Grumpy Editor

Vietnam vet provides free air transport to soldiers

Interesting story that Grumpy Editor spotted only in the November issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance --- dealing with Walt Fricke, a former Vietnam helicopter pilot who now heads Veterans Airlift Command (VAC), St. Louis Park, Minn., that provides free, private air transport to soldiers and their families.

VAC refers to a database of 2,500 volunteer aircraft owners and pilots to handle trip requests. Fricke says, “Although it can cost $5,000 an hour to operate an airplane, our volunteers pay for everything.”

Too bad major media, which thrive on gloomy material these days, don’t run with this stellar effort and give it a boost.

Fricke, who contributed $200,000 to launch the transport service, says VAC has flown 13,000 passengers so far, some multiple times.

He says he spent more of his own funds “to pay the bills until we started receiving donations, which pay our salaries.”

Annual budget, he reveals, is $4.5 million with $3.5 million of that “donated flight value."

“In Vietnam,” he mentions, “I flew kids into combat. Now I fly vets home."

Read more details at www.veteransairlift.org.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Happenings out of Washington: President Barack Obama cuts sentences of 102 more federal inmates, bringing to 774 the number of sentences he shortened, including 590 this year. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is delaying deportation proceedings for 56,000 Central America immigrants who arrived in the U.S. since 2014, to remain in the country for several more years…Sometimes news reports leave out a key element in a story. Such was the case over the weekend in a story about a boat capsizing and becoming fully submerged in San Francisco Bay, sending five adults and three children to a hospital.  The boat, without a description as to size and whether it was a private vessel or a commercial one, was carrying 30 people…Look for an absence (for now) of scam phone calls with a phony “Internal Revenue Service” agent on the other end threatening legal action unless money “owed in back taxes” is paid soonest. Police in India detain 70 people and are investigating hundreds more after discovery of a group allegedly posing as call center workers in a Mumbai suburb may have been part of a tax scam that cheated Americans out of more than $47 million…Putting your tax money to good use? There used to be a time when the U.S. government relied on public service announcements (PSAs) to get the word out on developments and services at no cost to taxpayers. Now, the federal government spends $1.5 billion annually on public relations. That’s $1 billion on PR and advertising contracts, and another $500 million on salaries for 5,000 federal PR employees, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report…The Los Angeles Times, in a periodic story designed to get readers excited over a possible “big one,” comes up with another “elevated risk for a big San Andreas fault earthquake” piece last week, based on a week-long swarm of seismic activity at Salton Sea. But by the end of the week, the risk faded.

 

Had enough of swaying palm trees on TV over the past week with Hurricane Matthew?

In covering tropical disturbances, television photographers always focus on capturing palm fronds flapping in the wind.  It’s a favorite scene with them and their news editors.

Actually, it doesn’t take much wind to make fronds move. Just a breeze will set them in motion.

Deadly Washington subway black smoke leaves questions

 

The mystery of a heavy black smoke-filled subway train in Washington, D.C. that resulted in one fatality while 86 Metro passengers, including three in critical condition, were sent to hospitals as more than 200 others were evaluated, was a major underplayed story last week --- with vital questions remaining unanswered, notes Grumpy Editor.

It occurred on the nation’s second busiest subway system.  The train was headed toward the Pentagon.

If such an event took place in far-off France, Italy, Japan or Australia it would have nade front-page news in U.S. newspapers.

Initial story on the Monday afternoon incident in the nation’s capital ran only two sentences in some newspapers.  (Two Reuters reporters extended their report to six sentences.)

Then during the week, through the weekend, news reports became longer and more detailed.  (On Tuesday, two Associated Press writers produced a lengthy story.)

Among some lingering questions:

Why it took emergency workers more than a half-hour to arrive on the scene.

Exact cause of the heavy black smoke.  Initial reports said “arcing” on the third rail damaged electrical cables.

Smoke-choking passengers wondered why they weren’t allowed to leave the train sooner for the one or two-minute walk back to a station platform.  Instead, they were told to sit and wait.

An early report on the death of the female passenger, 61, was attributed to acute respiratory failure due to smoke exposure.  Fellow passengers performed CPR on her before emergency medical workers arrived but she wasn't taken to a hospital until more than an hour after the train began filling with smoke.

