Grumpy Editor

Is it time to put a cap on North Korea's actions?

North Korea continues to be a thorn for the U.S., periodically saying it's ready for war with America and last week punctuating its latest threats by firing three nuclear missiles that splashed off the coast of Japan, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

After months of this routine, President Barack Obama last week moved to push efforts to tighten U.N. sanctions against the communist nation.

 

"The Obama administration running around and talking about meaningless sanctions is highly laughable," says North Korea state media.

 

Meanwhile, over the weekend South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se says North Korea's nuclear capability had grown to a "considerable level" and tougher sanctions and greater pressure are needed.

North Korea has been acting up periodically since the three-year Korean War shooting stopped with truce talks, still open ended, that started on July 27, 1953 --- well past a half century ago.

So, technically, the Korean War (often referred to as "The Forgotten War") --- in which 33,739 U.S. military lost lives and 103,284 were wounded in action  ---  has not officially concluded.

 

More than 7,500 U.S. troops remain unaccounted.  

 

Few in media are aware that a peace treaty was never concluded.  Many in media also overlook Russia (in the air) and North Korea's long-time ally China (on the ground) as active participants in battling U.S. troops and 16 other countries that dispatched manpower and equipment to the Korean War. 

 

On Friday in Pensacola, Fla., Hillary Clinton, a former Secretary of State, declares it's time for a "rethinking" of U.S. strategy for North Korea following the latest missile firings.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

After a Friday CNN/ORC poll reports Americans are feeling more positive about the economy than they have in nine years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day by dropping nearly 400 points --- as investors become concerned that the Federal Reserve could be closer to an interest rate increase...Big PR problem with Wells Fargo & Co.  The financial institution is fined $185 million for encouraging employees, in efforts to reach sales targets and receive bonuses, to "illegally" sign up customers for deposit and credit-card accounts without their knowledge.  It is the biggest fine imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, set up after the 2008 financial crisis to protect bank patrons. Wells Fargo shares on the New York Stock Exchange fell 2.4 percent on Friday...Although President Barack Obama's travel to Laos, apologizing for U.S.bombings during the Vietnam War, is widely heralded by media, no news outlet reported a current State Department travel alert cautions U.S. citizens on the risks of travel in parts of Laos because the security situation remains unstable...No sooner is Congress back from a seven-week break when members are soon to adjourn again early next month for election time, returning Nov. 14...After first-time admitting reporters on her campaign plane, Hillary Clinton remarks: "I'm so happy to have all of you with me.  I've just been waiting for this moment"...While Tesla Motors' "Autopilot" grabs a lot of media coverage following a crash south of Amsterdam, turns out the feature was not in use when the vehicle struck a tree at excessive speed, killing the driver...And how does Chicago rank?  The New York Times reports cities with a significant rise in murder rates:  Baltimore, up 20 percent; St. Louis, up 18 percent; Las Vegas, up 14 percent; Cleveland, up 10 percent while Chicago is tied for 20th place with a 2 percent increase...Howie Carr Radio Network signs Boston Red Sox pitching legend Curt Schilling who hosted his initial three-hour Saturday morning radio show on Sept. 10…Fortune's 19^th annual list of the Most Powerful Women in Business, shows 22 of them are CEOs, controlling companies with $1.1 trillion in market capitalization. This year's top 10:

1. Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors
2. Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo
3. Marillyn Hewson, CEO, Lockheed Martin
4. Ginni Rometty, CEO, IBM
5. Abigail Johnson, CEO, Fidelity
6. Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
7. Meg Whitman, CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
8. Phebe Novakovic, CEO, General Dynamics
9. Irene Rosenfeld, CEO, Mondelez
10. Safra Catz, Co-CEO, Oracle

 

 

Greta Zimmer Friedman, the woman in a white uniform photographed being kissed by a sailor in Times Square on Aug. 14, 1945 --- V-J Day --- died at 92.

Known around the world as "The Kiss" photo of the event, it became one of the most famous of the 20th century.

Identified over the years as a nurse, Friedman actually was a 21-year-old dental assistant at the time.

