Grumpy Editor

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.”  

Jeeps to China stemmed from print report, not Romney

In recent days leading up to today’s national election, media (extending to MSNBC this afternoon) and Democrats have been emphasizing Mitt Romney campaign’s “misleading” ads mentioning production of Jeeps --- one of the world’s most famous U.S. vehicles dating back to their debut in World War II --- would move to China, notes Grumpy Editor. 

They cite the ads as the Romney campaign’s efforts to undercut President Barack Obama’s support for the auto industry. 

Jeeps --- produced by Chrysler Group LLC, now majority owned by Italian car manufacturer Fiat --- currently are produced at assembly plants in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. 

What media are overlooking is that the China rumble started with one of their own --- Bloomberg News.

This afternoon with Martin Bashir's segment on MSNBC, discussion centered on the on-screen headline:  Romney's "Jeep" ad may have backfired with Ohio voters.

An Oct. 22 Bloomberg story reports Fiat “plans to return Jeep output to China and may eventually make all of its models in that country, according to the head of both automakers’ operations in the region.”

It adds,”Fiat is in ‘very detailed conversations’ with its Chinese partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., about resuming Jeep production in China.

In pre-Fiat days, some Jeep models were manufactured for distribution in that country.

Three days after the Bloomberg story, Romney, at a Defiance, Ohio, rally on Oct. 25, tells supporters, “I saw a story today that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.  I will fight for every good job in America, I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair.” 

Soon after, a Chrysler spokesman declares, “The take has given birth to a number of stories making readers believe that Chrysler plans to shift all Jeep production to China from North America, and therefore idle assembly lines and U.S. workforce.” 

Five days later, Chrysler’s chief executive strongly refutes claims that production of Jeeps would shift to China.

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.

Reid nixes Olympic garb from China but boosts solar plant

While much coverage stemmed from Sen. Harry Reid’s negative comments on Chinese-made uniforms that the U.S. Olympic team plans to wear at the games' July 27 opening ceremonies, media did not give much attention four months ago when the Nevada Democrat praised the Chinese in a deal involving a solar power plant in southern Nevada, points out Grumpy Editor. 

The Senate majority leader, noted for holding back legislation in recent months, seemed surprised about the origination of Ralph Lauren-designed attire for the athletes. 

His fuming quote, repeated over the weekend in television news, will go down as a classic:  “I think they should take all the (Olympic) uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.” 

In a later call to home-state reporters, Reid emphasized:  “Our athletes should not wear clothes manufactured in China.” 

While Reid seemed shocked, it indicated the long-time senator hasn’t shopped lately in men’s clothing departments of Macy’s, Target or even Wal-Mart. 

Checking labels would have shown him that much garb for men (and women) these days is produced in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India --- and China.

Xinhua News Agency, China's official news agency, today called the made-in-China uproar "hypocritical" and "irresponsible."

 His jab at China contrasted with a March 21 news conference in which he promoted a bargain deal involving a Chinese group that will pay $4.5 million --- less than one eighth of the $38.6 million assessed value --- to buy land from Nevada’s Clark County to build a solar plant in Laughlin. 

Chinese-made components would be used at the solar site. 

In plugging the benefit of the Chinese-operated plant for the Golden State, not the Silver State he represents, Reid said it “will generate the electricity California must have in just a few years; 30 percent of all electricity must come from renewable resources.”

 

Hocus-pocus: ‘Atlantic Bank’ in Delaware disappears

A Chinese businessman’s claim of buying Atlantic Bank in Delaware --- where there was no such financial institution --- points out that business news out of China has to be verified before hitting print or going airborne, reminds Grumpy Editor. 

With China’s rising economic power, such announcements don’t raise too many eyebrows these days. 

However, with Chinese acquisitions mounting in North America, major media should be devoting a chunk of time on fact checking --- as they should with other announcements. 

Chinese businessman Lin Chunping grabbed attention in January when he announced the purchase of “Atlantic Bank” in Delaware for $60 million.

Lin told media the 85-year-old U.S. bank went bankrupt in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis and that he planned to rename it the (mouthful) USA New HSBC Federation Consortium Inc. 

Media in China called his business experience "legendary."

His hometown, Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province, gave him a prestigious municipal-level political appointment.

Later, it was found that there was no Atlantic Bank in Delaware.

Lin, 41, a rice trader, was arrested earlier this month but for an unrelated fraud. 

With that action, he was forced to give up his appointment to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a top advisory body.

And Atlantic Bank in Delaware remains a dream that some say underscores the fakery --- from iPhones to fancy bags --- coming out of China.

 

Obama hustles to North Korea border for photo op

Within hours of Air Force One’s landing in South Korea, President Barack Obama --- sensing a photo op with the presidential election less than eight months away --- was peering through binoculars toward North Korea yesterday in his first visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which has bisected the peninsula since the Korean War cease fire almost 59 years ago, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Chances are North Koreans had binoculars trained on the president who wore an identification badge reading:  Barack Obama, Commander in Chief. 

Reuters said Obama “spent about 10 minutes on a viewing platform at the DMZ, talking with some of the soldiers on guard as the flags of the United States, South Korea and the United Nations flapped loudly in the brisk, cold wind.” 

With print and broadcast media trailing his movements, the president visited the DMZ on the eve of a global summit on nuclear security hosted by South Korea. 

“You guys are at freedom's frontier," Obama told about 50 troops crammed into a dining hall at a U.S. camp near the DMZ, one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers. 

The Korean War remains open ended with no peace treaty signed. Battles ended with a cease fire on July 27, 1953.  

