Grumpy Editor

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."

 

Lincoln’s birthday gets less attention as years go by

Few readers of Sunday newspapers were aware that yesterday marked Abraham Lincoln’s birthday ---  a sad reflection on modern editors who usually relish anniversaries as easy ways to fill up columns around ads throughout the year, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Just last week, much editorial space was filled with two lengthy Associated Press stories on English novelist Charles Dickens birthday --- three years after Lincoln’s in 1809. 

Marking Lincoln’s birthday, once widely celebrated on Feb. 12, is now combined with all other presidents on next Monday’s Presidents’ Day.

However, Illinois, in observance of the 16^th president's birthday, closes  government offices, courthouses and libraries today (since Lincoln’s birthday falls on Sunday this year).  Even there, though, honoring the occasion is limited.  A banquet, organized by the Abraham Lincoln Association, was held last night at the President Lincoln Hotel in Springfield.

In New York, the state designated Lincoln's birthday as a floating holiday in 2012 for state employees in certain bargaining units. 

Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., yesterday celebrated Lincoln’s birthday and the opening of the Center for Education and Leadership with a day of free programming and activities that started with the National Park Service commemorating the occasion with wreath-laying in front of the theater.

One of the noteworthy tributes to Lincoln came yesterday in a Christian Science Monitor story by Peter Grier, who reminded: 

“Abraham Lincoln may be the greatest of all U.S. presidents. He ended slavery, won the Civil War, and ensured that the United States would remain united in the modern world. His face is printed on the five-dollar bill and stamped on the penny. The Lincoln Memorial is one of the nation’s iconic sites. 

“But Lincoln’s Birthday on Feb. 12 is not a national holiday, and it never has been.”

In one of the few mentions on television, Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee, interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, greeted the host with “Happy Abraham Lincoln birthday.”  He responded by noting her birthday was the day prior (in 1964, at Sandpoint, Idaho).

 

Time magazine hails protesters as ‘Person of the Year’

According to Time magazine, the “Person of the Year” is not an actual, individual person at all, but groups summed up as “The Protester,” observes Grumpy Editor.

High-tech developers, scientists, politicians, sports figures, entertainers, military commanders, etc. all were shelved in favor of  a cover story spotlighting demonstrators, including the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

And some magazine editors wonder why circulation is slipping. 

Time said protesters were recognized for "redefining people power" around the world.

Sounds like turning news pages back to the 1960s.

The weekly news magazine put the focus on dissent in the Middle East and Europe that spread to the U.S.

Protesters had been the force behind the largest news stories of the year, claimed Time editor Rick Stengel.

"They dissented, they demanded, they did not despair, even when the answers came back in a cloud of tear gas or a hail of bullets," he trumpeted.  “They literally embodied the idea that individual action can bring collective, colossal change."

Grumpy Editor wonders how many protesters are scanning Time magazine to savor the “colossal change” they brought in 2011.

 

Christmas tree tax proposal quickly fizzles --- for now

After word got out yesterday about the Obama administration immediately imposing a 15-cent fee (that means a tax in Washington) on all fresh Christmas trees, the White House reacted quickly to an influx of complaints and decided to sideline the plan for now, notes Grumpy Editor. 

As outlined in the Nov. 8 Federal Register --- which major media missed:

Purpose of the Christmas tree tax was to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry.” 

The proposal called for the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board to oversee funds collected via the Yule tree tax. 

No mention was made on composition of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, number of members and if they will be on the federal payroll. 

Live Christmas trees already have a promotion source:  The National Christmas Tree Association which represents more than 5,100 “Christmas tree professionals.” 

The Christmas tree tax was merely shelved at this time. 

With the delay in implementation of the tax, the U.S. Department of Agriculture promised it will “revisit this action."

 

Media focus on protesters, not N.Y. Columbus Day parade

With thousands of marchers, representing two widely different groups, in New York City on Monday, media focused on covering the third week of Occupy Wall Street protesters and gave less treatment to a three-hour-long Columbus Day parade, a Gotham attraction paying tribute to Christopher Columbus since 1929, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The annual parade is the world’s largest celebration of Italian-American heritage and culture, pointed out Columbus Citizens Foundation, the parade organizer. 

More than 35,000 people participate in the event each year, including more than 100 sports groups, floats and bands, it added. 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, getting away from his desk on the holiday, joined the parade. 

Walking the route coatless and with a small Italian flag in hand, he waved to potential voters as he made his way along Fifth Avenue. 

(On the same day, Bloomberg also had something to say about the Occupy Wall Street protesters camped at Zuccotti Park.  “The bottom line is that people want to express themselves, and as long as they obey the laws, we will allow them to,” he told reporters.) 

No New York newspaper mentioned the Columbus Day parade on front pages yesterday.

To its credit, Associated Press did dispatch photographer Tina Fineberg.

Among her parade shots were members of the Connetquot High School color guard, from Bohemia, N.Y., carrying out a flag routine along Fifth Avenue; members of the Stony Brook University Seawolves performing another routine and, of course, the waving Mayor Bloomberg draped in the colors of Italy.

 

Who’s on first? AP emphasizes proper baseball terms

With postseason baseball games getting under way today, Associated Press produces a style guide of key terms and definitions relating to the sport so writers and editors can be on the same page, notes Grumpy Editor. 

First off, AP reminds that ballclub, ballgame, ballpark and ballplayer all are one word.  But with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the traditional song during the seventh-inning stretch, ballgame is split into two words. 

Among other terms so that baseball writers don’t strike out: 

No more fancy words when a player hits the baseball out of the park, cautions AP.  Words such as walloped, blasted, cracked, bombs, four baggers are frowned on.  It’s strictly hitting a home run. 

