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Whenever a chunk of Antarctic ice breaks off, the national newscasts cover it. Whenever the ice in the Arctic thins out (especially if there is video of a forlorn polar bear), the national newscasts cover it. But when a fundamental part of the climate system that affects our weather and climate on a daily basis changes: crickets.

Sunspots (NASA)

On April 1, NASA announced that – contrary to predictions – 2008′s “deep solar minimum” has continued into 2009. 344 of the past 456 days have been sunspot-free, which sunspot expert David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center calls it the “quietest sun we’ve seen in almost a century.” Sunspots are created by magnetism on the sun’s surface, and seem to peak and decrease in cycles lasting approximately eleven years. While invisible to the naked eye, they are considered an indicator of solar activity. At the same time as announcing the continuation of the solar minimum, NASA also pointed out that during 2008 the earth received a 12 year low in solar irradiance; the sun’s brightness dropped by two one-hundredths of one percent at visible wavelengths since a previous solar minimum in 1996.

Sunspots by year (NASA)

2008 also marked a 50 year low in solar wind pressure and a 55 year low in solar radio emissions.

What does the lack of sunspots and solar acvitiy mean to our weather and climate? It depends on who you talk to, and on which side of the climate change debate they stand. For the record, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has dismissed solar activity as a significant contributor to global temperature change. But IPCC opponents can show convincing graphs matching sunspots numbers and global temperature cycles. A conclusive causal link evades both sides.

Regardless, it would seem NASA’s announcement of unusually diminished sun should at least make network news on the internet. But since such information does not fit with the news divisions’ “runaway climate change” drumbeat, they haven’t posted the story on the websites at CBS, NBC, or ABC. And you certainly won’t see it on the evening television newscasts – unless they can work in a polar bear.

Jay News, Television industry, Weather ABC, arctic ice, CBS, climate change, IPCC, NBC, solar activity, sunspot

It was only a matter of time. The former head of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin, today had his home vandalized. Someone broke out the windows of his home and his Mercedes. An e-mail claim of responsibility has been made by a group calling itself “Bank bosses are criminals.” The group also made a threat: “This is just the beginning.”

Goodwin left his job at RBS last October with a pension of 700,000 pounds (about one million dollars). When the UK government bailed out RBS, they asked Goodwin to give back the pension he earned after eight years creating one of the world’s largest companies, he refused. His wife has been yelled at, and his children have been bullied.

Last week in America, the news media somewhat gleefully reported on a bus tour of wealthy AIG executives’ homes. About twenty mostly-jobless people – followed a horde of national and international media – went to the homes of two AIG execs demanding “their” money back. The media gathered sound bites from the protesters, identifying each person by their name, and the name of the company they used to work for.

CBS, ABC, NBC, and CNN all reported the story. They were clearly duplicitous in trying to embarrass the homeowners – even though, ironically, the people whose homes were targeted had already agreed to give the money back. There was no concern over the deliberate attempt to smear private citizens who have only received money they were legally and contractually entitled to.

One of the first rules learned in journalism is to “follow the money”, but the news reports in the “mainstream media” clearly did not do so in this case. Reporters either did not ask, or did not care to report, who paid for the protest, stating only that the tour was organized by the Connecticut Working Families Party.

What is the “Connecticut Working Families Party”? It is an activist group jointly founded by ACORN, according to a newspaper editorial posted on the CWFP’s own website. Fox News commentator Glenn Beck investigated further, revealing that the tour bus and the protestors were actually paid for by ACORN.

The same ACORN that President Obama worked for. The same ACORN that has been involved in civil disobedience against home foreclosures. The same ACORN that gets money in the Obama stimulus plan. The same ACORN that will be involved in the government’s 2010 census count, which will realign congressional seats, voting districts, and funding distribution. ACORN is the activist organization that the national news media sanctions – by not reporting on its mob-mentality of activism.

About Sir Fred Goodwin: He is said to be considering a move so South Africa. No surprise – when news of his home vandalism was carried by the left-wing Huffington Post, the first reader comment was, “They shoulda been more clever like leave some mercury on the floor and put some toxic mold in the walls. Breaking glass is so yesterday.”