 

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Two North Korean officials' executions were a blast

Imagine an execution without use of lethal injection, electric chair or even firing squad. 

North Korea has a better idea, not widely reported in U.S. media last week, illustrated when it executed two senior officials via blasting them with (ready for this?) an anti-aircraft gun, notes Grumpy Editor.

Main reason?

Disobeying North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

Taking the splattering blast were a former agricultural minister who pushed for policy proposals that were seen as a direct challenge to Kim's leadership, and a senior official in the education ministry whose major offense was falling asleep during a meeting presided over by Kim. 

The action took place at a military academy in Pyongyang early last month, according to a South Korean newspaper.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

Hillary Clinton, starting today, will allow journalists on her campaign plane, a larger aircraft to accommodate the newcomers…Meanwhile, Vogue magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour will host a New York City fashion show fundraiser in the fall for the Democrat presidential nominee...constant wearer of pantsuits...Brian Williams, the former NBC Nightly News anchor, tomorrow debuts a late-night half-hour newscast for MSNBC. It will air Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. Eastern, and repeats 11 p.m. Pacific…For those who weren’t able to understand what Donald Trump said in his 10-point immigration plan speech, the Los Angeles Times comes up with this headline to lure readers to a story: Trump's immigration speech decoded: What he said, what it means and how it would work…After widespread coverage of introducing women into Army combat positions, not much is reported on the only woman (a staff sergeant) to attend --- and flunk --- the rigors connected with the 75th Ranger Regiment’s Ranger Assessment and Selection Program. As the official word from the Army put it: “The female soldier did not meet performance objectives.”

 

It’s more than just Labor Day today.

In case you were unaware of a significant event also linked to today ---

It’s National Cheese Pizza Day.

N. Korea, Russia prep weapons; U.S. focuses on ‘climate’

While U.S. print and broadcast media continued to highlight nuclear talks with Iran (where its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called for “death to America”) and the White House placed the perils of climate change (aka global warming) at the top of its concerned list, other dangers --- with scant reporting --- were lurking from North Korea and Russia, finds Grumpy Editor.

North Korea ambassador to the United Kingdom Hyun Hak-bong came right out and bragged to Britain’s Sky News defense correspondent Alistair Bunkall that the communist nation has a nuclear capability and can use it at “any time” and is ready to launch a nuclear war if it feels threatened.

"We don't say empty words,” the ambassador added.  “We mean what we mean. It is not the United States that has a monopoly on nuclear weapons strikes."

Meanwhile, Washington Free Beacon’s Bill Gertz revealed, in input from a U.S. defense commander, that Russia is developing a long-range cruise missile that poses a new threat to the U.S.

Gertz said Adm. William Gortney, Northcom chief who heads the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) warned: “Russia is progressing toward its goal of deploying long-range, conventionally-armed cruise missiles with ever increasing stand-off launch distances on its heavy bombers, submarines, and surface combatants, augmenting the Kremlin’s toolkit of flexible deterrent options short of the nuclear threshold.”

The admiral added, “Should these trends continue, over time NORAD will face increased risk in our ability to defend North America against Russian cruise missile threats.”

Despite this activity from opposite sides of the world, plus recent threats from terrorists, the White House --- while looking skyward --- sees natural changes in atmospheric conditions as the evil thing to watch.

Along with declaring, “No challenge, no challenge, poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change” in his State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama told West Point graduates last year to get ready to combat climate change which he termed “a creeping national security crisis.”

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE…

Joining in the global warming chorus last week was New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins, who wrote:  “Now climate change is perhaps the most important long-term issue the next American president will have to deal with”…Attorneys in a proposed legal action claim unacceptable levels of arsenic are in California wines from about 30 makers.  (Tip to an aggressive fact-finding newspaper:  With professional analysis of the wines, get the facts, see if wine poses a danger --- and compare findings with arsenic levels in drinking water)…Snappy reporting:  A story in a daily (largest newspaper in its state) on a shopping center robbery pair sought by police ran nine days after the incident.  Despite mention that police released surveillance photos, the newspaper did not run any art but gave this full description of the bad guys --- “The men were described to be in their late 30s or 40s.”  (That’ll help nab ‘em)…Also unusually slow is the continued review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.  A White House senior adviser on Thursday said the State Department is still reviewing the project --- announced seven years ago…Blaming the dry spell in California, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted restrictions that require restaurants to serve water only on request and hotels/motels to offer guests the option of not having linens washed daily.