The National Transportation Safety Board was reviewing records on maintenance and previous events with smoke, employee training records and Metro's emergency response and evacuation plans.

NTSB said the investigation could take six to 12 months.

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE…

 

Skipping the White House press corps:  President Barack Obama, following tomorrow’s State of the Union address, on Thursday will be interviewed by three young YouTube personalities on issues they care most about…When five Yemenis departed Guantanamo prison (four sent to Oman, one to Estonia), the Pentagon called the departure a transfer rather than a release.  Their farewell leaves 122 others in Guantanamo as President Obama has promised to shutter the detention center in Cuba that opened in 2002 to house al-Qaeda bad guys…Dry outlook for the Golden State: The U.S. Climate Prediction Center said most of California still will be in a drought through April, even with improving conditions in the southern part of the state…Politico Magazine was nominated for the 2015 National Magazine Awards in the categories of general excellence, general interest and Website…East-west humor from New York --- where today's high temperature was predicted to be about 41 degrees while Los Angeles was expected to reach a balmy 73 --- accompanied a Bloomberg Businessweek “well being” feature in the Jan. 12 issue that pointed out, “You’ve heard of SAD, seasonal affective disorder, a condition causing intense irritability, lack of energy and an unceasing craving for carbs.  You probably don’t have it, but that doesn’t mean your winter blues aren’t real:  Each year, about half of Americans report feeling down once it gets cold. (The rest moved to L.A.)…Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has become the New York Times Co. largest individual shareholder, accounting for 16.8 percent of the company…Audrey Cooper, 37, was named first female editor in chief at the San Francisco Chronicle in its 150-year history

More than just a reporter these days ---

Editors advertising for staffers last week used these terms:  Slick city reporter needed at Temple, Texas, Daily Telegram; seeking aggressive reporter, Wisconsin Law Journal; seeking hard-working writer, Kinston (N.C.) Free Press.

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Book: Presidential perks reach $1.4 billion a year

Major U.S. media refrain from mentioning the extent of aircraft operations linked to President Barack Obama, thus most taxpayers are unaware of the $419 million annual cost associated with that activity reported in a new book, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Author John F. Groom gives a rundown on “presidential perks” in “The 1.4 Billion Dollar Man: Costs of the Obama White House.” 

Annual cost to operate the growing presidential aircraft fleet is $44 million, finds Groom.  Add to that $75 million in salary costs for the “presidential airlift squadron” and $300 million for the presidential helicopter fleet. 

Few taxpayers (and editors, too) are aware that 31 helicopters are in the presidential fleet now, a figure Groom unveils. 

Ground transportation for the president runs $2.2 million, while vacations cost $20 million, tallies the author. 

"One of the most important things to note about the $1.4 billion figure is that it specifically does not include the cost of running the White House’s policy operations," writes Groom.  "The $1.4 billion is money that is directly related to the president and his family."

That sum pays for staffing, housing, transportation and entertaining.

Groom points out an Obama “date night” in flying to New York City, including dinner and a show, costs taxpayers $1 million.

“We need to return to the idea of the president as first citizen --- a very important person, but not a deity,” Groom writes in the book.

The president and his administration “should run their lives as examples to the nation, with frugality and simplicity, at least until the huge institution they run, the United States government, returns to some degree of solvency,” adds the author.

Energy Secretary Chu doesn’t drive to work, but…

Facing a House Subcommittee on Energy and Power on a budget request yesterday, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu --- after mention of a battery-run Chevy Volt ---  revealed he didn’t drive a car and added, “I don’t own a car at the moment,” observed Grumpy Editor.

It sounded like he was doing his best to go green.

That got a lot of coverage on radio and television news, including some comments that Chu is trying to save energy, namely gasoline consumption.

On one TV network, it was suggested that perhaps Chu walks to work.

But few bothered to check further to uncover how he reaches his desk.

CNSNews.com did.

Craig Bannister, director of communications for CNSNews.com, pointed out that while Chu technically may not own a car, an Energy Department spokesman confirmed that Chu’s transportation to work is provided by a security detail.

And that his wife owns a car.

Far from being a Chevy Volt, however, a source identified the vehicle as a BMW 325i that requires premium gasoline. 