As for pitchers, sports writers are refrained from using words such as twirling, chucking or fireballing. 

Also with pitchers, AP points out that it takes two pitchers doing well for a duel.  So that means pitchers’ duel rather than pitcher’s duel. 

Forget the hyphens, says AP, when it comes to describing third base umpire, first base coach and left field line. 

Finally, a team that goes through division series, league championship series and wins the World Series (starting Oct. 19) is called World Series champions, not world champions.

 

Updated Merriam-Webster dictionary adds 150 entries

Cheers for Americana, a 170-year-old word relating to things typical in America such as history, folklore, culture and music, that makes its way to Merriam-Webster Inc.’s recently updated Collegiate Dictionary, finds Grumpy Editor.

Americana is among more than 150 words and definitions --- including more recently popularized social media, tweet, robocall and m-commerce --- added to the top-selling dictionary now available in print and online at Merriam-Webster.com.

"We've been tracking words like social media and tweet for years, of course, and now we feel their meanings have stabilized enough to include them in the dictionary,” relates Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large. 

Among other new words and phrases: 

boomerang child

bromance

cougar

crowdsourcing

duathlon

helicopter parent

parkour

walk-off

For definitions of these and other newcomers, go to:

www.merriam-webster.com/info/newwords11.htm

 

Historical marker goes up at ‘Deep Throat’ garage site

A newly-erected historical sign, outside a parking garage in Rosslyn, Va., cites its link to (ready for this?) where “Deep Throat” of Watergate investigation fame met with Bob Woodward, Washington Post writer, almost four decades ago, notes Grumpy Editor.

The marker, created by Virginia’s Arlington County, attempts to put the site on par with other historial spots around the U.S.

The concrete garage now likely will be promoted widely in efforts to gain more attention than, say, Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts where the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

Grumpy Editor envisions journalism students bussed in to see the concrete structure where Washington Post history was made.

The wordy marker, installed Friday outside the garage, reads:

_________________________________________________

WATERGATE INVESTIGATION

Mark Felt, second in command at the FBI, met Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward here in this parking garage to discuss the Watergate scandal. Felt provided Woodward information that exposed the Nixon administration's obstruction of the FBI's Watergate investigation. He chose the garage as an anonymous secure location. They met at this garage six times between October 1972 and November 1973. The Watergate scandal resulted in President Nixon's resignation in 1974. Woodward's managing editor, Howard Simons, gave Felt the code name "Deep Throat." Woodward's promise not to reveal his source was kept until Felt announced his role as Deep Throat in 2005.

_________________________________________________

Now, compare that to the less wordy marker at the Plymouth Rock site in Plymouth, Mass., that commemorates where the 102 Pilgrims from England landed in 1620 after crossing the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower sailing vessel.

That event’s historical marker simply reads:

________________________________________________

 PLYMOUTH ROCK

 

LANDING PLACE OF THE

PILGRIMS

1620

________________________________________________________________________________ 

Chances are that few journalism students now will make it to Plymouth. 

 

MLB throws curve, nixes Navy SEALs tribute by Nationals

With half of the 30 major league baseball teams hit by lower attendance this year compared with last year, promotions and other inducements are ways to lure more fans into ball parks, cites Grumpy Editor. 

Even the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers are seeing a sagging number of fans in the stands. 

So when the National League’s Washington Nationals --- one of 15 major league teams socked with more empty seats this season --- decided to honor the Navy SEALs who died Aug. 6 in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan by wearing special tribute caps during an Aug. 16 game against the Cincinnati Reds, Major League Baseball nixed the patriotic idea. 

That’s poor public relations and a missed opportunity to put baseball in a favorable light --- at a major league ball park in the nation’s capital.

As the FoxNews.com site reported it:  “We reserve hats for national tributes, where every club is wearing them on the same day," league spokesman Pat Courtney told the Washington Post.  “But we’re happy to work with clubs on alternatives.” 

During batting practice, however, the team was allowed to wear the caps adorned with NAVY SEAL on the left side of the brim. 

Major league baseball --- competing for attention on sports pages with football, basketball and soccer --- should pull out all stops in focusing attention on the long-time national pastime, ranking at the top of the Americana list with Mom and apple pie. 

Wearing special tribute caps is a small, yet thoughtful, way to honor the deceased Navy SEALs, among the more than 6,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Fortune magazine two-page spread focuses on 4-H Club

It is refreshing to see the July 25 issue of Fortune magazine focusing on the much-overlooked 4-H Club, a long-time youth organization, taking up most of two up-front pages including a dominant photo of two members showcasing their 18-month old bulls at the San Diego County Fair on June 29, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The 4-H program, born in 1902, is a bit of Americana but gets surprisingly little coverage in print and broadcast media, especially in large cities. 

Few realize that the 4-H (which stands for head, heart, hands and health) Club is the nation’s largest youth development organization. 

The clubs can be found in every county in every state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands plus Army and Air Force installations worldwide. 

While members’ projects used to focus mainly on raising animals --- from rabbits to pigs --- the program in recent years has expanded to topics of members' choice. 

Modern 4-H members, usually nine to 19 years old, zero in on such categories as gardening, technology and Web design.  And animals remain popular projects. 

Fortune, a Time Inc. publication, points out there are 6 million young people enrolled in 4-H programs, up from 1.9 million in the 1950s. 

The clubs, linked to university cooperative extension systems, are in urban neighborhoods, suburban schools and rural farming communities. 

An Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University study finds 4-H members are: 

• Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school.
• Nearly two times more likely to head for college.
• 41 percent less likely to engage in risky behaviors.
• 25 percent more likely to contribute positively to their families and communities. 

With that uplifting profile, more news editors should seek features on wholesome 4-H members in their areas.