Grumpy Editor

Casey Anthony trial tops Bing’s 2011 most searched list

Already, one month before year’s end, and a Bing top 10 list of most searched news stories for 2011 is the first out of the chute, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Search engine Bing, from Microsoft Corp., tallied news items on high profile trials of Casey Anthony (tops on the list) and Michael Jackson/Dr. Conrad Murray (No. 7) as among those getting the most attention. 

Also sought by inquisitive minds were natural disasters Hurricane Irene (No. 3), Japan’s earthquake and tsunami (No. 4) and the Joplin tornado (No. 6). 

Remembrances ranking high included the 9/11 10-year anniversary (No. 8) and the one-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake (No. 10). 

How they stacked up for Bing searchers: 

• Casey Anthony trial
• Osama bin Laden death
• Hurricane Irene
• Japan earthquake/tsunami
• Amy Winehouse death
• Joplin tornado
• Michael Jackson/Dr. Conrad Murray trial
• 9/11 10-year anniversary
• Republican candidates Herman Cain, Rick Perry
• Haiti anniversary 

Interestingly, nothing connected to Congress, jobs, taxes, economy or unusual stock market gyrations made the top 10.

 

PR route to grabbing editors’ attention: bosom insurance

One certain method for entertainers’ public relations representatives to grab editorial space and broadcast mentions is to trumpet their clients’ key body parts are being insured for $1 million, notes Grumpy Editor. 

It has worked for more than half a century. 

Latest to stir up editors’ interest via that route was Holly Madison. 

The star of “Peepshow,” a Las Vegas production, recently insured her breasts for $1 million with Lloyd’s of London.  “I thought I’d cover my assets,” explained the former “Girls Next Door” star and a Hugh Hefner ex. 

But Madison wasn’t the first to insure the bosom. 

Way back in 1955, burlesque performer Tempest Storm, still active in show business today, did the same thing. 

Calling her breasts “moneymakers,” that part of her anatomy also was insured for $1 million. 

To assure accuracy with the Lloyds of London policy, the stripper’s PR people at a news conference invited media in attendance to confirm her size with a tape measure. 

Editors were delighted with the reporting --- and photos. 

Over the years, Lloyd’s of London has insured other past and present show business folks’ body parts. 

Among them:  Jimmy Durante’s nose, Celine Dion’s vocal cords and Tina Turner’s legs.

 

Grumpy Editor lists FOMC’s meeting dates for 2012

Investors, market observers, economists and business writers --- in a period with uncertainty in financial markets --- will be paying close attention to the periodic Federal Open Market Committee meetings during 2012, reminds Grumpy Editor.

Wording in statements following each meeting during the year will be put under the microscope, as clues will be sought from FOMC’s 12 members headed by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

Any change in the federal funds rate triggers a chain of events that affect short-term interest rates, long-term interest rates, foreign exchange rates, the amount of money and credit, and, ultimately, a range of economic variables.

That includes employment, output, prices of goods and services plus, of course, the stock market direction.

While business and financial stories in coming months will mention upcoming Fed action, many writers are fuzzy in pinpointing actual dates of FOMC meetings in advance.  Sometimes they come close with “next week” or “next month.”

So, as a guide, Grumpy Editor lists the dates of the 2012 scheduled meetings, including four two-day sessions:

 

January	24-25
March	13
April	24-25
June	19-20
July	31
September	12
October	23-24
December	11

 

Following the meetings (or at the end of two-day gatherings), statements are released to media around 2:15 p.m., Eastern time.

 

Turkey-minded Grumpy Editor is taking time off

Marking Thanksgiving, Grumpy Editor is getting away from his cluttered desk today to feast on turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Turkey sandwiches will follow tomorrow.

Then, perhaps more leftover turkey dishes over the weekend.

He will return, a few pounds heavier, on Monday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

UPDATE: Ex-NYPD officer allowed to fly 9/11 honor flag

Following the Nov. 22 posting:  Homeowners’ association seeks removal of 9/11 flag ---

Richard Wentz, the retired New York City police officer who was told by his Coral Springs, Fla. homeowners association to remove his commemorative 9/11 flag or face fines and legal action, has been allowed to continue flying the flag, learns Grumpy Editor.

