Grumpy Editor

CONSUMER PRICES IN FASTEST JUMP SINCE 1982

Yes, your wallet is getting thinner --- fast, observes Grumpy Editor.

In the latest reporting period, November’s 5.7 percent increase in consumer prices over the past year is the fastest pace since July, 1982.

That increase, reported by the Commerce Department, follows a 5.1 percent rise for the 12 months ended in October, continuing a string of annual price gains that have run well above the 2 percent inflation target set by the Federal Reserve.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

ASTEROID NEARS EARTH.  A “potentially hazardous” asteroid more than twice the height of New York’s Empire State Building will make a close encounter with Earth on Jan. 18.  It won’t occur again for another 200 years.

CEOs WORRY ABOUT JOBS.  A  survey finds 72 percent of chief executive officers are worried about losing their jobs in 2022 because of business disruptions. “That’s eye-poppingly high,” says Simon Freakley, CEO of management consulting firm AlixPartners, source of the survey.

FRANCE PUSHES MORE DAYS WORKING FROM HOME.   France will make working from home compulsory three days a week to contain the spread of the omicron variant. This is the second time during the pandemic that France has set such a rule, first doing so between March and May of last year. 

COFFEE SHOPS IN ICELAND.  In case you are planning a trip to Iceland, Forbes runs an article detailing the top seven coffee shops in Reykjavik, Iceland selected “for their comfy ambiance, top-notch coffee, and easy access for exploring other attractions and sites around the city.”

ALASKA ISLAND GETS WARM.  Kodiak Island in southern Alaska hit 67 degrees last week, warmer than it was in Southern California on that day.  It was the warmest December day in Alaska, according to the National Weather Service in Anchorage.  Statewide temperature records in Alaska date back to 1953.

 

BANK MAKES SURPRISE DEPOSITS.  Two thousand business accounts receive a surprise gift totaling the equivalent of $176 million from Santander bank in the U.K.  Seems the accounts were processed twice in a “scheduling issue” that the bank says has been corrected.

 

COVID-19 IMPERILS TV SPORTS.  High Covid-19 cases imperils as much as $400 million in college playoff commercials for ESPN sports network because of the growing risk of games being cancelled.

Post-election stock market rally leaves some red faces

A number of stock market watchers warned about a major drop in the stock market if Donald Trump wins the election, reminds Grumpy Editor.

So what happened?

The Dow Jones industrial average jumps 1424 points in the month since elections on Nov. 8.

The Dow starts today at 19756.85, with only about 243 points more to reach the 20000 level.

Investors placing their funds into companies that will benefit from stronger economic growth and fiscal stimulus fed the month-long rally.

Traders see this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve, last of the year, to end with an interest rate increase, something that is expected to be received well by financial stocks.

Talk that Trump plans to lower income tax rates, giving consumers more disposable income, coupled with a hike in fiscal spending could continue to give the stock market a boost.

Lower corporate tax rates will lead to higher earnings, lifting stock prices.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Although anything related to global warming gets heavy coverage these days, unusual cold late last week saw 80 percent of the nation experiencing below-freezing temperatures. Thermometers dropped 20 to 30 degrees below average in the region from Montana to deep in the heart of southern Texas. Also on the “warming” front, CBS News claims “a warming planet could make coffee harder to find.”

With 2017 just around the corner, which are the best cities to welcome the New Year? WalletHub analysts put Orlando in top spot, followed by San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver and Buffalo (Buffalo? Yep). Worst city: North Las Vegas --- and it’s only four miles from The Strip in Las Vegas (ranked No.10 among the top locations)…Tucker Carlson, now with an hour program on Fox News, left his editor-in-chief position at The Daily Caller but will maintain his ownership stake in the publication…Time magazine names president-elect Donald Trump its Person of the Year…Along with footage of orange flames of fires, TV news directors love to report earthquakes --- even though in last week’s 6.5-magnitude shaker, nothing happened. The rocker occurs 97 miles out in the ocean west of Ferndale in Northern California. No reports of damage or injuries. End of story (and forgotten the next day).

