Grumpy Editor

NATIONAL MEDIA OVERLOOK UNVEILING OF VETERANS MUSEUM

Most national media, preoccupied with tomorrow's election, overlooked a newly-opened national museum that pays tribute to U.S. military veterans, observed Grumpy Editor.

The National Veterans Memorial and Museum opened to the public Oct. 27 in Columbus, Ohio, with a ceremony featuring Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and former Secretary of State retired Gen. Colin Powell.

Architectural Digest called the $82 million, 53,000-square-foot spiral-like structure one of “the 12 most anticipated buildings of 2018.”

"This museum pays tribute to all our veterans of all generations --- all of us who are willing to make the sacrifice our founding fathers made in 1776," said Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "They gave us a responsibility to protect this beloved country of ours and make it an inspiration to the rest of the world, to make sure we are a democracy and looked upon all around the world as a place of hope.”

Goal of the museum, in downtown Columbus and designated as a “national” site, is to tell veterans’ individual stories, as well as focus on their shared experiences throughout history.

“You’re not going to see tanks here, or planes hanging from the ceiling,” said Amy Edwards Taylor, chief operating officer of the Columbus Downtown Development Corp. “What you are going to see and hear are the stories: Why did someone decide to serve?  What was it like to take the oath, serve in combat?  What was it like to come home?”

“For us, this museum is all about transformation,” added Taylor, hoping it becomes an anchor for a national conversation about what it means to serve.

President Donald Trump made official the “national” designation last June.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

MEDIA CITED IN DIVIDING NATION.  Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of registered voters said the national news media have done more to divide than to unite the country, compared to 56 percent who said President Donald Trump has done more to divide than unite since taking office, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll.

VETERANS DAY SPLIT.  Be aware that the federal government’s observance of Veterans Day falls on Nov. 12 this year while others observe the day on Nov. 11.

GOOD SAMARITAN SAILOR KILLED.  Curtis Adams, a 21-year-old active duty sailor based in San Diego, stopped to help what he thought was a stranded motorist on Interstate 15 in Southern California early Saturday.  As Adams exited his car, he was shot and killed by the motorist who got back in his car, then drove south.  Police later captured the suspected shooter.

TEETH-DROPPING FIND. Construction workers, knocking down a wall in an old building in Valdosta, Georgia, were surprised to find about 1,000 human teeth spill out.  A researcher for the Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, said the building was once occupied by a dentist. 

 

AFGHANISTAN BATTLE LINGERS.  Think U.S. participation in World War II, 1941 to 1945, was lengthy?  U.S. battling in Afghanistan is in its 18th year — with few signs of progress.

 

YOUNGSTERS BREATHE POLLUTED AIR.  Children's health is being threatened around the world by air pollution, according to a new World Health Organization report that said more than 90 percent of youngsters are breathing polluted air.

 

L.A. MAYOR'S SECURITY DETAIL COSTLY.   Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s security detail has cost taxpayers nearly $450,000 in travel costs since 2015 as Garcetti visited other parts of the U.S. and foreign countries, according to figures released by the city.

 

DRIVER SPENDS SIX DAYS ON TREE.  A 53-year-old woman survived the Arizona desert for six days after she lost control of her vehicle on a rain-slicked road near Wickenburg, Ariz.  Rescue workers said her car dropped 50 feet, landing on a mesquite tree.  She was airlifted to a hospital. 

 

 

        Grumpy Editor reminds:  Vote tomorrow.

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.

Romney’s China-made Jeep mention looms accurate

Just before the November election, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was criticized for declaring Chrysler would be building Jeeps in China, recalls Grumpy Editor. 

Democrats grabbed space and air time citing Romney and his campaign ads on the Jeep action in China was misleading. 

Grumpy Editor last Nov. 6 pointed out the report stemmed from an Oct. 22 Bloomberg News story that mentioned Fiat (majority owner of Chrysler Group LLC) “plans to return Jeep output to China.” 

Auto writers last Wednesday reported Chrysler is in talks to build some of its Jeep vehicles in China where the auto company already sells several of the brand’s models.

 

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Nocturnal sideline raises editors' eyebrows

Not getting much national coverage: a newspaper reporter with an unusual sideline job (for a newsroom staffer). 

After being outed for her after-hours job as a stripper, reporter Sarah Tressler, who was fired by the Houston Chronicle where she was a society reporter, now works for the San Antonio Express-News. 

But her beat now is quite different. 

