Grumpy Editor

‘Alien’ joins ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ --- banned in California

 

California Gov. Jerry Brown has stirred up the Golden State again by banning the word “alien” --- and this does not refer to an extraterrestrial or creature from outer space, notes Grumpy Editor.

The word, starting Jan 1, will be a no-no in California labor laws.

It follows a new California law this year that banned the terms “husband” and “wife.”  Those words have been replaced with gender-neutral “spouse” to accommodate same-sex marriages, legal in the state.

“Alien” was inserted into various provisions in the California labor code in 1937.

That’s when “alien” referred to a resident born in or belonging to another country who had not acquired citizenship. In other words, a foreigner.

The federal government and other states continue to use “alien” to describe foreigners.

All this is making things difficult for dictionary producers.

Meanwhile, in still another California first, San Francisco --- in an action to combat public urination, a chronic problem in that city --- announced it will be coating walls of buildings with a liquid repellant that splashes pee back on offenders.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE ---

While the focus lately has been on Iran, North Korea is acting up again, threatening to "retaliate against the U.S. with tremendous muscle" if it didn't cancel multinational military exercises scheduled to start today…The military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported more than 35,000 combat veterans have had their health care delayed by a Department of Veterans Affairs computer program that automatically put them in limbo, many for years…Apple Inc. has hired more than 11,000 women worldwide in the past year, a 65 percent increase from the prior year…An Associated Press analysis found federal review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline has taken five times longer than the average for such proposals…Stretching the police beat to China:  An Associated Press story reported a Chinese woman was stabbed to death and her French companion was injured by a 25-year-old Chinese man in one of Beijing's busiest shopping districts in broad daylight…Remember when a one percent gain in sales was considered small?  A major Wall Street Journal story on Friday exclaimed U.S. retail sales shot up 0.6 percent last month…News releases good as gold?  Hackers pocketed as much as $100 million from 150,000 press releases before public release via distributors Business Wire, PR Newswire and Marketwired…CNN reported a vintage Douglas C-47 transport aircraft used in World War II was weeks away from being dismantled when a donor and non-profit Dallas-based Commemorative Air Force, which preserves old military aircraft, raised $350,000 for its restoration…Expensive “ball field.”  Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dumped 96 million four-inch plastic black “shade balls” (price: 36 cents each) into a reservoir to block sunlight from penetrating the 175-acre surface.  Reason?  To curb evaporation and prevent chemical reactions that can cause algae and other problems, said W&P. (By the way, white balls would be more effective in reflecting heat from the sun).

 

A newspaper job that is really going to pot:

The Oregonian, Portland, was seeking an “experienced cannabis consumer” to review marijuana strains and other weed-related products in covering Oregon’s “robust cannabis culture and marketplace.”

No indication if reviewing/writing would be done in a tightly-sealed private office.

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Obama readies for 14th visit to ‘banned’ Las Vegas

 

President Barack Obama, now at Martha’s Vineyard for his 40^th vacation since taking office, on Aug. 24 will make his 14^th visit to Las Vegas during his presidency, a destination he twice knocked, resulting in scaring off tourist and convention activity, notes Grumpy Editor.

In his upcoming trip, he will be the keynote speaker at the National Clean Energy Summit --- and attend a fundraiser.

Obama’s poking at Sin City started in February, 2009 when he declared, “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers dime.”  Soon after that statement, Wells Fargo Bank and Goldman Sachs, among others, shifted major meetings from Las Vegas to other cities.  Tourists also shunned the famous Las Vegas Strip. 

A year later, he warned, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”  Las Vegas’ economy then soured, with thousands of casino workers losing jobs, placing the area’s unemployment among the highest in the nation, while the city soon rose to first place in U.S. home foreclosures --- which remain a major problem.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

