Grumpy Editor

SURGE IN BANK MERGERS SEEN FOR 2021

All is not quiet on the banking front.  Look for a surge in bank mergers this year, observes Grumpy Editor.

 

Those financial institutions are on pace to combine at a level not seen since the financial crisis of 2008.

 

Banks so far this year announced more than $54 billion in deals through late last month vs. $17 billion in mergers a year prior, reports The Wall Street Journal.

 

While the economy has recovered in many ways from last year, loan demand continues low while profits from lending are slim.

 

The focus is on major regional banks this year.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

BUMBLEBEES DESTINED FOR ENDANGERED LIST.  Bumblebees in the U.S. soon could be declared an endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a proposed rule.

 

WORKING WOMEN FEEL BURNED OUT.  In a Time magazine survey, 42 percent of women say they have consistently felt burned out at work in 2021 than in the prior year. A new report suggests pressure put on women to balance work and child care is leading to disproportionate levels of strain. 

 

CARGO SHIPS WAIT TO UNLOAD.  Dozens of cargo ships waiting in Los Angeles-Long Beach and New York ports face weeks of delays to unload amid surging demand for goods plus the ongoing impact of the labor shortage and the upcoming Christmas season.

 

PENALTIES IN WORKS FOR KILLING MIGRATIORY BIRDS.  In efforts to protect declining bird populations, the Biden administration moves to restore criminal penalties for accidental killings of migratory birds.

 

RV DEMAND REMAINS STRONG.  Demand for recreational vehicles remains strong.  Elkhart, Indiana-based Thor Industries sales of recreational vehicles in the July quarter jumped 55 percent.

 

THE ONLY WAY TO FLY.  A retired greyhound called Lewis flies business class on Singapore Airlines from Sydney, Australia, to Italy and celebrates his birthday during the journey when the crew throws a party at 33,000 feet.

 

WORLD WAR II VET GETS SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY.  A North Carolina-based club --- CarolinaCruzin4Jeeps --- gives Coy A. Shue, a World War II veteran who just turned 100 years old, a surprise birthday party.

 

 

‘Little bird out of the blue’ tells Sen. Reid about Romney

In a variation of the vintage expression, “a little bird told me,” Sen. Harry Reid this week said he learned via an out-of-the-blue telephone caller that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for 10 years, notes Grumpy Editor.

The unsubstantiated “revelation,” nevertheless, grabbed much print space and broadcast time. 

Other than Reid saying the call came from “an investor in Bain Capital,” the private equity firm cofounded by Romney, there was no way to determine the authenticity --- or even if there was a call to the Senate majority leader. 

The Nevada Democrat told the Huffington Post, “Now, do I know that that’s true?  Well, I’m not certain.” 

Reid has said without more disclosure by the Republican presidential candidate, Romney “couldn’t be confirmed as dog catcher.” 

A Romney spokesman said Reid’s charge was baseless and below the belt. 

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh yesterday suggested interrogation of Reid by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

After making his charge, Reid challenged the media --- rather than utilizing his large staff or Senate investigators --- to dig into Romney’s finances. 

Then the senator added the fuzzy (and perhaps revealing) line:  “What if he (Romney) has paid no taxes, like I am saying he hasn’t.” 

Meanwhile, as a test to see how “easy” it is to contact Reid with a tidbit, try a call to his Washington office at (202) 224-3542.

 

Sacramento Bee nixes altered art, but not Businessweek

Two cases of “manipulated photos” in the past week resulted in the firing of an award-winning photographer at the Sacramento Bee but not much static with the other on this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek cover, notes Grumpy Editor. 

What’s going on? 

In the Sacramento Bee case, photojournalist Bryan Patrick digitally merged two shots into one showing a snowy egret trying to steal a frog from a great egret. The art was published on Jan. 29. 

Seems in the original image the frog was not as visible. 

Because of that, the Sacramento Bee charged Patrick with “violating the paper's ethics policy forbidding manipulation of documentary photographs."  And out he went. 

Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Businessweek cover in the Feb. 6 to 12 issue showed a digitally-altered Continental Airlines passenger jet riding piggyback on a similar United Airlines craft as the sun sets behind clouds.  The cover headline: "Let's Get It On." 

The cover story focused on merging of Continental and United “means endless decisions, from uniforms to coffee.” 

Manipulating photos is nothing new. 

Long before digitally-altered art, print editorial artists would enhance crime scenes or eliminate movie stars' wrinkles via airbrushing photos. 

Nobody complained. 

Now there seems to be some sensitivity --- or super-strict honesty --- in situations that don’t really matter…like two birds and a frog in the wilds.

 

Missing from the Las Vegas Strip: outcry from PETA

While casino patrons from around the world are welcomed on the famous Las Vegas Strip, pending legislation by Clark County Commissioners would ban some dogs on public and private sidewalks plus pedestrian bridges along the five-mile stretch, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Behind the anti-pooch measure, slated for further action later this month, is commissioner Chris Giunchigliani who also drafted a proposed ordinance that seeks banning pigeon feeding in Clark County. 

The dual actions --- not generating media excitement beyond Nevada --- also have not attracted the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 

Giunchigliani a few years ago pushed an ordinance that promoted the capture and spaying/neutering of feral cats. 

One resident asked in print, “After attacking hungry birds and starving canines, will she (Giunchigliani ) target the poor defenseless rodent?” 

Pigeons come up for further discussion by commissioners next Tuesday.  Rules could lead to pigeon feeders (that would include unknowing tourists) getting a stiff up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. 

