and it's our differences that make us individuals instead of robots."

 

MAGAZINE COVERS SPORT AD MESSAGES.  Time magazine and Sports Illustrated, in the Time Inc. family, debuted small ads for Verizon Communications Inc. near the bottom of their covers.

Fresh Colorado River water flows from dry U.S. to Mexico

A noteworthy event not getting much media attention in parched Western states dependent on Colorado River for water is the release --- which started March 23 --- of that river’s output through Mexico’s Morelos Dam, near Yuma, Ariz.  That water is now gushing southward from the U.S. border toward the Gulf of California, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The reason?

As an Associated Press story puts it: “Conservationists hope the water will bring back trees, wildlife and aquatic life that were once abundant in the region when it was teeming with water decades ago.”

With recent, heavily-played stories on how the Colorado River flow ---along with a lower water level at Lake Mead near Las Vegas --- is ebbing and residents of the seven dependent “dry” states, including California, Nevada and Arizona, being told to be frugal with water usage, one wonders about the timing of the release, or "pulse," of water that started a week ago, reaching its peak Thursday when water rushed through the south-of-the-border dam at about 4,200 cubic-feet per second.

A Las Vegas Sun story on the Web yesterday paints a glum future of Lake Mead, fed by the Colorado River.  “Lake Mead is drying up. At the rate we use water in the valley, the reservoir — the largest in the country --- could be drained and arid by 2050,” reads the lead.

Earlier, a New York Times story in January focuses on the 1,450-mile Colorado River “being sapped by 14 years of drought nearly unrivaled in 1,250 years” with the writer adding, “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 current water release, expected to last until May 18 into Mexico, stems from an addendum to a 1944 treaty that defines how the U.S. and Mexico share the Colorado River.  The addendum calls for a five-year pilot program to provide a total of 158,088 acre-feet of water to the lower river and its delta. 

South of Morelos Dam, the water channel travels about 75 miles to the Gulf of California.

The fresh release of Colorado River water into Mexico triggers an excited Los Angeles Times writer to report, “The water experiment has gone so well that it's spilling over banks and into secondary canals. The seeds of willows and cottonwoods, which rain down this time of year, have been riding the currents. Normally, they would just collect in the arid riverbed.” 

The writer concludes:  “After the release ends, experts from both countries will study its effects. Will water be left standing or will it be absorbed into the soil? No one knows.” 

 

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TIMES CHANGE AS CALIFORNIA GOES TO ‘POT.’   As California seeks to ask voters to consider lawful access to marijuana, veteran movie fans may recall Robert Mitchum (appearing in 106 films), regarded as one of the top actors during the movies’ Golden Age, in 1948 was arrested for possession of a marijuana cigarette at a Hollywood party.  It brought front-page coverage for days and resulted in Mitchum getting a week in Los Angeles County Jail plus 43 days at a California prison farm.

 

‘BRIDGEGATE’ EPISODE CONTINUES FOR CHRISTIE.  Friday afternoon saw lengthy live coverage of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fielding media questions as the “bridgegate” saga continues.  Cable channels MSNBC and Fox News go live with the press conference that went on…and on.  Fox finally breaks away, but delighted MSNBC stays on until the end.  And what was CNN doing at that time?  It continues to probe the Malaysian “Mystery of Flight 370.”

 

SEE HARRY, PERHAPS ASK A QUESTION, BUT IT’LL COST YOU.  The Las Vegas Review-Journal is urging readers, via print promotion notices and emails, to attend an April 17 luncheon the newspaper is backing where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will field questions at a luncheon in a major Strip casino’s ballroom.  The fee to view Harry in action:  $40.

 

U.S. MOVIE TICKET SALES CONTINUE DOWNWARD.  It’s no big surprise, considering the quality of most scripts (often cartoons or requiring smashed cars) these days, that the number of movie tickets sold between 2004 and 2013 declines nearly 11 percent.  However, with higher ticket prices, box office revenue rises 17 percent.

 

LONG-TIME CBS CORRESPONDENT TO RETIRE.  Bob Fuss in May exits the CBS Radio Network where he has been Capitol Hill correspondent since 1998. Fuss also covered national political conventions since 1976 and has traveled on presidential campaigns since 1980. 