A major story --- involving cocaine and an unusual seagoing vessel --- received limited print coverage late last week:  The U.S. Coast Guard in the eastern Pacific seized a 40-foot semi-submersible vessel carrying more than 16,000 pounds of cocaine worth $181 million after the craft was spotted by a U.S. Navy patrol aircraft.   Four smugglers were arrested and the vessel, which took on water, sank…On the other hand, some newspaper editors were excited (devoting almost a half page, in some cases) over a Reuters story on identification of the remains of two Japanese hikers who disappeared on the Matterhorn mountain in the Swiss Alps during a snowstorm --- 45 years ago…How’d she get in?  Following Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Cleveland on Fox News, a surprise guest on the scene for The Kelly File, hosted by Megyn Kelly --- one of the three Fox News quizzers at the debate --- was Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic National Committee chairwoman and representative from Florida's 23rd congressional district.  Kelly sought Schultz’s opinion of the debate.  Want to guess what Schultz had to say about the GOP session?…On-the-hour radio news on Friday proclaimed “rosy” job growth, citing nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 215,000 last month, but failed to mention 93.8 million Americans were not in the labor force.  Along with that, some economists said such job growth should further bolster the Federal Reserve's confidence in the economy, leading to a possible interest rate increase next month...Most editors missed a short Associated Press story on where Washington sends taxpayers' money:  NASA will have to pay $490 million to send U.S. astronauts on Russian rockets to the International Space Station through 2017…Where some jobs are:  A councilman in Huntington Park, near Los Angeles, said he planned to appoint two illegal immigrants to city commissions…A heart-warming story missed by many, mostly print, editors: A service dog in Philadelphia saved her blind owner’s life by alerting authorities to a house fire.  When the dog’s owner shouted “danger,” it was the code word for action.  So the golden Labrador dialed 911 on a specialized phone. Firefighters responded and controlled the blaze.  The dog also was a hero last year when she dialed 911 after her owner fell at home and lost consciousness…Publicly-traded U.S. companies now will be required to disclose to investors how much CEOs earn compared to average workers at their firms, said the Securities and Exchange Commission…More white vs. black news:  A study by University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found 73 percent of characters in top-100 grossing movies of 2014 were white.

 

Aiming to be a newsmaker:

KMOV-TV, St. Louis, reporter/anchor Robin Smith, retired after 40 years in broadcasting, and plans to run for Missouri secretary of state in 2016.

Reporters unload colorful words to describe Trump

 

With scores of media members following Donald Trump as he makes the rounds around the country as a Republican presidential candidate --- with the highest poll numbers ---  wide editorializing prevails in stories, notes Grumpy Editor.

As an example, here’s how writers Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan describe Trump in a lengthy Reuters story in Saturday newspapers, following his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border:

“The mud-slinging mogul with a complicated hairdo”… (worked into the lead).

“Trump’s trash-talking ways and eye for the spotlight”…

“Trump’s headline-grabbing antics”…

"Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric”…(leaving out the word illegal preceding immigrant, as many others in broadcast/print media continue to do).

Reuters’ own tracking poll, updated on Thursday, shows Trump tied with Jeb Bush for the lead (with 16 percent of the vote) in the GOP presidential race.

(A CNN poll, released Sunday, showed Trump getting 18 percent support among Republicans, with Bush in second place with 15 percent.)

With Trump among the 10 top candidates at the first televised debate next week, the Reuters writers indicated concern, with Trump facing cameras, about the two-hour Fox News session degenerating “into a carnival-barking sideshow.”

Fretting in the third paragraph that Trump may dominate air time, the Reuters writers admitted deep in their story:  “In past years front-runners have held a central position on stage and received a greater share of questions and speaking time.”

Yet none of this raised editors’ eyebrows.

Stay tuned.

            +                        +                        +             

No interest in The Donald?

Donald Trump’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border near Laredo, Texas on Thursday attracted about 100 media folks who filled two press buses.  At a news conference, about 15 microphones faced him.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Among those accompanying President Barack Obama on Air Force One on his Africa visit were more than a dozen members of Congress from both parties and both houses…Unhappy with a Des Moines Register editorial calling for him to pull out of the GOP race, Donald Trump banned the paper from attending his Iowa campaign event on Saturday…Usually news on jobless claims reaching a 41-year low would give the stock market a boost.  But Thursday’s Labor Department figures showing workers filing for jobless benefits in the week ended July 18 fell by 26,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 255,000 had little effect with the Dow Industrials losing 119.12 points to 17731.92 that day, then slumping another 163.39 points to 17568.53 on Friday…While it usually takes one or two years for U.S. agencies to compile wide-ranging, multi-source figures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in just three weeks from the end of June said global land and sea surface temperatures in this year’s first six months were 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average…Stars and Stripes reported a study found 271,000 Vietnam veterans suffer from PTSD, with symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares and startle reactions, with a third of them also suffering from depression or anxiety…NewsBusters pointed out “another example of bias by omission” by ABC, CBS and NBC television networks in not covering Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on sanctuary cities and murders committed by illegal immigrants who benefitted from the policy.  It added, “Fox News Channel’s Special Report was there to pick up the pieces left by their network equivalents with a full segment”…With 122 prisoners remaining, the White House is in final stages to shutter the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba…Nikkei Inc., Japan’s largest media company, purchased Britain’s Financial Times (known for printing on tan newsprint) for about $1.3 billion…Final edition of San Diego’s The Daily Transcript, which began publishing in 1886, will be on Sept. 1…Fortune magazine’s Global 500 list, out this week, placed Walmart as the world's largest company by revenues, while the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was number one in profits.