The Korean War, also labeled the “forgotten war,” erupted when 135,000 communist North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea in pre-dawn hours of June 25, 1950. 

For the U.S., the war resulted in 36,940 military deaths, 103,000 wounded, 8,142 missing in action and 3,746 prisoners of war.  

Prolonging the war were entries of communist Chinese soldiers battling U.S. troops on the ground and Russian pilots in Soviet-built jets fighting U.S. airmen.

Chinese troops killed or captured thousands of U.S. military personnel and managed many prisoner of war camps in North Korea. 

Obama was threatening to cancel planned U.S. food aid to North Korea following its announcement that it plans to launch a long-range rocket next month.

 

Stock market slips: ‘China fears’ or simply profit taking?

Sensitivity of the stock market these days, since the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently moved above 13000, was illustrated when wire and broadcast reports throughout yesterday mentioned stocks slip "on China fears” or “worries over China’s economic outlook,” sending the market tumbling 68.94 points to 13170.19,” observed Grumpy Editor.

So what were those worries over China that sent the Dow lower for the second time in 10 sessions?  

The “China fears” stemmed from a comment Monday in far-off Perth, Australia, from Ian Ashby, president of iron ore operations of Melbourne, Australia-based BHP Billiton, Ltd., the world’s largest mining firm (and listed on the New York Stock Exchange).  He said his company was seeing signs of "flattening" iron ore demand from China.

But then, Ashby went on to say iron ore demand would ''grow strongly'' in the next decade and consumption would advance more than 3 percent globally over the next eight years. 

And what about the softening in China demand?

That would not happen until after 2025, said Ashby.

Yet, what investors heard triggered concern, said news reports, sending the Dow averages lower.

In the past, a drop in the Dow from a series of major gains would be attributed simply to profit taking.

 

Will Feb. 23 North Korea nuclear talks make progress?

Look for media to play the long-running six-nation talks --- tomorrow in Beijing --- focusing on North Korea nuclear disarmament like something is finally going to break, but Grumpy Editor feels it’s likely to be ho-hum time again.

Nuclear talks regarding North Korea have been going on for years.

The only hope is the change in North Korea’s leadership since Kim Jong-il died in December.

The latest session will measure if Kim’s son and successor, Kim Jong-un, is more open to diplomacy.

The six nations --- South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. --- have been sitting around tables, off and on, for more than nine years trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Recent talks (last July in New York and three months later in Geneva) made no progress.

North Korea’s routine has been to talk, followed by pauses, then more talks, followed by no resolution. 

That’s been the Communist nation’s procedure since 1953 when the Korean War ended with a cease fire.  North and South Korea technically remain at war with no peace treaty.

One reason nuclear disarmament talks get nowhere:  North Korea, Russia and China are on the same side.

It’s been that way since the Korean War, in which Russia and China joined North Korea in fighting American and South Korean troops, among other allied forces.

After this week’s Beijing discussions, it will be interesting to see if media reports include (again) these words: deadlocked, impasse, inconclusive and recessed without agreement.

 

Trump, in political theater, endorses Romney in Vegas

Real estate mogul Donald Trump, who likes to throw curves at the press, did it again yesterday in Las Vegas when he endorsed Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, in the Republican presidential campaign, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Some reporters on the campaign trail, along with Las Vegas print and broadcast media, figured Trump would endorse Newt Gingrich --- two days before the Nevada caucuses. 

A day earlier, Associated Press, quoted a source close to the former House speaker indicating billionaire Trump would back Gingrich. 

Just last Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Trump praised Gingrich. 

With the press session yesterday, Trump also garnered some publicity for his off-Strip Trump International Hotel & Tower where the media gathered to hear his announcement with Romney standing at his side. 

After his proclamation, Trump told a TV interviewer that Romney “has taken a tough stance on China,” adding, “I’m tired of seeing this country ripped off and that’s what it’s all about.” 

Trump mentioned, “It’s all about who is going to do a great job.  I want to see this country great again.” 

And what about Gingrich? 

“I like Newt very much,” beamed Trump.

 

Republican candidates’ 2 TV debates miss opportunities

Television viewers saw a total of three and a half hours of Republican candidates’ debates from New Hampshire over the weekend and only once was there a mention of rogue North Korea --- with zero discussion of the Communist nation pushing ahead with a nuclear weapons program under a new leader --- and no talk about global warming (rebranded climate change), the illegal immigrants situation in the U.S. and China’s military buildup while the U.S. chops its defense budget, observes Grumpy Editor. 

But everyone --- questioners and other candidates --- targeted Mitt Romney. 

An inordinate portion of Saturday night’s two-hour debate on ABC was consumed with commentator George Stephanopoulos asking Romney, “Do you believe states have the right to ban contraception, or is that trumped by a constitutional right to privacy?” 

That discussion spread to other candidates. 

Ten hours later, NBC expanded its normal one hour “Meet the Press” to 90 minutes to bounce questions off the same six GOP candidates.  David Gregory helmed that debate --- seen “live” in the east but on tape in the West. 

A tape delay for the West also came with the Dec. 10 debate on ABC. 

The problem with delayed viewing in the West is that alert debate followers already have heard sound bites on radio and TV news before viewing the replay.  In addition, Web sites already had covered details and sparring among quizzers and candidates. 

Fifteen minutes before the end of yesterday’s NBC debate, a quickie mention was made about North Korea --- but no questions or discussion followed. 

One plus for the NBC taped-for-the-West version vs. ABC’s delayed release on Dec. 10:  Unlike ABC’s misleading white-on-red LIVE “bug” above its logo in the bottom corner of the screen, NBC did not have that.