Grumpy Editor

NAVY PLANS TO BUILD 82 SHIPS BY 2026

Not widely covered by media, the Defense Department announces the Navy plans to build 82 ships by 2026 at a cost of $147 billion, notes Grumpy Editor.

The shipbuilding plan includes three attack submarines, four large unmanned surface vessels, development of light amphibious warships and retirement of most of the Navy's current cruisers.

Observers  say the ambitious plan, based on a classified study presented to Congress earlier this month, will likely initiate a battle in Congress between the Navy and other U.S. service branches over funding.

"The plan calls for a larger fleet of both manned and unmanned vessels prepared to face greater challenges on, above or under the sea, by accelerating submarine construction, modernizing aircraft, extending the service life of cruisers and increasing the number of destroyers," says David L. Norquist, deputy secretary of defense.

The Defense Department adds, “The Navy will still sail proven, traditional capabilities, such as attack submarines, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and air wings, and logistics forces, but the study also looked at building more small multi-mission combatants.”  

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

POPULATION, MEDIAN AGE EDGE UP.  U.S. population increased about 8 percent --- to 332.6 million people --- over the past decade, reveals the Census Bureau.   Median age edges up to 38.5 years, vs. 37.2 in 2010.

 

YES, SAME AFGHANISTAN.  On Saturday, five rockets are fired at Bagram Airfield, major U.S. base in Afghanistan.  Grumpy Editor finds many things don’t change in the world after viewing “Enchantment,” a 1948 movie that takes place during World War II.  In the movie, actor David Niven plays a military officer informed that he is going to --- Afghanistan. 

 

MONARCH BUTTERFLY RECOGNIZED.  Federal officials declare the monarch butterfly is a candidate for threatened or endangered status with action likely in the years ahead.

  

TOO MANY WOMEN WORKERS BRING FINE.  City hall in Paris, France, is fined about $110,000 for appointing too many women to top positions in 2018.

 

DAYTIME TV IS SECOND PRIME TIME NOW.  With the pandemic resulting in more people at home, ratings-research firm Nielsen says daytime is a second prime time --- with an audience with much higher spending power.

MARINES WITHOUT TANKS?  U.S. Marines plan to shed its heavy armor (battle tanks) battalions as part of a 10-year redesign.

COYOTE VISITS FIRE STATION.  Firefighters in a Fort Lauderdale station are surprised to find an unusual visitor wandering through their firehouse --- a coyote.  It is surprising since the station is in a dense urban neighborhood about a mile from the beach.  The coyote soon ran out of the station.

BUSINESSMAN PAYS UTILITY BILLS.  Gulf Breeze, Florida, business owner Michael Esmond covers overdue utility bills for 114 families at risk of losing service in the holiday season.  Esmond, owner of Gulf Breeze Pools & Spa near Pensacola, donates $7,615 as the city faces an economic downturn caused by the pandemic and Hurricane Sally.

WOULD TODAY’S MEDIA KEEP D-DAY PLANS A SECRET?

 

 

D-Day landing, 1944

 

 

With the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing in France being observed on June 6, press action — or more precisely inaction at that time — on activity leading up to the event that led to liberation of Europe would never happen today, declares Grumpy Editor.

 

Those representing print and radio at that time were patriotically mum on the most heavily guarded secret on the planet:  Invasion of Normandy across the English Channel.  It was the major turning point in the war.

 

Nowadays most members of the media can't keep a secret, or even a rumor, without firing it off.

 

On that noteworthy day in 1944 surprise was crucial, especially with Germany’s 55 divisions in France.

 

Six parachute regiments, with more than 13,000 troops, flew from nine British airfields in more than 800 aircraft, part of a massive flight of more than 11,000 planes.

 

More than 300 aircraft dropped 13,000 bombs over coastal Normandy in advance of the invasion when more than 160,000 troops stormed the beaches.

 

The main Allied invasion force of almost 7,000 naval vessels carried troops, weapons and heavy equipment, including tanks.  The armada included 1,200 warships that transported the troops and nearly 30,000 vehicles.

 

Ships of various sizes dotted the 100 miles across the channel, stretching as far as the eye could see.

 

True journalists at that time kept the secret that resulted in a surprise landing in Normandy.

 

Most of today’s media, with many members holding political science rather than journalism degrees, simply wouldn’t abide by a top-secret label on a major event.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

NAVY UNIFORM PATCH UNDER REVIEW.  The federal government was reviewing Defense Department policy regulations on dress code after some service members wore a uniform patch with the words “Make Aircrew Great Again” along with a likeness of Donald Trump during the president’s visit to the USS Wasp in Japan.