Photos showing pain at the pump are pain elsewhere, too

Rather than repeated tired images of drivers filling up at the pumps and shots of gas station prices, print and broadcast editors should try something different to illustrate the soaring cost of gasoline --- run photos of U.S. locations were oil drilling or pipelines would alleviate the high cost and dependency from foreign lands, advises Grumpy Editor.

The aim is to remind Washington to zero in on energy independence in a country rich in oil as analysts predict gasoline prices soon could reach $5 a gallon.

U.S. field production of crude oil peaked in 1970 and has since drifted downward to the early 1950s level.

Lost in the shuffle of election news that dominated print and broadcast media late last week are comments from Jack Gerard, president and chief executive, American Petroleum Institute.

President Barack Obama “is misleading Americans about his energy strategy” in an effort to ease pain at the pump, proclaims Gerard.

“Since taking office he has declared 85 percent of our offshore areas off limits, decreased oil and gas leases in the Rockies by 70 percent, rejected the Keystone XL pipeline and has 10 federal agencies planning more regulation of hydraulic fracturing, which is key to oil and natural gas development,” reminds Gerard.

“The president’s Jekyll and Hyde approach to energy security is hurting consumers,” he adds.

“We urge the president to work with our industry to generate more supply to the market and create new American jobs."

Meanwhile, another result of higher prices at the pump --- inflation.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday (when the Dow Jones Industrials later fell 53.05 points to 12952.07) tells the House Financial Services Committe that "gasoline prices have moved up ... (which is) a development that is likely to push up inflation temporarily while reducing consumers' purchasing power."

 

$1.1 million Canadian-made Obama bus draws attention

After three days on the road, it’s back to the bus barn today for the $1.1 million, huge 10-wheel black monster that transported President Barack Obama on a tour of the upper Midwest in which the president highlighted jobs, but did not mention the VIP H3-45 (the model that transported him and staff) was made in Canada, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The mammoth vehicle this week grabbed attention and brought comments from waving kids along the route to jobs-and-cost-conscious radio talk show hosts. 

The luxury bus was custom built in Quebec by Prevost, a leading manufacturer of premium touring coaches and bus shells for high-end motor homes and specialty conversions since 1924. 

Major rock bands and singers have been among Prevost’s prime customers. 

The Secret Service also ordered another similar $1.1 million bus. 

The president's vehicle had state-of-the art security features ranging from armored doors to impenetrable windows, enhanced communications, large flat-screen television sets, a living room-like area and a police cruiser look with flashing blue and red lights. 

Although a bathroom was on board, there was no sleeping section.

Special interior upgrades were installed by Hemphill Brothers Coach Co., Nashville, Tenn.

 

Questions linger in Nevada deadly truck-Amtrak crash

Three days after the deadly crash of a tractor-trailer into the side of a fast-moving California-bound Amtrak passenger train in Nevada, killing at least six, injuring about 20 passengers and leaving five others unaccounted for, some questions remain, notes Grumpy Editor.

The California Zephyr, with 204 passengers and 14 crew members enroute from Chicago, was travelling at 78 m.p.h., authorities said, when the speeding truck smashed into the third and fourth double-deck passenger cars, triggering a fireball.

The truck driver was among the dead but the only fatality identified through the weekend was a female conductor.

Despite knowing the name of the trucking company and that the driver of the big rig, hauling two empty gravel trailers, was leading two other trucks, his name remained unannounced.

Mystery also surrounds why the driver, at high speed, smashed through a crossing gate with working red warning lights in clear weather at 11:25 a.m. Friday, 70 miles east of Reno.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported the unnamed male truck driver, in his mid-40s, worked for John Davis Trucking Co., Battle Mountain, Nev.

The trucking firm’s Web site mentions it specializes in hauling ore to and from local area mines. With 130 drivers, it operates a fleet of 67 trucks that also carry sand and gravel products.

It may take some time before all pieces of the puzzle come together.

Despite 18 National Transportation Safety Board investigators taking over the scene Saturday, NTSB said it will take up to a year to pinpoint the cause of the fiery crash.

 

S.F. police find no terrorism link to cockpit door pounder

Soon after the arrest of an unruly air passenger who was wrestled to the cabin floor after shouting in a foreign language while pounding on the cockpit door of an American Airlines 737 just before it landed at San Francisco International Airport Sunday night, police declared there was no terrorism link, observes Grumpy Editor. 

