Grumpy Editor

U.S. MILITARY FAILS TO GET FUNDS FOR A NEEDED BOOST

Grumpy Editor notes a Wall Street Journal piece focusing on “America’s Declining Military.”

In citing the Pentagon is seeking $773 billion for fiscal 2023, the Journal points out, "the 298-ship Navy would buy only nine ships next year while retiring 24.  The fleet would shrink to 280 ships in 2027, even as the Navy says it needs a fleet of 500 to defeat China in a conflict.”

As for the Army, the Journal mentions it is seeking $177.5 billion, "barely up from $174.7 billion last year and a cut after inflation,” adding “end strength would fall to 473,000 from the 485,000 authorized last year. The Army shrugs because it hasn’t been able to fill all its spots in a hot labor market.  This may relieve a recruiting headache for some general, but it won’t reduce the threats the Army may have to address in multiple theaters."

Turning to the Air Force, the Journal says it "is now the smallest, oldest and least ready it has ever been in its 75-year history...but the Pentagon plans to cut its buy of F-35 fighter jets this year." 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

NUMBER OF MEDIA WORKERS DECLINES.  There were 39,080 news analysts, reporters and journalists employed in the U.S. in May, 2021. This is down from 41,580 in the prior May and 44,100 in May, 2019, with average annual wage of $63,230 in May 2021, down from $66,000 the year prior.    

 

MORTGAGE LOAN RATE RISES.  Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage loan rises to 4.67 percent, highest since December, 2018.

 

SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA HIT SEAFOOD.  New rounds of economic sanctions on Russia make key seafood species such  as cod and crab harder to come by, along with alcohol and diamonds.  

 

NIELSEN BEING ACQUIRED.  Nielsen, the New York-based media measurement company with annual global revenue of about $3.5 million, is being acquired for $16 billion, including debt.  Data collected by Nielsen is a major factor in determining where billions in advertising dollars are spent each year.

 

L.A. BANS NEW OIL WELLS.  The Los Angeles City Council votes unanimously to ban new oil wells and phase out existing ones, a move leaders in the nation's second-most populous city call essential for health reasons.  A city commission will study how to phase out more than 5,200 existing oil and gas wells.

 

BLACK NEWS CHANNEL CLOSES.  The Black News Channel, first all-day news network aimed at African Americans, closes a little more than two years after it went live.

 

COIN MYSTERY.  Quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies are in short supply again.  While some will call it the great coin shortage of 2022, America is facing a coin circulation problem.

 

U.S. spends $750,000 on soccer field --- for detainees

While expenditures for our troops at military bases remain frugal, taxpayers --- with tax filing time approaching --- should be a bit grouchy with word that a nearly-completed soccer field for inmates at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, carries a hefty price tag of $750,000, notes Grumpy Editor.

Along with the soccer field, the new recreation yard at Camp 6, where most of 171 prisoners are confined, will feature a walking trail and exercise equipment.

The only negative (for detainees) in close-to-resort living is that screened fences block views of the blue Caribbean Sea.

The project, designed to keep prisoners occupied and happy with outdoor activities, started last April and is the third recreation yard at the Guantanamo complex.

An Associated Press story on the added playground, wrapped up in three small paragraphs, appears in some newspapers today.

But it is Catherine Herridge of Fox News who led with the revelation yesterday, mentioning, “The new field has been specially constructed so that the detainees ‘have maximum access’ -- about 20 hours a day.”

She added, “Special passageways allow the detainees to pass into the new recreation yard without being escorted by the military.”

 

Go Navy, see world? Better: Join White House press corps

As President Barack Obama readies for a swing through the Pacific later this week after a visit to France last week, Grumpy Editor recalls it used to be that one joined the Navy “to see the world” (as recruitment posters pitched), but a better way nowadays --- with far superior accommodations --- is to join the White House press corps. 

White House correspondents are keeping their travel bags handy for further global journeys aboard Air Force One. 

On the heels of the Nov. 3 and 4 visit to Cannes for the G-20 summit, White House reporters get a few days this week to pay personal bills, review their mail and attend to household pets before boarding the special Boeing 747 and heading west to Honolulu for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference on Nov. 12 and 13. 

Then it’s onward to Australia where Obama aims to underscore ties with a staunch ally.  Stops include Canberra on Nov. 16 and Darwin, Nov. 17. 

Next landing is Indonesia to participate at a gathering of leaders from the region at the East Asia Summit in Bali on Nov. 18 and 19. 

All the traveling, from France to Indonesia, occurs in the first half of November --- 16 days, to be exact. 

Jay Carney, White House spokesman, explains the high travel mileage this way:  

"He is, as president of the United States, obligated to travel around the world and represent American interests abroad at these gatherings.”

 

Memorial Day remembers fallen American troops

Today’s observance means more than backyard barbecues and store sales, reminds Grumpy Editor who is taking the day off.

Originally called Decoration Day, many people observe Memorial Day by visiting memorials and especially Veterans Administration national cemeteries where commemorative events honor American men and women who died in service during wartime periods.

 

U.S. Navy power decline serves as early warning signal

What should be required reading for all members of Congress and the White House --- and serving as fodder for alert editorial page writers in key newspapers --- is the superior op-ed piece, “The Decline of U.S. Naval Power,” by Mark Helprin that appeared in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, urges Grumpy Editor.