 

Snail mail sidetracked.

A Philadelphia postal service carrier was accused of stashing 22,500 pieces of mail in his car and garbage bags in his garage over an eight-month period.  But the undelivered pieces were finally on the way to intended recipients last week.

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S.F. shooting underscores Trump's 'illegals' remarks

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S.F. shooting underscores Trump’s ‘illegals’ remarks

 

Major media are hesitant to admit it but the random killing of a 32-year-old woman in San Francisco last week underscores Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks of crimes committed by illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. via the porous southern border, noted Grumpy Editor.

Francisco Sanchez, 45, was arrested Wednesday night after police said he shot and killed Kathryn Steinle as she walked with her father at Pier 14 along the crowded Embarcadero, a destination popular with tourists and families.

Sanchez, who was deported five times, has a rap sheet with seven felonies, and in March was released from jail in San Francisco --- despite immigration authorities asking that he be kept in custody.  In the Wednesday incident, Sanchez told police he was shooting at sea lions.

In commenting on the shooting, Trump on Friday said, “This senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant is yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately. “This is an absolutely disgraceful situation and I am the only one that can fix it. Nobody else has the guts to even talk about it. That won’t happen if I become president.”

Liz Sullivan, mother of the shooting victim, on Friday said Sanchez “should have never been out, and now our daughter is gone forever,” adding “it’s a terrible travesty, and we lost our daughter. Everybody is trying to put the political spin on it, but it happened, and there’s no taking it back.”

In the presidential race, a CNN poll out last Thursday showed Trump in second place with 12 percent of Republican voters and GOP-leaning independents, up from 3 percent before he announced his candidacy on June 16.  Jeb Bush held top spot with 19 percent, up from 13 percent in May.

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

The press must be able to see, hear, witness and question the President and his or her aides on a routine basis, in addition to the daily White House briefing.  That’s one of the White House Correspondents Association’s primary goals, unveiled in detail Saturday, in search of “meaningful and consistent access to the President and his or her aides whenever and wherever they conduct the public’s business”…Delayed findings:  Hillary Clinton, Democrat presidential candidate, on Saturday accused China of stealing commercial secrets and “huge amounts of government information” and its “military is growing very quickly”…California’s Bay Area continued to be risky for TV news crews in the field.  San Francisco’s KNTV and KTVU staffers, covering a homicide, were robbed at gunpoint by two men, a cameraman was pistol whipped and $100,000 in camera equipment was stolen --- with some of the action captured live…Sneaker-maker New Balance continued to press the Pentagon to buy American-made footwear (through the company’s Boston facility) for U.S. military instead of Chinese-made footwear from rival Nike.  The Department of Defense in April announced military recruits would start using athletic shoes 100 percent manufactured in America…Chris for Hillary?  A photo snapped at a July 4 parade in suburban Washington, D.C. showed MSNBC’s Chris Mathews marching next to a woman holding a Hillary for America banner…Press passes come at a price, a lofty $500, at Wednesday’s FreedomFest in Las Vegas.  Organizers said the high figure was designed to distinguish real journalists from, say, bloggers in covering appearances by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, radio-TV personality Glenn Beck, Fox Business host John Stossel and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. However, organizers will give a free press pass to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada’s dominant newspaper.

 

In California’s first statewide rate overhaul since the 2000-01 energy crisis, electric bills for most household customers will rise over the next few years, following approval --- on quiet semi-holiday Friday --- by the state Public Utilities Commission.

The rate hikes will show up on bills starting next year.

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Trump stirs up GOP field with Washington-action talk

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Trump stirs up GOP field with Washington-action talk

 

Donald Trump certainly kicked up some dust among many media members when he tossed his hat into the crowded ring of Republicans seeking the presidential nomination with his tough, straight talk that resonated with many voters who seek action from Washington and are tired of the wussies there, observed Grumpy Editor.

Grabbing much attention the day after Trump’s announcement --- 45 minutes without a teleprompter --- at his New York skyscraper Trump Tower, was the New York Daily News which illustrated the real estate magnate with a bulbous red nose on its cover.”