 

Repo-by-remote:  Busy Nevada lawmakers were working on a bill that involved a “starter interrupt device" designed to make it easier for car loan issuers to disable vehicles of those who are behind in payments.

U.S. jumps into action after North Korea threatens; First Lady again on Vogue cover; Vegas shooter remains in L.A.

War talk spurs U.S. to bolster defenses, but...

After more North Korea missile testing over the weekend, a Feb. 12 nuclear test plus mounting saber-rattling and elevated tensions spurred by its young leader Kim Jong Eun, the Pentagon decided to strengthen U.S. defenses against a possible attack by the communist country by adding missile systems to protect the West Coast and Alaska, notes Grumpy Editor.

North Korea a few days earlier surprised the U.N., South Korea and U.S. by declaring the armistice that suspended Korean War hostilities 60 years ago was now invalid.

At the same time, it tossed in bolder rhetoric by threatening a nuclear strike on Washington.

With Washington’s sudden growing concern on North Korea’s long-range missile advances, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday said the U.S. will deploy 14 more ground-based missile interceptors.

These will be added to the current 30 long-range missile interceptors already in place in Alaska and California.

While news that the U.S. was moving ahead on additional defense measures grabbed headlines, overlooked by most broadcast and print media:  the new interceptors won’t be in position until 2017.

For example, in missile defense story coverage, The Washington Post didn't mention 2017 until the 10th paragraph. On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal noted the year at the start of the second paragraph.

 

Meanwhile, focusing on the other side of the world and reflecting U.S. military and intelligence assessments, President Barack Obama said it would take Iran a year or more to produce a nuclear weapon.

Vogue cover again spotlights First Lady

Shortly after the election, buzz around New York and Washington was that First Lady Michelle Obama was behind a push to award top Obama campaign fundraiser and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour with a European ambassadorship, perhaps to Great Britain (Wintour was born in the U.K.) or France.

But the diplomatic post assignment idea faded.  

However, Vogue’s April issue features Michelle Obama on the cover, in a “cobalt blue dress, with the line:  How the First Lady and the President Are Inspiring America.

It marks the second Vogue cover appearance for the First Lady.  She last appeared wearing a pink dress on the magazine’s March 2009 cover.

Wintour got a boost last week, though.

Condé Nast announced the Vogue editor in chief is taking on the newly-created additional position of artistic director of Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications.

 

Las Vegas Strip shooter remains in L.A.

Remember that widely-covered shooting spree on the Las Vegas Strip back on Feb. 21 that resulted in three people killed and five injured?

Through sharp police work, suspect Ammar Harris, 26, was nabbed in Los Angeles one week later.

Today, he's still there.

The delay, in part, was because the defense attorney (despite fingerprints and widely-circulated photos) requested an "iddentification hearing" calling on prosecutors to prove the person arrested in the case "is who they say it is." That Los Angeles Superior Court action occurred March 14.

But wait.

Judge Shelly Torrealba formally identified the Las Vegas Strip shooting suspect on March 14.

Did that move things along for Las Vegas authorities to take over?

Not yet.

Harris refused to waive extradition and his public defender asked authorities to produce a governor's warrant.

With that, the judge scheduled an April 12 hearing.

Stay tuned.

 

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Editors overlook event marking last U.S. bayonet battle

Overlooked by U.S. media was an anniversary ceremony at South Korea’s Osan Air Base last Thursday marking the U.S. Army’s last known bayonet charge, known as the Battle of Bayonet Hill on Feb. 7, 1951, during the “forgotten” Korean War --- which remains open ended, notes Grumpy Editor.

The battle --- involving the Army’s 27^th Infantry Regiment’s Easy Company --- pitted Americans against North Korean and communist Chinese soldiers.