She covers crime. 

Her Express-News byliner on Friday dealt with the shooting of a convenience store owner. 

She was let go by the Chronicle for failing to inform supervisors of her nocturnal sideline as an exotic dancer. 

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In case you missed these… 

Wal-Mart Stores, starting Memorial Day, plans to hire 100,000 veterans during the next five years.  Some of the giant retailer’s critics called it a P.R. move.  Sure, it is.  And a fine P.R. gesture it is…On the firing side, the Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, cut 34 employees, including 18 (or nearly 10 percent) of its newsroom staff.  Meanwhile, Reuters released some of the wire service’s veteran editors and reporters…On the hiring side, Fox News signed liberal former Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) as a paid contributor.  He joins daughter, Jackie Kucinich, in media.  She is a USA Today reporter covering politics…Nissan P.R. people should be happy with large color shots of the Nissan Resonance concept car appearing in separate sections of The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday…Public relations pioneer Daniel J. Edelman, who died Tuesday at 92, was noted for many slogans.  “Which twin has the Toni?” was long remembered.  Edelman also was behind spotlighting Morris the cat in television commercials for 9-Lives cat food.

 

Speaking of pets, Grumpy Editor likes the title of Seattle’s KIRO-FM’s weekend pet show that debuted yesterday:  “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs with Shawn Stewart.”  

Finally, national museum in works to salute U.S. Army

While media have been rather quiet on the noteworthy and much overdue project, it took Hollywood actor Joe Mantegna, in an op-ed piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, to spotlight the planned National Museum of the United States Army, notes Grumpy Editor. 

That should be welcome news for the millions who served in Army uniforms since World War II. 

Mantegna, who stars in “Criminal Minds” on CBS, is the national spokesman for the campaign to build the museum. 

In his WSJ piece, he points out, “Our nation has constructed a national museum for each of our military services except the Army, America’s oldest and largest service.” 

He cites, “Fourteen generations of Americans have served in the U.S. Army since 1775.  Thirty million men and women have proudly worn its uniform, Americans need to build a place where they may honor this long tradition of service.” 

Plans are under way to build a state-of-the-art facility on 40 acres on the grounds of Fort Belvoir, Va., about a half hour drive south of Washington, D.C.  

Main building will be about 175,000 square feet and display selections from among the 15,000 pieces in the Army Art Collection and 30,000 artifacts, documents and images.  Nearby will be a park with memorial garden and parade ground. 

The U.S. project is several decades behind Great Britain’s National Army Museum.  Initial building there opened in 1971.  Current facility in central London includes five floors of exhibits. 

With the U.S. version now in the works, Mantegna reminds, “Without a National Army Museum, our nation risks forgetting real-life stories more profound and inspiring than anything Hollywood could dream.”

Grumpy Editor today observes Veterans Day

Grumpy Editor is taking the day off today, Veterans Day, a federal holiday --- since the usual Nov. 11 observance fell on a Sunday --- honoring those who served in the military.

Obama talks to VFW about jobs for veterans, but…

Rather than presenting a solid plan with a pathway to job creations for veterans, President Barack Obama told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno Monday that “we’re going to set up a kind of reverse boot camp,” notes Grumpy Editor. 

Although job-searching veterans already possess a specialty from military service, the president proposed still more training plus education and advice for starting a business. 

“Our American veterans have the skills America needs,” he proclaimed.  “So today, our economy is growing and creating jobs, but it’s still too hard for too many folks to find work, especially our younger veterans, our veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.” 

Indeed, with the jobless rate in June for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at 9.5 percent, the president’s rhetoric sounded uplifting.  Yet, not many eyebrows were raised by media. 

Obama also informed the VFW that he signed a veterans “skills to jobs” act that requires federal agencies to look at relevant military training when approving applicants for federal licenses and certificates. 

“We’ve got to put those folks back to work,” he declared. 

Not mentioned was a retraining program for veterans announced two months ago.  Called the Veteran Retraining Assistance Program, it allows qualifying veterans to receive up to a year of education assistance. 

But that won’t do much good for the many veterans in their twenties and early thirties. 

To qualify for VRAP, veterans must be between 35 and 60 years old and unemployed.

 

Puzzling AP story cites Romney’s ‘military background’

A lengthy Associated Press story that noted Mitt Romney’s “military background is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to be commander in chief” is puzzling, notes Grumpy Editor, because the Republican presidential candidate, as with President Barack Obama, never served in the military. 