WETTEST 12 MONTHS SETS RECORD.  The National Weather Service said there's never been a wetter 12 month period in the past 124 years. The continental U.S. averaged six inches of precipitation above average during the period.

 

PATRIOTIC PARADE GETS SLIM COVERAGE.  Outside of the nation’s capital, there wasn’t much coverage of the thousands of spectators who lined Constitution Avenue to pay tribute to the past and present U.S. military in the National Memorial Day Parade.  Parade participants wore uniforms dating back to the Revolutionary War.  Along with floats, vehicles carried the parade's grand marshals — World War II veterans — as well as Medal of Honor recipients and celebrities.

 

MAN SHOOTS PROWLERS, GETS ARRESTED.  A 64-year-old man was arrested for possession of an illegal handgun after he fatally shot a pair of prowlers burglarizing his home in Deerfield, N.Y.  He told the district attorney the weapon he used in self-defense was his late father’s.   He was charged with felony possession of an illegal handgun.

SINGLE PURCHASE BOOSTS STORE SALES.  Costco performed a price check after noting a nearly $400,000 purchase at one of its stores during its most recent quarter. The lofty price tag was linked to one item — a diamond ring.

 

CANINE RULES TOWN.  Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller II (Max for short), has been Idyllwild, Calif.’s mayor since 2014. The non-incorporated community in the San Jacinto mountains has has been electing canines for its highest office since 2012.  

 

BANK ROBBER NABBED IN CASINO.  A suspect in at least four armed bank robberies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island was captured as he gambled at the Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, Mass.

 

CHINESE COUNTERFEIT GOODS CITED.  Military Times reported military and government agencies plus others purchased more than $20 million worth of Chinese-made counterfeit goods designed to look like domestically produced gear from a company that defrauded the government and helped to orchestrate the counterfeiting process between January, 2013 and October, 2018. 

 

51ST STATE LOOMING?  A House committee will hold a hearing July 24 on a bill that proposes Washington , D.C. be recognized as the nation’s 51st state.  The bill calls for two senators and one representative for D.C.

USS PUEBLO VETERANS WOULD LIKE U.S. TO GET SHIP BACK

A gathering last week in Pueblo, Colo. reminded some people --- but most media missed it --- of the capture by North Korea of the USS Pueblo a half century ago, noted Grumpy Editor.

North Korean MiG fighter jets and patrol boats opened fire on the American spy ship, leading to the first capture of a U.S. Navy ship since the War of 1812.

 

In the Jan. 23, 1968 incident, one crew member was killed and 82 others were taken captive and held for 11 months in North Korean prisons where they were tortured.

“The crew of the USS Pueblo would like to get our ship returned,” Ron Berens, lead helmsman onboard at the time of capture, told Fox News at last week’s reunion that attracted 40 surviving crew members.

Berens revealed, “There’s nothing in the current history books about the Pueblo.”

Tim Harris, a supply officer onboard the ship, recalled North Korean patrol boats quickly surrounded the American spy ship and opened fire with machine guns and 40mm cannon.

“We never surrendered.  We stopped the ship.  There was never an order to surrender,” Harris said. “We had taken so much fire.”

Today, the Pueblo remains a commissioned U.S. Navy ship on display in the Potong River inside North Korea’s capital Pyongyang.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL.  Unemployment benefit applications fell to 201,000, a 49-year low in the week ended Sept. 15, reported the Labor Department.

LAWMAKERS EYE GROWING RESERVATION FEES.  Washington lawmakers are considering a provision in a bill that would limit growing fees airline passengers pay to change flight reservations. The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. airlines received $2.9 billion in such fees last year.

READY FOR A 19-HOUR FLIGHT?  Singapore Airlines, with delivery of an ultra long-range Airbus, will start non-stop service --- with about 19 hours in the air --- between Newark and Singapore on Oct. 11.  The journey will mark the world's longest in the air.

ARMY MISSES RECRUITING GOAL.  The U.S. Army missed its recruiting goal this fiscal year (ending Sept. 30), falling short by about 6,500 soldiers, despite pumping an extra $200 million into bonuses and other inducements, reported Associated Press.  However, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps met their goals.

FLORENCE SMACKS PIGS AND POULTRY.  Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina's poultry and hog industries.  State officials said 5,000 pigs and hogs were killed by the hurricane while 3.4 million chickens and turkeys were destroyed.