In a departure describing the scene of such a serious announcement, the Daily News came up with:  “The real estate magnate made a less-than-imperial entrance, emerging on the main floor of the building and then descending an escalator with his wife, Melania, who wore a strapless white dress.”

The newspaper’s story went on to say Trump “insulted Mexican immigrants, derided foreign countries and lambasted President Obama and other American leaders as ‘losers.’”

(Later, when asked about the Daily News’ “clown” cover, Trump said the Daily News is “going out of business” and needs such outlandish cover stories to hypo sales.) 

In mentioning immigrants, Trump was referring to illegals, a word that the Daily News, and other news outlets, failed to use. 

Trump also cited “it’s people from countries other than Mexico also. We have drug dealers coming across, we have rapists, we have killers, we have murderers. I mean it’s common sense, what do you think they’re going to send us their best people, their finest people? The answer is no.” 

He also declared his ability to fortify the U.S. southern border, pointing out "nobody builds walls better than me, believe me." 

“Our country is in serious trouble,” he emphasized.  “We don’t have victories anymore,” then added, “we are going to make our country great again.” 

Media didn’t hear it, of course.  But Trump’s gung-ho talk brought cheers from many Americans, coast-to-coast, who agreed. 

In holding up a financial statement, the never-shy real estate developer declared, “I’m really rich.”  He cited $9.2 billion in assets and a net worth of $8.7 billion.  

That brought a key financial news outlet to mention "rich" figures that "couldn’t be independently confirmed.”  (A task fact-checkers would be hard pressed to establish within minutes --- or hours.)

Trump later told Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire, "I know the speech went well.  I meant everything I said and I think a lot of it resonated with different groups of people."

Lemire said, “Trump is currently polling well enough to land a spot in one of the early Republican debates, potentially pushing a more politically established candidate off the stage. His well-honed TV skills could lead to a buzzworthy performance that keeps him in the media spotlight.” 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…  

While search for two killer convicts on the loose from an upper New York state prison continued to grab print/air time, not much has been reported by key media on 121 convicted criminals (illegal immigrants) --- remaining in the U.S. despite receiving deportation orders between 2010 and 2014 --- who face murder charges.  The Daily Signal carried the report…Disclosure that hedge fund Jana Partners acquired a 7.2 percent stake in ConAgra Foods sent stock of the packaged foods giant (Slim Jim jerky, Hunt’s tomato sauce and Chef Boyardee) up 10.86 percent or $4.25 a share to $43.37 on Friday…United Airlines faced a major PR problem with 176 passengers on a flight from Chicago to London.  It took two days.  A maintenance issue diverted the Boeing 767-300 to Goose Bay, Canada.  Rather than promptly dispatching another aircraft as a replacement, United Continental Holdings placed the passengers, without access to their luggage, overnight in an unheated military barracks.  The following night, a replacement 767-300 flew the grumbling passengers to Newark then on to London, arriving the following afternoon…While basketball, hockey, soccer and football grab chunks of print space, somewhat ignored was the Baltimore Orioles, in a game with the Philadelphia Phillies, smashing a team record eight home runs, in a 19 to 3 win last Tuesday…In other baseball news, a nifty headline in The Wall Street Journal in connection with the FBI probing charges that the St. Louis Cardinals illegally accessed Houston Astros’ player information database:  FBI Is Looking Into Foul Play…Embattled TV news anchor Brian Williams was assigned by NBC News to cable as MSNBC daytime breaking news anchor starting in mid-August…In the “this just in” category:  Media just love anniversaries with scant interest.  This time, CBS News came up with commemorating the 800^th anniversary of the Magna Carta --- a charter agreed by King John of England on June 15, 1215…Meteorological buddies.  Pope Francis and President Barack Obama both agree on climate change.  The Argentine-born pontiff, 78, on Thursday demanded swift action “to save the planet from environmental ruin”…In connection with Apple, Inc.’s news app announcement earlier this month, the company said its “Apple News team is looking for passionate, knowledgeable editors to help identify and deliver the best in breaking national, global, and local news”…Another 2015 newspaper position has veteran news folks scratching heads:  The director of audience engagement title at the Los Angeles Times went last week to Alexandra Manzano, formerly with the Portland Oregonian. 

 

Now, which car was that?

Within eight minutes during yesterday’s Oakland Athletics/Los Angeles Angels game on Fox Sports were commercials or on-screen plugs for Hyundai, Lexus, Audi, Jeep and CarMax.