Jay News, Television industry acorn, aig, banker, Fred Goodwin, mob mentality, RBS

It is three months to the day after Thanksgiving – but I think we need to re-visit that holiday. It seems to me it came and went without a lot of appreciation.

On Thanksgiving Day 2008, we had just elected a new president who campaigned on, “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” Remember how abysmal it was when we went to the polls? Unemployment was at 4.7%, the Dow at 9,625.

Back in those days, workplace grumblers and complainers were grumbling and complaining. They bemoaned their jobs, their salaries, their lives. Thanksgiving was observed in the usual manner – the network newscasts treated us to an onslaught of expectations for the Christmas shopping season.

Fast forward one-quarter of a year. People are losing their jobs, businesses are losing their customers, Dow is losing its points. But people aren’t grumbling and complaining about work as much. I think it is because our definition of thankfulness has changed.

Last night on television, a story aired about a man and his wife. They both have jobs, but recently found out that their salaries would be involuntarily reduced due to the economic slowdown. They must lower their household budget to cope with the shortfall. And the reaction of the man who was asked about having his salary cut?

“To be honest my first reaction was, I’m just thankful and blessed I have a job.”

I expect more people will have similar sentiments nine months from now, when we observe our next Thanksgiving Day.

Jay News, Television industry economy, layoffs, recession, Thanksgiving

It was the day after the inauguration, and America tuned in to see what jabs the late night comedians would administer to the new administration. Conan O’Brien mentioned the new president a few times, but mostly in poking fun at someone else, e.g. “President Obama’s chief of staff ordered federal agencies to freeze funding for a lot of projects that President Bush tried to push through in his final days… no national Scooby Doo museum.” Jay Leno did a segment interviewing a presidential impersonator – President Bush, not President Obama.

David Letterman ran another episode of “Great Moments in Presidential Speeches.” The clip showed President Bush stumbling over the word missile in a speech about missile defense. Letterman was clearly un-bothered by the fact that Bush is no longer president. If Letterman had wanted to show a presidential misstep, he could have aired a clip from a press conference earlier in the day in which Barack Obama had to ask an aide to explain the meaning of an executive order Obama himself had just signed. (On second thought, maybe that was more troubling than funny.)

Comedians seem unwilling or unable to pick on Barack Obama – but which is it? Letterman treated his audience to a barrage of Democrat guests during the campaign season. During his program, O’Brien called Obama’s inauguration speech “fantastic” and “inspiring.” Perhaps we are in an era of entertainers as political operatives.

Maybe we should give comedians the benefit of the doubt, and conclude they don’t have the skill to create jokes about the new man in the White House. Standup specialist Chris Rock called Obama a “comedian’s worst nightmare” because he is too inspiring to make fun of. Last July, at an Obama fundraiser, comedian and Obama supporter Bernie Mac tried to make jokes about the man who would become president – and the audience turned on him.

It is early in the term, but already one doubts the nation’s comics will mock Obama with the zeal they mocked President Bush. It appears America will be a whole lot less funny for the next four years.

Jay Television industry comedy, Letterman

The National Association of Broadcasters says it donated tens of millions of dollars in free commercial time to get the word out about the pending conversion of television from analog to digital broadcasts. Even as television stations prepare to flip the switch to turn on their very expensive new digital equipment, politicians insist on a delay in the changeover. Despite all the publicity, they say the public just doesn’t get it. Government vouchers to pay for set-top conversion boxes have run out, and lots of TV viewers still haven’t figured out whether they need a box or not.

The problem, I think, is that a good portion of TV viewers simply decided to wait until the last minute (or even until their favorite program turns to snow). Now, with time running out on their old television sets, procrastinating viewers still haven’t figured out whether they need a converter box or not. For those still unclear, let me offer my simple guide to the digital conversion:

-Do you pay a monthly cable TV bill? If yes, you do not need a box.
-Do you pay a satellite TV bill? If yes, you do not need a box.
-Is there a set of rabbit ears on your TV? If yes, you need a box.
-Is your TV connected to an antenna on the roof? If yes, you need a box.

Maybe part of the reason the government has run out of vouchers is that people who do not need boxes mistakenly went out and bought them anyway. It would be pretty cynical to think that the 565 digital converter boxes up for sale on ebay today are there because somebody is just trying to turn a fast buck. Or is it?

Jay Television industry digital converter box, vouchers