What’s going on? After reading that nearly 240,000 tons of blueberries a year are produced in the U.S., with 10 states (Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi and Indiana) accounting for more than 98 percent of the U.S. crop, Grumpy Editor buys two containers of blueberries. Half way through munching them, tiny print (requiring a magnifying glass to read the label) reveals the tiny berries come from --- Lima, Peru.

 

Name of Rebel Yell, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas student newspaper since 1955, next semester will appear as the mouthful The Scarlet & Gray Free Press.

What triggered the change?

Complaints that the 61-year-old masthead reflected a Confederate Army battle cry.

ABC News fumbles on ‘climate’ predictions made in 2008

 

ABC News this week is mum about way-off-base predictions the network made seven years ago on “climate change” that included New York City engulfed by water from a rising sea and gasoline going over $9 a gallon, noted Grumpy Editor

The look back at the “Good Morning America” June 12, 2008 special, uncovered by Scott Whitlock at NewsBusters, also included predictions of Miami being wiped out by a “storm of the century,” an abandoned Las Vegas and a reduction of Earth’s population.

The network, added Whitlock, “promoted the special by hyperventilating, ‘Are we living in the last century of our civilization?’”

Climate change continues much in the news.  Just last Monday, Bloomberg’s Louise Downing pointed out, “As talks aimed at slowing global warming drag on, researchers are pushing new ideas that some are calling last-ditch attempts to avert the worst effects of climate change.”

Some of the far-out proposals, she mentioned, included using charcoal to lock carbon dioxide into soil, scattering carbon-absorbing gemstones, blocking the sun’s rays with airborne particles and seeding oceans with carbon-absorbing iron.

(It should be pointed out that global average land and sea temperatures, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, were up about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit --- in 135 years.)

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

“Tame” inflation starting to growl?  U.S. producer prices in May recorded their biggest increase since September, 2012, up 0.5 percent…Another late Friday development from the Obama administration, hoping it missed attention of editors:  Six Yemen Guantanamo Bay detainees were moved to Oman --- another step by President Barack Obama who has vowed to shuttter Guantanamo before he leaves office in early 2017…Tired of "recycled" coverage of the two escaped killers from an upstate New York prison?  Now in its 10^th day, media --- in many cases ---- continued to treat the search as the lead story over the weekend, focusing on areas close to the 3,000-inmate prison where the pair escaped on June 5 (although the two are probably in Mexico by now)…Editors love hurricanes/tropical storms even when they are far from U.S. shores.  So even when tropical storm Carlos was 70 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico (its position late Sunday), it still grabbed air time/newspaper space…Lester Holt, who has been filling in for Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News, reportedly was seeking an annual salary that matched Williams: $10 million…The Pentagon’s equal opportunity policy will protect gays and lesbians in uniform for the first time, said Defense Secretary Ash Carter…Linked to that, the Williams Institute, a UCLA Law School think tank that concentrates on issues regarding sexual orientation, estimated there are 15,000 transgender troops serving in the military…No media person asked why it took investigators one month to determine that the Amtrak engineer involved in the deadly May 12 derailment in Philadelphia did not use his cell phone while operating the train…Time Inc. said it plans to outsource at least 18 jobs to overseas countries…McDonald’s Corp. hired former Obama administration press secretary Robert Gibbs as global communications chief and executive vice president…Franklin Graham, son of televangelist Billy Graham, said he is moving Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s funds (which could total more than $100 million) out of Wells Fargo accounts in response to the bank’s TV spot featuring a lesbian couple…The Moberly (Mo.) Monitor-Index next month will sideline carriers of the daily newspaper, with about 4,700 subscribers, and rely on the U.S. Postal Service for delivery.  The newspaper is in the GateHouse Media family that owns 78 daily and 235 weekly newspapers in the U.S.  With the delivery change, the Monitor-Index will switch from afternoon to morning newspaper…Meanwhile, the Albuquerque Journal is phasing out coin-operated newspaper racks to focus on home delivery, in-store sales and digital subscriptions…So much for young entrepreneurs.  Two sisters, 7 and 8, in Overton, Texas, planning to raise $105 for a Father’s Day present via lemonade stand sales, were shut down by police in an hour --- after already collecting more than $25 --- because they lacked a permit.

 

How bad is the low-water situation in drought-hit California?

It's so bad that Gov. Jerry Brown bragged at a news conference that he did NOT shower that morning.

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