It should also serve as an urgent reminder to Pentagon brass, too.

It comes a week after Somali pirates killed four Americans aboard a captured yacht and when there was no suitable U.S. Navy ship in the Mediterranean to assist in evacuation of U.S. citizens from Libya. 

“Not only have we lost our enthusiasm for the exploration of space, we have retreated on the seas,” reminds Helprin, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute.

Helprin, who once served in the British Merchant Navy, points out the U.S. Navy “has been made to wither even in time of war.”

The U.S., he adds, has “the smallest navy in almost a century, declining to 286 from 1,000 principal combatants.”

He amplifies that by citing “60 ships were commonly under way in America’s seaward approaches in 1998, but today…there are only 20.”

Helprin warns, “As China’s navy rises and ours declines, not that far in the future the trajectories will cross.”

Read his full Wall Street Journal piece here.

 

Somali pirates kill 4 Americans aboard captured yacht

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE

The four Americans aboard the  U.S.-flagged Quest were shot and killed by their Somali captors, the U.S. Central Command announced today.

 It marked the first time U.S. citizens were killed in pirate attacks on shipping in the region.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=

 

Earlier posting...

It’s rather strange that U.S. media have to get updated input on Somali pirates’ latest grab, a U.S.-flagged yacht, from one of their official (or unofficial) spokesmen rather from the U.S. State Department or the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, observes Grumpy Editor.

Identified only as Hassan, the pirates "spokesman" over the weekend fed the press latest details on the captured yacht.  He said a warship with a helicopter was shadowing the U.S. vessel.

Only word from U.S. agencies and the military is that they “are monitoring the situation.”

Somali pirates Friday hijacked the yacht, S/V Quest, about 275 miles off the Oman coast in the Arabian Sea.

Four Americans were on board, including the yacht’s owners, missionaries Jean and Scott Adam, from Southern California.  They were in their seventh year on a round-the-world journey, distributing Bibles along the way.

Tough talk comes from the spokesman for the pirates.

Hassan, just before the latest hijacking, told reporters in Somalia that pirates would target Americans in retaliation for last week’s New York court sentencing of a Somali pirate to 33 years in prison.

Americans would suffer “regrettable consequences,” he added.

Just two weeks ago, pirates in the same area --- 220 miles off Oman --- hijacked a U.S.-bound 1,082-foot long supertanker that provides one fifth of daily U.S. crude imports.  With a crew of 25, the Greek-flagged Irene SL was headed for the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite its mammoth size, making it more visible from the air or sea, there has been no further word on the supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil worth  $200 million.

Between 30 to 40 vessels and 660 to 800 crew members are being held by pirates who generally seek ransoms.

 

U.S. readies order to buy 21 helicopters --- from Russians

Amid loud cries to create more U.S. jobs, Grumpy Editor finds there has been scant media coverage of last Friday’s news that the U.S. Army plans to award a “sole source” contract to a Russian firm for 21 Mi-17 Russian-produced helicopters to be used by Afghan military forces.

The order is slated through Russia’s state arms trader Rosoboronexport which, until last year, was under sanctions that prohibited the U.S. government from dealing with it following its transactions with Iran.

Left out are helicopter manufacturers in the U.S., including Boeing Co., Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Robinson Helicopter Co.

The Russian firm’s sanctions were lifted last year as part of a White House push “to patch up relations with the Kremlin,” mentions The Wall Street Journal, which ran a story on the helicopter deal Friday.

The basic Mi-17, with a crew of three, is used for military, police and civilian purposes.  In military use, it can carry up to 30 troops.

The latest action follows eyebrow raising by six members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation five months ago in writing to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on a U.S. Navy decision to purchase a similar quantity --- 21 --- of Russian-made helicopters, also for Afghan’s military.

They wrote:  “Particularly in light of the great commitment the United States is making to Afghanistan, rather than procuring Russian helicopters with unclear reliability and cost, we believe it is only prudent to consider proposals from U.S. manufacturers, employing American workers, with a history of providing the Defense Department with the best equipment at the best value to the U.S. taxpayer."

 

Scolding of Navy commander shows humor dead in water

In the wake of the fallout from the “raunchy” comedy videos made several years ago by Capt. Owen Honors, then executive officer on the USS Enterprise, to entertain sailors --- especially in enemy territory --- will outlandish humor be banned on Navy ships, wonders Grumpy Editor.

Honors, stripped yesterday as commander of the aircraft carrier soon to sail again, was criticized for his efforts to boost morale during a long deployment operating in support of Afghanistan and Iraq wars on a ship with 5,000 personnel aboard, equal to the population of a small city.

Considering the heavy print and broadcast coverage, media did not cite that what’s strange in this saga, which started with videos leaked to the Virginia-Pilot newspaper three days ago in the Navy port city of Norfolk, Va., is that the skits were created in 2006-2007 --- without a public peep from anyone over the years.

The skits included what has been termed “homophobic slurs” among other material Navy officials this week called “inappropriate.”

The leak comes within several days of Congress’ repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The Pentagon’s action this week likely will curb future enlistments as potential recruits view the modern Navy as being too strict and loaded with “don’ts” --- including putting a clamp on humor.

What some rigid, desk-bound current Pentagon officials overlooked is that in any combat zone, staying loose with injections of humor --- especially from a commanding officer --- are greatly relished.