VERSATILE CATCHER PITCHES, HITS HOME RUN.  Unusual in a major league baseball game is seeing a catcher pitch the last two innings and homer in the ninth inning.  That's what Los Angeles Angels' Francisco Arcia did last Thursday in a game with the Oakland Athletics.  That triple action in the same game last happened in 1900.  

BANK PLANS MORE JOB CUTS.  Wells Fargo & Co. plans to shed up to 26,500 jobs over the next three years as it adjusts business operations and works to recover from a series of scandals over the past two years.

 

Media not stirred by Obama’s 70,000 bridges to repair

Absent from most print/broadcast coverage of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech last week:  those 70,000 “structurally deficient” bridges popping up again, this time with a repair price tag of $50 billion, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Initial mentions of the 70,000 bridges started five and a half years ago. 

Repairing bridges comes as Congress debates a jobs bill. 

Media’s focus last week was on Obama’s agenda of upping the minimum wage, climate change and gun control legislation. 

 

Broadcast newsrooms need larger maps 

One of the lead items on broadcast news last week was “a moderate earthquake has struck in rural Nevada near the California state line.” 

That doesn’t quite pinpoint the shaky area. 

For eastern news writers, the Nevada-California state line runs 650 miles.  That’s the distance between New York City and Chicago. 

Actual center of the 4.9 magnitude shaker was 45 miles west of Tonopah, Nev.  Closest California city: Bishop.

 

Rubio gulps water about 155 times on MSNBC

Television media put the focus on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s Republican response to the State of the Union address on his water sipping rather than content. 

In the forefront was MSNBC which replayed Rubio’s swig about 155 times --- with 101 of them played on loop at the bottom left of the screen Wednesday during the Rachel Maddow Show. 

CNN replayed the water action 34 times. 

In a fair-and-balanced mode, Fox News, meanwhile, showed a clip of President Barack Obama also sipping water from a plastic bottle during an earlier speech.

In case you missed these… 

Carnival Corp. faces a mammoth PR problem in the wake of power-food-sewage problems for five days on its cruise ship Carnival Triumph that was towed to Mobile, Ala…Comcast Corp. agreed to pay NBCUniversal $16.7 billion to acquire General Electric Corp.’s remaining 49 percent of the entertainment company…Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs joins MSNBC and NBC News as a contributor…Thomson Reuters plans to slash 2,500 jobs this year.  That’s 4 percent of its global work force…Time Warner Inc. is in talks to sell a chunk of its Time Inc. magazine division to Meredith Corp.  The plan calls for Time Warner to retain Time magazine, Fortune and Sports Illustrated.  But People and Entertainment Weekly, among 16 others, would mesh with Meredith’s 14 titles including Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, and Better Homes and Gardens. 

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.

Grumpy Editor takes day off to mark Columbus Day

Grumpy Editor is away from his desk today, observing Columbus Day, a federal holiday since 1937.

While the day was originally celebrated on Oct. 12, the day marking Christopher Columbus's landing in the New World --- when he went ashore from his flagship Santa Maria to Watlings Island (also known as San Salvador Island) in the Bahamas in 1492 --- it is now observed on the second Monday in October.

For those who like updates: The island’s population now is about 1,000.

Columbus’s journey, sailing with other ships Niña and Pinta across the Atlantic, started from Palos, Spain on Aug. 3, 1492.

As Leon Panetta tours Chinese sub, reporters see suds

Grumpy Editor notes some reporters were drinking on the job while covering Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in China and it was okay with the Pentagon chief, Chinese military and especially with the brewery --- that got a PR boost. 

Panetta toured two Chinese war vessels yesterday at the Qingdao naval base. 

But the media accompanying the defense secretary were not allowed to follow Panetta on board. 

Instead, and to curb grumbling, the Chinese sent reporters to the nearby Tsingtao Brewery for a tour and a sampling of the output. 

Some found the brewery more fascinating than following Panetta who was checking out the two-year-old Chinese frigate Yantai, 405 feet long and manned by 175 sailors, and the 228-foot-long, 10-year-old “Great Wall 197” submarine, a conventional-powered vessel, with a crew of 55. 

With the brewery tour, reporters learned that the Tsingtao Brewery was founded in 1903 by German settlers and the brand, the top beer in China, debuted in the U.S. in 1972, soon becoming a top seller in the states.