An Associated Press story filed 10 hours after the plane landed, quotes a San Francisco police spokesman saying the 28-year-old with a Yemeni passport taken into custody had no known ties to terrorism. 

That’s a speedy checkout considering warnings are being issued on possible terror plots following the death of Osama bin Laden. 

And it comes at a time when even a baby’s diaper is patted down on the same day by Transportation Security Administration agents at Kansas City International Airport.  (View the TSA action here.)  

On the San Francisco-bound 737, it took several people, including a retired Secret Service agent and a retired police officer, to subdue the male passenger about 10 minutes before landing on a flight that originated from New York City with a stop in Chicago. 

The Bay Area disturbance was the third of the day. 

Previously, a Continental 737 from Houston to Chicago was diverted to St. Louis after a man attempted to open the aircraft’s door.  Earlier, a Delta flight from Detroit to San Diego was diverted to Albuquerque where officials investigated an undisclosed security threat.

 

Lohan grabs more space than hijacked U.S.-bound tanker

Editors, for yesterday's newspapers, had to decide which was of more interest to readers:  a story on troubled actress Lindsay Lohan going to court or the capture by pirates of a U.S.-bound supertanker that provides one fifth of daily U.S. crude imports --- and somehow vanished, notes Grumpy Editor.

They decided on major print space for Lohan and a few lines, or none, on the Greek-flagged Irene SL, the oil-laden ship captured --- in one of the biggest hijackings of all time --- in the Arabian Sea.

Those are editorial decisions these days.

Passing a swarm of reporters and photographers (including TV shots from helicopters), Lohan went to court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace, pleaded not guilty to felony grand theft and was released on $40,000 bail.

The Lohan saga received more press play in New York than in Los Angeles.

Full front-page photos of her, attired in a tight-fitting white dress, appeared yesterday in the New York Post, Daily News and AM New York while The Los Angeles Times gave her three-column, front-page art with a story on an inside page.

Even The Wall Street Journal gave the actress far more space (an inside three-column photo, with caption only) than the captured supertanker which was wrapped up in one-and-a-half sentences distilled from an Associated Press story.

The 1,082-foot-long supertanker, with a crew of 25, was headed for the Gulf of Mexico when it was hijacked by suspected armed Somali pirates 220 miles off Oman.

Additional elements that made the supertanker story interesting:

+  It was carrying 2 million barrels of oil worth a hefty $200 million.

+  All communication was soon lost with the vessel, built in 2004.

+  Strangely, no word from above --- via satellite or aircraft observation --- or patrol ships with a visual fix on the supertanker, despite its mammoth size.

 

Hybrid school buses gain use as education budgets drop

With most of the nation’s school districts facing reduced budgets leading to cuts in staffs, classes and activities, one area --- not dealing with educating students --- is getting a boost, and securing funds is no problem, finds Grumpy Editor.

It’s going green, as with new bio-diesel electric hybrid school buses. 

While green buses are getting green lights, some school districts are shortening education days.

School districts in at least 17 states are moving to a four-day week “in a shift they hope will help close gaping budget holes,” notes a front page story today in The Wall Street Journal.
 

Yet that doesn't deter other school districts from adding the green vehicles.   Much of the funds for the new buses come from state and federal grants.

Such buses come with price tags of $170,000 and up (an Iowa school district paid $217,000 for its green buses) vs. $120,000 for conventional versions.

South Carolina, which jumped into hybrid technology in 2007, reveals in an announcement last Tuesday that it will triple the number of diesel electric hybrids in transporting students.  The state, with a school bus fleet already 5 percent bio-diesel, plans a transition to 20 percent bio-diesel in the future.

A conventional school bus uses more than 1,700 gallons of fuel annually while the average hybrid school bus consumes around 600, tallies IC Bus, a subsidiary of Navistar, Inc., among companies that produce hybrids.

Bio-diesel buses get nine to 11 miles a gallon, compared with about six miles per gallon with vehicles they are replacing.

That means it will take 20 years or more to realize a return through fuel savings on the higher per-vehicle cost --- something not getting attention in media coverage.

Green buses, which require more attention in maintenance, feature electric drive trains that can move the vehicles at street speeds.  Diesel engines take over at higher speeds.