Nine U.S. infantrymen died in capturing so-called Hill 180 while 47 enemy troops were left dead on the slope.

 

Revised Condé Nast contract irks writers

Freelance writers are grumbling over a revised Condé Nast master contract that includes a line declaring the publisher owns television and movie rights to all stories that appear in its magazines.

It could mean a financial loss into six figures for contributors.

Condé Nast’s two dozen titles include Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, Glamour, Self, Golf Digest and Brides. Advance Publications is Condé Nast’s parent.

No Saturday mail affects some publications 

The Postal Service’s planned termination of Saturday deliveries starting Aug. 3 will affect distribution of some publications.

The National Newspaper Association notes about 30 percent of its member papers rely on Saturday mail deliveries.

Time magazine subscribers receive the mailed weekly on Fridays or Saturdays.  Bloomberg Businessweek, which already is using alternate means to get its weekly issues to some subscribers, figures a quarter of its subscribers will see mail deliveries extended to Mondays.

The Postal Service figures ending Saturday deliveries would help save the agency about $2 billion a year.

 

In case you missed these…

The Weather Channel stirs up its own storm by labeling the weekend northeast blizzard Nemo.  Turning thumbs down on the name include the National Weather Service and independent meteorologists…Look for President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address tomorrow to work in the often mentioned-for-months line:  The economy is heading in the right direction…Not a good time for copy editors.  The sharp-eyed word/fact/grammar watchers are sacrificed more than any other newsroom personnel --- with a 50 percent reduction in the past five years…No major headlines, as a Navy budget is being considered in Washington, on how the Navy’s fleet is down to 287 ships, the smallest American armada since the early 1900s.  A 2010 independent panel called for a fleet of 346 ships…The Washington Post Co. signs an agreement to sell its Herald, in  Everett, Wash., daily it has owned since 1978.

London’s Sun staffers get inside look at North Korea

Cheers to two newsmen from The Sun, London, who used ingenuity in posing as businessmen to get a truer inside look at North Korea without being shadowed or escorted as journalists, notes Grumpy Editor.

The second part of the story --- by writer Alex Peake with photos by Simon Jones --- runs today in the British newspaper. 

The pair entered from China, crossing the border into what they called “the crumbling town of Sinuiju” where Peake noted “many of the people here are starving.”  Also, he added, “Nobody was smiling and most people were walking alone in a zombie-like state, staring at the floor.” 

From there, a 200-mile, six-hour journey on a chugging 1940s-era train took them to Pyongyang. 

In the capital city, their hotel room featured a TV set and “airtime on one channel filled with pro-regime propaganda including hours of footage of new leader Kim Jong-un watching military displays.” 

They toured the town, saw statues, rode on the Pyongyang Metro, sampled a Big Mac-lookalike which Peake declared, “God only knows what the meat is, there was no way it was beef.” 

Peake noted less than one percent of North Koreans own a car “so traffic jams are non-existent” and that most of Pyongyang “is plunged into darkness at 11 p.m.” 

The Sun writer also observed blue vans with megaphones patroled streets in cities and countryside blaring the message:  Work harder.

 

Obama hustles to North Korea border for photo op

Within hours of Air Force One’s landing in South Korea, President Barack Obama --- sensing a photo op with the presidential election less than eight months away --- was peering through binoculars toward North Korea yesterday in his first visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which has bisected the peninsula since the Korean War cease fire almost 59 years ago, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Chances are North Koreans had binoculars trained on the president who wore an identification badge reading:  Barack Obama, Commander in Chief. 

Reuters said Obama “spent about 10 minutes on a viewing platform at the DMZ, talking with some of the soldiers on guard as the flags of the United States, South Korea and the United Nations flapped loudly in the brisk, cold wind.” 

With print and broadcast media trailing his movements, the president visited the DMZ on the eve of a global summit on nuclear security hosted by South Korea. 

“You guys are at freedom's frontier," Obama told about 50 troops crammed into a dining hall at a U.S. camp near the DMZ, one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers. 