One newspaper, for example, picked up the military angle (when there wasn’t one) yesterday with this headline over a hefty half-page spread: 

Romney’s military

past under scrutiny

That should be news to Romney since he never wore a military uniform. 

Steve Peoples, AP’s national political reporter, mentioned Romney “avoided military service at the height of the (Vietnam War) fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments.” 

Nothing unusual there. 

As accorded to others at the time, deferments stemmed from attending college and later as “a minister of religion or divinity student” while Romney was in France working as a Mormon missionary. 

Near the end of the AP piece, Peoples wrote, “Some veterans say Romney’s reluctance to serve irks them,” then ran a quote from  someone who served in Vietnam who said, “I volunteered for the draft.” 

But no one volunteers for the draft.  

A draft, if  held today, would continue to use a lottery to determine order of call. 

While the U.S. military has been all volunteer since the discontinuance of mandatory conscription in 1973, young men 18 through 25 still are required to sign up with the Selective Service System --- just in case the draft resurfaces.

 

Ex-ABC News chief still defends 9/11 ‘no flag pin’ policy

Former ABC News president David Westin, in making the media rounds to plug his book, Exit Interview, revived the controversy on his post 9/11 decision that his network’s journalists not wear American flag pins in lapels, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Appearing Sunday on CNN’s Reliable Sources --- a day prior to Memorial Day --- Westin still defended his 2001 no-flag-pin declaration. 

Other networks, broadcast and cable, have had no problem with journalists wearing flag pins. 

CNN host Howard Kurtz asked Westin about his thinking on the issue. 

Westin, who left ABC News in December, 2010, explained that “we'd long had a policy at ABC News that we wouldn't let people wear any lapel pins of any sort, the theory being when you're reporting the news, you should be reporting the news, not taking a position. 

“And I said quickly, 'We're going to stick with our policy and stand by that.'  And I believe to this day that was the right decision.”

With his frowning on U.S. flag pins, don't look for Westin to be welcomed at any American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars gatherings any time soon.

 

TV slow in picking up HOA vs. Army veteran's swing set

An April 12 story in The Dallas Morning News on a homeowners association suing an Army captain --- recently back home after nine months in Afghanistan --- over a swing set for his four children, took almost three weeks before television news jumped on the development, notes Grumpy Editor. 

But it was this week’s TV coverage, ranging from Dallas-Fort Worth WFAA to ABC News --- that stirred things up, expanding coverage and illustrating weird happenings with HOAs. 

Dallas Morning News writer David Tarrant last month detailed how Candi Fry of Mineola, Texas, was being sued by Spring Lake Homeowners Association for installing a $1,200 wooden swing set while her husband, National Guard Capt. Bill Fry, was deployed in Afghanistan. He has been added as a defendant.

Candi Fry said she received verbal consent to install the swing set a year ago, Tarrant reported. 

But things changed when the HOA said a neighbor complained that the swing set could be seen from the road.  Take down the swing set or move it, she was told. 

The HOA attorney said proper documents, including architectural drawings (remember, this was a swing set for kids) were not submitted, adding the association cannot make exceptions. 

“We are in appreciation of his service,” Tarrant quoted the attorney.  “But the idea that people can set up anything on their property because their husband is deployed overseas is not something that cannot be permitted.” 

Probable next step:  court.

 

Obama's image on U.S. flag irks veterans in Florida

Following a Florida television station report about a desecrated U.S. flag, a dozen veterans descended on Lake County Democratic headquarters, resulting in the flag --- bearing President Barack Obama’s image replacing the 50 stars --- being removed from a flagpole at the site, notes Grumpy Editor.

A number of Web sites jumped on the story aired Tuesday on WFTV, Orlando.

But, surprisingly, the report was missing from most newspapers yesterday --- and today. 

The TV station reported Korean War veteran Don Van Beck said his blood was boiling.  "I can't describe how upset I was because you just don't do that to the American flag," he declared.

Other veterans joined him in expressing outrage. 

Greeting them where the flag was flying, Lake County Democrat Party chairwoman Nancy Hulbert said, "This is private property. This is private property. You're not allowed to touch anything. I'll call the police." 

But she went online to look up the flag code --- which should have been done prior to raising the altered flag.  The flag then was taken down. 

"If you've been a veteran and fought --- and some died for this flag --- you don't want to see it desecrated,” emphasized Van Beck.  "That's how simple it is."