 

PAPER DELIVERY DELAYED.  Two men are nabbed in Cadillac, Mich. after a night of drunken revelry that includes driving off in a Cadillac News delivery truck, leaving a trail of bundled papers that fell off the open back end.

Media jump on Wal-Mart’s alleged bribery in Mexico

Word that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was caught up in allegations of bribing Mexican officials to speed up growth south of the border, then trying to cover up the situation sent most broadcast/print media into overtime yesterday --- as if such activity is unusual in a foreign country, notes Grumpy Editor. 

That sent Wal-Mart’s stock down 4.66 percent to $59.54 a share by Monday’s New York Stock Exchange close. 

A New York Times story Saturday mentioned executives from Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiary reportedly used systematic bribery to receive building permits across the country. 

The article reported Wal-Mart executives learned in 2005 about allegations of  “widespread bribery” designed to smooth the path for rapid expansion in Mexico.  

Getting a jump on others, CNBC had Michelle Caruso-Cabrera on scene yesterday in Mexico City reporting live from the parking lot in front of a Wal-Mart store. 

While broadcast/print media --- and Washington officials --- expressed shock at the happening involving the world’s largest retailer, she summed up the matter succinctly in six words: “That’s how business is done here.”

In Washington the focus will be on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

Enacted in 1977, it makes it a federal crime for any company, officer, director, employee or agent of a company to pay or offer anything of value “to any foreign official for purposes of influencing any act or decision of such foreign official in his official capacity, inducing such foreign official to do or omit to do any act in violation of the lawful duty of such official, or securing any improper advantage.”

 

13 illegals wearing Marine uniforms captured, then...

The arrest of 13 illegal aliens wearing U.S. Marine uniforms, being transported in a “hot” van with a phony U.S. government license plate, took eight days to surface --- and even then, major newspapers ignored the story, notes Grumpy Editor.

Fox News on its Web site and London’s Daily Mail were leaders in revealing the apprehensions by Border Patrol agents on March 14 at a checkpoint near Pine Valley, an unincorporated community in southeastern San Diego County.

Two U.S. citizens, one the driver, also were arrested.  They, too, wore U.S. Marine uniforms.

Some editors apparently weren’t too concerned about bringing to attention of readers that the illegals were clad in camouflaged Marine uniforms, complete with caps, and all 13 carried the same name --- Perez --- emblazoned on the backsides.

Also, the involved “U.S. government” vehicle turned out to be a privately-owned white van registered in Yucca Valley, Calif.  It bore a stolen government plate (one with the line, “For Official Use Only”) that was altered, including changing the center digit --- 0 --- to read as an 8.

It was determined that the license plate belonged to a one-ton cargo van, registered to the U.S. Marine Corps. 

Wearing U.S. military uniforms illegally --- especially by foreigners --- is enough to put those involved in the slammer for a long time.  And a private van impersonating a U.S. government vehicle usually gets those in such a caper a long term behind bars.

It wasn’t known if Homeland Security was concerned about the incident.

So what happened to the illegals garbed as Marines?

Not much.

A Border Patrol spokesman said they were returned to Mexico, their country of origin.

Maybe they will give a push into the U.S. another try --- perhaps wearing U.S. Navy uniforms.

As U.S. water goes south, Mexico cancels power to Texas

While Mexico siphons 17 percent of water annually from shrinking Colorado River-fed Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border, when it came to Mexico coming to the aid of power-short Texas last week, that country’s Federal Electricity Commission canceled a plan to transmit temporarily 280 megawatts to the Lone Star State, observes Grumpy Editor.

Print and broadcast media, focusing on pre-Super Bowl events and the crisis in Egypt, overlooked comparing years of U.S. water delivered south of the border vs. the announced --- and soon canceled --- Mexico-supplied electricity.

For 67 years, the U.S. has provided Mexico with 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year.  That’s five times more than drought-stricken Nevada’s 300,000 acre-feet share. 

(An acre-foot covers one acre to a depth of one foot.)

Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission last Wednesday agreed to transmit to Texas 280 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 280,000 homes.

Then, in an abrupt change a day later, the Mexican agency said forget about the temporary power boost to the Lone Star State which faced rolling blackouts in some areas. 

In canceling the plan, the commission cited below-freezing temperatures in its own country causing power outages in several parts of Chihuahua state, plus it needed to ensure enough electricity to meet domestic demand.