The Korean War remains open ended with no peace treaty signed. Battles ended with a cease fire on July 27, 1953.  

The Korean War, also labeled the “forgotten war,” erupted when 135,000 communist North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea in pre-dawn hours of June 25, 1950. 

For the U.S., the war resulted in 36,940 military deaths, 103,000 wounded, 8,142 missing in action and 3,746 prisoners of war.  

Prolonging the war were entries of communist Chinese soldiers battling U.S. troops on the ground and Russian pilots in Soviet-built jets fighting U.S. airmen.

Chinese troops killed or captured thousands of U.S. military personnel and managed many prisoner of war camps in North Korea. 

Obama was threatening to cancel planned U.S. food aid to North Korea following its announcement that it plans to launch a long-range rocket next month.

 

Latest U.S.-North Korea talks provide little action

As expected in a Feb. 22 posting here, there wasn’t much action coming out of the latest U.S. talks with North Korea focusing on nuclear disarmament, observes Grumpy Editor.

The two-day U.S.-North Korea session late last week in Beijing was the latest in a series of efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Six nation talks involving South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. have been going on and off for more than nine years.

The Voice of America Web site on Friday did its best to herald the outcome of the Beijing meetings.

While VOA’s positive headline read, “US, North Korea Hold ‘Substantive’ Talks in Beijing,” the story’s lead got down to earth with:

“The United States and North Korea ended two days of talks in Beijing Friday with no breakthrough on Pyongyang's controversial nuclear program.”

It added, “But U.S. negotiator Glyn Davies says the talks were none-the-less ‘serious and substantive.’”

That contrasted with The Wall Street Journal’s Saturday headline, “Little Action in U.S., North Korea Talks.”

The latest session ended without mention of providing food aid, as supplied in the past, to the Communist nation.

The Beijing gathering also was a barometer to see if new leader Kim Jong-Eun was more open to diplomacy, following the December death of his father, Kim Jong-il. 

 

Will Feb. 23 North Korea nuclear talks make progress?

Look for media to play the long-running six-nation talks --- tomorrow in Beijing --- focusing on North Korea nuclear disarmament like something is finally going to break, but Grumpy Editor feels it’s likely to be ho-hum time again.

Nuclear talks regarding North Korea have been going on for years.

The only hope is the change in North Korea’s leadership since Kim Jong-il died in December.

The latest session will measure if Kim’s son and successor, Kim Jong-un, is more open to diplomacy.

The six nations --- South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. --- have been sitting around tables, off and on, for more than nine years trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Recent talks (last July in New York and three months later in Geneva) made no progress.

North Korea’s routine has been to talk, followed by pauses, then more talks, followed by no resolution. 

That’s been the Communist nation’s procedure since 1953 when the Korean War ended with a cease fire.  North and South Korea technically remain at war with no peace treaty.

One reason nuclear disarmament talks get nowhere:  North Korea, Russia and China are on the same side.

It’s been that way since the Korean War, in which Russia and China joined North Korea in fighting American and South Korean troops, among other allied forces.

After this week’s Beijing discussions, it will be interesting to see if media reports include (again) these words: deadlocked, impasse, inconclusive and recessed without agreement.

 

AP opens full-service news bureau in North Korea

Look for more direct news reports out of North Korea now that Associated Press opened a news bureau this week in Pyongyang, becoming the first international news organization with a full-time presence in the communist nation, notes Grumpy Editor.

AP says the action capped nearly a year of discussions.

The move comes less than a month after the death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il. 

The opening of AP offices in the capital mark an “important gesture, particularly because North Korea and the United States have never had formal diplomatic relations,” points out AP.

Now, AP writers and photojournalists will also be allowed to work in North Korea on a regular basis, says the news agency.  For decades, it adds, North Korea has remained largely off-limits to international journalists.

Offices are located at state-run Korean Central News Agency’s headquarters in downtown Pyongyang.

The full-service AP bureau --- with words, pictures and video output --- builds on AP video’s six-year-old office in the city.

The independent 165-year-old news cooperative maintains operations in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 2,500 journalists across the world in 300 locations.