Obama team alters ‘counter-terrorism operation’ to war

There was some reluctance by some in Washington late last week to use the word “war,” even after President Barack Obama in a prime-time TV address to the nation said he is authorizing the expansion of a bombing campaign in Iraq and start of air strikes in Syria to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamist militants, notes Grumpy Editor.

Originally, the White House and Secretary of State John Kerry termed the action a "counter-terrorism operation." 

Then, perhaps, someone looked up the “war” definition in a dictionary:  a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

Later, spokespersons at both the State Department and Pentagon mentioned “we are at war" with ISIL (the Islamic State term favored by the Obama administration but also known as ISIS). 

In his speech, the president raised eyebrows by declaring “ISIL is not Islamic.”  

CNN, for example, noted, the four-letter term “could still come back to haunt him,” adding, “critics on Twitter quickly fired off on the president for making the assertion, with many noting that ISIL in fact stands for the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.’ (CNN refers to the group by the acronym ISIS in its news reports. The group recently started calling itself the Islamic State).” 

While TV viewers felt the president was facing only a camera crew, Bloomberg reporter Angela Greiling Keane revealed about two dozen people were in the White House foyer. 

That included a media pool about 20 feet from the president along with one news photographer and two official White House photographers (with cameras silent), White House staffers handling video, audio and lighting plus Secret Service agents and press secretary Josh Earnest.

Keane mentioned the five on-scene reporters were told to leave electronics and personal effects behind, not make any noise and “don’t let your pens hit the marble floor in the cavernous hall where the slightest noise was sure to echo.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Just in time:  After the president’s prime-time speech Wednesday, former White House press secretary Jay Carney, debuted as a CNN political commentator…Good PR move: Not sleepy like some other major financial institutions, U.S. Bank, alert to boosting future business, within hours of Thursday's Nevada legislature-approval of a Tesla Motors $5 billion gigafactory employing 6,500 workers to produce batteries for its electric cars, mounted a large exterior “TESLA Welcome to Nevada” banner on a building in Reno near Tesla’s plant location....Network radio news over the weekend again failed to pinpoint location of a growing wildfire in Southern California, reporting that it was “near Cleveland National Forest.”  That’s close, but no cigar.  Cleveland National Forest spans 720 square miles in three counties.  More precise:  near Silverado, 15 miles east of Santa Ana.  The community, now with some new homes, was founded in 1878...Heavy drinkers:  Britain’s The Guardian reported “journalists are coffee addicts, drinking more cups a day than any other group of professionals,” based on a survey of 10,000 people…Sluggish action:  Eighteen days after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Napa, Calif., President Obama on Thursday declared the area a major disaster site, unlocking federal funds for recovery efforts.  The Aug. 24 quake resulted in one fatality, about 280 injuries, devastated more than 100 wineries and damaged at least 1,000 buildings…PR gimmick to grab attention?   A hedge fund investor, in a 300-page report on what’s wrong with the Olive Garden chain, suggested the Italian-flavored restaurants were being reckless in providing unlimited breadsticks…Cutbacks loom, then hiring.  In another restructuring move among its coast-to-coast newspapers, Gannett Co. was focusing on the 241-person newsroom at The Arizona Republic, Phoenix. New job titles will be posted and existing staffers --- just like new applicants --- will apply for the positions.  Early indications pointed to a staff reduction of about a dozen.

Heard Friday on Real Time with Bill Maher: former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), looking ahead to the November elections, warned, “Civilization as we know it today would be in jeopardy if the Republicans win the Senate.”

 

Kudlow: ‘ATMs’ with billions for Obama administration

Grumpy Editor, over the Labor Day weekend, noted that Larry Kudlow's syndicated column advanced some thoughts that business editors of major publications missed:  Where are all those billions of dollars going that the Obama administration got as “settlements” from top U.S. banks?

Most recent, the former CNBC host pointed out Bank of America’s $16.65 billion settlement was for financial-crisis era mortgage securities.

That came after $12 billion was obtained from JP Morgan and $7 billion from Citigroup.

As with BofA, both payments from those top banks to the U.S. government were linked to mortgage-backed securities dealings.

“These huge bank settlements are election year ATMs for the Obama administration,” declared Kudlow, an economist and a former advisory committee member of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac).  “It’s a real shakedown.”

Added Kudlow:  “No one even remotely knows how these penalty-payment numbers are calculated.  And the federal government’s disbursement of these funds is equally mysterious.”