Bill Sugarman, president of the company that manages the HOA, asked for a review of the one-flag (Wentz also flies the U.S. flag) policy and said Wentz “will be permitted to fly his (commemorative) flag."

 

Myanmar/Burma use underscores latest newsroom maps

With recent confusion over the correct identification of Myanmar (formerly Burma), the latest world maps should be in broadcast/print newsrooms --- and the White House, advises Grumpy Editor. 

As pointed out in Grumpy Editor on Nov. 21, President Barack Obama last week mentioned Burma in announcing the dispatch next month of Secretary Hillary Clinton to the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia. 

But the official name change from Burma to Myanmar was made 22 years ago. 

The Washington Post, Associated Press and others stumbled on the name change, too, in recent stories. 

Then on Monday, The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial, “An Opening in Burma” and referred to Burma nine times, including the headline, without working in current name Myanmar. 

However, The Journal in yesterday’s edition ran a top-of-page lengthy story with map, “Myanmar Tackles Ethnic Conflicts.”  A front-page one sentence reference to the inside article also named the country Myanmar. 

The 11-paragraph story by staffer Patrick Barta correctly labeled Myanmar 11 times.  And an adjoining map clearly identified the nation as Myanmar.  No mention was made of Burma. 

Other nations have changed names in recent years, making keeping up with proper identification fuzzy for news outlets.

 

Homeowners’ association seeks removal of 9/11 flag

While there are periodic news reports about homeowners’ associations asking residents to take down U.S. flags for various reasons, now there is a Florida case of a HOA telling a retired New York Police Department officer to remove his commemorative 9/11 flag or face fines and legal action, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Richard Wentz, who helped victims out of New York’s World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, told WPLG, channel 10 in Miami, that the flag he flies lists the names of everyone who died on that day and he is not budging because “that flag means the world to me.” 

While getting coverage in Florida and in faraway London’s Daily Mail (with two photos), most national U.S. media have been silent on the skirmish. 

Wentz also flies the American flag. 

A letter he received from the Fairways at Heron Bay Association said the commemorative flag detracts from the aesthetic harmony of surrounding properties. 

Neighbors at the luxury town home and villa community, siding with Wentz who said he lost 43 friends and colleagues on 9/11, have complained. 

But Bill Sugarman, president of Benchmark Property Management which represents the association, pointed to rules that said there can be only one flag per home. 

"The only flag that is allowed is an American flag,” he added.  “The problem is he is flying two flags, and until someone changes that there is a problem." 

 

Obama calls it ‘Burma’; Natalie Wood case resurfaces

News reports on President Barack Obama identifying Myanmar as Burma (its former name) while the resurfacing case (again) of actress Natalie Wood, who died in a boating mishap 30 years ago, failed to raise eyebrows of some national and local editors, notes Grumpy Editor. 

When the president, visiting Indonesia last week, mentioned sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar next month, he referred to the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia as Burma. 

The official name change to Myanmar was made 22 years ago.

The Washington Post also had a problem with the country’s name.  A headline had “Secretary of State Clinton to visit Burma next month,” based on the text which had Burma in the lead.  But into the story was the phrase, “Burma, also known as Myanmar.” 

Associated Press also was on the fence with the country’s name in a Nov. 18 story noting, “Myanmar, also known as Burma.” 

Only Agence France-Presse pointed out Obama said Burma, “using the country’s former name.” 

Meanwhile, mention of “new information” in the death of actress Natalie Wood on Nov. 29, 1981 brought out more than 50 news people at a Los Angeles County sheriff’s news conference Friday morning. 

The actress drowned after falling from the yacht Splendour (spelled Splendor by AP), owned by Wood and husband actor Robert Wagner, that was anchored in Avalon Bay, off Santa Catalina Island. 

The L.A. detectives unconsciously were acting as advance PR folks in refocusing media interest on the case.  An NBC morning show later recycled the 1981 events and similar material followed in a segment on “48 Hours Mystery” Saturday next night on CBS.  Cable news channels also were heavy on the cold case. 