While the major thrust now is on birds and dogs, commissioners for years have been unable to curb the growing number of unlicensed street vendors, panhandlers and adult news distributors that line the busy Las Vegas Strip --- cluttering up the scenery more than pigeons and dogs.

 

Fed workers' pay beats private wages, Chinese clone WSJ page, Sin City targets pigeons, among year-end items

Grumpy Editor today concludes a list of news items that some folks (and editors) may have missed during the busy year-end period ---

FED WORKERS’ PAY TOPS PRIVATE WAGES

Job hunting?  Head for a federal position.

A year-end USA Today analysis found federal employees received an average $75,296 in pay during the past year --- about 60 percent above the average private sector wage.

What’s more, federal workers also scored an average $28,323 in medical, pension and other benefits, noted the Gannett publication which added, “Federal compensation has soared in the past decade, especially in the past five years, at a time when private wages and employment have sputtered.”

All this followed President Barack Obama 13 months ago declaring a pay freeze for federal employees in 2011 and 2012.  Despite the so-called “freeze,” 1.1 million fed workers will receive more than $2.5 billion in raises during the two-year span, calculated Federal Times. 

PEJ RANKS  ECONOMY AS TOP STORY IN 2011

The big story in 2011 was the economy, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual “Year in News” tally. 

PEJ said 20 percent of news time and space was dedicated to the topic via print, online, TV news and radio, up from 14 percent from 2010. 

The other major trend was "a jump of more than a third in coverage of international news,” added PEJ, with half of the year's 10 most-covered stories occurring overseas.  Combined, 28 percent of all coverage last year was about international events.

  

PROMOTING JADE, CHINA CLONES WSJ PAGE

Drawing attention to the green gem prized for jewelry, The Wall Street Journal last week ran a full page report with three color photos under a bold across-the-page headline:  Jade craze takes hold. 

Unless readers noted the two “paid advertisement” placements in fine print --- slightly larger than the page number --- atop the A section page, they were unaware that the text, art (complete with credit lines), bold-faced boxes and subheads were for China Watch, prepared by China Daily.  It was close to WSJ format. 

LAS VEGAS AREA EYES PIGEON FEEDING BAN

Despite the Las Vegas area ranking high in unemployment, home foreclosures and sinking property values, at the top of the list for action at the first 2012 meeting of the Clark County Board of Supervisors: pigeons. 

As a reader wrote in a Jan. 1 letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal under a "Pigeon-feeding ordinance is for the birds" headline:  “With all the rampant economic and social woes facing Clark County, it is amazing that the Clark County Commission will be holding a public hearing Tuesday on an ordinance that would ban the feeding of pigeons in unincorporated areas of the county.”

Following yesterday's meeting on the subject, commissioners again will peck away at proposed enforcement and other issues on Jan. 17.  Rules could lead to pigeon feeders getting up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Along with causing problems for residents who have bird feeders, commissioners will have to distinguish the many varieties of pigeons, some raised for food or sport.

Aside from the common (or rock) pigeon, others include band tailed pigeon, red billed pigeon, white crowned pigeon, white king pigeon and racing pigeon. 

But commissioners always welcome feeding slot machines in Clark County --- and the rest of Nevada.

PETA SEEKS MEMORIALS FOR  DEAD CATTLE

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was seeking permission in Illinois to buy highway markers in memory of cattle killed when trucks hauling them, in two separate accidents, flipped. 

PETA said the signs would pay tribute to more than 20 cattle killed last year because of negligent driving. 

Doesn’t look like the PETA request will go far.  A Department of Transportation spokesman said it probably will be denied because Illinois’s Roadside Memorial Act specifies only relatives who lost loved ones in highway accidents may request memorials.

 

ENQUIRER PRINTING PLANT TO CLOSE

About 200 newspaper jobs will be axed this year when the The Cincinnati Enquirer, a Gannett Co. Inc. publication, closes its printing plant in the fall.  Plans call for The Columbus Dispatch to print The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Kentucky Enquirer.

A Gannett news release in late December made no mention on the number of jobs to be eliminated.  Closest it got:  " As part of this initiative, The Enquirer’s production facility will close fourth quarter, 2012, as printing transitions to Columbus."

 

As dead bird reports grow, will ‘bird editor’ title emerge?

Looks like newspapers may have to add a new (although temporary) position --- bird editor --- as editorial content in the past 12 days has been heavy with coverage of  dead birds falling from the sky or found along roadways, notes Grumpy Editor.

Latest on the bird watch:  more than 100 dead birds were found just off Highway 101 yesterday in Geyserville, Calif., about 60 miles north of San Francisco.

California wildlife officials were puzzled as to their species, describing them only as small with brown and black feathers.  (For those without a bird book, that fits the description of common house sparrows, formerly called English sparrows.)

This followed reports over the past few days of other strange happenings involving dead birds around the nation --- and the world.

Leading off the dead bird mysteries this month were 3,000 to 5,000 dead ones dropping from the sky on New Year’s Day near Beebe, Ark.

That soon was followed by 500 deceased birds falling to the ground in Louisiana.

Then Kentucky reported more birds crash landing.

Most of the casualties in the three states involved blackbirds.

Overseas, more than 700 birds, described as turtle doves, fell from the sky near Faenza, Italy.

Sweden also reported dozens of feathered fatalities.

Likely causes, advanced by experts and others, ranged from reaction to fireworks, lightning, hail, disease, bad eyesight, secret weapons testing, alien interference and indigestion.

Results of some tests by wildlife officials were expected later this week.