Kudlow was associate director for economics and planning in the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan administration. 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

CNN correspondent Will Ripley, in Pyongyang, North Korea, managed to interview three American detainees on Labor Day: Jeffrey Fowle, Mathew Miller and Kenneth Bae.  They called for a U.S. representative to go to the communist nation to make a direct appeal for their releases.  “I’m getting desperate for help,” declared Fowle…A recovered “Laptop of Doom” (as CNN called it), containing 35,000 ISIS terrorist files, resulted in interviews from Dubai over the weekend with Jenan Moussa, Foreign Policy contributor. What was interesting to the TV-dial flipper:  CNN and Fox News interviews at the same time on Sunday both were labeled “live” --- but with different backgrounds…Even with the 9/11 anniversary coming up in nine days, top U.S. editors didn’t get very excited about a new English-language al-Qaeda on-line publication that suggested U.S. locations for Muslim extremists to car bomb.  Sites included Times Square in New York, Las Vegas casinos, Georgia Military College, U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and San Diego-based defense contractor General Atomics...U.S. editors, concerned in the past about ice fading from Arctic waters, also yawned at a London Daily Mail revelation that an Aug. 25 satellite reading showed an area the size of Alaska that was open water two years ago is again covered by ice.  Among the few news outlets mentioning this:  The Hyannis (Mass.) News and NewsBusters…Two new national polls not widely reported: a Rasmussen Reports survey found 75 percent of American adults are concerned about inflation.  The tally included 37 percent who are “very concerned” and 22 percent who are “not concerned.”  Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center/USA Today survey revealed 65 percent said the world is more dangerous than it was several years ago, 7 percent felt the world has gotten safer while 27 percent said things have not changed much.  Also, nearly twice as many Republicans as Democrats (46 percent vs. 24 percent) now think the U.S. does too little to help solve world problems…Fish get water, farmers don’t:  In the California water battle during a drought, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is releasing water --- through Sept. 14 --- from Trinity Lake to help protect Chinook salmon in low-water conditions.  Irate farmers declare the water release comes when their allocation of federally-managed irrigation water has been cut to zero.  Result?  Higher food prices ahead.

    The federal government plans to spend nearly $1 million to create an online database to track “misinformation” and hate speech on Twitter. 

Feds place barriers in illegals coverage by media

Restricting media from fully covering newsworthy, front-page happenings --- especially with the government involved --- always has been a strong no-no, reminds Grumpy Editor.

Thus, it was interesting to see media back off when Health and Human Services (HHS) officials threw up a barrier to on-scene coverage of border-crossing illegal minors being housed at Fort Sill, Okla.  It is the same federal facility that on July 1 thwarted entrance by Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), the congressman who represents the area.

HHS later invited the media, but issued seven rules that would make any grizzly, grumpy editor pound on his desk, utter some nasty words and call for immediate action from Washington…or else.

The unusual restrictions to visiting media as spelled out by HHS “in order to protect the safety and privacy of the children” call for:

   “■ No recording devices will be allowed.

    ■ No questions will be allowed during the tour.

    ■ No interacting with staff and children at the shelter.

    ■ We ask that your questions be provided via email or phone after the tour to Kenneth Wolfe.

    ■ HHS ACF (Administration for Children and Families) public affairs will provide answers to your follow up questions as quickly as possible.

    ■ We will provide photos of the facility after the tour.

    ■ There will be no on-site interviews by HHS staff before or after the tour, all inquiries go to Kenneth Wolfe.”

“This is not transparent,” declared Bridenstine.  “HHS is trying to muzzle the media and hide the human tragedy that has resulted directly from the administration’s failure to enforce the law.”

Meanwhile, along with other restrictions imposed by the Obama administration on coverage of the young illegals making their way around the country, Media Research Center president Brent Bozell said in a Fox News interview:

"This is an administration that is becoming unglued...reacting with panic the way the Chicago machine reacts where they're just trying to ram down the throats of the public the rules as they see fit," adding "they are breaking the Constitution at every level. This seems to be the First Amendment that's threatened by these people."

Bozell added the press is taking it lying down rather than telling "the Obama administration to go fly a kite."

But grumbling among journalists is nearing a crescendo. 