The resurfacing stemmed from material from Vanity Fair magazine and new comments by Dennis Davern, the yacht’s hired hand, referred to as the “ship’s captain” by one writer and a “sea captain” by another --- both writers, obviously unable to distinguish a 60-foot yacht from the Titanic. 

The fourth person aboard the yacht was actor Christopher Walken. 

Only fresh element observed by Grumpy Editor came from a TV interview of a woman (who said she was never interviewed by detectives), who related she was on a nearby boat and heard cries for help coming from the anchored Splendour area where Wood fell into the water. 

She said she tried to radio the Avalon Harbor Patrol in the early morning hours, but no one answered.

Media missed that angle.

 

General Electric tops stock list with members of Congress

Among investments in publicly-held companies by members of Congress, General Electric Co., the multi-national conglomerate ranked as the nation’s sixth largest firm by Fortune magazine, is the favorite, notes Grumpy Editor.

Seventy five lawmakers held GE stock --- worth at least $3.6 million --- last year, according to Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics, which compiled the information based on 2010 financial disclosures. 

Just yesterday, The Weekly Standard reported GE “filed a whopping 57,000-page federal tax return earlier this year but didn't pay taxes on $14 billion in profits.”  The publication pointed out the electronically-filed return “would have been 19 feet high if printed out and stacked.”

Nine billion dollars of GE's profits came from overseas, outside the jurisdiction of U.S. tax law. The company wasn't taxed on $5 billion in U.S. profits because it utilized numerous deductions and tax credits, including tax breaks for investments in low-income housing, green energy, research and development, as well as depreciation of property.

Meanwhile, with President Barack Obama in Indonesia yesterday, the White House announced that GE is signing a contract to sell 50 of its CFM56 engines to the airline Garuda Indonesia for $1.3 billion.

But that was enough to lift GE’s stock --- heading downward in the past week --- which fell lower yesterday, along with the market, to close at $15.64 off 31 cents on the day.

Other popular investments by members of Congress last year, as tallied by Center for Responsive Politics:

Procter & Gamble Co. ranked No. 2, behind GE, with stock worth at least $8.7 million held by 62 lawmakers.

Bank of America Corp. was third with 57 investors holding at least $2.8 million worth.

Tied for fourth place were Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. stocks each held by 56 members of Congress.  Microsoft holdings were worth at least $3.2 million.  Cisco stock was figured to be at least $1.3 million.

Pfizer Inc. was popular with 51 members holding at least $2 million worth.

Stock investments by some members of Congress came under a cloud this week after a Nov. 13 "60 Minutes" report on CBS.

A segment pointed out it is legal for elected officials in Washington to conduct insider trading --- buying and selling stocks based on privileged information received before it goes public.

 

Where are the rich? They gather in Washington, D.C.

So where is the best place to rub elbows with millionaires? 

Forget Beverly Hills.  Skip the Hamptons on Long Island.  Best bet for the biggest congregation of the truly rich is at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., finds Grumpy Editor. 

That’s where 250 members, or almost half, of Congress are millionaires. 

USA Today and ABC News are among the few major print or broadcast outlets that ran detailed material, released Tuesday, based on 2010 financial disclosures analyzed by Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics. 

The nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization adds that 58 members of Congress, or about 11 percent, have a net worth of more than $9 million.  That puts them in an even more elite group:  the top one percent of wealth. 

Net worth may be even higher.  That’s because lawmakers’ disclosure forms do not include primary residences (which could add millions more) or other personal property --- which could be anything from gold bars to diamonds. 

With members’ assets and liabilities disclosed only in broad ranges, the tallies of estimated net worth are figured in the middle of the ranges. 

The top five richest people in Congress, based on Center for Responsive Politics’ findings: 

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), with an estimated net worth of $448.1 million. 

Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), $380.4 million. 

Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), $231.7 million. 

Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), $192.7 million. 

Sen. Herb Kohl (D., Wis.), $173.5 million.

 

NOTE:  Continuing with the focus on the rich, tomorrow’s Grumpy Editor covers which publicly-held companies are top investments  with members of Congress.