There was no word if the brewery-touring reporters made it back to the naval base on time on a tight schedule that lists New Zealand as the next stop for Panetta.

National Lighthouse Day allows time to sniff sea air

In offsetting the “heavy” news this week, Grumpy Editor reminds that today is National Lighthouse Day --- a happening probably overlooked in your local newspaper or broadcast outlet. 

For those near the water, it’s a splendid time to visit the beacons that guide ships to harbors, especially vital during foggy or stormy periods. 

Check your local Coast Guard office for tours and activities marking the establishment and importance of lighthouses. 

Not sure about the location of the closest lighthouse? 

Go to www.us-lighthouses.com that lists 432 sites with guiding lights for sailors. 

On this day in 1789 Congress approved an act for the establishment and support of lighthouses. 

Well before that date, still-functioning Boston Light was built in 1716 on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor.  It received a facelift in 1783 after Revolutionary War damage. 

Another old timer guiding ships over the years is Sandy Hook (N.J.) lighthouse.  It went into operation in 1764. 

Maine, where two dozen lighthouses overlook its rocky shores, celebrates its own lighthouse day on Sept. 15. 

More than 15,000 people visited light stations in the Pine Tree State at last year’s annual event.

 

USS Nimitz spooking marijuana boats zips by editors

Most news media this week missed an interesting high seas story involving the 101,600-ton USS Nimitz, one of the largest warships in the world, scattering three 25-foot boats loaded with 100-pound bags of marijuana last Saturday off the Southern California coast, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Associated Press summed up the unusual encounters at sea --- which involved three U.S. ships and one Mexican vessel --- in a four-sentence mid-week story that lacked many details. 

Among media outlets that included the saga in news reports were ABC News, CBS News, New York Daily News, and Stars and Stripes. 

The supercarrier Nimitz, 1,092 feet long, was conducting flight qualification tests when sailors spotted two small boats about four miles away. 

When a Seahawk helicopter went in for a closer look, two marijuana-loaded boats sped toward the coast and began dumping bags which were later found to contain 100-pound bales of marijuana.

Another small “marijuana” boat, spotted three hours later, also dumped similar cargo after being spotted by air.

Also getting into the act was the nearby USS Princeton.  The cruiser sent sailors in inflatable boats to retrieve several dozen of the floating, dumped bales.

A Mexican navy ship arrived later and helped secure the remainder of the 186 bales of marijuana recovered that day.

Total retrieved:  18,600 pounds of marijuana.

The marijuana was subsequently transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Edisto (which fished 156 bales of marijuana tossed by a speedboat off the Baja California coast in December, 2008).

Despite all the action, Saturday's drug runners escaped.

 

Costa Concordia disaster sparks editorial cartoonists

The captain of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia that tumbled against rocks near the port of Giglio, an island off the Italian coast, is getting it from all sides --- and inspiring editorial cartoonists overseas and in the U.S., observes Grumpy Editor. 

In Europe, the Brussels newspaper, La Libre Belgique, in an editorial cartoon this week, links the maritime disaster with the euro. 

Belgian cartoonist Christian Louis (who signs his work simply “Clou”) sketches a large cruise ship, named Euro, on its side against rocks near a beach where two men stand.  One asks, “Is the captain on board?”  The other responds, “What captain?” 

While that might not bring a Jay Leno-type laugh, the cartoon illustrates two mighty events that happened on Friday the 13^th: 

Standard & Poor's downgraded the debt rating of several eurozone countries in the euro area and the Costa Concordia keeled over at Giglio. 

Among editorial cartoonists in the U.S., Mike Luckovich, of the Atlanta-Constitution, wasted no time in drawing a sinking ship, identified as Titanic 2012, with a message, “Attention passengers, the icebergs melted and we hit a drowning polar bear…” 

 

NOW ABOUT THE CAPTAIN IN THE LIFEBOAT

Meanwhile, much is being made of cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino’s remarks while chaos spread on the stricken vessel. 

Quotes from La Repubblica, one of Italy's two national daily newspapers, makes worldwide rounds in describing how the ship’s captain explained how he wound up in a lifeboat while passengers were struggling on decks. 

“I was trying to get people into the boats in an orderly fashion,” the newspaper quotes Schettino explaining to a judge during a hearing Tuesday. “Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60-70-degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself in the lifeboat.”

As for crashing the 114,500-ton, 952-foot-long ship --- in service for five and a half years --- with 4,234 people on board, the captain says:

"I made a mistake on the approach.”