Last week, 38 journalism groups, led by the Society of Professional Journalists and including the American Society of Journalists and Authors, American Society of News Editors, National Federation of Press Women and National Press Photographers Association, sent a letter to the White House assailing the president’s team for censoring media coverage, limiting access to top officials and overall “politically-driven suppression of the news” despite the president’s 2008 campaign pledge to provide transparency.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

One phrase for sure you will not hear or read today through mid-week:  global warming.  That’s because a cool jet stream will be sending Midwest temperatures as much as 20 degrees below normal…Fortune magazine last week launched (without blushing over the title) a daily online newsletter highlighting news on the world’s most powerful women.  Its name?  The Broadsheet…Steve Roberts, who lives in The Oaks apartments, Santee, Calif., and whose father served for more than 25 years in the military, was told he could not display the American flag inside his apartment window --- and management will not tell him why…Nineteen veteran journalists, with 586 years of combined experience, are departing the Star Tribune, Minneapolis, on Friday, leaving the newsroom with about 230 staffers…Observed on the CNBC website before the stock market opening bell last Monday:  “U.S. stocks begin lower in pullback from record” previous day…University of Georgia researchers tally total enrollment in the nation’s journalism schools has dropped, noting the biggest decline --- 33 percent in five years --- at Columbia College Chicago which specializes in arts and media disciplines, with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees…The New York Times goes to great lengths to report from the West Coast on “Saving Water in California,” pointing out “the state needs much stronger conservation measures if it wants to battle its worst drought in decades and not to face severe water shortages.”

Declared President Barack Obama --- one day after he was photographed shooting pool in Texas --- in connection with the (nixed) suggestion of viewing first hand the massive influx of illegals at the Texas-Mexico border:  “I am not interested in photo ops.”

Hefty speaking fees place spotlight on the Clintons

Although Hillary Clinton earlier this month revealed she and husband, former president Bill Clinton, left the White House “dead broke” in 2001, they have been making up for that with some hefty speaking fees, latest one raising eyebrows of University of Nevada, Las Vegas students when they learned of a $225,000 fee for an Oct. 13 fundraising speech slated by the former secretary of state in Sin City, notes Grumpy Editor.

What irked the complaining students is that prior to the UNLV event, the former first lady is not charging for a Sept. 4 keynote speech also in Las Vegas at the Clean Energy Summit, an annual conference sponsored by Senate majority leader Harry Reid, UNLV, MGM Resorts and the Center for American Progress. 

A letter, written on behalf of 23,000 undergraduate students at UNLV, addressed to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation in New York, asked Mrs. Clinton to “charitably donate part or all of the $225,000 speaking fee she is reportedly making for this fundraising speech back to the UNLV Foundation as a whole.” 

The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Mrs. Clinton was paid $300,000 to speak on the University of California, Los Angeles campus three months ago.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post, in reviewing the Clintons’ federal financial disclosures, tallied Bill Clinton was paid $104.9 million for 542 speeches around the world between January 2001, when he left the White House, and January 2013, when Mrs. Clinton stepped down as secretary of state. 

The June 26 Post story also found most of Bill Clinton’s speaking income --- $56.3 million --- came from foreign speeches, many of them in China, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. 

 

In case you missed these… 

 

ABC 'PROMO' LEADS ON-THE-HOUR NEWS.  Despite explosive, breaking news developments in the U.S. and overseas, radio listeners heard top-of-the-hour ABC News Friday morning leading with a promo mentioning Barbara Walters on that evening’s “20-20” would be interviewing Peter Rodger, father of 22-year-old Elliot Rodger accused of killing six people and injuring 13 before taking his own life May 23 near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

“FORGOTTEN WAR’ AGAIN OVERLOOKED BY MEDIA.  With anniversary stories popular with editors, most news outlets forgot mention of the Korean War that started on June 26, 1950.  For the U.S., the 1950-1953 battle against North Korean and Chinese forces resulted in 36,940 military deaths, 103,000 wounded, 8,142 missing in action and 3,746 prisoners of war.

 

REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS BASEBALL, MOM AND APPLE PIE?  As soccer grabs more attention in the U.S., viewers to ESPN’s baseball games on Sunday nights averaged just below 1.9 million this year.  That’s 32 percent less than seven years ago.

 

HERE WE GO AGAIN.  Somehow forgetting the mounting problems with credit card (and other loan) payments six years ago that triggered prolonged financial turmoil, banks and other lenders were busy in the first quarter issuing credit cards to subprime borrowers, reported The Wall Street Journal via data from Equifax Inc.

 

As thousands of children plus teenagers and others --- mainly from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador --- continue to cross into the U.S. illegally from Mexico, adding to the 47,000 that made the trip in the past fiscal year, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at a near-the-border press conference from the Rio Grande Valley on Saturday said:

"We are all Americans, north and south in this hemisphere." 

Harry Reid turns up rhetoric in Nevada cattle feud

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, who was mysteriously quiet during a week-long standoff involving a Nevada cattle rancher and the Bureau of Land Management that ended (at least temporarily) April 12, suddenly became quite vocal over the past week --- following the abrupt BLM pullout --- with a series of  interviews from Reno to Las Vegas, going so far as to label those who sided with rancher Cliven Bundy in the cattle-grazing feud “nothing more than domestic terrorists,” observes Grumpy Editor.

About 300 cattle in the BLM roundup were returned to Bundy after the week-long “bullying” by the feds.  

Reid’s almost daily attacks last week grabbed front-pages and broadcast news leads in the state and elsewhere, especially after the Nevada Democrat appeared at a Las Vegas Review-Journal “Hashtags & Headlines” luncheon at a major Strip hotel on Thursday.

Attendees paid $40 a head to hear Reid answer questions directed at him by a Review-Journal liberal columnist. 

While Reid received wide coverage of his “domestic terrorists” phrase, there was no mention of the range dust being kicked up when the BLM rode in with 200 armed agents, including snipers positioned in the hills plus growling police dogs along with use of tasers and helicopters at Bundy’s ranch in Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.  Since 1870, the Bundy family’s herd has been grazing on that Clark County land.  

The BLM and its hired “cowboys” went to the ranch to start rounding up Bundy’s 908 cattle grazing on 1,200 square miles of remote mountains and desert managed by BLM and the National Park Service.  Early reason for the roundup was triggered by supposed endangerment of the desert tortoise.  Then the emphasis switched to Bundy not paying grazing fees for 20 years.

Major media stories in the past week did not mention Reid’s close ties with the communist Chinese and the possibility of a major solar facility locating on the vast sun-bathed grazing land that also contains rare minerals along with the tortoises.  (See the April 14 Grumpy Editor on earlier developments at the Bundy ranch and mention of Harry Reid in the headline over a revealing Infowars.com story --- a day prior to the BLM pullout.)

Reid was linked to a proposed $5 billion solar plant in southern Clark County two years ago.  That operation, later shelved, involved a Chinese energy company.

Interestingly, in the same edition that reported Reid’s “domestic terrorists” description of Bundy backers, an illustrated Review-Journal feature focused on about 750 sheep dispatched to the hills on the western edge of Carson City, on the western side of Nevada, to munch on invasive grasses to reduce risk of wildfires as the fire season nears.

No comment from Reid on those grazing animals that belong to a four-year-old Gardnerville sheep farming company.

 

In case you missed these…

WESTERN POLITICAL LEADERS SEEK LOCAL CONTROL ON LANDS.  Allied with the Bundy feud with the feds in Nevada, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday that more than 50 political leaders from nine states convened in Utah’s capital to discuss their joint goal --- wresting control of oil, timber and mineral-rich lands away from the feds. "The urgency is now,” declared State Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan, Utah) who organized the summit with Montana State Sen. Jennifer Fielder (R-District 7).

 

LOS ANGELES GETS ANOTHER DAILY.  First editions marking the Wednesday debut of the Los Angeles Register were hawked on Los Angeles City Hall grounds --- across the street from the Los Angeles Times building. The paper will be sold at more than 5,500 retail outlets and vending machines. It’s the first new daily in the City of Angels since the Daily News turned into a daily in 1981.  The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, a long-time daily, folded in November, 1989.

  

MEDIA PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.  Fox News re-signed Chris Wallace to a multi-year deal to continue anchoring Fox News Sunday.  He has anchored the Sunday morning program and contributed to Fox News’ political and election coverage since joining the network in 2003…Radio host Laura Ingraham joined ABC News as a contributor and will continue as guest commentator for Fox News Channel, often filling in for Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor…Dee Dee Myers, one of former President Bill Clinton’s press secretaries, was named head of corporate communications and public affairs for Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., Hollywood’s largest studio.

 

U.S. NEWSPAPER REVENUE CONTINUES DOWNWARD.  Newspaper Association of America said the industry’s 2013 revenue slipped 2.6 percent to $37.6 billion.  Print advertising revenue last year sank 8.6 percent to $17.3 billion but circulation revenue gained 3.7 percent to $10.9 billion.

 

GET READY FOR THE LOCAL ANGLE.  A newspaper editor in the west ran a distant police beat story in yesterday's edition like it happened down the street.  A woman in Dover, N.J. --- that’s 2,300 miles from the breaking news, headline-conscious editor --- reported that on the first date with a man she met on the Internet, Joel (last name unknown), swiped her TV set and dog. 

Now the editor is hoping for a follow-up.